Serix kept an eye on Hunter throughout the duration of their work, but the human did nothing to stir up any concern. This did little to comfort him. It felt like Hunter was just biding his time; waiting for the perfect opportunity to make his move. Or maybe Serix was just being paranoid again. The human was full of anger, but he didn’t seem like the type to come up with an elaborate scheme on his own. He was too impulsive for that. Yet still, Serix didn’t relax.

He and Cassie continued to work for the next few hours, picking the tiny fruits off of the bush and collecting them in baskets. There was a surprisingly large amount of them. Just when he thought he finished clearing one section of the plant, he would find a dozen more hidden behind a branch. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought they were multiplying. He and Cassie managed to fill two small baskets, but there were still plenty more on the bushes by the time Jerry and Victoria showed up to check in on them.

“How’s it coming, newbies?” the red-haired human leaned over their collection to inspect it. He nodded slowly, as if judging their work. “Good, good. You got a lot done it just a few hours. I think you’ve earned a sold B+ for your efforts. I can’t give you an A because I grade on a curve, and Tori will always be my number one.” He winked at the female at his side and she smiled softly. “Anyways, I think you two have earned a break. Dinner is in an hour. Feel free to enjoy the wonders of the Caves and its people until then.” He took Victoria’s hand and they walked off together.

Serix didn’t really feel like meeting up with any of the other humans for an hour. For one thing, most of them seemed to hate him simply for existing, and for another, he hadn’t been able to spend much alone time with Cassie. This free period before dinner was the first opportunity they had to enjoy each other’s company since the day before. So instead of going back to the dining hall to socialize with the others, they went to their room where they would hopefully have some uninterrupted time together.

Once they were back in the privacy of their room —or as much privacy as they could get with just a curtain divider separating them from the rest of the caves— Serix fell down on the bed with a weary groan. Working in the fields all day after enduring a sleepless night had left him exhausted. He hoped his insomnia wouldn’t last much longer; otherwise he wasn’t sure how he was going to keep up with the workload that came with living in the compound.

[b]“Farming will take a little getting used to,”[/b] Cassie said, grinning at him. [b]“It’s enough to wear you out, huh?”[/b]

“I’ll get used to it eventually,” Serix said, sitting up on the mattress as Cassie moved to join him. She positioned herself behind him and began massaging his shoulders. He closed his eyes and sighed as she worked his sore muscles, “Okay, that’s nice.”

[b]“You know,”[/b] Cassie said. [b]“Emily’s baby was really cute.”[/b]

“Mhm,” Serix replied lazily. The massage was making him a bit sleepy.

Once Cassie finished massaging him, she wrapped her arms around his neck in an embrace, leaning her head on his shoulder, [b]“Serix... what do you think? About having a kid? Would you even want to have a child with me? Or... is that not something you want at all?”[/b]

“Where is this coming from?” Serix asked, planting a kiss on her cheek while her face was next to his. “Of course I want to.” He turned around to speak to her directly. “I just don’t think that now is a good time. I mean, the humans are already making things difficult for us. Do we really want to get a baby involved, too? What if they treat it like they do me? I wouldn’t want to see my child go through that, Cassie. These caves just aren’t a good place for us to raise a kid.”