Page 33 of Alien on the Moon

“Life-juice, please,” Sofia said. She made grabby hands, her eyes barely open. Rylan smirked as he poured her some of the caffeine-rich ruava tea.

“Too many shots, Sofia?” he asked cheekily.

Sofia glared at him. “Too many words, Rylan. Gimme!” She grabbed the mug from his hands and immediately sipped, ignoring the heat of the drink. Carmen was significantly more composed, smirking as she thanked him for her mug.

“What do you have planned for today?” Elena asked, pushing two breakfast plates toward her sisters. There was a huge stack of fried rupen strips between them, and Sofia moaned as she bit into one.

Sofia held up a hand to Elena, signaling her to wait until she’d consumed more caffeine. Elena shot Rylan an amused look.

“Looks like this Earthling is still adjusting to Thryal wine,” she fake-whispered to him. The comment earned her a fierce glare. Rylan was slightly terrified, but Elena just laughed.

“I’m going back to bed after breakfast,” Sofia said.

“Arccoo mentioned wanting to have a picnic later. Are you two free to join us?” Carmen added.

Elena bit her lip, pulling up her to-do list. Rylan watched the crease in her forehead, a slight despondent air to her. He placed a hand over her device and smiled at her.

“We have some things to work through this morning, but I’m sure we can make time for a picnic later.” Elena beamed at him and finished the last of her breakfast.

“Let’s get to it then. Come fetch us when you’re ready to go?” she asked her sisters, who both nodded absently, focused on their breakfasts.

Sofia was already pouring a second mug. Elena snickered at her obvious discomfort.

Rylan smirked. Elena had been in a frighteningly similar state only an hour ago, yet she teased her sister for it. He knew better than to mention his thoughts, though. He wasn’t prepared to receive another installment of the Flores dagger glares.

When they reached their desks, Rylan stifled a sigh. His desk was covered in untested samples, test results from other scientists, and various updates from the compound. Elena wrinkled her nose at the sight.

“No rest for the wicked, huh?” she said, clapping him on the shoulder. Rylan frowned.

“Who are you calling wicked?” he teased. He really enjoyed her Earthly sayings, though they never made much sense. He’d learned to just go with it.

Elena laughed, though the sound died quickly as she started up her machine, and a million messages pinged through. Rylan couldn’t hold back his snicker.

“Karma, was it?” Elena had taught him about the strange concept. That one actually did make a lot of sense.

Ah, there it is, Rylan thought as Elena’s glare prickled over his skin. He bit his lip to hold in his smirk.

The morning flew by as both of them caught up on admin. With the royals visiting, they’d been away from their work for the better part of two days, and it showed. Rylan massaged his forehead as he read through what felt like the fiftieth report.

“Doesn’t look like there are many changes in the soil or the atmosphere,” he said to Elena.

She blinked as she looked up from her screen. “The plant samples look the same, too. I expected faster results with the squigs working on the soil.” She frowned and pushed her glasses up her nose. “We should go check on them.”

Rylan nodded as he stood and stretched. Elena’s eyes roamed over him hungrily.

“Eww, table that look, sis.” Sofia strolled in, looking considerably fresher.

Elena scoffed.

“As if you don’t look at Z the same way,” she retorted.

A pleased flush warmed Rylan’s skin. Did she realize she’d compared their budding relationship to her married sister’s?

Before he had time to process that, Carmen and Arccoo entered the lab. Rylan automatically straightened, patting his head even though he had no hair to flatten. He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

Arccoo smiled at him. “At ease, soldier,” he teased. “We’re here to collect you for lunch.”

Sofia scoffed. “In truth, we need you guys to pick a picnic spot. We have no idea what’s out there.” She waved toward the window.

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