Cassie smiled under Serix's lips when he pulled her down into a kiss, her hands going to cheeks as she kissed him back. It was still so surreal that they were so close, in a relationship. After all, weren't they just enemies a few days ago? And yet, now she flt so strongly for him and he felt the same about her. She loved him and would do anything to keep him safe. The two of them were a team now and she sure hoped that it would stay that way. If she lost him she wasn't sure how she could live with herself. As strange as it sounded after only knowing each other for a short time, it was the truth. Pulling back from the kiss, she yawned and stretched as well, smiling over at him, holding his hand tightly in hers as he asked what the two of them should do today. She thought for a moment, "Hmmmm, well we have very limited options. There isn't really much we could do. We could dance again now that we have that CD player. We could work on robots. Or we could...I don't know....just talk?" She looked back to him, "Actually...talking might not be such a bad idea. I mean, we've told each other mostly about the differences between humans and Lunairans, but we've never really talked about just....us." She moved to sit cross legged on the bed, still holding his hand as she smiled brightly at him, "You could start. You could tell me about your life on the ship with the other Lunairans. Like what friends you had? What you all did there? What girls you liked? What classes you took? Oh and about you family? I know that all my sound weird but I just.....I want to know everything Serix. Will you tell me?"

“You want to know everything?” Serix raised a brow at her. “That’s a tall order.” He moved to sit more comfortably on the bed with his back propped against the wall and his legs stretched out in front of him. He wrapped one arm around Cassie’s shoulders and held her to his side, leaning his head on top of hers. “I suppose I can try for you, though. “You want to know about my life on the ship, right? Well, it wasn’t very interesting. Lunairan children all have the same daily schedule, which includes just two nutrient-dense meals a day, multiple rotated educational and physical classes, and a small amount of free time in between. There were some kids I got along with, but I never really had time to form close friendships with anyone. Our busy days prevented us from bonding any deeper than knowing each other’s names and general interests. The schedules are designed that way. With our race dwindling so close to extinction, our leaders want us to focus on becoming assets to the society. We are taught at a young age that making friends should be a low priority on our lists because it doesn’t help us better our situation. “As we get older, we get a little more room to develop personal relations, though, so it’s not like we’re forced to stay distant from each other forever. Our leaders recognize the importance of community and its health benefits. They just know how easily distracted young children are, so they try to limit interaction and help them to stay focused on their work. “But back to my main topic. Until the age of ten, our instructors record data on how quickly we progress in all areas of our education, and then we’re divided into more specialized training programs. The biggest factors they look at are problem solving, telepathic capacity, physical adeptness, creativity, and information processing. I exceeded in my physical education courses and I absorb new information quickly, so I was put into training to be a foot soldier. That’s why I know hand-to-hand combat and was selected to be a Scout. “I actually did make one friend during my second-level education. There was another Lunairan trainee, Juviir, who learned just as rapidly as I did, so we developed a sort of rivalry. He always managed to do just a little better than I did, and I hated him for it.” Serix laughed at the memory. “During one sparring match, we actually started a full on brawl. Our instructors had to separate us. They had us sit and listen to one of the educational overseers speak about why we shouldn’t compete with each other and how we should encourage each other to do better for the good of our people. “Towards the end of the overseer’s speech, we were both getting tired. Juviir’s head drooped like he was falling asleep, but he was actually just cleverly hiding the change in his eyes when he started a telepathic link with me. He said something about how the overseer didn’t understand competition because he was never good enough at anything to have a rival... or something like that. I don’t remember his exact words, but I do remember the look on the overseer’s face when we both started laughing. His expression was priceless, and luckily for us, he decided our sudden friendliness meant that we had ended our rivalry, so he let us go. Juviir and I never