Bells. Clocks, alarms, chimes, deep chirps, and the deft hum of something above him.
His dreams had been getting weirder and weirder, both interesting and unnerving him with their peek into the darker corners of his psyche. To start the long and useless day off, he gets himself a glass of lukewarm water, sitting himself down at his dining room table...
The days on Papatoon were long and warm, not lending themselves well to any kind of cool air, not even in winter. Quite uncomfortable for a vulpine growing into his thick winter coat. Inside the house though, it was quite comfortable, as he'd installed an air conditioner a few months back, with some money he'd gotten when he had his… Old job. He wasn't going to bring back all those memories. Bad ones, and good ones. Some of the best times of his life. But that was all over, wasn't it? Ships long gone, a mothership destroyed in a noble sacrifice, and the only vixen he would ever love gone off on some God-forsaken revenge journey, promising that she'd return.
He'd watched the news diligently, seeing the path of uniformed dead grow in her wake. Generals, colonels, even sergeants. Where would she stop? That single question had kept him up for nights on end until his eyes were bleary with sleep and he had dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't washed, or combed, and the amount of shed hair and grease had left him a mere shell of a man. Physically, of course. In his mind, he still held out for her, praying for her to finally come back, after the sleepless weeks. His condition worsened, and he spiraled into a self-destructive cycle, until finally he'd been almost fatally injured during an unfortunate shootout in a bar, leading to an emergency triage to the nearest doctor. The only one nearby had been Mathius, a kind of old-fashioned sawbones, who tended to amputate rather than treat. For his sake, his teammates had forbade the doctor from cutting off anything important.
Then there was the ugliness, the engineer… What was his name? Slip- Sloop? Slippy. That was his name. He'd married, and crushed the poor fox's heart, seeing one of his closest friends and teammates go off to be with who he wanted to spend eternity with. More yelling. Tears, some things he probably shouldn't have said. All building up to a bloodied jacket and one fewer arwing. The bird. The pheasant. The other blue. Another friend leaving. But not to go off and have a life, but just because he was "bored", and "there isn't enough excitement". For a second he forgets his own name, and looks down at the flight jacket he wore. It says, next to an emblazoned insignia of a winged fox, 'Fox Mccloud' It sounds right, and then it all comes back to him.
"Uhhhh… I need to take a walk." He grumbles. He pulls himself out of the chair, gulping down most of the water. He throws the half-empty plastic cup back onto the table, and it rolls around for a second before settling. He shuffles to the door, and opens it. He looks outside, at the happy families, the playing kits and cubs. It's so painful to him that he has to look away and press his head against the wall, letting unseen tears sweep over his face. He wipes away the tears wetting his fur and face on his jacket sleeve, looking back out to the world. He walks down his stairs, going down and off from his small porch. As he walk by, people look at him with pity, and several salute him. He salutes them back, seeing that his reputation was that of the grizzled veteran, unable to forget what he'd experienced. He'd only told a small number of people about what really happened, and they were few and far between. A kit, held by one hand by each parent, walks past him, cowering. As he walks past, he hear the kit talking.
"Momma, daddy, why was that man so sad looking?" The kit asks, innocently.
"Because, Claire, he fought in a war."
"But why was he so sad looking?"
"I don't know, Claire."
"I wish I could make him happy, daddy."
That last line from the kit sends Fox to his knees, the tears birthing anew from his eyes. He buries his head in his hands, trying to stop the tears somehow, to dry them away. But he keeps on crying and crying, drawing quite the crowd. The kit breaks away from its parents, and runs over to Fox. He looks through his fingers at the small kit, it's eyes wide and curious.
"Mister, why are you so sad?"
Fox brings his head up from his hands, and looks at it. "Because I can't have kits like everybody else…" He says shakily. "But you- Your parents had you because they love each other, and I the one that I loved died a long time- ag-ago." He finishes. "Go back, kit."
The kits toddles off back to its parents, what Fox said sinking into its brain. The two parents look worriedly at Fox, and the mother takes out her phone dialing the authorities. After several more minutes of Fox on his knees crying his eyes out, a police car pulls up, and two officers step out, one beagle and a younger fox. They walk towards him. "Sir, what happens to be the matter? We were alerted that seemed to be in distress, and you were a veteran."
