This may or may not be cannon, just having some fun, hope you all enjoy! and yes, this is set in the deception universe!
I took a deep breath before slowly letting it out, the wispy remnants of that breath quickly being wisked away by the freezing wind, trying to listen for any small sound that might reach my ears from our opponent. I could feel the bark of the tree I was leaning against, even through my leather jacket and jeans, my freezing cold 'weapon' loosely dangling in my hand. Snow continued to fall all around us, slowly obliterating any tracks we might have made, and piling the white powder higher and higher. We had forgoed a more defensive posture for an aggressive full on attack, but knowing our opponents, they were likely expecting that. I felt someone bump into my elbow, glancing at my light blue partner, just wearing a T-shirt as his natural winter coat was plenty warm for the current temperatures.
"You ready Marcus?" the blue humanoid vulpine nodded, the same cocky grin his father always had on his face. Oddly enough though, his eyes were a deep dark blue, unlike the green and turquoise of his parents. Although there was no doubting he was theirs. As far as build and color pattern, he was a carbon copy of his father, but had his mother's blue fur color, and could sense people's emotions. He couldn't read minds and send his thoughts to people, like his mother, but it was still pretty spectacular.
"I was born ready Will!" I chuckled at his enthusiastic response as I gave the snowscape another look, searching the trees and buried playground equipment once more.
"Damn right, remember, one of them is probably hiding in the snow, the other behind the trees. You push out first, try to find the one in the trees. I'll use my longer range to tag the one in the snow when they make a move. Ready?" I glanced at him as I finished speaking, seeing him heft both of his chosen weapons, ready to use them. he gave me a subtle nod, and I tapped his shoulder to tell him to move, watching him dart out with lightning speed. He was far faster than I could ever hope to be, even at my peak. He and his father were both like that, just insanely fast, by every meaning of the word. As he rushed to a piece of buried equipment, I sprinted to the next tree over, having to drop into the snow several times to not go above three to five seconds of running. Marcus was doing the same, only he had to say to himself 'I'm up, he see's me, I'm down.' every time he did so, more for a rough timing of the rushes as we slowly worked our way across the park. Suddenly, one of our enemies stepped out from behind a tree, throwing her chosen weapon at Marcus at the absolute limit her small frame would allow. It would have been an absolute perfect shot, had it not been for Marcus's insane reflexes, dodging the round like a scene ripped straight from an old science fiction movie. His return shot was almost simultaneous with the dodge, pegging the sliver and grey vixen dead center of her chest, spattering snow everywhere. His second quickly followed, but she was already ducking back behind the tree, Marcus now totally out of ammo. That's when a section of the landscape suddenly burst open, about halfway between me and Marcus, a blanket being knocked aside to reveal a shallow dug out fighting position, completely stocked with ammunition. Not that the Vulpine feline hybrid got the chance to throw a single one at Marcus, as I had already fastballed my shot square at the back of her head, one hundred percent predicting her plan, and perfectly countering it. My snowball burst into dozens of shards in an absolute spectacular explosion, spraying snow all around her as she froze on the spot, arm half cocked to hurl her own. Her head snapped to the side so she could get one of her sapphire eye's on me, her now snow covered hair whipping through the air like knives. But she was to slow, for I was already hidden behind a new tree, prepping my next shot. Off beyond her, Marcus and his smaller opponent were trading shots, both managing to connect several times, but neither really able to give or take ground. Meanwhile, I peeked out and watched the hybrid continue to scan for me from her little fox hole, one snowball ready to throw at the first sign of my appearance.
"I know you are over there Will! Stop hiding already!" I smirked at her shouted words, that being a que for Marcus. He suddenly changed targets, pelting a snowball straight for the hybrid.
"Mom! Look out!" she reacted to the sound of her adopted daughter's voice, her head whipping away from me to spot the incoming snow ball, giving me the exact opening I wanted, sprinting out from behind my tree and hurling my own. Both mine and Marcus's connected at the same time, Marcus nailing her clean on the top of her short muzzle as mine exploded against the back of her jacket.
"Damn it you two!" she managed to shout that out, moving to throw her snowball at the visible target of Marcus, unable to hear my feet in the soft snowfall, only for my hand to grab her wrist, my other arm snaking around her abdomen and yanking her from the position, letting myself fall back into the snow with her bundled up body on top of mine. she let out a massive shriek the second I had picked her up, giggling as she landed on top of me. She never grew a winter coat, her fur being more like her feline mother's, so she got cold very easily. And had been stealing my jackets since we had met any time it got cold. Even now, she was swathed in one of my hoodies. Which I snaked my hand into the gut pouch on and pulled out a stick with a red piece of tape on it, holding it up for the world to see.
