"Let's go to the zoo tomorrow Dren!" He looked up from the table he was wiping clean with a cloth and stared at her in amazement.

"The zoo? Isn't that the place where humans cage animals for their leisure?" He replied flatly and she cringed a little at his response.

"Well...when you put it like that...but really, they're put in there for conservation and stuff." She mumbled and gave a sigh, "But if you don't want to go we could just go the park again."

"No, no. It's alright, we'll go the zoo. It's a place I've read about before, but would like to see." He said straightening up with a smile. She gave a little cry of joy and gave him a hi-five before running off into the kitchens. Such a strange girl, Dren thought, he chuckled lowly at her happy expression. Lately they'd been spending more and more time together, whether it was exploring the outside world or just talking to each other to develop his vocabulary, they always made time for them both. "I do enjoy our time together." He thought with a smile and gave a last stretch. All this exploring did tend to tire him out. The constant flow of knowledge really did enrich his mind, not to mention the girl who insisted on constantly being by his side to educate him loosely.

"Here you go!" Zoey said cheerily and handed him a small container after she'd returned from the kitchen.

"What's this?" He asked taking it tentatively from her. But she only winked at him mischievously before tearing back into the kitchen again. "Hmm...I wonder." He muttered, already his sensitive nose had picked up a rather odd smell from the container. He yanked off the lid and was forced to suppress a rather odd expression, though his teeth gnashed together in surprise, his fangs showing slightly.

"Well do you like it!" Zoey demanded running back over to him with a fork. He looked at her blankly for a moment and prodded the contents cautiously.

"What is it?" He asked her and the girl dropped her jaw in amazement.

"It's a pancake! I made it for you – so go ahead and taste it!" She urged him on and pushed the fork into his hands. Her eyes watched him expectantly and they were so innocent he couldn't bear to say no.

"Err..." Dren stammered a little and looked from the blackened mess in the container to the determined and hopeful expression of his companion. "Must I?" He asked her weakly and that glare was all her needed for an answer.

Elliot felt the pages of his newspaper ruffle in his hands as a gust of wind blew past him and he looked up from the article he was reading. "Was that our esteemed Dren making a dash for it?" He asked Wesley who was busy stowing away his kitchen equipment.

"Yes, yes it was. I'm afraid he had a taste of Zoey's creation and it didn't suit his palate much." The man grinned at him with amusement and Elliot gave a little sigh. Moments later an ugly splattering sound came from the kitchen's bathroom which confirmed Wesley's little deduction.

"I really wish she would stop coddling him so much." Elliot groaned putting his paper down. "It's almost getting too friendly for my liking. It's always "Dren this, Dren that, Dren over here!"" He mimicked her with some venom in his voice. "It quite sickly to watch actually, she's like some sort of attention demanding child."

"Dren really is an entirely new person now Elliot, you could do with cutting him and Zoey some slack." Wesley replied good humouredly. "It's all because of her that he's opened up more to us."

"I do cut the, slack, I turn a blind eye to their little explorations don't I?" The teenaged genius replied sharply.

"Even so...It wouldn't hurt Dren to have a friendship with the Mew Mews-" Wesley began but hurriedly stopped as Zoey came rushing into the room.

"DREN! DREN!"

"Urgh..." Came a small voice and the bathroom door opened a crack to reveal a rather pale pointed face.

"Was it really that bad?" Zoey demanded tears pricking in her eyes, "I was going to make one for Mark too!"

"In all honesty Zoey, I'm amazed you actually managed to create something like this." The Cyniclon replied blandly, staring at her with his piercing eyes and her expression became slightly happier. "The creation really was something unique."

"I think that was a compliment..." Zoey mumbled and then brightened up, "Here- have the rest of it!" And she pushed the container into his slim hands. "I'm going to finish cleaning up before I go home!"

"A-Alright..." Dren replied uneasily, and glanced down at the black mess he held. "I don't have to eat this do I?" He asked Wesley who chortled and took it off him.

"No. No you don't." He laughed and scraped the failed pancake down the bin, leaving the empty container on the counter. "Just tell her it was delicious." He suggested cheekily and Dren nodded obediently.