really stopped competing, but we were definitely more sporting about it afterwards. “Our friendship didn’t last very long, though. Juviir’s mate had been decided on by our leaders shortly before we started to bond. He was mated young at just the age of twelve, and had a child with her soon afterwards. He spent all of his spare time raising his first son with his mate —as fathers are expected to do in Lunairan society— so I never saw him much outside of our regular training courses. “Many of my other peers were also mated by the end of our training,” Serix shrugged. “It’s pretty typical. All Lunairans are mated between the ages of twelve and seventeen, apart from a small number of barren or nearly infertile females. There are more females than males in our population, so not all of them are entered into the pool of eligibility. “But anyway, most of the other trainees were mated, and that’s another reason why I was chosen to be a Scout. It’s part of the unmated male theory. Supposedly males without mates or children are willing to take more risks, which is an important trait in a Scout who is sent to explore an unfamiliar planet. Our leaders needed us to take risks in order to gather information about the Earth, and a Scout with a female to come home to wasn’t going to do that.” Serix patted Cassie on the cheek. “I guess I wouldn’t make a very good Scout now that I’ve got you to look after, huh? “So let’s see,” he sighed in thought. “You wanted to know if I was ever fond of a female when I was younger, right? I don’t know how human society works, but for Lunairans, male and female interaction is severely regulated. We are intended to only form relationships with our mates, so all other communication with females is to be strictly businesslike.” Serix paused. “But… there was one female who caught my eye back on the ship. Her name was Celuria. She was a beautiful young Lunairan I met when I was eleven. She seemed to have been quite taken by me as well. She broke the business protocol multiple times to smile at or joke with me. We got along well enough that there were even rumors that she was to be my mate.” Serix shook his head. “Since I left my people’s society behind, I’ll never know if the whispers were true. But I don’t care.” He tilted Cassie’s face towards his so she could see the sincerity in his eyes. “Next to you, she’s nothing. She never made me feel the way I do when you smile at me, and she could never stop my heart with a kiss the way you can.” He met Cassie’s lips briefly, as if to illustrate his point, and then grinned at her. “Yeah, you’re the only one who can do that.” Serix nestled his head against Cassie’s again and continued on with his story, “You wanted to know about my family, too? Well, my father was a runner. He was part of a fighter ship crew, and his job was to deliver messages and run errands for his pilot. For a short while, he also scouted the Earth. This was before the Plague. He lived among the humans and reported to our leaders, and occasionally he would come back to visit me and my mother.” He smiled softly at the memory. “He always had the most amazing stories. He’s probably the reason why I’ve always been fascinated by humans and wanted to become a Scout, myself. “But my mother…” Serix’s smile faded. “During the first wave, my father had been part of a crew that had been assigned to release the plague on the humans. He didn’t want to do it, but he couldn’t disobey the direct orders of our leaders. No one goes against their authority. So he went on the mission, but during the drop, his ship was shot down and no one survived. “My mother was traumatized by his death,” Serix’s voice caught, and he stopped to rein in his emotions before going on. He always found it difficult to speak about his mother. “She wanted to get revenge on the humans for murdering her mate, but our leaders refused to grant her request. It would have been pointless because they were all going to die from the plague already. The higher powers didn’t want to waste resources on a redundant mission, so they turned her away. “But my mother wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. She tried to sneak away in the middle of the night. She thought I was asleep, but I heard her leave.” Serix closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. “I should have stopped her, but I did nothing. I just lay in my bed and pretended not to notice her go. But even if I tried, I don’t think she would have listened to me. She was too far gone. She stole a fighter ship and attacked the humans on her own. They blew up her craft before she could even fire a shot, and I was left behind to fend for myself.” He held onto Cassie a bit tighter and managed a weak laugh. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get so depressing. I’ve been talking for a while, so why don’t you tell me about yourself now?”