"And we win!" I shouted that at the top of my lungs, the hybrids brown hair not even an inch from my face. I could easily smell her, the mix of a slight amount of sweat from four hours of rigorous snow filled combat, and her natural almost flower like smell more intoxicating than any beverage could ever hope to be. I took a deep whiff of that glorious smell as I staked the small stick in the snow, wrapping both of my arms around her to prevent her from moving.
"Aw, dang it! Dad, why do you have to be so good at this!?" I lifted my head off the snow to look at the tiny Vixen, smiling at her pouted expression. Both her ears were flat on her skull, her tail slim and limp on the ground, not that her tail could even be big and full in the first place. The ten year old girl was tiny for her age, almost four inches shorter than she was supposed to be, making her almost eight inches shorter than the already four foot six Marcus beside her. she had dark silver colored fur, the fur on the underside of her chin and chest being a lighter grey, along side mid back length black hair. She had her arms crossed, the look almost comical in Marcus's overly large borrowed black hoodie. She was too small to not be cold, so Marcus had let her borrow one of his sweatshirts.
Speaking of the blue vulpine, he had moved over beside her, smiling gently to her as he plucked a chunk of snow from her hair. "So next time, I'll be your partner, and I promise we will win!" she perked up at his friendly proposition, neither of them really old enough to realize what it looked like from here. Although, Marcus, being nearly twelve now, might catch it. the duo had practically grown up together, since myself and Mira had adopted little Aiya that is. She had been abused and neglected for the first two years of her life, spending several months in a hospital and foster care before we adopted her. which was why she was so small when she really shouldn't be. She also had a generally weaker immune system as well, having to take vitamins and immuno boosters almost daily, despite having a healthy diet. But Marcus, being the kind person he was shaping out to be, was always patient with her and did everything he could to include her in his activities. And when she was sick, he would spend most of his day's at our house, helping her get better. It also helped that they lived only a street apart, so it's not like he had to travel far.
"Awl, look at those two! I think we have another milkshake!" I couldn't help but burst out laughing at Mira's comment, rolling my eyes at her. ever since making a comparison between relationships and milkshakes almost thirteen years ago, Mira had taken to calling relationships milkshakes, more just to bring up the memories of that conversation than anything else.
"Jeez Mira, you know that's one of our daughter's, right?" the brown and tan hybrid chuckled, clearly absolutely content to stay right where she was. With my open jacket front, I could easily feel her very warm body through my shirt and her hoodie, as well as several cold spots where snow had been stuck to the hoodie. She still had snow stuck to several spots on her muzzle, as well as in her shoulder blade length brown hair. I gently plucked one off her short, relatively wider snout, flicking it away. "And you are covered in snow!" I more felt than heard her slight growl, the one eye of hers I could make out becoming a slit as she playfully glared at me.
"If someone hadn't pegged me in the back head with a snow ball, and if someone else hadn't pegged me in the face!" Marcus shied away at Mira's playfully hateful gaze, shriveling up with his ears pressed flat and tail tucked completely between his legs. He may have been an empath, but Mira and I had a lot of experience with telepaths, and learned how to show false emotions outwardly, more for the fun of picking on them. "I wouldn't have this problem, now would i?" I rolled my eyes at her as she shifted her glare at me to the best of her abilities. Of course, that meant looking straight up until her nose was literally brushing mine, her ears pressed flat on my chest, all attempts of looking angry lost with one look at her current position. So I just chuckled and gave her a short and gentle kiss on the end of her snout. Her shoulders slumped at that, shaking her head at me, and brushing her cold wet nose against mine several times.
"Mom, Dad, do you always have to be like this?!" I smiled to the small girl as she shouted that. Aiya looked beyond embarrassed. But I also noticed the fact that she was shivering uncontrollably. Given the worried expression on Marcus's face, both of his ears flat, he had noticed it too.
"As a matter of fact, we do! Now lets get our as-" my voice cut off as Mira violently elbowed my ribs. She constantly had to stop me from using my more 'colorful' infantry vernacular around Aiya. "Buts, inside. Before Fox throws a temper tantrum over us being late for dinner!" Mira chuckled at my words, more than likely at the small jab directed toward Fox, bouncing on my chest. Aiya also looked very relieved, more than happy to head inside. She loved to try and act tougher than her body would allow, but even so, she still knew her limits. She and Marcus instantly started heading for Fox's house, leaving myself and Mira behind, still lying in the snow of the park.