"I'm glad to see Zoey isn't afraid of you anymore." Elliot commented dryly and the alien looked at him piercingly. "Those eyes of yours haven't been subtle when looking at something you find distasteful," The teenager stared back hard with his own ice blue ones. "But when you look at Zoey, either she doesn't notice it or your eyes become less aggressive. They soften up and lose their slitted appearance." Dren bared his fangs slightly and Elliot shrugged. "Just an observation." He added haughtily and picked up his paper again. Wesley gave him a sympathetic look and returned to his duties.

Dren walked slowly back to his room with a little scowl on his face. It was true what the blonde human had said. Zoey didn't look at him with the same expression as she did a few weeks ago. "Something had changed between us. Perhaps this is "friendship"." He felt closer to her than he ever did in all of his memories on Earth, it was something he treasured.

"There!" Zoey shouted and tugged his on arm like there was no tomorrow, she pulled him forcefully towards an enclosure and pointed furiously. They were now in a zoo as she eagerly suggested yesterday, and all the noise and smells was aggravating Dren slightly, as was the heat from the cap he had jammed on his head, with his ears tucked beneath it."It's a white rhino! They're really rare! I can't believe we get to see one!" And Dren gave the creature a glance over. It didn't look so impressive. Just a rather cumbersome beast sought for its horn, with a rather pungent aroma, and it made low bellowing noises that irritated his hearing.

"It doesn't look so exciting, and it's not even white Zoey." He mumbled and glanced around them. Her loud behaviour was attracting unnecessary attention, which was highly unnecessary seeing as he had a face that women would swoon over.

"Ey?" She gasped looking at him, "Don't say that! The zoo's a fun place, don't you like it?" And she waited with baited breath for his reply.

"It's not that I don't like it..." He began and glanced around again. "I just don't like the way people are staring at us." And he indicated with a quick look at the numerous individuals taking an interest in them.

"Oh...in that case, let's move on." Zoey said in a slightly abashed tone of voice. She ducked her head low and began moving rather inconspicuously as they left the rhino enclosure.

"Urgh, don't give me that sort of attitude." Dren groaned but with a smile on his face. "Look out school trip approaching." And he held her hand. He saw how her expression was suddenly a little red. They forged through the bustling mass of children, his hand keeping a tight grip on hers."It would be best if we weren't separated."

"O-okay." Was the quiet reply he managed to pick out from the hubbub of noise. "Are you embarrassed?" He asked after the stream of bodies had passed.

"Urh..." Was the rather gargled reply.

"That's not an answer Zoey." Dren asked and peered down at her face. Her human appearance had grown on him and he found an amusing sight how her face could change colour in accordance to their surroundings. "Look, you're red." He said pointedly with an impish grin.

"Ah! You don't need to say that!" Zoey shot at him quickly looking in another direction to avoid seeing his face.

"Well okay..." Dren replied with a sigh and let go of her hand. He stuffed them into his pockets and looked at the nearest zoo map.

"Sorry I dragged you out here...you really didn't want to come huh?" She said to him meekly and he chuckled.

"Perhaps we should go and see the gorillas...I'm quite interested in them." He said to her, flashing a brilliant smile down her way. And she bolted alert. "You shouldn't need to apologise to me Zoey, after all if I didn't want to come. You couldn't have made me." And he ruffled her hair playfully before tugging her by the wrist towards the gorillas. This sort of interaction between them was nothing too different, after all, holding hands to him didn't seem such an emotionally linked action. But to her, his touch was electric and sent jolts of excitement through her.

"You couldn't have made me." Sometimes Dren said things that haunted Zoey till late in the night. It was true her fear of him wasn't all gone, sometimes he'd react blankly and blunt about certain things. Sometimes a slice of personality would shine through and he'd laugh, joke, and tease her. But the real question was just how powerful was he?

"This thing is quite impressive." Dren muttered to Zoey and pointed towards a great silverback gorilla sat in a locked enclosure. Around them species of smaller apes were wandering freely having been deemed non-threatening by the zoo keepers, it was something similar to a walk in safari park.

"Tell me about...hey!" She exclaimed and looked down at her elbow. There was a small monkey, a howler monkey to be exact and its grubby hand was rummaging through her shoulder bag. "Get off!" She squealed tugging the bag out of its reach.

