Sorry I haven't written in a while!
My internet has NOT been working, and it's been so...so...sad...
Anyway, heeeere's Tobias!
Tobias's POV
The wedding was pretty a simple affair. They had it three days later.
They seemed very, very impatient. Or Ax did anyway. Hmm...
L'Aini showed up. She brought her daughter with her. Her fiance was there too. I felt kind of weird around him.
After all, I did secretly kind of like his fiance. But it was just a crush after all...just a little tidbit of affection...yeah....must be...
I couldn't take my eyes off Ax and Estrid. They seemed so...happy!
Dolphin happy. And maybe it sounds funny, but dog happy too!
They had marital officials come. Yep. Apparently they have those on the Andalite home world.
(My people like to keep things very well recorded.) Ax explained to me as one official proceeded to film us. Another one was a pretty tetchy guy. Then there was the Leading marital official.
"So what?" I said. I was in human morph. "You're going to be in history?"
(Pretty much. All marriages must be recorded with absolute detail so that no bigamy can take place.)
Marco, standing nearby, grinned. "There are andalites who actually try that? Heh heh heh..."
Ax smiled patiently. (They will use the data in court in the case of bigamy or polygamy occuring. They will also be around for about three hours, just to make sure that neither Estrid nor myself demorph and turn out to be someone else.)
I busted out laughing. So did the others. Ax just smiled.
(They've actually had cases of that happening?) I said, still laughing pretty hard.
He grinned and raised one eyebrow. (You'd be surprised.)
"Hoo boy!" Marco said, and laughed. He went off inside the Rachel to get more balloons. Despite the fact that Estrid politely declined at the idea of an after party, Marco insisted. He had dubbed himself Director of Party Stuff. Jake and I were Co-Directors. Jeanne was helping with the decorations.
I turned to Ax and grinned. "You excited?"
He smiled. "Well...of course..."
Estrid and Ax just hung out together. I decided I rather liked the way Andalites did the whole wedding thing. There was no cake (in a traditional andalite wedding, but we'd make a Cinnabon flavored cake and Jeanne made two little andalites to stick on the top from blue icing! Menderash kept trying to eat them!), there was no dress or tuxedo, there was no ring, (I'd explained that to Ax and he'd just gotten more confused - 'Why would a male need a ring to remind him that he was married?! How could you forget?!' to which Marco annoyingly replied "Very easily, my friend! Very, very easily!"), and there was no can't-see-the-bride-before-she-walks-down-the- aisle type stuff. There was no aisle for that matter. Jake and Marco had started setting up chairs in the formation of an aisle and Ax had become puzzled as to what they were doing. (Prince Jake! Marco! This is a wedding! Not a game! Honestly, I knew humans were primitive, but...) and so on and so forth. So we put the chairs away. At an Andalite, all witnesses present politely stand.
I learned that it had been a great honor for me and L'Aini to see him even propose; in Andalite custom, you just don't propose in public. They're privacy freaks, I guess. So when Estrid explained that and all the other Andalite marital customs to me, I felt very honored. I almost thought to say thank you to Ax, but it seemed kind of silly. What would I say? 'Hey, Ax! Thanks for letting me see you propose!' That seemed a bit too much of a goobery thing to do, so I said nothing.
I wondered how Ax was handling the One today...
Apparently, Estrid had gotten quite used to the idea of Ax's 'Multiple Personality Disorder', as L'Aini had so eloquently put it. So she ignored all the times the One burst out and called her a fat, furry b#$, threw things at her, and even ignored the time he used Ax's arm to grab the pitcher of ice cold tea from the punch table and pour it all down her back. Ax nearly cried at the latter, poor guy. Estrid just smiled and said it was alright, and that it wasn't his fault. Little Ax laughed and laughed while Ax Sr. hosed his mother down to get the sticky off of her.
We had the wedding at about evening. It was cool. Marco lit the tikki torches he and I had made. Marco had ripped lights out of the ceilings of the hallways of the blade and stuck them on poles and shoved batteries in the poles. It was neat. It looked like a scene out of some elf place; all lit up and stuff.
