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FIRST CATCH

I really do enjoy writing this story. It really takes the heat off things when I'm a little jaded from writing That Sylveon, or perhaps requests for my patrons. BTW, thanks to all my patrons, too! You're the coal to my power plant, I hope you know that.

LuanOTP owns nothing.

Falco Lombardi watched disappointedly as his best friend stormed off in anger. Every patter from the fox's feet clanging with the steel floor made him wince. Sighing, the avian knew exactly where he was headed, and gave reluctant chase.

The captain made a left, and quickly speed walking after him, so did Falco. The bird saw Fox go into his room, and slam the door shut. The thud was so loud it had probably woken up the other inhabitants of the ship consequently.

Falco reached the closed metal door, and rapped on it a couple times with his tired morning arms.

"Come on, Fox!" called out the blue-feathered falcon, tapping on the door a little more. "I wanna talk to you about this, face to face."

There seemed to be no response coming from the dejected vulpine. In fact, it seemed to be much quieter than it was to begin with.

Breathing in and out in conceit, Falco knew exactly what Fox was looking out for.

"...Please."

"..."

"..."

"...Come in…"

It was as if a 1 ton weight was taken off Falco's shoulders. Entering the room courageously, he thought about how he was going to pry away the remaining extra 10 tons.

The room was darkened, as per usual. Layout wise, it was pretty similar to his own, but Falco detected that classic and familiar Mccloud aura the second he stepped in. Fox was lying on his messy bed, pillow over his face in disdain. You know it was bad when Fox was disorganised.

"Fox?" Falco enunciated into the dark abyss. "Come on, buddy. I wanna talk with you."

Muffled groans came from under the pillow, but eventually, the leader of the team removed it from his muzzle, and dashed it to the side of the bed.

"Okay… Fine."

It was extremely dark, yet Falco was still able to make out the green drooping irises of the vulpine. Fox sat up, slouched over, and glared his fellow wingmate dead in the eyes.

"Fox…" spoke the avian, coming closer to the Fox on the bed, and sitting next to him. "I-I uhh… I wanna apologise. For, y'know… The whole thing we were 'avin outside just a second ago."

Fox looked up, and exhaled. "You know, Falco. You frustrate me. You really, really do."

It wasn't exactly what the avian wanted to hear, but he kept his trapped shut and let the distressed captain continue.

"All I care for is your safety, but you completely disregard that, all because you want a trip in the Arwing. What if StarWolf decided to kill you back then, Falco?" scolded Fox, chucking his arms up exasperatedly. "I don't want that! I can't risk that! I just… Ugh… I'm sorry."

Falco looked intently at the Fox in frustration. The way he threw up his hands, closed his eyes shut and barked mercilessly at him gave him faded memories of his mother back on Corneria, chastising him for the final time before he had scampered off on his own to form an outer space gang. However, it had distraught him enough to wear a downwards curve on his beak. The avian sighed, never really wanting to ever be in these situations. He knew what to do, but it was another thing actually doing it.

Taking a deep breath in to summon all his bravery, Falco lurched forward, and exchanged his warmness with an embrace around the sullen Fox, who had gasped in surprise. This was the last thing anyone would've expected out of the brash bird, yet both accepted it, embarrassingly enough.

"I'm sorry too." croaked Falco. Fox could tell that it took a lot for the bird to even mutter that. It had put a small, faint smile on his face.

"I get it, Falco." Fox sighed, once his comrade had promptly let go of him. "It just hurts to see you go out on your own sometimes. We never used to hang out as much as we used to"

The avian was still a little bit freaked out over the fact that he actually did that. He eventually calmed down enough to reply, though.

"Listen, Fox. I don't go out in the Arwing just to upset you or nuthin'. It's just… I miss riding out for leisure. I wanna feel free without the crisis of war knockin' on our doors." explained Falco, seemingly going off on a whim. "But I can get with your concerns for my safety."

Fox huffed, knowing that there wasn't much way around this certain Lombardi. "Falco, if you want to go out now, it's alright. Just… not too often, okay?"

Surprisingly, Falco shook his head. "Right now, I think I'm alright. You know what? Since we ain't got missions for sometime, why don't we stay in and play some games? Just like how we used to do it in the academy."

Raising his head, Fox looked at his feathered compadre - who had a nice smile of his own this time - and gleamed happily.

"Why not?"

Katt got a late start to the day. Very late. Hiding out on enemy territory and foreign planets really messed with her sleep schedule. She was thankful for the way things had turned out for her, though.

