Chapter Text
My name is Cassie, and my friend is an alien.
Well, he might not consider himself our friend, exactly. Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill was a brother-in-arms, though, and I trusted him with my life. We all had, at least once. But even though he hadn't suggested trying to get home since our disastrous attempt to capture a bug fighter, he'd always given off a sort of vibe that he didn't really want to be one of us. He didn't come to our meetings unless he had to. Even after all this time, he still wasn't answering my questions about morphing technology. Or his culture. Or even his physiology. After all this time, I still hadn't figured out how exactly to ask how he ate without a mouth. It was circumstances that kept him by our side. And while I still wasn't really sure what to think of him, he'd always lived up to his vow of allegiance, doing whatever Jake asked of him and risking his own life to protect ours.
That was good enough.
“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Rachel muttered to me as we headed over to the meeting point at the edge of the forest behind my farm. The others were already waiting for us. Rachel, not liking a dangerous plan? That didn't happen often. Wrong kind of dangerous, I guess.
I glanced at her tired face. The Ellimist thing and having to choose between living with her dad and the life she knew had taken a lot out of her, but she seemed to be recovering. She didn't look like she was about to break down at any moment. And she hadn't just disappeared for a few days, like Tobias had, although crazy bear rampages probably weren't any better.
“I think it's a good idea,” I said. “It can't all be yeerk fighting. If that's all we do, we're going to burn out. Besides, Ax wants to learn about human culture.”
“So we're taking him to a movie?”
“Hey, it wasn't my idea.” I broke into a jog until we got close enough to the others to converse comfortably.
"Okay, let's do this," Jake said. He glanced at Ax, who looked expectant, then at his watch. "We have time for Ax to watch the first hour of the movie. Any more, and we run too close to the time limit. Rachel? You have the backup plan ready? Where does Ax go if he needs an emergency demorph?"
"The dressing rooms at Nordstrom's. They're big and private. Best dressing rooms in the mall. Marco and I will be posted outside the theater, ready to rush him there if an emergency situation develops."
"And Rachel promises not to stop and shop in Junior Miss on the way," I said, grinning.
Jake searched the sky. Up above the tree-tops, a red-tailed hawk floated on a warm breeze. "Tobias!" Jake yelled.
<All clear,> Tobias called down in thought-speak. <I don't see anyone.>
Ax began to morph. Watching him turn into a human was always really weird, and it didn't help that his human form looked kind of like a mix of all of us. But then, he had made his human form by literally combining our DNA, so I guess it was a mix of all of us.
The first obvious change was his arms thickening. His seven slender fingers became five broader ones. His tail shrivelled up and was sucked into his spine. He reared up onto his hind legs just as his front legs disappeared, but he couldn't stay in that pose forever.
"Grab him, he's going to fail over," Jake said. He and Marco each grabbed an arm as his shoulders broadened and his spine straightened with a sickening click.
"Hey, hey, clothing!" Rachel said, making a face. "Clothing. Don't forget the morphing suit, Ax."
Ax didn't forget. The last thing to go was his blue fur, and when it did, he was wearing a bathing suit.
"Are you done?" Jake asked.
"Yes. Yessss. Ssssss. Yes-suh. I am in human morph."
The word thing again. That might be a problem.
“Ax,” I said gently, “if you play with sounds like that in public, people are going to be suspicious.” Probably more suspicious that he was mentally ill than that he was an alien, but whatever.
“The sounds are not the problem,” Marco said. “The food court is the problem. Are you sure you don't want me in there with you?”
“We've been through this,” Jake said patiently. “Cassie's better at... culture and people and stuff. This is a learning experience for Ax, remember?”
“Yes, we've been over why it's a good idea for you and Cassie to go to the movies together,” Marco said with a slight smile, “but Rachel and me waiting together is cover-blowing stuff. I mean, anybody sees us, they might think we're dating – and since that's impossible, they'll realise we're escorting an alien in the mall.”
“If people think we're dating, you're not the one who's going to be coming off badly, Marco,” Rachel said, wrinkling her nose. “But I still think this is stupid. We destroyed the Kandrona! We know the yeerks won't get another one set up for at least another week. We should be hitting them hard, now!”
"Look, you guys," Jake said. "We hurt the yeerks. It was a good job. But we also know that they have a replacement Kandrona being set up, so don't assume they're weak. Besides, if they are weak, they sure haven't shown it. I expected to see yeerks dying left and right, and former Controllers walking free again. Hasn't happened. Somehow they've maintained."
"We can't know what is going on with the yeerks," I pointed out. "Just because we haven't seen them suffer doesn't mean they haven't."
"Okay, look, here we are again, talking about yeerks," Jake said impatiently. "We have just come from a very, very unpleasant battle. And we came very close to ending up dead. And it's not the first time. So we are going to relax and be normal. We are going to the movie. And we are going to have fun. And no one… Rachel... is going to look for a fight."
"Don't you love it when he gets all forceful like that?" Marco stage-whispered to me. "He's just so Schwarzenegger sometimes."
He was trying to make me blush, of course. It worked.
"Okay, Ax," Jake said. "Time to get dressed."
"Prince Jake, I am already wearing this garment," Ax replied, pointing to his bathing suit. "Wearing. Ing. Ing-uh."
"Don't call me 'Prince,'” Jake said.
"Ax, you're dressed like an escapee from the Ice Capades," Marco said.
"You can't go out in public wearing speedos," Rachel said. "It's a major fashion 'don't.' Here."
She handed him a bag of clothes. It took Ax several minutes, with occasional help from Jake and Marco, to get everything on right.
We all stared. Even Tobias flew down to stare.
"Rachel, he looks like he's going to the country club to play polo," Marco said. "I knew we shouldn't let you pick the clothes. He's like a bully magnet. Even I want to beat him up."
"It's a classic look," Rachel said angrily. "Like you're Mister Fashion? A person who dresses like Beavis?"
"I think he looks cute," I said.
<Well, that's the kiss of death,> Tobias remarked from his perch in the tree above.
"It is?" Ax asked.
<Just an expression, Ax-man,> Tobias said. <You'll have fun.>
“I do not undersssstand... tan-duh... the purpose of extra clothing. Exsssstra clothinnng. Ing.”
“It's a culture thing,” I pointed out. “Humans cover up body parts that humans find sexually attractive. Generally, the more covered, the more polite it is, but there are exceptions for convenience. Like, less skin is covered in hot weather because clothing is hot. And less is covered at the beach because it's hard to swim when weighed down by clothing. But the more sexual a body part is to humans, the more important it is to cover it up.”
Jake shot Marco a tiny, smug look, then smiled at Ax. "Let's do this. If anyone tries to beat you up, we'll protect you.”