"I-I'm fine." He says, his ragged breathing cutting off his words. "I just n-need to go home… To- To- my…" He looks up at the officers. "Help me. I need help."
The officers look down at him with pitying gazes. They were alive when he was the renowned hero of the Lylat System, weren't they? "Sir, due to Corneria's veteran support, we can take you in for counseling." The beagle says, his ears flopping.
"Th-thank you very much, officer…" Fox stutters, getting up on his feet.
"Sir, kindly get in the car." The younger officer says calmly. He beckons Fox to the open door of the car and he gets in, settling down into the seat. The two officers hop into the car as well, and the younger one flips on the radio. It blares out some pop junk, not the kind of music that he and- He knows her name, how could he forget it? Krystal listened to. She would dance, and then fall into his arms, and they'd spend the rest of the day trying to sneak off to mate. He shook his head hard, banging into the window.
"Shit. Shit. Shit." He mumbles, holding his head.
The beagle officer looks back at him. "Sir, are you okay? I heard definite pained noises from the back."
"I'm fine, officer. Just a little- trouble." Fox says.
The beagle looks back to the road ahead, and Fox glances out the window, watching the stores and people fly past. Like some montage of life, a cruel reminder of thing he'll never have. He secretly hates the sweet couples, the laughing children. It reminds him of the life that was robbed from him by war and it's fallout. The car pulls into a parking space outside of the police station, and the two officers get out. The fox officer opens Fox's door, motioning for him to get out.
Fox gets out, looking around at the decoratively planted trees. He glances up at the sky, reflecting on when he used to fly through those clouds. He follows the officers through the doors of the station, and they lead him to an office marked 'Psychologist & Counselor'. Inside, there's a couch, two chairs, and a desk, with a name imbued on a plaque. The name is beautiful. Zonac… Odd name, but it reminds him of- her. "Sit down on the couch, sir. She'll be with you shortly." The beagle officer says. Fox sits down on the couch, settling into the cushy seating.
A bushy blue tail pops up from behind the desk, and Fox instinctively reaches to his belt, grasping for his non-existent sidearm. "Gah!" He yips. An almost familiar shock of purple hair also pops up behind the desk, and soon enough the rest of the person reveals themself. Oh God, she looks almost exactly like her. She's heavenly. He thinks.
"Sorry about surprising you, but I'm Zonac, your counselor. I'm going to be working through whatever trauma you might have in your head. Rest assured, you will be a new man when you exit this room." She says, her melodic voice being absorbed into Fox's ears. It's again, almost exactly like Krystals. But she's gone. Dead and gone. After all, she'd have come back if she was still alive. "Sir- What's your name?" She asks, her tail wagging.
"M-My name is Fox Mccloud." Fox whispers.
She gets a sad look on her face, but it's soon wiped away with a visage with a smile so white and shining that it could rival the very light of solar if it wanted to. "So, what's been troubling you lately, Mccloud?"
"Please, just call me Fox." He says. He looks at her from his dead eyes, from the rim ringed things through which he sees his twisted and broken outlook of the world.
"Okay, Fox." She says. "What's been troubling you lately?"
"The woman I loved. It's been killing me for years. We were going to get married, and we- we mated every time we had the choice. We were so close, so… Happy. Then she left, went off and slaughtered black-heated Cornerian generals. But she promised me she'd be back. It nearly broke my heart to see her being chased like that, always on the run. We didn't even talk. She never messaged me, sent an encrypted message, nothing. Then, as the years went on, there wasn't anymore killings, and I used my top military clearance like a sledgehammer, combing Cornerian black sites for her, military morgues, graveyards, anywhere that might have her, alive or dead. I saw so many things in those black sites… Makes my skin crawl and my fur stand straight up just to think of them. Then, one day, I went to one site, and they were studying physic energies of the mind, and they'd hooked up these five people, a tod, a vixen, a cat, a she-wolf, and some kind of cyborg thing. Looked like a pig. I freaked out, killed a couple scientists broke some soldier's neck. Fuck-" Fox grimaces. "God, sorry for that, I'm not good with people." He smiles slightly. "Especially if they're gorgeous vixens."
She burbles musically, her voice relaxing Fox. "Quite the flirtatious one, aren't you?"