Estrid and Ax held hands as the Lead marital official held a little console in front of him. He stood in front of them. He read aloud from the console, sounding somewhat bored.
(Do you, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill promise to adhere to all the sections of the standard marital agreement?)
(Yes.) Ax said simply, as the other weird guy filmed him saying 'yes'.
(Please place your tail blade point here.) He sounded almost asleep. He pointed to a groove on the console. Ax put his tail blade point in the groove. It lit up. I guessed that he was somehow 'signing' the agreement. The official turned to Estrid. She beamed happily as he asked her.
(Do you Estrid-Corrill-Darrath promise to adhere to all the sections of the standard marital agreement?)
Estrid giggled happily. (I do.)
(Wait!) Said the tetchy official. (She will have to say that again!)
(What?!) Estrid said, glaring now. (Why?!)
Jake groaned. "What?"
(I do not know if she was being serious or not.) He said simply, looking suspiciously now at Estrid.
The Lead marital official looked at her. (Did you really mean it, Estrid?)
(YES! Yes I did!)
(Wait! I'll have to ask you the question again. It must be all be done rightly and formally! Now. Do you Estrid-Corrill-Darrath promise to adhere to all the sections of the standard marital agreement, answer seriously and truthfully plea-)
(I do!) She said, huffily. But then she smiled at Ax and said again, softer. (I do. Absolutely yes.)
(Then please place your tail blade point here.) He moved the console's groove to face her. She put her tail blade point in the little groove, just below the little screen.
When she was finished 'signing', the official finished working the little console, and then smiled at Ax and Estrid. (Well! Now then. You're both married. Have a nice life. Goodbye.) He then turned and left. The creepy film guy went with him. And finally, the tetchy guy followed them out of there.
(Well! That was...quick.) I said, in hawk form.
Aximili smiled. (We're not finished yet.)
They had some little custom thing.
Ax put Estrid's tail blade to his own neck and said,
(I, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, vow to love, cherish, and protect you, my wife, until death...) His eyes seemed to glaze over a little on this one, and he choked a little in thoughtspeak. (...until death.)
Estrid smiled. She let her tail fall from Ax's neck, and she brought his tail blade to her neck. She also said,
(I, Estrid-Corrill-Darrath, vow to love, cherish, and protect you, my husband, until death.)
Ax's dad, Noorlin, just smiled as the two symbolically touched eachothers tail blades to eachother's necks at the same time, and then touched tail blades, high above their own heads. Forlay, Ax's mom, just smiled...and cried aloud in thoughtspeak. I have to admit, I was feeling a little teary too. We all were, just then. Even Marco. Estrid's parents smiled, and her mother placed her hand on Estrid's cheek gently.
(My dear...) She began...and then she began to cry in thoughtspeak too. While Forlay and Estrid's mom wept together, and their dads talked, the rest of us began to celebrate.
Little Ax picked me up and took me a little ways away from the party. He set me down on the grass, and kneeled down in front of me. He whispered in thoughtspeech.
(Tobias, can I tell you something?)
(Sure. What is it Lil' Ax man?)
He looked hesitant, then said. (I don't like Warrior Aximili. Sometimes he's mean.)
(You know it's his...um...other personality. He likes you.)
He seemed to sigh. (I know...but...but he's...he's kind of boring!)
I would have smiled if I'd been in human morph. (Are you trying to tell me something Aximili?)
He looked down, as if ashamed, then said. (I...I wish you had married my mother instead of Warrior Aximili!)
(What?!) I laughed. (What's all this about?)
(Oh, why couldn't YOU have married my mother?! She's pretty isn't she? Don't you like her? Don't you think she's pretty enough?) He asked, now somewhat accusingly. He stood up on all four legs and his little tail waved and pointed into the air.
