Serix held on to Cassie’s hand. He wished Ryan would leave them alone. It was one thing for the human to linger around Cassie because he missed their friendship. It was quite another for him to yearn for something more when she was already taken by another male, and Ryan had made it perfectly clear which of these two reasons brought him back to her side. Serix narrowed his eyes at him. It was not Ryan’s business to be possessive over [i]his[/i] mate.

The human caught sight of Serix’s hostile expression and shot him an equally cold glare, “I hope it’s safe to say that you didn’t sleep well either?”

“Oh, no,” Serix replied sarcastically. “Considering how welcome you’ve made me feel here, I slept [i]wonderfully[/i].”

Ryan looked like he had something else he wanted to say, but the tension was broken when the young female, Sally, rejoined the group. She was hauling a large, fluffy animal in her arms, which Serix assumed was this “cat” the others had mentioned. Her features brightened when she caught sight of her sibling and she hurried over to him, [b]“I brought Smoky for Castiel and Serix to meet!”[/b]

[b]“Well, isn't that nice of you,”[/b] Ryan said affectionately. [b]“Well you better show them before Gizmo gets rid of their interest in animals.”[/b] Serix stared at him curiously. It was almost impressive how quickly his expression changed from disgust to care when he addressed his sibling. Serix could see just how much he loved her.

Sally brought the cat over to Cassie first, dropping the gray animal into her lap. Cassie laughed, [b]“Wow, a cat. I like him. He’s really pretty.”[/b] The child looked pleased when she said this. Then, to Serix’s surprise, Sally picked the animal up and carried it over to him, dropping it into his lap next. She smiled at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something about the furry creature. He glanced at Ryan to find the human glaring at him with more force than usual. His dark expression sent a silent threat that said: ‘If you upset her, I will personally murder you.’

Serix turned back to Sally and gave her his best smile, “He’s very soft, and we don’t have cats where I come from, so he’s unique to me. I like him.”

The child looked pleased with his reply. She gathered the animal into her arms and looked up at Ryan, “I’m going to put him back.” When her sibling nodded at her, she hurried away.

“Props for not making the kid cry, alien,” the human called Monty said dryly to Serix. He nudged Ray, “I’m gonna grab something to eat before the good stuff’s all gone. Wanna come?”

“Sure,” Ray said. He turned to Serix and Cassie. “It was nice meeting you two. I’ll see you around— hopefully not in the infirmary.”

“That was a lame joke,” Monty shook his head as the two walked away with Gizmo loping along at their heels.

Once most of the others were gone, Ryan turned back to Cassie, “So, I was thinking that today we could get you properly settled in, Cass. Everyone who lives here has to help keep this place functioning. We all work together for the benefit of each other, so I want to introduce you to some of the jobs around here that you’ll be doing now that you’re staying with us.” He glanced irritably at Serix when the Lunairan cleared his throat. “You’re still on probation. You can work with us once you’ve proven yourself to be trustworthy. And quite frankly, you’re starting out in a pretty deep hole.” His eyes fell to the bandage on Serix’s cheek.

“How am I supposed to prove anything if I’m only allowed to sit around all day?” Serix argued. “I have to start somewhere.”

“Fine, you can come see the different jobs with me and Castiel,” Ryan said as if Serix didn’t have a choice in the matter. He looked back to Cassie, casually offering her a hand to help her stand up, “Come on, Cass. Let’s go.”