Strangers No More
Evora
_________________________________________________________
Chapter 2, Hard Call
Great Fox
After Dino Planet, Day 2
Getting away to a place of solitude could be impossible sometimes. All the different areas aboard ship were either occupied with pinging or humming all through the circuitry filled walls or cameras that zoomed in whenever anyone dared move within the preset radius, and that left just about nowhere else besides sitting in the Arwing and if someone came looking, a quick duck down would have to suffice; he'd even tried it once but got no more than five minutes of peace before Peppy discovered him. The damned cameras. They were everywhere. If anyone wanted him, this time, the security system would direct them into the kitchen.
"I wondered where you were hiding out,"
Fox didn't have time to get up and make a dash for the door before Falco got in and ruined a perfectly fine moment of repose.
"You know what? I think you're hidin' from me 'cause you don't want to hear what I've been doing for the past four years. Might make you jealous to know I've gathered valuable info on some of our enemies and put an end to a few badasses so the little ones can sleep safely at night..."
The past eight years of Falco's hardly missed absence hadn't really even crossed Fox's mind for a second, neither was he in the mood for this, especially not hearing about children asleep in their warm beds at night all snuggled in while others were alone with no one to care for them, no one to feed them, no one to save them from dying until some high level bureaucrat decided that political gains could be scored with one of those Looks good on paper rescues. And so he sat at the breakfast bar with his head held low and the tip of his nose almost able to sniff up the morning squeeze of orange juice as his reinstated team member rambled on and on about a supposed highly celebrated-solo career and detailed it with a totally self-centered, matter-of-fact sort of dialogue.
"...Two years down the road it was me leading the fight against that old decrepit half-wit monster Scathen and his top-notch 'turned out to be pansies' armada in X-Sector. Hey, and who says I ain't a good diplomat? I can be diplomatic when I need to. I even got a few praises from General Pepper for getting the Noll Prime Minister at Zoness to back off all those threats he made against Aquas."
"Then why'd you come back, Falco..." Fox's voice barely held up from silent frustration somewhere in the middle of listening to Krystal talk about her life as an abandoned pup and facing many fears which led her to take on General Scales at his galleon. Thinking of her, he looked down into the glass and figured what he just said hadn't been heard, and for no reason stuck the tip of his index finger into the juice, stirred twice clockwise then pulled out the finger and dabbed the chilled acidic liquid off with his napkin.
"Of course I'm not sayin' this to take any of the credit for saving our great universe away from you..." Falco continued. "You gave a stellar performance going after Andross and saving Dino Planet, but you know you couldn't have finished him off without a hand from a good ol' pal like me...."
Fox sipped some of the juice to wash down the burning in his throat and thought of something else about Krystal. The parents who abandoned her were too poor and ill to take care of a child. A pretty young thing like her could've ended up bad off but she didn't blame them and she didn't fall victim to the situation no matter how hard it got out there on her own. Even tougher for Fox was hearing that those parents had died on Cerinia after Krystal managed to escape, then he had held her while she'd described to him the worst day of her life...
Now Falco's voice faded back in. "...Don't think I haven't been keeping track of your record. I watch the news just like anyone else, Fox, and most of the time you're in it..."
"Yeah, I'm in it," Finally he'd grumbled loudly enough to get some attention. "More than ever."
"Oh man, not again," Falco came to the bar and leaned on it. "You and your moods. What's this one done to you? Slapped you in the face and told you she never wants to see you again like the last one?"
Fox shot him a hard fixed glare without a word spoken.
"Oh, I get it. You can't say 'cause she'll punish you all the way to Corneria. You know what, that sucks, Fox. You let females push you around too much. Big time with Fara-"
Hot button pressed. "Leave her out of this."
"The shit'll hit the propellers when she finds out about you and Krystal, if she hasn't already, especially since she gets all the news first hand."
"I said--"
"Nothing. You said nothing. That's the thing. Saying nothing gets you into trouble. I say you should at least feel out the new babe before you get in too high over your head, find out how she feels first about getting involved with a guy who's on the rebound from a girl with the kind of money that could've kept him set for life."
