Chapter 5: A Side Unseen

"Oh Ozzy, look at you now." Ozzy said to himself while staring at the mirror. Today was the day, the day he meets StarFox. He had just gotten out of the shower and started going through is post-shower routine. Lucy had texted him the day prior to tell him that this was a formal event, and that he should dress nice. He was going to wear his signature look for when things get formal, a blue dress shirt, grey dress pants and his beloved yellow tie. The blue shirt was always his favorite because it matches his eyes, and the yellow tie works well with it. It confused him as to why he needed to dress up considering Peppy said this was for no particular occasion, but he was not complaining. Ozzy had an odd calmness considering he was about to meet the most famous people in Lylat. He figured that since he already had won over Peppy, the rest would love him too. that being said, he still practiced his hand shake with his brother. He was not entirely sure whether they would judge him on that, especially Peppy did not really seem to care, besides all he really needs is his charm. Ozzy has always heard people say that actions speak louder than words, he just assumed those people did not say the right words. That said, tonight could be more tricky, since the rest of the StarFox is much younger than Peppy. Ozzy found it easy to impress those on the older side, but was not entirely sure how difficult it is for those only a handful of years older than himself.

He hopped out of the bathroom and put on his outfit. As much as he loved wearing that tie, he always struggled to tie the damned thing. No matter how many video tutorials he watched, he could never get the hang of it. "I really gotta get better at this." he said as he headed to find his father or older brother to help him.

The StarFox team was home on Corneria for the weekend, and Peppy drove to Corenria City's military airfield. This place housed the Cornerian Military's ships, and the Great Fox was always allowed among them. Peppy stood and watched as the ramp from the Great Fox lowered down and the figures of his teammates appeared from the door. The three walked out onto the ramp carrying bags containing clothes for the weekend. Each of them smiled upon seeing Peppy, but each smile said something different. They walked down the ramp and approached Peppy.

"It's good to see you boys!" Peppy said.

"It's good to see you too, Peppy." Fox responded, "How are things down here?"

"Pretty darn good." Peppy answered.

Falco chimed in, "So when are you coming out of retirement?"

"Retirement!? I'm not retired, just spending time with Lucy."

"Yeah, you say that, but next thing you know, we're gonna be looking for a nursing home for ya." said the bird. Peppy, Fox and Slippy collectively chuckled at that remark.

"I'm not THAT old." Peppy responded. "Anyways let's get going shall we."

The four walked to Peppy's car which was parked near the hanger in which the Great Fox landed in front of. Peppy drove an expensive black SUV, with tinted windows to conceal who was inside. A problem with being famous is the lack of privacy, and they often had to take extra precautions to avoid attention. Peppy unlocked the car and both Fox and Falco headed for the passenger door. fox reached his hand out and grabbed the handle to the door. "Fox gets shotgun, sorry Falco." Peppy said.

"Aw come on!" Falco said and went to the back door and got in. "Now I gotta sit next to Slippy!"

"That's what you get for making that joke earlier."

Slippy looked mad. "HEYYYY!" he yelled.

"No offense, Slippy. But can you do me a favor and bug the shit out of him during the ride?"

"It's what I do best Peppy." Slippy said with a smile.

"Ozzy, you handsome bastard." The otter had found help from his older brother to tie his tie, and the look was now complete. Speaking of his family, they were excited for him to see StarFox, and proud of him for being able to make it this far. Truth be told, this was one of the highest honors that anyone in Lylat could have. Ozzy grabbed his phone and took a picture of himself, and sent it to Lucy. A few seconds later a response came up.

"You look so cute Oz, love the tie."

"Aww thanks babe." he typed. "Wait did you just call me Oz?"

"Yes I did."

"Can I start calling you Luce now?"

"No:)"

"Fine:("

Peppy's car pulled up to entrance to his estate. He used one of the devices to open it up before pulling into the property. The car approached the garage, and he used a separate device to open that as well. He drove into it and put the car in park and turning it off. The doors opened and the four began to exit the car.

"And I'm like 'Bitch give us our money!'" Falco exclaimed.

"You didn't actually say that, did you?" Peppy asked.

"Of course he didn't. He bit his tongue like a little boy." said Fox.

"I'm telling you, Pepper is scamming us!" Falco said.

"He's not scamming us, he's just not giving us as much as you want." Fox responded.

"Pepper has never been easy on the checkbook that's for sure." said Peppy.