Cassie listened to everything he was saying, nodding every so often, curious about some things, but had decided to ask questions after he had finished, and so let him go on. She had to admit, at first she was regretting asking about any females he might have been interested in on the ship because sure enough he was talking about about a 'beautiful young Lunairan and how they would, in from what she could tell, flirt with one another to the point that people thought he and this girl were going to be put together(in their terms mated, in her terms married). She had to admit, when he talked like that, there was a jealousy inside her, and maybe or maybe not he noticed that because soon he was saying he didn't care about that Lunairan female anymore. That that female had never made his feel the way he did when he was with her. This made a slight smile come to her face and when he tilted her head to look at him, that small amount of jealous she had was wiped away. Her slight smile grew until she was beaming and she kissed him back, laughing softly when he grinned at her like that. She snuggled up closer to him, smiling at the way his head nuzzled against hers and she relaxed there, listening to the rest of his story. The story of what had happened to his parents was a sad story. So, he had lost his parents too? It seemed that they were both in the same boat. They both missed people dear to them and both understood the pain it caused to go through such a loss. She could hear the pain in his voice, and the struggle it was for him to tell her about the loss of his father, and how his death during that invasion had caused his mother to go off of the deep end and get herself killed trying to attack the humans single handedly. Hearing his weak laugh and his apology, she shook her head and looked up at him, moving to kiss him with as much love for him as she could muster, before pulling back, giving hi a gentle smile, "Serix....you don't have to apologize for telling me something like that. They were your family. And if you even want to talk about them to me, then so be it. We're here for each other and that includes helping each other when we remember those times of loosing those who who were important to us." Kissing him once more, she nuzzled herself against him, doing as he had asked and started talking about her own life before she had met him, "Human society is...much different than Lunairan it seems. Every child went to school, we were very social. In fact, being social was very important to humans and parents would worry if their children didn't have friends. I had a few friends myself, but they were mostly boys. I wasn't much for playing with dolls or dressing up like other girls were. I preferred playing games with the boys. Male and females weren't regulated or separated. In fact I would actually sometimes get into fist fights with some of the boys." She laughed slightly, "But, strange thing was, the ones I would get into fights with were some of my closest friends. But the closest was a boy named Ryan. His father worked with mine and we went to the same school, so we saw each other a lot. We would fight a lot, but at the same time, if anyone tried teasing me, he was the first one to stand up for me and knock them back into place. Same with me, if anyone dared to making fun of them I gave them a good punch or two to let them know it wasn't okay." She smiled, "It was fun being a kid in human society. We didn't have anything to worry about. Humans weren't mated a young age like twelve. In fact, that sounds really weird to me because I'm so used to seeing people older getting married. Oh married is the human version of becoming 'mates'. They got married at ages that were probably between twenty and thirty mostly. I know my mother didn't marry my father until my father was about twenty two." "My parents were really loving people. They always wanted what was best for me and always backed me up with whatever I wanted to do. They loved each other very much too. My mother she had violet eyes and black hair, but as a kid, I didn't think much of it. Even when she would hide her eye color by putting in colored contacts to make her eyes green I didn't think of it as weird. When I asked her, she would just say it was to keep us same and that was it. I took that answer and never questioned it. Besides my mother, you were actually the first Lunairan I had seen and so what my mother was didn't click until I noticed how your features matched hers and that she was Lunairan." She shrugged, "I guess it still feels weird, to think your whole like you are just human, then to suddenly find out you aren't what you thought you were....it kind of turns your world upside down." She sighed and went on, "Then there was my father. He was a very mature man. He always was smiling when I was around. And he would often take me here with him when he worked on the robots. He woudl even teach me how to fix them. He and his fellow co-workers called me a child prodigy at machinery. Ryan would sometimes come two and he would always get so jealous." She laughed, "It made him try harder though and he actually got pretty good at building robots as well. Not as good as me, but pretty close." She smiled softly, "It was a good life Serix. I never thought it would end." Now it was her turn to frown and she held his hand tightly encompassed in hers as she thought about it, "But, it did." She took a shaky breath, "I was around six years old when the invasion happened. I was out with me mother shopping and it was sometimein the afternoon that the panic hit. I remember seeing the ships. I remember my mother rushing to go find my father. It was very....scary. We finally found my father at home, but by the time we found him, there was so much chaos going on outside that it would be near impossible to leave the house. I'm sure you can tell by the way he built all of this that my father was a very...cautious man. Well, he built a small room hidden inside the house for emergency. They put me in it." Even just thinking about it made her shiver and made her chest tighten, her breath catching in her throat for a moment. It took her a little bit to calm herself, her shaky hands holding on to his as she focused on him sitting next