"You know, Fox and Krys are doing an incredible job of raising Marcus. I'd say he's kinder than the both of them combined."
I smirked, one of my hands snaking under her shirt to rub the soft fur of her belly as she spoke. the slight purr of pleasure she let out was beyond adorable. "So you noticed his reaction too huh?" she nodded as I spoke, myself feeling her starting to shiver a little herself. "Anyway, we should probably follow them. before the one of us with fur freezes to death." Mira's shoulders slumped as she tried to glare up at me again, only to earn herself a kiss planted firmly against the end of her snout, making that glare disappear in an instant.
"Yeah, you're right. Besides, Mother Hen Fox really will get pissed if we miss dinner!" we both laughed as she sat up and stood, myself following suit as she retrieved the blanket she had been using from the snow, our hands acting almost like magnets as we began our own trek back, hands tightly interlocked.
Fox glanced up from his cutting board when he heard the door open, seeing a shivering Aiya followed closely by Marcus, both covered in snow. Aiya was clinging to Marcus as though her life depended on it, although that was not actually inaccurate. Due to the abuse and neglect she had in her early years of life, her body was weak, unable to metabolize food as well as it should and as a consequence, her body had trouble keeping her temperature up, or raising it for that matter. So her trying to bury herself in Marcus's downy winter coat was not a show of affection, but just her seeking warmth. It was also perfectly normal to see the pair show up like this, down to even Aiya wearing his hoodie, despite having her own beneath it.
"Hey you two! Dinner should be ready in an hour or so, have fun out there?!" Marcus was instantly nodding, a grin plastered to his face. Whether or not Aiya was grinning or not, Fox couldn't tell, given she had buried her face in Marcus's neck fur as soon as they came in "Where's Will and Mira?" Marcus just grunted as he guided Aiya over near the fireplace in the house's living room. The small girl finally let go of him, pulling the wet sweatshirts off as he grabbed an old tan blanket from the couch, wrapping the blanket over the both of them as they sat near the fire. This was also a pretty normal sight in the winter, although it was typically one of the adults who would help her warm up. Marcus had only really started helping out in that regard last winter.
"M-o-om a-nd dad-d ar-re c-com-ming. Th-they were b-being weird in the s-snow." Just a few seconds under the blanket and near the fire was helping the poor girl immensely, although she was likely not leaving the blanket until morning. Fox rolled his eyes, knowing Mira and Will were probably just being their regular playful selves. Somehow, despite everything that had happened, and raising a child, and a teenager if they counted Kayla, they had remained the same playful couple over the past fourteen years, never once wavering in that regard. Fox was suddenly shaken from his thoughts as he felt arms snake around his bare torso, not even having to glance down to know it was Krystal's. Being a Vulpine, his winter coat made it unbearably warm in the house, or at least, in the sixty degrees that both Mira and Will complained about being a little chilly. So, he usually ran around the house shirtless, more to avoid sweating by the bucket load than anything else. Krystal's coat wasn't as thick as his, so she could comfortably wear normal clothing, but that was only because of the generally milder winter's her home world of Cerinia had.
"You're so warm Fox!" he heard her muffled voice as she pressed herself against his back, her muzzle buried against the back of his neck.
"Come on Krys, you're making it hard to finish dinner!" not that dinner was all that hard to finish at this point. Wait for some cookies and such to finish baking, occasionally stir some veggies and gravy. Nothing to it at this point. Fox didn't get a verbal answer to his statement, the deep blue and white vixen just squeezing him a little harder and purring at him. he rolled his eyes, batting the interior of her thighs with his tail, which she had staggered herself over top of.
Fox and Krystal's house was actually very simply designed, the front door opening into large open area, split between a sitting area and entertainment area on ones right, the entertainment area toward the back of the house, and a dining and kitchen area, with the dining room at the front of the house with a large bay window out to the street. The kitchen had a large breakfast island and sink, the stove, fridge and all the other cooking accessories Fox could ever want being arrayed against the wall. At the back corner was a door leading into a walk in pantry, the pantry actually housed behind the stove and it's countertop array. The other side of the main hall, as Fox liked to call the main hall of the house, was split between the entertainment and sitting areas by a hallway which led to a guest bathroom and the bedrooms, a door at the end of the hall leading to the houses basement. the fire that Aiya and Marcus were still sitting at was on the side wall in the sitting area, an identical bay window to the one on the otherside of the door dominating the front section of the wall there. Normally the area had a coffee table and chairs, arrayed around the fire place, but once a year, the table was removed and the chairs were re-arrayed around a Christmas tree, set up in the window. An actual, small, pine tree, not a fake constructible one. And it already had a fair number of presents resting beneath it's branches, ready to be opened tomorrow morning.
