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<How long do you have to wait?> Ax asked. Every now and again, he’d have a train of thought so vivid, he’d be convinced others could hear it, that they’d be caught up with his train of thought when he eventually spoke. He immediately realised his mistake, and winced.
Marco looked up from his video game momentarily, considering his friend.
“Dude, what?”
<I mean, after a human has broken up with their partner. How long does one have to wait?>
“What, you mean to make a move on someone? I dunno, there’s no real deadline on this stuff. I guess when the person seems to have recovered? Why?”
<Er.> Ax hadn’t thought that far ahead. <Decline to comment?>
“Wait…” Marco narrowed his eyes at Ax. “You like someone!”
<I like many people.> Ax dodged.
“No way. No way. Is it someone on the team?”
Ax’s eye stalks curled downwards, the Andalite version of a blush. Marco had picked up on Ax’s body language from the amount of time they’d spent together.
“It is! And… Cassie and Jake just broke up, so…”
Ax buried his face in his hands, bracing himself to be severely called out.
“You like Cassie??”
Ax uncovered his face a little.
<No, Marco I->
“You do! You like Cassie! Don’t even try to deny it.” Marco grinned and paused his video game.
<I-> Ax fell silent. Maybe it was better this way.
“This is so excellent. This is, by far, the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
<Look, Marco. Please stay out of this. It doesn’t concern you.>
“Right.” Wink. “You got it, pal.” Wink wink.
<I can see that you’re having some kind of eye spasm. As long as this doesn’t affect your ability to be quiet about this one thing.>
“I can never tell if it’s sarcasm or not with you,” Marco said fondly.
Marco, being Marco, was not going to stay out of it. Obviously.
The next day at lunch, he slid into the seat next to Cassie at lunch, putting on his most obnoxious smile.
“Hey, Cassie. How’s it going?”
“Um, good? Is something wrong?”
Marco waved his hand dismissively.
“What, can’t a guy talk to his good pal for a second? Catch up with her?”
“I mean, sure. I guess we usually don’t approach each other in public spaces unless something is terribly wrong,” Cassie laughs.
“No, no, nothing’s wrong. Well, apart from the usual, you know. Anyways, I know you and Jake broke up a few weeks ago. How’ve you been?”
“You know? I think I’m actually okay. I talked to Jake about it, and we’re in a good place. I really think this was the best decision for us, even though it caused some sadness in the short-term.”
“So would you say you’re… on the market again, so to speak?”
Cassie squinted for a second, processing the ramifications of the question he had just asked.
“Marco, are you… hitting on me?”
“No!” Marco said a little too quickly. “I mean, not that you’re not a lovely gal, but… well, lets just say that you once threw a snake at me and I lost all interest. Not that there was any- shit. Okay, look, nevermind. What matters is that I’m not hitting on you. I’m just asking an innocent question out of no reason other than curiosity.”
“Well then… I guess I am?” Cassie said, drawing out the word guess long enough to make Marco question his entire plan. But there was no stopping the bright, clear line now. Well, it was more of a fuzzy, wonky line. Marco was better on the battlefield than he was at romance, to absolutely nobody’s surprise.
“Well, I’ve always thought that guys who are smart, and a little exotic, plus super loyal, are the hottest type of guys.”
“Marco, are you trying to tell me something?” Cassie asked, her voice suddenly soft and compassionate. Marco blinked in surprise.
“No, not like that! Well, maybe a little. But no! I’m just saying, I dunno, you’re a nice girl and you deserve someone who’ll stick with you. Anyways, um, keep that in mind. And uh, good talk!”
Marco gave Cassie a half-hearted pat on the back and fled the situation, leaving a confused and concerned Cassie in his wake.
“Okay, take five,” he told himself, staring into the school’s bathroom mirror, smeared and dirty from the hands of hundreds of middle school boys. “You’ve planted the seed. Now comes the tricky bit.”
That night, Marco called Cassie on the phone.
“Hey, Cassie. Meet me at the mall tomorrow, after school? I found that CD you were looking for.”
Perhaps he had been a little misleading about the nature of their meeting, but he would have to tell a few more lies before the night was over.
