Fox felt more at ease once he had exited the docking bay and entered Kau's Space Station (bar, grill, spa and hotel all in one). The scent of various well-seasoned dishes filled his nose and quickly reminded him how long it had been since he last ate. He almost couldn't help running his tongue over his chops a little. Aside from the multitude of meals calling his name, the overall atmosphere also played a part in his change of mood. His chat with Samus moments earlier had been rather somber in tone - as to be expected considering what it concerned. But here you almost couldn't think about your problems. No matter how hard they plagued you, the joyful and relaxed surroundings radiated an utter calm and carefree feeling.
He ventured down the hall towards one of his favorite restaurants, his tail swaying with an eagerness to sink his teeth into those meatballs he had recalled earlier. As he rounded a corner and was heading for the entrance, he felt something grasp the back of his vest and tug him backward. He wobbled and yelped a little before gaining his balance again and darting an agitated glance over his shoulder. Samus' hand continued grasping his vest as she looked down at him slightly. The bounty hunter had opted to release her suit for this particular location, standing there in the getup she had been wearing when they were in the cell. Truthfully, Samus came off to Fox like the kind of person who would live in their armor if they could, so it was a bit of surprise that she willed the second skin away on her own. On second thought, though, it was probably smartest considering the passive nature of the station. If she had waltzed in with an arm canon looking all threatening there might have been some very unwanted attention. One thing that was different, though, was the fact that her hair was out of the ponytail and swept up against her shoulders. The way it framed her face was something Fox found rather striking.
"Where are you? I called you like five times," she said, finally releasing him so he could turn around to face her. Resting a hand on her hip she cocked it to one side and tilted her head, seeming a little annoyed at his mental distance.
"Ahhh," Fox said, more a noise in the back of his throat than a response. He wasn't about to admit that he'd almost forgotten she was there altogether due to food of all things. "Well, I didn't know where you wanted to meet. I figured I'd go have a seat in here and you'd find me eventually." He gestured aimlessly at the door.
"Right," Samus replied. Her tone was clouded so he couldn't tell whether she believed him or was just agreeing. She didn't say any more than that before slipping past him towards the restaurant to enter. Fox huffed a breath and followed, not even realizing how he tilted his head to watch the rather curvaceous rear that the hunter had wrapped in her black undersuit. Luckily, his head up righted itself once Samus had turned and slid into a booth. He moved into the opposite seat, his tail fluffed and curving up to lay by his thigh.
"Okay, so I called around to see if anyone had any info on this Pirate ship of yours," he said after a moment's silence. Samus had been glancing around, her fingertips tapping the table almost furtively. It was like she expected something bad to leap out amongst the numbers of restaurant goers and attack her. Fox had watched this for a few minutes. He was fairly good at reading body language and now that Samus was not hidden behind the bulk of her otherwise unfeeling exterior, she seemed tense. What was interesting was the expression on her face didn't match the energy she was exuding. There was a trained, instinctive calm over her features, particularly in her eyes. Her face didn't even change when he spoke and she turned to look at him from being distracted. It was as if he'd had her attention the whole time. Fox mused about how this would have been a good ability to have when he was back daydreaming during his school days.
"And?" she asked simply, her fingers stilling themselves on the table's surface.
"Locally, no one has seen anything out of the ordinary. But one station I contacted did recall that not to long ago their transmissions and monitoring systems sporadically went offline... like they were being scrambled." Samus regarded Fox for a moment before lowering her eyes.
"They must have clouded the signals so they could get by unseen..," she muttered. Her fingertips moved to her lips and tapped there. "But... could they have developed a system like that themselves...? Enough to scramble an entire station's systems...for more than a few seconds?" Fox watched her have this talk with herself for a moment and could almost see her mind running a mile a minute.
"You're worried their leader did it," he interjected. Samus turned her gaze towards him, her hair sweeping over her bare shoulders with the motion. Her eyes focused on his for a mere second before she turned them down again.
"I'm not worried. I'm just considering the possibilities. It's best to assess things from every angle so you don't get any nasty surprises later." Fox couldn't muffle the chuckle that escaped his furry muzzle. "What?"
"You're worried." Samus straightened herself and put her hands in her lap, looking at him with an annoyed grimace.
"I don't worry. I analyze and assess."
"Well, you're analyzing and assessing too much," he replied, trying not to smile too widely as his tail tapped his booth seat. "Come on. We're in the most relaxing space station in this system... Business is business, of course... but we may as well take advantage of it."
