Why so alone? (Tag Anya)

[ax]

Ax walked around by himself, only he was in his human morph not in his real one. Luckily he only just changed behind a building where no one could see him or it would be hard to explain for sure. Ax wondered where were the other ones as they did say they would be back but they didn't. Which was why he walked out. Well it was one reason anyway. The other reason was that Ax was bored being by himself. As he shock his head from his thoughts he just looked up at the flying birds as he tried to spot Tobias but couldn't so he just thoughts. "Birrrrdssssss" Ax aid as he again as usually played with his human month and voice. He found it to be rather exciting. Yes he was still new to it but then again he wasn't there for long that was for sure. Ax stopped as he saw someone not to far and just watched the person.

[Anya]

Anya Jenkins, vengeance demon and borderline-capitalist, was a very happy camper today. Sure, the city was infested with zombies(although actually, their number seemed to be decreasing--Anya liked to think it was her scatter-brained patrolling that had done the trick, thank-you-very-much). Sure, random acts of violence were starting to seem not-so-random anymore. And sure, people in general were just kind of annoying. But today, the blonde was letting none of these things bother her. Why? There was a very simple explanation, actually. Today, Anya had rediscovered her reason for living. The thing she loved above all other things in the mortal realm:

Money.

Honestly, she didn't know how she'd gone without making any for so long! Certainly, she'd considered charging random citizens for her zombie-slaying services. But for some reason whenever the subject came up, all kinds of accusations started being thrown around. Anya had been called many things in her long lifetime, but never before had she been accused of trying to mug someone. But it didn't matter now, because this morning...she had finally gotten a job!

The business that had been so adventurous as to give her a shot was a large department store in one of the busier districts of New York. Surrounding Anya with that many people probably wasn't the smartest idea in the world, but it seemed her financial smarts and affinity for driving a hard bargain had won the manager over. The result: several rattled customers, a handful of irritated co-workers, and one extremely ecstatic vengeance demon.

After finishing up her shift, counting up the earnings for the day, and doing her long-neglected Capitalist Dance of Superiority, Anya was heading home. She practically skipped down the sidewalk, vaguely aware that it was probably a better idea to teleport(or at least call a cab, or something) but it seemed a shame to waste all of her accumlated excitement and energy!

Her frolicking was obstructed, however, upon coming across an unfamiliar young man who was very much in her way. Initially unperturbed, she made a clumsy attempt to dodge around him--and then stopped as he opened his mouth and spoke.

"Birrrrdssssss"

The words sounded slightly distorted, as if he were struggling to form them. Anya stopped in her tracks and stared at him, bewildered. What had he just called her? The demon scowled, preparing herself to be considerably offended if need be. Oh wait...he was staring...at the birds...in the sky? She followed his gaze upward, blinked once, and then lowered her gaze to fix the stranger with a very serious frown. He seemed harmless--he didn't look more than eighteen years old, actually, but this would not deter the vengeance demon from giving him a good stern talking-to.

"Hey kid. Don't stare at the sky. People might think you're weird or something." Anya told him somberly. As if she were in any position to be calling someone else weird.

[ax]

He looked at her confused as he wondered he wondered if she was a controller or not. Yet what she said made him think that maybe she wasn't. Ax, however tried his best to be very careful either way. After all he couldn't be too sure or too careful. Especially wit yeerks around and other thing. However as of right now he didn't feel any danger which was good even if he wasn't sure about who she was or what she was. Ax did wanted to know but for now all he wanted was to relax and breath a fresh air so that what he did. Yet so he won't look o suspicious or dangerous he walked out in his human morph. After all it was smarter and easier that way, especially when he was around humans and not his own kind. He missed his race the Andilates but currently he couldn't go home, not to mention earth needed protection so it was another reason he had to. Not to mention he had no way home even if he wanted to, which part of him did while other part of him wasn't sure if anything.

He shock his head from that thoughts as he watched her and listened to her then sighed. "Sssstttareeeeeeeeeee, wwwwweirdddd" he said playing with the words that she used. Ax wasn't to sure what she was on about but he enjoyed playing with words and didn't plan on stopping any time soon. "KKKKKKKidddddddddddddd" he continued playing with words. A was still getting used to the idea of having month. "Yoou aaaa....areeeeeeee wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeirrrrrrddddddddddddddddd" he said to he kept playing with the words then he laughed as he enjoyed the sound the words made. Ax looked around then back at her as he wathed her closely.

It was all rather new to him, even if he was on earth for a little while now he was still not used to talking as a human or walking. Anyone who watched him walk even now would be able to hat here and there he was still struggling with walking. Even if not as much s his people would be if they were now here but they weren't here, he was. Ax still liked his andalite form more then his human form for many reasons.

(sorry short)

[Anya]

There was a certain human expression, a look that the demon was quite familiar with, that more or less communicated the sole thought: "Are you INSANE?!" Anya had been on the receiving end of many such looks countless times, but rarely had she found an opportunity to actually direct it at someone. Now, however, was one such occasion. As the boy before her stumbled over his long, drawn-out phrases, the blonde stared at him blankly. Then, gradually, her expression changed from one of vapid confusion to one of complete bewilderment. Anya raised an eyebrow, scrunched her nose slightly, and gaped at the stranger as if she feared for his sanity.

"I think he's broken." the vengeance demon announced to no one in particular, glancing around at several of the passersby who possibly might have overheard the boy's bizarre musings. Of course, her broadly directed statement only served to earn her a couple of those 'get-away-from-me-you-freak!' stares. How frustratingly typical. Heaving a dramatic sigh, Anya returned her attention to her new 'pal'...who seemed to be watching her rather intently. The vengeance demon squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze, her eyes darting around as if she were searching for a potential escape route.