In his yard, he started the morph to osprey. He felt his bones hollow out, and he felt light, light, like the wind might blow him away. Good thing it was a mild night, with only a light breeze. Then his adrenaline flared as he dropped down, like he was falling off a building. It was funny that he’s faced countless horrors by now, and yet morphing a small animal still made his head rush from the fall. He could have giggled, but his mouth was already curving outwards and hardening into the sharp beak of a bird of prey. His legs went numb and he toppled forwards as they became scaly and thinned out like noodles. The feathers were the last thing to arrive, popping out of his skin in a way that almost itched. He spread his wings, feeling feathers slide over each other smoothly, and took off into the air, flapping for height.
Driving to Cassie’s farm may have taken half an hour from where he lived. Luckily, wings were a much better form of transport than wheels. But he wasn’t here to visit Cassie. No, his destination was the woods behind her house, where Ax was sitting in his scoop, staring intently at his TV screen.
<Hey Ax-man. Can’t sleep?>
Ax turned his stalk eyes upwards to comb the skies until he saw Marco.
<I am simply enjoying human culture.>
Marco stared at the screen, able to pick out each individual pixel with his superior eyes.
“Ah, yes. Jurassic Park. The pinnacle of human culture. You’ve seen real dinosaurs, man, why are you watching this? I mean, not that Laura Dern isn’t a total babe in it, but come on.”
Ax swiveled his stalk eyes to stare at Marco as he landed on a branch next to Ax’s scoop and began to demorph.
<It’s not the dinosaurs I’m studying.>
Marco waited for his demorph to be completed before talking again.
“Studying?” He nudged Ax’s arm with his shoulder. “Talk about creepy. You gonna put us in a lab or something?”
<Prince Jake has complained about my performance as a human. Studying human television will help me blend in well.>
“Yeah, the day you blend in well is when hell freezes over, buddy.”
<Is something the matter, Marco? You usually don’t visit me this late unless our mission is in danger.>
“Lighten up. I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come to the mall with me tomorrow?”
<I don’t know, Marco…>
“I’ll buy you a cinna-“
<-okay, I’ll go.>
Marco chuckled. Easy.
“You’re so predictable. Hey, I better get home before my dad notices I’m asleep.” That was a joke. Past sundown, Peter didn’t notice anything except the blank wall or the bottom of a beer bottle. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Just remember to wear your clothes properly this time, okay? No underwear on your head.”
<No underwear on my head,> Ax confirmed.
The mall wasn’t as crowded as usual, which was a good sign for the small group, as Ax wasn’t as likely to cause a scene. Ax and Marco were already at the mall when Cassie showed up. The three of them milled about awkwardly for a minute until Cassie finally asked,
“So, when are the others showing up?”
Marco flashed her a signature grin.
“Just us three, today.”
“Really? I got the impression this was kind of urgent.”
“I was told there would be cinnamon buns. Buns. Zuh.”
“Oh, wow, would you look at the time!” Marco said, backing away from them. “I have to go to the bathroom. You two have fun!”
Before either of them could question him, Marco booked it at a speed-walk towards the men's bathrooms. Cassie made a half-hearted attempt at following him, but gave up after a few seconds, letting out a sigh.
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Marco began the morph to wolf spider. He could practically hear Jake’s voice telling him off for misusing the morphing power, but he waved it away. He’d already saved the world countless times, and if anyone on it gave him greif for having a little fun every now and then, they could stuff it.
He crawled out of the bathroom and up onto the walls to avoid being crushed by anyone doing their afternoon shopping. Eventually, he spotted his two friends sitting at a table. Ax was very focused on the coffee he had ordered (vanilla frappuccino, but Marco had no way of knowing that). Cassie was talking nervously, but Marco was too far away to hear what she was saying.
He scuttled quickly across the floor, across the gauntlet of thudding shoes that threatened to squash him in two seconds flat. He crawled up the leg of the table and perched underneath it, and began listening to Cassie’s words.
“-a risky move. I mean, no offense, Ax, but we all know how you get around food.”
Ax surfaced from his coffee for a second to interject.
“I have been practising my composure around food items.”
Cassie secretly suspected that this entailed a great deal of food items and not a great deal of composure, but she let the statement go without comment.
“Anyways, do you know why Marco brought us here? I assumed it had something to do with the mission, but then he just ran off.”
Ax paused, pondering the exact amount of honesty he should give here. He sucked on his straw for a few seconds before giving Cassie his most earnest look.
