Chapter 4 is here, y'all! Took forever but here it is. I'm probably going to be doing summaries for each chapter from now on.
Fox muses over the fact that both Panther and Katt Monroe fell for James very easily. A little too easily. James reconciles with Panther.
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Fox McCloud watched the human, known only as 'James,' closely as he explored the bridge of the Great Fox. In the short time that he's been with them since their escape from his infested ship, James has had a considerable impact on each of her teammates, more notably Katt and Panther. Fox was...puzzled by how quickly they became 'friendly' towards him. A little too friendly, in fact. From what Wolf told her, Panther was caught by the lupine just when she was about to give him a mouthful of her titties. While she (Fox) was more than upset about this, she didn't do anything more than a short, reprimanding lecture on the pantherine's behavior.
The same thing happened with Katt Monroe.
In all honesty, Fox was shocked when she caught the pink-furred feline pressing her entire body against James and into the wall, kissing him and grinding her hips on his feverishly. Usually, it would be Miyu who'd do such a thing. When that thought came to her, after she had defused the situation between James and Katt, she silently prayed and hoped that the lynx will never lay eyes on James. If she did, well, may James's poor soul rest in peace.
Falco just ignored him in favor of the video game console, which Fox admitted to herself that she didn't know how to feel about that.
Then there was Wolf O'Donnell, Fox's old-time rival. She expected the lupine to be aggressive and mean towards the human. Instead, Wolf acted like James's bodyguard, keeping an eye on both Katt and Panther if they ever attempted to get him 'acquaintanced' with them. This further surprised Fox, almost to the point that it made her head hurt as she experienced a minor migraine. This whole situation was abnormal for her, too abnormal for her tastes. Why? Because, while Fox didn't mind Wolf's whole 'changed attitude' thanks to the presence of James, it unnerved her more because of how Wolf would never, never act the way she did now, regardless if there was a male present or not. Human or no.
The vixen let out a sigh and rubbed her aching, throbbing temples with the tips of both index and middle fingers feverously. The mere thought of it was enough to make her head hurt.
"What's ta matter, pup?" Ugh, speaking of Wolf...Fox turned to face Wolf, who stood behind her with one hand on her hip and the other resting at her side. The lupine stood over her by a good six inches, forcing Fox to look up at her to give her a reply.
"Nothing, Wolf. I'm just... I'm just tired, is all."
Wolf snorted and said with a slight smirk, "Ya sure, pup? Looks to me yer wishin' James there was yer boyfriend, right?"
Fox blushed and attempted to dismiss the assumption, but failed and she looked away, unfortunately confirming Wolf's words. The lupine cackled and wrapped an arm around Fox's shoulders. "Oh, come now, pup. I was only jestin' wit' you. Besides," she spoke softly in Fox's ear. "I think he has eyes for you anyway. So no worries about winning his attention, eh?" Another cackle and Wolf left the bridge and a profoundly flustered and heavily embarrassed Fox McCloud to her conflicting thoughts.
James was in awe at the simple, yet complex at the same time, systems the Great Fox utilized. It wasn't that far from being slightly on par with human technology, but there were some fields the Cornerians have mastered faster than humanity did. Nonetheless, when James was led around the Great Fox by the team's engineer, Slippy Toad, he quickly caught on to how everything functioned. He even fixed a few things in less than a couple minutes when it would generally take Slippy several hours to fix or install. The short, stocky amphibian was incredibly impressed and praised the human for his skills. James merely dismissed it, claiming that it was nothing.
After the brief tour around the ship's major components, the duo then made their way to the bridge where Fox, Falco, and Panther were. James was a little reluctant, and understandably so, to be around Panther. She did try to force herself onto him, and while he was a little tempted then and there to play along because he was an absolute sucker for boobs, he barely knew her and she him. However, he figured that if he could somehow get to know the feline personally, maybe they could become good friends.
As they entered the bridge, James noticed that Panther was looking a little downcast. He felt a pang of guilt and sorrow for the feline rouse within his stomach. In a way, he understood where she came from. And if what Wolf said earlier when she pulled Panther off of him, Cornerians were similar to Earth's land mammalian wildlife in terms of breeding habits. Heat cycles were a thing, but James didn't know if it was a seasonal thing, like the 'spring fever,' or if it was random. Either way, since it was bipedal, intelligent, talking anthropomorphic animal aliens and not ferals, James thought it best to avoid any contact with a female in heat. It was clear enough that he was not safe from them if they were 'in the mood.'
