Marco Guerra-Cooper

“That’s the plan. Whine the whole way.”

[conflicted-controller-blog]

Panic! At The (Pool) Party

[theestreen]

The fly, unlike a lot of other animals they had morphed before, did not have an instant, deep-seated instinct to panic. In fact, for the most part even while being attacked the swift-winged creature didn’t have any reaction except a “oh, better get out the way, then”, which was mild under the circumstances. This meant that the fly was easy to control. This also meant that the mind-skittering panic Cassie was feeling had everything to do with her own instinct and nothing to do with the fly. Luckily, this also meant that she could take some attention off being a fly and instead devote it to not completely falling apart in a very embarrassing and more than exasperating way. This was, theoretically, no more dangerous than anything they’d done in the past. But Cassie was terrified. Terrified they’d get caught, terrified one or more of them would get stuck in morph - even for the humans, that would be devastating - and terrified she’d let the Peace Movement down as well as her friends. Why had she thought this would be a good idea? Why had she promised to get mud for Mr Tidwell and Illim? This was crazy. This whole plan was insane. And if they failed, it would be one heck of a lot her fault. The Animorphs and the Peace Movement would both be cut into, and the overwhelming desire in her was just to make it stop. Cassie wanted to reach out and just make it stop; curl both parties away behind safety where none of her friends would ever be hurt again. She stayed silent as Marco talked to Mr Tidwell and Illim, not trusting herself to speak. The morph was done dispassionately - fly could only bring forth nightmares, not myths or pretty patterns - and then she was human and suddenly shaking at the knees. Pull yourself together, she told herself sternly. Or they will know just how terrified you are. And this was your plan.  Tucking her hands together to hide the shaking, she exited the stall and glanced at everyone. “And an extra baggie for Jake, please,” she reminded Marco, glancing at Jake in silent reminder of the plan to get Illim some mud from the pool she’d told him about. She was hoping that when he scooped her back up he’d either be able to get some mud as well, or that during recon he’d find a way to slip some in the second bag. It was, after all, Jake - he found ways to do the impossible during meetings. Biting her lip, Cassie glanced at each of her friends, knowing how much all of them would hate this next part. One by one, she sent them silent apologies, ending with Ax because, somehow, he made her feel the most guilty. As soon as she laid eyes on him, she had the irrational desire to leap across to Jake and cover his eyes. "Ax," she blurted, eyes skittering away and embarrassment starting to rise. "You forgot to…" She shook her head, knowing it would just start an argument they didn’t have time or enough un-frayed nerves for right then. Instead, she deftly stepped right in front of Ax’s form, hiding it from everybody else’s eyes and very deliberately not looking to see who’d been gawking. "Um, okay. Well… Should… I go first?" She’d been Yeerk before, after all. Never in front of them, but she supposed it might be somewhat soothing for her to show them it wasn’t a difficult morph, per se. And that she didn’t suddenly turn soul-sucking evil or anything.

[jakeberensonrp]

Jake felt oddly calm, even with the lack of prey instincts from the fly he normally had some form of pre-game jitters, from basketball or from a battle it never really mattered. 

As he demorphed he didn’t think about the transformation, his mind focused on the task at hand, trying to see all the possibilities to keep his friends safe. He knew it was the easiest way to get into the pool, but the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to call it off.

But they were in too deep already to give up and turn around, plus they had a promise to keep ti Illim who was putting himself incredibly far out on a line to get them a chance. 

As Jake stepped out of the stall, his morphing suit making him feel underdressed even with everyone else in the same boat, until he looked at Ax. Well it was more of a glance really before Jake pointedly looked away from his body, being sure not to stare as he leaned against one of the sinks.

"Yeah, I’ll need a spare so I can get that sludge." Jake said, pausing as an idea struck him. "When we get everyone back from the pool, one of you just kick me in like it’s Looney Toons, Easiest way to get the sludge without being suspicious." Jake said, shuddering at the idea of diving into the pool.

Jake nodded at Cassie’s question. “Unless anyone has an pressing matters, you’re up Cass.” Jake said, feeling his heart jump like it had been over the past few weeks since he realized that Cassie would have access to his every thought and memory, even the ones about her. Jake squashed the sudden urge to move and grab Cassie’s hand, wanting to calm her obviously frayed nerves.

"Everyone remember the plan?" Jake asked, taking a deep breath. "Frolis, get in separately from each other, do some recon, and get out with some pool goop." Jake said, his voice soothing as he outlined everything. "Easy, right?" Jake said, looking over the group, taking care to keep his eyes trained on Ax’s face.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Marco had seen his friends in many ugly or weird morphs, and the Fly was one of their favourites. Yet, he stared at the mirror of the bathroom while they demorphed, trying to look as indifferent as he could. He didn't need to fuel his nightmares when he would have plenty of them for at least a decade or two after the upcoming walk into the Mordor ... Well, if he'd survived, otherwise it would solve the issue.

Rachel was the first to get out of her stall. Not a big surprise for their own Xena  was always the first in the starting blocks. Although Marco had wondered if her particular irritation this day had been due to her fear she had difficulties to control and hid. They had talked before the mission and they both knew what was going through their head. And even the others, they were all good actors now, but they had spend too much time together not to read such strong feelings. Anyway, he couldn't do anything for her, he was as scared as she was, and even if he had tried anything nice, she would have certainly dismembered him for even trying. She hated people to think even one second that she could be weak.

Marco smiled and shrugged without looking in direction of Ax, naked, in the middle of the room, what a life, "Of course, I did. You know what? Tobias is right. Next school day, come in your leotard and make them trendy. At least, we'd look less like complete morons, and we'd avoid losing proper clothes all around the town." Nonetheless, he took the backpack off his shoulder and opened it to show the clothes inside, whining a little more for good measure, "I loved my yellow jacket." He then rummaged through his bag, before showing several rumpled plastic bags. "Private conversations between Rachel and Tobias must be incredibly interesting." He distributed them, along with the clothes, to the ones who were going to pose as Controllers and after giving Rachel hers, he imitated her intonation and said with a smirk, "Have you tried that last anti-aging cream honey? It's amazing." Better be safe than sorry, he retreated from the blond girl and hid slightly behind Jack.