“I do not know. Marco told me he wanted to hang out. He didn’t mention anybody else coming. I had assumed it would be the two of us.”
The gears in Cassie’s head turned for a second. The comments Marco had made yesterday (which upon further scrutiny were clearly about Ax), his sudden invite to the mall, his nervous escape from the situation.
...clearly, Marco was in love with Ax.
“Aw, well, I’m sure he’ll come back soon,” Cassie said, giving him a smile.
“I hope so. He said he would buy me cinnamon buns. Buns. Zuh.” Ax absently scratched behind his ear, tilting his head to the side. When he was in human morph, he rarely thought of anything but food, especially surrounded by it here in the mall. It made it difficult to focus.
“That’s nice of him. He must really care about you.” Enough to jeopardize our mission, a tiny voice at the back of her head said with annoyance.
Ax was too busy chewing on his plastic straw to agree, but if he wasn’t, Cassie imagined he would have said something like, “yes, and I about him. I dream of kissing him under the moonlight with my human mouth.”
“It’s nice that you two are friends. I imagine it must be lonely out in the woods. I know you and Tobias are close, but you can’t always talk to your family about everything.”
“There’s also Prince Jake!” Ax said, dropping the straw on the floor by accident. Cassie grabbed it before he could put it in his mouth again and tossed it in the trash.
“Yeah, and Jake,” she murmured in agreement. “You know, I have the feeling Marco didn’t exactly think this location through.”
“What’s wrong with the mall?”
Cassie sighed and didn’t respond. Despite Ax’s usually sharp memory, he obviously found it hard to concentrate when so surrounded by stimulus.
“How much time do you have left in morph?”
Ax tapped his foot hyperactively and whipped his head around. He’d never quite grown accustomed to only having two eyes, and it showed in his body language. Onlookers often had a strange feeling around him, like they knew something wasn’t quite right but couldn’t put their finger on it. It was little movements like these that reminded Cassie just how alien he really was, after all the really bizarre stuff had become second nature to her.
“I have used up approximately 40 of your minutes.”
From beneath the table, Marco resisted the urge to snap in thought speak that they were everyone’s minutes, for the last time.
“It’s been a while. Maybe I should look for Marco. He came here to hang out with you, Ax.”
If Marco had hands, he would have facepalmed. This was going terribly. Somehow, he had to salvage this.
<Dear god, Ax, don’t just let her walk away,> Marco thought-spoke at his friend from under the table.
Ax turned his head violently from side to side, looking for Marco. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at a sparrow that had flown in through the mall doors.
<Marco, where are you?>
“Are you okay, Ax?” Cassie asked, looking concerned.
“I’m fine,” Ax insisted tensely. “But I believe our friend might be closer than we thought.”
<Dude, really!?>
Ax looked around uncomfortably, and stood up rather stiffly, even for him.
“I think,” he paused. “I think I have to go.”
The way Ax always managed to get lost in a crowd was uncanny. Cassie sighed and reached her hand under the table. Marco paused.
“Go on, then,” she said, exasperated.
He slowly crawled onto her hand and she closed her fingers around him. Tucking him into her jacket pocket, she stood to leave. Walking along the road from the mall, they were finally alone, and they could speak properly, although Marco insisted he didn’t demorph out in the open.
“What did you do, Marco?”
<What did I do?> Marco asked defensively. <I don’t know, try to help my friends?>
“Ax seemed upset, Marco. Now, I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I imagine there are a lot of unspoken feelings going around. I think what we need is to talk out these issues together.”
<Look, there are no “issues,” okay? “Issues” is not what’s happening here.>
“I think this is issues, Marco. I think you’re in denial.”
<Excuse me. You’re not a therapist, you’re a middle school student who talks to animals in her free time. Issues is shovelling poop as part of your hobbies, okay?>
“Okay, look, regardless of who has issues, Ax is upset. We need to find him and make sure he’s okay.”
<Fine. Can we get to your barn so I can demorph? I don’t fancy having eight legs for the rest of my life.>
“We’re almost there, hold your horses.”
<No, Cassie, the horses are in the barn.>
Cassie rolled her eyes, a gesture that he couldn’t see but could probably predict. That’s the response a lot of his jokes got, but he knew everyone loved them deep down.
