instar: (Default)
Author: instar
Bella is, uncharacteristically, home alone; Andi is over at Robin's, and Renée is visiting a friend of hers in the hospital, though she could be home relatively soon depending on how much the two get caught up in conversation.

Bella is memorizing the map of Phoenix.
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
Someone rings her doorbell.

Twice.

Three times.

Four five six—

Then it stops.
instar: (Default)
Author: instar
Bella answers the door.
aeskhyne: (⑫ stared at the fault line)
Author: aeskhyne
Trouble is carrying several plastic grocery bags in each hand, and a large cardboard box between them. His eyes don't seem to be focusing properly.

He thrusts the box in her general direction and croaks, "Caaa...aaaaake..."
instar: (doe)
Author: instar
"Um. Hi."

Bella takes the box. She puts it on the kitchen table.
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
He plonks the bags down beside it. Stacks of Tupperware containers inside them shift and collapse, scattering all over the kitchen floor. He grabs one teetering on the edge of the table, sits down in a chair, and starts eating the lemon tart inside with total concentration and a look of bliss.
instar: (rabbit)
Author: instar
"I wasn't expecting you," Bella remarks.
aeskhyne: (⑦ i'll make you see)
Author: aeskhyne
Trouble takes no notice of this. He is busy eating his lemon tart out of its little foil dish. It's somewhat messy, but he takes no notice of that, either. His movements are sharp and jerky and not especially Trouble-like.
instar: (owl)
Author: instar
Mmm-hm.

The hammer is over there, next to the scissors and the batteries. Behind him. Near the fridge. Bella picks up something that could conceivably need refrigeration. She goes in that direction. She opens the fridge to cover the noise of -
pandion: (frown)
Author: pandion
- a very quick morph.

She hefts the hammer.

She gives Trouble one double-checking glance.
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
The lemon tart continues to be an object of apparently total fascination to him.
pandion: (dark)
Author: pandion
Bella has the ability to hit things she aims at, when she morphs her sister.

She brings the hammer down on his spine, just below the neck, as hard as she can.
aeskhyne: (⑪ crazy news)
Author: aeskhyne
There is a nasty cracking sound.

Trouble yelps and drops his tart. And slowly slumps forward onto the table.

"What the—the hell!"
pandion: (thought)
Author: pandion
Bella grabs his shirt and dumps him onto the floor out of his chair and plants a foot on his stomach, not gently.

"I'll give you two minutes to crawl out of there or I crack his skull, peel you out myself, and have a new test subject for my interesting notions of chemical warfare. They won't be pleasant minutes; feel free to get out quicker. Start morphing and I'll kill you both if I have to."
aeskhyne: (⑫ stared at the fault line)
Author: aeskhyne




He whimpers.

Not in the way that Trouble might whimper, if confronted with Bella offering to give him two very unpleasant minutes with a hammer.
pandion: (dark)
Author: pandion
Bella flips the handle around in her hand so the claw end is aimed out, then turns it again. "I don't know how much sensation he's got left below the neck to share with you. Let's find out."

She's seen Ethan do this. She knows Trouble can take it.

She just doesn't think this is Trouble.

She brings the hammer down on his shoulder.
aeskhyne: (⑭ i'll be made to breathe)
Author: aeskhyne
He whimpers harder.

"Don't, Bella, please—"
pandion: (checking)
Author: pandion
"Come out," hisses Bella, "and it'll stop hurting. I haven't touched you. Yet."

Other shoulder.
aeskhyne: (⑮ every scream)
Author: aeskhyne
"nononononono," he moans. There is no evidence of the kind of faces he usually makes when someone is hitting him with a hammer.
pandion: (dark)
Author: pandion
"You have a minute and fifteen seconds and then I give him up as a lost cause, open his head like a pinata, and see how much bleach it takes to dissolve you."
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
He shakes his head. "Please," he mumbles hoarsely, "pleasedon'tkillme."
pandion: (dark)
Author: pandion
She breaks his elbow.
aeskhyne: (⑮ every scream)
Author: aeskhyne
He screams.