The group entered the estate through the door in the garage. Peppy's estate has enough guest rooms for the three of them to have their own rooms while they stay for the weekend. They put their bags into the rooms they were staying in, and changed out of their uniforms. They regrouped in the downstairs living room and made themselves at home. After a few minutes Lucy came downstairs to see them.

"Hey guys!"

"Oh hey Lucy, it's been a while since we've seen ya." responded Fox.

"What have you guys been up to? Saving Lylat some more?"

"Well you know, just taking out some more criminals and stuff. Not much work these days. That's why we're here to visit you and Peppy."

"I think you guys deserve some time off you know? It's nice to see you boys." Lucy walked over to one of the couches and sat down next to Slippy.

"So who is this guy that we're meeting for dinner?" Fox asked.

"Oh my boyfriend. Lucy replied. "His name is Ozzy."

"Ooooh, you're boyfriend?" Slippy said while almost giggling.

"Yeah, we've been dating for a few months now." Lucy pulled out her phone and opened up the picture of Ozzy that he sent earlier. "Here's what he looks like." Lucy held the phone in front of Slippy.

"Awwww he's so cute!" Slippy exclaimed.

"Hold on, let me see." Fox said as he got up and moved over to the other couch to see the picture. The vulpine glanced at her phone. "An otter huh? He looks like a nice guy, Lucy. I'm excited to meet him."

"Thanks Fox, I think you'll like him."

Fox looked over at Falco who was sitting on the couch he was previously at. The avian was looking at his phone. "Falco, you wanna see?"

"I'm good." he said without looking away from his phone. Fox rolled his eyes.

"He should be on his way soon." said Lucy.

Driving to the Hare estate got easier and easier each time he did it. After fully memorizing the route, Ozzy got more time to think about other things rather than where he needs to go. A wide array of emotions took over the otter, ranging from pride to nervousness. Part of him believed that Starfox would like him, especially if he'd already won over Peppy. But not everyone is the same. He devised a plan to how he would interact with them based off of the personalities described in the media. Obviously Ozzy did his research on each of the members. Knowing that Falco used to run with other groups, and has left and rejoined the StarFox group multiple times gave him an idea of what the bird is like. He figured he could be a hot head, and will most likely be not be swayed by fanciful language and charisma. Impressing him would be difficult. Slippy on the other hand was known to be a soft yet energetic soul. Many have stated that the amphibian looks, sounds and acts young. Some mistake this as a sign of ignorance or weakness, but they would be sorely mistaken. Slippy is extremely competent at what he does, and has a vast knowledge of engineering and physics. After all, his father is the director of the engineering department at Space Dynamics. Ozzy figured the two of them will get along. Finally, Fox is the notorious leader and as such will most likely have a strong sense of stoicism. Despite this, Fox has been known to be a kind and easy-going leader. It's a good idea to think that parts of his teammates have rubbed off onto him, and vice versa. Ozzy also made a mental note to not mention Fox's dead father. However there was also the chance that Ozzy could walk into something unexpected, so he made sure to be ready to adapt to that. Ozzy doubted that they would all be exactly the way they've been described from his research.

Before he knew it, he arrived at Hare estate's gate. His car slowly came to a halt. Ozzy waited for a second before realizing he had one of the gate openers. he grabbed the device that was sitting in the cup holder and pressed the button to open the gate. He drove past the gate before pressing the button again to close it behind him. He drove along the driveway and parked in his usual spot behind one of the garage doors. Before h turned the car off, he looked at his phone and saw a text from Lucy.

"Hey when you get here, just come on in, the door's unlocked."

Ozzy put his phone back into his pocket, turned the car off and got out. He walked to the door and took a deep breath before opening the door. Upon stepping inside he heard voices coming from the dining room. He took off his shoes and jacket, and straightened his tie before walking to the dining room.

The otter walked into the dining room and his mouth dropped open at what he saw. They were all wearing t-shirts and sweatpants. Everyone was sitting at the table and saw Ozzy completely baffled. They all erupted into laughter at the sight of him. Ozzy stood in silence for a few seconds, unable to muster up a sound.

"... W-What the?" Everyone laughed even harder, especially Lucy and Peppy. "I don't understand...Lucy you told me to dress nice!"

"I did. I wanted to see you flustered like this."

"You played me like a damn fiddle."

Peppy spoke, "Hey, at least you look nice kiddo."

"Yeah you do. I like the tie." Fox added.

