Another storm did hit the Crusty Waters on its way to East Shallow's Isle. It was a windstorm and unfortunately, it was blowing winds in every direction but East Shallow's Isle. Causing the crew of the Crusty Waters to deal with having to refix their broken sails for a month.

It was annoying sure, but with the abundance of fish and other goods that your siren, DJ, gifted… well… to you more than to the entire ship, Crusty Waters could weather the ocean for another month if it needed to.

Good thing you didn't need to.

Sun was helping Bonnie talk with the repairman as they discussed price and favors. They had fish to trade but with the main population of East Isle being comprised of bunnies, it'd be only sellable to a select few.

"We need more sea glass harvested," the blue bunny stated, "If you can get us a few boulders worth. That'll cover your repairs and supplies."

Sun thought that was a fair enough trade. He knew a good place to mine for sea glass.

"Put in an extra pair of sails and we'll do it," Bonnie stated.

The blue bunny made a look like she didn't want to commit to that, but Sun made a practiced menacing look and the blue bunny immediately agreed.

Bound by their words, the three of them parted ways.

As they were making it to their ship, Sun asked, "What happened to our back up sails, again?"

"Sea Rats, Sir. That's why we've had to keep resewing the sails we've been using."

"Why didn't we get them while at North Isle?"

"I forgot."

"Happens to the best of us."

Sun looked over the sea of multi-colored bunnies as they laid out dried rainbow kelp, sea grass, and coral cobs.

"Is East Shallow's Isle anything like your island you grew up on?"

"No," Bonnie stated, "There's too many bunnies here. My island had a lot of stragglers on it that decided to stay."

Sun sighed.

The two of them stopped walking on the dock and were standing in a space between two barrels of dye.

"Something wrong, Sir?"

Sun sighs again, then said, "When I woke up this morning, I was hoping to have a fun outing with Starlight. It's so colorful and shiny here, they would love to look around."

Bonnie sighed, exasperated.

"I know! I know! I forgot they can't leave the ship." Sun's petals around his head shivered then pressed against his head and neck.

"It happens to the best of us."

Sun saw a seller walking down the dock waving around sandstone carvings. Two carvings caught his eye. One was a small smooth carving of the Tree Witch's symbol of two trees intertwined. The other was a palm sized, round, flat tablet that had a carving of Zulon's Heart on it. Moon and Starlight would love those.

Sun caught the vendors attention and bought the two items.

"Come on. Let's go tell the crew about the new job we have for the repairs and supplies," Sun said as he pocketed his wares.

With a curt nod, Bonnie continued to follow his captain.

Once Sun and Bonnie told the crew that as soon as the ship was fixed, which should only take about three days, that they'll be heading back out to sea to go sea glass mining to pay for the repairs. A little over half of the crew groaned. Sun knew that they all wanted more time away from their own boat and to be able to explore the other boats the East Isle is comprised of, but they're all actively hiding an otherworldly creature from a cult. This is just the price for that commitment.

At the very least they could still leave the boat and not make a scene by their mere presence.

That was the lingering thought in Sun's head as he handed Moon his gift.

"Oh, thank you Sun," Moon said as he gently rube his fingers over the carving, "This looks amazing."

Sun smiled at the paise as the two of them stood in their cabin.

"What are you going to do today," Moon asked as he pocketed the carving.

"I plan on playing dice with Pigpatch, Happy, and Chip today. What about you?"

"Roxy, Bonnie, and I plan on walking around and buying our favorite dye colors."

"That sounds nice. I hope the three of you have fun… by the way, have you seen Starlight anywhere," Sun asked.

"I haven't seen them, but I did hear Chika talking about them, I think they're still in the crew's quarters."

"Thank you, Love."

Sun rushed out of their cabin with a cheerful wave at his partner as the present for you burned in his pocket.

The crew's quarters is the messiest place to be. Clothes were strewn about. Some beds were overturned and wet as a sign of the crew pranking each other on slow mornings. There was a thick layer of feathers, furs, and a few scales littering the floor.

Sun and Moon prefer all aspects of the ship being shipshape, but it's been an especially hard month for everyone, so the two captains didn't say anything about the way the crew's quarters has deteriorated a bit over the weeks. Letting the crew have a space to just be messy. That'll change tomorrow, but for now, it's fine despite it making Sun cringe at the sight of it all.

