Nosedive stayed in his room for the rest of the day and Wing stayed in the infirmary. Tanya kept Wing company and Grin stayed with Dive. Duke and Mal were trying to devise a plan to get the brother's back on speaking terms. The ideas were few and all were bad. At about ten o'clock at night Wildwing got tired of lying in the infirmary and decided to go to bed. There was one problem. He shared a room with Nosedive and Dive was currently occupying the room.
"Why don't you sleep in Duke's room?" Tanya suggested.
"Don't worry Tanya, I won't start anything. If Dive tries anything I'll ignore him. Goodnight."
Tanya was skeptical, but let Wildwing go into his room. She waited outside and listened for a confrontation. She was determined to race in at the first raised voice. The door closed behind Wildwing and he hobbled over to his bed. Nosedive was in the corner with Magic and Grin. They were playing with one of Magic's feather toys. Wildwing sat down and looked at them. Nosedive watched his brother carefully, but did not say a word. He was still mad at him. Magic looked up from where he was sprawled on Grin's lap and saw Wildwing. He sprung from Grin's lap so fast Nosedive couldn't stop him. Magic ran across the room and jumped onto Wing's bed. He walked up to Wildwing and rubbed his head against Wildwing's arm.
"Hey there, Magic," Wing said as he petted the cat.
Nosedive frowned. Why did Magic do that? He was HIS cat, not Wings'! Nosedive got up and stormed to the bathroom and slammed the door. Wildwing closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Sorry, Grin."
"There is no need to apologize Wildwing. In time Nosedive will realize that this behavior is wrong."
"And until then I have to keep quiet. I'm going to sleep. Good night."
Grin rose to leave, "good night, Wildwing. Good night, Little Friend."
***
Nosedive came out of the bathroom about a half-hour after Wildwing turned out the lights. He cautiously made his way to the bunk bed and climbed onto the top bunk. After finding a comfortable spot on the bed he hugged his pillow and closed his eyes.
"Good night, Dive."
"Yeah, whatever."
The brothers each rolled over and went to sleep. Wildwing awoke the next morning at six thirty. He got up and went to the kitchen. At least he could walk with minimal pain this morning. The others gradually made their appearances for breakfast. Duke walked in to find Wildwing eating peanut butter toast (trust me it's good), Tanya drinking cranraspberry juice, Mal preparing scrambled eggs and Grin meditating in the corner.
"That's nutritious," he commented to Wildwing.
"It's a family secret," Wing smiled.
"Uh, yeah."
To the surprise of the team Nosedive came in a few minutes after Duke. He looked at the others and gave a weak smile, which faded when he saw his brother.
"Hey Dive, do you want some peanut butter toast?"
Nosedive's eyes lit up, "Can I?"
"Sure."
The team gave a collective sigh. It appeared that Wing and Dive worked out their differences on their own. But one should never go to bed angry and no one should have to have his or her feelings hurt. Appearances can be deceiving, but vibes and auras never lie.
Wildwing watched Nosedive happily munch on the peanut butter toast. It was Wing's oldest trick to make Dive forgive him. When they were kids all he had to do was either make that or sugar bread; a piece of bread, butter and sugar. How mundane or simple can you get? But it worked every time. Dive loved the stuff. As soon as Dive had finished his snack he got up to leave.
"Forget something Dive?"
"What?"
"The plate. You need to wash it."
"WHY ME?!" Nosedive yelled before he ran out of the room.
Wildwing sighed heavily. Maybe he should rethink his plan.
"You know what guys, I'm going for a walk. If you need me, you can reach me on my com. See you later."
Wildwing left the Pond and slowly made his way to a nearby park. It was beautiful day, and he couldn't see spending it having a screaming match indoors. The sun sprinkled its glorious rays through the dash of clouds overhead. The sky was crystal blue and was friendly to any flying organism; bug, bird, or airplane. The trees that lined the sidewalk stretched their branches and reached to the sky for the nutritious ultraviolet rays from the golden sun. The grass was a carpet of green velvet glistening with early morning dewdrops. Each drop sparkled in the light of the new day. Tulips, daises, pansies, poppies, snapdragons, marigolds, sweet williams, asters, zinnias, and shooting stars littered the flowerbeds along the paved walkways of the park. Wildwing found a bench in the sun and sat down. A few feet away from the bench a puddle of water had gathered when the lawn's sprinklers overshot the grass and landed on the path. Five pigeons were playing happily in the puddle. Normally the birds would have been drinking the water, but today they were splashing it everywhere. They looked like children playing in puddles after a rainstorm; stomping in the water to see how big of a splash they could make. Wildwing laughed. They looked so silly. He leaned back and let the sun's warm rays bathe over him. His mind wandered back to a time when he was a child on Puckworld
