TITLE: "Adventures in Clubbing"

AUTHOR: Doctor Strangelove (strangelove317@hotmail.com)
RATING: PG-13.
SPOILERS: Um, I don't know. No particular spoilers. Visser Three is still Visser Three.
FEEDBACK: I'd love it. Flames are welcome and appreciated.
DISCLAIMER: K. A. Applegate owns the Animorphs.

"Adventures in Clubbing"

Written by: Doctor Strangelove

My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. I am an Andalite. And I am a homosexual. I should probably explain the bluntness of that last statement. On the Andalite home world, homosexuality is considered one of the most disgraceful things you can do. So when I came to the age when I was supposed to be obsessed with females, and I realized I was much more interested in my male companions, I kept it a secret from everyone. But, after a while on Earth I discovered something surprising, for the most part, Earthlings accepted homosexuality. Sure, there were some, well, a lot, of people who thought it was wrong and immoral, but it appeared that homosexuals on Earth could lead normal lives. But I've still kept it a secret..

Except for my shorn Tobias, I have told none of my other Earth friends about my feelings. To quote an Earth saying, old habits die hard. I think the main reason I never said anything was because I began to have feelings for one of the Animorphs. After fighting together for so long, I developed a crush on Marco. But I won't act on it. Nor will I tell anyone, it will remain my secret. I'm good at keeping secrets.

Hey, Ax-man, Speak of the Devil. Another human saying. I don't really understand that one. And I suppose it's a bit inappropriate, since I was most recently talking about Marco, and not Tobias, who was the one that arrived. I'm beginning to ramble. Tobias is staring at me. I didn't do anything when he landed next to me, I was lost in thought. I think he noticed. I need to cover that up.

Hello. Yes, that should do it.

Tobias began to demorph, he usually went into his human body to watch television. "How was Oz?"

It was good, I told him, my mind still on other things. Human prisons are much different from Andalite ones.

Tobias reached under the couch and pulled out a bag of Doritos's, "Andalites have prisons?"

Not anymore. I think. He looked at me, quizzically. I like that word. Nice to say out loud. It was on a Word A Day calendar Cassie gave me. We had talked about it in a class sometime. I don't really remember. I was distracted by a female. Tobias gave me a different look, Sorry. Old habits die hard.

Tobias smiled as he opened the bag of corn chips, "So, when you say that, distracted by a female. What do you really mean? Were you just not paying attention or were you distracted by an Andalite male?"

I had "come out" to Tobias, another Earth saying, I've come to like those, but I still wasn't very comfortable talking about it, Well, not distracted, per say.

He nodded knowingly, "Ah. Daydreaming."

I averted my eyes, Yes.

Tobias offered the bag of chips to me, "Hey, nothing to be ashamed. That's how I passed most of the time in school."

That is a slight comfort, I looked back at him again and tried to think of a way to segue into my real question, So, how did the meeting go.

"Good, good." Not what I wanted.

I looked around before nonchalantly asking, Was Marco there?

Tobias popped a chip into mouth before answering, "Why, yes, he was. Why do you ask?"

Careful, Aximili, you'll give yourself away. Just making sure Prince Jake was the only sick one.

Tobias nodded, accepting my answer. "Yep, Marco's doing fine. Everyone seems to think that something's going on at the club, so he'll continue to check it out."

Don't say anything. Hide your excitement. Really? I guess that means I'll need to keep recording Oz.

Tobias frowned and put away the bag of chips, "Well, no. The plan is to get close to someone on the inside, sp Marco's going to get close to Tom. He'll be going alone."

All of my hearts broke at that moment. An Earth saying I'm not as fond of. Oh, was all I could muster.

Tobias put his arm around my shoulder, "I'm sorry."

I tried to mask my sadness, For what? Now I can stay here and watch Oz and other shows. I've grown quite fond of The Sopranos.

"Ax, you're good at a lot of things. Keeping secrets, not one of them. I know how you feel Marco."

I wanted to tell him he was crazy. I wanted to blow it off. I wanted to ignore it all. How did you know?

He sighed, "It's pretty obvious. I see you sneak those little glances at him. I can see the concern you've got for him in battle. Plus, when you mentioned the fact that he kissed you, you seemed a little, well, giddy."

I averted my eyes again, Giddy?

Tobias nodded, "Like a schoolgirl."

I tried to play it off, Well, it's just a crush.

Tobias really looked like he wanted to help, "Well, I think Marco, in his own twisted, self-repressing way, had feeling for you. If that helps any."

It doesn't. It actually makes it a little worse. I cringed a little as Tobias's face fell, But thank you.

Tobias smiled and we attempted to move on, "So, you up for some TV?"

Ignoring my problems, not the best thing to do, helped. Sure. After Oz was over, the TiVo must've recorded this other show Real Sex by accident.

Tobias eyes widened a little. "Yes," he answered after a few moments, "Accident. Hey, why don't we watch something else. I think Comedy Central is showing Earth Girls Are Easy."

Okay. I turned on Comedy Central, which was indeed showing Earth Girls Are Easy, and tried as hard as I could to ignore the fact that my little crush on Marco was rapidly becoming something much bigger.