"Good afternoon ladies, let me show the three of you to your table." Dren said quietly and led the customers to an empty table despite their wide eyed ogling at him.

"You'll have to be louder than that." Elliot told him smartly with a smirk and sipped his cup of tea beside Corina as he eyed the Alien distastefully.

"I don't enjoy drawing attention to myself." Dren told him blandly turning his large eyes towards him.

"I'm afraid that's what you're going to have to do seeing as both Kikki and Bridget are off today." He replied tensely. Dren gave a low groan of complaint and turned back to his customers.

"So here's the menu for today, I'll be back in a little while to take your order. Good day." He told them all with a weak smile.

"Well how's the deodorant working?" Corina asked Dren slyly with a smile as he walked back to the table.

"I'm sure that you can tell me." He replied coyly and hurried off as a table called him over with a frantic handwave.

"You know he's still charming but I'm not feeling any...effects." She told Elliot who nodded his head in response.

"I'm glad it worked, although there's no way to disguise his good lucks." He replied and watched as Dren placed a large dessert platter on a table. And immediately was at the risk of being fondled and having his face groped.

"Dren, maybe you should stay inside the kitchen from now on." Zoey told him slowly after he detached himself from the girls on the table with a sheepish grin. "It seems safer, I can carry out the orders you started-"

"It's a kind offer Zoey but I'm sure that you need me more out here than Wesley does in there." He replied evenly.

"Okay then." She replied cheerily and ran off to serve some more customers. A few moments later and Dren heard a little shriek.

"Ah! Mark- Mark! Hi!" Zoey gasped, and bounded over to him. He greeted her warmly with a beaming smile.

"Hi there, Zoey I was hoping you would be working today. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time." He said to her and took a glance round the cafe.

"No-no! Of course not, come here and I'll find you a table!" Zoey told him happily and led him towards an empty one. "So what can I get you?" She asked him breathlessly. He gave a little laugh and blinked once, his thick eyelashes, fanned out perfectly she thought.

"Hold on there, I've only just sat down!" He told her. "So where's this menu?" He asked her teasingly.

"Right here!" She told him and passed him a copy of the menu. "We have a really good lemon cheesecake that's on offer now, and these sundaes are new to our menu!"

"I see you've learnt your lines well." Mark said teasingly and gave her a brilliant smile causing her to blush darkly.

"Zoey, we need you over here." A rich voice called her out over the noise.

"Huh? Oh right, I'm coming Dren!" As soon as she said that, her face paled and she grew a cold sweat. "I'll be right back M-Mark."

"Dren? Isn't that...the guy from the fair?" Mark said slowly, a frown on his face as he stood up. Zoey cried out in alarm but it was too late the Cyniclon was spotted and the teenager scowled darkly at him. Even worse was that Dren was now making his way towards her.

"Ah! Maybe you should get back into the kitchen Dren!" Zoey exclaimed hurriedly and pushed at his torso till the Cyniclon took a step back.

"But why Zoey? These desserts and drinks need to be out-"

"It doesn't matter, I need to get you-"

"Zoey, it's alright." Mark told her softly. He put a hand on her shoulder and she stopped her pushing to brush bangs out of her face.

"I-I-I don't know what to say." She said softly to Mark. Dren twitched his ears in confusion beneath his bandana as she put on a bashful expression and side stepped out of their way.

"We're cool. Clearly he's not going to be doing any damage if he's working in here." Mark said cheerily, "Hello...Dren."

"Hello human." Dren said to him blandly, his amber eyes registering distaste in the human's eyes but nothing more dangerous. The calmness this human exacerbated was odd, almost annoying at how calm and collected he appeared, similar to Elliot's behaviour.

"Ah! You can't call people human!" She exclaimed with a blush.

"Why not? You are humans after all." He replied quietly, he was rather aware that Mark was watching this exchange with interest. Avid interest.

"This isn't the time Dren!" She replied to him hotly, "Here give me some of them, I'll get these out." And she took several desserts and drinks muttered a hurried apology to Mark and ran off. Seeing as Dren would be impossible to move back to the kitchen, it was easier to make herself scarce.

"She seems rather highly strung today." Dren remarked and made to turn away from Mark.

"Hold on, after work I'd like to talk to Zoey about why you're here. I mean there's so many questions, that I need the answers to." He said with a pleading note in his voice.

