Piper's POV
It's now been 3 days since we last heard from Stork and Max... They decided to go on a last-minute shopping spree on Terra Saharr... what I can't understand is why Stork would agree to go... he's never been an outgoing person, so it's hard to tell what the reason is...
"Hey, Piper. What's going on?" Aerrow snapped me out of my thoughts. I guess he was starting to get worried too.
"Nothing, Aerrow... just waiting like the rest of us..." I sighed softly, not sure we could really do anything until the pair came back. Stork and Max were our two best carrier pilots; no one else could fly this ship like those two could. Must be a genetic thing...
"I'm not waiting... I'm gonna go out and look for them soon... interested in a quick trip to Saharr?" He flashed me his patented "Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing" smile. I couldn't help but laugh. He stared at me with one eyebrow raised.
"Was it something I said?" He scratched the back of his neck in confusion. I shook my head.
"No, it's just... that smile's gotten us into a lot of trouble, you know..."
"Well... but... really?" He seemed to be at a loss for words.
"Yep. Every time you've flashed that smile, something bad has happened to us. I think Stork called it a 'smile of doom'." He chuckled a bit.
"That sounds like something Stork would say... but, how can you take his word for it? It's not like he's any smile expert or anything..." He retorted playfully. I giggled a bit. Yeah, but he hasn't tried to cheer us up and then failed...
"I guess you're right..." I said, trying to get him riled up again.
"What, you don't believe me? When have you ever seen him smile when the rest of us did?" I opened my mouth and raised my pointed finger, but he cut me off.
"Without it being something he said or did... that doesn't count..."
"Oh... actually, that's a good question..." I admitted, not sure what Aerrow meant by "smile". Stork usually smirks instead of smiling. It must be easier for him to deal with something if his face doesn't show any happy...
"Hey, guys, they're back..." Finn said over the intercom. "That means we can finally get out of here!"
"Easy, Finn... we need to give Piper time to harmonize the crystals before they go into the core." Aerrow spoke into the mike he was holding.
"Aww, c'mon! Are you serious!?" Finn whined. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the mike from Aerrow.
"Yes, Finn... he is serious... without harmonizing them properly, they could very well explode instead of providing us power." I felt confident even Finn knew how important not blowing up was.
"A situation I would like to avoid, thank you very much..." Stork droned through the speaker.
"Most decidedly a bad thing to die when we just got started living..." Max boomed. I hadn't heard Max for awhile, and I was beginning to wonder what those two were doing in the hangar bay.
"Guys, what's the holdup? I need those crystals-" Max interrupted me.
"Stork kind of... needs a break..." Max hesitantly reported.
"Huh? What happened?"
"Everything's fine... we just... need a minute..." I could tell when Max was lying, because, like Stork, he avoided answering rather than trying to deny something directly.
"Alright, if you say so..." I headed that way, with Aerrow in tow. When we arrived at the hangar bay, we saw an somewhat inspiring sight; Max holding a thick gauze bandage over Stork's shoulder, his hands and wrists slick with green blood.
"I told you not to mess with that plant, but no... you just had to get bloodberries..."
"How was I supposed to know they belonged to that shopkeeper!? It wasn't exactly labeled..."
"You know better than that, Stork... you should've asked first, like I did..." He held up a cloth bag, dripping with some type of red juice.
"No way!" Stork's eyes were as big as saucers. "You mean that you-"
"Bought them after you nearly lost your arm? Absolutely... I couldn't let all that bloodshed amount to nothing, now, could I?" His smile was pretty creepy, but it still showed his happiness that Stork was alright.
"Aww... isn't that sweet?" I said playfully. They both turned to glare at me, Stork's cheeks growing a bit darker.
"He'll be alright. Here, hold this for a second, would you?" He handed me the bag, and I held it out away from me a bit, trying not to inhale too deeply; they smelled pretty nasty to me, and I wanted nothing to do with them. So, I handed them off to Aerrow.
"Hey! He asked you to hold them, Piper! It's not nice to try and hand it off to someone else just because you don't want to do it!" He said, but he held on to them anyway. I winked to him playfully.
"Maybe I'll owe you one for it..." I smirked, as slyly as I could manage. His cheeks reddened as he held the bag out away from him.
"Need any help, Max?" He was busy sewing up Stork's shoulder with a needle and some thread that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"Nope... just make sure Aerrow takes good care of those bloodberries... I'm making a pie later..." He smiled a bit and then returned to his work, hearing Stork hiss in pain.
"Ah! Watch what you're doing! You could hit an artery!" Stork whined. Max rolled his eyes.
"That wouldn't kill you, Stork... with my luck, you'd live to complain about it later..." He smiled playfully, and Stork chuckled a bit.
"What's that supposed to mean? You don't like having me around, big brother?" Stork retorted slyly, and Max let out a soft chuckle of his own.
"Not at all... I'd be the one who'd have to drive the ship if you died, and I'd rather not add another job to my list, if it's all the same to you..." Both of them chuckled softly; I'd never seen Max engage in witty banter with anyone before, and it made me wonder why he tried to hide that part of himself from the rest of us.
"Fine, fine... I'll try not to disappoint you, Max..." Stork sighed softly, closing his eyes a bit.
"Don't worry, baby brother... you could never disappoint me... although, you come pretty close sometimes..." He replied, and then he laughed loudly, Stork joining him when he caught on to Max's joke. I didn't get it, but Stork thought it was funny, so it must've been a joke of some kind. Finally, he finished sewing up Stork's shoulder, and he wiped the blood off the both of them.
"How long until Stork's able to fly, Max?" Aerrow finally spoke up; I'd almost forgotten he was still there.
"A few hours, and he'll be good to go... until then, I expect to see you off of your feet..." He said after turning to Stork, who nodded softly as they walked out together.
"Well... that was heartwarming, wasn't it?" Finn said from behind us.
"Don't be that way, Finn... you don't know how hard it must be for Max to open up in front of us like that..."
"I know, Piper... it's just... the guy's kind of creepy sometimes..." He said hesitantly. Aerrow and I both nodded.
"I understand what you're saying, Finn... just, try not to say anything when he's around... we wouldn't want to hurt his feelings..." Aerrow responded softly. I nodded.
"Yeah... the last thing he needs right now is to be reminded he's not human... it's what makes he feel so isolated..." I chimed in.
"Okay... I think I can do that..." Finn replied honestly. I was taken aback.
"You mean, you're not gonna try to pull pranks on him like you did with Stork when he first joined us?" Aerrow said slyly. Finn shook his head.
"No way, dude... even I'm not that stupid..." Finn's cheeks reddened a bit when he realized what he was saying. Aerrow and I both started laughing, but deep down, I knew Finn, at least for now, was being totally serious. I could only wonder what else could happen to make Max's stay interesting.