trans_9 | (no subject)

Marco attacked the PlayStation.

Attacking was a good word for it, too. He certainly looked more like he was trying to smash everything in the game into oblivion rather than play it. He certainly didn't look like a guy who was just relaxing and having fun.

The fact is, Marco had not been a happy-go-lucky guy lately. Nothing out of the ordinary - just more snappy. A little angrier. Harsher.

Ever since that Yeerk's arrival, he'd been spending his time carefully avoiding contact with Ax and Tobias, keeping tabs on Tom, and generally making sure that he did nothing that could get back to Tom and make him think that Marco wasn't really a Controller like he'd claimed.

But, Marco could deal with that. He and the other Animorphs had spent three years having to keep everyone from finding out about them during the war. And he knew that Ax and Tobias had nearly finished their preparations, so they'd be dealing with Tom soon enough. No, that's wasn't the problem. The problem was what Tom's arrival meant. Because Tom didn't just arrive - the Yeerk had come with him. The same with Karen, and Aftran. And if they could wake up with Yeerks, other Controllers could too. And he knew people could be brought from any time, so it wouldn't even matter if they'd been freed in the end.

Marco knew his mom would be in the pods - but now she could still be a Controller as well. And Marco wouldn't know.

He wouldn't talk to anything about this, of course. Not even Ax and Tobias (though, he wouldn't be surprised if they figured it out). Instead, he'd just take out all his anger and hate on whatever video game he could find.

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Rhiow wasn't sure where she was going or which way she was wandering. The memories that had come from Stacy got under her skin and prickled her hackles in a way that nothing else had - but still, she was glad she had them. The Whisperer, too, had been disturbed, and had withdrawn from the corners of her mind. Rhiow knew that seeing a world - a universe - wiped out, was almost too much for even a Power. Her own grief was powerful; Hrauf's must be even worse.

Her ears pricked forward at the familiar tinny sounds coming from an ehhif television, something Rhiow had never quite seen the appeal for, and she stuck her head into the doorway, spotting a boy who looked familiar - that's right, he had been the one to play the funny prank on his hawk friend with the scratching post. Now, though, Rhiow could smell the complicated tangle of emotions that poured off him in waves.

One of the reasons Rhiow had always supported the symbiosis between their species was the level of comfort they could give one another. So she padded quietly up to Marco's side and curled up with her back pressing against his leg, laying her head down on her paws and watching the screen with him. She didn't speak - she didn't need to. There was nothing to be said.

Marco narrowed his eyes at Rhiow. He hadn't forgotten the talking cat - and when you could turn into an array of creatures yourself, you knew better than to just dismiss animals, especially ones that displayed unusual behaviour like Rhiow. And Marco, being Marco, was suspicious of everything - including a talking cat.

He didn't know what intentions the Rhiow had - but at least she wasn't trying to get him to talk about his feelings or some other crap like everyone else had. So, he just turned back to the game and apparently ignored her, all the while surreptitiously keeping an eye on Rhiow in case she did anything unexpected.

Unless Marco thought that twitching her ears every now and again as she watched his character jump around the TV screen and slaughter things messily - did this have anything to do with how willing ehhif were to accept violence as the normal course of things, she wondered - he wouldn't have any cause for suspicion.

Rhiow didn't even bother to look up. She just let herself relax, a warm presence against his leg. If he chose to pet her, she would stay still for that too. Of course she wouldn't pry; the People were private creatures. She would no more ask him to discuss his feelings than one of his male high school peers.

No way was Marco petting the cat. Especially since right now he was more in the mood for destroying pixel characters. It was a good thing she wasn't going to pry, though - because no way was Marco going to actually talk.

So instead, he just apparently ignored her.