"I am not the one with the answers." The Cyniclon replied evenly, his tone masking any emotion beautifully. Mark was dumb struck, this alien that emanated destruction at their last meeting was now serving cake to customers without a hint of emotion. "Perhaps if you take your seat and have something to eat, then Zoey will find time to explain to you."

"Right, yeah Zoey must know." Mark said quietly and returned to his seat as Dren began to serve tables again. An hour passed into the evening and Zoey finally sat down opposite Mark on his table, sighing with relief that the day was almost over.

"Sorry about keeping you waiting." She said lowly and stared apologetically at him. He gave her a small smile that was very brief.

"I think we may need to have a little talk." He said and looked pointedly over at Dren who was slumped over a table in exhaustion.

"I know you're going to ask how Dren is here, but erm...that isn't Dren. That's his older brother." She told Mark, her heart was beating at a fast pace.

"Why have they got the same name and face?"

"Erm...we don't know. He just turned up one day looking for work and that's all I know." Zoey told him meekly. Dren looked across at them, he had heard every word clearly and saw how uncomfortable she looked as Mark merely stared back at her. A slow silence ensured.

"Well if that's all..." Mark said slowly with disbelief and Zoey had such a sad expression that he nimbly changed subject, "So how was work today? It seemed pretty busy."

"Yeah, it was...I'm really tired. Do you wanna go out sometime Mark?" She asked him hopefully, quite glad of the subject change.

"Maybe another day Zoey, I can tell that you're really tired." He said kindly and Dren noticed how she failed to hide her disappointment, he flicked her ear once in mild annoyance.

"Erm well..." She mumbled and they sat there for a moment in silence.

"Zoey I came here to see you, won't you cheer up?" He asked her quietly. And she didn't reply. Dren stood up and made his way over to the table.

"Zoey, we're having a team meeting in the kitchen, you might want to join." He told her and she nodded still speechless. They walked into the kitchen which was empty since Wesley was down in storage stocking up ingredients.

"There's no one here." She said quietly and turned to Dren who looked at her with a soft expression.

"I know."

"So why did you bring me in here?" She asked him, her voice shaky as she felt his cool touch on her face. In reality he'd only put his hand on her forehead.

"Your rapid heartbeat was clouding my hearing. Clearly that human was distressing you, so I brought you in here to calm down." He told her quietly and looked at her face. "Still quite red. I should tell him to go."

"No don't!" She cried out and grabbed his arm. "I-I don't want him to go."

"It's too late." Dren told her simply and a second later they both heard the door open and close, accompanied by the lone sound of the bell jingling.

"Oh Mark!" Zoey cried aloud, her eyes welling up with tears. She ran back to his table but found only a note left for her.

"I'm sorry I upset you Zoey, I'll call you later to check up on you."

"That's very kind of him." Dren remarked blandly and she rounded on him with an angry look.

"This is your fault – if you hadn't showed up then he wouldn't be mad at me and he-" She ranted on and on for five full minutes. His ears were scorched well and truly by the time she'd finished.

"I apologise." He said flatly, his ears twisted away from the noise and he blinked once. His intelligence was remembering this short outburst of emotions. Clearly humans had very fragile tempers, what an annoyance. He turned away and went up the stairs to shower a habit he'd learnt, through a hygiene pamphlet, that wasn't frowned upon. Frankly it was a waste of time he thought as he washed his hair roughly with a sweet smelling shampoo belonging to Wesley.

"Dren?" Zoey's voice called outside the door, it was followed by a short knock on the door.

"I'm here." He replied switching the shower off. He stepped out with shampoo suds still in his hair and wound a towel round his hips tightly before opening the door. Anything he'd learnt, indecency was not tolerated.

"Is something wrong?" He asked her. He opened the door and saw that she had her back turned to him.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." She said quietly and he gave a small smile.

"It's alright, you humans have frequent out bursts of rage, just like Wesley does when the icing doesn't set right on a cake. That much I have learnt."

"I-no it's not just that. I shouldn't have ranted at you over Mark like that. Corina gave me an earful after you went upstairs." She said sadly and chewed her lip as she thought some more. Dren put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. "I'm sorry that I overreacted. I just thought he would flip on you seeing as you didn't...get on very well last time. But never mind, you can't remember that."

Dren sympathized with her and felt slightly sad. He reached an arm around her and pulled her against his chest in a rough embrace. "This is what humans do when other humans are sad. Your apology is accepted, there should be no shame in our friendship."

"Thankyou..." She gasped. He was far kinder than she'd even imagined him and his wet torso felt so sexy against her. They remained motionless for a moment until he let her go, he laid a hand on her shoulder and turned her away from him.