(Oh, well, I mean...yeah! Yeah, sure, your mom's pretty and all, it's just that...well...you see, Aximili. You're mother loves Aximili. Big Aximili, I mean. And, well, he loves her too-)
(But Warrior Aximili-)
(You shouldn't call him 'Warrior Aximili'. You don't have to call him that anymore. He's 'Father' or 'Dad' to you now, or whatever it is that you little Andies say...)
(But I don't WANT HIM to be my father! I WANT YOU to be my father!)
I laughed a little, now embarrassed. I would have blushed, if I'd had a real face. Thank goodness I was hawk then!
(Look, Aximili, you need to at least give Ax a chance okay?)
He looked sadly at me. (Why?) Poor little guy. He sounded like he was about to cry.
(Well, he's...he's a nice guy. And he's cool too.)
(Cool?) He looked curious and puzzled now. (What's that?)
(It means...uh...well...it's like 'neat' or 'amazing' or whatever.)
(Oh.) He seemed thoughtful for a while. (But why can't you be my father? You're cool! You're cooler than War- I mean,) He sighed. ( Father.)
I looked away. I felt about to cry. This was too much.
(Th-thanks little man. That's really sweet, but, ) I sighed. (Look, just promise me you'll give Big Ax a chance okay? He's really not that bad, or that boring, once you get to know him. You'll find that he's a lot more interesting than you think.)
The little andalite sighed. (Alright.) He sulked and waddled off, into the crowd of wedding celebraters.
Something really, really wasn't right about that little kid. Poor guy. He seemed way, way too insecure.
That husband of Estrid's must have been a real, real, as-
"HEY! BIRD BOY! IT'S TIME TO PARTAAAAAY!" Marco broke into my thoughts in a very, very annoying way. He actually picked me up and tossed me into the air. I flapped, trying to get away from the Terror of the Universe, but I couldn't get enough wind under my wings and I fell down towards him and he caught me, and laughing, tossed me over to Jake, who maturely, (thank goodness!) put me down on the ground. I decided to go human when I nearly got trampled by Ax's hooves. (The big one, not the little one!). He apologized, distractedly, his mind on his new bride.
Yep. It was definitely going to be a long, and very, very, crazy night.
My internet has NOT been working, and it's been so...so...sad...
Anyway, heeeere's Tobias!
Tobias's POV
The wedding was pretty a simple affair. They had it three days later.
They seemed very, very impatient. Or Ax did anyway. Hmm...
L'Aini showed up. She brought her daughter with her. Her fiance was there too. I felt kind of weird around him.
After all, I did secretly kind of like his fiance. But it was just a crush after all...just a little tidbit of affection...yeah....must be...
I couldn't take my eyes off Ax and Estrid. They seemed so...happy!
Dolphin happy. And maybe it sounds funny, but dog happy too!
They had marital officials come. Yep. Apparently they have those on the Andalite home world.
(My people like to keep things very well recorded.) Ax explained to me as one official proceeded to film us. Another one was a pretty tetchy guy. Then there was the Leading marital official.
"So what?" I said. I was in human morph. "You're going to be in history?"
(Pretty much. All marriages must be recorded with absolute detail so that no bigamy can take place.)
Marco, standing nearby, grinned. "There are andalites who actually try that? Heh heh heh..."
Ax smiled patiently. (They will use the data in court in the case of bigamy or polygamy occuring. They will also be around for about three hours, just to make sure that neither Estrid nor myself demorph and turn out to be someone else.)
I busted out laughing. So did the others. Ax just smiled.
(They've actually had cases of that happening?) I said, still laughing pretty hard.
He grinned and raised one eyebrow. (You'd be surprised.)
"Hoo boy!" Marco said, and laughed. He went off inside the Rachel to get more balloons. Despite the fact that Estrid politely declined at the idea of an after party, Marco insisted. He had dubbed himself Director of Party Stuff. Jake and I were Co-Directors. Jeanne was helping with the decorations.
I turned to Ax and grinned. "You excited?"
He smiled. "Well...of course..."
