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.
DISCLAIMER: K. A. Applegate owns the Animorphs.
TO REVIEWERS: Jinako-chan: Ax coming out to Elfangor? I like that. Maybe as part of a flashback. I'm sure he'd be very understanding. I'd assume they would be morph-proof. You really don't like Tom do you? Hey, don't be so hard on him, it's the Yeerk's fault. Maybe I should do a chapter from Tom, the real Tom's POV. See how he feels about all this. I know there'll be a chapter from Tobias's POV, hey maybe even Tom's Yeerk. Which brings up the point, was Tom a voluntary controller or not? I don't remember. Marco will find out about Ax, eventually. And Jake, he's gonna find out about the mission to the club, which needs a name, I'm not sure if he'll learn about Marco, Ax, and Tom. There'll be no mutiny, Marco's gonna take out his anger at Cassie and Rachel. You think it's a tangled web now? Things are just getting warmed up.
Lisa-Ann: GAH! I can't believe I messed up the Tobias thing. Happy ending? Well, it won't have a sad ending, I guarantee that. I'm still not sure how it will all end.
Kay: I've been glomped! I feel so dirty. J/K. I'm glad you like it.
Aaren/Aqua Rhapsody: Yay! More people like it! I love you.

"Adventures in Clubbing"

Written by: Doctor Strangelove

My name is Marco, and I am an alcoholic. Okay, not really, but I'm starting to wish I were. Shame this club doesn't serve alcohol. You know, "Here! Have a beer with all the sexual confusion and storylines worthy of a soap opera we're giving you!" But no, we're for teens so no alcohol! Please, you're taking away the last bit of freedom these teens have, at least give them a Miller Lite on the way out. No, they've just got Coke. And really good hot wings. I wonder what their secret is.

No, bad Marco! You're here looking for anything suspicious. And Tom. Jake's older brother Tom. Then you need to seduce him. The guy that looks a lot like Jake. That's not gonna be weird. Man, I wish Ax were here. He was fun to hang out with. A lot more fun than Tobias.

"So, Marco," Speak of the devil, well devil-bird, "I thought you were supposed to be here alone." Tobias smirked and grabbed one of my hot wings.

He's right. I was. But, truthfully, I didn't want to be here alone. Especially when I'm going to be working my mojo on a guy. With Tobias here I won't get carried away. He's my safety net. I didn't tell him that of course. I mumbled something about needing backup in case of an emergency.

"So, when Tom gets here, who I am supposed to be?" Tobias asked, stealing another hot wing.

"You are Tobias. You think you can handle that?" I scanned the club for any sign of the controller.

"I think so."

I smacked his hand away from my hot wings, "Get your own."

Tobias sat there tapping his fingers to the music before asking, "So, just so I'm clear, if someone sees us, you're not going to kiss me are you?"

I flicked him off and the smile on Tobias's face got bigger. He was having way too much fun. "We don't have to wait if you don't want to."

Tobias laughed and pointed over to the dance floor, "There's Tom."

I looked in the direction he was pointing and indeed there was Tom, grinding away to Christina Milian's "AM to PM". I sighed and stood up, "Alright, it's magic time." I looked over at Tobias who was staring at me, "Pretend you didn't hear that."

"Will do." Tobias waved as I headed over to the dance floor, "Good luck."

Sometimes I really don't like him. I stood off to the edge of the dance floor and watched Tom. Not bad. Ax was a better dancer. Not that I liked dancing with Ax; he was just good. It's nothing funny; I just noticed he had talent. And I'm really over compensating considering the fact that no one can hear me. The song ended and I headed over to Tom. Showtime.

"Hey, Tom." He turned to look at me. He'd been dancing pretty hard and was sweating a lot. All that sweat was making his already tight T-shirt even tighter. Damn, why don't people ever wear coats to clubs?

"Oh, hey Marco. Are you here with, um, was it No?"

"Yes."

"You're here with him?"

"No."

"Yes, No."

"Yes. No."

"Wait, I'm confused."

I nodded in agreement, "Me too."

Tom laughed. He has a nice laugh, "So, are you here with No?"

