Closed to Animorphs and Guards.

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

His hands itched. So did the backs of his ankles. And his head hurt.

It was rather annoying to not be able to scratch the itch. The headache was more troubling. It was going to get worse, but for the moment it was just an ache behind his eyes, aggravating more for the reminder than the actual physical pain.

He was helpless.

He let his head lull forward, resting his chin on his chest and testing the bindings on his hands. They were solid, and it didn't give in the least. They didn't even have the decency to scratch the damned itch.

He was hungry, and that would get worse as well. He had a feeling the current small portions of food would continue until he starved. He would get the added pleasure of his host's hunger making his own worse.

< They're going to kill you. > Tom's voice was soft, invasive, and annoying.

< That should make you happy. You're getting everything you wanted, aren't you Tommy-boy? >

The host was silent, considering.

Iniss kept his head down, soon, perhaps, one of his jailers would decide to lecture him, and who knew what might happen then?

If he pretended to be asleep, maybe they would just leave him alone.

((Occ: Give me what day you're on when you tag in, and we'll just do it sorta day by day? I guess? Maybe? Suggestions?)

Comments

Day One

[livestoannoy]

Marco wasn't going to lecture. Sure, gloating was gonna be fun - but he had three days to do that. Besides, right now Marco had a different task to attend to. (The fact that this task just happened to also have great potential to rub it in was pure coincidence! Honest.)

So instead he just sat down with that bag he'd taken off of Iniss earlier, and started going through it.

Re: Day One

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

Iniss didn't move for a moment, keeping up the sham of sleep until he heard the rustle of something being unpacked.

What were these miserable humans going to do now

He lifted his head slowly, already scowling when he spotted Marco.

< Told you so. >

< Shut up. >

The fact that his host of all people had been the one to spot the errors in the story, and not himself was only making the entire situation worse.

The annoyance only rose when he spotted what, exactly, Marco was pawing through. "That is mine, you thieving monkey."

[livestoannoy]

"No, it's Tom's," Marco's said casually as he pulled out a pencil case. He opened it up and started sifting through the pens (hey, you never know. Maybe the Yeerks had taken a leaf out of James Bond's book and started making Dracon beam pens). "That body's not yours either. Tom'll get his stuff back when you're dead."

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

"So casual when discussing murder. I suppose you're an old hand at this?" The words were almost growled, eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"That doesn't change that those things are mine, and as for this body..." He shrugged a shoulder. "What is that human saying? "Possession is 9/10s of the law"? I'm using this body, that makes it mine, by humanities own reasoning."

< You really misjudged him. How's it feel, getting outsmarted by a human kid I used to play video games with? Who Jake built a pillow fort in the living room with? Feels pretty nice on this side of things. >

< No one asked for your input, shut up. >

< You thought he was an idiot, but he's smarter than you, pulled the best trick ever, didn't he? Marco always was a good actor. Should have listened, I guess. But now you, like the empire, will be destroyed. I think the world's smallest violin is playing you a sad, sad song. >

Day Three

[visserbasher.livejournal.com]

It was Loren's turn to stand guard. She had asked specifically to do it on the last day.

She didn't normally consider herself a blood thirsty person. She was a just a normal young woman. But it just so happened that not too long ago, she'd also had a yeerk in her head.

They'd given it a chance to come out, to save its life. It refused.

Loren smacked the tip of her baseball bat against her hand.

She wasn't normally blood thirsty. But if she had to describe the way she felt at this moment, she would have to say satisfied.

Re: Day Three

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

Iniss was a simple yeerk, really. If a bit of a manic one, at the moment, starvation gnawing at him and rolling his host's stomach into knots to the point that he couldn't even force the body to eat and keep things down.

Tom had stopped laughing at him, withdrawing into an iron hard core at the back of his mind and trying to block the chaos out.

But he was still a simple yeerk, a simple creature. He just wanted what everyone else wanted. A life, a few minions, safety, security, a stable host body with good senses that wasn't prone to sobbing and depressed behavior.

