Flying over the city – not having been forbidden by Prince Jake from doing such, and not having been assigned a patrol-route in the same manner that Tobias had been – Aximili turned his path toward the mall. It was truly that most human of places; a place that sold primitive human electronics, artificial skins and hooves – technically known as "clothing" and "shoes" among the humans themselves – as well as the finest accomplishments that the humans had proven themselves capable of.
There were places that sold the long, thin, salty sticks that he had been told were called "French fries"; places that sold warm triangles, made of bread and covered with cheese and many other kinds of things, that Prince Jake and the others had told him were called pizza, and also apparently came in circles of various sizes; places that sold various flavored liquids under various names. And then, there was the greatest creation that humanity had yet been responsible for: the warm cinnamon bun.
That was what he intended to purchase for himself this day; Prince Jake had not given them any assignments on this particular day, and the foul Yeerk menace had not yet attempted anything more. He was certain that he and the Animorphs would be able to deal with anything those creatures could come up with. But this, this indulgence… it would not have been condoned by anyone within the Andalite military.
It was something simple, something he did only for himself; such a thing would not have been well regarded by anyone within the Andalite forces.
It was for this reason that Aximili found himself grateful so often for the latitude that Prince Jake allowed him and the Animorphs during times when they were not called on to do battle; certainly, no Andalite commanding officer would have done such.
Landing on the roof, near the site favored by his fellow warriors for morphing and demorphing, Aximili swiftly began his demorph. Once he had returned to his true, Andalite form, he swiftly began morphing into the form he had created using the Frolis Maneuver and the four of his fellow warriors who had chosen to contribute their DNA to the form. Once the last of the changes was complete, Aximili took a moment to steady himself; walking on merely two legs had not yet become as simple as his fellow warriors found the practice, and yet it was becoming simpler all the time.
Soon, he would be capable of passing for human as well as any of the others.
Making his way over to one of the large, freestanding machines that Cassie had informed him were known as "air conditioners", Aximili searched the underside of the machine and came up with a small, shape- and colorless bag. This had been placed here by one of the others, in the event that one of them would need to use this rooftop for more than merely changing morphs, or resetting one's morphing-clock while in transit.
Putting on the artificial-skins – clothing – and artificial-hooves – shoes – the way that he had been taught by Prince Jake and some of the others, Aximili turned and made his way to the door. That barrier traversed and long behind him, Aximili continued on his way down the empty corridors, and seamlessly blended in with the milling crowds of humans inside the mall.
He had been to this wonderful place on many previous occasions, each time finding something new and wonderful to tantalize his human sense of taste; though on some occasions Prince Jake or one of his fellow warriors would inform him that such a thing was not meant to be ingested, or else that it was not healthy for a human to do so. There were many rules to be remembered about what one could eat with a human mouth and digestive system; he was determined to learn them all, so that he could fully enjoy his sense of taste.
As he continued on his way through the mall, a wonderful smell – something that the books that Cassie had given him on humans stated was half of the components that made up the human sense of taste – started coming to him more strongly. He knew then that he was getting close to the store that served that most wonderful of human foods. As the sign came into sight at last, Aximili smiled.
He still found it rather novel, smiling with a mouth in addition to his eyes, but it was simply one more element that helped him to blend in with the humans all around him.