Although Christmas was technically a human holiday, and was celebrated nearly three months from now, in Corneria's spring time, they celebrated it here in the dead of winter. Fox had actually never even heard of Christmas until one of Will's old military buddies asked if he could use Fox's house for a Christmas gathering. The single father at the time only having a tiny military issued hotel room for him and his son as he supported US forces still fighting on Katina. It had ended up a huge event, and nearly a disaster, but Fox had loved the idea. So, having learned that Will was used to celebrating it in the winter, they had created their own Christmas tradition. And had celebrated it every year since. Although, with Wolf's seemingly ever growing family, things were getting crowded in his old house, and given Wolf and Sheila actually lived on Mecbeth most of the time, Fox and Krystal had decided to sell their original home for this larger one, which used to have enough room for all of Wolf's family. Although, Fox didn't actually know if they were coming this year. Heck, this year was looking to be the quietest yet, Slippy having taken his family out on a long distance system survey, Falco not having shown up since leaving the Star Fox team, almost nine years ago now. Peppy occasionally dropped by, but he was getting older, and liked to stay in as much as he could. Bill and Fay had more kids than Wolf, and Fay was currently in the hospital as of this morning, with another pair of twins on the way. Not only that, but they lived on Katina, and unlike Wolf and Co, they didn't have a starship. So his family wasn't going to be here. Will had friends who would occasionally come, but this year, it was just the two small families, not even Will's first adoptee, Kayla, being able to make it this year. Although, Fox really liked that idea, the last few Christmas's being down right hectic. It was actually relaxing to know that the only kids here were the definite quietest of the bunch, that being Aiya and Marcus. Wolf's older kids were the loud mouths. Of course, thinking of who their parents were, he really wasn't surprised at all by that particular fact.
Fox suddenly heard a knock at the door, raising an eyebrow at that. Will and Mira never knocked, as far as Fox having made spare keys for all of their family, so it was definitely not the two of them arriving. Don't worry, I got it! Krystal's voice seemed to echo in his head, Fox getting the distinct feeling she already knew exactly who was at the door. And the way the blue vixen practically pranced over there, there was no doubt in Fox's mind that she knew who it was. Krystal had changed a little over the past few years, no longer having the incredibly toned body she once had, but that was only because they didn't have labor intensive jobs anymore. Even with a tad bit more weight, she was still absolutely gorgeous to Fox. She kept her hair at about shoulder length still, it getting in her way if she let it get any longer, like Mira and Aiya's hair. How Mira designed and prototyped speeder parts with her hair as long as it was, Fox didn't know.
Krystal didn't even hesitate when opening the door, a near explosion of noise entering the house as soon as she did. Fox's brain nearly froze as several canine and lupine like kits rushed into the house, one screaming Marcus's and Aiya's names at the top of his lungs. Meanwhile, one of those kits parents was screaming at the top of her lungs as well as she greeted Krystal, Fox almost having to cover his ears from the noise. The person greeting his wife was none other than Sheila Spitz, the mother of all of Wolf O'Donnel's children, despite the fact that the pair had yet to be officially married, and currently had a very loud two year old kit in her arms. She was an absolutely stunning cinnamon brown and white canine with icy blue eyes, and a good inch or two taller than Fox, Fox always wondering who between her and Will was actually taller. Her hair seemed like a literal explosion of sandy brown locks, long enough to reach down past her tail. And her personality seemed to match her hair, a literal explosion of energy. Even when she was being quiet, any room she entered became at least three times louder. Something all of her kids seemed to have inherited. And multiplied. By a factor somewhere in the hundreds. Maybe thousands. He watched as their eldest, Nathan, made a beeline for Aiya and Marcus, hugging both of them at the same time. Even though he was actually a premature birth, and still a month younger than Marcus, he swamped the two of them, already having broken five feet in height. He had the same wild and rugged look as Wolf, but his fur had a slight coppery tint to it, unlike Wolf's straight black and grey. He also had about mid-blue eyes, not really dark, but not really light blue either. But the trio were definitely tight friends, and probably always would be.