He had a healthy fear for the woman standing in the middle of the room. A very healthy, sane fear.

"Can't believe they'd let you guard me...you already tried to kill me once. A little unstable for guard duty, aren't you? I'm pretty sure the want this body intact or they'd just toss me out the air lock." He was babbling, a little, hands clenched into fists to keep them from shaking. Any distraction, even the terrifying crazy woman, was more than welcome. "Have you always been this crazy, or was it a recent development? I mean, I don't know much about females of any species, but traveling with a giant bladed weapon in your pocket seems a little nuts. Or maybe you ended up in the wrong body. Better suited for a Hork-Bajir maybe. Or considering your so called morality, an Andalite."

Re: Day Three

[visserbasher.livejournal.com]

Loren smirked. "Is that supposed to be an insult? I'm sure you can do better than that. Don't worry, I'm sane enough to make sure you don't try anything. Actually, I guess you should worry." She leaned forward. "Unless you want to make things easy on everyone and crawl out of there." Loren didn't know what it was like to have a yeerk starved out of your body but she did know that when she had been infested the prospect of it had terrified the yeerk in her own head enough that it left. It couldn't be pleasant, for Iniss (as little as she cared about his fate) or Tom.

Re: Day Three

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

"Merely making conversation, you wouldn't deny a dying creature a little chit chat, would you? And I'm more concerned about you doing something, to be frank. You seemed pretty willing to harm my host to get to me before."

He leaned back a little more, trying to get away from her, stomach giving a lurch as he did so. "I think you're insane, you should see if they have pills for that."

< Tell her I like her. >

< Tell her yourself, do I look like a telephone? >

< I can't yet. >

< Then tell her when I'm dead and she's not looming over you. >

Day Two

[escapednothlit.livejournal.com]

Of course Elfangor took a round of guard duty. He waited until the second day though. The day where the Yeerk would have time to process what was going on, but would also have time to actually think for the choice he would offer. One could refuse from irrationality, but give him time and the Yeerk might be rational.

Besides, he'd heard there was after affects on the host from when a Yeerk starved, so it'd be nice if he took it for Tom's sake. But as long as the Yeerk was dealt with, it didn't matter.

Even if something still made him...curious.

< Hello, Yeerk, > Elfangor said, the tone professional and calm. < You know who I am? >

Re: Day Two

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

Iniss knew exactly who the Andalite standing in the middle of the room was.

Exactly.

He felt no loss of pride in shifting back the fraction of an inch he was able to move, eyes on the deadly tail. His throat felt unusually dry and scratchy when he spoke, dropping a few octaves, though he didn't look away from the deadly blade. "Yes, Andalite, I know who you are."

< I saw him die.... > the words were soft, the first murder he'd witnessed still present in the mind of the host.

"I have it on good authority that you should be dead." He had meant to make it sound conversational, but he couldn't disguise the fear.

Re: Day Two

[escapednothlit.livejournal.com]

< Yes. I should be. Amazing what a ship that travels through time can do, > Elfangor said. < Though, I assure you, I am very much alive right now. >

Re: Day Two

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

"I can see that." His eyes didn't move from the very lethal tail. "Time travel always confused me."

[tobiasf.livejournal.com]

Tobias glided overhead, acting as lookout while his father was down below. He could hear the back and forth conversation going on, although he didn't speak a great deal. Part of him still couldn't believe this was really happening, while another part was still braced for intervention from Stacy at any moment. He wasn't going to relax until this whole thing was over.

< Still clear from this vantage point > he called down.

Day Two

[mynameis-jake.livejournal.com]

Jake had taken a flying shift, then another. It wasn't that he didn't trust the others with his life and more, it was just that it was Tom down there, and in three short days, it would be just Tom, no Yeerk. After so long, it was almost too good to be believed, and so he didn't believe it; as he circled overhead, as the the day he'd been waiting, pining for drew ever closer, he chased obsessively through one unthinkable scenario after another, everything that could possibly go wrong. It didn't stop even when Cassie finally managed to coax him to try to get some sleep; he tossed and turned for a couple of hours that felt like days, and then he headed straight back, drawn as if magnetically.