"Just what this city needs! Another lunatic to adorn its lovely streets!" she muttered under her breath. It was possible that now would be a good time to walk away...slowly. And yet, something kept her rooted to the spot. She wasn't sure if it was sheer curiosity, or just a downright case of a guilty conscious. After all, what would happen if she just walked away and left him there? What if this guy had escaped from some kind of...asylum or something? He could end up hurting someone--or himself, for that matter. And as much as Anya tried not to care, the fact of the matter was: the eleven-hundred-year-old, previously mass-murdering vengeance demon had turned into a complete softy. Tsk.

She crossed her arms as she examined the stranger, frowning thoughtfully. Clearly, this strange young man was...different. Although how, she wasn't exactly sure. Whatever his deal was, Anya sensed that this was a matter that should be handled both delicately and tactfully, a situation that required every ounce of sensitivity that she could offer. The demon took a deep breath, and gave him one of her most compassionate and understanding smiles.

"HELLO...CRAZY...PERSON." she practically shouted, speaking very slowly and clearly as if she were talking to someone who was either very slow, very foreign, or very...deaf. "I...am...going..to...help...you," Anya pointed meaningfully at the boy, "Get...back...home." Her next pantomime involved holding out her left hand, and using the index and middle finger of her right hand to 'walk' across her left palm. "Tell..me...where...you...come from!"

There. That ought to do it. The demon grinned haughtily, quite proud of what she considered to be a successful attempt to communicate.

[ax]

Ax looked at her and sighed, he squinted his eyes as he listened to her then sighed and pointed to the sky. "HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeee" he said simply as he then sighed. It might seemed weird but it was how he was. Ax could tell by every passing minute that she wasn't a controller so he spoke freely. "I llllliiivvvveeee tttthhhhere" Ax added as he looked at her for a reaction. He doubted that she believed him but still. "He is our cousin from Canada" Jack said as he and the others came from behind Anya. "We are sorry for his behavior. He is from our mom's side and he is weird" Jake added as Ax looked at them and smiled. Glad that they came back for him finally. Ax then picked up a cigarette as he was going to eat it but Rachel knocked it out of his hands. "No, we told you We don't eat that" Rachel said. "Canadians are nuts" Marco said. The others looked at him like he was insane but three nodded in agreement.

"We are here alone on vacation" Jake said as the others nodded in agreement. "We live very far from here" he added as the others nodded in agreement again. They all exchanged looks then they looked back at Ax and after that at Anya once more. "She iiiisss vvvveeerrrrryyyyyyyyyy nice" Ax said as the others laughed embarrassed by him. "It looks like he likes you" Marco said as the others nodded. "You are a babe so no wonder" Marco added as the others hit him then shock their heads at that. "Excuse him, he lost his brain back home" Rachel said.

Ax just looked between them all and sighed as he wasn't sure what to say or think. "We are going to eat pizza, care to join us?" Cassie asked with a smile. They all waited for Anya to answer as she seemed really nice and she didn't look like a controller to none of them which was a good sign as far as they all were concerned. "EEEEEEEEaaaaattttttttttttttt PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" Ax said as they all laughed at that they looked at Anya and shrugged. Then they all shock their heads and looked at Ax then back at Anya as they waited for her to reply. They didn't mind if Anya joined them or not as long as she wasn't a controller. They looked around then between Ax and Anya. They had a feeling that some people there were controllers but definitely not all. Yet it was hard to know for sure who was a controller and who wasn't. The good news were that not all the people around were controllers so it was a plus but the bad news were that some people were in fact controllers so.

Tobias flew around them but not to close so he won't get to much attention on them because it would be bad if controllers got them. Not that they were going to let that happen but still. They knew that they had to be careful and that was what they were trying to do exactly. Not that it was very easy but they definitely tried the best they could no matter what. They sighed and shock their heads from the thoughts they had they they all looked at her, even Ax who played around with his new shirt. Cassie and Rachel tried to stop him from doing that but it wasn't easy at all that was for sure. "He never shopped for clothes in America before now days." Rachel explained. Jake and the others nodded in agreement to that. "As my cousin Rachel said" Jake said. Ax almost said prince Jake to Jake but Rachel and the others stopped him before he did that.

"His parents are in Italy on vacation so they send him to hang out with us for now" Jake said as Rachel and the other nodded in agreement. They exchanged looks they looked back at Anya as Ax just looked around then back at them. He then looked up again. "Birrrrdssssss" Ax said again as they all shocked their heads at that. He was excited as he looked around after he took one last look at the birds again. Ax was still rather new to everything he saw. In his planet they had birds too but different birds then the ones that existed on earth. None of the others knew how to exactly explain Ax's behavior without her thinking that he was more crazier then she thought before. They had no doubt that she already saw him as crazy, mental and weird. It looked that way to them not that they were surprised or anything.

"We are just showing him around New York" Cassie said as the others nodded in agreement. "Yes we do, he likes looking at new things and talk funny" Rachel said as the others nodded in agreement to that too. "He is harmless. He wasn't going to eat that cigarette's butt anyway. He was only fooling around" she added as the others again nodded in agreement. "Just as Xena warrior princess just said" Marco said and right away got a punch from Rachel as they all shocked their heads to that and sighed. Ax just looked around and smiled at them all. He was used to Rachel's and Marco's bickering already even if it looked rather interesting to him.

[Anya]

Her gaze rose briefly to the sky, and then back down to the boy. Anya tilted her head quizzically as she wondered exactly what this guy's deal was. He lived in the sky? What sort of nonsense was that? It reminded her of one of those crazy human movies--the one that always used to make Xander cry--about the boy and the big-headed alien with the glowing finger who'd wanted to "phone home", or whatever. Except Anya didn't happen to have a flying bicycle on her, and she was pretty sure that this guy was just plain ol' crazy anyway.