Long story short, it wasn't entirely Panther's fault that she wanted to have him scratch her itch, and it certainly wasn't her fault that he was, in her words, 'attractive.' He didn't see himself as a good-looking guy. He was a bit slim and definitely not athletic in any way, had dirty blonde hair, silver-blue eyes, and the beginnings of a bush growing on his face. He didn't find any of those to be an aspect of attraction for the opposite sex. Well, by human standards. Cornerian standards, he was utterly clueless. But, if he was considered 'attractive' to the females here, then he wasn't going to complain.
With that in mind, James felt that he should try to talk to Panther and make an attempt to reconcile with her.
He quickly glanced around, found everyone - excluding Panther - distracted by their own thing, and made his way over to the black pantherine. He cleared his throat to make his presence known to her before asking if he could sit next to her. She nodded, albeit solemnly. James sat down on the couch cushion next to her and cracked a small friendly smile.
"Hey," he said. "How are you?"
Panther tried to smile, but all she could manage was a slight twitch of the corner of her mouth before she looked away from him shamefully. "Fine," she mumbled.
"You sure?"
She remained silent, then shook her head. "No." She looked at him with sad blue eyes. "I'm really sorry for what happened back there, James. I was...horny and wanted to sate my desires, but that's no excuse for what I did, or tried to do, to you." She sighed and looked away again. "I doubt you'd ever forgive me for that.
James placed a comforting, reassuring hand on her shoulder, causing her to stiffen at the sudden contact. But she then relaxed and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "You sure about that?"
A look of surprise smacked itself onto Panther's face, and she turned to him fully. "Really? You...you forgive me? B-but...why?"
James smiled softly and squeezed her shoulder. "Because it's the right thing to do. Plus, I know it wasn't your fault. You were acting purely by instinct. Right?"
She canted her head to one side and avoided his gaze, smiling sheepishly. "Weeell...sort of." She looked at him almost shyly. "I meant what I said... about you being attractive and all."
James was taken aback. But he quickly recovered, and he gave her a questioning look. "Really? And why do you find me, some random alien guy you've never met before, attractive of all things? Why not the other guys?"
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "It's complicated." She then narrowed her eyes at him only slightly. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't push for an answer. I'm not ready to share that with you." A small smile touched her lips. "Yet."
James nodded. "Of course. I understand. Just let me know, and we'll sit down and talk about it." He paused and looked off into the distance. "You know, I just realized something."
"What's that?" Panther asked with a curious tilt of her head.
He looked at her with a slight grin. "This whole experience has made me a whole lot more social and even turned me into some kind of counselor." Panther giggled, putting a hand to her muzzle.
"So, I take it you two are finally getting along?" came a voice from behind them. James and Panther jumped at the sudden presence of Fox McCloud, and they turned almost simultaneously to face her. The vulpine had discarded her white vest and was left wearing her olive-drab tank top, which James noted was being strained by her healthily large bust. He quickly averted his gaze from her chest to her eyes, which were slightly narrowed at Panther. "All is well? No 'incidents' have occurred while my back was turned?"
James and Panther shook their heads. Fox nodded in satisfaction with their silent answer. "Good. I just wanted to make sure. Now, we're coming up on Corneria, so Panther, you better gather your stuff and be ready to disembark. We're going to take a long break," she paused to look at James, a smile spread across her muzzle. "After we take James to see General Peppy. He'll get you situated for your stay on Corneria."
With that, Fox spun on her heel and walked back to where she was previously standing at one of the consoles, returning to whatever it was she was doing. James let out a silent sigh of relief, as did Panther, and they exchanged looks with each other. "So," Panther began, twiddling her thumbs together. "Wanna help me pack? I promise I won't do anything!"
James chuckled at her last statement of 'reassurance' and nodded. "Sure. And don't worry." He winked at her. "I'll take your word for it."
Panther smiled and giggled before she rose to her feet and left the bridge with James right behind her, who was casually taking in the 'view' of her rounded backside with a slight nod of approval.