And then his whole face twitches, and relaxes abruptly.
pandion: (checking)
Author: pandion
"Forty-five seconds," says Bella, "I will not be satisfied until I see a slug, and how things go for that slug depends on its speed." Other elbow.
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
"She's going, she's going," Trouble mumbles groggily.

And indeed, there is something greenish-grey and slimy starting to emerge from his left ear.
pandion: (frown)
Author: pandion
Bella puts down the hammer.

When the slug has emerged, she picks it up, puts it in a mixing bowl, and fills it with water.

Only when she has done this does she slump against the counter and -
instar: (yeerk)
Author: instar
- demorph, and start rubbing her eyes.
aeskhyne: (⑭ i'll be made to breathe)
Author: aeskhyne
"Gonna morph Robin for a sec," Trouble sighs, and he does that.
instar: (yeerk)
Author: instar
Bella slides against the cabinets behind her until she's crumpled up on the floor.

"Wh-" She chokes before she finishes the sentence. "What do the other Yeerks know? Do we have to run? Is there time to get Andi and Robin and Ethan?"
hold_infinity: (⑨ let me tell you something)
Author: hold_infinity
"They don't know shit," says Trouble. "They put her in me 'cause she fucked something up and Visser Three decided to make her sit through what Reggie does to me, as punishment. I'm not sure how much she knows, but she hasn't said a word to anybody."
instar: (doe)
Author: instar
Bella practically melts with relief.

"Oh."
aeskhyne: (⑦ i'll make you see)
Author: aeskhyne
He demorphs.

"Her name's Aspret," he adds. "I actually kind of feel sorry for her. The only way I could think of not to spill anything to her early was to think about something really distracting, and I've got a head full of really distracting shit, and not all of it is cake recipes." He waves vaguely at the baked goods all over Bella's kitchen. "So she's been baking for like a day straight, because that's the only way she knows how to shut me up on the rest of it. I'm not even sure why she hauled it all over here, except I guess she saw in my memories that I do that a lot."
instar: (doe)
Author: instar
"And she didn't tell any other Yeerks - anything. She didn't say that - that you can morph, that you've met an Andalite, that you've seen Visser Three, that - anything. Is she a she? I hadn't been assuming Yeerks had genders..."
aeskhyne: (⑨ nobody grows up)
Author: aeskhyne
"Well, I've seen Visser Three again now. But no, nothing, she hasn't said a word. I mean, nobody's looking to her to spy on me, you know? And - I don't know, she feels like a she to me."
instar: (spider)
Author: instar
Bella rubs at her eyes. "Okay."

She swallows.

"You okay?"
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
"...It hasn't been my favourite couple of days," he says. "But I'm - I'll be fine. Are you okay?"
instar: (snake)
Author: instar
"I'll live." She swallows. "I don't know what to do with her - Renée could be home any minute."
aeskhyne: (⑪ crazy news)
Author: aeskhyne
"...Me neither," says Trouble. "I'd rather not kill her, but hell, even if we do, where do we stash the body? And if we don't, what do we do with her instead?"
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"She's little, I don't think body-stashing is a huge issue, bury her in someone's backyard," shrugs Bella. "If she - we also - you can't go home, not without her."
aeskhyne: (⑦ i'll make you see)
Author: aeskhyne
"...yeah," he says. "Unless - I don't know. Her only job was to do whatever Reggie tells her and not break cover the rest of the time. I'd be screwed when her feeding cycle came up - she's due tomorrow evening - but I could fake it, until then, it wouldn't be hard. And if I'm gonna disappear, I shouldn't disappear out of your house if we can avoid it, right?"
instar: (snake)
Author: instar
"Right. If you're gonna disappear, you should ask a gossipy acquaintance for fifty bucks and be seen at the bus station."
aeskhyne: (⑧ nightly in the attic)
Author: aeskhyne
"And they'll figure Aspret picked starving over another day of Reggie. Which I wouldn't blame her for. Actually I'm pretty sure somebody was taking bets on that when they hauled us out of the pool."
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"Is there a way to talk to her when she's like this? And - let's go down to the basement at least -" She puts the hammer back where it belongs, checks the floor for blood, there isn't any. "Renée won't notice the mixing bowl gone, we're all going to Olive Garden tonight." She picks up Aspret's bowl.
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
"Well... somebody could morph and thought-speak to her," he says. "But she couldn't talk back."
instar: (rabbit)
Author: instar
"How do they even communicate, in-pool?" Down to the basement they go.
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
"I dunno."