She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by the arrival of...several more teenagers. The vengeance demon spun around to face them, slightly rattled by being approached by so many people at once. What was this, some kind of group home outing? The rest of the little gang consisted of two boys besides the one she'd just met, and two girls. Anya's wide brown eyes darted from face to face, suspicion etching her features. Were they going to try to sell her...drugs, or whatever it was that groups of human teenagers did these days? After all, the Canadian boy had just tried to eat a cigarette. Maybe that was what all the kids were doing these days.

"Your cousin..." the blonde repeated, her eyes narrowed slightly. "from...Canada?" Ugh, she should have known! Those damn Canadians had given her more trouble than they were worth in all her years as a vengeance demon. The whole lot of them didn't have a vindictive bone in their bodies, which had made granting their wishes frustratingly anticlimactic. Anya was...past all that, of course, but she still didn't trust any of 'em!

At least none of them had yet made any attempts to sell her illegal substances, though. That was something. Still, something about their story...didn't quite check out. Something was off. And yet she couldn't sense any sort of supernatural presence, or magic, or...anything. Warily, the demon leaned in a bit to take a closer look at the still-unnamed Canadian boy. He didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. None of them did, actually. As far as Anya could tell, this was just another group of your average American teenagers(who were possibly insane, granted), and...was it really a good idea for her to go out...with a whole group of humans...in public? So many things could go wrong in a situation like this, yet Anya's ever-inquisitive instincts were demanding that she investigate further. There was something very strange here--at least where the one Canadian boy was concerned--and after all...wasn't it her duty as a "good guy" to get to the bottom of it? She could be all...sneaky, and investigative-like!

Plus, Anya was never one to turn down pizza. So, although her suspicions were still on high-alert, she shrugged. "Well, I do have all this recently accumulated money just begging to be spent. And pizza's a worthy investment, no doubt about that..." Her expression brightened as a sudden thought struck her, and she turned to the first boy she'd met with newfound excitement. "Oooh! You'll have to tell me all about Canadian currency. I wonder what the exchange rate's like these days?" the demon mused aloud, a silly grin spreading over her face as she imagined the possibilities.

Wait--no. She was supposed to be being careful about this. She didn't even know who these kids were, after all. "Um. But before I go anywhere with you, you should probably tell me who you are. Just so I know I'm not walking off with a group of wanted bank robbers or something... " Anya told them bluntly.

[ax]

Ax looked at Anya as he was curious about just as she was curious about him, if not more then her. He said nothing but just watched her after he looked up again and after that back at her. Ax sighed as he wondered about who she was and what she was. In one way she was human but on the other hand she didn’t look much human to him. Ax wasn’t sure what to think about her but she seemed rather interesting to him no matter what. He was sure that she found him interesting too, not that it would surprise him one way or another since most people found him interesting even if not all. Then again Ax wasn’t exactly human but an alien so everything he did or said would definitely seem strange and crazy for humans but it was fine so. After all what humans did and said were rather strange and weird to him too so it was just fine.

Ax noticed that she was about to say something as ‘Prince’ Jake and the others came. He wondered what she was going to say but he had a strange feeling that his friends saved him from something. Ax just sighed and looked around then at his friends and after that back at her. He watched everything that was happening as he smiled slightly unsure of what else should he do. It looked like the woman that spoke to him was confused that there were so many people there. At least it seemed that way to him and he hoped that she was alright. Ax had no idea what was happening but he found it rather interesting so. Things happened so fast that Jake and the others were not sure how to react. Ax almost ate a cigarette but then again in human morph he was still like a child because anything to do with humans was pretty much still new to him no matter what. He was still learning how to act like human which was rather hard for him to do. It was no doubt that sooner or later he would learn. Since he was taught by good teachers or so he thought anyways.

“Yes our cousin, an autistic cousin. One of our parents is siblings of the other parent and of his parent too” Jake said as Rachel nodded in agreement. “That is true” Rachel said as she nodded her head in agreement. They all watched the look on her face as did Ax who didn’t understand much of what was happening, if he understood anything at all since it was new to him still after all. “Yes he is from Canada” Jake said. “As we said his parents are on vacation so they send him to us pretty much” Rachel said as this time Jake nodded in agreement. “That’s true” Jake said simply as he definitely agreed with his cousin Rachel. They all kept watching her as they waited for her to respond as they wondered what would she say to them. If she would say anything at all.

None of Ax’s friends were going to sell Anya anything illegal as it wasn’t like them. Which they hoped that she understood it. Even so he had no idea what was happening, which was why all he did was smile. “You don’t have to go eat with us if you rather not” Jake said as the others agreed. That happened after they offered her to join them of course. Partly they hoped she would agree as she seemed nice but partly they hoped not since they knew nothing about her and for all they knew she could have been a new controller or something like that. Ax had no idea what to expect as he watched them all with the same look as he had on before. After all he was trying to learn to be more human and all. Ax currently wasn’t speaking but instead he just listened to them speak and that was it. Not to mention he had no idea what to say or do. As Anya took a closer look at him he took a closer look at her copying her. The others just after all they didn’t want to seem crazy nor mean or anything like that as that clearly wasn’t like them at all. Ax had a lot to learn about humans and he knew that as he was willing to learn everything there was to learn bout humans no matter how long it took or how hard it was. After all he was very stubborn even in his human morph or his Andalite form. Ax was planning to learn anything they teach him and it was very easy to see that. Since he wasn’t trying to hide that after all so if a person paid close attention they would notice. That is if they knew the truth about him of course. Which of course not many did.