Estrid and Ax just hung out together. I decided I rather liked the way Andalites did the whole wedding thing. There was no cake (in a traditional andalite wedding, but we'd make a Cinnabon flavored cake and Jeanne made two little andalites to stick on the top from blue icing! Menderash kept trying to eat them!), there was no dress or tuxedo, there was no ring, (I'd explained that to Ax and he'd just gotten more confused - 'Why would a male need a ring to remind him that he was married?! How could you forget?!' to which Marco annoyingly replied "Very easily, my friend! Very, very easily!"), and there was no can't-see-the-bride-before-she-walks-down-the- aisle type stuff. There was no aisle for that matter. Jake and Marco had started setting up chairs in the formation of an aisle and Ax had become puzzled as to what they were doing. (Prince Jake! Marco! This is a wedding! Not a game! Honestly, I knew humans were primitive, but...) and so on and so forth. So we put the chairs away. At an Andalite, all witnesses present politely stand.
I learned that it had been a great honor for me and L'Aini to see him even propose; in Andalite custom, you just don't propose in public. They're privacy freaks, I guess. So when Estrid explained that and all the other Andalite marital customs to me, I felt very honored. I almost thought to say thank you to Ax, but it seemed kind of silly. What would I say? 'Hey, Ax! Thanks for letting me see you propose!' That seemed a bit too much of a goobery thing to do, so I said nothing.
I wondered how Ax was handling the One today...
Apparently, Estrid had gotten quite used to the idea of Ax's 'Multiple Personality Disorder', as L'Aini had so eloquently put it. So she ignored all the times the One burst out and called her a fat, furry b#$, threw things at her, and even ignored the time he used Ax's arm to grab the pitcher of ice cold tea from the punch table and pour it all down her back. Ax nearly cried at the latter, poor guy. Estrid just smiled and said it was alright, and that it wasn't his fault. Little Ax laughed and laughed while Ax Sr. hosed his mother down to get the sticky off of her.
We had the wedding at about evening. It was cool. Marco lit the tikki torches he and I had made. Marco had ripped lights out of the ceilings of the hallways of the blade and stuck them on poles and shoved batteries in the poles. It was neat. It looked like a scene out of some elf place; all lit up and stuff.
Estrid and Ax held hands as the Lead marital official held a little console in front of him. He stood in front of them. He read aloud from the console, sounding somewhat bored.
(Do you, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill promise to adhere to all the sections of the standard marital agreement?)
(Yes.) Ax said simply, as the other weird guy filmed him saying 'yes'.
(Please place your tail blade point here.) He sounded almost asleep. He pointed to a groove on the console. Ax put his tail blade point in the groove. It lit up. I guessed that he was somehow 'signing' the agreement. The official turned to Estrid. She beamed happily as he asked her.
(Do you Estrid-Corrill-Darrath promise to adhere to all the sections of the standard marital agreement?)
Estrid giggled happily. (I do.)
(Wait!) Said the tetchy official. (She will have to say that again!)
(What?!) Estrid said, glaring now. (Why?!)
Jake groaned. "What?"
(I do not know if she was being serious or not.) He said simply, looking suspiciously now at Estrid.
The Lead marital official looked at her. (Did you really mean it, Estrid?)
(YES! Yes I did!)
(Wait! I'll have to ask you the question again. It must be all be done rightly and formally! Now. Do you Estrid-Corrill-Darrath promise to adhere to all the sections of the standard marital agreement, answer seriously and truthfully plea-)
(I do!) She said, huffily. But then she smiled at Ax and said again, softer. (I do. Absolutely yes.)
(Then please place your tail blade point here.) He moved the console's groove to face her. She put her tail blade point in the little groove, just below the little screen.
When she was finished 'signing', the official finished working the little console, and then smiled at Ax and Estrid. (Well! Now then. You're both married. Have a nice life. Goodbye.) He then turned and left. The creepy film guy went with him. And finally, the tetchy guy followed them out of there.
(Well! That was...quick.) I said, in hawk form.
Aximili smiled. (We're not finished yet.)
They had some little custom thing.