"Only when I want to." He says smoothly.
"You remind me of someone I used to know. He was wonderful. And we were… Involved." She whimpers.
Without thinking, Fox leans over and plants a kiss on her muzzle. Instead of drawing away, though, she returns it. Pressing against him. Fox hadn't expected such a response, and he draws away from her, surprised. He sees that the fur around her eyes is damp, and that she's drawing closer to him. "Fox, I'm Krystal." She mewls. "I thought you'd hate me since I killed a Cornerian army general, but I must've been wrong, because you still love me, don't you?"
All this information stuns him for a second, and he stutters incomprehensibly for a couple seconds, losing all of his slick charm. "Well- Um- Krystal had blue hair. How do I know that you're Krystal?"
"Fox, remember when I surprised you by busting out of the birthday cake I made you?"
"Ooohhh… I remember that. I also remember that you jumped out wearing nothing but one of your rather skimpy tribal outfits."
"Do you want to be together again, Fox?" She says, preparing herself for a resounding 'no'.
"Krystal, I've been waiting for years for this moment, when we can just be together, with no wars, no more fighting tearing us apart." He gets up and hugs her close, shaking with emotion. "I love you so much, Krysie."
She hugs him back, resting her head on his shoulder. "I love you too, Foxie Woxy." They stay locked in each others arms for who knows how long, before the younger fox officer walks into the room, interrupting them.
"Hey, what are you doing to her?" He barks.
Fox instinctively grabs her closer to him, and she whines loudly, signaling for him to let go of her. He does so, and she steps back. He frowns, confused. "Get away from her!" The officer yells. Fox spins around him, frightening the young tod. He reaches for his taser, but Krystal pulls Fox to the ground, holding him there.
"Ow… Ow… Shit, my back…" He groans.
"Stay down." Snarls Krystal, her attitude changing completely.
"Ma'am, are you okay? Has this tod assaulted you?" The officer says.
"No, but he needs to hold back a little." She growls.
"Krystal? I thought we were going to be together again?" Fox whimpers, closing his eyes.
"Just shush, Mccloud."
The officer walks over to them, and tries to pick Fox up. Krystal lets out a growl from deep in her throat, and the officer withdraws himself from the two. Krystal lifts Fox up and puts him onto the couch, caressing his face with her delicate fingers. Fox, I'm sorry. I had to do that. He's a little… inexperienced. Now that I'm talking to you with you in the mental realm, you can be sure that I'm really me.
"Ma'am, if he attacks you or anything, I'll be right outside."
"You are dismissed, officer." She says. The young tod holsters his taser and walks out the door, shutting it behind him. When he's out of earshot, Krystal gives Fox a trail of kisses down his chest, licking him all the while, intoxicated with his scent after so long. "Do you mind if I stay over at your house tonight, Fox? I- I'm renting. Are you renting? If so, I can help pay it off."
"No, I bought a house on a little road, it's only got one bedroom, sorry. I can sleep on the sofa." He mumbles, relaxing. "I've been so sad since you left, Krystal. But now you're back." He purrs. Krystal scratches him on the chest, and his leg kicks happily. "I miss having someone to scratch me on the tummy…"
"Do you have any free time? I'm going to need some help moving my stuff." She asks.
"Yeah… I don't work… I just live off the money from Starfox..." He says softly.
A bell goes off, ringing loudly. "That's the end of my shift. Francine's going to come and take over from here on." She kisses him again, and while doing so, a female zebra walks in, and pauses as she looks at them.
"Zonoc! I thought kissing on the patient wasn't looked well upon! Never thought you were that kind of vixen."
Krystal breaks out of Fox and hers' kiss, blushing. "He's an old friend, I'm- Um- Ah…"
"You keep on going, Zonoc, he's a real hunk." The zebra brays.
Fox gets off the couch, and Krystal hugs close to him. "Don't tell anybody, Francine."
"Don't worry! I won't tell anybody. I see that he's a big shot, the war hero. You're lucky."
"Thanks, Francine." Krystal says.
Francine takes a seat at the desk, replacing the 'Zonoc' plaque with a 'Francine' one. She sits down, and waves Fox and Krystal out of the room. They stroll outside, the sun dipping below the trees and buildings. "This sure is romantic." Fox says, wrapping his arm around Krystals shoulders. They walk and walk, until they get to Fox's residence.