Sun looked at all the beds. They were all empty. As the captain of the ship stood in the middle of the messy room, scratching his head at where you might be, he heard a sneeze coming from under Chika's bed.

Sun chuckled, "No way," then he said, "Starlight? Is that you?"

Sun squatted as he heard shuffling under Chika's bed, and you popped your head out from under the bed frame. You were dusty and hairy, but you were mostly protected by your cloak.

"Something the matter, Captain?" You sneezed again.

Sun tsked, "Will you get out of there. You're filthy."

"Why? Do you have a job for me?"

"No, but—"
"Then I will not. I'm going to hide here until we're out at sea again."

"You don't need to do that."

"What if the repair person sees me. I refuse to make the same mistake twice," you state stubbornly. Emphasizing your point by hiding yourself back under the bed until only your eyes were seeable.

Sun tsked again but it's not like he wasn't worried about it either. He just hated seeing you close in on yourself like this at the isles. It made him lonely just looking at you like this.

Sun took the carving out of his pocket and presented it to you.

"Here."

You scooted back out from under the bed, allowing the stickman to see your face fully. You gave him a curious look as you looked at the carving, but you made no attempt to take it.

"It looks lovely."

"It's yours," Sun says as he took your hand and placed it there.

You tried pushing it back into his palm, "Oh! No, it's not. I've never seen it in my life."

By the ocean's vengeance. Is gift giving not a thing in your world?

"No. I'm saying I'm giving this to you. It's a present."

"Oh… Wait. Why? Is it a holiday!?"

"No, Starlight," Sun said as he rubbed his eyes with one hand. This wasn't going as well as he had hoped. He just wanted to make you smile, "I just saw it and thought of you."

You were silent for a bit and Sun stopped rubbing his eyes to look down at you. Your eyes sparkled as you examined your sandstone carving. You were lightly tracing the bumps and divots of the carving with four of your fingers. It fit perfectly in the palm of your hand.

"Oh…" you breathed.

When Sun got you the carving, he kind of pictured that you would jump for joy and hug him. Somehow, your quiet reaction and how you are mesmerized by the carving was even better than he imagined.

You sneezed again and you looked up at him, smiling a mischievous smile.

"Is this even legal?"

"Sandstone?"

"No. You giving me presents. With you being my Captain and all that."

"No? Why would it be illegal?"

"Power imbalance and using presents as a way to get me to feel like I'm obligated to do favors for you, like having sex."

Sun grimaced, "Absolutely not. Think of it more as a gift for our blooming friendship… besides, Stickmen don't have sex."

"Oh, yah?"

"Yah. We can reproduce asexually."

"Wow, really? How does that happen?"

"Eh, we have to die first and sink to the bottom of the ocean, but that's a whole explanation I don't want to get in to. Can I please convince you to come out from under there?"

You sigh, "Not unless you have a better hiding spot."

"I do actually."

"Where?"

"If you're so determined to hide under a bed, you can hide under our bed," Sun offered.

"In the Captain's Cabin?" You squeak.

Sun chuckled at your squeak. You are too cute sometimes, despite being a terrifying otherworldly being.

"Yes," Sun said as he leaned his face against his right hand's knuckles.

You looked in the middle distance, and your face was scrunched up as you really thought about it.

You sighed, which made you sneeze again.

"Alright. At least I can return Captain Moon's coat."

Sun stands up and backs away as you shimmied your way out from under the bed. Sun watched you walk over to your bed on the floor and watches you lift your mattress up off the floor as you pull out a blanket. Then you unfold that blanket to reveal Moon's jacket. It was the cleanest thing in the room. It was folded neatly and looked like you had washed and ironed it.

It warmed Sun's soul to see you taking such good care of his partner's things.

"Alright. Let's go. I've got to get back to hiding."

"Of course. Of course."

As the two of you walk across the deck, Sun tries his best to hide you behind his thin stature, but the cloak you wear does most of the work.

You don't pull your hood back until Sun closes the cabin's door behind him.

Moon turns to the two of you from the table where he was examining the map.

"Why are you filthy?"

Sun cracks a smile at how you ignore his question and instead offer Moon back his jacket.

"Sorry it took so long. I wanted to make it nice. Those storms did a number on it."

