AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was struck by inspiration again...okay, I was wondering about the general lack of Ax POV fics (and I probably got him horribly OOC ~_~), and then this little idea hit me in the head. Yay!
Oh, as if you care. You just want to get on with the fic and let me warn you there's some strongly implied M/R and M/A...I don't really care for this fic so much, the end is pretty good but I don't like the rest. Oh well, read it and tell me what you think!
More notes: I suppose you could consider this an accompaniment to my story Games, but the two aren't really related to each other. Just thought I'd clarify that.
It usually doesn't bother me.
It's normal human behavior, I'd guess. And at most times I'm not really bothered by it. Maybe it was because I had morphed human, since Cassie's parents were in the house. Perhaps I was more sensitive to human behavior than usual because of it.
Tobias and Rachel were together, or at least as much as they could be. Tobias was in his natural form and perched on Rachel's shoulder. Judging from the expressions on Rachel's face I assumed they were sharing a private conversation. It didn't really offer me much comfort. Not that I wasn't happy for my shorm, I was thrilled that Tobias had finally found someone that truly loved him. If anyone deserved that, Tobias did.
Then there was Prince Jake and Cassie. They were standing very close to each other, much closer than I have seen humans normally stand next to each other. While both Prince Jake and Cassie remind everyone on many an occasion that they are "just friends", I'm starting to doubt that. They seem closer than most humans I have seen.
Most of the time, seeing Tobias with Rachel and seeing Prince Jake and Cassie does not bother me. Usually.
It's confusing, because I can't think of a logical reason for this to bother me. I should be happy for my Prince and shorm, and my other human friends. Except that sometimes they do alienate me, no pun intended, when they're together. Then again, they alienate Marco as well, so at least it isn't just me. Which is oddly comforting.
Yet, that disturbs me as well, when I really start to think about it.
Speaking of which, what was Marco was doing? He was walking around the barn making fun of Cassie and Prince Jake, mostly. Sometimes he teased Rachel and Tobias, but it wasn't that often. Cassie had already started to blush from his comments, and Rachel started to look very annoyed with him. I watched this all with fascination. The antics of my friends never really do fail to interest me, even if I try to not think about them. Now Marco had decided to just focus on Rachel. Rachel had made a jibe of some sort about Marco, and then the two of them had started fighting, but I noticed something. Marco's cheeks had turned a bright red.
So maybe they weren't exactly fighting. They were flirting.
That bothered me. Much more than seeing Rachel with Tobias, or Prince Jake with Cassie. It bothered me to the point that I found myself growing angrier and angrier as I watched the two of them.
Why? I asked myself, meaning it in an innocent way. Why should that matter? Are you angry because of how this might affect Tobias? No. No, that wasn't it. I knew from watching TV that humans often engaged in harmless flirtation and I was quite sure Tobias knew this as well. I wasn't angry for Tobias' sake, because I was fairly certain that nothing would come of Rachel and Marco's flirting, yet it still made me mad that they were flirting. But why should I be, unless I was jealous...?
Stop it, Aximili, you aren't thinking clearly! My mind immediately reprimanded me the moment the thought entered my head. Of course I wasn't thinking clearly, I thought to myself. I was actually contemplating whether or not I was jealous that Marco was flirting with Rachel! I was obviously lacking in sleep or something like that.
Simply, the whole idea was just absurd. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. My mind agreed, and I felt relieved. There was no point in standing around and thinking ridiculous thoughts like I had been. And they were ridiculous thoughts, I reassured myself. Absurd and ridiculous.
I managed to forget about it until Prince Jake and the others were starting to leave Cassie's barn. Rachel and Tobias were saying their good-byes, as were Cassie and Prince Jake. It was nice to see them together like that, but it also made me a bit nervous...
Ridiculous. I reminded myself. "I know, I know..." I thought, not bothering to hide my irritation.
Then I looked up and noticed all of the others staring at me. Had I said that out loud?
"See, Jake? I told you, one of us is going to snap. And Ax-man here just did it." Marco proudly declared.
Maybe it was because of the thoughts I'd been thinking, but I had to fight a small urge to morph and stop him from talking, if you understand what I mean. I glared at him instead. Rachel laughed, and looked at Marco with eyes that were glittering mischievously. "Marco, if you're not careful, I think your head is going to snap." She teased.
We all laughed at that, even though Prince Jake asked me not to do it again. My laughing gives him the creeps.
I'm still not clear what the creeps are. Soon enough, Prince Jake had left the barn with Marco, Rachel had gone out of the barn, and Tobias had flown off. It was just Cassie and I in the barn, and I was getting ready to demorph.
"Ax?" Cassie asked innocently, looking at a raccoon in one of the cages.
"Yes, Cassie? Sie. Iiieeee..." I asked. I was honestly trying to make an effort to not play with mouth sounds, but I found it very hard to resist. Cassie didn't seem to mind much, though. She just smiled at me.
"Don't mind Marco, he's just like that." Cassie told me. I think I saw a hint of a grin on her face.
"What are you talking about? Out? T-uh." I replied, determinedly avoiding Cassie's eyes.
"Oh, Ax." Cassie said gently. "You know what I'm talking about. You were watching Marco like a hound today."
I didn't respond to that, but I felt face suddenly grow very hot. Cassie giggled and it made my face burn even more. Cassie walked over to me and patted me on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Ax. I won't mention it."
I just nodded uncertainly, finding myself suddenly unable to speak. I then demorphed and left the barn.
Ridiculous? I asked myself. Maybe not. Maybe, just maybe, I wasn't being absurd.
Besides, I wouldn't know it was ridiculous for certain unless something happened. And who knows, maybe it wasn't a ridiculous idea at all...
After changing back to Andalite, I morphed to harrier and flied home to the woods.