"I've got to beat you at Super Mario Kart, is it enough of a pressing matter?" Marco answered his best friend, while zipping up his bag, done with the distribution. He turned to Cassie who was the first to morph, as often during their mission. She had already been a Yeerk, so nothing complicated, right? What was scary wasn't the idea of becoming your enemy, or not being able to control their instincts ... it was, for him, not being able to blind himself any longer and truly realize that as vile as the Yeerks were, they were still living beings with emotions. It was so much easier to fight and kill when you depicted them as monsters without feelings.

[conflicted-controller-blog]

Panic! At The (Pool) Party

[peaceandmath-deactivated2022111]

Lance did not consider himself much of an actor, which was a serious drawback for somebody in his position. Being stern with his students was one thing, but playing relaxed-welcoming-teacher over stern-strict-teacher over actual-human-being over alien-invader over secret-human/alien-spy-allies was a somewhat more complicated role than his meager skills called for.

He let Illim do it. Yeerks were supposed to be good at that sort of thing. 

<This is the stupidest thing we’ve ever done,> Illim pointed out as they stood by the door and tried not to look nervous.

<We’ve done much… no, no, you’re right,> Lance agreed. <But it isn’t nearly as stupid as what the bandits are about to do.>

<Or what we’re going to start afterward.>

<Perhaps we’ve all gone mad. Maybe this is an Oatmeal Situation, that also affects highly stressed human teenagers.>

The pair contemplated that in silence for a minute, before Illim chipped in, <You do realise that we have no good explanation of why they have my body if they’re recognised, right?>

Lance would have snorted if he had control of their body. <They’re not going to jump into the Pool. And even if they did do something that stupid, who would recognise them? Nobody speaks in the Pool these days, you know that. Everyone hangs around all lonely and isolated and silent and acts like it’s a prison instead of your natural home.> He spotted Marco. <Company.>

<You want to take over?>

<I’d better. I think they hate me slightly less.> Lance neatly took control. The pair had passed the baton enough times that he gave no outward sign of the change. Marco, somehow, was grinning, despite the ridiculously dangerous mission before him. Perhaps there was something to the Oatmeal 2.0 Theory. 

"Can I have my extensions for the homework now?" Marco asked him, with no preamble whatsoever.

Lance didn’t think. He didn’t catch himself in time to stop himself. He laughed. It was a quiet laugh and he stopped before anybody important would notice, but it was a laugh all the same. He’d forgotten all about the homework extension.

A moment later, his face was once more serious, as if a class clown hadn’t successfully broken through his tough exterior. That was happening a lot more recently. He was being… gentle. He’d have to watch that; it could give students ideas. 

"Yes," he said. "Yes; you came, so you can have a homework extension." He knew engaging on this level was a bad idea, he knew it just encouraged them, but he couldn’t help it; he let himself grin just a little and replied, “Perhaps you would like to join our excellent organisation full of high achievers who are more than willing to help with that homework? The Sharing could be just what you need.”

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Marco expected a lot of reactions but not a laugh from his teacher, best known for his great skills at rolling his eyes and less more for genuine laughs after good jokes. Marco's small smile transformed into a shit-eating grin and he deliberately said aloud for his friends to hear, "Oh, I wished Jake was here to see how I made Mr. Tidwell laughs, a miracle happening only once in a lifetime." A long-lasting miracle as Tidwell was actually engaging in the conversation. So alright, he was advertising for the Sharing, but Marco could guess it was mostly an obligation to keep his cover as a very devoted and definitely not rebellious Yeerk and it was still better than the stern looks he got during Math classes. Marco loved reactions. Also, he had always been very good at acting, so acting it would be. Marco looked like he was actually contemplating the proposition before he answered with a smirk , "I may consider joining if they clean my room and meet my grandparents next month. Not that I don't like them, but they don't even speak English and miming a joke has its limits." He took a sip of coke with a studied attitude of nonchalance and finally said, "So anyway, I should go. I don't know if you remember but ... I need to change my nicotine patch, so ... I'll find some toilets." A good comedian should always remember his best jokes. He did a little gesture of his hand, the one holding the coke, it would have been embarrassing to let four or five flies flew away from his sleeve by chance, and left his teacher. Marco got away from the crowd and went in direction of the restroom. Better safe than sorry, he didn't stop in front of the toilets, but he kept on walking. There was another restroom at the end of the hall and certainly less chance of meeting people there. He entered and carefully took his time checking under each door to make sure no one was present, the whole time mumbling about comics never showing such inglorious moments. He finally leaned against the door and announced, shaking slightly his sleeve,  "Children, let's go, each your toilets and remember, better to have too much paper than not enough." Marco waited and avoided thinking about his heart beating stronger and faster.

[conflicted-controller-blog]

Panic! At The (Pool) Party

[conflicted-controller-blog]

Astrane rolled her eyes, taking her plate. “Show off,” she joked. “I’ll see you later, good luck with the whole not=dropping-food thing!” She gave a slight wave, before turning and weaving through the crowds, taking bites of her burger as she went. Temrash had been right - she was running late.

Spotting some space towards one side of the hall, Astrane switced direction and aimed for the gap. She paused for a moment upon reaching it: crowds were not fun.

<Eat up,> Kat urged. <Need to get you down to the pool. I’m not the only one who needs to feed.>

<Humans feeding? Interesting way of putting it,> Astrane mused, but she obliged, chomping the remainder of her food. Casting a quick glance around, she dropped her cleared plate into a nearby bin bag. She pushed her way back through the crowds, making for the door. Once she’d escaped the crowds, punctuated with more greetings, she rounded the corner towards the maintenance room of the school swimming pool. Casting a cautious glance to check for any passers-by, Astrane slipped into the room, before taking a moment to breathe. She turned to the controls and punched a series of buttons. A portion of the wall beside her slid to one side, revealing the entrance to the Yeerk pool. Astrane joked flatly.