"Hey, Nathan! Be gentle! You can't just throw yourself at a girl like that! Especially not one half your size!" Fox barely managed to catch that shout from a voice he easily recognized as their second oldest, Flannery. She had a nearly identical build to her older brother, merely feminine, and with a lot more of a coppery tone to her fur. She seemed to also have an explosion of hair, just like her mother, but it was lessened by the fact that her hair didn't even break half of her mother's length. She and Aiya were almost identical in age as well, and despite the almost explosive differences in their personality's, Flannery's in your face hyper activity and outgoingness compared to Aiya's silent almost anti-social behavior, they were incredibly close friends. As soon as she reached the other three, Flannery pulled Aiya's tiny form out from under the blanket and away from the two now wrestling boys, already talking so fast with her that Fox doubted even a super computer could have kept up. As odd as it sounded, he had more trouble tracking the last two members of the O'Donnel pack than an overpowered Dominance-class fighter in an asteroid field, the two six-year old's blazing around the room with a toy Wolfen and a toy Arwing. Both looked almost identical to Wolf, only they both had shocks of white hair on top of their heads, and had mismatched eyes. The only way Fox could ever tell the pair apart was that Kurt was slightly taller than Kasey, and his right eye was grey, his left sky blue. Kasey's eyes were the reverse, his right being blue, the left being grey.
Fox finally thought the room had reached a relative calm again, or more like it had just adjusted to the explosion of activity more like, when he heard a massive meaty thud, his eye's snapping back to the doorway as a massive grey and black furred form was slammed into the ground just inside the door, Will in his leather jacket tumbling over it. The thud had enough force to rattle the whole house, Fox swearing he heard a glass fall over in the cupboard and shatter. Wolf and Will were immediately back to their feet, trading rapid jabs and punches, both of them grinning like idiots.
"For the love of everything fluffy, why the fuck has my house become a three match combat tournament!?" Fox could not stop his shout, having noticed that the twins had now started wrestling over which toy they had, Wolf and Chris immediately stopping.
"Shesh Fox, language! Aiya and the kids are here you know!" despite Mira's quiet voice, it still clearly carried across the entire room, the hybrid near silently slipping through the still open door and closing it behind her. "And boys! If you all really want to punch each other, go down to the basement where we have mats and gloves!" she pointily glared at Will, Wolf, Nathan, and Marcus, all of them all cringing, Fox catching Aiya go wide eyed and start slinking toward the nearest piece of solid object, even with not being the target of the glare. And he didn't blame a single one of them. Fox definitely never wanted to be on the business end of any weapon, be it belt, blaster, or beer bottle, that Mira was wielding while angry. He'd seen, and been on, the receiving end of the results, several times. Somehow, she was the control on everyone in the group. "And Sheila, you might want to stop those two." Sheila sighed as she realized what Mira was pointing at, yet to have noticed the squabbling twins.
"Welp, there goes my hopes for a nice quiet Christmas. Again." Fox couldn't help but mutter that to himself as he stirred the food again, a sigh slipping out of his mouth. He was still grinning though, happy to have such a massive family. Even though most of them were completely unrelated to each other, there was absolutely no doubt that they were a family. And always would be.
"Damn it Will, I still gotta get you back for last time!" Fox's ears perked up at the sound of Wolf mild cussing, his eyes flicking up to the burly Lupine. The near six and a half foot canine towered over everybody, and he was built like a freight train. His grey fur never looked neat and tidy, despite several attempts made by Sheila, one apparently involving three entire bottles of human hair gel. He had one grey eye, the other being a cybernetic replacement, hidden beneath a glass plate.
"Pish, you've never been able to be beat me Wolf, be it Halo, Starless void, or a fucking fist fight, I beat ya everytime!" Will had instantly retorted back to Wolf, both of them leaning away from each other, arms crossed in absolutely identical positions. Will was the only human in Fox's 'family', being the first and so far only human to serve with the Star Fox team. A former infantry lieutenant and Airborne Ranger, he had a habit of keeping himself in incredible shape. But he wasn't massive or ripped, toned, yes, but aside from that, he simply looked average. He kept his brown hair much longer than he used to, his steel grey eyes almost always seeming ready to laugh, particularly at a terrible joke. There was a set of three scars on his cheek, claw marks, that he had received over a decade ago, along with dozens of shrapnel scars. But all were over a decade old by now, and had begun to fade away. he was now a cop with the CPD, and a member of their Tactical Response Team.
