000
"What do you mean you aren't coming back? Where do you plan to go?"
The vixen rolled her eyes and sighed, not in any mood to explain herself, "I can still land at Terria, I've already gotten clearance."
"But why?" Peppy asked, not understanding why Fara would want to go to Terria. Surely she wasn't that set on getting back to Fox...was she?
"Because!" she exclaimed, clearly annoyed with them all at this point, "I want to check on...them..." she finished, spitting out the final word.
"Fara I assure you they are fine, I just talked to Fox a few hours ago, everything is all right."
She fought back the urge to tell the old hare what she really wanted to say, what was burning inside of her as she imagined Fox alone with Krystal for even one night. They would never understand why she had to get to him, she had to show everyone, especially that sapphire bitch, that Fox was hers.
"Look, it doesn't matter." Fara answered, nearing the outer skies of Terria, "I'm already here, I've already got the clearance to land, I'm going to see them."
With that said she ended their transmission, leaving a confused Peppy in the control room with an unseen, worried, Katt Monroe standing in the doorway. Things were going to get bad. She didn't know what the situation was between Fox and Krystal at the moment but she was sure of one thing. If they didn't admit how they felt before Fara arrived then neither of them may ever get the chance again.
000
"G-Gerand...the Gerand."
"You mean the Garan?"
The vulpine closed his eyes and pinched the base of his nose, doing his best in his drunken state to think of the name of their hotel. At this point, considering how much alcohol he had consumed, he was amazed he was still able to walk, much less ask for directions.
"Y-yeah," he murmured faintly, "Can you point me in the right direction?"
The large swine raised an eyebrow at him before placing his hands on the vulpine's shoulders and spinning him around to where he faced a rather tall and familiar looking building. Upon closer, hammered, inspection the intoxicated fox realized that he had been in front of it all along. He looked back at the pig, wanting to thank the guy for his help but he had already begun to walk away, shaking his head and muttering something to himself.
Fox looked back towards the hotel, wondering if he should even bother going back. He knew there was something inside there that he was scared of, he just couldn't remember what. In fact all he could remember at the moment was a wise cracking, tan furred, cougar named Walter or Walker, who insisted on handing him shot after shot of the honey colored liquid.
"You got it bro, go fix things."
That had been the last thing he had heard from his new found drinking pal before stumbling out into the streets and gazing up into the bright city lights as darkness finally began to set in. Never before in his life had the vulpine been so wasted. Whatever the bartender had been pouring them felt like it was strong enough to peel paint, and the effects were still very much evident as he had quietly, yet awkwardly made his way down the streets.
He had never been that far from the hotel in the first place, but in his current state it felt like a maze just walking the couple of blocks back. But now, after taking 20 minutes to walk a distance of 3 blocks, he finally stood outside of the Garan Hotel and gazed up its 13 stories in awe as he let his drunken mind run wild.
He knew that if he dug deep enough he would remember the cause of all this, the reason behind his current state, but that wasn't the objective. The objective was, at least to his drunk mind, to do something he had been meaning to do for a long time, to fix something that he had broken. If only he could remember what it was.
M-man, that guy knew his stuff. Now lets see...I'm here for a reason, the hotel. I know I've got a room here, right? What was the floor, and room number?
He had made his way inside now and over to the elevators, struggling to walk like he wasn't totally shitfaced. He was almost ready to just start at room number 1 and try his key on them all until he found the right door, but somehow common sense made itself known in the smallest portion of his sober mind and the vulpine looked at the backside of his room key until he found what he guessed was a room number.
372? Its either that or 38245...
Chance favored him and he decided to to go with the actual room number and not the serial number on the card. He pressed the button and waited for the for elevator to make its way down, simultaneously searching every corner of his heart and mind for an answer to the question that had been plaguing him ever since he began to forget. (making sense here?)
Why do I still feel so sick on the inside? I can feel it, its there. What did I do wrong? What do I need to do?
Had there been a sober version of himself there to answer those questions he was sure he'd tell himself that, one, you probably need to throw up one or two gallons of that alcohol you consumed, and two, you ruined any chance you ever had of being with the only one you ever loved.
But this wasn't the case and the vulpine was left wondering until finally the doors opened and he stepped inside, catching a disgusted look from a mother rabbit as she ushered her 3 children out beside him. He stepped in and turned towards the panel, knowing that each button had a set of numbers beside it but so intoxicated that they might as well have been in hieroglyphics. After a few seconds of determined thinking he reached forward and pressed one of them, sighing afterward and falling back against the wall.
"What is wrong with me?"
He looked up at the fluorescent light and tried to think of an answer to that question that was even halfway acceptable, knowing he'd come up with nothing in the end. Something inside him still hurt like hell, he just couldn't place what it was. There was a perfectly good reason he was like this, something had really gotten to him if he had allowed this to happen. The vulpine knew his sober side had enough self control to determine where to draw the line.
So to have let it go this far, it must have been devastating.
Maybe I don't want to know what it was...