"Another primate." The Cyniclon chuckled lowly and crouched down to the floor so it could see the animal.

"Ah! Dren it's hissing at you!" Zoey cried out alarmed as the howler monkey revealed a score of sharp teeth amidst a threatening noise.

"It's alright, it knows I'm an animal. It just doesn't know what. Look at him, he's so scared." He replied to her coolly. And he opened his jaw widely revealing his own set of fangs that were something to shy at. Zoey let go of her bag to cover her ears as he gave a great roar of noise. It was a deep, deafening roar. A few seconds passed and Dren straightened up again, sweeping some hair out of his eyes. "There nothing to it." And he pulled her hands away from her ears gently.

"Just what did you think you were doing!" Zoey scolded him and whacked him on the arm lightly,

"I was just teaching the inferior creature who was boss." He said with a sigh and glanced down at the howler monkey, which was sat rigidly on the floor in mild shock holding the bag. "He'll be fine. Although I'd lose the lunch that you've got in your bag, it'll just attract more animals."

"Thank god there wasn't anyone around, but people would have heard! Let's go!" And she pulled furiously at his shirt and arm but nothing would make him budge. "What's the matter!" She finally asked, "It's not like you to be stubborn." Dren sniffed the air a few times.

"I knew it." And he pushed Zoey off him roughly. She grabbed her bag off the monkey and chased after him.

"Hey- what do you think you're doing?" She yelled and her jaw dropped as he catapulted over a fence, waded across a shallow moat separating the public and the main monkey island, and pulled himself onto the bank of the monkey enclosure.

"Hello...beast." He hissed with a smirk and tugged off his cap, dropping it to the ground carelessly. He looked ahead of him and saw the great size of the gorilla that was reared onto its hind legs with its great palms pressed against the wires of its cage. "You didn't notice me as a threat before but have you been waiting for a creature like me?"

"Are you insane!" Dren glanced behind and saw Zoey climbing out of the moat. Her legs and shorts were dripping in gunk from the moat as were his jeans. "You can't go around doing this stuff-" And he snapped his fingers. The frames that made up the gorilla's cage gave a low groan and creak, before falling into nothing but dust.

"He made me a challenge. What sort of male would I be if I didn't accept?" He told Zoey lowly and turned away so that he couldn't see the surprise etched so clearly on her face. She really wasn't good at hiding emotions.

"He didn't make a challenge!" She squealed indignantly.

The gorilla gave a loud hoot and pounded on its chest with its fists. "Hasn't he?" Dren asked her ironically. There was some baring of teeth from both oppositions and he heard Zoey take a few steps back. That was good. It meant he didn't have to restrain himself for her sake. "You might not be able to hear it but I can. This beasts wants to fight me for right of this territory. It appears to be a universal code of conduct between organisms and the fight for survival." And he grinned at Zoey, "And he's going to get the greatest fight of his life." Zoey balked a little at his fierce expression but he ignored it. The Cyniclon gave a howl and beat his own chest, playing at the gorillas own game but creating a much quieter rhythmic thump as he did. Above them heavy clouds lay low, their weight bearing down on the scene.

Then they lunged at each other, fangs bared, hands on each other's arms. One competitor was slender and hairless, and full of malice. The other was muscle bound, hairy and fuelled with the animalistic drive to protect ones territory. And now the heavens opened a down pour of rain on them. It soaked Dren's hair and made visibility low for him despite his keen senses. His claws hooked deep into the gorilla's sopping arm as the animal crushed its grip tightly on his biceps. The primate opened its great maw and canine teeth, baring them as did the Cyniclon as they fought in a power struggle. It was equal for an agonizing moment.

Eventually Dren felt his footing give way due to the slippery conditions, which was when the gorilla dealt him a great whack to his shoulder sending him sprawling to the ground. "Ack- damn beast had terrain on his side." He grunted to himself as he gathered his senses, his tongue tasted blood and he wondered where about it had come from. Already he could see the great animal lunging clumsily towards him.

"You can't take this on by yourself!" And he saw a soaked Zoey standing in front of him, she was shielding him with her frail, slim body.