He was about to morph back to peregrine when a sudden thought stopped him. Was he really so much of a coward that he couldn't give his own brother some comfort during a process that he knew only too well? Was he going to spend the three days hiding in the safety of the sky and then finally show himself when the agony had passed?

No. As Elfangor emerged, Jake exchanged a terse greeting, and headed in himself for a turn.

Tom was - well, no, it wasn't Tom, but it still hurt, seeing him restrained like that. Still, this was nothing compared to the cage that the Yeerk had kept him in all this time. Not much longer now. Jake gazed Tom - the Yeerk, not Tom - squarely in the eye, expression calm, and nodded a hello.

Re: Day Two

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

To say Iniss hadn't been expecting this was an understatement.

A giant, neon understatement.

For a long moment, yeerk and host alike simply gazed at Jake, confused and unable to figure out what he was doing here. Did the others tell him and he decided to come?

No, Iniss rather thought there would be more tears, if that was the case. 'My brother has been taken over by an alien' and all that.

For a long moment, Iniss watched him, torn between several reactions. "What are you doing here?" A part of him entertained the thought that he might be able to get Jake to untie his hands, but the little nod he gave Elfangor...ah, something was up. He was out of the loop.

Tom was quiet, watching his brother. Even after getting a chance to see him earlier, the fact that his brother was alive and ok and here still seemed to give him comfort.

The more he learned about humans, the more he realized he didn't undersand them at all.

Re: Day Two

[mynameis-jake.livejournal.com]

Marco would have made a quip. Hello, my name is Jake, and I'll be your jailer for the night. Jake couldn't quite bring himself to be flippant.

There was a stool left by the door; he drew it up until he could sit at arm's length from Tom, and then regarded him steadily, taking the time to drink in his expression, his posture, the inflection of his voice, trying to imagine that in just a short while, all these things would be expressions of his brother, and not the slug in his head. It was a beautiful thought, but he couldn't allow himself to bask in it, not yet, not when there was even the remotest possibility that something could go awry.

The silence stretched on, as Jake weighed his words carefully. The smartest thing would have been to say nothing at all, but he remembered what it was like to sit there tied up, waiting and straining for freedom of another sort. So finally he said, calmly as he could, "I'd like to talk to my brother."

Re: Day Two

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

Iniss made his face go still, not reacting for a long moment after the words were spoken.

"So you do know." He let his shoulders relax, watching the boy for a long moment, head tilting to the side. "What makes you think I'll agree?" what's in it for me?

Tom was quiet for a moment, just watching Jake, something that felt disgustingly close to hope burning in him. < How long did you know, Jake? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wasn't strong enough to fight them, I wish I had been. I'm sorry about dad, about what I nearly did. I'm so sorry. >

Third Day

[careforanimals2.livejournal.com]

Cassie sat on the same patch of grass she was at on the first day. She gave Iniss a look, as if knowing the hunger he must be feeling right now. She didn’t go through it, she didn’t even go through it from Tom’s perspective like Jake had. But she understood how painful it must feel. Imagine going a month without food. It wasn’t the time yet for his death but it was fast approaching. She remembered, at least from the outside, what Jake’s body had done during that time. The last desperate look in the eyes of someone she cared about, coming from the yeerk inside of him. Maybe, just maybe Iniss would reconsider.

“There’s still time, you know,” she said softly, concerned. She didn’t like him, but she wouldn’t wish starvation on him. If only he could leave Tom’s body. She had to appeal to him, it was now or never.

Re: Third Day

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

It was the girl again. The girl he-Tom- vaguely remembered as being one of Rachel's friends and having a crush on Jake.

Tom had always wanted to tease him about it. Midget all grown up and getting a girlfriend. It had been a grand opportunity to give Jake no end of shit about it.