When they arrived at the barn, Marco demorphed while Cassie checked up on the various animals around the barn.
Marco tried to speak, but felt a shiver of disgust run down his spine as his not-yet gone spider-parts got in the way of speech. That visceral reaction of disgust never really went away, no matter how many times he morphed. For a moment his mind flashed to the crushing mandibles of an ant, and he shuddered and pushed all thoughts of insects (or arachnids, as it were) out of his mind.
“We should check Ax’s scoop. He’ll probably be there,” he said, and Cassie nodded in agreement.
The two trekked through the forest, heading towards the part of the forest where they knew Ax’s scoop was.
“I think we’re lost,” Marco complained. “Did you check to see if any leopards escaped from the zoo recently?”
“Too soon, Marco.”
“That’s hardly the most recent of our traumatic experiences.”
“It’s always too soon for the leopard. That would’ve been a pretty insignificant way to go after all we’ve been through, huh? Although I guess I’d rather be killed by something that’s a part of nature than a yeerk.”
Marco made a small noise of contempt.
“I’d rather be alive, thanks. The world doesn’t need another corpse in it.”
“Yeah, well, I’m just saying.”
The pair caught a glimpse of Ax’s scoop through the foliage. Marco was the first to spot a blur of blue careening through the forest. Ax came to a graceful halt before them, and lowered his head in greeting.
<Hello, Cassie and Marco.>
“Ax, we need to talk,” Cassie said, concern practically dripping from her voice.
“Hey Ax-man. You alright?” Marco said, in an attempt to avoid whatever heart-to-heart Cassie was attempting to have.
Ax’s andalite face was as expressionless as ever.
<I’m fine. You don’t have to be worried about me. I just had to leave, as the situation was becoming quite awkward. I’m sorry if I worried you.>
Cassie and Marco exchanged a look.
“It’s okay, Ax,” Cassie said. “I’m sorry that we made you uncomfortable.”
<It’s alright. I’m fine.>
“Okay,” Marco said. “So we’re all good? Everything’s okay?”
“Woah, hold on, Marco. I think there are still some unspoken feelings here that still need to be discussed.”
“You’re right. I’ll give you some privacy.” Marco gave her a sarcastic little wave and turned to leave, but Ax caught him with the blunt end of his tail.
<I know what you both think about me, and you’re both wrong. I am not romantically attracted to either of you, nor have I ever been, so you can stop this bizarre behavior.>
Marco and Cassie both stared in shock as a realisation dawned on both of them at once.
“Wait, you thought I…” Cassie asked incredulously.
“ You thought I ???” Marco asked with just as much disbelief.
<Yes, and I’m unsure where either of you got the idea that I would be remotely interested. No offense.>
“But…” Marco paused. “If not Cassie, then…”
Ax’s eye stalks drooped downwards in embarrassment. Well, they were back where they had started, and they all had a few more mortifying experiences to show for it.
<Marco, please kindly shut up.>
“...you’re in love with Jake!”
Ax took a few steps backwards, stumbling over his legs awkwardly.
<I…>
“You are!” He cried in triumph.
Cassie elbowed him in the ribs. Marco coughed.
“I mean, um…”
“It’s okay, Ax,” Cassie said, placing a hand on his arm. I’m pretty sure everyone on the team has had the hots for Jake at least once. Excluding Rachel, of course.”
“Hey, speak for yourself!” Marco said, blushing.
<Well, you’re all the same species as him.>
“Come on, man. You’re an honorary human.”
<I hope you understand that that doesn’t make me feel any better about this.>
“We’ve all been there. It gets better,” Cassie said.
<If either of you speak to Prince Jake about this, I am going to be very upset.>
“Don’t worry.” Marco said in mock-innocence. “I won’t say a word.”
<I am unconvinced.>
“Marco, leave the guy alone. Let him have his privacy.”
<I agree wholly with Cassie on this matter.>
“Bro code.” Marco said simply, tapping his fist to his chest. “And just so you know we were all supportive of Tobias when he came out as trans so we don’t care that you’re gay.”
“Marco,” Cassie warned.
<What is gay?>
“ Marco .”
“Y’know. Like, a dude that’s into other dudes?”
Ax stared at him, dumbfounded.
