[b]“Well,”[/b] Cassie returned Serix’s teasing grin. [b]“It was my dancing that made you first kiss me. I assume I’d have to be pretty good at it for it to do that. So, yes, I am quite sure I could handle it with a little lesson from you of course.”[/b]

“Fair enough,” Serix admitted. He took Cassie’s hands as she pulled him to his feet and led him down the hallway. He was once again impressed by her swift recovery from their earlier telepathic exercises. Or maybe she was just spiting his attempts at making her rest. If she was, she was doing a good job of hiding her fatigue. Somehow he doubted she was faking it, though. With her fast-acting recovery, perhaps he could push her a little harder the next time they practiced. Maybe he could even have her try speaking a few words across the link.

[b]“Come on, Serix,”[/b] Cassie said as she tugged him to the robot hangar. [b]“You can teach me now. Let’s go find something to tie our hands up with.”[/b] She laughed and shook her head. [b]“That sounds so wrong.”[/b]

“What?” Serix frowned. “It’s not that strange of a tradition. The dance was always my favorite part of the mating ceremony, and that’s only [i]partly[/i] because the couples sometimes got themselves tangled up.”

Serix waited while Cassie searched for something to bind their hands with. She eventually came up with an old cloth, which she held out for him to take. He inspected the material, holding it out in front of himself to estimate the length. It was a bit short compared to the Lunairans’ traditional white ropes, but he could make it work. The only problem was the width of the cloth.

“I hope this isn’t important,” Serix said, taking the cloth between his teeth. He gave it a sharp tug and tore it slightly, and then used his hands to rip it along its length until he had two thin sheets. Only needing one, he set the other down on a nearby table. He wound the remaining cloth into something resembling a rope and tied one end around Cassie’s right hand. Next, he tied the other end to his left wrist. It took him a bit longer to do this since he could only make the knot with one hand, but he managed to do it on his own.

“There,” Serix waggled his bound hand and the makeshift rope forced Cassie to follow his movement. “Now you’re really stuck with me.” He led her over to the music device and turned it on —he had watched her do it the first time and remembered which button to press— and held out his other hand to her. “Ready?”