"I'll be out in a moment." He said cautiously and backed away but she followed him, almost doggedly into the shower room.

"I'm so useless..." She whispered lowly and her eyes welled up slightly with tears.

"You do know Zoey that there isn't a quality you possess that I want, you're not useless." Dren said, hoping it was an encouraging statement to her. Inside the room that was hot and full of steam he seemed even sexier to her despite his harsh comments.

She was powerless to resist looking at him as he backed away from her till he hit the wall. Tiny water droplets had settled onto his hair and gave him a dewy look, with his amber eyes blinking innocently at her. How she longed to run her hands over those muscles and through that hair. Already her hands were placed over his chest. He recoiled away from her touch as she edged even closer, her cheeks all a flush and eyes misted over slightly. "I'll be back out later." He said firmly, knowing too well his Cyniclon musk had an effect on females. It was stronger to Zoey than to the others, and he wondered why. Could it be that she was subconsciously willing to submit to him? He pushed her out of the shower room forcefully, before slamming the door closed and locking it. He exited the shower after a few minutes and found her sat on the floor next to the room looking very sad.

"It happened again didn't it?" She asked him quietly and he nodded. The smell of his deodorant was strong in the air but at least now Zoey could retain her senses.

"It is not your fault Zoey. Come let me offer you a chair in my room, it is what humans do for guests right?" He said lightly and walked across to his room, opening the door for her to enter first. "I have an idea that you feel the need to ask questions."

"Yeah, yeah I do." She plonked herself down on the only chair visible in the meticulously tidy room and looked up at him. He himself sat cross legged on the bed and stared at her unblinkingly. "Erm...I wanna know about you're species and how you think..." She mumbled in an embarrassed manner, "I didn't know when to ask you..."

"I'm sure you already know this Zoey, but how should I know when you yourself don't?" He asked her in an even tone, the masculine voice declaring his meaning even clearer. His fingers intertwined with each as he looked at her.

"Right...you forgot..." She said softly with an uneasy feeling. "You've changed a lot you know." She blurted out suddenly and he raised his eyebrows in amazement.

"And your subtly for such delicate matters is sorely lacking." He gave her a fanged grin that sent familiar shivers down her spine. Suddenly he didn't seem so different to her.

"Well you've changed but it's a good thing." She smiled back slowly. "Maybe we should go outside tomorrow after work? It'll do you good to learn more about the outside world, plus you'll be away from stinking Elliot."

"That'd be nice Zoey." He said flatly. She gave him a brilliant smile and he registered that there was no hot flush of her cheeks as she had when she smiled at Mark. Perhaps that was a good thing. He leant forward seeing her pleased expression that slowly waned into apprehension at his closeness.

"It's better for my ears when you are not screaming or shouting Zoey." He said honestly and she could see the truth in his eyes and they didn't lie. He leant even closer and licked her cheek once with his tongue. It wasn't a smooth tongue like a humans, but it was moist and rasped on her skin roughly. "That is my way of greeting a friend." He said softly. "So now you understand me a little better."

"I generally just say hi to a friend or hug them..." Zoey giggled feeling herself grow red.

And true to her word, tomorrow Zoey tugged him out of the cafe after work (without Elliot's permission) and into the soft evening light.

"Now this is the park!" She squealed excitedly running into the open grassland. Dren blinked around him in wonder, there was so much greener, life essences and sounds. He bent down to the ground and plucked a blade of grass, feeling its vessels snap between his fingers as he did so.

"Your world is so full of life. It seems a shame that humans destroy it." He muttered softly and dropped the blade of grass. He looked over at Zoey who was happily doing a cart wheel and her slender body was casting long shadows over the empty space.

"It feels so good to be finally out of the cafe and out with a friend!" She gasped and flopped onto the grass gratefully.

"Is this what humans do when you are happy?" Dren asked her curiously and he stood almost awkwardly beside her.

"Sit down you silly Cyniclon!" Zoey laughed and tugged at his jeans till he sat down slowly.

"I don't understand what we are doing."He told her stiffly and looked all around them in confusion. "Is this supposed to be fun?"

"It's called relaxing." She told him with a great sigh. "And I get to day dream all about Mark...he called me last night you know. And we made up, he said he was so sorry and promised he'd take me out!"

"He sounds humble." He replied,

"Yeah, he's perfect." She mumbled dreamily.

