After a few more days of simple training, Aerrow and Piper were satisfied that Stork had the minimum training he needed to defend himself. However, one night, as Piper wandered the ship with insomnia, she heard Stork grunting and panting, and she decided to investigate.
When she peeked onto the bridge, she saw him practicing the moves he'd learned, except he seemed determined to hit some invisible target. She smiled slightly, wondering why he was so focused. When he slipped and fell trying to perform a leg sweep, she suppressed a giggle. He cursed softly as he got back up, dusting himself off.
"Oh... I'll never be as good as them... why do I even bother? I should just stop pretending and get back to being me, before I end up looking stupid..." He walked back over to the helm, shoulders slumped in defeat. That's when she walked in.
"Hey, Stork..." She said softly, trying not to sound too happy at 1:30 in the morning. The pilot stared at her as she walked over and sat at the meeting table. His eyebrow shot up as he turned to stay with her.
"You're up awfully late, Piper..." He said suspiciously, clearly concerned. His eye twitched slightly, and then he shook his head and turned back to the helm. Piper frowned slightly upon seeing this.
"Stork-" She began. The Merb cut her off.
"I know you were watching, Piper... otherwise, you wouldn't be trying to make me feel better..." He said sadly. She shook her head.
"That's not true... well, okay, I was watching you, but... I just wanted to see how you were doing..." She walked over to him, and he pulled away as she tried to lay her hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to be so nice to me, Piper... I don't deserve it..."
"What in the Atmos makes you think that? You think we only care about you because you can fly the ship?" Her voice softened with concern.
"Well, don't you?" The pilot turned to look at her as he spoke.
"I can't speak for the rest of the guys... but I don't care whether you can or can't fight or fly... that's not what's important to me..." She tried to comfort him, but he seemed so... apart.
"I guess I just feel... worthless sometimes..." His eyes started to tear up. She walked over and rubbed his back.
"Hey... don't talk like that... I don't think you're worthless... so, you're not as good a fighter as Aerrow, and maybe you can't shoot as well as Finn... nobody I know is as strong as Junko... we all have something different to bring to the table, Stork, and for you, that's being the best pilot in the Atmos..." She smiled and pulled him into a hug. At first, he tried to squirm free, but after a few moments, he hugged back, tired of fighting. She felt his body tense up as they got closer. The blush on his face was almost glowing.
"Stork, are you okay?" She saw the blush, and he turned away, trying to hide it.
"Yeah... I-I'm just... n-not good at being close t-to beautiful girls..." He let out a soft "eep" after saying that, and his blush deepened. Piper giggled softly and drew closer.
"You... you really think I'm beautiful, Stork?" Her eyes softened as she blushed along with him.
"W-well... yeah, I-I do..." He continued to stutter nervously. For some reason, she didn't care. He was convinced she'd find it a mood breaker.
"That's... that's really sweet of you, Stork..." Her blush deepened to match his. He gulped nervously and wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead. She smiled through her nervous laugh, and they both felt fairly awkward as Aerrow joined them.
"Hey, guys... guess you couldn't sleep either, huh?" The redhead never saw the blush on their faces.
Author's Note: Sorry about this chapter being so... angsty... I felt like I don't write enough balance into my stories... so, next one will be funnier, I promise...