<Yeah, yeah. Get on with it,> Kat replied. Her mood was somewhat soured: trips to the pool were not her favourite.

<Couple of hours and we can go,> Astrane reminded her as she made her way down to the pool. Kat did not reply. The rest of the journey was made in silence.

Astrane stepped up to the pool, and dipped her head towards the sludge, Hork-Bajir guards standing idly to one side. For voluntaries, their presence was simply a formality.

<I’ll see you in two hours,> she said to Ka, before gently detaching herself and slipping out of Kat’s ear.

Kat shuddered slightly before she stood. That was never pleasant. But then, precious few things about this place was. She jogged down the steps, and paused. She was starting to wish they hadn’t eaten at the party: she had a lot of time to kill.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

On one hand, Marco was pretty happy to be in his own body even if it wouldn't be for too long. Morphing too many times was tiring, even when the animal was very familiar. On the other hand, being in his own old self while wandering in a party organised by dangerous aliens was pretty stressful. And he couldn’t talk to his friends, hiding in his sleeves, without looking suspicious. He always hated when they couldn't communicate easily. A shame, they must have been pretty bored without his brilliant jokes. Marco had just arrived when a boy, approximately his age and slightly taller than him, came towards him with a smile too big for his face, a burger in the right hand, a lemonade in the left. “Hi, we don’t know you, right ?” Marco shrugged, acting as cool as he could, and answered, fake smile on, “You should though, I’m pretty famous.” Usually, people would say ‘Yeah? What for?’ to which he would answer ‘my very good look or my incredible humor’. That boy just looked at him, confused, before he finally laughed for some seconds. “Right, you’re funny. I’m Paul, nice to meet you.” No doubt, a Controller. In less than 30 seconds, he had got a coke in his hand and Paul was ready to introduce him to people. Marco interrupted, “Well, it’s cool, but… I promised I’d say hello to my teacher, he’s the one who introduced me to the party.” Without waiting for an answer, he escaped the over-enthusiastic Controller. So first, report to Tidwell. Then, morph somewhere safe and finally, find the entry to the pool. Nothing complicated, Marco thought, as he was searching around for his math teacher. He tried to avoid thinking of the part of the mission when "all hell would break loose". No mission went peacefully, that he knew. Marco spotted Tidwell after five minutes of wandering around the crowd without looking too much like he was in a hurry and searching for someone. He went quickly to him and grinned, “Can I have my extensions for the homework now?” Kill two birds with one stone. No one told him he couldn't try to save his grades at the same time as he was trying to save the world.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Teenaged Shenanigans // Ax&Marco

[peaceandmath-deactivated2022111]

Aximili was somewhat taken aback by Marco’s suggestion, but he did not let his expression change. True, he had never actually cooked anything, but he had watched numerous instructional programs on the subject. He shrugged, hoping that he was using the gesture correctly, and headed for the kitchen. Human dwellings were not as consistent in their layout as a proper scoop, but they were predictable enough. 

He did a quick inventory of the kitchen. No fresh spices; the Iron Chef and Gordon Ramsay would screw their noses up at that, but he would make do. There were plenty of dried spices. Aximili made sure to taste test a few and, with a supreme act of will, managed to avoid simply eating them all. He was better than that. He had discipline.

There was chicken. Rice. Honey. Aximili bit his lip and tried to recall the details of one time he had seenthe Two Fat Ladies make creative use of such ingredients. He put some rice on to boil.

"One muss-tuh be careful not to overboil — boy-yul-luh — rice," he muttered to himself as he inspected the knives. Blunt. There was, however, a knife sharpener. 

"They should have Ginsu knives," he noted. "They Never Need Sharpening." 

He had seen people sharpening knives on television numerous times, and it did not look like a difficult task. He took a few practice strokes and quickly realised that handling a knife was almost identical to tailblade play, albeit using clumsy arms instead of a sensible tail. Once he was sure he had the motion correct, he sped up, and soon the knife he used was properly sharp.

"I must cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, say the Two Fat Ladies," he informed Marco. "How large is a bite-sized piece? The size of my mouth or the size of the small child’s mouth?" 

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Ax shrugged, expressionless. Marco had been ready to take in charge the second Ax would have asked him to, but he actually looked determined to cook something. It was going to be interesting, Marco thought and he was glad if it happened here instead of at his home. Marco helped Mariko sit at the table before taking the opposite chair. The little girl had stopped crying and she was now looking at Ax with red eyes, distracted by what he was doing. "Mom and dad cook the rice with this." she said, making an attempt to help by pointing to a white rice cooker. Marco plaifully catch her pointing finger before telling her, "Don't worry, my friend has seen enough TV to be an expert in rice cooking. Let him do his thing." He didn't want her to be too close to Ax when he was manipulating knives. Marco tried his best not to laugh at Ax mimicking his favourite TV shows and answered, "I don't know, let's say the small child's mouth. It'll be easier for her to eat." It was actually a good question. He added after thinking "and you shouldn't call people fat ladies or whatever. People could think you're rude even if it's not your intention."

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Do you wanna / Marco & Kathryn

[conflicted-controller-blog]

She laughed, her eyes lighting up. “Hey, they’re hard enough to find in England these days/ Working ones, at least. You’d need a week, at least!”

She inclined her head slightly, glancing away as she saw him watching her, her cheeks burning. “Good point. Chocolate is always is always a safe bet.”

Kat leant back slightly, raising her eyebrows. “Hmm… I don’t know, really. Maybe the arcade? I’ve been meaning to check it out, so it would’ve been a good excuse!”

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

"Oh? I hope you still have the guards with the funny black hats! They rock their style." Marco mimed with both hands the very long hat. He never went to Europe and his knowledge of countries like the Great Britain was based mostly on movies he had watched and Geography classes at school. "I really need to hurry up, become rich and visit the place before all the phone boxes disappear."

  Marco didn’t even try to hide the disappointment in his face at the mention of the arcade. “Really?!” He slouched in his seat and sighed: “If I had known you would have enjoyed the arcade … I thought girls didn’t like video games! I even asked Nora to help me find something good!”