"What did I just say about language!?" Both Wolf and Will looked like they had both been physically slapped by Mira's angry words, causing Fox to roll his eye's at them. both gave Mira identical guilty puppy looks, neither one brave enough to challenge Mira. And for good reason. It would likely be good to note that Mira had been the reason the first Christmas Fox had ever seen had gone sour, but that was a story for another time, Fox merely hoping her ire wouldn't be turned on him. Mira was likely one of the kindest people Fox had ever met, generally quiet unless she was among friends, but always trying to help people. It was likely because of that, that she was so utterly terrifying when angered. That, and she had been known to smack people who pissed her off enough. And shoot them, on at least one occasion. Thankfully, Will had been wearing shielded powered armor at the time. She was the shortest of all of the adults, sitting about five inches shorter than Fox himself, and the only Hybrid in the group. She had short brown and tan feline fur, a thick busy vulpine tail, vulpine ears, and a short, squat vulpine snout, making her look somewhat awkward in a way. But she was still a beautiful woman, not as fit as Krystal had been or Sheila still was, but not overweight by any means. She had full, brown hair that reached to the bottom of her shoulder blades, and deep sapphire blue eyes unlike anything Fox had ever seen in his lifetime.
"Hey guys! It's time to eat!" Fox shouted that as he pulled the tray of baked goods out of the oven, quickly using a spatula to pull them off a tray and set them on a towel. As he was doing that, Wolf had started pulling out the leaves of the wooden dining table so they could expand it, Sheila grabbing the spare chairs from the wall and placing them around the table while Marcus and Aiya started setting out plates and silverware. Of course, they only had enough room for ten plates on the table, even extended. Above that, they only had nine chairs, but the group was used to this by now. The two year old, Adrian, didn't really need a chair, and Sheila was too smart to let the kit loose on the world, so he was likely going to be on her lap. Marcus, Aiya, and Nathan were pretty well guaranteed to sit together, although when Kayla was around, Nathan usually went and joined his other siblings around the coffee table in the entertainment area. Mira and Will were busying themselves with moving all of the food to the center of the table, from ham, to several different casseroles, candied yams, and because Fox had felt like it, a whole stack of steaks, all cooked to an absolute perfect medium-rare. There almost wasn't enough room on the table for all of the food. Knowing Wolf's family though, and Will for that matter, most of that food was probably going to disappear very quickly. As soon as all of the food had been loaded on the table, and they had finally managed to get the kids calm, they all slipped into seats, four on each side of the square table, one on the end. Aiya had claimed the end seat, Will and Mira on one side of her, Marcus and Nathan on the other. Sheila and wolf had taken the seats beside Mira, leaving Fox beside Nathan and his own wife, and right in front of his stack of Steaks. Before anyone even started plating food, Will took both Aiya and Mira's hands, starting a chain that went all the way around the table, the other kids holding Wolf's hand to make a chain between Wolf and Krystal, just before all of them, save Adrian who had to keep being restrained by Sheila, bowed their heads and closed their eyes.
"Lord, we thank you for all of this amazing food Fox prepared for us this evening, and for having yet another year with each other. We only ask that as we part ways once more, that you watch over and guide each of us, as well as those who couldn't be with us here today. Amen." Fox opened his eyes immediately after Will had said Amen, releasing Nathan's hand, but not Krystals. Mira and Aiya had both repeated the last word Will had spoken, both of them believing the same as he did, that there was such thing as a god. Fox had always disagreed with Will on that, but he also deeply respected Will, and his beliefs. So it had become a tradition amongst them to let Will pray with them every single Christmas eve dinner. And although he could never understand why Will, Mira, and Aiya believed as they did, he had seen how much calmer of a person simply praying before meals had made him. Mira had actually suggested to Will to start praying again, despite the fact that she didn't believe in religion at the time. But if you talked to her now, she would admit that she started believing in it shortly after that. Aiya, as much as one might think Will shoved his beliefs on her, had actually just seen Will reading out of his bible, reading it more to sate her own curiosity. Afterwards, the two had talked about it for what seemed like weeks before she admitted to the group at large that she too believed there was a god. In the end, Fox didn't much care, but even he had to admit, he loved the tradition it had created for them. It always made him look back on the last year they had gone through, as well as those who couldn't be there, adding a nice touch of happy reminiscence to the meal. "Hey Fox, ya gonna start handin out them steaks ya got there, or what!?" Fox startled as Will shouted at him from the opposite corner of the table, rolling his eyes at Will before he started loading passed plates with the food in front of him.