The familiar 'ding' accompanied by the doors sliding open jerked him out of his thoughts and back into reality. He forced himself to step forward and out of the elevator, immediately faced with another decision as the hallway went both left and right. To his left he saw a water fountain and an ice machine, to his right there sat a couple of vending machines. Not really giving it any thought or reason he went right, his drunken logic stating that a couple of snack filled vending machines were more appealing than city flavored water and that same exact water frozen into cubes.
Sober Fox would have looked at the room numbers listed on the wall and instantly have known which way to go, but wasted Fox went by drunk instinct, which apparently wasn't that bad as the first room number he looked up and noticed happened to be 356. He continued walking, wanting to feel some form of excitement or anxiety concerning what was ahead of him, but receiving none. Walker had been right when he told him that he was drinking liquid courage. He wasn't nervous, at least not yet, but he also had no idea what he was up against.
366
He stumbled and placed his hand on the wall to steady himself, forgetting about what might be ahead of him and instead focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.
"It's probably something stupid," he muttered to himself, looking up and noticing a 368 numbered by the next door. "Its prolly all my fault too."
Rational thought was escaping him and he wanted to feel annoyed at himself for not being able to think straight, but his mind wouldn't even allow that. All he knew as of now was that something was wrong, something was messed up, and he was almost sure that whatever it was resided on the other side of the door five feet ahead of him.
He reached for his wallet in his back pocket and pulled out the card key, staring at both it and the insertion slot on the door. He turned it over and slid it in, a red flash and low toned beep telling him that he had done it wrong. Flipping the card over once again he inserted it in the slot, getting another red flash and low toned beep in response. He sighed and rested is forehead against the door, exhaustion pulling on ever fiber of his being. He wasn't physically tired so much as he was emotionally and mentally. Whatever it was that had made him go this far, it was big, and it must have meant a lot to him.
This time he turned the card around rather than over and tried it once again, now getting a green flash and high toned beep in response. He rolled his eyes and pushed down on the handle before stepping back into his room.
That's when it hit him.
He wasn't sure what it was that had jogged his drunken memory, maybe it was her flight suit on the floor, maybe it was the television still covering the plane crash that had happened seemingly years ago, or maybe it was her scent, that amazing unforgettable smell that overtook him as soon as he entered the room. He couldn't say, but whatever it was it did the trick. Instantly it all came back to him; Fara, Krystal, the argument, the 'almost' kiss, what she said about it not bothering her.
Even in his deeply intoxicated state, it all came back to him. But this time it was different, this time he would do something about it.
He entered the main room and looked around, catching no signs of the blue fox that was staying with him. He stood still for a second and listened, the sound of running water coming from the bathroom stopping almost as soon as he did. He placed his paw on the handle and pressed down, surprised to find that it wasn't locked this time.
Without wasting a second he pushed in on it, the warmer, steam filled room overtaking him as he struggled to stay focused, almost instantly seeing the vixen he cared so much for. At first she didn't notice him, which the vulpine would have found odd any other time, but this didn't stop him as he met her surprised gaze, not looking away as he closed the gap between them.
"Fox!" she managed to exclaim, surprise more than evident in her voice, "What are...
He didn't let her finish and his ferocity surprised them both as he instantly had her up against the wall, his hands holding each of her shoulders as he locked the kiss into place. It didn't matter if she wanted this or not, things had gone too far for that. This was something he had to do, something that, even though he was drunk he knew was justifiable. All he wanted from this was the kiss, her naked body had no influence on it, even if it was sculpted by angels.
He continued to press into the kiss, wanting to feel her response before he stopped. She hadn't tried to pull away from him, she didn't try to fight it, yet she hadn't pushed back. He knew it was sudden, he knew it wasn't what she expected, especially after all that had happened between them, but he had to do it anyway. He could only hope it was the right move.
000
The warm water that rained down from the shower head was, at the moment, the only comfort that she could find. And the more she thought about that the more pathetic she knew it must have looked had anyone been able to see her. Part of her knew the pain she felt was all her fault, but another part wanted to blame Fox or Fara, or maybe even both.
If she would stop thinking about it, stop remembering how great her life had been before this, how perfect her relationship with Fox had been before Fara showed up, if she could ignore them then maybe the pain would go away, if only for a little while. But not thinking about Fox was impossible. How could she not think about the person her whole world revolved around?
She had stopped searching for him mentally, figuring he was out somewhere having a good time or talking to Fara back at his Arwing. If that was the case then she didn't want to be in his thoughts. The way she saw it the only time things would get at least somewhat better would be when they got back to GreatFox, moved out or forced her to leave, and left her the way they had found her.
Alone.
Long since had the soap and shampoo been washed off her body and the vixen finally decided she had been standing in the soothing water long enough. If anything the shower had only made things worse as she had continued to think of how bad it had all went and how messed up everything had gotten. She wanted to cry but didn't, somehow holding back on the tears that were massing inside of her. Instead she reached forward and turned the handles to the left, throwing open the curtain and reaching for a towel.
She stepped out and turned around, instantly face to face with an all too familiar vulpine.
"Fox!" she yelled, beginning to cover herself with her hands, "What are..."
