Chapter Text
My name is Tobias.
I’m a bird. I’m a boy. I have some dangerous enemies.
And man, do I have some idiot friends.
Take Ax, for example. My best friend and fellow misfit may be smart enough to hack into any Yeerk computer know to man (or, well, Animorphs) and brave enough to take on Visser Three in single combat (although that might have been more suicidal than brave), but everyone’s favorite blue-centaur-scorpion-deer alien does not have the emotional intelligence or guts that God gave a bluejay when it comes to telling people how he feels.
Well, I should amend that. He was pretty straightforward telling me how he feels about Marco. He just kept stalling at the gate when it came to telling Marco that.
<Okay, so what went wrong this time?> I asked, trying to maintain my patience as we floated over downtown in our respective raptor morphs. Four days into surveillance of the new Yeerk pool entrance working with Marco and Ax had come no closer to making his move.
<Rachel informed me that when she came to take over Marco’s watch, I had “chickened out big time”,> Ax said. <I do not understand. I was in harrier morph. I was not a chicken.>
<It’s a figure of speech, Ax-man,> I said. <Look, we’ve been over this. You like him. Rachel told me that Jake told Cassie that Marco told Jake that he’s into you. So we have that on good authority. But he’s too much of a strategist to make the first move unless he knows that it’s going to be received favorably, so that means the ball is in your court.>
<There is a ball?>
<It means it’s on you, Ax-man,> I said. <You want this to happen, you need to go for it.>
<I am unclear as to the chain of communication that led you to believe with such assuredness that Marco is “into” me,> Ax said, readjusting his flight feathers and soaring a dozen feet above me.
<I told you,> I said. <Jake told Cassie, Cassie told Rachel, Rachel told me.>
<And Marco expressed his feelings directly to Prince Jake?> Ax asked. <I am aware that Prince Jake and Marco have been shorms for many of your years, but I am surprised that Marco was so forthcoming to Prince Jake. He is generally reserved and guarded with his emotions in almost every circumstance.>
<I don’t know if Marco said all that,> I said. <I think Jake was reading between the lines.>
<Let us review exactly what Cassie said to Rachel.>
<Rachel wouldn’t set you up, Ax,> I said. <I know you two butt heads sometimes, but she’s not the type to play games.>
<I do not believe that Rachel is, as you say, “setting me up,”> Ax said.
<But you’re still not sure if you trust her intel?>
<I do not wish to criticize Rachel,> Ax said. Even in thoughtspeak, he sounded awkward. <I have great respect for her skill in battle and I am aware that she is special to you.>
<Well, I’m glad you picked up on that, dude,> I said. <But you can say what’s on your mind, I can keep your concerns in confidence.> I care a lot about Rachel, and I know she cares a lot about me, but there was no denying the fact she and Ax clash on strategy and authority issues from time to time. But I didn’t want that to affect the rest of our team dynamics if I could help it.
<I believe that it is possible that Rachel would not have considered this an important matter and would not have relayed all the details that Cassie convey to her accurately to you,> Ax said. <She is a great warrior, but in my experience she does not display great sensitivity in some areas.>
I laughed. "Does not display great sensitivity in some areas" was a major understatement. <Diplomatically put, Ax-man,> I replied. <Look, leave it all to me. I’ll talk to Cassie.>
<You do not think that Cassie will disapprove?>
<Of what?> I asked. <Doing Marco a favor?>
<No,> Ax said. He shifted his wings away from me slightly. <The idea of Marco and I forming a relationship.>
<Why, because you’re both guys?> I asked. <Ax, I know you’re not from around here and this may not mean much to you, but this is California. Marco has been out of the closet for a while, at least to us and his folks.>
<What? No, of course not.> Ax sounded confused, and I realized I had no idea what the stance was on same-gender relationships on the Andalite homeworld. All I knew was that Alloran, Visser Three’s host, had a wife who he had asked Ax to send a message to in a brief moment where he had control of his body, but that made for a sample size of one. Ax might not have any idea what cultural baggage humans were carrying around about that particular subject. I toyed briefly with the idea of introducing Ax to Will and Grace. <I am unsure of how she will react to the idea of a relationship between a human and an Andalite.>
<Ax, you’re talking about a girl whose best friend is dating a bird,> I said. <To said bird, I might add.>
<Yes, but you and Rachel were both raised in human culture,> Ax said. <Andalites are more cautious than humans in such matters.>
<Aldrea wasn’t,> I pointed out. <She became a Hork-Bajir nothlit to stay with Dak Hamee.>
<Aldrea was in an exceptional situation,> Ax said.
<And you’re not?> I asked. <Look, Ax, I’m not saying that the cross-species dating thing doesn’t have drawbacks. But you just make it work. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but you won’t know what you’re missing if you don’t just go for it.>
<’Just going for it’ is a very human concept,> Ax said, but he sounded like he was considering it. <You are willing to speak directly to Cassie on my behalf?>
<Sure, dude,> I said. <I’ve got your back.>
<You have what?>
I laughed. <Never mind, Ax-man. Just leave it to me.>