<You have a word for that?>
“Marco, shut up,” Cassie said kindly. “Ax, I promise that I’ll keep quiet to Jake, but I wouldn’t count on Marco to do the same.”
“Rude!”
“But fair.”
<Marco, I am asking you as your friend not to speak of this to him.>
“And as your friend, I’m saying sure. No problem! It’s not my fault Cassie has suddenly become a skeptic.”
<That went rather poorly last time, I’d say, Marco.>
“I’m a changed man, Ax. I have seen the error of my ways.”
<I am rather doubtful of that, but I will take your word for it, Marco.>
“Ax, if you ever want to talk about this…” Cassie trailed off for a few seconds, and then spoke again, softly. “Well, you know I’m right nearby. I understand the allure, I do.”
Ax stared at the ground.
<Maybe.>
“Oh man.” Marco said. “I gotta get home soon. Dad’s expecting me to make dinner. I’ll talk to you guys later, okay?”
<Goodbye, Marco.>
“See you later.”
Marco started the morph to bird, and they both looked away while he made the transformation. He lifted off into the sky and Cassie and Ax were alone.
<I didn’t know humans had a word for something like that. Gay. Is this the correct word?>
“Well, if you also like girls, there’s also the word bisexual. But it’s up to you to decide who you are. I can’t tell you that.”
<Is there… a book, perhaps, that I could read on this topic? Reading the world almanac helped me understand humans.>
“I don’t know how useful that would be, Ax. Most of us Animorphs know a lot about the subject because of Tobias, but it’s a complicated subject, and… well, humans aren’t necessarily more enlightened on these topics than Andalites.”
<I didn’t even,> His voice sounded like he could cry. <I didn’t even know it was an option. Andalites hardly ever discuss these topics openly. Even now, I must admit, I feel rather embarrassed. Is that normal for humans?>
“Ax, feeling embarrassed and awkward and terrible - it’s all part of being a teenager. Sometimes things are hard to get through, but that doesn’t mean you stop trying. Just take things one step at a time.”
<Thank you, Cassie. I appreciate your wisdom about these topics. And I appreciate that humans can actually talk about these things, instead of… just holding it in forever. On the Andalite homeworld, romance is not something that’s often discussed.>
“You’re doing a great job, Ax. I know the transition from Andalite culture to human has been a rough one for you. If you ever need to talk about it…” Cassie trailed off. She was always right there in the barn, and Ax was out here in the woods, alone and apart from her cozy little home. At least she got to go back to a family, at the end of each horrible battle.
<Thank you, Cassie.> Ax said, in a way that suggested he was not going to be taking up that offer any time soon.
Ax found it hard not to be alone. Even amongst his fellow Andalites, he was often by himself, shoved aside or overshadowed by his brother. He had learned to live with it, and he had confused living with it with liking it.
Cassie returned to the barn feeling unsatisfied. Teenage drama was one thing compared to the battle they were facing, but unacknowledged feelings between teammates made her nervous. She had decided long ago that if they didn’t have this team, they didn’t have any stake in the war at all.
Marco may have turned his expert match-making skills towards Jake, and Cassie may have been pressured into divulging Ax’s secret against her will. That is, either of those things could have happened if Jake hadn’t asked Ax out the next week.
It had happened in the woods, near the stream where Ax had just completed his morning ritual. The sun had been shining through the leaves at that certain angle that just makes everything seem surreal. The cool of autumn was just beginning to bite, and so Jake had shrugged on a sweater before he left the house. Ax was sitting beside the river, his four hooves tucked beneath him neatly.
Jake had learned long ago that Ax preferred to spend time in the woods, away from prying human eyes. Ax simply felt more at ease in his regular Andalite form, and Jake could definitely see why. He was the picture of grace, dainty hooves never stumbling or seeming awkward. Jake was clumsy in comparison. He had always thought the andalite was so beautiful in his gracefulness.
The two had sat and talked for a long time, first about the war, and then drifting to other, more lighthearted topics. Ax had been waxing poetic about some commercial he’d seen on tv when Jake had reached out and touched a hand against the soft fur between his shoulder and his neck.
<Prince Jake?>
“Don’t call me prince,” Jake said, more out of habit than anything.
<Yes, Prince Jake,> Ax replied, smiling with his eyes.
Jake withdrew his hand, frowning slightly at himself.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I’ve just… always wondered.”
