A/N – This fic isn't dead! I decided to work on it, now that I'm coming to the end of The Kelbrid Wars. I'll finish this fairly quickly, probably…it's based on the other books in the series, and isn't especially twisty. By the way, it takes place somewhere in between book 13 and book 19. Enjoy!
Chapter 4
Tobias, in human morph, tripped twice walking to my house with me. The second time, I had rolled my eyes, but had held my tongue. Tobias still wasn't used to being in human form, although the Ellimist had given him the ability a while back, and I tried not to bust on him about it. The decision to live as a hawk to stay in the fight when it would be so easy for him to bail…well, I had more than a little respect for him because of it.
I saw my dad's car in the driveway, but I was hoping he'd be working in his office. My dad was cool about me bringing friends over, but Tobias still had a tendency to stare. And not say anything. And flap his arms like wings when he was startled. My dad pretty much stayed out of my business, and I wanted to keep it that way. I didn't want him asking, "So Marco, when did you decide to play with kids who pretend to be birds?"
As we entered the house, my dad was propped up on the couch by several pillows. At least he was dressed – ever since he'd decided he'd grieved enough over my dead mother (who is not dead – but that's another issue entirely,) he'd lost the habit of living on the couch in an open robe. He was watching a basketball game, the Final Four, which was something I definitely would have been all over a year earlier. Basketball just didn't feel so exciting now that I was getting shot at on a weekly basis.
"Hey dad, this is Tobias. We're signing up for the video game competition this weekend at the mall," I said quickly, and tried to get away before my dad came out of his sports-coma.
"Ho, hold up there!" he said. "Nice to meet you, Tobias. Don't you want to watch?" he asked mildly. "Final Four. It just started."
"No point," Tobias said, startling me. "Oklahoma's got it in the bag. If you don't believe me, just watch their power forward shine glass."
My dad grinned. "All right, point taken. Duke might give 'em a run, though," he said, waving us off. We tromped up the steps to my room.
Once the door was shut, I turned and gave Tobias an incredulous look. "Since when do you know anything about college hoops?"
Even though he was still getting used to human facial expressions, he managed to look sheepish. "Jake's been sneaking me into his house for a couple of weeks now to watch the tournament. I guess I've picked up some terminology from him."
"Nice. My best friend would rather watch sports with a bird than his best bud," I grumbled, logging on to the web. I quickly found the website I was looking for, and signed myself up for the tournament. As I pulled up another application, I said, "Whoa, wait. We can't sign you up as yourself, obviously."
Tobias looked thoughtful. "Just put me down as Hawke. Toby Hawke."
"You gotta be kidding me, you nerd," I said, but did as he said and signed up Toby Hawke for the competition. "You got any game in particular you want to sign up for?"
Tobias studied the list of available games, and shrugged. "I've been out of it a while, man. I've never played any of these."
"Crisis Zone? Fly! Grand Theft Auto? Mechwarrior 3? You've never played any of these?" I asked in disbelief. He shook his head. "No wonder you decided to stay a bird." He didn't say anything, and despite myself, I felt a little bad. "Fly! is an awesome flight simulator, and not many people signed up for it. I'd say with your superior knowledge of the air, you'd be a shoe-in for that one."
"Sure, that's fine. You do realize that we don't actually have to win, Marco? We just have to be there, get to know the system enough to let Ax do his thing."
I logged off and went to my closet. "Sure, I know that. But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to dominate anyone who gets in my way." I turned and studied the outfit he had on, and snorted. The clothes Rachel left for Tobias at Cassie's barn were ridiculous – he looked like a prep-school dork. I tossed him a plaid shirt and pair of jeans. "Change, please. What you're wearing makes me want to shove your head in a toilet, and I'm your friend," I told him.
He hesitated. "You know, I don't have to go to the movie with you guys. I mean, I could care less who Stallone is saving the world from."
I had kind of expected this. Tobias was a loner by nature – now that he was a hawk, that quality more than any other dominated his personality. I was under orders from Rachel to make sure he was there, though. Ever since Tobias had regained the ability to become human, Rachel felt obliged to include him in every human activity that she could. She was a little fanatical about it. And one thing I do not do is get in Rachel's way when she's fanatical about something.
"Come on, man. Friday night at the theatre – chicks trying to look their best, concession stand goodies, two hours of blood-and-guts martial arts action? Not to mention Ax getting a second chance to act normal at a movie? Don't tell me you've got something better to do at your meadow," I said.
Tobias shrugged, but he began changing. Good. I wasn't best friends with the guy, but I did happen to think he needed to be normal once in a while. Him maybe more than any of us.
