Tobias stood in the phone booth, staring at the phone in his hand. It emitted an annoying, high pitched, beeping sound, and a strange lady's voice kept telling him that a receiver was off the hook, and to please hang up and try again. But he didn't. He just kept staring at it. Eventually, he replaced the receiver, and then picked it back up again to a dial tone. He dialed the number that had been rolling over and over in his head for the past week. Rinnnng. Rinnnng.

"Hello?"

Tobias resisted the nearly irrepressible urge to slam back down the receiver. He stammered, "Uh… Yeah, hey, it's me. Tobias."

"Tobias! I was starting to wonder if you'd call me at all. It's been a week."

Tobias blushed sheepishly, though he knew Jordan couldn't see him. "Yeah, sorry. I was just… yeah." He finished lamely. Not that he could say he was busy or anything, what was there for a hawk to do? The truth was that he wasn't at all sure that calling was the right thing to do. He didn't know how Jordan felt about him, but he was starting to… maybe… he didn't know, anyway, but still, even if what Jordan wanted was friendship, Tobias wasn't even sure if he could have that. He'd been terribly, terribly lonely these past years, but until he met this boy, he didn't even know it was because he missed people, he thought that he just missed Rachel…

"Hey, it's fine, man. But… this means you want to see me again too, right?"

"Yes!" Tobias answered, a bit too quickly. He was excited, regardless of how apprehensive. It felt good, to feel human again. Hawks don't feel apprehension, or nervousness, or even excitement. Hawks don't know any fear, but they also feel no joy but that of the hunt. This rush of emotions… Tobias had missed it. "Yes, I want to see you again."

"When?"

"Eh… whenever. Not like I've got much of a busy schedule…"

"Then today? I have to pop out to buy some pet food, but as soon as I'm done with that you've got me all day. What do you want to do?"

"You choose? I don't really know what's here."

"Hm… then we'll go to the Central Park Zoo." Tobias could hear the grin in Jordan's voice. "You can tell me what it's like being all those animals. Meet me at sea lion's pool; it's at the center of the zoon. I'm sure you can find it from the air. Be there at noon?"

"Okay. Sound's great."

"See you then, then."

"Bye!" Tobias clutched the receiver to his chest for a moment, unable to suppress the ridiculously wide grin that had snuck onto his face, then replaced it carefully, took to the wing, and soared into the air. It wouldn't hurt to get there early, do some hunting.

Jordan smiled, staring up at the ceiling. Tobias had woken him up with his call, but he didn't care. He was going to see him. Tobias. He rolled out of bed, quickly pulling on some jeans. "Come on, Elliot boy!" he called. Elliot stretched, yawning, then hopped down off the bed and chased Jordan to the kitchen. He danced at the base of the refrigerator, waiting. "I know, I know, greedy bugger." Jordan teased, as he took Elliot's chicken puree out of the fridge, scooping some onto a plate, and then placing it in front of the ferret, who attacked it gleefully. "There ya go. Good boy." He told him. Jordan stretched himself, going into the bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror, running a hand through his long hair. He was going to see Tobias. He set out to do his daily chores.

When he was done, and Elliot was safely confined to Jordan's bed room with fresh food, water and a few new toys (Jordan could never resist), Jordan set out for the park. He arrived early, so after paying his admission, he sat on the stone steps near the sea lion tank and watched them. The zoo was pretty near empty as it was a school day, so Jordan was all alone but for a few tourists, and the zoo keepers who eventually came out to give the sea lions their fish, so he was startled when he heard Tobias's voice.

Been here long? Sorry I'm a little late, I was battling a particularly intelligent mouse.

Jordan looked around, and then up. He saw a hawk perched in a tree behind him. He got up, standing in front of Tobias. "Hey! I've never heard thought-speak before, that was weird."

Tobias's laughter filled his head. Don't talk to me like this, people are going to think I'm a rogue Andalite. Andalites' use of the morphing technology on earth was closely regulated. The Andalites were allowed to morph into particularly selected humans for the purpose of eating only, in enclosed areas, and never else on earth. They were absolutely forbidden to morph earth's animals. Jordan nodded, looking around quickly for anyone who might be watching. Good, now where can I morph human? Jordan waved him toward a bathroom nearby. Tobias scanned the area. They were alone. He swooped down, landing carefully on Jordan's shoulder. Alright. Lead the way.

Jordan carried him to the bathroom, latching the door behind them. Tobias was so light, he was surprised. He looked like such a powerful bird. And gorgeous, of course. Those wings, that curved beak, those strong talons that were so obviously designed for killing… Tobias hopped off, landing on the floor. You want to… turn around for a minute? Jordan did so, though disappointedly. He had never seen someone morph except on TV, where it was all so edited that you couldn't even tell what was going on. He had read description of it, but still, he wanted to see it first hand. But there would be time for that later, he hoped. Now what was best was to follow Tobias's wishes.

"You can turn around now." He turned to Tobias, and smirked. He was still wearing his morphing suit, those too tight bike shorts and spandex tee-shirt. Tobias blushed, wrapping his arms around himself embarrassedly. "I don't have much of a need for clothing, you know! I couldn't remember where I ditched the clothes from the library, and…" Tobias trailed off.

Jordan laughed, holding up a white paper bag. "Don't worry, I figured maybe you'd need these." Tobias took the bag, rummaging through it. "It's not much, just some clothes of mine from like last year. They're a little too small for me now, but they should fit you just fine, you're a little shorter than me." Tobias pulled out a pair of black jeans, then pulled them on. They fit perfectly. He slipped on the black converse also in the bag, and topped it off with a tight-in-a-good-way pale green tee-shirt. The shoes were a bit too big, but when Tobias turned to Jordan, his heart skipped a beat, if you will forgive the terrible cliché. Tobias looked amazing. He had, of course, looked great even in his too-small kids clothes, and Jordan couldn't help but admit he had enjoyed the view the tight bike shorts had provided, This Tobias, with his messy dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and clothes that somehow reacted with them perfectly (Not to mention how nicely the jeans showed off his ass), was to die for.

"What is it?" Tobias asked, self-conscious under Jordan's gaze.

Jordan looked up at his face and grinned at him. "You look great, that's all."

Tobias shook his head, but he couldn't help but smile. "Let's go." He grabbed Jordan's wrist and led him out into the sun.