The cold stare couldn't have been any stiffer. Fox pulled up from the barstool and grabbed the glass with a sturdy hand, gestured a toast across the counter then chugged it all the way down until it was empty. Not looking back, he went to the dish sanitizer, loaded it on the top rack, and from there it was finished-done with-he'd walk out, look for the next temporary hideout...
"Then again, Maybe it's not just you," Falco leaned on the bar peeking over his shoulder when Fox passed by him. "You never know, that Krystal's not exactly the homely type. Bet you're not the only one with his hands on her staff..."
This time he turned back to Falco with a scowl, more than ready to spit every bit of rage lingering on the tip of his tongue but the first fiery word rolled to a halt soon as Peppy came in and bluntly slapped his shoulder.
"Hey, Fox, you're lookin' kind of rough this morning. Maybe it's about time you trimmed those whiskers a bit. Anyhow, I just talked to Pepper and he says he wants us in his office soon as we land at Corneria. That means no foolin' around like you guys did last time."
Fox exchanged a quick glance with Falco and kept his mouth shut about the last time, eight years back, the ship docked and the team made plans to meet at a local restaurant before getting their commendations from the general for their most successful mission. Fox had opted out with the best of intentions, wanted to stay back and get a little shuteye before it was time to go see Pepper. Unfortunately, he'd managed less than a half-hour snooze before Falco came in with booze, chicks, and all sorts of crazy ideas about what two young guys were gonna do now that they'd become almost bigger than life heroes. Now visions flashed in Fox's head of the guys from the old Academy classes and some cadet girls who needed a little romantic debriefing, and after a few good hours of partying he stumbled back into his room and just about fell back through the door when he discovered Katt on Falco, legs straddling him, purring, moaning and the whole bit while he laid back in a daze of blissful pleasure.
"Do me favor and stop looking at me like that." Falco rolled out a splintered glare until Peppy finally made a point-blank interruption.
"So, Fox, have you talked to Krystal about her plans in the next few days?"
He lowered his head a bit and scratched the nape of his neck. "Errr...Plans?"
"I think it would help if we get her to wherever she's going before we head home."
All was dead silent for a second or two until Falco cracked into the tension thickened air. "Get her to wherever she's going? Now that's a joke. Twenty counts...no...make it fifty...I say she'll still be right here with loverboy when we dock in Corneria."
Peppy calmly removed a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to wipe down his bifocals like he must have been making his best effort to not make judgments until getting the whole story from the horse's mouth, but at that moment the horse was Fox, from whom not a neigh resounded.
"Well, I guess whatever you think is the right thing to do," Peppy's eyes shifted over to Falco then back to Fox. "Your decision, you live with it."
...you live with it... Those last few words couldn't be ignored and had forced him to recall his hesitation in accepting Falco back on the team and already regrets were beginning to settle in.
"Am I too late to get something to eat?"
They all came to attention at the sound of that alluring soft voice, and Fox...once again something rumbled through the center of him at the sight of her.
"Of course, Krystal," said Peppy, offering a courteous hand to guide her into the room and to the breakfast bar. "I think Fox can handle that. Meanwhile me and Falco can go get some work done and leave the two of you alone to talk about a few important things." And he made stern eye contact with Fox before leaving, signaled Falco to go with a quick nod, then they were gone.
Fox's eyes then focused unconsciously on one of the cameras perched in a corner across the room and wondered if they'd all made some sort of pact to keep a close watch on him now, especially Peppy...
"Can't tell me what's going on, can you? Top secret?" Krystal sat down in the same stool where Fox had been at first. "Mums the word. I swear the three of your are all bubbles ready to burst at any second. Are you always this uptight when you have visitors?"
He felt like an idiot when realizing he'd fallen into another daze again and laughed nervously to try making up for it. "...Uptight? Us? Nah, we were just talking about-"
"Me."
After a long blank stare he had to change the subject before she coerced him into telling all. " You say you're hungry," He went next to the fridge where the inventory panel was and tapped a button to start it. "We've got plenty. I can start you off with a cup of coffee if you'd like."
"No, but I'd like a nice hot cup of tea if you've got it."
He pushed the tea label on the keypad then found something else that might've satisfied her. "I brought back some of those dumbledang pods from Dino Planet. Would you like that?"
By the gleam in her eyes, the answer was an absolute yes.
