"She made me stand there holding a dying cat for twenty minutes while she got aspirin because she had a hangover from staying out drinking last night." Sera scowled.

"She can't be allowed to do things like that," Rose replied. "Why hasn't she been fired yet?"

"She's the senior tech," Sera said with a disgusted sigh. "They won't fire her."

"Stage a mutiny?" Rose suggested, more to lighten the mood than anything.

Sera laughed rather darkly. "Oh I wish I could. Trust me." Shaking her head, she went to go order her food. She hardly noticed when a man walked past them, paler than normal with long blonde hair and almost colorless eyes. She did blink when she felt a little dizzy.

Rose got caught in a dizzy spell, as well, although it made her a bit more light-headed than it had Sera. She braced herself against a nearby bench.

"That was strange," she murmured, mostly to herself.

Sera shook her head a little and managed to get in line, waiting for her vision to finish clearing. She ordered her food and stepped to the side, blinking when she saw Damien standing ramrod straight and glaring after the person.

Rose got into line with Sera, trying to figure out what caused the sudden dizzy spell. Maybe just because she was hungry... She moved off to the side once she had her tray and followed Sera.

Taylor was standing with Damien, and there was no way he'd be able to miss what happened.

"When did that one move into the area?" he asked Damien in a low voice, watching the stranger carefully.

Sera gathered up her food once it was ready and moved over to a table. She got the feeling that the boys didn't want to be bothered just then.

"I don't know," Damien replied just as quietly. "I've never seen him before."

Rose followed Sera. She'd caught sight of the guys, but she got the distinct impression that they didn't want to be distracted.

"Well, whatever he's here for, he's poaching," Taylor said. "If he's not gone soon, we need to get rid of him."

Sera sat down and started eating carefully so as not to upset her stomach. That was the last thing she needed.

"Agreed," Damien said quietly. "He's really poaching more in your territory, since humans don't matter so much to me, but we will have to get rid of him. Especially if he fed off them." His gaze flicked over to the two girls and back.

"Aww, worried about your Rose?" Taylor teased. He couldn't help it. Then he got serious again. "You're right, though. We need to get rid of him."

Damien nodded just a little to them. "Look at them. They're both paler. Of course I'm worried; if that's what one feeding looks like, imagine after a few."

"That was just a few nibbles, too," Taylor pointed out. "All he did was walk by, that couldn't have been a full feeding."

"Exactly. If he fully fed from one person, I doubt that person would survive it." Damien frowned. "We should follow him and find out what he is and where he's going."

"Agreed," Taylor replied. "He can't be allowed to stay." He didn't like the idea of someone poaching in his territory, and he liked the idea of Sera being a victim even less.

"How do you want to do this? Follow him now, or track him down later?" Damien could go find his scent so he'd be able to follow it later. Of course, it would help if they knew what they were dealing with.

"We can't exactly leave in the middle of the day," Taylor pointed out. "We'll have to wait until tonight."

Damien nodded, grumbling to himself. He glanced over at the girls. "Think we should go see if they're alright?"

"Probably a good idea," Taylor agreed. Damien was right, the girls did look pale.

Damien moved over to the girls' table, sitting down next to Rose with a smile. "Hey. You feeling okay? You look a little..." He trailed off, unsure how to phrase it diplomatically.

Sera snickered weakly before putting her head in her hands. Her head hurt.

Rose thought a bit of lunch would help her sudden light-headedness, but it didn't. Oddly, it only made her feel a little worse, and her head was starting to throb a bit. Sera didn't look much better. Rose didn't even have it in her to jump when Damien seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Like crap?" she finished for him. "Yeah, it kind of feels that way, too. I was fine this morning, too, dunno why I suddenly feel like this..."

"You look like you're about to fall over," Taylor said to Sera as he sat in the chair next to her. "You feeling alright?"

"Maybe you should take the rest of the day off," Damien said with a frown. "Take it easy for the rest of the day. You could have some food poisoning, or a mild case of the flu or the cold."

"Yeah, not so much," Sera said with a grimace. "I don't know why the world is spinning, but it is, and I want to get off..."

"Can't go home right now, still have stuff I need to finish," Rose replied, though she put her head down on her arms. The world tilted a little less when she couldn't see it. "Research director'll be annoyed if I don't finish."

"You look like you're about to pass out," Taylor said. He was worried, a few nibbles walking by shouldn't have affected her this badly.

"He'll be annoyed if you pass out in the middle of the room and hurt yourself, too," Damien said, frowning. "Come on. I'll drive you home and then make your excuses for you."

"Passing out would be good about now," Sera mumbled. "Would be better than dealing with Eliza."