"No," Damn, need a reason. "We broke up. He said he was just going through a phase."

Tom seemed to buy it, "Oh, that's rough. I'm flying solo tonight too."

Time to turn on the charm, "Really, you? I'd figure you had a boyfriend. I mean, a funny, athletic, really attractive guy like you? How can they resist you?"

"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself. You should have no trouble bouncing back. And really, I know all these guys here. Not my type. I really want to meet someone who's not part of the Sharing." He smiled, "Yet."

Hmm, wonder why. "Oh, so you're saying I shouldn't date anyone here."

The Yeerk in Tom's head realized he's just talked himself into a trap. "No! These are great guys! For you."

"Nah, I was thinking about joining if I was dating someone part of it. But if none of these guys are good enough for you..." I let my sentence hang, hoping the Yeerk would take the bait.

It did, "No! They're great! Really!"

Time to go in for the kill, "Is there anyone else like you?"

"Like me?"

Yes! Wait, why am I so excited? "Yeah, I mean, like I said, you're smart, funny, athletic." My eyes wandered over Tom's body. All part of the act. "Very attractive. Having a boyfriend like you would be great."

I could almost see the gears turning in his head, "Are you saying you like me?"

This is too easy. I faked like I'd just been caught with some deep secret, "Oh, damn. Well, I mean..." I mentally thanked Ax and gave Tom the best puppy dog eyes I could muster. "Yes. I do."

Tom gave me the phoniest smile I've ever seen. Does the Yeerk actually think that's gonna work? It might, boy's got a nice smile. For someone that's into that, of course. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

Okay, now, fake hurt. "Damn, I scared you off. I knew it!"

Then Tom gave a much realer looking smile, "No." He leaned in and gave me a quick kiss. "You didn't." With that he turned and walked off. I looked over and saw Tobias grinning like an idiot and eating one of my hot wings. I groaned and went back to retrieve my spicy delicious treat.

"Wow," Tobias said as he finished off my last hot wing, "You're getting a lot of action at this club."

"Shut up. I didn't initiate that kiss." I ordered another basket of hot wings.

"No, but you seem to be kissing a lot of people. You didn't have to initiate it; Tom couldn't resist your succulent lips. Because you're such a good kisser."

I smirked at Tobias, "And how would you know?"

"I don't. That's what Ax said."

I accepted that until I realized what he said, "Ax said I was a good kisser?"

Tobias had a look on his face that very clearly read, "Oh, shit." "Um, he might've."

"Huh." I took that in and was a little surprised about my reaction. I was a little excited. I passed it off as having someone compliment my kissing. That didn't happen very often, mostly because I didn't kiss a lot of people. "That's pretty neat. I don't get to kiss a lot of people. Who would I? I mean, you've got Rachel, Jake's got Cassie. Who do I get?"

"Ax?" Tobias offered. I glared and he dropped it.

"So," Tobias tried to nonchalantly start up a new conversation, "Why wouldn't you go out with Ax?"

I took a bite out of one the hot wings that had just been placed in front of me, "You mean besides the fact that he's a guy?"

Tobias nodded. It's not as weird when he's a human, but for some reason still doesn't look right, "Yes. Besides that."

"Well, he's an alien."

"So? I'm not human and I do pretty good with Rachel."

"Yeah, but you're human part of the time."

"So is Ax."

I took that in. It made sense. "Well, I guess. I mean, if I was that way and so was Ax, I guess I might give it a shot." Tobias smiled a little at that. "What about you? If you were like that and he wasn't your uncle, would you date Ax?"

Tobias shook his head and grabbed another hot wing. "Oh, I can't answer that. I hate hypothetical situations."

"But you just gave me one."

Tobias gave me a look that seemed to say, "Was it?" when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and was greeted to the smiling face of Tom. "Hey, Marco. Who's that?"

"Oh, him that's," I struggled for a name, "Brian Kinney." Tobias snorted and I discreetly kicked him in the shin.

Tom didn't get it, "Oh. Cool. So I was thinking, you wanna dance?"

Back to work. "Sure," We headed off to the dance floor. My mind was on how suspicious Tobias was acting as I mumbled under my breath, "Round Two."