[open] lately i'm feeling like a big bang

[brightline]

WHO: Marco; Ax + OPEN
WHERE: Various
WHEN: immediately following orientation
WHAT: Marco is getting his bearings on the ship and trying to figure out some strategy. Which includes making friends. Hopefully.
WARNINGS: Will be noted in subject lines if applicable.



[i. shopping center]

[It's so Rachel, heading straight to the shopping center after getting out of orientation, but he's trying not to think about that too much. Orientation. It still seems completely insane, abruptly waking up in a creepy glass tube on a spaceship the size of...well, it's huge. And being told that he's here because it's a side effect of the engines. Seriously. Why keep using the engines if this is the side effect?

So it's time to go in search of three very important things when a guy needs to get his mind off things - a food court, a movie theatre, and an arcade. Marco can be found at any of these three places for the first half-day of his stay on the Eluvio, somehow managing to ignore reality, vent his frustration, and gather intel all at the same time.]

[ii. black market]

[It actually takes Marco about five minutes to realize he's in an actual black market, because aren't they supposed to be way harder than this to find? Like, door in a secluded back alley with a suspicious slit in the door where you have to do a coded knock then speak a password?

It's actually the organs that clue him in - nasty lumps of flesh and blood in little jars or futuristic energy fields, and only some of them human. That's when he realizes that going down the little hallway with the red triangle while scoping around looking for the hangar was probably not the greatest idea ever.

Or maybe the opposite.]

Whoa, holy crap, is this like, a holographic projector or something?

[And he's leaning excitedly over the edge of the table, probably about to get swindled pretty bad.]

[iii. hangar bay]

[Finally, he ends up in the hangar bay, wanders around for a bit before stooping to asking for directions, and eventually ends up in one of the bays intended for cargo ships and the like. And there she is. The Rachel.

A viciously beautiful ship shaped like a swept-forward crescent moon, dangerous and quick. And, as far as he can tell, his. It might not be nine million dollars, but it's definitely something.

Speaking to no one in particular, he waves a hand toward it across the bay.]

Is that not the nicest looking ship ever?

Comments

[brightline]

[For a moment, Marco is completely still, eyes slightly narrowed, watching Ax's reaction. And he sees it, all those nuances he's come to learn from spending so much time with the Andalite - the shifting of body language in Ax's deer-like lower body, the hunch of his torso, the combination of natural Andalite body language and acquired human body language that makes up Ax.]

Yeah, I saw you. You think I ditched my great job, two houses, multiple cars, and millions of dollars on some stupid wild goose chase out into the middle of nowhere on a hunch? My man, I am not that much of a power of friendship kind of guy. Seriously.

[Deep down, Marco knows it's not really true. That Ax is probably dead, absorbed into whatever The One is, that he's probably gone forever, that all of it was a waste. Knows that he and Jake and Tobias and all the rest are about to be dead. That yeah, he is that much of a power of friendship type guy, that he never could've left Ax alone and captured by the Blade Ship by himself without trying to help. Without trying to find him.

But like hell he's going to just say that.]

Man, I do not do lost causes.

[It's not true, and they both know it.]

[canadese]

[They do both know it. Ax's shoulders slump, another bit of body language that he picked up from humans. This... whatever it is... whatever happened, it's not something that he can fight against. It's too much information at once, at a time and place where there's not anything he can do about it. He's not even sure he really believes it.

It's not a feeling he likes. He doesn't know where he is now, he doesn't know where he is back home--he takes a step back unconsciously before he realizes what he's doing, and squares himself up. Putting up a seamless front is something they're both good at.]

<Thank you for telling me, Marco. I would like to take some time to process this on my own.>

[brightline]

[It happens without Marco thinking about it - he reaches out and squeezes Ax's narrow shoulder, his hand strong. It's all the comfort he can offer, because he's feeling that weird disconnected blank feeling he gets sometimes when everything is too much. Like after Rachel died. Like after any of the times he wasn't sure if his mom lived or if she'd died and it had been his fault.

But then Ax is stepping back and asking for space, and Marco gets it. He really does. He probably needs space too, except his ears are ringing and he's kind of staring with this stupid half-smile on his face, expression frozen. It's really hitting him, now, the profound screwed-upness of this situation. Seeing it in Ax, who always seems so composed, so graceful, really drives it home.

Marco lets out a shuddery breath.]

Okay, Ax-man.

[It's cautious, a little hesitant, because whether or not Marco gets it, it sets off alarm bells to be alone in this place and have Ax not hanging out close by so they can watch each others' backs.]

Keep in touch, though, okay? I don't want to lose track of you again.

[canadese]

<Of course. I find I prefer the atrium to my assigned quarters. It will be easy to find me there.>

[It's probably not necessary, but with the tension in the air he can't stop himself from adding:]

<It will be like when I was in the forest by Cassie's barn.>

[brightline]

[Marco's hand drops, but he refuses to let his eyes drop, just keeps looking at Ax as he nods a bit.]

Sure thing, Ax-man.

[And then, Marco licks his lips, waves his hands, offers a smirk, and heads off toward the Rachel, waving over his shoulder as he goes. All he really wants is to lose himself in a video game for a while.]