Ax put Estrid's tail blade to his own neck and said,
(I, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, vow to love, cherish, and protect you, my wife, until death...) His eyes seemed to glaze over a little on this one, and he choked a little in thoughtspeak. (...until death.)
Estrid smiled. She let her tail fall from Ax's neck, and she brought his tail blade to her neck. She also said,
(I, Estrid-Corrill-Darrath, vow to love, cherish, and protect you, my husband, until death.)
Ax's dad, Noorlin, just smiled as the two symbolically touched eachothers tail blades to eachother's necks at the same time, and then touched tail blades, high above their own heads. Forlay, Ax's mom, just smiled...and cried aloud in thoughtspeak. I have to admit, I was feeling a little teary too. We all were, just then. Even Marco. Estrid's parents smiled, and her mother placed her hand on Estrid's cheek gently.
(My dear...) She began...and then she began to cry in thoughtspeak too. While Forlay and Estrid's mom wept together, and their dads talked, the rest of us began to celebrate.
Little Ax picked me up and took me a little ways away from the party. He set me down on the grass, and kneeled down in front of me. He whispered in thoughtspeech.
(Tobias, can I tell you something?)
(Sure. What is it Lil' Ax man?)
He looked hesitant, then said. (I don't like Warrior Aximili. Sometimes he's mean.)
(You know it's his...um...other personality. He likes you.)
He seemed to sigh. (I know...but...but he's...he's kind of boring!)
I would have smiled if I'd been in human morph. (Are you trying to tell me something Aximili?)
He looked down, as if ashamed, then said. (I...I wish you had married my mother instead of Warrior Aximili!)
(What?!) I laughed. (What's all this about?)
(Oh, why couldn't YOU have married my mother?! She's pretty isn't she? Don't you like her? Don't you think she's pretty enough?) He asked, now somewhat accusingly. He stood up on all four legs and his little tail waved and pointed into the air.
(Oh, well, I mean...yeah! Yeah, sure, your mom's pretty and all, it's just that...well...you see, Aximili. You're mother loves Aximili. Big Aximili, I mean. And, well, he loves her too-)
(But Warrior Aximili-)
(You shouldn't call him 'Warrior Aximili'. You don't have to call him that anymore. He's 'Father' or 'Dad' to you now, or whatever it is that you little Andies say...)
(But I don't WANT HIM to be my father! I WANT YOU to be my father!)
I laughed a little, now embarrassed. I would have blushed, if I'd had a real face. Thank goodness I was hawk then!
(Look, Aximili, you need to at least give Ax a chance okay?)
He looked sadly at me. (Why?) Poor little guy. He sounded like he was about to cry.
(Well, he's...he's a nice guy. And he's cool too.)
(Cool?) He looked curious and puzzled now. (What's that?)
(It means...uh...well...it's like 'neat' or 'amazing' or whatever.)
(Oh.) He seemed thoughtful for a while. (But why can't you be my father? You're cool! You're cooler than War- I mean,) He sighed. ( Father.)
I looked away. I felt about to cry. This was too much.
(Th-thanks little man. That's really sweet, but, ) I sighed. (Look, just promise me you'll give Big Ax a chance okay? He's really not that bad, or that boring, once you get to know him. You'll find that he's a lot more interesting than you think.)
The little andalite sighed. (Alright.) He sulked and waddled off, into the crowd of wedding celebraters.
Something really, really wasn't right about that little kid. Poor guy. He seemed way, way too insecure.
That husband of Estrid's must have been a real, real, as-
"HEY! BIRD BOY! IT'S TIME TO PARTAAAAAY!" Marco broke into my thoughts in a very, very annoying way. He actually picked me up and tossed me into the air. I flapped, trying to get away from the Terror of the Universe, but I couldn't get enough wind under my wings and I fell down towards him and he caught me, and laughing, tossed me over to Jake, who maturely, (thank goodness!) put me down on the ground. I decided to go human when I nearly got trampled by Ax's hooves. (The big one, not the little one!). He apologized, distractedly, his mind on his new bride.
Yep. It was definitely going to be a long, and very, very, crazy night.