Sitting up in bed, Katt noticed that the lights weren't turned on in Falco's room. The bird probably preferred having no lights, anyway. The feline smiled at her own little innuendo, before getting up to stand in front of the large, portrait mirror. Messy hair aside, Katt realised she was topless, ogling her exposed breasts that were begging for some sort of cover.

"Mmm… I'd say a good D… Maybe a little on the C side, actually…Nah, definitely a D."

She turned around on a point and eyed a wardrobe - that was part of the wall - right next to the desk with the infamous plushie on it. Katt curiously opened it to find some clothes she could appropriate, and picked out a long black t-shirt that read "A. Disastra" in large, bold, yellow letters across it's bosom. It was long enough that she didn't need to wear her classic black trousers, so she discarded them and called herself ready.

She stepped out into the hallway, stretching her slender arms toward the ceiling. From the portside, Katt noticed Slippy emerge into the long strip of a corridor via the kitchen. The waft of fried eggs and bacon was held aloft around his person.

"G-G-G-Good morning, Katt!" croaked the cheerful mechanic, holding a plate of a full Cornerian breakfast. "Did'ja sleep well?"

"Morning, Slippy." said Katt in response, placing her hand on her hip. "I slept like a baby, by the way. Falco's bed is veeerry soft."

Slippy gave a smile to seem as friendly as possible. "That's great. Between you and me, uhh, he stole Fox's mattress as a joke, but forgot to return it. Maybe that's why it's so soft."

Katt chuckled lightly, ruffling her white hair about. "Figures. That's a very Falco thing to do. Speaking of which, where is the little birdie? I could do with someone to pick on."

"Ahaha, well, he was in the lounge playing video games with Fox." ribbited Slippy, gesturing to the nearby entrance. "It's good to have you around, Katt. Now Falco won't make fun of me as much."

"Hmph! Don't worry, kiddo. I'll show 'im. Thanks!"

Slippy waved goodbye with his free hand. "L-Later! Don't forget your breakfast!"

Katt was certainly in the mood for her breakfast. On the other hand, there was something above that on the list of priorities, and that was the blue bird she knew so well. Entering the lounge, the femme fatale leaned on the doorway and found that Slippy was true to his word. Perhaps, about 99% of it, anyway. Both Fox and Falco were in front of the flat screen television. Yet, neither seemed to be engaged in their game at all, since it was paused. Taking a closer look, she discovered that both parties were completely asleep, and good grief, was it a sight to behold.

Fox had the strewn controller haphazardly placed on his thigh, where it was very susceptible to fall off and make an uproar. He was dozed off on the armchair, breathing in and out in a linear pattern. Cute. However, what was amazing in the eyes of the beholder was the vulpine's feathered counterpart, who had his legs curled up to his chest, resting his head peacefully on his captain's shoulders.

The sight was nearly enough to bring Katt to tears. Nearly. Although, it was enough to get her to sit and stay for awhile to witness the feat. Pulling out her phone, she decided to take the memory and make a quick screensaver out of it. Now, how about that breakfast?

"..."

"..."

*CLANG*

"AAAH!"

"WOAH!"

It was a chain reaction, catalysed by the silly placement of the controller on Fox's thigh. It fell to the floor, alerting the captain, who yelled himself awake. Unfortunately, Falco - who was completely fine being on the fox's shoulder - was jolted awake also, resulting in a complete frenzy.

"What the heck, man?" scolded Falco, stifling a yawn leaning away from his superior. "Why'd ya gotta wake me up like that?"

Fox, who looked as confused as ever, looked back sternly at the avian. "I-It wasn't my fault, I was startled! Geez… How long were we playing games for?"

Falco squinted at the large universal clock on the wall, but struggled to read the time well. "Uhh… Umm… I'm not short sighted, right? I think i've got morning vision..."

"I'm no genius, but I'd take a whim that it was well over 4 hours."

"Shucks, man… My breath kinda stinks…"

"When doesn't it stink?"

"Ouch. Not a nice thing to say to your captain, birdie."

The final voice came from neither Fox nor Falco. Both turned to the divinely soft voice, and were surprised to find out that Katt was there, sitting on an adjacent the entire time.

"K-Katt! What're you doing?" barked Falco, still seeming a little groggy.

Katt simply shrugged her shoulders, putting down a half-finished plate of food that the duo had missed out on..

"Hey, I'm only trying to enjoy my food. I'm not sure why you rascals were playing games for so long."

Fox now turned to look at the time. "W-Wha? I don't believe it, Falco! It's already 5 o'clock!"