They all watched her shrug as did Ax. Also he copied her as Rachel and Cassie tried to stop him. Just as they tried to stop him before from looking closely at Anya as she looked closely at him. As well as like Rachel tried to stop him from eating a cigarette butt. “Yeah definitely worth it. Besides in this time of day it’s better pizza since regular food we all can eat much later after ll, right?” Cassie said as the others agreed. Even Ax who sounded like. “riiiiighhhhhhtttt”. The others just laughed at that and nothing more as they shrugged at that to Anya and made a face at that. Which Ax copied as the others laughed at. Jack and the others tried to sign Ax not to do that but he just looked at them and then nodded as they laughed at that slightly too. Even so again they tried to hide that. They all watched her as Anya turned to Ax and said what she did as Ax just looked at her confused as the others were not sure what to say that. “Currenccccyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy” he said as he enjoyed the sound the world made. “Telllll” Ax said enjoyed the sound this word made too as the others laughed but tried to hide that. “He doesn’t check financial stuff. As he doesn’t learn in regular school. He learns in special school but right now we are on break. He is in special high school and they don’t learn how to check finance things” Rachel said as Jack and the others nodded in agreement.

“Well we are not bad kids. We don‘t kill or hurt but we know off evil people. I am Jake, the other guy is Marco and the one you just met is Alex and the girls are Cassie and Rachel. Rachel is my cousin too like Alex” Jake said as the others nodded in agreement including Ax. They said In a slight whisper but not to much whisper as they didn’t want the human controllers to hear them. The more they spend with Anya the more they realized that she wasn’t a controller at all. “We can tell you more later but not here” Rachel said seriously as they hoped to keep an eye on Anya just in case but they felt somehow that they could actually trust her which was a good thing. As long as she was really good person that is.

[Anya]

To say the very least, Anya was no expert at deciphering human emotions...especially when they tended to be so annoyingly cryptic! In comparison, her own expressions while in her human form were blatant and obvious; most of the time one would have no problem reading the vengeance demon like an open book. But even Anya, as oblivious as she could sometimes be, picked up the intimation that something about these kids wasn't what it seemed. For one thing, their story about this Alex kid just...didn't check out. They seemed a little too eager to push all the details on someone they'd only just met, as if they were trying to set a certain impression on her mind before she could wonder otherwise. And Alex didn't seem autistic, exactly, from what she could tell. The way he mimicked both his friends and herself reminded suggested a foreign fascination, a child-like eagerness to learn...like a toddler, watching its mother as it learned how to walk for the first time.

It was a shame that he didn't seem qualified to fill her in on the Canadian economy, though. But it didn't matter; as of now Anya was much more interested in deciphering the little puzzle that this gang seemed to be setting up. Now the only thing to decide was...should she call them out on behalf of her suspicions now, of find a more appropriate time and place? After all, she didn't want to scare them off! Well, not until she got some real answers, anyway.

She contemplated this quietly until the rest of the group was introduced. Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel. Right. She'd try to remember that. Anyway, those didn't sound like bank robber names, but one could never be too certain. Giving each of them an acknowledging glance, Anya offered a faint smile...although the look in her eyes still suggested bemusement at meeting so many people at once. At any rate, the vengeance demon at least seemed satisfied with their introductions. Until she realized they were all looking at her expectantly, that is. Oh. Right. Now would probably be a good time to introduce herself in turn. And also possibly include a few bonus fun facts, for kicks. After all, this group had already told her so much about them(or so it seemed)...would she be expected to do the same? Might as well give it a shot.

"I'm Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins, from Indiana, born on the Fourth of July—and don't think there weren't jokes about that my whole life—" she paused to consider the effect her little introductory speech would have. One of these days, she was really gonna have to come up with a better cover story...one that was more inconspicuous and less...random. The demon was starting to realize that the more she tried to blend into this world, the more she stuck out like a sore thumb. Perhaps it really was better to just...chill out(a favorite human expression of hers), and let people assume whatever the hell they wanted. Granted, a more truthful introduction such as: "Hi. I'm Anya, I'm eleven hundred years old, and formerly known as Anyanka: the Patron Saint of Scorned Lovers (!). For further info, check the nearest demonology book!" ... might not go over so well. But a simple: "I'm Anya, nice to meet you!" wouldn't have been such a bad start.

Ah well, too late for that now. And anyway, it looked like she should probably start paying attention to the conversation at hand again. After all, they were whispering now! Must be something important. She leaned forward slightly, just in time to hear Jake's promise to "tell her more". But...not here? Well, that was something at least! Maybe it wouldn't be as difficult to work out their little secret as she'd initially thought. Anya clasped her hands together in a gesture of enthusiasm, and grinned widely. "Well in that case, I'm all for running off with a bunch of teenagers I've only just met! Let's go get that pizza!" the demon chirped excitedly.

[ax]

All of them looked at Anya then at Ax as they considered what to do or say next. Ax just looked at them all not saying a word, for now. He was just listening as the others spoke not sure what could he say not to seem to suspicious, besides he had no idea what to say to her nor in general. Ax was in human morph so it was rather hard for him to talk and act as them as it was for him act as himself in his Andalite form. After all then he was himself and being that he lived all his life until now as an Andalite on an Andalite planet that all he knew. Which definitely explained why Ax acted like a toddler that was trying to learn when he was in human morph. Of course they were not going to tell Anya that, this was for sure as they couldn't, not yet anyway. Not until they knew that they could truly trust her and know that she trusted them all as well or it wasn’t even worth it at all. Ax had no idea what to think of her or what to do to make himself less suspicious because he was still rather new and all.

