Abby knelt down as she saw a pair of eyes peek out between the low bushes. The squeaking noise the little animal made gave her the impression that she was looking for a cute fuzzy dog or cat-like creature, but she was surprised when a bulldog without fur and with large teeth came rushing out to greet Connor.

„Hey Nancy. How are you girl? Where's Sid? I want you to meet my friend Abby." He smiled whilst he stroked the strange little creature.

Abby had never seen a creature like it before, except in books when she'd been studying... it looked a lot like a dinosaur.. a small one, but definitely a dinosaur.

She extended her hand to touch Nancy but stopped before she really touched her. Connor looked up and smiled. „It's okay. Really."

Then he took Abby's hand in his and guided her to Nancy's head. The skin felt warm and not at all like she first had thought. It was a little rougher than human skin but the little animal turned away from Connor and scrambled over to where Abby's lap was.

Nancy seemed to like Abby scratching her and petting her, and gave contented squeaks.

Abby smiled, then heard more rustling in the leaves and a second, almost identical face appeared.

The blonde looked at Connor „How's it possible that there are two of them? Why are they here? And WHAT are they?"

„They are Diictodons, late Permian. They live in packs and are very social creatures. They got stranded here, just like Rex." With that he nodded up to the rafters of the habitat where Abby could see the green lizard she had met a few years ago.

Connor sat down Indian style now that the second Diictodon was practically in his lap. „So Abby, I'd like you to meet my friends. This one here is Sid and the little lady's name is Nancy. When we are here they share a room with Rex."

She looked at his face „When you are here?"

„Uh, yes. When I have to work I take them with me, I can't let them alone at home! You wouldn't believe how fast they can chew their way through a wall!"

Abby laughed but with one look at Connor's face she realized that he was telling the truth. She looked up at the other lizard. It was looking down with curious eyes at them.

„And Rex? He stays here all the time?"

Connor shook his head „No, not all the time. Sometimes he comes home with me too."

A wind gust on the back of her neck was all that prepared her. Abby felt a little gust of air on her neck, then she felt Rex settle down on her shoulder.

She held her free hand out to the Coelurosauravus. He immediately nudged her hand with his head. Abby smiled when the lizard allowed her to touch him.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Connor nod his head and stand up.

„So, now you've meet my friends here, do you want to see more or is it too much for you already?"

„There are more?"

At that Connor let out a chuckle. „Sadly, yes. So? Want to see them?"

-o-

After the little cute guys she just had met, the mammoth and the dracorex were a bit scary, but interesting none the less.

There were more than that but these two were the most memorable.

While Abby sat in what appeared to be Connor's office she tried to take it all in. There was paper all over the desk with numbers and formulas all over them. There were technical knick knacks on the shelves and pictures of dinosaurs on the walls. The pictures looked like the computer generated kind, but Abby knew now that they had to be photos of the creatures Connor had encountered. She thought about her day while she looked around.

This cute guy just breezed into her life when she needed it the most. He offered her a job every lizard girl would kill for.

It felt like a dream. The girl she shared a small flat with just told her last week that she had to move out because she wanted to live with her boyfriend. Abby had one more week to find a new room. And money was tight. This job was really what she needed.

When Connor came back into his office with two coffees she smiled as he handed her one of the cups.

"When can I start?" were the first words she said to him.

-o-

Connor waited in his car at the address Abby had given him.

They had agreed that she could start immediately. Lester was happy that they finally had someone for the dreaded Creatures again and Cutter liked her love for lizards.

Connor had seen that Abby was nervous around the two older man and since she seemed to be okay with him around he had stuck by here.

He'd offered to pick her up for her fist day and here he was.

A few minutes later the door opened and Abby stepped out. She screamed something and after dragging out a big bag she slammed the door close again.

On the second floor a window opened and an arm threw out a jacket and one shoe.

As Connor got out of the car he heard a girl scream "I told you to move out! I need the room!"

He got closer to Abby as she answered the unseen girl "You said two weeks! You can't just throw me out now! I already paid the rent for this month!" The window was closed hurriedly after that.

"Abby?" The young man approached her slowly as not to startle her and she turned around to look at him.

"Oh … uh … sorry. That was my room-mate Sherry. WAS being the keyword here."

"And now?"

She shook her head as to clear it and then answered "We go to work. I'll think of somewhere to sleep tonight later. I want to have a clear head for my new charges today."

TBC