Corneria, Wolf's House: The Past

Though most of the time James would have Fox stay at the house alone when he was on missions, there were the semi-rare lengthy missions where he didn't want Fox alone all the time, which is where his friend, Ryan O'Donnell came in. James would usually call up Ryan and make sure that Fox could live at his place until he came back, to which he would usually never care; unknown to James, Ryan was probably the worst person to ask. He was a man who, ever since the birth of his son, Wolf, had let himself go, and you would typically find him either higher than the Cornerian Command Tower, watching dirty movies on the holo-TV, or a combination of the two. He was unemployed and divorced, which meant this was the only thing you'd ever really find him do when he wasn't fixing cars.

The first time Fox walked home with Wolf (who was 4 years older than him yet still in the 10th Grade), his eyes laying upon the small shack of a home, he gave pity towards Wolf and his father. The outside was in great need of repair, with parts of the house even falling off, and the lawn needed heavy work; it was so dead, it was nothing but grey, with some parts half-cut, and others not even bothered with. The interior was even worse; some rooms had absolutely no wall paper, or some of it was peeling from the years of neglect, with half of the windows not even having glass or part of the glass was broken.

After about a month, he would get used to it, which was usually when James came to pick him up. However, his father as of recent had been gone for three. Supposedly, he had gone on his most important mission, which was to kill the evil ruler of Venom, Andross. So as of now, Fox just plopped himself onto Ryan's couch, turned on his gaming station, and began playing.

Within a few hours, Ryan had sat down next to Fox, watching him play. It was only a few minutes before Wolf and his new girlfriend were tiptoeing behind the couch, hoping his father wouldn't notice him, but failed.

"Where are you two going?"

"Angela and I are just goin' to the ice cream parl'er down on 5th Avenue." Wolf replied, a shit-eating grin showing up on the lupine's face.

"Oh, really?" Ryan smirked, taking a chug of some booze in his paws.

"Yew've got nothin' to worry about, Dad," Wolf sighed, "I'll make sure that Angela's safe, get 'er home by 10, and be here with more whiskey 'fer ya."

"Bring Fox with you while you're going out," he thumbed at the vulpine, "He's been glued to this thing for three hours, and I'm missin' my shows."

Fox's ears popped up while he got up to go turn the system off, soon following Wolf to the beat-up pickup in front of the garage. There had been silence for a good few minutes, until Wolf parked on a street in Fox's neighborhood.

"H-hey, Wolf? I don't think-"

"Shut up," Wolf looked at Fox in the rear view mirror, "We aren't goin' to the par'ler. Earlier, Angela and I were walkin' to the most borin' place on Corneria, and-"

"You were gonna fail that Chem test if I didn't take you to the library."

"Yeah, yeah," Wolf shrugged, "Anyway, on the way there, we passed 'yer little girlfriend's house. We seen some bull on the football team give her a little peck on 'er lips, an' I don't think it was in just a 'friendly way.'"

Fox looked at Fara's house, there were no lights on except for where her living room was. "You're joking with me, Wolf. Fara wouldn't-"

"She would." Wolf handed Fox a pair of binoculars from the glove compartment. Though smudged, he could view into her window, and sure enough, there was some bull sitting next to her on the couch, making out with her.

Corneria, Fox's House: The Present

After dinner, Krystal and Fox and both voted to just going back to the TV and watched it until the others came back, which only Slippy and Peppy came back. They both said goodnight to the toad and the hare, before standing in the hall, by their bedrooms, Krystal's words repeating in his head as he fell asleep, coming in and out in different orders, like broken pieces to a jigsaw puzzle. There was one thing, however, that stayed there better: her gestures. The way she got interested in that brief, intimate moment between the two puzzled Fox. Her tender and inviting lips, her smile...he wanted to say that he knew she liked him back, but he couldn't. He was too nervous; for all he knew, she could've just thought that's how Cornerians acted, since as of recent, she's been trying to bring herself to Cornerian culture; if it was for him, he had no idea. Krystal had picked up on his worrying as she went to bed, realizing she had to step up her A-game.

The next morning, they both woke up at 9:00, breakfast already made by Peppy and a very hungover and half-clothed Falco and Katt sitting on the couch, trying to recollect what both of them had done the previous night.

"So, what are all of us doing today?" Peppy asked, interrupting the silence of breakfast.

"My dad and I are going to the Cornerian Science Museum, we were talking about it all day yesterday," Slippy said first.

"Falco's comin' to my place!" Katt shouted from the other room.

"Uh, well...", Fox began to think of something, hopefully something not sketchy nor too simple.

"I was gonna go shopping at the Cornerian Mall for a new bathing suit," Krystal spoke up, "I was actually hoping Fox could come with me, I still owe him from all the times he's gotten enemies off my tail, and I wanna get him something while we're there."

"Heh," Fox said, blushing, "You gave me supplies those times, it's alright."

"Yeah, but I feel like I could do more."

"Y-yeah", Fox looked down at his food.

"Well, it's settled then! I'll stay here and watch the house, then." Peppy said.

Fox and Krystal went out at around 11:00; the shopping center wasn't too far from Fox's house, at least a 20 minute walk. In it, there were loads of food courts, gaming stores, and of course, multiple clothing outlets. They went in a swimming store, and, after waiting a few minutes, she had an entire arm full of bathing suits, both for her and him. After an hour of Krystal trying on her clothes, giving Fox an amazing sight and receiving compliments and a blush from him when she came out, they paid for the suits, and Krystal grew a little smirk on her face.

"Ready for part two for today, Fox?"

"Part two?"

"Yeah," she said, holding his hand, "We're gonna go to the beach, and I can tell you for a fact it's gonna be just you and me." She smiled at him, talking to him in a seductive tone.

"We are?"

"Mmm-hmm. Why else would I buy a new bikini and some swim trunks just to not wear 'em?"

"Good point," he said, looking down, "I guess I kinda like that idea." He said, holding her hand a little more firmly as they headed towards the car. What else could be more fun than going to the beach with Krystal?

A/N: Sorry if the chapter is a bit boring, I wanted some grand scheme to go on with Fox and Krystal, and this was the only real thing I could think of. It'll be more exciting next chapter, I promise! Also, I had no idea how to make Wolf sound "country" in a story, so that was the best I could do. XD