Serix smiled slightly at Cassie’s reassurance that Ryan didn’t mean as much to her as he did. He still didn’t trust the human male, but at least Cassie didn’t seem to have any feelings for him. The embrace the two had shared was just a friendly gesture, nothing more. However, he made a private note to set Ryan straight if he continued to try and win Cassie over the way he had been so far. His tolerance could only be stretched so thin, after all.

Putting his own problems aside, Serix was glad that Cassie wasn’t too uncomfortable here. He had no doubt that she would readjust quickly to the humans’ underground society. He just hoped that he would be able to do the same. Cassie was definitely right when she said that the half-bloods were outwardly untrusting of him. He wasn’t particularly afraid of them, but their hostility made him uneasy. He would have to tread carefully to avoid getting separated from Cassie and locked away in some hold.

“Hey,” Serix said gently when Cassie said she was worried about his safety. “You don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself. ‘One stray person’ won’t be able to do anything.” If the humans teamed up against him, however, he wasn’t quite as certain that he could defend himself against all of them. But for Cassie’s sake, he left that part out.

[b]“I think, to be safe for now, we need to stay together,”[/b] Cassie said, brushing a stand of hair from Serix’s eyes. [b]“You are not allowed to leave my side. Anywhere I go, you go. And anywhere you go, I go. If we stick together, then neither of us can get hurt by these people.”[/b]

“Yes, commander,” Serix gave her a teasing salute. “Anything else?”

[b]“And in the next few days we need to map out this place,”[/b] Cassie said softly, leaning close to his ear as though someone was trying to listen in on them. [b]“Just in case.”[/b]

“I’m way ahead of you on that one,” Serix said just as quietly. “Here.” He opened a telepathic link between them and sent her a mental image of the tunnel layout. He didn’t have much done, and he had only been able to make rough estimations so far, but he was fairly certain of his accuracy. Mapping and navigating were always things he had excelled at in his training back on the Lunairan ship.

[i]We’re in the third room on the right in that top left hallway,[/i] Serix thought to her. [i]Got it?[/i] He closed off the connection and spoke to her aloud, “We can build the rest of the map from there.”

Serix yawned and lay down beside Cassie on the mattress. The day wasn’t even halfway over, but he was already completely exhausted. Getting captured twice in a matter of hours was quite straining on a person. Still, he couldn’t let himself fully relax. Not yet. He had no reason to trust the humans enough sleep comfortably in their presence. He wrapped one arm around Cassie, habitually holding her close to himself, and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. “I love you,” he murmured as he began to drift off.

--

Serix slept lightly, so when the curtain to their room slid open, he was instantly awoken. He opened one eye and glanced up to see the green-eyed human standing in the doorway. His ears were red, though whether it was from anger or embarrassment at catching Serix and Cassie in a bed together, he couldn’t say.

Serix nudged Cassie awake and sat up, meeting the human’s gaze challengingly. The green-eyed male crossed his arms over his chest and glared right back, “Ryan wants me to show you around your new home.” His eyes drifted to Cassie, making it perfectly clear to which of the two he was speaking. “He has some business to take care of first, but he’ll meet up with us along the way. You can come back to your… err… [i]Lunairan[/i] friend afterwards. Let’s go.” He waved a hand, gesturing for Cassie to follow him. Instead, Serix got up and helped Cassie to her feet. He turned back to the human, “Wherever she goes, I go, too. We’re a package deal, so I suggest you try to get used to me now. It will make your life a whole lot easier.”

The human looked uneasy, “I don’t think Ryan—”

“In case you hadn’t noticed,” Serix interrupted. “I don’t care much about what your leader thinks. He’ll just have to learn to tolerate me, too, because as long as Cassie stays here, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Well…” the human faltered. He seemed to finally understand how pointless it was to argue with the Lunairan. “Fine. Just don’t blame me when he gets pissed off.” He pivoted on his heel and started walking, leaving Serix and Cassie to catch up with him.

“This will be a good opportunity to work on that map,” Serix said quietly when the human’s back was turned. He took Cassie’s hand in his and followed the green-eyed male down the corridor.