trans_9 | [Closed]

Marco wasn't the only one in the living area who was having trouble sleeping. Ax was fairly certain that he hadn't ingested more protein than usual lately, but the number of recently-completed games on his omnicomm definitely indicated that there was some problem with his sleeping pattern.

He noticed that someone had turned the lights on in the kitchen of Cassie's house. Well, insomnia could hardly be worse with the company of a friend, could it? Tucking his omnicomm into the sling he'd fashioned for it, he proceeded toward the house.

By the time Ax got to the kitchen, Marco had already gotten to the ice cream, and was eating it straight out of the tub. He looked up at Ax's arrival. "Hey Ax-man," he said. Then after a moment's pause: "The ice-cream is mine, by the way."

< Hello Marco, > Ax replied. < You don't have nearly enough eye make-up running down your cheeks to be eating ice cream directly from the tub. And I am fairly certain that the most popular boy on the football team has not just broken up with you. >

Marco rolled his eyes. "Ax-man, you wouldn't even have bothered to get a spoon. And guys don't wear make up. Or date other guys on the football team." Marco paused for a moment. "Well. Most guys don't."

Ax dismissed Marco's accusation of his hypothetical lack of spoon with a shrug of his shoulders as he moved around the table to retrieve a bowl of water for himself. An excuse to stay in the kitchen and argue with Marco until one of them got bored was an excuse to stay in the kitchen and argue with Marco until one of them got bored, after all.

< But the ritual is a very important part of the romance plot, > he replied. < I think the next part involves either shopping or lighting something fluffy and inanimate on fire. >

Ironic, that Ax was talking about 'romance' plots. Except he hadn't even mentioned Sakura to him at all. (Hey, after that whole Marion thing, Marco wasn't really a fan of having the rest of the Animorphs playing peanut gallery to his attempts at dating again.)

"Dude, this is real life. I am not a soapy character. Plus, setting that stuffed iguana on fire was just a one-off Dr Sexy subplot. They don't do that all the time."

Sakura had to remind herself what she was here for again as she caught the sound of one familiar voice in the night air. Which was funny, because she so rarely was on a schedule with the weird sun-up sun-down schedules of the City, since they certainly followed no set hour schedule, and it was really very hard to think in terms of night and day and that's when she saw the window.

She probably would have ignored it if the window hadn't been so invitingly open, nor half-lit by light from the near-by kitchen. Yet it was, and it just seemed so much more direct to go that way, and not have to take the time to find the door!

Only as she slipped into Cassie's house, she realized it might still be rude not to knock. "... Wait." So she turned right around and jumped out the window, landing in a crouch and leaning back against the wall with a muffled thump.

Then she knocked. "May I come in?" she asked, cranking her head back to look up at the window frame she'd just exited through. "... The window. The door's far away."

She waited, blinking, for a response.

Edited 2011-06-16 10:07 (UTC)

Ax had whirled around, tail at the ready, when someone invaded Cassie's house. Then they -- whoever they were -- jumped right back outside and then knocked. He stared incredulously at the window, then swiveled a stalk-eye toward Marco. Clearly this was someone that he knew.

What. The. Fuck. "Sakura?!" he said, shooting a quick glance at Ax which said don't look at me I have no idea what's going on. "What the hell are you doing?!

Edited 2011-06-16 22:15 (UTC)

She had to think about that for a moment. "Knocking?" she offered at last.

Marco might not know what was going on at this moment, but Ax was certain that any humans jumping back and forth through windows were somehow related to him. Especially since he could identify the person in question by name.

But at least it didn't sound like this was a person that Ax ought to be concerned about. He relaxed a few inches, then glanced down with a sigh at the water bowl that had been knocked over in the excitement.

"Yes, I gathered that," Marco said, sarcastic. "I mean what the hell are you doing coming through the window at 3am in the morning?!"

Okay, Marco didn't actually know that it was 3am, thanks to the fact that they couldn't really measure time on Stacy. But it was close enough.

Edited 2011-06-17 02:28 (UTC)

"You can't know it's 3am," she pointed out, pushing off the wall and regaining her feet. She brushed her medic skirt clear of debris. "Time's not that specifici... Time's not that exact here."

She hated when her tongue did that mangle the word she wants thing. It seemed to be doing that less than earlier. Sakura was fairly certain she could manage to say amalgamation.

"Amalgamation."

Yeah, she could. Still, since he hadn't answered her question, she turned, crossed her arms, took half a step back in compensation for how that destabilized her, and stared through the window. Or she did her best to stare through the window. "I was trying to find you." Yes, that had been the plan. "Because you're annoying, and presumpt-- and you make a lot of assumptions," she continued, annoyed that she'd stumbled over presumptive, "And we hadn't decided on a when to go -- are we talking through a window?"

For some reason, that struck her as more absurd. "Hang on, I'll... go find the stupid door." Now, to head right, or left?

< The left, > Ax answered, searching for something to mop up the water on the floor. < Though I suppose that it's also on the right eventually. The door is unlocked. >

Yes, this person didn't seem particularly dangerous at this point.

"It's still early," Marco said dryly. "Way too early. And...wait, are you drunk?!"

This was insane. Barbie, drunk?! She was the last person he'd expect to go and get smashed. Not to mention he didn't expect that she'd decide to come looking for him while smashed.

"Thank you, voice in my head!" Which penetrated to a fuzzy, Oh, right, morpher? And then tied into thoughts about the ship and all the other things (and people) who could get into your head.

It left her warm fuzzy angry state more warm fuzzy disturbed and introspective, which didn't work so well and required far more brain power than she was currently managing to make focus on one idea. Taking the suggested left, she slipped in through the door, screwing knocking the second time around. If they were going to be surprised (and she knew it was a they, she just didn't know who the they was), they damn well could be surprised.

