PART TWO: How not to Ask a Girl on a Date
Piper was in her room trying to create a mobile in which she could hang the new Iris crystal along with some of her other weaker grade and power drained crystals.
There was knock at the door.
"Come in," called Piper. She looked up from her work bench as the door opened.
"Stork?" she said surprised. "Aren't you supposed to be driving?"
The green Merb leaned half into the doorway, the rest of him hidden behind the wall.
"Radarr's got it covered." he said. (Stork knew very well that Radarr not only wanted to fly the ship but happened to be very good at it too.) "I just came here to warn you."
"Warn me of what?" said Piper who knew not to overreact to Stork's 'warnings' since they were usually about the most unlikely and bizarre things.
Stork's eyes narrowed and his pupils darted from side to side before answering.
"Finn's up to no good.", He half whispered.
Piper laughed.
"Finn's always up to no good, Stork. Don't need to be so paranoid about it."
"Oh... but I'm not the target." he said. "You are."
Piper raised an eyebrow. "I've dealt with Finn's pranks before." she said, and having dealt with Finn's pranks before she knew it was best to ask, "What exactly is he planning?"
"Umm…It's not exactly a prank but -"
He was interrupted by footsteps coming down the hall accompanied by a whistling. Stork glanced to his right. "Well," he said. "You'll see for yourself." And with that he disappeared.
A couple seconds later Finn entered the room.
"Hey Piper," he said leaning on the door frame. "What cha up to?'
Piper looked warily at Finn. "Nothing much." She replied.
"I see you've got that Iris crystal with ya." He said walking over to her work bench and pointing at the glittering stone.
"Yeah," was all Piper could say in response. "I'm making a mobile." She added in case he couldn't guess at the contraption on her desk.
"You know," said Finn now leaning on her wall. "I hear that when someone gives an Iris crystal it's a sign of love."
Piper sat up straighter in her seat. So this what Stork meant, she thought. She looked Finn in the eye. "Where'd you hear that?" she asked.
Finn was caught in his lie for a moment and he struggled to find a way out.
"Uh...you know," he said. "Around."
"Riiight." said Piper.
"That's probably what he thought anyways." said Finn observing his nails like the conversation was nothing.
Piper was pretty sure she knew who Finn meant by 'he'. Still, she had to ask.
"Who?" She said. Her stomach suddenly felt uncomfortable like it was dropping.
"You know," said Finn. "Aerrow."
Her stomach hit the floor. Metaphorically of course.
Finn kept talking. "He probably figured you knew that stuff about Iris crystals too."
He ran his pointed index finger under his nose and sniffed. "Poor guy."
"Hey! Just, wait a second Finn," said Piper putting up her hands motioning to stop.
"One; I have never ever heard that about Iris crystals, so I doubt he did either. Two: Aerrow and I are friends. Good friends.. but just friends. We aren't…we don't ..have those sort of…feelings about each other." But even she wasn't sure what she meant by 'those sort of feelings'.
"Well," said Finn looking partially grim . "You might not."
Her stomach dropped through the floor, out the bottom of the Condor and went hurdling downwards through the open sky.
A small bit of her brain chirped up at this point and reminded Piper that Finn was trying to cause trouble and she couldn't honestly believe a word of what he said.
Finn's smile crept back onto his face as he watched the colour drain from Piper's face.
Piper saw this, and her twanging irritation brought back her spirit.
She was not, no way, no how, going to lose a mind game to Finn of all people.
"Finn," she said in her best 'irritated with Finn' voice. "Iris crystals, are not and have never been a sign of love."
"Sure they are!" He argued.
"Then where did hear it?"
"Uh.. I told you.. around…I can't remember."
"Oh really?" she said "You can't remember?" How convenient…she was on to him now!
Finn decided on a different approach.
"Uh.. well it might have been on Terra Muse." He said (which wasn't a bad lie considering he had been there before for a couple of concerts). "You know we'll be stopping there to restock soon don't you."
"Yeah," Piper said, and another great idea hatched in her mind. "Then I can ask around to see if you're right about Iris crystals."
"Uh…yeah" muttered Finn temporarily stunned. She had caught him again.
"Well," said Finn, deciding to try another approach. "They uh…say Terra Muse is the terra of music, which if you know anything about music, also makes it the terra of love."
Piper looked sceptical. She didn't quite understand how being the terra of music also made it the terra of love.