  He straightened back, grinned and slowly suggested: “Well, we can check it out after we’re done here! I know the arcade BY HEART!”

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Teenaged Shenanigans // Ax&Marco

[aristh-aximili-blog]

Aximili frowned at the child. The horrible sound it was making was so much more grating up close than on television, or heard across a shop in the mall.

"This sound," he observed, "is doing something extremely unpleasant to my human mind." He glanced at Marco. "And of course Andalite infants do not cry. Andalites do not have vocal cords. We use much more sensible methods of communication. Kay-shon-nuh," he added as a kind of afterthought. 

He tried to think, but the wailing did not make it easy. These Messages often recommended all sorts of things to stop human children from crying, but they needed to be bought and delivered, and there was no time for that. “Perhaps food would help?” he wondered. And if the child had some food, well, it would only be reasonable for them to also have some food, if only so that she would not feel left out.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Marco looked at Aximili, waiting for his reaction, and he smiled when he saw the alien frowning. Cassie, or even Tobias, would complain that he enjoyed making fun of him. If he had to be honest, they weren't wrong, but he also truly appreciated Ax's presence and teasing was simply a gesture of friendship.

"Maybe one day humans will evolve in superior beings with no vocal cords." He answered with a small pinch of sarcasm. He sometimes wondered if Ax really believed the automatic answers he gave when asked about the Andalites' superiority. Ever since he had joined the team, Ax had witnessed more than once that his people weren't all as virtuous and honorable as they claimed. Anyway whatever Ax could think, Marco was always ready to retort.

He squatted in front of the girl, took her little hand in his and asked with patience: “Why are you crying?” Apparently she didn't know herself because no answers but a long whine came out of her mouth. He turned his head to Ax who just had suggested food and said: “Woah, that's actually a good idea."

Marco got up, the little girl crowding his legs and he headed towards the kitchen “Should I let you prepare us something, Chef?” He didn't expect much. It wasn't like Ax needed to know the art of cooking when he ate grass through his hooves.

[tobiaseverhart]

A Bird Life || Tobias/Marco

[tobiaseverhart]

Tobias nodded once, easing past the awkward moment with his usual awkwardness. “Cool, cool.”

Tobias rolled his eyes at Marco, his shoulders lifting in a quick shrug. “Hey man, I just know I’m not ready to be a father yet. I mean, if you are, more power to you, but I agree that we should stick with saving the world first.”

"That is a sad, but valid, point Marco," Tobias replied. "Although I don’t think they have rehab for that. But I’m sure after a certain point he’ll do something to mess up his taste buds." Tobias rolled his eyes at Marco. "Yeah, right. You just wanna bribe him to help you out with stuff. I haven’t forgotten the flea powder incident."

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

"We'll wait that I get older, if I get old anyway, but to be honest… For now, I prefer taking care of me only. Just know that I'd be an amazing dad  because I'm amazing in everything I do." He knew he was good with kids and at taking care of something or someone in general. He also knew that when he wasn't saving the world, he didn't want any responsibilities whatsoever. "Alright, no kids for you, no kids for me." He suddenly laughed and explained: "I just imagined Jake and Cassie as parents … Jake would finally have an excuse for his terrible dad jokes." "You still remember that? it was ages ago!" He paused and added. "Old good time, I need to be more creative lately." Ax was maybe naive when it came to Human society, but he wasn't stupid. He learnt quite quickly to be wary of anything Marco suggested. "Alright, I may bribe him, but it's always a win-win situation, never a real scam." He tried his most innocent smile on Tobias, surely wasted on someone who knew him too well.

[grizzlyrachel]

Saved by the Bag || Rachel & Marco

[grizzlyrachel]

Rachel couldn’t help it; the image of Marco in a tutu made her giggle uncontrollably. “You don’t want to be a ballerina?” she asked, trying to stifle her amusement; she felt like she might be on the verge of hysterics, and Rachel Berenson was not the sort of girl who had hysterics — not even those induced by the mental image of Marco dancing Swan Lake. Luckily for him, that image was funny enough that she decided to let the next comment go — but only just. Rather than smacking the back of his head, she settled for treating him to an icy glower. “I’m going to pretend to take that as a compliment,” she growled, “this time. But watch it.” Rachel regretted her words as soon as she said them; “watch it” was too perfect a set-up for Marco to resist, but maybe he’d be scared enough of retribution to let it go. Maybe.

Doubting that, she was distracted enough by his thoughtful assessment of their little team that she forgot she was bracing herself for a verbal barb. Rachel frowned, thinking over what he’d said. She had never really stopped to analyze their group as a group that way, but trust Marco to have done so…he was definitely the one who knew how to weight people the best. “You might have a point there,” she said slowly, picturing how different their lives would have been if any one of them hadn’t been there that night. “It almost seems too perfect,” Rachel continued, muttering darkly, “like someone set it up that way…” She looked up sharply at the sky, as though she might catch the Elimiist hovering up there with a smug grin on his stupid face, but of course all she saw were clouds. Fortunately Marco’s cynicism was more familiar ground, so she was able to grin toothily and add, “Call it a miracle if you like, but I prefer to think of it as bear-competence.”

She snorted at his self-flattery, but Marco chose not to call her out on her pretense — there was always the chance he hadn’t noticed, but Rachel had a feeling that Marco noticed even more than he liked to let-on, and he was generally pretty sharp with his observances — so she just rolled her eyes and said nothing. That didn’t stop her snickering at his claims of fashionableness; as if! She was the only one of their little group who had any idea of how to dress, and that was just a fact. That was why she didn’t stop herself from saying, “Oh, have you moved on to the ‘petites’ section, then?”