to her and not on the memories. "It was dark....and small....my father tried to get my mother to go into the room with me. I remember hearing them argue quietly, but I could never make out what they had been saying. It was the first time I had ever seen them really argue. But, after a little while, they stopped and they were very quiet. Then they both came in the room. They hugged me and both of them gave me a kiss. They told me they loved me and to stay there in the room until someone came for me. And then, they left." She swallowed, holding back her tears, "That was the last I saw of them. I remember...I remember hearing my father yelling....and my mother screaming....and gun shots....then complete silence." She felt her chest tightening and took a moment to calm herself some more, burying her face in her hands and taking deep breaths. Finally she curled up against him again and continued quietly, "My Uncle, my father's brother, he came to the house and found me. I went with him and we were pretty much on the run. Your kind were gone, but the virus had really made people crazy. The early stage of the virus would cause them to turn into animals. They would attack and kill anything that moved. After that stage they got really sick. The virus would affect them for about a week before they would finally die. Those who didn't catch the virus early on got violent. The scare of possibly catching it, running out of supplies, and the lack of laws made it so people were hurting and killing others just because they could. My Uncle was an ex-military man and so he was able to protect us and, well, 'take down'(kill) anyone who did try to attack us. We lasted a long time together. But, he was only human. When I was fourteen he finally caught the virus...he started going crazy like all the others but had managed to keep himself under control until the time of the real suffering came. I could days in he...he told me to kill him." She shut her eyes tightly, "I said no, but, after a little while....I knew if I didn't he would just kill himself anyway. So...I shot him." She ran a hand through her hair in frustration thinking about the tough choice she had when deciding whether she would kill him or not, "After he was gone, I was on my own. About a week after his death I came across the airport and made that my home." She sighed and nuzzled her head more against his in a motion that comforted her and let her know that she was here with him and not in that time of her life anymore, "A few years passed and the human race began dwindling more and more. The last time I saw another human was when I was maybe sixteen? But, even then, it was still dangerous to approach other humans, so we just passed each other by without a word. At the time I didn't realize it was the last human I would ever see." She sighed and shrugged, "That's basically it. The horror story of the extinction of the human race."

Serix listened to Cassie’s story in silence, taking in her every word. He knew the virus his people created had been gruesome, but he never knew exactly what it did to humans. To think that it transformed them from intelligent beings into mindless beasts made his stomach turn. He could only imagine how frightening it must have been to see your friends and family change like that, only to go on living in fear of when it was your turn to catch the Plague. What a terrible way to go. He held Cassie tighter as she went on to describe the deaths of her parents. He had already known they were gone, but to hear her talk about it out loud sent a knife through his heart. They died because his people were too selfish and stubborn to cooperate with the humans. Even though it wasn’t his fault, the thought made him feel guilty. Cassie’s next words only served to further depress him. She had had to witness her only remaining family member catch the virus and slowly lose his mind. Even worse, she had had to kill him with her own two hands. She had been through so much, and it was all the Lunairans’ fault. He wished he could turn back the clocks and do something to stop the higher powers from sending the Plague, but he had only been a child at the time. Even if he could go back, there was nothing he could have done to prevent anything. “I’m sorry,” Serix murmured, kissing her lightly on the forehead. “It looks like we’ve both suffered from this invasion, but… at least we found each other, right? That has to count for something.”

When he kissed her forehead and held her tightly to him, Cassie was able to relax a little bit and snuggle herself closer to him, nuzzled her head lightly against his before she smiled up at him slightly, "Yeah. That counts for a lot of things." Sighing, she stood up, stretching, "What an emotional morning." She said with a small grin his way in an attempt to lighten the mood, "Come on, Serix. Lets go get something for breakfast and then we can talk about how to pass the time for the rest of the day while we eat." With that, she walked with him to the food storage, grabbing a can that had tangerines in it. Sitting down, she began eating, thinking to herself, "Serix, how about after breakfast we try some more practice with our mental connection. I'd love to see more images. And, who knows, maybe if we keep practicing maybe soon I can show you images of Earth. Well, earth before it became this wasteland that is." Yes, earth with its bright blue skies, tall shining buildings, and hundreds of people walking about the streets trying to hurry and get place to place as their normal routines went on. Yes, normal stuff for her, but for him it would be new information to take in and see, and she was sure he would really like that with how interested in humans had had been since she knew him. "And....maybe a little after that....now that I have that door fixed....I was thinking I might go through those four boxes in the hidden storage...I at least want to see what else is in there. Maybe bring them to the bedroom to go through them so they aren't hidden away any more. Do you think you could help me with that?" In other words, she was hoping he could at least be there with her so she wouldn't have reason to start crying when going through them. And if she did, at least he would be there to comfort her.

