A/N: I love it when these two combine snark! This was written for my table at the LJ comm. ka_verse with the prompt "dots". It takes place the day after their first mission in The Invasion
Bright Side
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"What the—"
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"…aaaargh! What—Tobias? Tobias, is that you?"
// So this is where you live. //
"Next time? Don't scare the crap out of me!"
// -I should've knocked.//
"Duh!"
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" So. You, uh. Um…"
// Open the window, Marco.//
"Oh. Sure thing. Come- come on in."
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"Huh. Well, well. Look at you, all feathered and glaring. I think I read a comic like this, once-"
// Can I perch here?//
"Su-Sure. Oh, geez, Tobias, that's—you. Oh man. Oh, man. That's really you."
// …I guess you heard.//
"Yeah. Cassie called ahead. She said I 'shouldn't make it worse' for you. Like I could."
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"Steady. Don't…don't flap like that, you'll drop my alarm clock. And…don't stare at me like that."
// …Very funny.//
"…I wasn't trying to be."
// Shocker.//
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" So. So you- You overstayed and turned into a bird."
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" I'd really like to time-travel and bet my past self that he'd never say that sentence. Ever."
//…Huh?//
"Or Jake's past self, that'd be a riot."
// Jake...he said… It was weird, with the others. I never saw Jake like that before. And…and Cassie said it hurt her to see me and then she said sorry, she was so sorry, and then… Rachel. Rachel just stared at me; I think she almost cried.//
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"Ohoho, wait a sec. Rachel. Cried. And you didn't call me over?"
// —What's wrong with you?!//
"—What's wrong with me? Look at what's wrong with you-- you took too long; and now you're a freaking red-tailed hawk; and what, we can turn into animals; and we're fighting body-grabbing aliens; and we could be gutted, eaten, or captured tomorrow! Connect the dots, bird-brain!"
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"Crap. Crap. I didn't mean— "
// Uh-huh..//
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"I just—I call everyone crazy things. If I can make up a name for someone, I do. It's a riot. Tree-Smoocher. Mallcrawler. Dad Number Two."
// …Dad Number…?//
"…otherwise known as Jake"
// Oooo-kay.//
" You've never heard his talking-to-someone-thirty-years-younger voice?"
// Speaking of Jake. He'll be waiting for me. He said—//
"Wait, you're staying at his house? How exactly—no, let me guess, the old drawer chest? In the Berensons' attic? Jake and Tom kept stray puppies up there once."
// Yeah. He lined the drawer with old blankets, got me a dish, and everything. Heck of a five-star hotel I've got.//
"Boy, you sound grateful. He didn't have to, you know."
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// No. None of us have to do this, none of us have to fight this, isn't that what you say?//
"-Tobias, did you see the guy camped out on the couch down there? Huh? That was my dad. You know, sometimes I think I have to water him during the day; he is going to grow roots around the damn TV."
// Hey. Easy.//
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"And—and I know I'm scum for even thinking that. I'm all he's got. And then, slam, bang, I'm a superhero? No thank you!"
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"You guys call me whatever you want. I don't care."
// I'm not calling anyone anything. Not looking like this.//
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"Man. It's…of all times to finally get some guts, dude. If I were you…I'dve killed myself by now."
// …You mean that?//
"Maybe I do."
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"…Maybe not."
// Thought so. Look at me. You'll feel better.//
"You know, some girls do like the way-beyond-depressed poet type. Or think that Eeyore's cute. Just think—you will make the hawkbabes sa-woon. They will fall out of the sky. They will…"
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"…Okay, dude, I don't care that you look like that. Stop looking at me like that."
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"…This sucks, Tobias. It's like, like there's no choice— I know; it's everything, everything on the line, fine. The human race; I know that. But…risking myself—that's different because, because—oh, I don't know, why me? Why you? It is like you said. But…look at you."
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// I…//
"What?"
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// I told Jake, until the Andalites come. Until they come, we fight; it's all good; I'll be…okay. But now, I… I don't know //
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"Score. We finally agreed on something.."
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"…sorry but what the hell are you doing?"
// It's called preening. Never mind.//
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// Look, Marco, I gotta go. Since you skipped out on class, Jake said to tell you we'll be meeting later. Cassie's barn, at three.//
"Sweet. My best friend in the world, all grown up, leading us to our doom. I think I might cry."
// -He'll get us through.//
"…You know, you really had some nerve, yapping on about making him the leader."
// Hey. If we're going to survive this, it can't be anyone else.//
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"…No kidding, Tobias. It's Jake. I trust him with my life."
// So why'd you say that?//
"…Because, my now-feathered friend, I am really kind of scared shitless."
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//…really, now. I couldn't tell.//
"Ha ha. Sarcasm. Use it well, young Skywalker."
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"…Uh. Skywalker, like Luke. Not like…hawk."
// I'd laugh. If I could.//
"Good to know."
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// So, anyway. Jake says mastering bird morphs is our agenda. Man, wait till you get up there. If there's a bright side to this…wait till the thermals. Carry you off into the sky and then, then it's infinite.//
"A— bright side…?"
// …Cut it out.//
"What?"
// Don't make that…that pity face.//
"What face? I was going to say, I always wanted to skydive. And now I'm going to learn…straight from the hawk's mouth. So much for my blonde, long-legged skydiving instructor daydream."
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"Hey, hey. Was that a laugh I heard, Bird-boy?"
// …Yeah. Wow. Yeah, it was.//
"Hmmm. Seems I'm not the only one with leggy blonde daydreams, yeah?"
// …Oh, shut up. Good grief.//
"Mmmm-hmm. You'll live."
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//…I will. We all will..//
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// So. I gotta go.//
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// One thing—don't start calling me Bird-boy.//
"It's better than bird-brain."
// You're not gonna stop calling me that, are you?//
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"…I'll see you later, Tobias."
// Yeah. See you, Marco.//
***
I based the writing of this fic on author Scott Westerfeld's rules for writing a Dialog Spine story. Basically, they are: 1) Dialogue only, no exceptions, 2) Only two characters must speak, 3)To spare any fiddling with attribution or verbal ticks for telling the characters apart, one character uses quotation marks and the other does not