"But- but I'm not like that!" said Fox, confused and distraught at the news of what he had done the previous night with his former rival, who was very much a man. "I believe you... but looks like your left paw thinks otherwise." said Wolf, laughing nervously. Fox looked down to see his paw tightly grasping Wolf's leg. He quickly retreated his paw and began frantically gathering his various articles of clothing that had been scattered across Wolf's apartment. "Hey, hey, slow down, buddy..." said Wolf, sounding a bit sedated. "What have you been pushing anyway?" asked Fox with a microscopic hint of concern. "Oh, nothing that'll fuck you up too bad..." mumbled Wolf. Fox glared at him suspiciously and eyed the swollen injection point on his arm. "I really have to leave now but I- I'll leave my phone number on the table if you need anything, I guess." said Fox hurriedly. "What's the ru-" Wolf inquired, but Fox was already out the door.

Fox sighed at his misfortune when he realized that he was on the complete opposite side of the city to where he lived, and he had no car. He whistled at a passing taxi, but it's driver ignored him completely. "Hey, friend! What's the big idea?" he yelled at the cab. It was a very hot day. It was the part of Corneria's orbit cycle when they were closest to a star. "Okay, guess I'm taking the bus then." said Fox, trying to remain as optimistic as possible. He was already late for work, and he hadn't gotten much sleep.

The rest of Fox's unusual commute went relatively smooth; until he received a call from his manager. Fox groaned when he heard the obnoxious red-flag ringtone that he had set for her. He sighed and took a deep breath, then quickly answered the call. "I'm really sorry, Ava, I'll be there s-" Fox was cut off by her raucous voice squawking on the other end. "Where the hell have you been, McCloud? We have twenty people lined up to get their medications, and I don't know what to tell them! You better get your scrawny ass over here in the next five minutes, or you'll be more than fired!" Fox breathed deeply and pressed the large red button on his phone. End call. "Next stop: Ultor District" said the monotone voice over the intercom.

Fox's first instinct was to leap off of the bus and make a mad dash for the clinic, but he tried his best to keep his cool and take it slow; he stepped off of the bus and walked across the street casually toward the clinic. 'Really awful weather today' thought Fox awkwardly, as if trying to prove something to himself. Fox took a deep breath and walked through the sliding electronic doors of the clinic, knowing that hell was just on the other side.

The store was hectic. There was a crowd of people scattered across the store, looking for a staff member to hound about the absence of the pharmacist. The manager, Ava, was taking shelter behind the counter, checking her watch and the telephone for any sign of Fox. "Ava!" yelled Fox, trying his best to talk over the angry crowd. "Fox! Thank God you're here! Get behind the counter before they burn down the store!" said Ava with a hint of sarcasm, something Fox had never seen in her before. Fox practically hovered over the counter into the pharmaceutical department, dashing to get the first customer's prescription slip.

After several hours of hurried orders and searching the shelves for the correct medication, things finally quieted down. "Don't you ever be late for work again, or I will fire you, understand McCloud?"

"I'm sorry, I ran into someone I knew, and we started talking, and well..." "I don't care about your personal life. Just don't do it again." said the bird quickly, any and every trace of humor or sarcasm gone. Aside from the morning's rough start, the rest of the day was very slow; most Cornerians worked afternoon shifts, so there were not many customers.

Fox found himself flipping through phone books, looking through the "O" section, scanning each page intently. 'O'Donavan... O'Donnell!' Fox read out the names to himself, his eyes brightening at "O'Donnell." He took down the phone number and put it into his contact list. Fox sighed heavily and wondered what he was doing. 'Why would I call him?' Fox asked himself. "Well it is a small planet after all, isn't it?" Fox looked up from the phonebook and stared into the yellow eyes of his ex-nemesis.

"I didn't know you worked here." said Wolf, who had sobered up in the past few hours. "Oh! Hey.. yeah, this is where I work. Why are you here?" asked Fox, trying to act busy. "My usual clinic moved to the other side of town. What a coincidence that I'd meet you here, huh?" said Wolf, oblivious to Fox's fickle state of mind. "I guess everything happens for a reason."