Serix followed Cassie to the food storage room and grabbed another can of strange Earth fruit. He sat down to eat while Cassie suggested that he continue to teach her telepathy. Her remark that she might be able to show him what the planet used to look like caught his attention. He was especially interested in seeing the humans’ society and inventions. The dilapidated buildings and roads only gave him small glimpses of what the Earth used to be. “Sure,” he said. “And maybe I can show you what life was like on the ship, although it’s not nearly as interesting.” “And...” Cassie went on. “Maybe a little after that... now that I have that door fixed... I was thinking I might go through those four boxes in the hidden storage... I at least want to see what else is in there. Maybe bring them to the bedroom to go through them so they aren't hidden away any more. Do you think you could help me with that?” “Of course,” Serix replied, offering her a gentle smile. He could tell that she was still uneasy about going through her parents old things. He didn’t blame her. All of those memories and reminders would be difficult to face. He admired her for being strong enough to go back and confront them again. After they finished eating, Serix got up and held out a hand to help Cassie stand, “Let’s go work on your telepathic skills.” He guided her back into the hallway and sat with her on the floor in the same position they had been in last time: directly in front of each other and close enough for their knees to brush. He held her hands again and met her gaze. It was strangely ironic how they had done the same routine merely two days ago, but now it felt so much more natural. He didn’t feel like he was fighting an internal battle over his emotions for Cassie, and his heart didn’t race with anxiety and discord. This was much more pleasant. “Close your eyes and remember to signal if you feel faint,” Serix instructed her calmly. He followed suit, closing his own eyes and leaning forward to touch his forehead to hers. He tapped into her mind and continued to speak to her mentally. Your brain needs to be exercised like your muscles. The more you work at it, the longer you’ll be able to maintain a link with me, okay? So, let’s just work on your endurance for now. Try to reach out to my mind like you did before, but don’t speak. Just try to hold on to the connection for as long as you can and let me know when you need to stop.

It was so easy to hold Serix's hand and follow him out into the hallway this time. In fact, it left her almost laughing because just a couple of days before doing this had left her feeling light headed and so anxious. Now everything was so different. When they sat down on the floor of the hallway, close to one another, her gaze meeting his, and when hr blue eyes met his, a bright smile came to her face. And when he told her to close her eyes, she nodded, doing just that, letting her forehead rest against his, her hands resting calmly in his as she listened to his voice inside her head. She took deep breathes, remembering what he had told her before about imagining a tunnel opening up between their minds. This time, with her not being so anxious about being so close to him and so relaxed, it actually made it a little easier to find the connection. There was link between the two and it felt so natural and right to be connected to him. She took deep breathes, focusing in attempt to keep the pathway between the two of them. It lasted a bit longer than it had before but as much as she regretted it with this connection feeling so nice, she had to give hs hands a squeeze after a couple of minutes passed. She took deep breaths to steady herself and opening her eyes she looked at him, giving a small smile, "Well, that was easier. But I still think I might need help getting back to the room." She said with a slight laugh, looking up at him.