The pod rolled out to a slot at the bottom of the side cooler and he reached in to get it then pulled a knife from the block and started slicing the large piece of exotic fruit into bite-sized cubes, spooned a good helping of them into a bowl beside the cutting board, then took it over to her. The tea was ready by the time he did that, and so he returned to the machine, got the cup and put it on the counter to the right of her bowl.
"Thank you, Fox. By the way you did that I'd say you're no stranger to the kitchen."
He just smiled and sat down with her and continued their conversation while observing the way she ate, slower than most vixens, as though every bit of it was something to be savored in case it was her last meal for a while. He could then feel her watching him as he checked the time and entered a balance request on his bank account.
"What all does that device do anyway?"
Fox put it up to his ear and listened for the protocol. "A number of things. I use it mainly to communicate with my team members."
A girlish smile adorned Krystal's lips. "And for translation."
After giving a quick nod, he watched the small embedded screen and retrieved his information. 50879.03. Content that his personal reserves had been replenished, he finished the transmission.
"I don't remember you having that when you visited my home."
"We didn't need it, there were translators just about everywhere. We had one of them aboard our ship."
"You know what? It would be nice if we didn't have to use that at all..." She said between another very slow bite of dumbledang. "Like this morning, for instance, when you wondered what I was saying in my sleep and couldn't find it. We need to understand each other if we're going to be spending so much time together...that is, we will be spending time together if it's okay with your friends."
This time the reference pinched at a nerve. "It's okay with me and so it's okay with them. That's final. Me and my team are like family. Now that you're here, I want you to feel like part of the family, too. Understand?"
She looked at him in a way that he knew meant she understood.
"And you're right about this," He leaned forward with his elbows on the brushed steel countertop and looked at the communicator. "Your lessons start bright and early tomorrow morning. We'll meet in the den, zero eight-hundred hours."
She sat up straight and playfully saluted him. "Aye, sir. Bright and early."
What a brilliant find, thought Fox. Finders keepers. Losers had to keep their distance and accept it. Little did she know this was just the beginning of her testing, and he'd had already made his plans and this was his follow-through for the empty slot that had remained on the Star Fox roster long enough. At last, that slot was about to become permanently filled.
Evora
_________________________________________________________
Chapter 2, Hard Call
Great Fox
After Dino Planet, Day 2
Getting away to a place of solitude could be impossible sometimes. All the different areas aboard ship were either occupied with pinging or humming all through the circuitry filled walls or cameras that zoomed in whenever anyone dared move within the preset radius, and that left just about nowhere else besides sitting in the Arwing and if someone came looking, a quick duck down would have to suffice; he'd even tried it once but got no more than five minutes of peace before Peppy discovered him. The damned cameras. They were everywhere. If anyone wanted him, this time, the security system would direct them into the kitchen.
"I wondered where you were hiding out,"
Fox didn't have time to get up and make a dash for the door before Falco got in and ruined a perfectly fine moment of repose.
"You know what? I think you're hidin' from me 'cause you don't want to hear what I've been doing for the past four years. Might make you jealous to know I've gathered valuable info on some of our enemies and put an end to a few badasses so the little ones can sleep safely at night..."
The past eight years of Falco's hardly missed absence hadn't really even crossed Fox's mind for a second, neither was he in the mood for this, especially not hearing about children asleep in their warm beds at night all snuggled in while others were alone with no one to care for them, no one to feed them, no one to save them from dying until some high level bureaucrat decided that political gains could be scored with one of those Looks good on paper rescues. And so he sat at the breakfast bar with his head held low and the tip of his nose almost able to sniff up the morning squeeze of orange juice as his reinstated team member rambled on and on about a supposed highly celebrated-solo career and detailed it with a totally self-centered, matter-of-fact sort of dialogue.
"...Two years down the road it was me leading the fight against that old decrepit half-wit monster Scathen and his top-notch 'turned out to be pansies' armada in X-Sector. Hey, and who says I ain't a good diplomat? I can be diplomatic when I need to. I even got a few praises from General Pepper for getting the Noll Prime Minister at Zoness to back off all those threats he made against Aquas."