His words about the Yeerk Pool sobered her quickly, though. “Well, if you can’t find a clever but cowardly alternative, there musn’t be one. Still, I guess it’s good that you’ll be going in with us; I mean, who else would make lame jokes to keep our spirits up when we see how much better the food in the Yeerk cafeteria is than in the high school’s, huh?” That had to be an exponentially lamer joke than anything Marco would have come up with, but under the circumstances, it was the best Rachel could do. And at least it kept her from having to admit to the jagged butterflies crawling up her throat at the very thought of going down there again with Animorph-slugs in their pockets. “You and your ‘real sense of humor,’ my ass,” she snapped half-heartedly.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Marco could see that Rachel was on the verge of laughing, certainly at his own expense. That was good, better than gloomy and unpredictable. “Nah, I'm fine.” He paused and then said. “Wait a minute! Girls, everywhere, in a tutu? Maybe I should reconsider.” When Rachel threatened him, Marco slowly tilted his head to his side and a large smile appeared on his face. “No problem, I'll watch it. Count on me!” It had been too good to let it go, even if it meant getting rewarded with a slap. "Too perfect indeed." Marco had actually thought a lot about it, mostly when he had been on his own at home, or in school too bored to listen to his classes. He hadn't addressed the subject with Jake, because he just didn't know what it would change if he was right and his best friend had already too much to think about. He added: “Yes and I don't believe in coincidences." What were the odds that he enrolled in a guerilla in which his own mother was one of the leaders of the invasion? "Anyway, I won't get any answer even if I ask." The Ellimist liked appearing whenever and wherever It wanted, and then asking if the Animorphs were ready to risk their lives in a mission It never explained the ins and outs. Anyway, Marco rolled his eyes at Rachel's big grin. He dramatically threw his hands in the air as he exclaimed: “I hope for you I won't have a growth spurt in the next years… because I'll make your life a living hell!” He smiled at “cowardly”. Everything which meant avoiding a fight would be labelled “cowardly” by Rachel. Maybe she wasn't wrong. “Cautious is my field of expertise. You can keep insanely brave but rash." He concludes.

After a few minutes, Marco finally stood up. He stretched up before turning back to Rachel. “I think I should go. I wouldn't want my reputation to be sullied, because people think I hang out with a teen model.” A small smile, waiting for a last retort before leaving.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Do you wanna / Marco & Kathryn

[conflicted-controller-blog]

Kat raised an eybrow. “I would guess so,” She said, with a small smile. “Can’t say I think that combination would end well, though!”

 Rolling her eyes, she added “Let me guess, your ferverent research has left you with the ideas of tea and fish and chips?” She grinned. The fact was, Kat was quite the stereotype…

She gazed over the list of teas, and settled on Earl Grey - may as well play up the British in her. Carrying it to the table - accompanied with a generous slab of lemon drizzle cake - she took a seat opposite Marco. She poured the tea, squeezed in the lemon juice and smiled as she stirred her cup, pausing to take a small sip, testing the strength. Kat nodded to Marco. “It’s great, thanks!” she grinned. “Your hot chocolate?”

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Yes, he wasn't very original for this first date, but for once considered it was better to play it safe. “Either that or taking pictures in front of red phone boxes, but I couldn't find any in two days.” He shrugged, with an easy laugh. Marco made small pieces of the chocolate cake with his fork while observing Kathryn, pouring tea as a real expert. Well, she was English after all. “Hmm, yes, very good, ” he answered after sipping his drink and tasting the cake. “Everything with chocolate is good anyway, right?” He fidgeted a little on his chair, wondering when smashing a Hork-Bajir's brain had become easier than something as mundane as sitting alone with a girl. He smiled and asked: "So, if you had been the one to organize the date, what would we have done?"

[jakeberensonrp]

School Day Snooze || Jake Berenson/Marco

[jakeberensonrp]

"True, true. But the little dork did start everyone thinking of me as a leader. So I still blame him. The little twerp." Jake replied, shrugging.

"Alright." Jake replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Whatever you say buddy."

"Quit being such a pessimist," Jake replied. "Soaps with Ax can’t be that bad." Jake checked his own watch, grinning. "Yeah, wouldn’t wanna be late now would you?" Jake said, nodding his friend off.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Marco smiled. It wasn’t completely wrong  what Jake was saying. “The little twerp is very sorry.” "Sure, I’ll think about quitting as soon as we’re done with any alien invasion." He nodded. "The teacher already said I was an agitator, just because he's not good enough to get my puns. Arriving late is definitely not a good idea." He waved at Jake before heading to his class. END

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Do you wanna / Marco & Kathryn

[conflicted-controller-blog]

Kat just giggled and rolled her eyes at Marco’s exasperation. “Oh alright then,” she teased. “In the absence of any cute celebrities, I guess you’ll do!”

She kept herself calm on the way, not wanting to seem too nervous as they chatted meaninglessly. She returned Marco’s smile as they arrived, trying not to think about how many people that one or both of them might know where around them. Kat cocked her head slightly. “An IT-girl? This must be yet another bizarre Americanism!” She laughed, her smile lighting her eyes.

She followed Marco across the shopping centre, eyes widening at the sight of the tea house. She raised a teasing eyebrow at Marco. “Is it alright? You bring a British girl on a first date and take her to a tea house, and ask if it’s alright? You know what we’re like with tea, right?” She grinned. “It looks perfect. Now, c’mon, let’s see if tea houses here are any good compared to the ones I went to back home!” She led the way inside, glancing over her shoulder at Marco as she walked through the doors.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

So far, Kathryn looked happy as they went through the mall, which made Marco feel more comfortable and less like Indiana Jones facing a dangerous situation. And, if her reaction in front of the tea house was of any indication, she seemed to like the idea of a cup of tea. He had a small laugh and asked: "Like cats with bleach?" Marco never had cat, but he could remember a not very dignified experience with the bleach while in  morph. Sad he couldn't tell Kathryn, she would have laughed. "Nice to see that my intensive research on the British people has been useful." He followed Kathryn inside, feeling like he didn't fit the profile of customers around there. After getting in the line, he looked at the extensive list of tea the shop proposed. He couldn't say he was very fond of the hot beverage so he settled for an apple juice and a chocolate cake. Five minutes later, they took a seat. Waiting for Kat to try out what she had ordered, he asked: "Sooo... Is it good?"