They all hoped that she didn't suspect them as they couldn't effort that, not now nor ever. Ax just looked at them all lost in thoughts as he wondered what were they all thinking about, that including Anya too of course. He wondered if she suspected or not but hoped not as it would be bad if she did. Also with her they couldn’t be sure of anything which was why they were very careful and tried to act less suspicious, even so for Ax it wasn’t easy but he tried too anyway. After all he had no other choice and he knew that very well.

They all watched her closely as they introduced themselves to her, as Ax just watched and listened but said nothing to any of them as all he did was just look at them all. They all watched her reaction after they introduced themselves to her. As she offered them a smile they all smiled back at her. Something about the look on her face seemed rather strange and suspicious as well as worrying, at least it seemed that way to them but they ignored that for now. They all watched her after they introduced themselves to her just as Ax did as well. They all waited for her to introduce herself and tell something about herself if she wanted to as well as they waited for her reaction to their introduction. Ax just looked between them all and just sighed. The others looked between Ax and Anya as they were thinking about things,

“Wow, man girl you got a huge name for a pretty woman like you” Marco said as Jake and the eyes rolled their eyes to that. But Ax as he didn’t really get what Marco meant or anything like that as well as he had no idea how anyone should react to that. So all he did was look at them all. “Excuse our friend Marco, he is just crazy” Rachel said as the others nodded in agreement. “CCCCrezzzzzyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy/; Ax said as he enjoyed the sound that word made. The others looked at him and laughed at that a little, yet they tried to hide their laughter even that particular moment. “How‘s Indiana? Where is it?” Marco asked Anya as the others looked at him and shock their heads then sighed. Ax just looked around confused. “INNNDIANNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAA“ Ax said loud as he enjoyed the sound of the word. The others looked at him amused as they laughed and shock their heads. After that they all looked back at her.

They all looked at Anya as they sighed then the whispering happened as Jake considered telling her as the others looked at him then they all looked at Anya once more. None of them expected him to consider telling her as they tried to ask him if he was sure as did Ax, even if he asked it in a strange slightly funny way. As Jake said he was sure they all sighed and nodded in understanding. They all watched Anya reaction and lifted an eyebrow slightly amused as well as confused as Ax just laughed at that. “Pizza? Oh yeah pizza, sure of course. Alright then let’s go get us all a pizza” Rachel said as the others nodded in agreement as Ax did too.

[Anya]

The boy who called himself Marco was one of the very, very few human beings who had the capability of making even Anya do a metaphorical facepalm. The vengeance demon turned to look at him slowly, raised an eyebrow, and gave him an utterly blank frown. Where was Indiana? Of all the questions these guys could have asked...shouldn't a human know these things better than she would? Because she could remember when there were only thirteen states, for crying out loud. How was she supposed to keep track of the whereabouts of the other thirty-seven? Anya continued to stare at him for a moment, uncertain of how to respond. To be fair, Rachel had said he was crazy. That made two out of their little group of five. Birds of a feather..?

Well anyway, she was pretty sure Indiana was out by Ohio or Idaho or U-da-ho, or something. One didn't really have to study a map too often when they had the ability to teleport in the blink of an eye. But that didn't matter. She glanced around shiftily, and then gave a tiny shrug. "Yes, well. Indiana is...it's great! Far, far away from here, though. So far away that I can barely even remember anything about it!" she laughed skittishly, only just managing to avoid being cut off by Alex's loud exclamation of “INNNDIANNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAA". Anya blinked at him nervously, and then forced a cheery smile as if to say: "Yep, that pretty much sums it up!"

It was high time to forget about her little cover story fail, anyway, and the general consensus about the pizza provided a convenient opportunity. For only a moment, the blonde hesitated. From what she gathered, she was really throwing herself in with the crazies this time. Was it the smartest idea in the world? ...Probably not. But she was nothing if not impulsive, and there was a possibility that this could actually be fun! Besides, Anya was determined to get to the bottom of the kids' strange behavior. Of course that there was every chance that there was no more explanation behind this than your average gang of crazy(or possibly high) teenagers. If that was the case...well, wouldn't be the first time.

So about that pizza. Anya took an aimless look around, as if expecting a restaurant to pop up out of thin air. Well, there was the little shop she'd been to a few days earlier with Nara and Reno. But that'd be a bit of a walk from here. The vengeance demon ran through a mental list of places around the city where she'd eaten before, trying to recall which would be the easiest to get to from here. After all, she couldn't exactly just teleport there in front of this lot—a long walk would mean long for all of them. Unless these five are secretly like, a biker gang or something. Anya mused half-hopingly.

"Ooh!" the sudden exclamation escaped her lips before she even realized it. Disregarding the randomness of her little outburst, the demon continued: "I've got an idea! There's a place, just a couple blocks down from here. Italian. They serve pizza. And there's a chef with a mustache and a big hat and everything! It's totally authentic!" Anya grinned brightly, as if encouraging the group to join in on her enthusiasm. Which...probably wasn't going to happen, but it was worth a shot.

"Let's go!" With a wave of her hand and no further ado, she started down the street in the direction of the shop, practically stopping traffic with her sudden burst of energy. The speed at which she was currently power-walking was probably alarming, but Anya didn't think she had to worry about the kids. They were young, they could keep up!

[ax]

They all looked at her and sighed. Marco just looked her over as he just shrugged to what Rachel said. Ax had no idea what was happening so he just watched not saying a word. He had no idea what was so wrong about what Marco asked but just shock it off. Ax didn't want to look crazy or suspicious any more then he probably looked already. Not that he understood why it made him look crazy and suspicious, he doubted that he looked that way but his human friends knew better so he didn't argue. The more Ax was with humans less he understood them. It was true that he was learning to be like them and all but they still confuse him a great deal.

