Chapter 5

Connall Finesilver checked his watch for the fifth time. It was nearing noon, and Chann should have been home by now. The male had promised Connall that he would be home early in the morning, but he hadn't returned yet. The brat hadn't even thought to call or send Connall a quick text.

'Just wait until you get home, Chann, and see if I don't beat the shit out of you,' Connall thought. This, of course, was an empty threat that Connall made every time Chann was out without alerting Connall or one of the others.

"Babe, what's got you so antsy?"

Connall turned at the sound of the voice.

"Leaving?" He asked Jabali, ignoring his question.

"Yeah, my friend had someone over last night, if you know what I mean," Jabali winked, a grin on his face.

Connall internally groaned. 'Goddamn humans', he thought. Even though he was dating one.

It wasn't his choice, though, to date a human. Sirena had thought it would be good for him to date a human, to help him 'adapt' to their lifestyle.

"What if I don't want to adjust?" Connall had replied stubbornly.

"Connall," Sirena had said with the voice Connall knew he could never win an argument against.

So that is how Connall found himself stuck with the loud and way too talkative human, Jabali Summers. Connall had chosen Jabali because when he'd first met the male, his scent was surprisingly pleasant, especially compared to all the other sickly-smelling humans. However, if someone had told Connall just how smiley and happy and infectious Jabali was, Connall would have likely avoided the male like the plague. But it was too late, and he was stuck with the guy until Sirena deemed him as 'fully adapted.'

"I'm heading out now," Jabali said, grabbing his bag and heading towards the front door.

"Wait," Connall said before he could stop himself.

Jabali half turned, looking at Connall. "Yeah?"

"I'll come with you," Connall said as he stood up, slipping on his shoes and walking towards Jabali before he could change his mind.

Jabali's eyes widened almost comically in surprise. "Um, what?"

"I'll come with you. Didn't you always say you wanted me to meet your friend?" Connall asked.

"Um, yeah, but—"

"Then let's go," Connall said, walking past him and opening the front door expectantly.

Jabali gaped, still shocked. Then he quickly snapped out of it and bounded over to Connall, a broad grin on his face. Connall felt his throat close up.

"I can't believe you actually want to meet Nev!" Jabali yelled excitedly.

"Please stop shouting," Connall begged as he shut and locked the door behind him once Jabali had walked out. "I don't understand why you're so excited."

"How can I not be excited when my boyfriend is finally meeting my best friend!" Jabali exclaimed excitedly.

Connall cursed under his breath. The only reason he was going was to 'befriend' another human, which would aid him in convincing Sirena that he had fully adapted to humans. He also wanted to get Jabali to stop talking about the friend he talked about way too much.

"I can't wait for her to meet you; you two are gonna get along so well-"

Connall tuned out the rest of what Jabali was saying as they took the lift to get to the bottom floor. Instead, he thought about the different ways he would kill Chann because if the irritating brat had gotten home on time, he wouldn't be stuck with a Jabali talking his ear off while on their way to meet his probably-just-as-annoying-and-as-loud-as-him best friend.

'Chann-fucking-Araceli, when I see you, you're dead meat', Connall thought.

When Jabali opened the apartment door, the last thing Connall had expected to see was Chann cuddling with a human on a couch. Connall's jaw dropped open in surprise before quickly snapping it shut as Chann, and the person looked up at him and Jabali.

The human looked confused, and Chann looked shocked at first, with slight panic in his eyes.

A smell tickled Connall's nose. He subtly shifted his head up, sniffing at the air. Then his eyes widened. No way...

"Jabali!" Neveah said, waving at Jabali from the couch. She was sitting comfortably, wrapped up in Chann's arms, who had gotten silent and still once Connall and Jabali had walked in.

"Nev! I'm so sorry; I didn't think he'd still be here..." Jabali said, trailing off as he glanced at Chann.

Neveah shrugged. "It's fine, Bal, we were just talking anyways." She paused to squint at Connall, who had been silently having a staredown with Chann this whole time. "I'm guessing that you're Connall?"

Connall dragged his eyes away from Chann's slightly panicked-looking ones at the mention of his name. He blinked once, then forced a smile onto his face. "Yeah, I'm Connall. Nice to meet you."

"I can't believe you're real! No offence Jabali, but I was starting to think you'd made him up."

"Hey!" Jabali exclaimed defensively, running to tackle Neveah out of Chann's arms and onto the floor.

Connall heard Chann growl, but not loud enough for the humans to hear him. Before Chann could make a move (most likely to get Jabali off of Neveah since he was a possessive little shit), Connall stepped forward and harshly placed a hand on Chann's shoulder.

"Fancy seeing you here, Chann," Connall said icily. Chann didn't reply.

Neveah and Jabali stopped their mini-wrestling match, instead choosing to stare at the two males.

"You know each other?" Jabali asked.

"Yeah, he's some grumpy old man I know," Chann mumbled.

"Hey, you brat, show some respect to your elders," Connall replied, gently swatting Chann on the head.

Jabali giggled at their exchange, and Connall almost dry-heaved. Why did this human have to be so cute all the time? Connall despised anything cute. Especially happy-go-lucky humans named Jabali.

And Jabali really was very cute.

"Chann, I think it's time to go," Connall said, pulling Chann off the couch.

"Wait, you only just got here-" Neveah started protesting. Connall cut him off.

"And now, we're leaving, sorry. We've got some errands to run. Nice meeting you, Neveah, and see you later, Jabali," Connall responded, dragging Chann out of the door, the latter not bothering to put up a fight.

After hastily leaving the apartment complex, Connall quickly turned to face Chann once they were outside.

"Chann, what the hell have you done?"