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Teenaged Shenanigans // Ax&Marco

[aristh-aximili-blog]

"I am called Phillip," Aximili said, resisting the urge to play with the p-sound. "Yes, I am Marco’s friend. It is lovely to meet you." Aximili glanced about the room. Humans tended to alter their quarters to suit each individual family, but there was some consistency in what went in what rooms. Personally, Aximili found a simple scoop much more easy to organise, and much more civilised. But humans had a strange need to own dozens of small ceremonial objects, and he supposed that they needed space to keep them. That did not explain why they put wood and concrete over the grass and then put false cotton grass on top, though. That, he would never understand.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Marco let a small sigh of relief as Ax was trying his best not to play with sounds. He kept his introduction simple and Marco was pretty surprised how his alien friend managed so well. No weird and complicated sentences, and no horrible sound games. He smiled at Ax, rather pleased so far. He didn't care if Ax played with words in front of the kid, but it was always slightly embarrassing to find an explanation to the adults. Yurie went upstairs and came back with the little girl they were going to look after. Except for her paler skin and her light brown hair, she looked a lot like her mother. She kept pretty silent except for a shy "hello" while her mother gave her last recommandation to the two boys. She looked pretty confused when her mother said, after kissing her cheek, that she was going to take her father at work and go directly to the restaurant. When the door closed, the little girl didn't wait less than five minutes before crying very loudly. Marco turned to face Ax and asked, smirking: "Does Andalite babies cry? Or are you from the start very rigid and honorable?"

[tobiaseverhart]

A Bird Life || Tobias/Marco

[tobiaseverhart]

"Okay then," Tobias replied, looking away, embarassed. "I didn’t mean anything by that… just… I dunno."

"Simple, if I get hurt, I morph out, You hurt baby hawks, they stay hurt." Tobias replied, shrugging, glancing around the store, racking his brains for what Ax needed.

"He won’t get stuck. He has that internal clock. Remember?" Tobias said, rolling his eyes. "I won’t bribe him Marco. I have some respect for him. And just because you bribe him doesn’t mean it’s a good idea."

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Marco glanced at Tobias, who suddenly looked embarrassed. It wasn't Marco's intention to make him feel bad; but he was also not really good at guessing Tobias' reactions. It was Cassie's job to be good at reading people. After a few seconds, he said as smoothly as he could: “It's alright.”   "It's fortunate that we'll have Super-Cassie to take care of them." he concluded with a shrug. "But alright, Let's forget about baby hawks. I totally see you're not ready yet. Let's stay focused on saving the world for the time being." "He is so obsessed with Cinnamon Buns that I'm sure he could somehow forget to check his internal clock in front of too many buns. Soon he'll have to get in rehab." He retorted, smiling at the image of Ax devouring buns until he ended up sick. "I respect him, but he also needs to learn that all humans aren't as sweet as you are." Actually, it was just too easy to bribe the naive alien.

[jakeberensonrp]

School Day Snooze || Jake Berenson/Marco

[jakeberensonrp]

"Hey, I didn’t ask for this gig. Some little dork that I’ve known since diapers nominated me." Jake replied, smiling to take the sting out of his words.

"They might be crying from happiness Marco," Jake replied, grinning at his friend. "I doubt it’d be from sadness."

"Not at all. You just have a thin face. Nothing wrong with that." Jake replied, leaning back, a critical look at Marco. "I don’t think I want to watch anything with the word pimp in the title. Sorry bud. Maybe we can get together and watch some Soaps with Ax."

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

"That little dork wasn’t alone to vote for you.” He winked at Jake, perfectly aware that his best friend had never wanted the role, but at the same time had always been the most qualified. Eyes narrowed, Marco looked suspiciously at Jake. “Of course, nothing wrong.” He finally answered, lightly embarassed by his own reaction. "Alright, Big Jake. We’ll see how long you can endure Ax-man in front of Young and Restless … that’s say, if we survive our next mission." He checked the hour on the big clock of the hall. He was supposed to quickly deliver his message for the meeting, but as usual he couldn't help chatting. "I should go or I’ll be late for the next class."

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Do you wanna / Marco & Kathryn

[conflicted-controller-blog]

Kat smiled as Marco approached, looking as easy going as always. She wished her hands would stop nervously tapping on her thigh. “Hey, I’m good - just itching to get out of here,” she laughed, gesturing to the school. She raised an eyebrow. “Celebrity, huh?” she teased. “Let me guess - Jeremy Jason McCole is in there holding up the hallways?” She grinned. “Sure thing, let’s go. Where were you thinking?”

As the pair walked towards the mall, sidestepping around other students, she glanced around. Maybe she could still have a normal life. Sometimes. Maybe this wasn’t the end of everything she knew. Not just yet.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Marco threw his hands in the air before letting go an exaggerated sigh: “I will never understand girls with this Jeremy Jason McNuggets? The Hanson brothers have the decency to have funny haircut and therefore to be joke materials. McCole is so plain lame.” Marco never really liked the celebrity. Dealing with him in one of their suicidal missions hadn't help in the slightest. After a few seconds, his hand flopped down and he said: “So, no Jeremy Jason McCole around here, sorry, sorry.” Marco took a look at Kathryn, trying to decipher any emotions. She looked rather calm during their walk to the mall. After spending months seeing only the Animorphs, he sometimes had the feeling he was getting worse and worse at understanding normal people, especially those of his age. He couldn't discuss strategy for insane-and-run-for-your-life missions with Kathryn, as much as he would have loved. They soon arrived at the mall, which was slightly busy with many young people hanging around after school. Marco inhaled. Trying to act cool and not like a total dweeb, he smiled and said: “So, … there's a shop which has just … opened and I thought I would take you there. That way you can come back to school tomorrow and act as a real IT-girl who knows all the good new places in town.” They walked to the other side of the mall until they arrived in front of a small teahouse. Nora had once talked about it during dinner. Marco had then made sure it wasn't too girly for his tastes - not too much pink, flowers or ribbons. It was none of it: a small, quite minimalist teahouse with some home-made cakes. "Is it alright? I figured that if you don't like it we can go to the arcade, but I was told not so many people consider it a proper date." Marco raised an eyebrow as the idea of criticizing any outing to the arcade was plainly insane, but he was also waiting to see if the teahouse appealed to Kathryn.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Do you wanna / Marco & Kathryn

[conflicted-controller-blog]

Kat had been clock watching for all of last period, her foot twitching nervously. She had never been on a date before, not even back home, so she was very, very anxious. From what the others had said, Marco was a dating veteran - or an attempted one, at least. There were so many ways this could go wrong…

As soon as the bell gave its shrill ring, Kat swept her belongings into her bag and walked briskly towards the main gate. Her fingers tapped against her strap in a rhythmic pattern.