Serix smiled when he felt the connection open up between their minds. He stayed as still as he could, as if he could enhance Cassie’s focus by his lack of movement. He remained like this for a few minutes, calmly enjoying the sensation of their closeness. He always liked two-way links. Feeling the other participant’s essence was an intimate experience that brought Lunairans closer together. He had practiced and applied two-way telepathy many times, but this particular bond was strikingly different. Maybe it was because of their emotional bonds, or maybe it was because of Cassie’s human side, but Serix felt something he could only compare to physical warmth when she completed the link. It was unexpectedly pleasant. Serix felt Cassie squeeze his hands in their signal that she was getting tired. He cut off the connection and opened his eyes, meeting Cassie’s blue-eyed gaze. She looked tired, but not nearly as pale as she did the first time they tried this exercise. She was progressing much faster than he expected her to, going from a time of just two seconds to two whole minutes. If she continued at this rate, they might even be able to start conversing soon. “Well, that was easier,” Cassie said, looking up at him. “But I still think I might need help getting back to the room.” “Oh really?” Serix replied with a wry edge to his voice. “That innocent smile of yours isn’t fooling anyone, Cassie. You know you just can’t keep your hands off of me.” He grinned at her teasingly. “I guess I’ll have to satisfy your neediness.” He helped her stand up and then slipped one arm around her back and the other arm behind her knees, sweeping her off her feet in one clean motion. “Back to the room, we go,” he smirked at her mischievously as he walked down the hall, carrying her in his arms.

Cassie gave him a look that was half annoyed, yet a playful smile still on her face when he spoke of not being able to keep her hands off of him, "Yes, and that does including socking you and pushing you to the ground." She let him help her stand u and she had been expecting to be helped to the room as he had done the other day, with his arm around her waist and half carrying her as they went along. But, when he pulled her to her feet, he did something she wasn't expecting and wrapped his arms around her back and behind her knees, lifting her off of her feet in one swift movement. When he did this she yelped, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck. When the feel of possibly falling washed away and was replaced by the comfort of him holding her, she couldn't help but laugh. Looking to him as he carried her, she met his mischievous smirk with her own bright smile, "Well, this is very romantic of you. I'm pleasantly surprised." She was very content to let him carry her, her head resting on the front of his shoulder, "This reminds me a lot of couples on Earth. When they would first get married it was tradition for the humans males to carry the females like this into their home. But they would carry them like this other times too. My father would carry my mother like this around the house all the time. It always made me mother so happy and my father would always enjoy seeing her smile like that. It always made me happy too, seeing them like that." She smiled at him again, letting her blue eyes meet his own as she leaned up to kiss his lips, "I guess what I mean to say is, its nice, Serix." They made it back to the bedroom and when she was set down on one of the beds, she smiled at him again, "I don't think I need to sleep this time. Just rest for a few minutes."

“Well, this is very romantic of you,” Cassie said while Serix carried her back to the bedroom. “I’m pleasantly surprised.” “Surprised?” Serix said with a mock frown. “Don’t have such little faith in me, Cassie. I can be romantic when I want to. Besides,” He paused in his walk and leaned in close to give her a blatantly flirtatious smirk. “If I was like this all the time, you’d grow numb to my natural charm.” He planted a quick peck on her cheek and continued carrying her to the room. Cassie leaned her head on his shoulder and went on to describe how their position reminded her of human mates. Apparently newly mated —or newlywed. He still had to get used to human terms— human males would carry their mates like he was doing with Cassie. He had never heard of it before, but the practice was an interesting tradition. He smiled to himself. It seemed like he and Cassie were acting like mates according to human culture as well as Lunairan. This inevitably led him to another question. It was obvious now that they both wanted that kind of relationship, but they had left their cultures behind. Most of the Lunairan traditions were impossible to carry out without a third party, which they didn’t have, and while Serix still didn’t know much about human methods, he could guess that they were similar enough. He didn’t want to be trapped in the unofficial nature of their relationship, but he wasn’t sure how to get out of it. They had no traditions to fall back on. Serix then thought of something else. What if they invented their own mating rituals? Humans apparently made things all the time when they still populated the Earth. Creativity was the one area in which they always seemed to outclass the Lunairans. Maybe he could try to adopt their ways of thinking. It wouldn’t be a bad thing for him to be a bit more flexible. They entered the still-dark room and Serix set Cassie down on her bed. She looked up at him, “I don’t think I need to sleep this time. Just rest for a few minutes.” “Don’t overexert yourself,” Serix said, shaking his head. “Just lie down for a bit. I’m going to go turn these lights back on. I’ll be back soon.” He put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her down until she was lying with her head on the pillow, and then pulled the blanket over her and headed back out into the hallway. He went to the generator room Cassie had shown him before, where he found the breaker that controlled the lights in all of the rooms. He flipped the switch for the bedroom and closed the box again, exiting the room and making his way back to Cassie. The whole trip took him no longer than three minutes. “That’s much better,” Serix nodded when he entered the lit room. He crossed over to Cassie’s bed and sat down on the edge, hesitated for a moment, and then turned to her. “So… I was thinking. From what you’ve told me, and from what I know myself, it seems like we’re acting like a mated couple by both human and Lunairan standards. Why not just seal the deal?” He flushed slightly and scuffed his foot at the floor. “I mean, I know we only just confessed yesterday, but it’s not like either of us are going anywhere. We’ve just got each other, and there’s no point in waiting… so why not make it official?”