The others were embarrassed as well as annoyed because of Marcos behavior. And just embarrassed by Ax's behavior. Marco saw nothing wrong by the way he acted which was typical of him indeed. Ax just looked at them all as he waited to hear the answer to Marco's question as he too wanted to know that. <Relax, Axman, you are fine. Just don't eat the cigarette or try it even. Just be calm and imagine you are in your Andalite form and act iit. Just don't get crazy with it> Tobias said in Ax's head using mind talk. Marco and the others could do that too when in morph. Ax used it when he was in his own form as well as he was in animal form but he couldn't do it in human form because they all had mouths and he too when he was in human morph. Tobias flew above their heads.

Ax looked up At Tobias then at the others and after that at Anya. "So you love it there? Why did you came here? If you don't mind me asking" Cassie said as they all looked at her then at Anya and Ax did too. "Yeah, well most places are far away from here. Like the place we come from. It's pretty far from here too" Rachel said. The others nodded as did Ax. "Oh, so you live here for a long time and ended up forgetting Indiana?" Cassie asked curious as they all agreed with her as did Ax. It was luck that Anya wasn't cut off by Ax's exclamation of:"INNNDIANNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAA". Ax just gave a cute and funny smile then he sighed and just looked at them all.

They all Noticed the look she gave to Ax as by that time the stood next to Ax and Anya and looked between them. They could tell that she was confused as did Ax who learned what it meant by now. "Is there foooorresssstttttttt in Indiiiaana?" Ax asked as he tried to sound more human but ended up playing with some words again as they all looked at him and laughed at that a little as then they shock their heads and looked back at Anya. They all sighed and shock their heads again. "He is just eager to learn new things. He just has trouble learning it's all." Cassie said as Ax looked at her then at the others while they nodded in agreement. After that they all looked back at Anya again.

They all looked at Anya as they waited for her to reply to Ax. It didn't seem strange that Ax wanted to know that, not too strange anyway because Canadians didn't knew much if at all about America and other places unless they visited there. And since Ax wasn't from earth it made more sense as he was rather curious to know more about earth and it showed in his behavior and other things like that. Since as far as Anya was concerned Ax was from Canada and rather new in America so they saw no reason to stop him from asking what he did. The only thing was the fact that he played with some of the words. That was the problem but they ignored it. "Oh yeah and he loves forests" Jake said as Ax just smiled at them all and they smiled back then they all looked back at Anya.

The idea of pizza seemed more appealing and good to them all, including Ax. Besides they all wanted to get to know Anya better and honestly so did Ax. However if she turned out to be a controller then they had the upper hand unless it was a trap then they were in trouble. But they knew that they had to risk it or they won't have help and they needed all the help they could get and they all knew that.

They had no idea where there were Pizza places as they were knew there. True Jake and the others walked around looking for things and learning the place by heart but even they haven't seen a pizza place. All they seen was restaurants, clothes stores and a supermarket. Which was why they wondered if Anya knew some good places, not to mention they thought it would do good to have a new friend and maybe an Allie. It was all still new to Ax because of the obvious as well as because he hadn't used his human morph a lot and he was more used to being his real self, an andalite then a human .

When Anya burst with her exclamation or it seemed like an exclamation to them they all looked at her as they were confused while Ax just smiled. When Anya continued they all listened to her once more. "Well then, let's go there babe" Marco said as Rachel hit him for that as did Jake. They all sighed to that then looked at Anya. Ax looked confused and unsure since he saw nothing wrong with what Marco said, even if in TV it explained to him that it was and all. "Forgive him, he is completely mental" Rachel said. "Ouch, that hurts, Xena warrior princess" Marco said as Rachel hit him for that as Jake just rolled his eyes and sighed. "Ignore that, lead the way as we are new here" Jake said.

As Anya started walking they all followed her, Ax too. However Ax was still having difficulty to walk fast in his human morph so Cassie and Rachel helped him so he won't fall, until he managed to do it on his own. The girls were still next to him because they wanted to make sure that he doesn't falls and all. Tobias followed them. Once Tobias found a space spot he flew there and changed to his human morph. which was his older human body that he now only used as a morph and that way he joined the others. "Tobias?!" They all said as they looked at him then at Anya. "No worries he is with us" Rachel said. It was good that no one saw Tobias morph but then again he found a safe place. Well they hoped that no one saw him and that it was safe anyway.

[Anya]

Watching the interactions between these five was an entertaining experience, to say the least. As they all headed down the street, Anya would occasionally glance back and muse to herself as she reflected on their behavior. It wasn't often that she got the opportunity to study human adolescents so closely—save for the couple of hellish months she'd been stuck at Sunnydale High...and then there was good ol' Dawnie, of course. But in Anya's opinion, the Slayer's sister hardly counted as a real teenager...being the force of dimension-destroying energy that she was.

This group, though, they were...interesting. From what she could tell, they seemed to have developed something of a hierarchy among themselves. The 'Jake' kid seemed to be the defacto leader, or so she assumed judging from the fact that the others seemed to look to him when it came to making the decisions. Cassie seemed to be the calmest of the group...the peacemaker, perhaps? Meanwhile Rachel was some kind of "warrior princess"? Whatever that was about. Yet another pop culture reference going riiiight over the vengeance demon's head.

And then there was Marco. Hoh boy. In some bizarre way, he...sort of reminded her of Xander. He certainly seemed to fill the roll of "the friend everyone seems to hit a lot", which was...fairly accurate in Xander's case. Anya cast him a rather skeptical glance. He was doing the whole 'I find you attractive' thing that humans did so often...but hey, at least he was upfront about it! As for Alex, he didn't seem to have a clue what was going on with the rest of his friends. Good on him.