"So you say but you do not see." Dren said simply and she looked at him oddly. Her babbling about Mark often grated against his nerves.

"I can see fine..." She replied and he shook his head. His face was illuminated warmly by the sun, and his tense shoulders had relaxed finally, he leant back and placed his palms on the soft grass and stretched out.

"You do not see what I see."

"What do you see?" She asked him softly, she was enthralled by his soft tone of voice betraying his limitless knowledge.

"You call him perfect, but perfection is not a reality. Look at this sun light, you'd call it "beautiful" but look beneath the surface. Can't you see how the light is something much more than beauty? I can see how the life in this area is interlinking. The grass we are sat on, feeds off these rays of light whilst reflecting the other wavelengths. The insects crawling beneath us are talking to each other, chittering how they have borne sons and daughters. I can see how their lives differ to mine and how my life differs to yours...our difference is incredible. We shouldn't function together as "friends" yet we can sit here and still have life beating within us. That it's self is incredible. This entire planet...radiates nutrients and a primeval form of life..." He told her, finishing with a darker tone of voice. He pulled off his bandana after seeing that no one else was present and ran a hand fondly over his ears.

"That's pretty deep stuff..." She said quietly. "I guess you see a lot more things than I do..."

"I do." He told her with a lilting tone of voice. "What I don't see is how you are so sympathetic to your surroundings."

"What?" Zoey asked him with a more than quizzical look at him.

"You're human counterparts cause you to be so emotional. If a "pet" was dying, you humans tend to cry. I do not understand. Everything has a beginning and an end why should death be sad?"

"Well that's just us humans, we cry when things die." Zoey muttered awkwardly.

"Another example, your reaction to Mark was overrated. Just why did he do that to you? It wasn't a pleasant exchange and I'm sure he knew. But still you are not angry with him."

"It's because I love him..." She mumbled feeling slightly embarrassed and awkward at telling him. Dren flicked his ear in annoyance yet he did not fully understand why this notion pricked at his behaviour.

"Do you really?" He asked her gently turning his large amber eyes towards her.

"I...do?" Zoey began as she lost herself in that innocent face staring at her. "I mean I do!" She hurriedly corrected herself, and hugged her knees tightly looking away from him.

"I don't understand this fully. But no doubt I will soon with more experience of this planet." He said and turned away from her. By now more than half the sun had bled away behind the city they overlooked and the warm light was now accompanied by a chilly breeze, they sat in amiable silence. Merely enjoying the silence the opportunity provided for them.

"I love times like these." Zoey whispered and turned her head towards him. The Cyniclon seemed slightly more at ease now and he stared into the distance almost longingly.

"I find them...different." He told her slowly and she threw on a puzzled expression. "Perhaps we are too different to understand each other." And he lifted his own hand and stared at it thoughtfully.

"Oh let's forget your an alien for now Dren. You're my friend, no matter how different we are." Zoey said briskly and sat up. She took his hand and pressed her palm against his. His hand was considerably large but it was still similar save for elongated nails acting as the claws.

"We have the same humanoid shape I agree." He said stiffly feeling uneasy at her advances. She gave a little laugh,

"Try not to be so serious!" She giggled and gave him a smile. "I don't care if you have three fingers or no fingers. Fangs or no fangs." She said glancing at his mouth where the pure white showed slightly. "We're friends."

"I'm a Cyniclon and you're a human." He said blandly looking at her smaller hand. "It wouldn't work." He said stiffly and parted his hand.

"I think it would!" Zoey said enthusiastically, her expression showing that she was a little more than just crushed inside.

"And just why would you live in such an idealistic world?" He snapped at her and she stopped in her blithering. "I'm an alien. We have strange ways compared to you humans. Some I accept, others I will never."

"Well...what if I gradually showed you the ways of humans...maybe you'll learn to like us. And then we can be friends." She said to him meekly and he flicked his ear in response. She was playing on his curiosity. One weakness he hadn't managed to control just yet.

"Tell me more then."

"I knew you couldn't resist learning!" She laughed loudly and threw her arms around his neck, her head bumping into his clumsily. He stared at her in confusion, feeling an embarrassed blush rise to his face, he hurriedly tugged her off him.

"You're advances are far too obvious for my preference." He muttered and licked the back of his hand to groom his face, or rather to hide his embarrassment.

"Advances? Um...I'd prefer to think of it as the beginnings of our friendship!" She laughed and hugged him again. He was so much like a misbehaved child, resentful of the world but still had a yearning to know more. And she was going to teach him.