He cut her off, firmly taking hold of her shoulders and pushing her to the right until she was up against the wall. Her eyes were wide in surprise as his mouth pressed up against her own and instantly she tasted the overwhelming presence of alcohol on him. She looked into his gaze, trying to find some form of reasoning behind this but seeing only desperation in his sight as he went even further with the kiss.
He's drunk, this isn't right...
Yet even though her mind told her to fight it her heart ended up making the final decision and before she could reconsider her actions the vixen began answering the kiss, pressing back against the vulpine that she so dearly loved. She could feel the tenseness leave his body as he realized she wasn't going against his actions and his hands left her shoulders, only to make their way around her waist as he pulled her body against his own.
The vixen's mind found almost everything about this wrong. This wasn't how she had wanted it to be, it wasn't fair to him, or her! But try as she might, regardless of how drunk or confused either of them happened to be, she couldn't fight it...not anymore.
I don't care...If he's going to pick Fara over me in the end then at least I'll have this memory with him.
With that final thought she ignored her morals and values altogether and gave in to the lust that had taken over her body. Her arms intertwined behind his neck and she pulled him even closer, both of them urging on the kiss, neither ever wanting to let go. She felt his hands rest at the base of her tail, renewing some of the same thoughts from earlier, her mind telling her that this was all happening too fast, that it wasn't right, that she shouldn't be taking advantage of him because he was drunk.
But just a few minutes ago she had thought that something like this would never happen, she had given up on ever being with the vulpine in a situation such as this, but now that is WAS happening the vixen couldn't help but take it as fate. That for at least this night she'd have him.
Subconsciously, still devoting most of her attention towards the mouth connected to her own and the tongue that explored it, she slipped off his jacket, then pulled off his belt. She met his gaze, wondering what his reaction would be, surprised to see nothing but lust and eagerness filling them as he continued to pressure the kiss while his hands pulled against her from each side of her tail.
She then began to pull up on his shirt, knowing that this would, if only for a brief moment, interrupt their kiss. But the vulpine had no intention on letting it stop at all and no sooner had she gotten the white top over his muzzle did her reconnect their mouths and resume exploring. Slowly she slid her hands between his pants and his fur, gently tugging downward on each side, knowing that this was all that prevented her from getting everything Fox had to offer.
Yet that same voice in her mind, the voice that still held some string of authority on the puppet that was her conscious once again made itself evident, and this time it influenced the vixen more than she would have liked.
You love him more than anything else don't you? If you do this...if you go through with it, you'll ruin any real chance you'll ever have. This is NOT the way to do it. He's drunk. That doesn't mean he isn't doing what his heart is telling him, but hes not doing it the right way!
She met his gaze once again, this time noticing the blurry, distant look his eyes harbored because of the alcohol. She knew there was a possibility he was doing this, not because he was drunk but because he really wanted to. Maybe this was what he had wanted all along, because it was sure as hell what she had wanted. But no matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise she knew she loved him too much to let it happen like this.
I want it to be true...I want you to be the Fox I've come to love when...if...you do it. This...this isn't right. Even if you do end up with Fara...this still isn't right.
She found herself cursing that voice in her mind now, knowing that merely seconds before she had been thinking the exact opposite and not caring whether or not he was drunk. But in her heart she knew she couldn't do it. She wanted them both to be sure of it when it happened.
If...it happens.
Regretfully and ever so slowly she pulled away, placing her hands on each side of his face and looking up at him.
"Krystal," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist now, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have...
"Shh," she interrupted him, forcing a small smile and pressing her muzzle against his, "It's okay Fox."
She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his, preparing a trick in her mind she rarely ever used. She looked into his thoughts, seeing only herself and a deep white mist. Never before had she tried to look into the mind of someone while they were drunk and she was surprised to find it was much like looking into their mind while they were asleep. Just whiteness.
She felt his grasp on her waist begin to loosen, his body's weight growing heavier and heavier on her own as the vixen put him into a deep sleep. She felt so confused now, half of her wanting to finish what he had started, but the other half wanting to do the right thing because she really truly loved him. And somewhere in between it all she was trying to take in all of this and how it seemed to be happening so quickly.
Eventually his mind went completely blank and she grabbed his right arm and pulled him into the bedroom before easing him down onto the bed. She looked down at him, feeling both amused and disheartened at the vulpine's state. Sure he had been drunk, but the passion that had overwhelmed them both was unreal. She had never experienced that side of him before and could only hope, if they were ever together in the future, that he showed that same ferocity again.
Maybe it wasn't the beer, maybe he meant to do this all along...
She didn't bother putting his shirt back on, merely pulling the cover up before sliding in beside him. The state she had put his mind in would keep him sleeping until at least noon of the next day and she would easily be awake by then. So, figuring it just might be the only time she ever got to do it, she snuggled up beside the vulpine. This was what she had wanted for so long now. To be like this, unclothed and by his side, holding onto him and matching the rise and fall of his chest...she knew it was the nights sleep that she had been dreaming about ever since she had met him, and figured she would probably get none.
Yet his magnificent scent, the steady beating of his heart, and her muzzle nestled under his neck all proved too much for the vixen and within a minutes time she had drifted off, the same thought still on her mind.
Maybe it wasn't the beer...
000
