"Rock, paper, scissors. Rock looks like this, paper…Ax, are you listening to me?"

            Erek the Chee and I were inside a stall in Cassie's barn. He was attempting to teach me a human game.

            Unsuccessfully, I might add.

            I was thinking about my human friends. Friends who were attempting an impossible mission. A very pointless mission. They were trying to save a filthy Yeerk. A filthy Yeerk who knew everything about us. I do not wish to "point the finger", as humans say, but it is Cassie's fault that the Yeerk knows anything about us.

            "Ax?"

            I turned all four of my eyes to face the android in front of me. Yes?

            "Are you feeling okay? Let me check your temperature."

            Okay.

            He used the thermometer in my ear and looked at the small digital readout. "You're not near your crisis point," he said, then added, "yet."

            Ah. Might there be something we could do to pass the time until Marco, Prince Jake, Rachel, Tobias, and Cassie return?

            "We could play 'rock, paper, scissors'."

            That was not at all what I intended. No. Not a game. Maybe we could talk.

            He turned and laid against the wall of the stall, just like a normal restless human would do. "Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

            Human coupling.

            He raised his hand. "No, Ax. Let's not talk about that. I'm no expert." He fell silent, embarrassed. I recognized the emotion because it was what I was feeling myself.

            Maybe I should have phrased that differently.

            "You think?"

            That was sarcasm, was it not? I am learning to recognize sarcasm.

            "Yes, Ax, that was sarcasm. Now what do you really want to talk about?"

            I have been thinking lately about my human friends. Four of them seem to be paired off. But one does not. And neither am I.

            "You and Marco."

            Yes. And it seems to me as if he and I are meant to be together. It seems as if some unknown force—or the Ellimist, perhaps—intended for Marco, Prince Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Tobias and myself to be together. But Prince Jake and Cassie have paired off, as have Rachel and Tobias. Marco and I have not.

            Erek smiled. "And you're wondering if you and Marco are meant to be together."

            Yes. He and I exchange banter all of the time, and I enjoy annoying him sometimes. I know that minutes are all the same on Earth. I know they're everybody's minutes. I enjoy hearing him jokingly reprimand me.

            "Ax, are you sure you are sane at the moment? You're talking about liking Marco."

            I believe I am as sane as possible at the present moment.

            "Ah. Okay, then please continue. I'd like to hear where this is going."

            Lately, I have been feeling…are you planning on mentioning this to my human friends?

            I worried that he would say yes. I did not wish for them to know of this.

            "Of course not. Unless you're not sane right now; then I'd have to tell them."

            I understand.

            "So? What have you been feeling lately?" he prompted.

            That Marco and I are more than just allies. More than even friends. I turned all of my eyes downward, embarrassed. I was "spilling my guts", as Marco would say, to Erek.

            "Hence the order that you name them in," Erek said, attempting to finish my unfinished thought.

            My eyes snapped upward again. What do you mean?

            "Typically, one would name their leader first. You don't. Do you know who you name first?"

            I thought about it for a moment. I name off Marco first. That is strange, for Prince Jake is my prince.

            He must have noticed my embarrassment, because he said, "Would you like to learn how to play 'rock, paper, scissors'?"

            Yes. Thank you for listening to me.

            "No problem."

~Marco's POV~

            I decided to take a quick peek at Ax and found Erek leaning against one of the walls of the stall. Ax was standing in a corner, obviously talking with somebody that he and only he could see. I felt sorry for the guy. A billion miles from home, and nobody but Erek to talk to.

            "So, did you guys do anything interesting while we were risking our lives?" I asked Erek.

            He grinned. "A little. We had a very interesting conversation."

            "Did it involve yours truly?"

            He nodded. "Definitely."

            I plopped down next to him. "Really? Well I have all the time in the world to hear about it. Or at least until our next insane risking-our-lives mission, which should be coming up any minute now. What did the Ax-man say?"

            He glanced at Ax, then at me. Then a wide grin spread across his face. "Nothing."

            "Nothing?" I almost wanted to slap that robot. He must have had something good, or he'd have said it. "Okay Erek, spill it."

            "He was just mentioning the couples we have in the group."

            "Oh, those? Our fearless leader and Nature Girl? Bird-boy and Xena? Me and Ax…oops."

            He laughed loudly, and his holographic face started turning red.

            "What's so funny?"

            "Nothing. Nothing at all."

A/N: Okay, sue me. I can't write Marco well. Or Erek. Well, let me know how I did. Should I continue writing slash, or should I just stick to canon? All types of reviews are accepted, and I'd truly appreciate your leaving some constructive criticism if you don't like it. I want to improve; that's what the reviews are for! Thanks for reading!