"Are you insane?" He snapped at her, and felt a stir in him as he repeated what she had said moments ago. She was a female human and stood at less than a chance facing the gorilla.

"Come on Dren, drop the stupid challenge!"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY." He snarled at her and he got back to his feet. The primate was lunging even closer, its dark eyes stuck fast to Dren, the main competitor.

"NO!"

"SO BE IT." Dren roared and zipped around her with an alarming speed. "She won't be hurt. Not if I'm around. This is my fight, and mine alone." He barrelled straight into the surprised chest of the gorilla sending it flying a distance to land flat on its back with a wet thud on the drenched ground. He could hear cries of Zoey chasing after him and darted away from the animal's great flailing arms.

"Stop it- let's just go!" Zoey cried, and pulled weakly at his arm.

"No." Dren replied quietly. "I would see this animal dead before it'd harm a hair on you." His words stopped her momentarily. "And right now, he's ready to murder both of us." He hissed and presented his claws and fangs ready for another tussle. "And I'm ready to murder him." He tensed his muscled body, the torrential rain plastered his clothes to his skin and made his movement heavier. A disadvantage. "Another nuisance in this day."

His words were cold and angry. He was livid and it scared her. She clenched her eyes tight and yelled at him. How could this guy who so tenderly sat beside her, listening to her, seducing her with those eyes and his soft touch have turned to the ravenous monster baring his fangs.

"Stop it! You're not an animal!" Zoey screamed at him and pushed him roughly. He stared at her in surprise. Another emotional outburst. This was only meant to be a male dominated fight but this bothersome female had gotten herself far too attached, as usual.

"I am a creature." He replied stiffly, "And he made me a challenge. It'd be dishonourable of me to reject it, my pride would be wounded and I wouldn't be fit to face another animal as its superior male."

"You're not a creature!"

"Well what would you call me then!" He rounded on her angrily with a hiss. His pupils were jet black slits and he snarled at her with a fierce expression, wet locks of his hair were strewn messily over his face. He was feral, angry and his humanoid side distorted as he look at her with bared Alien fangs. Zoey seemed a little shocked and she gave herself a rough shake after a quiet moment.

"I'd call you Dren..." She said softly and approached him slowly. His expression became a little less stress as her words washed over him, soothing the tension within. "You don't have to be a superior male, you just have to be yourself."

"Myself?" He hissed distantly. The answer was not what he had expected. Elliot had always said he was a Cyniclon, an Alien, a creature. But he was raised, so to speak, in the ways of human culture. "What am I Zoey?" He asked her quietly, and as his anger was sapped away the pounding of the ground caught his attention. The great primate was charging blindly at them, intent on only rashly charging with its head lowered. She gave no reply and Dren gave an amused chuckle, "Let's move Zoey. This place is no fun." Another attitude switch. She seemed intent on ruining his Cyniclonic behaviour...but he didn't mind so much if it made her life a little easier.

"Right." Zoey replied with relief, albeit a little confusion at the change in attitude, and they both made for the moat, though at different speeds. Dren made it across the grassy plain easily and stopped at the moat's edge to wait for her to catch up. His ears twitched as they heard the sound of a cry above the pattering of rain and he whipped around to survey the scene.

That troublesome gorilla had caught Zoey's bag and they were both unwilling to let it go. "Get away!" She felt fear rivet through her as the three hundred pound gorilla roared at her face in a reply, it raised a great arm about to swat her away from the bag he held. But where was Dren?

Dren watched the scene with amusement, a lone teenager fighting with all her might against the heavy primate over a bag. The gorilla raised its hand threatening and he growled. Zoey shut her eyes tight and braced herself for the lethal impact.

"Let it go." Dren asked the primate in a flat tone. "I got bored of our fight but that doesn't mean stealing is right." And the simian gave a yelp of pain as he dug his claws deep into the primate's tender wrist. Blood spurted out gruesomely from the force, spattering onto Zoey's face and down the Cyniclon's arm.

The animal howled in rage and bolted away once Dren had let his grip loosen. He turned round to face Zoey and sighed. "Didn't I say I wouldn't let that beast hurt you?" And he licked some blood off his finger, it tasted foul. "I always wondered what blood tasted like." He mused looking at his soiled arm. "Look, you've got some on you." And he reached out a thumb and wiped it off her face softly. The rain let off slightly now and drizzled down on them gloomily.