He follows her down.
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
Bella puts the bowl in a box and the box on a shelf, accessible in a hurry but not obtrusive. "I suppose we could tell her to swim counterclockwise for no and clockwise for yes."
aeskhyne: (⑧ nightly in the attic)
Author: aeskhyne
"Or somebody could morph her," says Trouble.
instar: (snake)
Author: instar
"That won't teach us her native language," Bella says. "I mean, we may as well acquire her - we'll call the others, we can meet after the Olive Garden trip when Renée's out at the movies - but I don't think it would let us understand whatever sounds or other communications she can emit right now."
aeskhyne: (⑦ i'll make you see)
Author: aeskhyne
"Sure, but it'd give us a better handle on her body language," says Trouble. "Or it'd give me one, if I did it."
instar: (owl)
Author: instar
"Be my guest," says Bella. "And you can see how comfy the water is, if it's liable to give her trouble if we leave her there for a while."
aeskhyne: (⑧ nightly in the attic)
Author: aeskhyne
He gets the box down and sticks his hand in the water. Aspret swims away from it as fast as she can, but he scoops her up with his other hand and she goes limp. After a few seconds, he lowers her carefully back into the bowl.

"No reason not to do it now, right?"
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"Eeeh - if Renée comes back you got lemon tart on your clothes and you're down here sorting through the Goodwill box looking for the least objectionable thing," Bella says. Since he does in fact have lemon tart on his clothes, this should be believable. "I'll go put stuff in the fridge, assuming Aspret didn't, like, poison any of it."
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
"I won't swear it's all my best work, but none of it's poisoned," he says. "You can trust it as much as you'd trust, well, anything baked by a frantic sleep-deprived alien who keeps having trauma flashbacks. You're probably gonna have to scoop me up and put me in the bowl after I morph; do you wanna do that now, or come back and do it after you put stuff in the fridge, or what?"
instar: (owl)
Author: instar
"I'll do it now. And you can narrate while I'm fussing around the kitchen."
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
"Sure."

He starts to morph.

The first thing to go is his skin, turning from warm brown to greenish-grey and slimy. Then his limbs slurp into his body and he collapses onto the floor, a Trouble-sized squirming grey tube trapped in his own shirt and pants, with a perfectly human head. His hair melts away, then his face; his head is now a blunt grey blob settled on an absence of neck. Two long feathery-looking tendrils unroll out of the approximate prior location of his mouth, followed by assorted other bulges in the sluglike body still half-hidden by his shirt.

Last of all, he shrinks down to a proper Yeerkly size.
instar: (spider)
Author: instar
Bella makes a face, but picks him up and puts him in the bowl with Aspret, then lingers a moment to make sure she doesn't eat him or anything.
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne


They appear to be snuggling.