But instead he'd gotten infested, and the yeerk hadn't been much interested in teasing Jake about his girlfriend, and Tom was glad.

Iniss could feel those memories. He'd seen them before, pawing through Tom's memories when he'd assumed control.

But he'd never felt them before, not really. There had always been a bit of distance between the emotions and his own understanding of the memories. But now he did, now he could feel Tom's regret as he cycled through the memories on his own. Feel the simple pleasure as Tom thought about teasing Jake now. Making up for those missed moments of brotherly bonding.

She was sweet, Tom remembered, nicer than Rachel, kinda awkward but he thought she'd grow out of it. Her name was- "Cassie."

He opened his eyes, looking at her, lacking the energy to beg or even glare at her. "That's your name. Cassie."

He didn't ask what she was offering, hair hanging limp in his face. He felt limp, tired. His hands hadn't stopped shaking for the last hour, and the cuffs were uncomfortably tight around his sweaty limbs. His stomach was twisting itself into knots, it felt like he might be sick, though there was nothing to throw up. His host's hunger mingled freely with his own, making it hard to focus. "Rachel's friend. Right? And you're part of all this, somehow. All of you are part of it. Big secret."

Re: Third Day

[careforanimals2.livejournal.com]

Cassie still looked concerned as she looked over him. He looked so beaten. Her own memories of the last moments with Jake while he was a controller still washed over her. When Iniss talked, she could definitely hear the difference in his tone. It must be hard for him to focus on things.

"Yes, I'm Cassie," she replied at first. She looked into his eyes. Knowing that Tom was in there, wanting him to understand. "The starvation thing. It's not going to be pleasant for you either, Tom." Then still looking in his eyes, but not through his eyes, she spoke to Iniss. She figured she'd try again. "There's still time. What was this solution you mentioned earlier? What's the other choice than starvation?"

Re: Third Day

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

"You had - have? - a crush on Jake. He remembers."

Tom was quiet for a moment, looking back at her. It still felt odd, Iniss could feel it, still felt odd to have people addressing him like he was a part of what was going on, and not just ignoring or not knowing he was there. < I know it won't. >

"He says he knows." He felt like a parrot, almost, sanity and focus slipping through his fingers as he mindlessly repeated what was said to him. He let his head lull forward, considering the question. "Was working on something with engineering. Doesn't matter now, going to die."

[thethirdhalfa.livejournal.com]

Dani flew as fast as she could away from the City. If they were in Stacy proper, then it'd be fine. Stacy could help them then.

That's why she didn't stop, phasing through the walls until she entered an empty hallway in the ship proper, already knowing which walls were safe to go through.

She then landed on the ground, letting go of Tom, phasing off the restraints. "Are you okay? What were they doing? Do I need to get you to the medical bay?" Dani asked, looking at him worriedly. The question was for both of them, really.

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

Iniss was shaking, hands trembling and face covered in sweat, he made no attempt to rise, even as she removed the shackles, still in shock.

What had just happened? "Starving...They were..." The answer was automatic, by his calculations, he had a half hour left.

"Dani..." You came.

It was a bizarre feeling, one he really had no place for or not understanding of.

Dani had come, not to save his host, not to protect Tom...but to save him.

No one had ever saved him before.

No one had ever wanted to.

< DANI! TAKE HIM BACK TAKE HIM BACK!!!! >

[thethirdhalfa.livejournal.com]

"They were WHAT?!" Dani yelped. "That...they were...food! You need food!" Dani said, looking around. Of course she didn't hear Tom, just freeing the consequences of not eating for over two days. Tom might have been fine, but Iniss was a lot smaller than Tom. "Stacy! We have a starving person! Shots are quicker!"

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

"Starving me, to free my host." He reached out, trying to grab her hand. "Dani."

He drew a breath, trying to ask...why, why she would risk... It was an odd feeling, muddling with his starved brain and making it hard to focus. "What are you doing here?"