Cassie smirked when he basically forced her to lay back and cover up, laughing slightly, "Oh look, another example of your 'natural charm'. Forcing a girl to rest when she doesn't even need or want it. Such a lucky woman I am." She joked, watching him leave and sighed, staying there as he said, staring up at the dark ceiling for what seemed like a long while. Just in a little over a minute though the lights in the room had flickered on, making her blink and try to adjust to the new lightening. She had just gotten used to it when Serix walked in, sitting on the edge of her bed. When he started speaking, she sat up a little bit and listened to his words, a bit stunned at what he was suggesting. It was really strange, how fast their relationship was moving along. And yet, this all just felt so natural. It felt like the two of them were just supposed to be together and be so close like this. And so, when he proposed something so strange as to getting married--- or in his case mated---Cassie wasn't weirded out by it at all. In fact, she was thrilled at the thought of getting married to Serix and that he wanted to get married as well. He was basically proposing to her right then and Cassie really felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Growing up in this wasteland, trying to survive, she had never thought she would get a proposal from anyone, and here she was. She couldn't ask for anything more. Smiling very brightly and happily at him, Cassie nodded quickly and leaned forward, her hands on his cheeks as she kissed him, laughing slightly under his lips, "Serix, yes." She looked him in the eyes, as happy as ever, "Let's make this whole relationship of ours, as crazy and strange as it is, offical, Serix."

Serix returned Cassie’s smile when she agreed to his proposal. He hadn’t been sure how she would react, since he had suggested it so suddenly. The fact that she was willing to become his mate overjoyed him. It didn’t matter that they had only known each other for just over five days. If he had been mated to a Lunairan female back on the ship, he only would have known her for twice that. He wondered if humans were the same way. Maybe their courting rituals were even shorter, and that was why Cassie was so quick to accept him? Either way, she had said yes. That was all that mattered. He leaned forward on the bed to wrap her in a one-armed embrace and leaned his forehead against her own, closing his eyes serenely, “I’m glad you think so, too. Now we just have to figure out how we’re going to make this happen.” He pulled away again and opened his eyes, meeting her gaze. “I was thinking we could combine our traditions, that way we could incorporate pieces of our pasts to form something new for our future. “Let’s see,” Serix paused to think. “In my people’s society, mating rituals are extremely important because there are so few of us left. More mated couples mean more children, which in turn mean a growing population, so it’s always a big event. Traditionally, the ceremony begins with a dance that is open to any other mated couples who want to join in. Single males and females aren’t supposed to be friendly with each other in that way, so they have to wait on the side. “During the dance, the pair to be mated have their wrists tied together with a thin, white rope. The male’s left hand is tied to the female’s right. The bond is supposed to symbolize their unity through being mated. It’s also helpful because it marks the couple apart from everyone else. It’s not hard to lose track of them in a crowd of dancing Lunairans, so the rope helps identify them if needed. “After the dance, the already mated couples join the single males and females around the sides of the room, leaving the celebratory pair alone in the center. They are met by a Lunairan appointed by my people’s leaders to officiate the rest of the ceremony. He delivers a speech —I don’t remember all the words— and unknots the rope that ties the couple together so their hands are free. Next, he has them recite pledges to each other and to the society as a whole. For example, the male promises to take care of his mate and children, the female promises to continue the family line, and they both promise to do everything they can for the benefit of all Lunairans. Those are just a few of the pledges they make, among other things. “Once the pledges are done, the officiator gives them a cup filled with diluted nectar from a flower on my home planet —there’s a small, synthetic garden on the ship— and they drink it. This is supposed to bring good fortune to the couple, and the nectar is apparently good for fertility rates or something. I can’t remember exactly what it does or how it works. “When the cup is drained, the male and female are officially mates. All of the spectating Lunairans leave, and the officiator sends the new couple to an adjoining, curtained-off room where… well… where they can have some privacy,” Serix shrugged. “So that’s how my people are mated.” He met Cassie’s gaze. “What kinds of traditions do humans have?”