"You're not very serious about your work are you?" she asked bluntly. Fox cocked an ear downward at this but the curves at the corners of his mouth didn't let up.
"I'm perfectly serious about my work. But what good is it going to do us to get riled up about things we don't know for a fact, Blondie?" He crossed his arms and rested them on the table, leaning forward and watching her.
"What do you mean? We know for a fact that Scales is running around attempting something or another that involves a highly dangerous and radioactive substance and the Space Pirates. That's not good cause to start planning a retaliation?" Samus replied, maintaining her ever-calm visage - her tone remaining more business-like and as unphazed as ever. "Not to mention Scales' bounty."
"It's a perfectly good cause to start planning, I agree. But until we find out where the ship is there's not much we can do... And since you didn't, at any point, interject that you found any useful information I'm assuming that you have none either." Samus huffed an almost invisible sigh. The only reason it was visible at all was the deep rise and fall of her chest. Finally, her head bowed and her eyes fell to gaze blindly at the table. Fox's furry brows furrowed a little at this. Agitated as ever and unable to really show it. Didn't this girl get out and have any fun or was this bounty hunting all she ever did? She sure seemed consumed by it. Driven was a good word too. He was starting to wonder what it was that pushed her so.
"Samus…," he started after awhile, speaking her name for once instead of the nickname he'd given her. She lifted her eyes to look at him and there was something different in her generally chilled eyes. Fox found himself unable to form a sentence. Truthfully, he wasn't exactly sure what he had planned to say in the first place.
"What?" she said finally, to break his silence. Fox's mouth opened a little as one of his ears twitched slightly.
"Wh…" He was cut off when the waitress in the restaurant approached their table, perfectly shattering an awkward moment. Samus shifted her gaze from Fox to the girl and Fox did as well before looking back at her and simply finishing, "…What do you want to eat?" He gestured helplessly and leaned back against the back of his seat, bowing his head a moment.
He felt a little lost in how to talk to her now. So far he had been trying to get a feel for how Samus acted and how she was internally. Up to this point he had figured that she was a rambunctious woman with a rogue-like desire for action and cash – a woman who would sooner shoot than listen to anyone's sob story. But as he continued to talk to her he started to wonder. She still seemed like a strong person, even while she sat without her suit right in front of him. It was obvious she was guarded. Her unwavering expression told that much. She'd molded herself in a way that, in most instances, her exterior told nothing about what she felt or thought.
But of all things he expected to see in her otherwise fiery eyes, he hadn't expected to see that.
She was scared….
…of what, he was still uncertain….
Could it be Scales? He didn't suppose so… Scales was a bully but hardly anything to get frightened about. Was it the phazon? When Samus spoke of the substance she certainly expressed an immense dislike for what it did to certain life forms. Perhaps she'd had a bad run in with them? The Metroids had certainly been enough to give him nightmares… and Samus had said that she had run into a phazon enhanced Metroid….
…but no…she hadn't seemed bothered by that memory. Pirates…? She spoke of them with disgust or indifference…
…..so that left… their leader. The large, prehistoric bird she had shown him. Was she afraid of him? Fox lifted his eyes to watch her again as she spoke with the waitress. But why should she fear something like that? It was just another dinosaur wasn't it? Certainly she'd faced worse.
"Fox."
Her voice broke thought the numbed silence of his thoughtful fog. His ears perked. "Yes?"
"It's your turn to order."
"Oh…right."
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who's been reading Unfamiliar Atmosphere. I realize I left this fic ages ago and never thought I'd come back to it. But the reviews and encouragement have made it easy for me to write again. I hope you'll continue to enjoy and read what I have in store for these two.
On a secondary note I noticed there was a question as to where Krystal and Falco are at this point. For the sake of this fic I'm figuring the Krystal resides on the Great Fox with the team, though I haven't determined the extent of her relationship with Fox. I will say that Fox is still single in this fic, however. Falco is going to be included in the story but he is currently not on the Great Fox – he is out on his own.
And lastly, I'm curious to see what you guys think about my portrayal of a more human Samus. In general I think most have a view of her as a ruthless bounty hunter and that's it. Specifically, though, I'm referencing those online "Samus Origin" mangas again, as to how she acts or reacts to certain things. So yeah consider that in your reviews, I'd be happy to hear about it.
