Serix brought a hand to his face when Cassie asked what happened to him, suddenly remembering the scratch from his fight. It was a dead giveaway that there had been trouble. Of course, Sarah had to go and make things worse by telling Cassie and Ryan exactly what happened, only serving to worry his mate more. The light-haired male’s expression turned cold, and Serix recalled his harsh words about only giving him one chance. He turned to Ryan, his mind racing with possible explanations to defend himself if the human accused him of causing trouble. Unfortunately, none of his options looked good. Ryan didn’t seem like the type of person to lay the blame on one of his own people when he could pin it on an outsider, even though it [i]was[/i] Hunter who had started the fight in the first place.

[b]“Serix, you have to stay out of trouble,”[/b] Cassie said, wiping some blood from Serix’s cheek. [b]“I know it’s hard. And I know they aren’t exactly the best people to be around. But this is our home now. We don't need to be starting fights and bringing tension.”[/b]

“I know, I’m sorry,” Serix dropped his gaze to the floor. He hated hearing the disappointment in her voice, but he couldn’t blame her for being upset. She had left him alone for one hour, and he had managed to get into a fight and make a bad first impression on everyone in the compound, when they were both trying hard to get the humans to accept him here. It wasn’t exactly an accomplishment to be proud of.

[b]“Next time this happens, he’s going in the hold, Cass,”[/b] Ryan spoke up, glaring at Serix with contempt.

[b]“This probably wasn’t even his fault,”[/b] Cassie snapped, flying to Serix’s defense. [b]“I can about guarantee it was the other person's fault. Serix isn’t the type of guy to start fights, but if they touch him, he will sure as hell finish them.”[/b] Serix reached for her hand and gave it an appreciative squeeze. He had plenty of things he wanted to say to Ryan, too, but in order to avoid getting locked up, he decided it was probably better to keep his mouth shut and let Cassie do the talking. She didn’t seem to need his help, anyways, as she had no trouble putting Ryan in his place.

Ryan still looked unhappy, [b]“I don’t blame them for starting a fight with him. If I had the chance, I would—”[/b] He cried out in pain when Cassie drove her heel into his foot, and Serix had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. He was almost certain that he would get sent to the hold if he mocked the human leader now. Ryan muttered something under his breath before he spoke again to Cassie, [b]“Fine, whatever. Tone it down. I get it.”[/b] Serix frowned, wondering what that meant. He glanced at Cassie. What exactly happened between them during their hour alone?

[b]“We’re going to bed,”[/b] Cassie said to Ryan, ending the conversation. [b]“See you in the morning.”[/b] She turned and grabbed Serix, practically dragging him after her. He glanced over his shoulder to see Ryan looking visibly uncomfortable when they left together, although maybe it was just his sore foot. Either way, Serix decided it was probably best to avoid the human for a while.

Cassie spoke again as she led Serix back to their room, [b]“I hope it’s not like this forever. If so, I have a feeling I’m going to have to pummel both of you before you two actually start acting civilized.”[/b] Once they were back in the room, she sat him down on the bed and went to grab some of her supplies.

“I promise, I’m trying my best,” Serix said meekly. “But I can only handle so much abuse before I defend myself. I’m not just going to sit there and let them push me around like that, Cassie. Especially when they start getting physical.” He watched as she brought over her medical supplies and sat down in front of him, pulling out a small cloth that smelled of chemicals.

[b]“Hold still,”[/b] Cassie said, gently pressing the cloth to the scratch on his cheek.

“Ouch,” Serix said in monotone, wincing slightly.

[b]“I know it stings,”[/b] Cassie said. [b]“But it will get rid of germs and make it so it won’t get infected.”[/b] She pulled out a bandage next. Serix frowned. It was a shallow cut that would heal in a matter of days. He didn’t need a bandage for it. Cassie seemed to read his expression, because she spoke again before he could argue, [b]“Don’t say you don’t need this. Germs are worse on Earth then they probably are on your ship. Thing can get infected really easily and if that happens I doubt we have the right medicines to fight it. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”[/b]

“Okay, fine,” Serix gave in and let her put the bandage on him.

Once she was finished nursing him, Cassie put her medical supplies away and sat beside Serix on the bed, [b]“Serix, am I going to have to be worrying about you all the time?”[/b] She kissed him gently, and he returned the gesture. It was moments like these that made all the stress worth it and reminded him why here was here. If Cassie had been with him earlier, he might not have given in to his frustration and gotten into a fight with Hunter. She was definitely right when she said that they were a stronger team together.

[b]“I know it’s hard and a lot of these people are complete jerks,”[/b] Cassie went on. [b]“But I don’t want you getting hurt because of them. I know for a fact some of them would kill you and not feel a single regret. Just... please... refrain from getting into fights here. If not for yourself, then for my sake? I don’t want to have to worry about whether or not if I go somewhere I’ll come back to find you beaten up or worse.”[/b] She kissed him again and leaned into his side. He wrapped his arm around her and sighed, “I’m sorry. I’ll try not to let them get to me.”

[b]“Try to stay away from whoever did this to you,”[/b] Cassie suggested. [b]“In fact, don’t agree to be separated again. At least for now until we get a feel of what people are like here.”[/b] Serix nodded in agreement and Cassie looked up at him, [b]“Other than the fight, how did it go? Hopefully not all of the humans were rude to you?”[/b]

“They weren’t all completely awful,” Serix admitted. “Emily was friendly and there’s another one named Jacob who treated me like a regular member of the group, although I think I came off as temperamental to him because of that fight.” Serix shook his head and sighed again. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they all thought that now, but I swear I didn’t start it. Well… I [i]did[/i] say some things to provoke him, but Hunter wouldn’t leave me alone, and he was the one who threw the first punch.” He leaned his head against Cassie’s. “I’m sure he hates me now. I’m definitely going to avoid him for a while, but…” he pulled away from Cassie and met her eyes searchingly. “What happened between you and Ryan? Why did he want to talk to you alone?”