She still hadn't said a word and he surmised it was because of shock. "Let's go then." He said softly and picked her up, tucking one arm under her arms, and another under the crook of her legs. He pressed her close to his chest, and she could feel his warmth through his cold clothes and he carried out of the zoo and while on the way back, she finally found her voice.

"Thank you." She said quietly, and he gave a little growl of laughter.

"There'd be no need to thank me if you hadn't interfered." And she felt slightly abashed.

"You didn't need to protect me."

"You weren't about to protect yourself." He replied flatly and she scowled at him.

"I am a Mew Mew though."

"I never said you weren't. I know you can do it though." Dren laughed and looked down at her with a sweet smile. "Whatever the reason why you didn't protect yourself...even though I know you could have...I don't mind."

"Huh?" And he felt her shift in his arms so that she looked up at him.

"I don't mind protecting you." He finished quietly and she shifted her gaze back down to his shirt. Once they were a distance away from the zoo, they flagged down a taxi to take them back to the cafe.

She knew the reason she didn't defend herself was because she knew Dren would do it for her. She was never really in any mortal danger as long as he was around. It was the result of her hard earned friendship with him and she felt perversely pleased seeing how he was willing to fight for her. But she could never say it aloud to him, it'd be too shocking an admission.

"I don't even need the records of Mini Mew to know what the hell happened there!" Elliot roared and slammed the remote down on the table. Zoey shifted nervously under his piercing gaze whilst Dren stared at him with a slightly vacant expression. "LOOK! LOOK AT THIS!" Elliot demanded prodding the fifty inch tv screen in his room. And on the evening news was a very blurry recording of Dren's fight.

"-the culprit hasn't been identified but police are suspecting a young man of slim build that is suspected to be a Caucasian that was assisted by a young Japanese woman. The zoo keepers are all rather distraught at the damage of their silver back gorilla but vets assure us that the injury will not be life threatening, however -" And Elliot switched it off with a stormy disposition.

"Because of this! Our entire mission is this close to being jeopardized!" He ranted and gripped his hair in anger as Dren merely blinked at him. "Now me and Wesley have to hack into the tv systems and delete that recording for good – but millions of people will already have seen it! Zoey why didn't you stop him!"

"I-"

"No! Not good enough! Don't you dare try and say you tried! You didn't transform and subdue him- and all of this has caused so much trouble!" He paused for breath for his beet root red face and Dren seized the chance.

"Well, there's not much we can do now Elliot." He told him calmly with a broad grin which sent Zoey giggling and provoked the teen even more.

"You keep that smart mouth of yours shut! Get out of my sight and don't you dare step outside of this cafe without my permission!" He seethed and the Cyniclon stuck the tip of his tongue out at him before hastily retreating out of the room as Elliot picked up the remote. Possibly to throw at him.

"I don't think I've ever seen Elliot so angry." Zoey sighed as she shut the door where the noise of him ranting could still be heard.

"Don't think too much of it." Dren answered simply and yawned showing off his lean body as he stretched.

"Hmm...But Dren I really do wish you would stop getting yourself in these situations..." She mumbled and scuffed her shoe on the floor. He cracked open a lazy eye and looked at her, "I mean last time at the amusement park you managed to climb onto the tracks of a roller coaster, and then in the shopping mall you managed to get us both nearly arrested..."

The Cyniclon looked at her curiously. He finished stretching and stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry..." He said and scratched his hair awkwardly. "I just didn't know the outside world was so fun. All I ever knew was how to bake cakes from day one and that was it."

"I know but Dren-" Zoey interrupted as she saw how apologetic he looked, even his ears had drooped a little.

"But Zoey, it was really fun. And I should have behaved a little better." He gave a nervous laugh and glanced at her, "I feel quite bad for dragging you into my fight. You shouldn't have got involved."

"You shouldn't have got involved in the first place." She laughed and punched his arm playfully. "And don't worry that gorilla couldn't have hurt me anyway."