<Being a Yeerk is really weird,> Trouble reports. <She's talking, and I can hear her, but I'm pretty sure she's figured out I have no idea what she's saying.>
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
Bella goes up the stairs and starts fridging things.
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
<It's kind of - thin, in here,> he says. <The stuff in the Yeerk pool is more like sludge. Feels weird swimming in plain water. Definitely not comfy, but I'm not sure if it's doing us actual harm.>
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
Fridging, fridging, she could morph Andi and reply by thoughtspeak but Renée might arrive any minute. So, for that matter, might Andi.
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
<I'm gonna see how well I can talk to her,> he adds, and goes quiet.
instar: (Default)
Author: instar
Bella puts everything away and cleans up the lemon tart crumbs and then goes back down the stairs when Renée still isn't in the driveway.
aeskhyne: (⑤ okay boys)
Author: aeskhyne
The two Yeerks in the bowl are swimming together in companionable little circles, the sides of their bodies touching.
pandion: (Default)
Author: pandion
Bella morphs Andi. <How goes?> she asks, just of Trouble.
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
<Kinda slow. I mean, I can talk to her, but I can't get anything complex back. So far we've determined that she doesn't want to starve, doesn't want to be bleached to death, doesn't ever want to hold me still for Reggie again, doesn't really want to go back to the rest of the Yeerks...>
pandion: (pearls)
Author: pandion
<Do you suppose we could trust her not to go back to the Yeerks if we went to the trouble of trapping her in some morph?>
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
<Probably. I mean, what would she go back for? So Visser Three can eat her? Especially if she wasn't even a Yeerk anymore, I bet he would.>
pandion: (checking)
Author: pandion
&ltWould she help us if we did that?>
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
<...I'm not sure,> he says. <And I don't want to ask her until I can talk to her better. Right now I bet she'd agree to a lot of things she'd end up regretting or bailing on later, if it meant she'd live through the week.>
pandion: (dark)
Author: pandion
<I'm... hesitant to suggest the obvious way to let her talk, but it exists.>
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
<What, pour her back in? Yeah,> says Trouble. <We could do that. As long as she knows you'd kill her if she tried to run, she won't try.>
pandion: (frown)
Author: pandion
<I believe I've more than adequately demonstrated my willingness.>
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
<I love you.>
pandion: (dark)
Author: pandion
<I'm just glad I didn't break your spine on a false alarm.>
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
He giggles over thought-speak.
pandion: (lock)
Author: pandion
<But let's save that for when the others are here.>
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
<Save what, putting her back in my brain? Sure, okay.>
pandion: (pearls)
Author: pandion
<You're... okay with this plan?>
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
<Yeah. I mean - it'd be different if I didn't feel sorry for her. But I do. She's scared as hell and she's had a really bad week.>
pandion: (do tell)
Author: pandion
<...Okay. Is the water still "not comfy, not actually hurting you"?>
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
<Yeah.>
pandion: (Default)
Author: pandion
<How about you wiggle distinctively or something and I'll take you out and you can demorph, and then I can put her away before Renée gets back? I can probably wrangle you an invitation to Olive Garden, then we call the other two and talk about how to deal with her.>
aeskhyne: (Default)
Author: aeskhyne
One of the Yeerks twists itself upside-down and undulates. <Wiggle wiggle.>
pandion: (Default)
Author: pandion
Bella scoops up Trouble and sets him down. As an afterthought, she -
instar: (rabbit)
Author: instar
- demorphs to acquire the real Yeerk, when it turns out to be necessary.
aeskhyne: (⑧ nightly in the attic)
Author: aeskhyne
Trouble demorphs. It's substantially less gross this time around.

He sits on the basement floor with his head in his hands.
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"You okay?"
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
"...Yeah," he says. "Mostly. Kind of."
instar: (owl)
Author: instar
Bella puts her hand on his shoulder, lightly. "Anything I can do?"
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
He leans into her hand a little.

"...A hug would be nice," he admits.
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
Bella hugs him.
aeskhyne: (⑧ nightly in the attic)
Author: aeskhyne
He hugs back.

"I love you," he murmurs.
instar: (dolphin)
Author: instar
"I'm glad."
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
He smiles and hugs her tighter for a moment.
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
Hug.

And then Bella lets go, puts the bowl away again, and heads up the stairs.
aeskhyne: (⑦ i'll make you see)
Author: aeskhyne
After a few minutes, Trouble gets dressed and follows her. His clothes are a bit the worse for their encounter with that lemon tart, but most of it just brushes off and what's left isn't egregiously noticeable.
instar: (rabbit)
Author: instar
"Do you want to come to Olive Garden or would it be easier to make good your escape if you went home briefly?"
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
"...I think maybe... no," he says. "It won't help anything if I go home and come back, but I don't really wanna go to Olive Garden either. I will if it's the best way to end up here again afterward, though."
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"You could wander off somewhere else and show up here again at like eight," Bella says. "If that works out better."
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
"Yeah. I'll do that."
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"Okay. Andi's probably already on her way home from Robin's; I'll call Robin anyway." Bella heads for the phone.
aeskhyne: (⑦ i'll make you see)
Author: aeskhyne


