//------------------------------// // Of Maids and Men // Story: My Own Wings // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// As Slippy had predicted, it wasn't long before Sunset started prowling the halls of the ship on her own, frequently by means of self-levitation. Krystal didn't know what to marvel at more, that Sunset could focus her magic for such controlled usage so young, or that Slippy had managed to extend the ACSU system throughout the entire ship before she started. She was grateful that Sunset respected Danger symbols, and thus stayed away from the airlocks, the docking bay, the engine room, and the weapons bay, as well as not playing with the ship's controls once 'Bro-bot' told her not to. She was not grateful that Sunset seemed to take delight in finding spaces big enough for her but too small for anyone else, and then hiding away in a spot that made her voice echo and giggling as she watched everyone search for her. Still, it did mean Krystal stayed in great shape constantly chasing after her, despite the Great Fox now being so far in the black due to sale of magically generated resources that Falco was able to prepare a literal feast - for eyes and stomach - every night. Who knew the flirty showoff was such a good cook? When Sunset wasn't playing hide and seek with the entire crew, she would make her way towards a specific individual she wanted to spend time with, or to the kitchen to raid the cookie jar. Despite his best efforts, no security system Slippy had managed to devise could keep Sunset from the jar for more than about ten minutes. Still, Slippy enjoyed the effort of trying to stump her, and she plainly enjoyed testing herself against them no matter how puzzling they were. Most everyone would have been happy to let her treat herself to a cookie as a reward for success in that regard...if only she didn't gorge every time and ruin her dinner. More often than not it was Peppy who found her when she went to curl up somewhere after making herself sick from eating too many cookies, mostly because she wound up curled up on his bed since it was the softest in the ship for Peppy's old bones. Whenever he found her there - whether curled up for painful stomach or just because the blankets were comfy - he would pick her up, step over to his rocking chair, and simply rock her into a restful doze while stroking her mane. To keep her attention as he did this, he would tell her old stories from his life, anything from the adventurous to the ridiculous. She absolutely adored those tales, and it wasn't long before a common shout heard through the ship was, "Gampa! Stowy!" It took Peppy ten minutes to stop his tears of joy the first time she called him that. While most of those on the ship saw Sunset's endless wanderings as just her testing her boundaries and seeking to stimulate her forming mind, Krystal had begun noticing something else that she felt was of greater significance. While Sunset would play her games whenever she felt like it, 'hiding' more often than not occurred any time Fox and Falco both tried to approach her simultaneously, an event that usually devolved into their fight over who was 'Dada', and ended when they noticed Sunset had vanished. Krystal was pretty certain she knew what was going on there. Sunset plainly was extraordinarily fond of both young men, but the idea of picking one over the other - and the other's anger at that - was far too upsetting to her young mind, leading to her running rather than facing it. Krystal could only hope a resolution happened soon, and that it brought some measure of peace to the ship. This was especially large in her thoughts right now as she searched for Sunset, since she'd run off again because Fox and Falco had started arguing in front of her again. Krystal wasn't sure, but it looked like Fox at least had understood what was going on, so maybe he'd find a way to fix things...though she hoped it wouldn't be by trying to convince Sunset to make Falco 'Dad'. Krystal was already certain Sunset saw Fox that way, even if she hadn't called him that yet, and trying to shift those affections would not end well. Despite no longer surging or undergoing build ups, Sunset still possessed fearsome magic that demonstrated itself quite noticeably when she became perturbed. Much to her surprise, when Krystal was finally able to track down Sunset's magical signature - a difficult task in and of itself with the ship absorbing any stray magic Sunset left behind, and blanketing the ship in the echo from storing all that energy - she found Fox kneeling beside the vent Sunset was hiding in. Deciding to see what was going on, she stood back and waited. "Sunset," Fox whispered softly, "I'm...I'm sorry. I should have realized we were upsetting you sooner. It's just...Falco and I have been friendly rivals ever since we were kids, fighting over just about anything. When he started fighting over which of us was your Dad, I just...slipped into the habit. It made things feel...normal, and that he was accepting things. And I needed that normal, especially since Dad..." His voice trailed off, and he rubbed his hand over his face. "Point is, I shouldn't have been doing that. I should have been focused on taking care of you instead. "So I'm not going to fight with Falco over that anymore," Fox continued. "If he wants to insist he's your Dad, let him. That's up to you, not us...and we'll have plenty of other things to fight about over the years, hopefully ones that won't be upsetting to you." He slowly reached into the vent, and was rewarded with Sunset crawling into his arms. "I just...care about you too much to want to hurt you..." Sunset smiled up at Fox and nuzzled into his chest. "Da!" she stated quite plainly, making Krystal smile. "What?" Falco demanded as he rounded the corner. "Ha! Suck it, Falco!" Fox called out as he turned, making Krystal facepalm as Sunset glowered and bopped him on the nose. "...ow, she's got quite the right hook..." "Great!" Falco complained. "Just great! So where do I rate with her, huh?" "Unca Bahdi!" Sunset called out happily. "What?" Falco demanded angrily. "Just because I'm an avian, she calls me-" "I'm pretty sure she's saying 'Uncle Bardi'," Krystal interrupted. "When I talk to her about you all, I refer to you by full names...and there's no way she could pronounce even a close approximation of Falco right now." Fox snickered. "Unless you want to be 'Unca Fakka'!" he joked, causing Sunset's eyes to light up. "Uncle Birdy it is, then!" Falco responded quickly, making Fox and Krystal laugh.