Moon took his jacket back with both hands, a soft sigh escaped him as he looked at his jacket. Then to you. Then to Sun.

Sun gave Moon a thumbs up and gave him a smile that basically said, they like you.

Both stickmen looked back down to you, but you were making your way to their bed, and you were on your hands and knees on the floor when Moon shouted.

"What are you doing?"

You jump at being yelled at, but you keep making your way under their bed.

"Captain Sun gave me permission to hide under here for a while. Just pretend I'm not here."

Moon whipped his gaze to Sun. The solar being shrugged with a sheepish smile. Then he mouthed, it was the only way to get them to come out from under the dirty bed.

Moon snapped back to you, "Hold it right there. I didn't give any such permission."

You were ridged, then you were on your feet and standing at attention towards Moon.

Sun stayed back and watched the scene. He wondered what his partner was up too… Maybe he had gone too far with their shared permission this time.

Moon walked over to you and stuck out his hand.

You gave him a confused look.

"Give me your cloak."

You hesitate for a second, but then you take it off and hand it to him. Confusion still on your face.

He flipped the soiled garment inside out, then he grabbed your face gently by the chin and made a motion like he was going to clean the dust off your face. You immediately throw your hands up and knock back Moon's hands. You trip a bit as your calves hit the bed, but you don't fall.

"What are you doing?"

"You're filthy," Moon deadpanned.

"Okay. Well. I can clean myself up," you state.

"Well, the water closet is right there," Moon said as he pointed past Sun.

"Yah, yah!" you say as you walk away. Waving your arms up at him like an angry squid.

Once you were in the water closet, Moon threw the cloak at Sun.

"They don't look good," Moon said in a low voice.

"What do you mean?" Sun asked matching his volume as he folded the soiled garment.

"They're definitely not getting the sleep they need."

"How can you tell?"

"I see them at night more often than I think I should."

"Moon. That means you're not getting the sleep you need either," Sun said concerned. Curse his ability to sleep like a log.

"I come right back. I just need to see the night sky for a bit," he stated, then he said, "But when I see them, it's rare for them to be the first to head back to bed, so that's why I'm worried."

"Mmm."

You came out of the water closet, shaking your hands of water and wiping your face with your shirt.

"I doubt the underside—Hey!"

Moon threw his jacket over your face before you could finish your sentence.

Sun giggled and the solar being saw his counterpart's lips twitch as he kept the neutral frown on his face.

When you pulled the jacket off your head, your fur—hair stood up, static-y.

"Will you stop that!"

"I'm not going to give you permission to crawl under our bed. You can just get into it," Moon stated. Ignoring your commit.

"Uhhhhhh, what?"

Sun raised a brow ridge at Moon.

"You can hide in our bed, not under it," Moon repeated.

"Uhhhhh, I don't know how I feel about that."

"Listen. Sun and I will be gone for the day. You'll have the cabin to yourself," Moon offered.

You looked like you were thinking about it, but you were still hesitant.

"The bed's nice and soft," Sun decided to input.

Moon goes over to their shared bed and sits down. Then he pats the area beside him at you.

You go over as your lips thin with concentration. You hop up and stand on the bed while at the same time throwing Moon's jacket back to him and over his head.

You were testing the bounce of the soft bed as Moon pulled the jacket off himself. He looked a bit huffy about it.

Sun giggled at both your antics.

"You guys have a lot of pillows, and the blankets look thick. I guess I could hide on the actual bed," you said, then turning to Sun you asked, "Can I have my cloak back?"

"Nope," Sun said.

You were going to complain, but as Moon stood up, he threw the jacket back over your head, "You can keep that for now to hide in."

"Damn it, Sir! This is the fifth time I've tried to return this to you. Do you really not want this," you said, not even attempting to pull the jacket off yourself as you stand on their bed.

"Just call me Moon, or Captain. And you can keep it," Moon said.

"Uugh! Finnnaaaaa!" You bemoaned as you pulled the star-spangled jacket off and stated putting it on, "It's such a nice jacket, though. Why would you give it away?"

"It looks nicer on you."

Sun turned to Moon in surprise at his words. Sun was beaming at Moon and Moon looked like he was pointedly avoiding looking at anyone.