<Why are you so nervous?> Astrane said, both amused and exasperated. <It’s just a date with a boy, it’s not a big deal.>

<Uh-huh. Right. Okay. We’ll go with that,> Kat muttered back. She looked around distractedly, but couldn’t see Marco yet.

<To be fair, you speed-walked your way out of the building,> Astrane smirked.

<Oh, shut up. And you had better keep quiet during my… my date…> Kat warned, her voice not quie full of conviction.

<Ha! No problems there. That’s one part of your life I do not want to get involved with. Unless there’s something serious that I’ve spotted that you haven’t because you’re making lovey faces at Marco, I am leaving the pair of you alone!> Astrane added teasingly. If Kat could have rolled her eyes without looking like a loon, she would have. As much as she loved Astrane, the Yeerk was a pain in the backside. She cast her eyes around the area again, leaning her shoulder against the wall. Still no sign.

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

Since the day before, when he had asked Kathryn out, until now, assisting a boring English class by a soporific teacher, Marco had thought of what to do with the girl. Kat was fun and easy-going, but from his past experiences, Marco knew it wouldn't be a good idea to take her to the next video game shop. He kept having brilliant ideas which either cost too much or was better for a hangout with his best friend. Between two ideas, he also thought about the possibility that she was a Controller. He got sure to keep the date secret because he didn't want any of the Animorphs to spy on her. Although he knew some spying was doomed to happen. He regretted being paranoid, even if rightly so. For the time being, Marco was simply thinking of treating her to the closest coffee shop. They could talk which would be more fun than sitting in the dark watching a movie.

The bell rang and his teacher tried to stop him to talk about his latest failed test -something most of his teachers tried to achieve lately, but today was not the day to be late. He hid behind a classmate -being vertically challenged could be useful, and rushed to the exit.

It took him only five minutes to get to the main gates, where he quickly spotted Kat, waiting for him. Marco slowed down. Alright, play it cool, he thought. An easy smile reached his lips as he addressed Kat: "Hey? How are you? Sorry for the wait. You know how busy a celebrity can get." he looked at her, searching for a sign of disapproval before keeping on, "Shall we go?" He didn't want to stay in front of the school for too long, scared of meeting inadvertently any member of his team. if Tobias kept an eye from the sky as he usually did when he had spare time, Marco didn't need to even think about hiding, .

[grizzlyrachel]

Saved by the Bag || Rachel & Marco

[grizzlyrachel]

"I guess you’ll just have to wear tights," Rachel suggested with a smirk. "Maybe some nice pink glitter tights. What do you think? I think that would seriously bring out your eyes. And it would definitely get around the tanning issue.” She snickered. “Maybe we’ll tell Ax that that’s the real reason why we wear artificial skin: to hide irregularities in our complexion. Of course,” Rachel added loftily, “then he’d expect me to walk around naked all the time, because my complexion is obviously flawless, but I suppose there’s no such thing as a plan without any flaws…” She couldn’t help but roll her eyes a little bit at Marco’s far-too-accurate impersonation of Aximili. That boy was seriously warped — and she wasn’t entirely sure whether she was talking about the Andalite or the Animorph when she thought that.

"Nonsense," Rachel said, aiming a light swat at Marco’s shoulder, "I’m scary all the time.” Her beaming smile faltered as he continued, bringing up practically the very thing that Rachel herself most feared in regards to her best friend. She shook her head, not fooled by his attempt to drag the subject back on track, and said grimly, “I’m pretty sure it’s not us being idiots that worries Cassie. If we were idiots it wouldn’t matter if we’re cold-hearted or hot-headed, because we wouldn’t be able to do any real damage. It’s the fact that we’re not idiots that makes the rest of it problematic — although if you ever repeat that,” Rachel cautioned him, struggling mightily to restore a joking tone to their conversation, “I will of course deny that I ever indicated you’re not an idiot. Because you totally are.” She nodded firmly, her brow furrowed in false-sincerity; all her teasing aside, she knew that Marco was probably the cleverest of all of them in a lot of ways, but she couldn’t possibly admit that aloud. It would just make things weird.

Rachel tried to grin at the idea of Jake’s flirtation failures, but an image of disappointed betrayal on Cassie’s face kept swimming in front of her eyes, distracting her. “Gorillas in jail,” she said, straining to force a smile, “yeah, that’s a good one all right. Hey, if you play your cards right, it could be an autobiography! And then if that sells well, we can do Gorillas in Jail 2: Dogs Can’t Flirt. I smell a franchise!” Rachel had a feeling that Marco would be able to see through her pale attempt at humorous banter; he was the expert at disguising emotions through jokes, after all. She hoped he wouldn’t call her out on it and force their conversation to get serious. They’d already touched on enough grim subjects for one day, hadn’t they?

Insulting him ought to make for a good distraction, but Rachel’s heart wasn’t in it. Still, she managed to raise a scornful eyebrow and treat his current ensemble to a disdainful once-over. “You’re kidding, right? Marco, do you even own a mirror? A color-blind clown wouldn’t be caught dead in the things you wear.” Rachel tossed her head imperiously and pointed her nose in the air, trying to give an impression of a snooty-fashionista rather than a scared little girl.

