A/N: I revamped this chapter a little bit, though only the end bit's added. Nothing vital has changed. Just wanted to add a little more UST. :-)
Krit arrived in Seattle the next night in a car that he had borrowed and didn't intend to return. Or rather, he arrived after ditching said car in an abandoned lot right outside Seattle, then sneaking past the sector checkpoint.
Syl was there to greet him. "Hey, Krit," she said with a smile, hugging him tightly.
He hugged her back. "It's good to see you, Syl."
He still smelled like Krit, all pine and leather and soap. In the back of her mind Syl kept a catalogue of people's smells, like normal people kept their friends' addresses and phone numbers. Too much wolf in her cocktail, or something. She wondered what she smelled like. And whether Krit noticed what she smelled like.
"I found us a place to stay," she told him as they walked towards Joshua's house. "But our host is kind of..."
"Weird?"
"Different," Syl amended. "Max said he was the first transgenic Manticore ever made."
"So..."
"So he bears a strong resemblance to Zane's dog."
"Ah."
"And there's another X5 staying with him."
Krit looked at her. "One of us?"
She shook her head. "He was let out with all the other transgens in Seattle last month. But he..." She hesitated, then pressed on. "He's Ben's twin." Glancing at Krit in the dark, she could see the muscle in his jaw tighten. "There's nothing wrong with him," she hastened to add. Remembering his infuriatingly smug attitude, she amended, "Well, nothing vital." She looked up. "Anyway, we're here."
They walked up the front steps. Syl rang the doorbell, hearing it echo inside.
"Who is it?" a deep, muffled voice called. Syl recognized the voice as belonging to Dogboy—Joshua.
"It's Syl," she yelled back. "Max's friend."
Seconds later the door opened to reveal a 6-feet-plus, half-man, half-dog creature. Syl nearly took an involuntary step back, but stopped herself. "Hi. You must be Joshua." She stuck her hand out.
Joshua looked at her hand for a moment, then grabbed it and pumped it up and down. "Welcome!" he exclaimed.
Well, note to self: he not only looks like a dog, but he smells like one too. She could tell Krit was trying not to laugh. "Thanks for letting us stay here," she said.
"No problem." The words sounded awkward in his guttural voice. "Come in. Max and Alec be back soon."
"That's fine," Syl assured him as they entered the house. "By the way, this is Krit. He's another friend of Max's."
She smiled the sweet smile of revenge when Joshua nearly took Krit's arm off in greeting him. Just then, a familiar voice sounded behind her in the foyer. "Hey, Joshua! You in there, buddy?"
"Alec!" Joshua called, clearly delighted to see him. At least there's someone who is. "More guests!"
Syl could feel Krit freeze behind her as Alec walked into the room.
"Syl," Joshua said, pointing to her. "And Krit."
Alec nodded to them. "Hi." He looked at Krit, clearly sizing him up.
"Hello," Krit said evenly. Although she couldn't see him, Syl knew he was returning the favor.
"Break it up, you two," she told them before turning to Joshua. Men. "Joshua, how many bedrooms does this house have?"
"Two."
"Perfect. Josh, you keep one, Krit and I will take the other, and Alec can sleep on the couch."
"What?"
"Unless, of course, you'd rather sleep with Joshua," she said sweetly.
Both Alec and Joshua made faces.
At that moment, Max made her entrance, carrying a large brown paper bag. "Hey! Sorry I'm late." She set the bag down and hugged Krit.
"Little Debbie?" Joshua asked hopefully.
"That's right, Big Fella," Max said, much like an approving kindergarten teacher. She tossed him a package of cupcakes, saying to the others, "I got some food with a ridiculously high sugar content to celebrate."
"Decent," said Syl with a grin. "Got any more cupcakes?"
Max handed her another package, this time with pink-frosted cupcakes rather than chocolate ones. Syl glanced at the label. "Vanilla cupcakes with artificially flavored strawberry frosting. My favorite." After taking one, she passed the bag to Krit.
She licked some frosting off experimentally, savoring the saccharine taste. And again. And again, until the cupcake was completely devoid of frosting. Feeling someone's eyes on her, she looked up to find Alec watching her. His eyes were dark, the way they had been when... She looked away quickly, forcing herself to refocus her attention on devouring the cupcake while keeping her tongue firmly behind her teeth. She didn't see Alec's gaze shift to Krit, who was glaring steadfastly at him.