"Then why'd you come back, Falco..." Fox's voice barely held up from silent frustration somewhere in the middle of listening to Krystal talk about her life as an abandoned pup and facing many fears which led her to take on General Scales at his galleon. Thinking of her, he looked down into the glass and figured what he just said hadn't been heard, and for no reason stuck the tip of his index finger into the juice, stirred twice clockwise then pulled out the finger and dabbed the chilled acidic liquid off with his napkin.
"Of course I'm not sayin' this to take any of the credit for saving our great universe away from you..." Falco continued. "You gave a stellar performance going after Andross and saving Dino Planet, but you know you couldn't have finished him off without a hand from a good ol' pal like me...."
Fox sipped some of the juice to wash down the burning in his throat and thought of something else about Krystal. The parents who abandoned her were too poor and ill to take care of a child. A pretty young thing like her could've ended up bad off but she didn't blame them and she didn't fall victim to the situation no matter how hard it got out there on her own. Even tougher for Fox was hearing that those parents had died on Cerinia after Krystal managed to escape, then he had held her while she'd described to him the worst day of her life...
Now Falco's voice faded back in. "...Don't think I haven't been keeping track of your record. I watch the news just like anyone else, Fox, and most of the time you're in it..."
"Yeah, I'm in it," Finally he'd grumbled loudly enough to get some attention. "More than ever."
"Oh man, not again," Falco came to the bar and leaned on it. "You and your moods. What's this one done to you? Slapped you in the face and told you she never wants to see you again like the last one?"
Fox shot him a hard fixed glare without a word spoken.
"Oh, I get it. You can't say 'cause she'll punish you all the way to Corneria. You know what, that sucks, Fox. You let females push you around too much. Big time with Fara-"
Hot button pressed. "Leave her out of this."
"The shit'll hit the propellers when she finds out about you and Krystal, if she hasn't already, especially since she gets all the news first hand."
"I said--"
"Nothing. You said nothing. That's the thing. Saying nothing gets you into trouble. I say you should at least feel out the new babe before you get in too high over your head, find out how she feels first about getting involved with a guy who's on the rebound from a girl with the kind of money that could've kept him set for life."
The cold stare couldn't have been any stiffer. Fox pulled up from the barstool and grabbed the glass with a sturdy hand, gestured a toast across the counter then chugged it all the way down until it was empty. Not looking back, he went to the dish sanitizer, loaded it on the top rack, and from there it was finished-done with-he'd walk out, look for the next temporary hideout...
"Then again, Maybe it's not just you," Falco leaned on the bar peeking over his shoulder when Fox passed by him. "You never know, that Krystal's not exactly the homely type. Bet you're not the only one with his hands on her staff..."
This time he turned back to Falco with a scowl, more than ready to spit every bit of rage lingering on the tip of his tongue but the first fiery word rolled to a halt soon as Peppy came in and bluntly slapped his shoulder.
"Hey, Fox, you're lookin' kind of rough this morning. Maybe it's about time you trimmed those whiskers a bit. Anyhow, I just talked to Pepper and he says he wants us in his office soon as we land at Corneria. That means no foolin' around like you guys did last time."
Fox exchanged a quick glance with Falco and kept his mouth shut about the last time, eight years back, the ship docked and the team made plans to meet at a local restaurant before getting their commendations from the general for their most successful mission. Fox had opted out with the best of intentions, wanted to stay back and get a little shuteye before it was time to go see Pepper. Unfortunately, he'd managed less than a half-hour snooze before Falco came in with booze, chicks, and all sorts of crazy ideas about what two young guys were gonna do now that they'd become almost bigger than life heroes. Now visions flashed in Fox's head of the guys from the old Academy classes and some cadet girls who needed a little romantic debriefing, and after a few good hours of partying he stumbled back into his room and just about fell back through the door when he discovered Katt on Falco, legs straddling him, purring, moaning and the whole bit while he laid back in a daze of blissful pleasure.
"Do me favor and stop looking at me like that." Falco rolled out a splintered glare until Peppy finally made a point-blank interruption.
"So, Fox, have you talked to Krystal about her plans in the next few days?"
He lowered his head a bit and scratched the nape of his neck. "Errr...Plans?"
"I think it would help if we get her to wherever she's going before we head home."
All was dead silent for a second or two until Falco cracked into the tension thickened air. "Get her to wherever she's going? Now that's a joke. Twenty counts...no...make it fifty...I say she'll still be right here with loverboy when we dock in Corneria."