Trouble wanders off.
instar: (owl)
Author: instar
And Bella calls Robin.
hold_infinity: (① has the dawn)
Author: hold_infinity
"Hi, Bella!"
instar: (snake)
Author: instar
"Hello. First, before I explain what happened today, I want to say that there is no longer an emergency, everyone is fine."
hold_infinity: (⑩ we never learn)
Author: hold_infinity
"...Go on," says Robin.
instar: (doe)
Author: instar
"I'm not sure how much to say over the phone, but Trouble was temporarily... not fine. You should come over at around eight when me and Andi are back from the Olive Garden and Renée's at the movies, and bring Ethan."
hold_infinity: (⑬ the battlefield)
Author: hold_infinity
"Will do," says Robin.
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"Okay. See you then."

And when Renée and Andi are home, all three of them go and eat pasta and bring home the leftovers and investigate the presents Trouble left for dessert, and Renée goes to meet her friends at the movie theater, and Bella tells Andi what happened, and then it is eight.
hold_infinity: (⑪ a new cloud coming)
Author: hold_infinity
Robin and Ethan and Trouble arrive all together.
instar: (owl)
Author: instar
"So," says Bella briskly, when they are in and the door is closed and the curtains have been checked. "Trouble got Yeerked. I chased her out, she's in the basement in a bowl of water."
hold_infinity: (⑭ if they take us)
Author: hold_infinity
Robin shudders.

"What are we going to do about her?"
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"The humane option is put her in contact with the morphing cube and then a bird or something. The question is whether we can trust her if we do that. And right now, she can't talk."
hold_infinity: (⑪ a new cloud coming)
Author: hold_infinity
...Robin looks at Ethan.
palmofyourhand: (⑪ one more hole in space)
Author: palmofyourhand
Ethan looks at Trouble.
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
"Yep," says Trouble. "You guessed it."
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"Fortunately, in chasing her out I learned that it's doable, so if she makes a break for it or starts morphing or something, we chase her again, she dies, end of story."
aeskhyne: (③ smile on my face)
Author: aeskhyne
"Yeah, it's weird how having at least two people around who'd kill me if things went south can be so comforting."
pandion: (thought)
Author: pandion
Andi hugs Bella.
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"Well, I mean, the idea would be to get Aspret out of you first, but yes. Any comments before we go render the captive Yeerk suitable for interrogation? The three of us," Bella gestures at her sister and Trouble, "also acquired her, and you may as well do the same."
palmofyourhand: (⑩ even deserts burn)
Author: palmofyourhand
Ethan shrugs.
hold_infinity: (⑦ take a look around)
Author: hold_infinity
Robin shakes her head. "Sure. Let's go acquire the Yeerk."
instar: (owl)
Author: instar
Down to the basement. Bella presents the bowl.
hold_infinity: (⑮ had just arrived)
Author: hold_infinity
Robin tentatively pokes the Yeerk.
palmofyourhand: (⑨ it just don't mean a thing)
Author: palmofyourhand
So does Ethan, much less tentatively.
instar: (rabbit)
Author: instar
"Got her?" Bella asks.
palmofyourhand: (Default)
Author: palmofyourhand
Ethan nods.
hold_infinity: (⑥ wanna be my string)
Author: hold_infinity
"Yeah," sighs Robin, withdrawing her hand.
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"Okay. Me and Andi can morph Visser Three's host, probably a safer bet than having a hammer around."
pandion: (Default)
Author: pandion
Andi squirms, but starts morphing. She winds up blue and furry before any changes in her shape occur.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
Bella follows suit.
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
Trouble looks at Andi.

"...Having you be one of the guards actually lowers the threat level in the room," he says, "just so's you know."
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<How can I lower it? It's not like I'd stop Bella.>
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
"Yeah, I know. It doesn't completely make sense. Just... one big scary Andalite who looks a lot like Visser Three and would totally take my head off if I made a break for it is plenty intimidating, but when there's two of them and I read one as pretty much gonna hang back no matter what, it kind of, I don't know, dilutes the scary."
pandion: (brow)
Author: pandion
Andi shrugs and demorphs. She passes through "blue furry Andi" on her way again, except this time she keeps the pointy ear shape till the very end.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<Cool, you can do 'elf' as well as 'fairy'. Trouble, you about ready?>
aeskhyne: (⑧ nightly in the attic)
Author: aeskhyne
"Yeah. Tell Aspret what's up?" he says, dragging a folding chair over next to the bowl.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<Aspret, this is Bella. We're going to put you back in Trouble so you can talk. If you don't come out as soon as any of us tells you to, staying's going to be unpleasant, and if you start to morph or otherwise make sudden movements likewise. The possibility of a complete lack of unpleasantness exists but we need to determine if there's any way we can trust you.>
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
The Yeerk in the bowl wiggles. Trouble watches her for a few seconds.