"Thank you so much, Mr. McCloud."

"Oh please, just call me Fox. Also, that's Falco and Slippy." he said while pointing to his teammates."

"Hi guys."

"Hi Ozzy!" Slippy said with an adorable look on his face.

"Hey, what's up?' asked Falco, not necessarily wanting a response. Ozzy walked around the table and took a seat next to Lucy and across from Slippy.

"Hey Peppy, what are we even doing for dinner anyway?" Fox asked.

"Pizza should be here soon." Peppy responded."

"Wait I didn't hear you make a call?"

"I didn't, I ordered it online."

Falco perked up. "Well I'm surprised you figured out how to do that." he remarked.

"If I can pilot an arwing, I can order a damn pizza, Falco!" Peppy scoffed.

"Alright jeez, sorry Peppy." said Falco.

"So uh, what have you guys been doing lately?" Ozzy asked.

"I wish we had some exciting things to tell you, but honestly, nothing really interesting has happened since the war." answered Fox.

"Oh that kinda sucks."

"We just kinda pick up contracts and stuff issued by the government, going after gangs and pirates and stuff like that."

"...Like those StarWolf guys?" Everyone's expressions immediately changed after those words left Ozzy's mouth. Things went quiet and Ozzy felt everyone's eyes on him.

Fox broke the silence. "Let's not talk about them, alright."

"Oh my, I-I'm so sorry."

"No no, you're fine. We just have a bad history with them. But enough about us, tell us about you. Aren't you like an actor or something?

"I guess you could say that. I did it in high school, but haven't really done anything with it since. I've always wanted to be an actor though."

"Then why don't you keep trying?"

"Well it's hard these days, and I'm not sure if it's worth it. I think I'm better off with psychology. Maybe I'll do some kind of acting thing on the side."

"Can't hurt."

"To be honest, I don't know what I want to do with myself. I'm torn between two things and I- I don't know what choice to make. So I think I'll just play both for now."

Mid conversation Peppy received a notification from his phone. "Well looks like the Pizza's here." The rabbit got up from his seat and walked out of the dining room. After a few moments he returned with a few large pizza boxes from one of the cheapest pizza chains on Corneria.

"Wow Peppy, couldn't afford pizza from somewhere a little nicer." Falco said with a shit-eating grin.

"Shut up Falco." Peppy responded in an annoyed tone.

Ozzy perked up. "Hey this stuff is my favorite. Thanks Peppy."

"See Falco! No thank YOU Ozzy." Peppy said, thankful that someone appreciates the things he does. "Now try not to get any grease on your clothes."

Ozzy laughed. "I'll try my best, but I doubt that'll happen."

Fox smiled. "Hey it's okay it happens to Slippy all the time."

Slippy looked down and sighed. "It's true."

Peppy placed the pizza boxes on the table. "Two are cheese and one is pepperoni, for you guys," he gestured to Fox and Ozzy. "Oh also there should be soda in the fridge." Everyone began eating to their heart's content. Of course, both Ozzy and Slippy got pizza grease on their clothes. The only thing that was leftover was one slice of pepperoni.

"Wow, we can really eat some pizza!" Peppy exclaimed. Everybody was too full to even contemplate eating any more.

"Hey Ozzy, you busy tomorrow?" asked Fox.

"No I'm not, why?"

"How would you like to go see inside the Great Fox?"

"Wait really?"

Falco gave Fox a weird look and mouthed the words "you sure?"

"Yeah we don't have anything to do tomorrow, so let's show you around."

"Thank you so much Fox, that sounds awesome!"

"That sounds like a great idea Fox, it's been a while since anyone who is not us has been in there." Peppy said. The plan was set. "Now what can we do now? Falco, you brought your poker case right?"

"Yeah I did, let me go grab it." The bird went upstairs and returned with a large case filled with cards and decorative poker chips. "Ozzy, you ever play poker before."

"Why yes I have, my friends taught me how to play. I'm actually pretty good at it."

"Oh really, well you're looking at potentially one of the best poker players in all of Lylat."

"Ok, bring it on!" Everyone looked at Ozzy, stunned by his confidence. Falco began distributing the chips and shuffling the cards.

Hours had passed and the intense game of poker had reached it's conclusion. It was neck and neck between Falco and Ozzy, and in the end, Ozzy won via a well bluffed all in bet.

"HOW?! HOW DID HE WIN" Falco yelled.