<Wondered…?>
“Your fur, it’s soft. Nice.”
Ax’s eye stalks perked up, and then both focused on Jake, a rather rare occurrence.
<I suppose it is, yes.>
“Can I…” Jake hovered a hand above Ax’s back, questioning.
<Go ahead.>
Ax had not known how much he had missed being touched by another living being. Jake’s hand sunk into soft blue fur, and Ax felt a pleasant warmth fill his body as fingers traced lines over it.
<This isn’t something that’s a usual occurrence,> Ax ventured. <I mean, fur grooming is usually seen as a more intimate act, done only between those who are very close.>
“Like a shorm?”
Ax paused, and then shook his head.
“Would you like me to stop?”
Ax shook his head again, not trusting himself to speak properly. Jake rested his head against Ax’s shoulder, pressing close to him. Ax could have short circuited.
<Prince Jake, please,> Ax said, voice almost pleading.
“Just Jake,” he murmured, his hand encircling Ax’s own and holding it gently. “I’m not your superior or your commander or your boss, at least not now. Just Jake. Your friend.”
<Friend… right.> Ax said, his eye stalks returning to lazily scanning the area around them.
“Well, what word would you use?”
Ax didn’t answer, just leaned closer to Jake. Jake’s face buried into soft blue fur and stayed there. The pair sat, the only sounds the river flowing beside them and the occasional call of a bird in the trees that surrounded them.
<This is hard for me, you know.>
“What?” Jake asked absentmindedly.
<Talking about my feelings. It always felt like I wasn’t supposed to have any.>
“I hope you know you can talk to me, Ax. I really care about you. You never have to be ashamed of how you feel. You know… I’m not that good at it, either. Emotional stuff is more Cassie’s area of expertise than mine, so…” He trailed off, and was silent.
<I guess we’ll have to figure it out together.>
“Yeah… Ax?”
<Yes, Pr- yes, Jake?>
“Thank you. For always being there. For choosing us over your own people. For hanging out and making me laugh after hard missions. For being a voice of reason. I don’t know where we… where I would be without you.”
<Thank you. I don’t know what to say.>
Jake stood up, still holding Ax’s hand in his own.
“Ax, can I ask you something?” Jake smiled self-consciously and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.
<Anything,> Ax said, a little too quickly, as if the word might not have come out any other way.
“Do you want to… maybe go on a date, sometime?”
<A date?> Ax’s voice was breathless, as if he expected Jake to reveal the joke at any second. Ax had been asked on a date before, but it had never been like this. He had never felt this electricity in his veins, like his whole body ached from loving this boy; this clumsy, beautiful boy who took care of everyone and never let anyone in but Ax.
“Yeah,” Jake started to explain, embarrassed. “A date is like-“
<I know what a date is. I learned about it on my TV.>
“Oh.” Jake swallowed, and tugged at his sweater. “So, do you want to? Because you’re kinda leaving me hanging.” Jake smiled a crooked, nervous smile, and it was beautiful, like his skin creased from worry, like his hair that fell over his face when he talked, like the way he gripped his hands together when he was excited.
A moment of star-struck silence passed before Ax finally answered.
<Yes! Of course I would!> He threw his arms around Jake again and laughed in thought-speak, a rare and beautiful sound.
Jake let out the breath he’d been holding and a grin split open his face. He looked younger for a minute, then. Like all the years the war had aged him prematurely had been rolled back, and he was that same spry kid who had crossed that abandoned construction site so long ago.
“Well, good. Because I really like you. I mean, differently than I like other people.”
<Wait.> Ax’s face fell sober again as he paused to think. <Did Marco put you up to this? Because I may have a few words for him.>
“Marco?” Jake looked confused. “What?”
<Oh.> Ax kicked at the ground with one hoof awkwardly. <Don’t worry about it.>
Overhead, a shadow passed them and a hawk came to settle on a nearby tree, fixing his cold stare on the pair as he casually preened his feathers.
<Finally.> Tobias grumped. <Watching you two make heart-eyes across the battlefield was beginning to get old. Sorry, Ax. Action had to be taken.>
Ax stared at Tobias in shock, who ruffled his feathers and took off from the branch again, perhaps off to find a tasty mouse.
<Still a better matchmaker than Marco,> he quipped as he flew off.