Cassie listened very closely to all that he had to say. A lot of what he said made sense in terms of his people. They had so few of them left that of course becoming mates with someone was pushed so much, and even more so having children with said mates. That brought her mind to other things. Were she and Serix going to have children? If not after their marriage, later? Would it be okay for them to have children living in hiding as they were? Cassie would have loved to live life as if things were normal, and to have kids of her own someday. But, would it me safe, if not for them, for the children? She wasn't sure what to think about all this in question, but there was always plenty of time in the future to discuss those possibilities with Serix. When he was done speaking of all the different traditions, she smiled, "Those are really good traditions. In fact, some of them are similar to human traditions." She sat back, thinking a moment, "I only went to one wedding when I was a child, and I've seen a few pictures and read some books that involved weddings, so I can tell what I can remember at the least." She brushed her hair back and moved to snuggle up against him as they sat there, "In human society, weddings weren't really something important necessarily, but it was something we all wanted. It was mainly a symbol of two humans' love for one another, rather than keeping our species going. There were people who even went their whole live without getting married because they didn't find someone they loved." Sh shrugged and continued, "The two humans would start off with dating. Humans were more open to physical relationships than your people are and so things like holding hands, kissing, and other things were considered to be normal as well. It was considered romantic and the way of wooing a female. They would date for anywhere from months to years until finally the male would ask the female to marry her. He would get down on on knee and essentially say 'will you marry me?' Most of the time the female would say yes, and unfortunately sometimes she would say no. Getting married wasn't something meant to be forced, but something that was just natural between two people." She smiled at him, thinking how it was like that with them. So natural. "If she said yes, he would put an engagement ring on her finger and the two would plan the wedding. This usually took a few months to a year. The families and friends of the bride and groom were invited and close friends and immediate family members woudl even participate in the wedding as well. The woman would have her close friends stand next to her as bride's maids and the groom would have his close friends stand next to him as grooms men. They are just basically there for support as typically the big decision to marry someone was nerve wrecking for both the bride and groom." She laughed at that thought. Surely she wouldn't be like that when she and Serix got married, "Well, at the beginning of the ceremony, all the guests are seated and the groom stands at the end of a aisle with a priest or pastor, a religious figure in human society who will run the ceremony, and they wait for the bride. The bride is supposed to look beautiful. Absolutely stunning. She wear make up, and wears a gorgeous white wedding dress. She's walked down the aisle by her father and her father gives her over to the husband. The pastor will say a few words, go through some passages, and then, if they want, the couple can tell each other their own personal vows before the official vow given by the pastor. It was always the same. For instance if it was us getting married he would ask you , 'Do you take Castiel to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poor, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?' and you would say 'I do'. Then he would ask me the same them and I would say 'I do'. After that, he would say, 'Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride.' We would share our first kiss as a married couple in front of everyone. Then after words, the couple has a big party called a reception. Everyone comes and first the couple has their first dance together by themselves while everyone watches. Then there is the wedding cake, dancing, games, food, speeches. It's just a really fun experience." She smiled and continued "After everyone has their fun and its time to end the reception, the newly weds leave and go someone special for their honeymoon where they have, as you put it, some privacy. The honeymoon is usually somewhere fun too, so they can go on trips and explore new places and enjoy their time together as newly weds for a while." She looked up to him, "Some things were the same in our two people's ways. But a lot of things were different. What should we keep for our wedding you think?"