"Well, this is it." Fox says as he walks up to his door. He takes out his keys and unlocks the door. "Welcome to my humble abode!" He says, speaking in a ridiculous accent. He motions for her to come in.
"Fox, you're so gentlemanly!" She says as she steps through the doorway. As she looks around Fox sneaks up behind her and attack her thighs. "GEEEEP!" She shrieks, jumping high up the air. "You scallywag! I'm going to bloody grab your bits!" She dives at Fox, clawing for his groin. He sidesteps her, pinching her on the tail. She yipes again, baring her teeth. Fox slows down for a second, and she pounces on him, knocking him to the ground laughing his head off. She relentlessly tickles him, until he begs for mercy, playfully whining at her. "Your empress deems you… An absolute stud."
"Just as much of a tease as always, Krystal?" Fox chuckles.
"It's just one of my many skills." She says.
"Do you ever intend to fulfill your teasing?" He grins.
"Once I wash my hair." She kisses him on the cheek, and gets up off him. "Fox, where's the bathroom?"
"Straight ahead, door to your left." He says. As she walks into the bathroom, he gets off the floor and shakes himself. His tail fluffs in just the right way, and he decides that he ought to bathe. "I'm a damn mess, amn't I?" He sighs. He quietly goes to his bedroom, and grabs a comb. He sets about to combing his unkempt fur, and splashing his face with the leftover water he'd had that morning. He rubs in the water, washing away the buildup of grime around his eyes, nose, and mouth. The water also smooths down his fur, allowing for him to easily comb it. As he combs, tufts of shed fur come out, and he drags over the trash can placed beside his bed. He places the tufts in the trash can, each comb making him closer to the old Fox Mccloud, hero of the Lylat System. He takes a whiff of himself, and his nose wrinkles in disgust. "God, I smell awful." He groans. He ruffles through his belongings, eventually finding what he was looking for; A bottle of the finest cologne known to Fox-kind. odeur de tod-renard. He liberally applies it to himself, rubbing the strong, musky odor all over his key spots. He remembers that Krystal gave it to him because it reminded her of "Your scent when I first saw you." He disrobes, throwing the clothes onto the bed. He pulls out a good pair of jeans, a leather jacket, and boxers with arwings on them. He puts on a bright neon blue t shirt with the Starfox logo emblazoned on it. His musculature had suffered in his retirement, but it was still admirable. "I hope that we can get on with the evening, I'm having the most wonderful time just thinking about her." He gets a dreamy look on his face.
Krystal dries her hair, wondering if their relationship will work out this time. Fox is so… Bad looking. He's got bags under his eyes, his fur is horribly uncombed, and it's all dirty. Gods, I should never have left him on some goddesses-forsaken revenge… She shakes her head, her hair going every which way. She sets about to combing it until it's smooth and tidy, quite a sight. Once done with that, she sprays a little bit of Vixen's Guile perfume on herself, knowing full well that it got Fox all sorts of excited. She's done with it now, and walks out of the bathroom. "Fox! I'm done washing my hair!"
"Okay, Krystal. I'm done getting all gussied up." He says, and Krystal walks to meet him. She catches a whiff of the most amazing smell in the entire universe; The perfume she gave him, made almost completely from pheromones. It set her on edge, and made her entire body tingle.
"Fox, do I smell what I think I smell? Is that the most potent aphrodisiac known to Krystal-kind?"
"Um, it might be?" He seems a little hesitant in that remark.
"Oh, you want a wild time, do you? Want to reconnect with your vixen?" She purrs, and licks her lips. She can smell him even stronger now, but she's not going to give herself to him that easily. "But tonight, I just want to cuddle up to you."
"God, Krystal you are such a tease." He chuckles.
She runs at him, and pulls him onto the bed, trapping him in between her legs. "I've dreamt of this for years since I left, Fox…" She says sleepily.
"I've just wanted you back, Krystal…" He says softly, hugging her. He draws the sheets over them, and the two slip into their dreams, no longer alone. There's still Krystal's apartment to clear out, and Fox's nightmares, but those will have to wait for the two vulpines, together at last.