Peppy calmly removed a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to wipe down his bifocals like he must have been making his best effort to not make judgments until getting the whole story from the horse's mouth, but at that moment the horse was Fox, from whom not a neigh resounded.
"Well, I guess whatever you think is the right thing to do," Peppy's eyes shifted over to Falco then back to Fox. "Your decision, you live with it."
...you live with it... Those last few words couldn't be ignored and had forced him to recall his hesitation in accepting Falco back on the team and already regrets were beginning to settle in.
"Am I too late to get something to eat?"
They all came to attention at the sound of that alluring soft voice, and Fox...once again something rumbled through the center of him at the sight of her.
"Of course, Krystal," said Peppy, offering a courteous hand to guide her into the room and to the breakfast bar. "I think Fox can handle that. Meanwhile me and Falco can go get some work done and leave the two of you alone to talk about a few important things." And he made stern eye contact with Fox before leaving, signaled Falco to go with a quick nod, then they were gone.
Fox's eyes then focused unconsciously on one of the cameras perched in a corner across the room and wondered if they'd all made some sort of pact to keep a close watch on him now, especially Peppy...
"Can't tell me what's going on, can you? Top secret?" Krystal sat down in the same stool where Fox had been at first. "Mums the word. I swear the three of your are all bubbles ready to burst at any second. Are you always this uptight when you have visitors?"
He felt like an idiot when realizing he'd fallen into another daze again and laughed nervously to try making up for it. "...Uptight? Us? Nah, we were just talking about-"
"Me."
After a long blank stare he had to change the subject before she coerced him into telling all. " You say you're hungry," He went next to the fridge where the inventory panel was and tapped a button to start it. "We've got plenty. I can start you off with a cup of coffee if you'd like."
"No, but I'd like a nice hot cup of tea if you've got it."
He pushed the tea label on the keypad then found something else that might've satisfied her. "I brought back some of those dumbledang pods from Dino Planet. Would you like that?"
By the gleam in her eyes, the answer was an absolute yes.
The pod rolled out to a slot at the bottom of the side cooler and he reached in to get it then pulled a knife from the block and started slicing the large piece of exotic fruit into bite-sized cubes, spooned a good helping of them into a bowl beside the cutting board, then took it over to her. The tea was ready by the time he did that, and so he returned to the machine, got the cup and put it on the counter to the right of her bowl.
"Thank you, Fox. By the way you did that I'd say you're no stranger to the kitchen."
He just smiled and sat down with her and continued their conversation while observing the way she ate, slower than most vixens, as though every bit of it was something to be savored in case it was her last meal for a while. He could then feel her watching him as he checked the time and entered a balance request on his bank account.
"What all does that device do anyway?"
Fox put it up to his ear and listened for the protocol. "A number of things. I use it mainly to communicate with my team members."
A girlish smile adorned Krystal's lips. "And for translation."
After giving a quick nod, he watched the small embedded screen and retrieved his information. 50879.03. Content that his personal reserves had been replenished, he finished the transmission.
"I don't remember you having that when you visited my home."
"We didn't need it, there were translators just about everywhere. We had one of them aboard our ship."
"You know what? It would be nice if we didn't have to use that at all..." She said between another very slow bite of dumbledang. "Like this morning, for instance, when you wondered what I was saying in my sleep and couldn't find it. We need to understand each other if we're going to be spending so much time together...that is, we will be spending time together if it's okay with your friends."
This time the reference pinched at a nerve. "It's okay with me and so it's okay with them. That's final. Me and my team are like family. Now that you're here, I want you to feel like part of the family, too. Understand?"
She looked at him in a way that he knew meant she understood.
"And you're right about this," He leaned forward with his elbows on the brushed steel countertop and looked at the communicator. "Your lessons start bright and early tomorrow morning. We'll meet in the den, zero eight-hundred hours."
She sat up straight and playfully saluted him. "Aye, sir. Bright and early."
What a brilliant find, thought Fox. Finders keepers. Losers had to keep their distance and accept it. Little did she know this was just the beginning of her testing, and he'd had already made his plans and this was his follow-through for the empty slot that had remained on the Star Fox roster long enough. At last, that slot was about to become permanently filled.