So that's it?" Aerrow said confusion set on his face after Piper explained.
"Yeah, I woke up right after that."
"Well, this is weird."
"Yeah, I know, right?" They waited in silence, hoping for the other one to say something first. Piper finally spoke up. "So what are we going to do?"
"Well, let's just see how the day rolls out, ok?" Piper nodded. "So shall we head for the bridge?"
"I thought you'd never ask," She said a twisted smile on her face. "Besides, it's getting hot in here." Piper pulled at the neck of her shirt. Aerrow smirked and opened the door and a rush of cold air came in but that's not the only thing that came in. Finn's face smacked the ground with such impact that Piper could hear it.
"Finn, how long were you standing there?" Aerrow asked, his emerald eyes shooting daggers into Finn's piercing blue ones.
"Oh, you know, long enough to get an idea of what you guys were talking about," He brushed off and turned to Piper. "So does Stork beat Junko and me up or what?" Piper thought about it for a while.
"No, I don't think so. There was no screaming coming from your way after that." Finn pumped the air in enthusiasm.
"Chica-cha! Sweet tonight is going to be so much fun!" Finn turned on a dime and headed back to the bridge. Piper chuckled silently as Aerrow got to his feet and extended his hand to her.
"Thank you." Piper said as she took his hand in her.
"No problem," Aerrow said smiling. They walked down the hall hand in hand until they got closer to the bridge. The bridge door whooshed open and Piper let go of Aerrow's hand. Aerrow's smile faded slightly but never really disappeared. He walked into the bridge and the door closed in a hurry.
"So guys, what's new?"
"Not much." Junko piped up, a sandwich visible in his grasp. "It's just Stork keeps whispering to himself but nothing out of the ordinary." He stuffed the sandwich in his mouth and continued to play cards with Finn, who had a look of concentration on his face.
"Finn," Aerrow asked with a laugh hidden in his voice. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, no worries." Finn exclaimed, his voice muddled with the pure determination set in his eyes. Piper laughed silently as Aerrow made his way over to the helmsman.
"Stork, what's up?"
"So…much…doom," Stork whispered sending chills down Aerrow's and Piper's backs. "Don't…know…what…to…do."
"Stork, are you ok?" Piper asked stepping closer to him. Stork jumped away in a flurry of swinging fists, none of which were able to hit her. "Stork…" The Merb grabbed the front of her shirt with hawk-like ferocity. Piper struggled a bit and loosened the grip.
"You don't understand! Something extremely awful is about to happen and all of you are acting like it's a game." Stork pointed toward the table where Radarr had just joined. Finn's face was set in a silent agony as Junko and he watched half of their chips fall into Radarr's hands. Radarr's face lit up quite a bit as he shoveled the poker chips toward himself.
"How is this possible?" Piper heard Finn say as he drank his soda. "I got beat by a… What are you?" Finn asked Radarr with a confused look on his face. Radarr smiled and continued to shovel the chips toward himself with Junko helping him. Finn shook his head and finished his soda, chucking it into the garbage bin without even looking.
"Nice shot." Aerrow said.
"Nothing to it." Finn exclaimed, a look of disgust set permanently on his face. "I just wish I was that good with poker." He looked sulkily at Radarr who had a perfect smile radiating from him. Aerrow and Piper laughed and turned toward Stork who was white-knuckling the wheel with pure fear.
"Stork, you just need to settle down." Aerrow exclaimed. Piper shook her head in agreement. Stork's wide black eyes deflated a tiny bit but his grip on the wheel did not loosen. "You're going to be fine. We're all here for you." Stork looked around to find Piper smiling back, Junko waved hi, Radarr made funny noise as he sorted his chips into piles, and Finn gave a small wave back sucking back another soda. Stork's face twitched slightly at the lips and Aerrow gave a big smile in return. Piper sauntered closer to them
"Maybe you just need a break."
"Yeah," Finn said jumping up from the table in turn knocking over Radarr's perfect pile of chips. Radarr scowled as he set off to find all of his chips. "And I have the perfect idea to help Stork take a break. Let's have a marksman contest!" Aerrow smiled and Junko waved his fists in sheer delight. Piper smiled at her crewmates.
"Whatever you say." Stork said as Finn pounced upon him and urged him to walk faster to the deck. Junko and Radarr followed suit. Aerrow stopped halfway to the door and turned to see piper rubbing her arm in discomfort.
"Aren't you coming?" Aerrow asked in the softest voice which was barely a whisper though it carried through the bridge clearly.
"Um, yeah," Piper said with a twisted smile. "I just want to clean up before I go up there." Piper turned her back toward him. Aerrow shrugged and walked through the bridge doors. A small whoosh indicated that Aerrow had left the room. Piper let a small smirk fall on her face and it played there for a while before it faded.
"I might as well get started before I show Finn up… like usual." Piper said finding a big bucket under the sink. She smiled and made her way toward Junko and Finn's bedroom. She slowly backed her way into their room and turned around. Her smile faded slowly as the door shut. Their room was a disaster area. They also had remains of pranks strewn across the floor and pictures of their capers painted the walls. Stork was in nearly every photo taken. Piper laughed silently as she kicked a piece of clothing across the room into the laundry basket.
"This might take me a while." She sighed as she sat her bucket on the floor and picked another piece of clothing off the floor.