"Sucks to suck, Falco." Slippy responded, knowing what he said would make Falco rage.

"I hate you Slippy." said Falco.

"Awww losing stinks doesn't it" Fox teased.

"Not as much as Slippy does. Damn did you put on deodorant today? " Falco

Slippy smelled his armpit. "I'm sorry okay! It was a stressful game, I sweat when I'm stressed." Slippy said with embarrassment.

"Alright boys, knock it off!" Peppy yelled. Ozzy just started laughing uncontrollably. Falco looked towards the otter.

"Look at you, Mr. Big Shot over here!" Falco sneered. "Eh, whatever. Good job kid."

Things quieted down and everyone realized how messy the dinner table was. There were cards, poker chips, plates and cups all over the place. Everyone got to work on cleaning up all the trash while Falco put all the cards and poker chips back into the his case. The whole process took about ten minutes before the table looked somewhat decent. It was easy to tell that Peppy was extremely tired whereas the rest were still awake from the caffeine in their systems, though that would not be for long. Ozzy checked the clock on his phone and it was well after midnight.

"Dang, it's late. I should probably get going." he said.

"You sure you don't want to stay here for the night." Lucy asked.

"No no, it's fine, I already told my parents I'd be home tonight." He looked at Peppy to see a nod of approval. Ozzy and Lucy walked towards the entrance hall and everyone else followed.

"Ozzy, we can pick you up at your house tomorrow instead of you coming here." Peppy stated.

"That would be great, sir." Ozzy replied.

"We'll do that then." Peppy said with a smile. Ozzy smiled back and began putting on his shoes. Fox, Falco and Slippy stood in a line near them.

"It was great meeting you Ozzy" Fox said.

"Yeah Ozzy it was awesome to meet you!" Slippy said.

"Tonight was fun, kid." Falco said.

Fox put his arms around his teammates. Ozzy couldn't help but smile. "Aww thanks guys. I had a lot of fun tonight. Who knew you guys were like this?" Ozzy turned to Lucy and stared into her eyes. they were about to kiss, when they were interrupted by the sound of Fox sniffing.

"Oh boy Slippy, you DO stink!" he said. Everyone burst out laughing except for Slippy who hung his head in humiliation.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." Slippy said as he walked away and up the stairs.

Fox yelled out. "Hey I'm sorry Slippy."

"It's okay Fox." he replied. Slippy disappeared into one of the upstairs hallways. Everyone's focus turned to Ozzy again.

"He's so cute." the otter stated.

"Yes, yes he is." Fox said, which earned an eye roll from Falco. Ozzy grabbed his jacket off of the coat hook and put it on.

"Bye everyone." he said, as he zipped up the jacket. Everyone said their goodbyes before Ozzy turned to Lucy and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. "Bye Lucy."

"Bye Ozzy." she responded. Ozzy opened up the door, stepped outside and closed it behind him. Lucy turned to look at her dad , Fox and Falco. They all smiled, except for Falco of course.

Peppy spoke up, "He's a good kid."

"Yes he is." said Fox. They all turned to look at Falco, pressuring him to say something positive.

"Hey I admire the fact that he didn't ask for autographs or pictures or anything." the bird stated.

"That's true." Fox replied to him.

"Well, I'm off to bed. I suggest you all do the same." said Peppy. The old rabbit walked upstairs and everyone else soon followed.

Ozzy walked out from the Hare estate. It was pitch black and the air was chilly. The otter pulled out his keys to unlock his car and got into the driver's seat. However, he paused before putting the keys into the ignition. Instead he reached over to his glove compartment and pulled out a small device that was similar to a phone. He dialed a long sequence of numbers before putting the device up to his ear.

"It's Ozzy... Yes I'm alone... Guess who I just had dinner with... Fox McCloud and his crew... It went well... And get this, I'm going on a little tour of their ship tomorrow... Thank you... Yes, I still have it... Alright but I'm gonna hang up now, I'm tired and I gotta drive home... Okay, I'll call you again... Goodnight."

Ozzy pulled the device away from his ear and pressed a button to hang up the call. He jammed the keys into the ignition and drove home.

A/n: At first I was a little nervous about writing Fox, Falco and Slippy. But I actually had a lot of fun doing so. I do wish it was not so dialogue heavy, as you can probably tell, I'm more of a screenwriter. I really hope you are enjoying it and feel free to give me feedback. Criticism is good, please give me tips on how to improve.