Then he takes a deep breath and leans down to put his head over the bowl.

Aspret slithers into his ear. He sits up and closes his eyes.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
Bella folds her arms and lashes her tail slightly. It makes a whistly noise, if she angles the blade right.
aeskhyne: (⑫ stared at the fault line)
Author: aeskhyne
He shudders a little, hunching in his chair.

Then... Aspret opens his eyes.

She looks fearfully at Ethan, then even more fearfully at Bella. Trouble's hands twist together in his lap.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<I invite you to convince us that we wouldn't all be... entertaining mental guests... or dead or on the run if we found a way to keep you comfortably alive.>
aeskhyne: (⑨ nobody grows up)
Author: aeskhyne
"Are you kidding me?" says Aspret. "Trap me in morph! Please! I won't starve, I won't die, I won't ever have to see that Andalite-wearing sadist again!"
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<The fact that he's numbered suggests that there are other Yeerk authorities running around. Even if you don't have any reason to like Visser Three in particular, he's not the only person you could betray us to if we gave you freedom of movement and the ability to thoughtspeak.>
aeskhyne: (⑪ crazy news)
Author: aeskhyne
"He's in charge of this—of the invasion of Earth, I mean," says Aspret. "There's no Yeerk I could talk to about, about you guys, that wouldn't lead me back to him eventually." She shivers. "Which is the last place I ever want to be. There are regulations against wastefully killing subordinates, but nobody dares to remind him about them anymore. I've heard rumours—" She bites Trouble's lip, then shakes his head, shivering again. "Some people try to get close to him, soak up the glory, stay on his good side. Not me. I'm done."
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<We'd still be running a risk,> Bella says, shifting her weight, rippling her tail. <Even getting the morphing box and then putting it back is a risk, and we'd have to catch you some kind of animal, too. Would you work for us?>
aeskhyne: (⑭ i'll be made to breathe)
Author: aeskhyne
Aspret huddles in the chair, wrapping Trouble's arms tightly around his stomach.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
Bella waits.
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
"...Y...es..." she says tremblingly, and then shakes Trouble's head. "No! Not if I had to go anywhere near another Yeerk! Turn me into a, a bird, a migrating bird, I'll give you... everything I know that isn't something only I know, and I'll just fly away. Be a bird forever. I love birds..." She trails off with a sigh.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<Intel is a form of helping,> Bella says mildly. <I take it you don't have any friends you want to give the same deal?>
aeskhyne: (⑧ nightly in the attic)
Author: aeskhyne
She shakes Trouble's head again. "N-no."
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<Do you have anything else to say before you leave and we talk amongst ourselves?> asks Bella.

Swish, swish goes her tail.
aeskhyne: (⑫ stared at the fault line)
Author: aeskhyne
Trouble's eyes track that tail as though magnetically attracted.

"...I'm talking to Trouble," she says nervously, "can we have a minute...?"
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<Does anyone think she's lying?> Bella inquires of the room idly.
pandion: (Default)
Author: pandion
Andi shakes her head mutely.
palmofyourhand: (⑩ even deserts burn)
Author: palmofyourhand
"Doubt it," says Ethan.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<Go on.>
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
Aspret goes back to twisting Trouble's hands together in his lap. She continues watching Bella's tail.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
Swish. Swish.

(Bella kinda likes having a tail.)
aeskhyne: (⑭ i'll be made to breathe)
Author: aeskhyne
"Y-you're scaring me," mumbles Aspret.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
Bella's tail stills.
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
"Thank you," she says softly.