After about five minutes of idle chatter, Wolf, guilty for doing all this with Fox with no explanation, finally gained the courage to ask without sounding strange; "Fox, do you want to go do something later, and catch up and what not?" "Oh, I think we 'caught up' quite enough last night." said a nervous, uncomfortable Fox, trying his best not to offend Wolf, but still wanting to get the point across. "Oh. Okay, maybe some other time... I guess." said Wolf, understanding, but still disappointed. An awkward silence ensued, and the two found themselves staring out into space, but both were eyeing each other through their peripherals. "Well, I really have to get back to work." said Fox, trying anything to break the silence. "Oh, I still need my prescription." said Wolf. "Oh, right. Can I see your papers?" Fox took the small yellow prescription and saw the words 'FLUOXETINE 30MG CAPSULE.' Anti-depressants. 'No wonder he's so mellow all the time.' thought Fox, mixed feelings of pity and worry pooling in his mind.

Several days passed, no calls. Same routine. Hot weather. Fox found himself browsing the contact list on his phone, passing all names and stopping when he saw 'Wolf'. He would repeatedly open and close the contact, eventually memorizing the number, although never gaining the courage to call him. Fox would continuously stroll through the seemingly endless aisles of various medications at work. 'Vicoprofen. Sounds intense.' thought Fox, teetering on whether he should slip a few. 'Ava's on her lunch break, there are no cameras back here... I can always change the stock report. Oh, what the hell.'

Fox took a few of the small white pills and put them in one of the bright orange transparent pill bottles.

It wasn't raining outside. Fox wasn't sad or unhappy. He wasn't happy either, he was content. The pills were nice, they neutralized his mood. He couldn't feel half of his body, but that wasn't necessarily bad. His telephone sounded like it was ringing, but Fox knew it was just in his head. 'There's too much space where someone should be in here.' Fox decided. 'Who can I call...' Fox scrolled through almost all of his contacts until he saw that very last simple name. Wolf. Calling. "There's an empty space on my couch where you would fit quite nicely." said Fox monotonously. "Haven't heard from you in a while. So you just want me to come over right now, just like that? This is kind of random." said Wolf, suspicious and wondering. "If you don't want to, just say so." said Fox, trying his best to sound like he didn't care. "No, no, it's alright, it's fine, I'll be over soon."

"Uh, hey. The door was unlocked and open, you might not want to do that anymore." said Wolf. "What did you need anyway? Are we going to go somewhere or what?" bombarding Fox with questions was Wolf's way of subconsciously saying that he was uncomfortable. "No, no, no, just gonna stay here; we can hang out and maybe 'catch up' some more." said Fox, growing more and more lecherous as the pills continuously killed off his brain cells. Wolf scanned the room for context as to what Fox had been indulging in, and his eyes met with the bright orange pill bottle, now empty. "Fox... what kind of pills have you been taking?" asked Wolf, noticing the lustful gleam growing stronger in Fox's eyes. "Does it matter?" said Fox, lifting himself from the couch and slowly inching towards Wolf, his intentions now obvious. "What are you doing.. Fox?" asked Wolf, somewhat worried that the pills had incited some old furies in Fox and he may be hostile.

The pills had incited something in Fox, but it wasn't rage. He threw himself at Wolf and began tearing at Wolf's jacket with his teeth. Wolf knew what Fox wanted. He only realized it when he was intoxicated. Wolf wanted it too. "Take it easy, Fox!" Fox stopped his task and laid back, panting and tense. Wolf crawled over and put his arms around him. "I know." he whispered in Fox's ear. Wolf lifted Fox onto his broad shoulders and brought him to the couch, where they 'indulged' heavily from each other. Fox never danced when he went to clubs. He liked to watch the people. He admired the way their bodies moved. He admired the way Wolf's body moved. Gracefully; hips rolling smoothly back and forth. There was no phone to bring him out of his trance this time though, reaching a climax so great that he passed out as soon as it was over.

Morning. There was light streaming through the window. The phone rang. Fox reached over his dormant partner and took the phone off of the receiver. "Fox McCloud? This is the Corneria City Major Trauma Center. It's your father, James McCloud. He's very sick."