"Did I give that impression?" Rachel said coolly, unimpressed by his transparent attempt to rile her. She’d been hanging out with Marco for a while now, and it took more — albeit sometimes just a little more — than that to get under her skin. “Sorry, I must have phrased it badly. Because I can assure you, I’m not jealous at all. You must just be projecting your jealousy onto me. It’s understandable; my boyfriend is seriously awesome. There’s a lot to be jealous of, especially in your shoes. What size are those things, anyway?” she added sweetly, “Children’s eight?” If Marco was going to take the easy route to insulting her — you’re acting just like other girls — then she was going to do the same to him and remind him that he was small and short and she was built like a statuesque Amazon.

She flapped her hand to dismiss the rest of his words. “Nope,” Rachel lied easily, “you’re imagining that. In fact, I think it sounds like you’re flat-out hallucinating. You’re probably coming down with some horrible morph-induced disease. Cockroach cooties, maybe, or perhaps all that time you spend as a monkey is actually making you devolve — not that you have far to go, is it? Anyway, you should probably sit the next mission out, just to be safe. In fact, what if it’s contagious? We should probably all sit the next one out.” Rachel laughed, like she was just joking, and not at all scared, but to her ears the laughter sounded shrill and weak. She glared at herself and shifted on the bench, suddenly uncomfortable. If it had been anyone but Marco sitting next to her, she’d probably have had to go pick a fight with someone just to prove she wasn’t chicken…

His threat just made her grown. “You already do,” she retorted immediately. “Actually hearing you is really just icing on the annoyance-cake, trust me. Maybe we should record you sometime and play the tape back for you later, give you a dose of your own medicine. ‘Course,” she grumbled, “you’re probably immune, like one of those Patient-Zero carriers. So unfair.”

[marcothemagnificent-blog]

“Yeah sure, tights … with glitter. Why not a tutu to match them?” Marco made a face at the picture that his brain was making. It didn’t look nice and he didn’t like it. “You know what? Keep your legs and keep your pink glitter tights. I think, I’ll stay short, it’s less trouble. Tall is so overrated anyway.” Marco snickered at Rachel’s narcissist comment. Ax would certainly believe such an excuse for wearing clothes. He always had the greatest difficulties to understand their uses and he thought it was simply another eccentricity of the human race along with music and online chats. “He would ask why we don’t hide our faces and hide our butt. Most of the time I suppose that he has no humor at all, but maybe it’s so twisted that even I don’t get it.” That was actually a question he often asked himself. “I’m sure Ax is not the only one who would want to see you walk around naked, though.” Marco shielded himself behind his arms waiting to be hit by Rachel, who would certainly not let go such a remark. Marco couldn't avoid the next swat and he rubbed his shoulder, whining “Yes, you're scary all the time. And, violent! You should consult a therapist!” At Rachel's expression, he realized quickly he had touched a sore spot. Marco thought he could act as if he had said nothing and get back to the original conversation, but Rachel wouldn't let it pass and he silently listened to her explanation. Finally, he said with a much more serious tone than he wanted to admit: “Hmm, maybe. I'd worry if I was Cassie, but it's good to have her. What would we do without our annoying conscience in the shape of a tree-hugger?” He waited five seconds and added, “and don't tell her I said that.” Marco never knew where he stood with Cassie. He doubted he would one day. After a few seconds, he realized he wasn't done with the subject, “Isn't it lucky that it is the five of us and nobody else? That perfect equilibrium we have with Jake and Cassie on one side, you and I, Ax and Tobias.” That's why David was doomed from the start, he bitterly thought. Even without his lack of taste in pet naming, he had no place in the fragile construction of the team, he brought nothing Marco found necessary. “We complete each other a little too much that sometimes I wondered what would have happened if one of us haven't been there when we pass through the construction site… I reckon we would be dead already.” He shrugged and added to remind her that he was a pessimist, “Although it doesn't mean we won't die soon, just that it's a miracle we are still alive.” Coming back to a lighter tone, his smile appeared again, as large as it could be. “So, you're saying I'm smart. I have pretty eyes and I'm smart! That's a day I need to remember. And, don't worry Rachel, you don't need to deny. Even though I am truly smart and have the prettiest eyes ever, nobody would ever believe you to be so suddenly honest.” Marco was very good at lying and hiding real feelings, which also made him quite good at spotting people attempting to do as well. And, Rachel was particularly not good at it. She often was an open book of anger, fierceness or impulsiveness. He could easily hear when her voice got weaker or when her smile faltered. Maybe because he had spend too much time in her company and her quirks had became familiar. Marco had a knowing smile at her pathetic attempt of humor when she was clearly troubled. “I always knew I was made for movies.” He simply concluded. Her next insult startled him. Marco looked down at his clothes, genuinely surprised. “What? I'm never wearing more than three colors! See? Even I know the basic rules of fashions.” He throws his hands in the air and kept on, “I can't believe you just said that. My fashion style is totally fine!” Marco had received and deserved a fair amount of backlashes for the misogynistic words he had said at one time or another. If he had believed them at one point, hanging out with Cassie and Rachel had made him learn how wrong he could have been. With only a look, Rachel could terrify him enough to immediately correct what he said. Cassie was maybe quieter, but she could reveal herself as frightening as her best friend when needed. Throwing a spider at you after you said ‘only girls were scared of little animal' was a very educational experience. Some would have been offended to be treated a little roughly, but not him. Even if he had learned, it didn't mean he couldn't still use this kind of lame joke to rile up Rachel. “Oh, girls, so sensitive! And, it's not children's eight. I will let you know that I stopped shopping in children's department a long time ago.” Rachel's attempt at insulting him enough to make up for the hidden compliment did nothing but reinforce Marco's large grin. It faltered slightly towards the end as Rachel suggested not to go to the Yeerk Pool. ”I should definitely call sick.” Marco followed Rachel's laugh, as weak and fake as her's. “And believe me, I tried to find every alternatives to this insane plan.” He didn't like appearing weak in front of Rachel, more than everybody else, but he was also very tired. “So, I may be a coward, but I suppose I can't let you all get killed without me.”

Marco almost didn't react to Rachel's retort, still thinking about the Yeerk Pool. He could hear the screams and the perpetual noises. "Not my fault if you aren't equipped with a real sense of humor."