She huddles down a little smaller, and closes Trouble's eyes.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
Bella waits.
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
Aspret sits quietly. Her body language is completely uncharacteristic for Trouble; he tends to sprawl out into available space, whereas Aspret seems to think that if she scrunches in tight enough she can perhaps spontaneously disappear and escape the scary people.

This does not happen.

Eventually, she opens her borrowed eyes.

"Trouble says," she relates quietly, "that probably the best way to make sure no one suspects you is for him to either keep me, or pretend to, for a few more days. My next feeding is tomorrow. If I go at an unpopular hour, no one will bother me. And if he stays away from all of you for a while before he disappears, or at least makes sure not to leave evidence that you're in contact, then when they start looking for us, they won't start with you. But I don't think they'll look very hard. I was assigned to this apparently worthless host as a punishment." (She glances up at Bella, then looks away.)
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<The pretending idea - there's no risk he'll be asked questions intended for you or required to physically produce you outside of the pool area? They consider you that inconsequential?>
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
She nods. "In my previous host I was assigned to an important project, but I wasn't a critical member of the team. And I have no duties now."
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
Bella is inclined to make a face, but the morph covers it up pretty well. <And he thinks he can unobtrusively store you, or get to a place where you're unobtrusively stored, before you need to feed.>
aeskhyne: (⑭ i'll be made to breathe)
Author: aeskhyne
"Yes," says Aspret. "Or... or I could just - stay. But we're not sure if you'd be okay with that. And," she looks down at Trouble's hands clasped in his lap, "I don't want - I mean - I'm afraid of other Yeerks, now. I want to be around them as little as possible."
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<Hmmm,> says Bella to the general audience, and, privately only to Trouble-and-Aspret (she's not sure if it's even possible to target only one of them, right now) <Tuck his hair behind his ear if the idea is that you don't want to get anywhere near his stepfather but he's willing to go back for final helpings if it diffuses suspicion when he vanishes.>
aeskhyne: (⑧ nightly in the attic)
Author: aeskhyne
Aspret ducks Trouble's head and pushes his hair back on both sides, rendering it at least temporarily captive behind his ears.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
Bella's tail twitches, but she gets it under control again.

<If Reggie puts him in the hospital again there's no selling the 'you ran away in him' story,> she points out privately.
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
Aspret shivers, and bites Trouble's lip, and looks up nervously at Bella.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<Although I suppose they don't seem to intend to starve you and it would be harder to transport him if he were hospitalized. I don't like the idea of betting on it.>
pandion: (pearls)
Author: pandion
"Where would you unobtrusively store a Yeerk?" Andi asks. "I mean, the basement's super temporary, and Trouble should probably not be breaking into our house at night to get her. We have, like, Neighborhood Watch."
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
"I could just stay," Aspret murmurs. "I can - withdraw, and let my host control her own body and experience her own sensations. It... might be more comfortable than spending several days in a bowl."
pandion: (checking)
Author: pandion
"Whoa, you can do that?"
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<Interesting.>
aeskhyne: (⑧ nightly in the attic)
Author: aeskhyne
"It's not very common," says Aspret. "For obvious reasons. But it's not difficult."
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<Can you communicate with Trouble while doing that?> asks Bella. <If so, and if he confirms after you go out briefly to let us check, this sounds like the safest option secrecy-wise.>
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
She nods hesitantly.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<He'll be able to maintain cover if something unexpected happens, take immediate advantage of access to ducks, etcetera. But,> Bella says, <I don't think you should stay longer than it takes to make the disappearance look good. And Trouble, for hiding out, you'll probably want a morph that can get into and out of private places for demorphing, remorphing, and sleeping, with or without someone's help. Does anyone else have input before Aspret goes out again to let Trouble confirm everything she's said and I go fetch the box?>
palmofyourhand: (⑨ it just don't mean a thing)
Author: palmofyourhand
Ethan shrugs. "Not me."
hold_infinity: (Default)
Author: hold_infinity
Robin shakes her head.
pandion: (pearls)
Author: pandion
"So - Aspret leaves, Trouble tells us if she was making stuff up, you bring the box, Aspret touches it, we trust her not to - I don't know, acquire Trouble and make off in his likeness? - for the next few days and in that time he finds her a duck and she flies away and Trouble hides?"
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
Aspret nods.
pandion: (Default)
Author: pandion
"And somewhere in there she tells us stuff about Yeerks? To help get Dad's one out?"
aeskhyne: (⑧ nightly in the attic)
Author: aeskhyne
"I've already shared a lot of things with Trouble," she murmurs.
pandion: (pearls)
Author: pandion
"Yeah, I don't have input," shrugs Andi.
morphbox: (Default)
Author: morphbox
<All right. Out you get.>
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
Aspret leans Trouble's head down over the bowl and wriggles out into it.

