The Sensorians: Awakening

casually touching Eliza's arm with the promise to return later.
I purposely had chosen Joe, as my background research had revealed he was one of Sophie's friends who didn't mingle with Eliza's friendship group.  I now needed to socialise with Joe's group for a bit, to then return to Eliza and get her to relax a bit with me.  She was too tense and suspicious of me.  She relaxed somewhat when I talked to Kas, though.  I had to move quickly, but not too fast for fear of scaring her off.  I needed her to trust me enough so we could talk alone.  I didn't want to have to take drastic actions if I could avoid it.
I had spotted Joe and his friends and observed them for a while before I approached.
“Hey Joe."  I started, having chosen my moment perfectly when his friend was about to leave to get some drinks.
Joe looked at me a bit puzzled but open enough for me to continue.
“We met at some gig a little while ago.  I think it was The Psychos or something? It's  Zack...”
I looked at him with confidence.  Most people will accept that, as they don't trust their own memories, especially when alcohol was involved.  I knew Joe went to lots of gigs so I could afford to be a little vague about it.
“Oh yeah, that gig was ace!  They're performing near here soon.  Was thinking about seeing them again.”
Joe turned out to be an easy going bloke and we soon were discussing the finer details of the bass line and awesome guitaring of  The Psychos.  Just as well I'd listened to some of their tracks beforehand.  I had done my homework well.
Joe's friends joined us and Joe introduced me as one of his mates.  My plan was working out rather well at the moment and I was feeling a little smug about it.  I mentioned an upcoming music festival, and they were all up for it.  Brilliant.  One of the guys had handed me a beer which I wasn't planning on drinking as I had to keep my wits about me, but accepted it cheerfully.
I kept an eye on Eliza and her friends in the mean time.  She and Bella had a little dance before, and I had to stop myself from staring at her so I wouldn't get distracted from my job in hand.  That proved fucking tricky as Eliza intrigued me.  She didn't dance in that overtly sexy way that her friend was displaying, but it was sexy none the less.  Different, as if she was in her own little world.  Maybe it was more cute than sexy.  No, definitely sexy too.  Anyway, I had figured out that Eliza was about to get the drinks, so I made my excuses to Joe and his mates and walked across to the drinks area.  Sophie's father was there, keeping an eye on the alcohol consumption.  I turned my back on him and tried to catch Eliza's eye.
I could smell her from a mile off.  In the heat of the party, the scent of her body had managed to escape the masking effect of the perfume she wore.  It was an uncomplicated, quite musky scent, but mixed with whatever meds she was taking, covering her true scent.  I managed to tune out my sense of smell a bit as it wasn't the best sensation at a hot and sweaty party like this.  Nevertheless, Eliza's scent was distinctly recognisable as one of our own.
We could work out family connections several generations apart, just by the sense of smell if we really tuned in.  There are about fifteen family lines within the Sensorians in our country, all with their own distinct scent.  Eliza was part of the Mankuzay clan, that was more than clear.
“Hi Zack, enjoying the party?"  she asked, pouring herself another cider.
“Yeah, it's a great crowd and good music.  You? I saw you having a little dance earlier.”
She looked up at me at that, one eye brow raised.  She lowered her eye lids and looked at me through her lashes.
“Do you fancy one later?”
She was flirting with me.  Her pupils were enlarged, she was touching her hair and moved her hips slightly whilst talking to me.  I had to put her off as I didn't want to antagonise Kasper.  I didn't need a  fucking fight.
“Not much of a dancer, me."  I declined.
I definitely shouldn't encourage her, but I did feel a little tingle in my stomach.  I was attracted to her, but nothing could come of it.  There were too many important things riding on me successfully persuading her to join us and train her up to be a worthy member of our Sensorian community.  It would mean I would have to be strict with her.  I could be an extremely hard task master if I had to, and I got the feeling she wasn't going to like that much.
However, we needed her, desperately, in our upcoming mission.  And at that moment, as if Markus was watching me, a text came through from him to ask about my progress, reiterating to not waste any time.  I reassured him, it was all in hand.
“But I love music.  Joe and I and some mates are going to this music festival next weekend.  Do you and your friends want to come along? The more the merrier!”  I restarted the conversation after our slightly awkward moment.
I turned slightly away from her to get a drink as I had ditched my beer earlier to have the excuse to come up.  There was some movement behind Eliza and I saw Kasper, Bella and Jimmy approaching.  Eliza turned towards them.
“Yep, sounds great! Here they are, so run it by them now if you want.”
I smiled broadly at Kasper and Jimmy and gave Bella a nod.
“I was just telling Eliza about this Music Festival next weekend at Lakeside.  Anyone up for it?”
They looked at each other and were all enthusiastic about it and said they would have to check but