"It looks nicer on you too. It's a nice jacket," you state, unflinching of any embarrassment and secondhand embarrassment the two stickmen were emitting, "It doesn't exactly answer my question."

Moon raised his hands up in defeat as he turned his back to you, "Just keep the jacket."

"Fine…" the two of them were making their way out of the cabin when you said, "Also thank you. It's lovely."

Moon tipped his hat to you before slipping out and Sun said, "I'll throw this into the dirty laundry room for you. Have fun."

Once they were outside the cabin, Sun turned to Moon and said, "So… It looks nicer on them, huh?"

Moon started speed walking away. Not even giving him a backwards glance.

Sun's laughter followed Moon as the solar being watched him go.

# # #

Moon looked out at his crew. They looked haggard and unhappy. They've been looking like that for a while and not even a three-day break at East Isle was enough. That had to change.

Moon went out to find his co-Captain, finding him out on the docks, not too far from the ship. He was happily talking to the locals. Probably asking for stories or wisdom or whatever he fancies to ask of strangers.

"Sunny. I need to speak with you," Moon stated.

Sun held his finger up to him then he wrapped up his conversation with the yellow bunny.

Once the yellow bunny was gone, Sun turned to his co-Captain and asked, "What is it, Moonsugar?"

"We're having a serious morale issue. The crew isn't at their usual luster. I'm thinking we probably need one of your parties," Moon stated.

Sun rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't know… I feel like they need more sleep than one of my parties. Maybe we can do something a bit different."

"A party but something easy to sleep too?" Moon asked.

"I don't know any parties that are sleep-able though…"

The two captains mirrored each other's thinking poses as they hummed thoughtfully to themselves.

"Let's at least ask Bonnie what we can fund for our hypothetical party," Moon said, motioning for Sun to follow him.

Sun nodded in agreement as he followed.

The captains found Bonnie in the dining room.

"There's not much we can buy, Captains. At most we can buy a few barrels of cheap beer before we set sail, but not much else."

"Well, we're not planning on doing anything big. So a few barrels of beer won't be bad," Sun stated.

"What is the plan, Captains?" Bonnie asked.

"We're still working on that. We should have a plan before we leave tomorrow morning," Moon informed the purple bunny.

"I'll grab those barrels then," Bonnie said as he started walking out of the dining area, "Eh, Monty! Freddy! Help a bunny out!"

Moon and Sun were walking to their cabin as they discussed the party they wanted. Moon's ideas were too focused on the low energy of getting ready for bed, and Sun was too focused on the high energy of a party. Neither could come up with a proper solution to the other's idea.

Closing the door behind them, Sun went over to their shared bed and fell into it as Moon paced.

"What tha," Sun yelped.

Moon turned to his partner, "What?"

Instead of answering the lunar man, Sun sat up and pulled back the pillows and thick blankets at the head of their bed and uncovered you sleeping peacefully. You were personally wrapped up in Moon's old starry jacket, and it made you look extra cute.

"I thought they were in the crow's nest," Sun admitted.

Moon looked over at your peaceful form. He chuckled to himself at how deep into the pillows and bedding you were but wanted to leave you alone.

"Wait. Hey! Why don't we ask them if they have any ideas," Sun suggested, holding a pillow to his chest.

"No, let them sleep," Moon shot down.

Sun insisted and Moon kept giving his partner reasons why they should leave you alone. The two of them bickered for so long that you woke up on your own, regardless.

"Pardon me, Captains," you said as you threw aside the pillows and comforter you were under as you scooted out of their bed.

Blurry-eyed, you proceeded to remake the bed the way it looked while you were under it. Once you were done, you loosely saluted to the captains and was making your leave.

"Uh!" Moon started.

You paused and turned around. Rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

"…Uh, we didn't wake you, did we?" Moon asked.

"No," you say simply, and you turn to walk out the cabin again.

Moon saw the exasperated look Sun gave him, then the solar being piped up.

"Could you help us, actually?"

You turn back towards them, straightening as you faced them with another, stiffer salute, "What can I do for you Captain Sun and Moon."

Moon couldn't help the lopsided smile that was spreading over his face. Trying his best to hid it behind his hand as he tried to match your tired, but serious tone.

"We're having a bit of a problem. A clashing of ideas sort of situation," Moon stated.