They were overall an intriguing bunch, even if they did seem to be hiding something. Now if only they'd drop the stupid Indiana thing, because she wasn't exactly crazy about all this improvisation she was having to do. "I had to leave 'cause...'cause myhousewasinfestedwithrabbits." Anya muttered quickly. When in doubt, blame it on the bunnies—that was her policy. Along with 'no refunds', of course. Anyway, it wasn't so implausible. Bunny infestation? ...It could happen. "So I had to move, and I figured: why not take a ride on the wild side? Live it up, see the country...it was New York or Vegas, and New York was cheaper." she finished with an innocent little shrug.

Oh, but the questions didn't end there. Alex was asking her about forests, for whatever reason. Must be a Canadian thing. The vengeance demon decided after a moment's consideration. She looked over at the strange boy dryly, deciding to play it safe with her answer. "And yes. Somewhere in Indiana, there is probably a forest. Possibly more than one. Now, let's talk about New Y—"

But her slick little attempt to change the subject was interrupted by the arrival of yet another teenager. "...ork?" Anya finished disjointedly, initially quite puzzled as to why this stranger was obstructing the sidewalk. Apparently his appearance wasn't quite as random to the others, however, because seconds later they all gave a collective "Tobias?!"

Erm...what the hell was a "Tobias"? Where had he come from? And why was he standing between her and the path to pizza? The blonde looked him over once, unsuccessfully attempting to mask her confusion as the others informed her that "he was with them". "Well, that's reassuring." Anya deadpanned, a tad thrown by yet another addition to their little group. Ah well, she could deal with it...as long a he was paying his own bill, of course. Evidently moving past her wariness, she greeted him with a pleasant smile. "Hello there! I'm Anya. Will you be joining us today on our venture to find a decent pizza place?" the demon inquired, shifting her weight from one foot to the other in her impatience to move on.

[ax]

They looked at her as she looked interesting to them. Probably as interesting as they seemed to her, if not more. They did notice her look back towards them as they walked but payed no much attention to that so. Marco seemed completely in to which made others but Ax roll their eyes. Jake and Cassie exchanged looks then looked away towards Anya, once more. They hoped that Anya could be their Allie, even if she was rather strange and interesting by some of the things she did or say. Like the money part as well as the alarming speed she walked towards the pizza place.

They all exchanged looks then looked back at Anya as they wondered about her as she wondered about them. They of course had no idea that she suspected then. Even so they hoped that she didn't but they had a feeling that she did. However, if she suspected them then they planned to change her mind. "Jake, do you think we can trust her?" Cassie whispered as he looked at her and shrugged as well as sighed. "No idea for sure, but so far it looks like we can. The more we can to know her the more we know if she is one of them or not" Jake whispered back. "She is beautiful. how can you not trust her?" Marco whispered as the others sighed and rolled their eyes at him. Ax just looked at them not saying a word for now. He himself wasn't sure to trust her or not but she did look harmless to him. "Prince Jake, She doesn't look like she is one of theeeemmmm" Ax whispered to Jake as he played with the last word as they all looked at him then at Jake. "He is right Jake" Cassie said. "Don't call me that and I agree but we should be careful anyway" Jake whispered back.

When Anya glanced at them one by one then looked at her then at each other. Well it seemed to them like she looked at them one by one. When she glanced at Marco he just winked at her as the others including Ax laughed at that and rolled their eyes, Ax did it because he copied them. Marco seemed very pathetic to the rest of the group but Ax because he had no idea what was happening since he was still new to anything to do to humans.

When they asked her about Indiana they were just curious as well as getting the conversation going, that was all. Besides it seemed rather interesting to say the least. It was also their way to know for sure if she was a controller or not. As she answered them about why she left they all opened their eyes wide with shock and confusion. "Rabbits? As in actual rabbits? Wow. They are rather cute but how did that happened. They don't usually infest a house. Where people live in anyway. Unless it's abandoned but even that depends" Cassie said which no surprise since her parents both were vets and she lived on the farm where her and her parents took care of sick animals. So she and her parents pretty much loved animals. The idea surprised them all that was for sure.

"Well that works and it is true, New York is cheaper that is true" Jake said as the others nodded in agreement. "It's our first visit here but e like it here and it is cheaper then other places. In Las Vegas things that cost 20 will cost either 60 or 100 dollars" Rachel said as the others looked at her then all looked at Anya once more. It proved that Rachel was the one that loved to shop which was true. She wasn't crazy or so she thought but she loved shopping that was no doubt.

As Ax asked about Forests they all looked between him and Anya as they waited for her to reply. They waited for a reply before explaining to Anya why he asked her about that. As they saw her look at him the way she did they just watched that as they too listened to her reply. "That is cool, forests are fun places. Alex asked because he loves forests" Cassie said as the others nodded in agreement to that as did Ax.

When Tobias showed up the group was a bit surprised as they thought he already fed but clearly he didn't. They all said Tobias with excitement only because they were happy to see him which was true. After all he was a member of their group and he was like family. Besides he and Rachel liked each other and that showed. They saw the way Anya looked at him when he showed up as they sighed at that. Then smiled as they looked back at Tobias.

Tobias just looked her over then he looked at the others as they looked at him with a smile. He noticed that she was confused by him being there as the others only guessed that she must be confused by the fact that Tobias showed up. It was why they assured her that he was one of them. They all listened to her and sighed. When she smiled at him Tobias smiled back. "Hello. I am Tobias and yes I am joining you. If you don't mind" He said to her. "Nice to meet you by the way" Tobias added then he moved towards the group that was behind Anya.