"That's not true." Dren said solemnly cutting her happy disposition short. "Everything about that gorilla was stronger than you. Save for sheer human intelligence, but he could have easily killed you." She stayed silent and he continued. "You can't forget that you're just a human. If I break my neck, I'll probably survive through magic, but if you break your neck you're as dead as a dodo."

"Though clichés of yours are really coming along aren't they?" Zoey commented flatly and he gave a little smirk.

"Most importantly Zoey, I just don't want you hurt." He said and with a brilliant smile and she returned it, and rushed into him where she hugged him tightly. "You're very special to me."

"Dren, you might just be one of the nicest friends I've ever had." She replied and they embraced out of habit. Although Dren could feel his smile wavering a little. It wasn't just friendship he thought of her, it was a desire for her company. A selfish desire for her attention and affection. But he couldn't tell her that, she'd just call him a monster. So instead he showed her.

He held her closer to him and tilted her head to his. She got the chance to stare deep into his amber eyes before they closed and he kissed her. Her cat ears and tail popped out with a little noise but she automatically closed her eyes and unconsciously parted her lips, he pushed her gently against the wall, pinning her motionless with his kiss. Claiming his dominance on a primal level. He tasted the wetness of her tongue as they clashed before sidling beside each other, entering a sweet moment of intimacy with each other. His kiss was hot, primal, passionate and full of lust. It was so much more electrifying than what she imagined Mark's kiss to be...Mark. She was meant to save her first kiss for him. But here she was rubbing tongues roughly with the Cyniclon. She felt a rush of twisted betrayal settle in her gut and he gave a low growl in his throat, she felt his tongue vibrate against hers, and she withdrew from him.

"What's the matter?" Dren purred, and nuzzled his nose to her cheek which was flushed a hot red. He greatly savoured their contact and appreciated just how warm...and soft she was to touch, and in his chest he could feel the warm emotions of sheer desire building within him, he wanted to touch her even more. It was primal and all based on an instinctual level.

"It's...nothing." She said breathlessly and gave a small giggle. "It just tickled when you growled."

"Ah...I'm sorry. I growl when-"

"When you're happy or pleased." Zoey finished and slowly let go of him. She hadn't realised how tight she'd gripped the back of his shirt till she felt the blood rush back into her hands. Dren sniffed her lightly. She smelt of embarrassment and he placed his hands on her waist, gaining a little purchase on his hold on her. He'd hate it if she bolted from his affections. It'd be unforgivable.

"You already know that much about me?" He laughed and gave her a gentle lick on the cheek. "Well then I suppose we should go and – is there a problem Zoey?" He'd noticed a bristle of hairs all over her body. The fur on her ears and tail were standing on end.

"Is...there...is..." She stammered at him and stared at him with an innocence that only served to entice him even more.

"There's what?" He asked her and cocked his head slightly.

"You're...touching me below." She finished lamely and resisted the urge to look down. Dren moved away from her and looked down, she followed his line of sight.

"It appears that I am." He said flatly. From his crotch there was a great bulge that had been somewhat pressed against Zoey's body, betraying his desire to her. "I felt that shift but thought nothing of it. How odd. I wonder what it does besides excrete urine, I still don't know. I need to gather more information." And his hands left her waist to fiddle with the fly of his jeans.

"AH!" Zoey cried aloud and grabbed his forearms. "No-no- you don't need to inspect it! I gotta go!" And she bolted away. Leaving nothing but the shadow of her image.

"Zoey! I don't know what to do with it! How do I make it stop?" He howled out after her and scowled a little. Clearly his own anatomy was still a mystery. He heard a door swing open with a bang and he turned around to see the source of noise.

And the teen genius caught sight of the prominent bulge. "I do not need to see this." Elliot groaned, and rolled his eyes whilst simultaneously slamming the door shut.

"But I don't know what to do with it!" Dren told him with a whine in his voice and hammered on the door with a fist, accidentally splitting the wood slightly through his force.

"Go to your room and do whatever it is that needs to be done!" Was the sharp reply. Dren was thoroughly confused but did as he was told and returned to his room, where he pulled off his jeans and boxers to inspect this newly awakened part of anatomy.

"Hm. It appears to be deflating." He said to himself, "And now it's back to normal...how odd. I'll have to ask Wesley about this."