"Okay…"

"We want to throw a party for the crew," Sun said.

Your eyes looked more awake at that, you looked to the solar themed stickman with interest.

"But the crew is also tired, and we want them to have a relaxing time too," Moon added.

You nodded seriously at him.

"So we were wondering if in your world, you had something that…" Moon trailed off, extending his hand out in the air and rotating it, like he was trying to wave the missing words into his head and out of his mouth.

"…could help us," Sun decided to finish the sentence.

It wasn't what Moon was going for, but it'll have to do.

"I don't know, are you guys wanting a slumber party or something," you ask.

"What's a slumber party," Moon asked.

You begin explaining what a slumber party is and what it entails. The longer you spoke about it, the more Moon and Sun felt like it was the perfect description for what they needed.

"That sounds amazing, honestly," Moon said.

You scrunched your face up at them, "Do you guys not have a special situation for slumber parties or of the like?"

"Well, based on your explanation, we're always having a slumber party," Sun mussed, "So having a "special" one wouldn't really occur to us."

"Yah, that's a good point," you said, "So. What else do you guys want to know?"

The three of you worked together on creating a place for where the party will take place and how to "decorate" it and what games there are for it and so on and so forth. Moon had a lot of fun planning this with you and Sun. It was a nice distraction to have, and he knows that the crew will appreciate the mix-up.

Moon stood in the kitchen entrance in the dining room. The tables and chairs were pushed to the side of the room to give the beds room in the center of the dining room. Pillows and blankets were pilled all over the place. The crew was already lounging about, playing dice games, and talking and snoozing on each other.

"Excuse me," you said as you bumped a tray against Moon's back, "Got snacks to pass around."

Moon scrutinized the food you made. You said you attempted to make potato chips, which is a crunchy, salty, deep-fried food from your world. These potato chips were made from sea apples that you dried up and salted. Moon took a chip and ate it.

"Hey!" You complained.

Moon smiled mischievously at you as he chewed.

Then his smile disappeared as the flavor of the chip hit him. Somehow you managed to make the usually bitter fruit taste sweet and salty at the same time.

"Oh, no. Do they taste bad? I could have sworn that they tasted fine this time," you said, reading the change on his face wrong.

Moon, now armed with the knowledge of salty/sweet foods, grabbed a whole handful of the chips, and ran off as he stuffed his face.

He heard your indignant gasp at his actions, and he was close to choking from how that made him laugh.

"Captain!" you yell at him.

Moon looks over his shoulder at you and he sees you running full sprint at him. The crew is cheering you on as the two of you run around the dining hall. Despite having the long leg advantage, you were gaining quickly on Moon.

Moon could have kept his lead for a bit longer, but then he saw Sun. He couldn't help himself because the thought was too funny. Moon stopped running in front of Sun, grabbed his hand, then gave his co-Captain a soft kiss on the back of his hand.

Sun's petals around his head fluttered from the attention as he smiled wide, but Moon didn't get to appreciate it long as you tackled him to the ground. Making Sun and the crew laugh.

"Whoa! Easy now. Don't hurt yourself," Moon said as you crawled up his mid-section and grabbed him by his shirt collar.

"Those were for everyone, Moon!"

The lunar themed stick-man smiled that you've actually used his name and he shrugged, "But they were so good. Besides this was funny."

You pout your lips out as you glare at him.

You let go of his collar and put your whole weight onto his stomach making an, oof sound, come out of him.

"I ain't getting up for the next five minute then."

Moon's smile stretches further on his face as he gives a quick look to Sun. He sees Sun covering his mouth with his hand, mirth bubbling out of him at the sight before him.

"You won't find me complaining," Moon said.

You give him an irate look, not understanding why this wasn't being considered a punishment for him, when you and Moon look up at the sound of Roxy howling.

"Yah, boy! Get it! Look out Sun, you'll have competition soon!"

Moon saw the shocked, blank look on your face, and you seemed to change color as you quickly scrambled off the lunar being. Moon was a little disappointed, but your reaction to Roxy's teasing made his night.

The slumber party was relaxing and fun. There was singing and games, but it was low energy. It was also fun to sleep in a big pile with everyone with pillows and some blankets. It made Moon think of what is must have been like when he was still in his fruit pod as he snuggled up to Sun in the sleep pile.