[Anya]

Hmm. Here was another name she was going to have to remember, although she was starting to get the hang of this whole 'meeting people' thing. It was actually rather exhilarating, traveling New York and running into all of these new faces. 'Socializing should be an Olympic event, or something.' was the latest eccentric thought to grace the vengeance demon's mind. Now that would be interesting! It was certainly much more difficult than kicking a ball across a field. Anyone could do that, easy. Well...anyone with enhanced demonic strength and speed, at least...

But before she could go off on a tangent yet again, she remembered that she still had some responsibility to partake in the conversation at hand. Tobias and the others were probably waiting for her to acknowledge their meeting in that customary way that humans had. "It's nice to meet you too." Anya responded, more automatically than anything. Really, though, she never understood that little exchange of niceties. How did you know if it was "nice" to meet someone...if you were just meeting them for the first time? What were you supposed to be, psychic? It was ridiculous. A much more appropriate greeting, in Anya's humble opinion, would be something along the lines of: "It is interesting to meet you, I sincerely hope we don't become mortal enemies at a later date in time." But did anyone in this society listen to her ideas?

"And no, no I don't mind. Come join the crazy parade!" Anya said with half-hearted enthusiasm, because at this point she didn't mind, really. Tobias was just one more person she might be able to wriggle the truth out of! Besides, he appeared to be reasonably...sane. Compared to Marco or Alex, at least. So with Tobias newly in tow, the blonde cast a swift grin at her group of companions, and then carried on down the street.

Cassie, previously noted by Anya as the most level-headed of the gang, had been the first to point out the flawed logic of the vengeance demon's bunny-rabbit cover story. She suppressed a snort of disdain upon hearing the vicious scraps of fur being described as "rather cute", and merely gave an evasive shrug. "I don't know. Maybe these rabbits formed an organized community of terror in order to better achieve their murderous schemes. I won't pretend to understand their ways." Her words were so preposterously dramatic that one would probably naturally assume she was making some kind of joke. That was the impression most people had of the strangely literal demon, although in this case she happened to be dead serious.

However, her vehement hostility against all things leporine did not completely prevent her from making a few more key observations about the kids...now that she was actually paying attention. For instance, the girl who called herself Rachel...had seemed fairly knowledgeable about money, given her price comparison of New York and Las Vegas. Now there was a quality that Anya could admire! The demon's respect for the girl was certainly increased...although, so was her suspicion as she gathered an opposing observation regarding Alex. Anya still wasn't quite sure what to make of his relationship with the others, or how they treated him...but it did occur to her that they seemed inclined to speak for him before he himself could open his mouth. Was it simply out of embarrassment? Or were they actively trying not to draw her attention to him?

Perhaps she'd find out upon entering the restaurant, where there was a chance that the kids would be more likely to 'fess up...if they trusted her, that was. Finally coming to a halt outside the restaurant door, Anya abruptly spun around to face her companions.

"Here we are! It's seat-yourself, so...you guys can go ahead pick a table! Though preferably not one in a high-traffic area where waiters might trip over their own big feet and spill coffee all over us.."

Evidently, Anya spoke from experience.

[ax]

They did hope that she didn't mind Tobias since he was one of them after all. Not that it changed anything if she minded him or not but still. They needed Tobias with them since he helped them a lot when needed and that was a good thing. If she needed help with remembering names then they would have helped her. They doubted that she would need help with that so.

They all looked at each other then at her. They wanted just to keep going to the pizza place that was all. Even so they had a feeling that she must have thought that they expected her to say the same as Tobias said to her. Which wasn't exactly true because they figured if she wanted to say it then she could say it whenever she felt like saying that and if she was rather not saying that then fine. They listened to her speak and sighed as the rest told her the same as did Ax. Ax didn't know much about humans but what he did knew seemed rather interesting so. He wasn't sure if Anya was human or not as something about her seemed a lot different then most humans, then again by what he understood not all humans were the same. Then again same was with the Andalites too.

They all lifted an eyebrow to much she said next as they all laughed at that as did Ax too. They watched her as she looked at them and when she smiled at them they smiled back. All of them were glad that she didn't mind Tobias joining them. Ax of course were happy about that too. They knew that pretty soon Ax and Tobias needed to change to their actual forms soon or they would get stuck but they had a plan so that was good.

Cassie only said what she did because she knew a lot about animals. In fact she probably knew more then anyone else did. Even more then Ax but then again Ax didn't know much about earthly animals because he wasn't from earth, he just lived here for a while now but that was all. "Not likely, rabbits are not like humans at all. They can't do that. They are not evil they get frightened easily so but that is all" Cassie said as they all looked at her then at Anya. With that they all agreed since they saw rabbits/ bunnies before so they knew besides rabbits were not evil humans so they couldn't do that. That much even Ax knew. The way Anya said what she did definitely sounded like she was either making a joke or she was crazy. They believed however that she made a joke so. Which was why they laughed a little and shock their heads.

They hoped that she didn't noticed that at times they spoke for Ax but it was both to help not to worry about answering what he couldn't as well as not to draw to much attention to him. After all they were worried that the truth about him would get out as they didn't want that. After all they didn't wish to get caught by Visser three or other yeerks as well as they didn't want any trouble like the government finding him or something. Also the more they talked to her the more they noticed that she wasn't a yeerk which was good but they tried to be careful either way. They wanted to get to know her better then they did so far so that they could know for sure if they could trust her or not. They really did hope that they could trust her so.

They followed her as they thought all of this thoughts. They stopped next to a restaurant as soon as she did as they watched her turn to face them. All of them smiled at her and that included Ax as well.

"Yeah that is a good idea as the clothes I wear are really new. Which I wouldn't want to ruin at all" Jake's cousin Rachel said as they looked at her and laughed a little as they shock their heads at her and rolled their eyes. After that they all looked back at Anya and sighed.

Ax just looked at them all as he listened and absorbed their reactions to what Anya said as he sighed.