Somehow.

She moved with far more languid grace than normal, looser altogether. She'd heard Marco's exclamation earlier, if she hadn't bothered responding in her search for the door. Poking her head into the kitchen, she finally did. "A little." Sakura paused, hand gripping the wall. "Or a lot. A little is a lot," she said with a small shrug -- and then she saw Ax.

"You!" She pointed. "You're -- really blue!"

Ax looked up from mopping up the spill and once again swiveled an eye-stalk in Marco's direction.

< Yes, very often, > he replied. < My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. You may call me 'Ax'. >

Marco glared at Ax. Hey, it's not his fault that Sakura decided to get drunk and show up here at random! He had no way of knowing this would happen!

"Yes, Ax is blue. Glad to know you're not so drunk that you can't identify what colour he is," he said, rolling his eyes. "Although I don't know how you get so drunk that you decide that it's easier to come in through the window."

Actually, in a tiny way it was. Sort of. Mostly not. Either way, Sakura was far more focused on his friend than Marco's estimate on her judgement skills when it came to entry points. Very, very slowly, she did her best to sound out Ax's entire name first. (She didn't get it right, but she... tried. It's not her fault if it came out sounding more like Facsimile Eavesdrop Ethel!) "Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. It's... nice to meet you."

Yeah, she wouldn't be saying that anytime fast. "This is the Ax you were hiding your food from?" she asked incredulously as the name registered, finally looking back at Marco. She let go of the wall, standing on her own. Her head swam a little, if she wasn't swaying. The alcohol in her system was persistent, if not incapacitating.

Edited 2011-06-17 06:45 (UTC)

Logically, of the people currently living in Cassie's house, the one most likely to blame for the appearance of a drunk human female with pink hair was Marco. Ax felt very secure in this determination. He bowed politely to Sakura, though he kept a stalk-eye fixed on her in case she started to fall over.

< Well done. I understand that my name is difficult for humans to say. > Especially while intoxicated. < It's nice to meet you as well. I don't believe I've had the pleasure of your name? >

He huffed a little and rolled his eyes at the mention of hiding food. < Is that really how you introduce me to people, Marco? >

Hey, it could have been...well...someone else! Somehow. Maybe.

Who knows what the hell Ax was up to, though. He eyed the Andalite. "Ax, she makes it sound like you're some kind of bizarre fax machine," he said. "Your name might be hard, but most of the time we don't screw it up that much."

Marco shuffled his feet. "Well the topic of food just came up!" he protested. "Would you rather I just introduce you as the 'blue alien deer' whenever you come up instead?!"

"What's a fax machine?" Wait, did she care? Sakura felt herself blushing, since she didn't like messing up someone's name. Some part of her registered that she needed to practice Ax's name in private, until she got it right. Shaking her head, she started to bow -- and thought better of that.

Really, for all she sounded (and was) drunk, she was managing movement fairly well. Ignoring Marco (he hadn't said anything to her, it was particularly easy) she made her way to Ax, offering him a hand. Handshakes should work. Had he been around humans for a long time? Most humans seemed to respond to handshakes. "Haruno Sakura," she said with a smile. And it was a smile. Screw you, Marco, Ax was kindly overlooking her glaring inability to pronounce his name.

That earned him a brownie point.

Then again, now she was noticing Ax's hands. So many fingers... what kind of range of motion can you get with that? Or the hand seals. So many hand seals.

"You probably already know this about Marco, but he lacks tact." You know, because someone had to say it. "While also being a pessimistic, petty, pretty little --" if Ax had shaken her hand, she'd be letting go in order to point over at Marco, finally re-re-remembering why she'd ended up in this part of the City in the first place. "-- Pest!"

< Yes, but she did try, > Ax replied easily. < Considering the circumstances, she did quite well. >

Being quite familiar with the concept of handshakes, he accepted the proffered hand and hoped that she didn't have a strong grip. Andalite hands in general (and Ax's in specific) were more delicate than those of humans.

He couldn't quite resist a smile at Sakura's description of Marco, though there was no way to know if she could read his expression without a mouth. < I see that you too enjoy the "puh" sound. I'm quite fond of it myself. > he said. < Other than that, I will have to take your word on "pretty", I'm afraid that in spite of all the time I've spent with them, humans still look a little strange to me. >

Marco blinked. "Excuse me? Did you just call me pretty?!" he said, not quite sure whether to feel complimented or insulted. Sure, 'pretty' generally meant attractive, but it also generally applied to girls. "Shouldn't I at least get a 'good looking' or 'handsome' or 'hot'?"

Funny, how he zeroed in on that and ignored all the other descriptive words Sakura had come up with...

Thankfully for Ax, Sakura's grip was passing as firm, but not tight. No hand crushing for anyone tonight. She missed his version of a smile, struck instead by her belated realization that her alliteration fest had included a word she hadn't meant to use.

If Ax hadn't reaffirmed what word she'd used, she would have stringently denied having said it. Now she'd just have to not spend time thinking about it, if she could fix the filter between her brain and mouth. "Good looking doesn't start with a p," she said, finger falling an inch. "But point does, and you're missing it."

She wasn't sure she'd made her point, actually, and was having a hard time recalling what it even was. Something to do with a plan, which might explain the predominance of the letter 'p' in her current predicament. Which earned Ax a slow nod of her head, if her reaction to his statement on 'puh' being a fun sound was significantly delayed. "It's a good sound. Do you know what else sounds good?" She loved rhetorical questions. "A plan. We need to make one. Or even better? None. How does tomorrow sound?" She furrowed her brow, then clapped her hands together. "Later today! This afternoon!"

Sakura's glad they had this conversation. Isn't he?

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