"Which also means," said Finn. "That terra Muse is thee perfect place on Valentine's day to go on date. You know," he said leaning closer. "With someone special."
"Really?" asked Piper.
"Yeah," said Finn. "I mean, you'd probably really like it, and I know it's certainly the place I'd like to go on a date…"
Piper looked wide eyed at Finn. Suddenly, it dawned on her that perhaps she'd misinterpreted Finn's earlier remarks. She could guess that he had been trying to figure out if she had feelings for Aerrow, but maybe not of concern for him. And she'd basically said no…
"Are you asking me out?" said Piper incredulous. The words were out of her mouth before she'd even and the chance to stop herself. Finn looked equally shocked and several emotions flitted across his features. Then he looked thoughtful for a second, an idea dawning.
"Uh.. yeah." he said. "Maybe I am." He smiled at his brilliance. Going out with Piper is sure to make Aerrow jealous, he thought. And then he'd have to face his feelings. Score one for the Finn!
Piper sat there in dumb amazement. Finn had...asked her out?
Finn stood there smiling, proud of his plan.
After a moment of awkward silence Piper spoke.
"You mean.. you and me.. on a date.. on Terra Muse?"
"That's the idea." he said. "Of course," he added "If you have feelings for someone else, I'll completely understand."
Piper's jaw hung open. Once again, Finn's actions had completely caught her off guard. Then the rational voice in the back of her head started screaming 'Remember what Stork said! Remember what Stork said! Finn's playing you. Don't fall for it!'
She promptly shut her jaw and tried to think logically. She took everything she knew about Finn and everything Finn had just said and tried to fit it all together. Then she looked at Finn.
"What game are you playing at?" She asked bluntly.
"What?" he said and scoffed. "Piper," he chastised, "My feelings are no game." He dramatically put his hand over where his heart was (or where he thought his heart was- his hand was on the wrong side of his chest). "I'm hurt that you would just brush this off like some…joke." He said not really sounding hurt at all.
Piper raised an eyebrow. She knew Finn. Knew him well enough to see past his dramatics. But just in case he wasn't lying….
"Umm…listen Finn," she said trying to be polite on the off chance he meant what he said. "It's nice of you to ask me and all…but..well..were teammates first of all.. and it's really not a good idea to date within the team you know? All kinds of problems." She looked at him trying to identify his reaction. "And.. really.. were friends but.. we really don't have a lot in common."
"Sure we do." Finn replied.
"Like?" asked Piper.
Finn thought for a moment. "We like the same mu- ah no wait….we both like- uh no not that.. well.. were both Storm Hawks." He suggested.
Piper gave the 'are you kidding?' look.
"Hey well, opposites attract."
Piper looked cynical. " No. I'm sorry Finn…but I don't feel that way about you."
Finn's plan had fallen like a house of cards. Now he was he trying to sweep the 52 jokers under the rug.
"Uh..yeah..well..I was uh- I was just, you know, testing you. Ha, yeah. I, uh, don't really feel that way about you either-I mean, you're great and all, but uh…" He scratched his head wondering how his whole charade had backfired. He hadn't suspected that Piper would turn him down (Who would turn down the Finnster?). Now she thought he liked her. Eeuh…
"You know what?" said Finn. "Forget I said any of that. Better yet, forget I came in. ..I'm …not myself. You know I've had this itching at the back of my head...and maybe Stork's right about those Mind Worms. Yeah, I can feel them in my…brain. I-I should just go check with Stork.. maybe he's got something for it."
With squabbling hand gestures, some stumbling, and a quick 'bye' Finn had exited the room quicker than you can say Raxacoricofallapatorius.
Which is actually pretty long…
A/N (Author's Note)
So there's part two for you. I know; up pretty quick isn't it? I'll try to pace myself some more between posting dates ( I already have up to part 5 complete, but there's some little details I need to work out.)
Anyway because I forgot to add an author's note at the end of chap 1 here some little facts I wanted to add:
Fact: I didn't make up Stork's allergies to chocolate. He really is allergic. (See Life with Luegey ep). As for the Iris crystal... that's based on Swarovski crystals, specifically the Aurora Borealis type. They are actaully made from lead which is poisonous. But trust me, once you see one glitter in the light, you don't care what they're made of. And the word 'Raxacoricofallapatorius' comes from Doctor Who and it is the name of an alien planet.
Hope you liked this chap [I threw in a bit of FinnXPiper for fun ;)] please keep up the reviews. I love to know where I can improve and what your favorite parts are.