Trouble's whole body relaxes. He rubs his ear, then trails his hand in the water for Aspret to touch.
instar: (doe)
Author: instar
Bella demorphs. "I'll be back in about fifteen minutes," she says, and she goes up the stairs.
pandion: (lock)
Author: pandion
"Why are you petting it? Her?" Andi asks Trouble.
aeskhyne: (⑭ i'll be made to breathe)
Author: aeskhyne
"She's... had a really shitty week," he says. "And being a Yeerk alone in a bowl is uncomfortable."
pandion: (pearls)
Author: pandion
"Oh. Well, soon she'll be a duck, I guess."
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
"Yeah."

He sighs and pets the slug.
palmofyourhand: (⑩ even deserts burn)
Author: palmofyourhand
"If this were anyone else I'd be muttering about Stockholm," says Ethan, "but you, no, I genuinely believe you've made friends with your brain parasite. Congratulations."
pandion: (brow)
Author: pandion
"Stockholm? Isn't that a city?"
palmofyourhand: (⑧ keeps the human soul)
Author: palmofyourhand
"Stockholm Syndrome. No?"
pandion: (pearls)
Author: pandion
"Sounds vaguely familiar but I don't know what it is."
palmofyourhand: (⑨ it just don't mean a thing)
Author: palmofyourhand
"It's when kidnapped people and hostages and so forth become unnaturally sympathetic with their captors."
pandion: (skepticism)
Author: pandion
"That's weird. I hope Dad doesn't have that."
palmofyourhand: (⑩ even deserts burn)
Author: palmofyourhand
"I don't think it's universal."
pandion: (Default)
Author: pandion
Andi watches Trouble pet the Yeerk, thoughtful.
instar: (rabbit)
Author: instar
Eventually Bella appears, and takes the blue box out of her backpack, where it has been wrapped in a towel with a pair of swim goggles inside a plastic bag. "Last-minute objections, comments?" she inquires of the group.
palmofyourhand: (⑤ from our victory)
Author: palmofyourhand
"None whatsoever," says Ethan.
instar: (spider)
Author: instar
Bella puts the box in the bowl.
aeskhyne: (⑤ okay boys)
Author: aeskhyne
Recalling Elfangor, Trouble touches the top of the box. Aspret swims up to the side and flattens herself against it.

"I think it worked," says Trouble. He picks up the box and hands it back to Bella.
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
Bella wraps it up again and takes it away.
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
Trouble pets Aspret some more. Then he leans down to let her slurp back into his ear.
instar: (owl)
Author: instar
Bella is back after about the same duration of time. She notes the empty bowl, then picks it up and carries it up the stairs to dump out and wash.
aeskhyne: (⑧ nightly in the attic)
Author: aeskhyne
Trouble... sits. Quietly. It's no longer completely obvious who's in control; he doesn't look excessively nervous, but neither is he as relaxed as usual.
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"Any other Animorphs business for tonight?"
aeskhyne: (⑥ don't know what I want)
Author: aeskhyne
"Don't think so," says Trouble. Definitely in his own voice; Aspret uses it differently.
instar: (snake)
Author: instar
"Okay. I suppose we can disperse, then."
aeskhyne: (⑩ i'll just play along)
Author: aeskhyne
He looks at Bella. Then he looks away.

"See ya," he says.
instar: (shark)
Author: instar
"Bye."
aeskhyne: (⑦ i'll make you see)
Author: aeskhyne
Trouble clears out.
hold_infinity: (Default)
Author: hold_infinity
So do Ethan and Robin.