"Ow… Ya don't gotta shout so loud…"

"Ugh, well, what I'm saying is that it's coming to the evening, and all we've done is play games!"

"...Did we get to the final boss?

"...No?"

"...Do you want to..?"

"F-Falco!" cried aloud Fox McCloud. Katt was certainly loving this. "General Pepper could have sent a transmission at any time! I need to get dressed."

"Fox, chill out, man." Falco said, reaching forward to nab the controller from the floor. "It's our free day."

Thankfully, Fox eventually leaned back into the couch, sighing and turning to Katt. "Sorry you had to see that, Katt. You weren't, uhh… You weren't there the entire time, were you?"

Katt smiled, diminishing Fox's capability to be optimistic. "Well, not the entire time, but long enough to grab a pic of you cuties." she taunted, waving her phone about childishly.

As a response, Falco merely folded his arms, while Fox blushed and turned his head away. Knowing the type of crucial information she held in her device, the risky feline decided to have a bit of fun with it.

"Mmm, especially you, McCloud. You've got a pretty cute face when you're asleep, y'know?"

Immediately, Falco's eyes shot up, daring to stare straight into the playful eyes of Katt. Meanwhile, Fox meekly scratched his head, a prominent fluster becoming a theme on his face.

"W-Well, shucks… I supposed my mom always said I was the cute one. T-Thanks, Katt."

Falco glanced left. Clearly, the fox was having a negative reaction to this. The poor thing barely knew what to say.

"It's alright. Say, you seem like you'd be a hit with the ladies, Fox?" purred Katt, crossing her legs and assuming a seductive pose.

"Uhh…" was all Fox could come up with. Wasn't very impressive in anyone's eyes, although it definitely made an impact in widening Katt's growing smile.

"Katt! Can't ya go bother someone else?" interjected Falco, taking some of the embarrassment off of Fox's shoulders. "What're you trying to accomplish?"

Katt stood up, plate in hand. "You're the one with a problem, birdie. All I'm doing is handing Fox some well deserved compliments. But, since you're so offended, I'll leave your boyfriend alone. I'll be in my room, boys."

The only female on the space carrier waved the duo a farewell, followed by her leaving the area with a tail swish here and a sashay over there.

Falco looked at Fox, who was the right mess painted a bright tomato red.

"I've seen that look before. I'm getting Fara vibes all over again."

"L-Leave it out, Falco!"

Now, the same Lombardi had found himself exiting the shower, after procrastinating washing for the longest time. A towel was sloppily flung around his neck, and he was clad in red shorts and a slightly baggy matching t-shirt. His feathers were ruffled, damp and drenched in water, but Falco didn't care. The avian waltzed into the lounge, keeping his beady eyes out for any facetious felines on the prowl. In fact, next to his fox-in-command was the lady that he kept his eyes out for. Katt and Fox seemed to share an interesting conversation between themselves, although the avian couldn't really make out what they were saying. It was interesting to see the both of them fully dressed in actual clothes, while he was barely decent.

The second Falco made himself known by leaning on the door frame, a grin formed on Katt's maw. She, alongside her new captain, turned to hand the bird some smiles of acknowledgement.

"Hey, Falco." greeted Fox politely. He seemed to have slightly redder fur around his face this time around.

"Hey there, birdie." called Katt, waving her hand. "Have a nice shower?"

Falco shrugged his shoulders, walking further into the room to take a seat on the sofa adjacent to the duo. "Yeah, it was pretty nice. What're you two yappin' about?"

"We're just catching up."

The warbler rolled his eyes. As if those two had anything to be catching up on. His mind tracked back to the team's prior encounter with Katt on Zoness; the feline only just acknowledged the rest of his team.

"So anyways, Foxy, a couple of things have been on my mind recently." said the pink cat, placing her index finger on her lip. "You're a cute kid. You ever had a lady friend of your own?"

Falco's eyes darted to the left, landing on the vulpine who nervously scratched the back of his scruffy head.

"Umm… there was this girl back at the academy, I suppose…"

"Oooo… Interesting." cooed Katt cunningly, crossing her legs over the creased couch. "Did ya get lucky with her?"

"N-N-No! We were just really close friends, but I wouldn't have minded…"

Falco raised an eyebrow, and crossed his legs. He knew exactly who the vulpine was talking about, as well as how accurate that statement was.

Snap. Katt clicked her fingers. "Damn, must've hurt. It's a shame, McCloud. If I was that girl, things would've played out much much differently. But heyo, that's just what I think."

Fox's mouth was slapped silent once he had put two and two together. Falco was equally shocked, and even though the compliment wasn't even directed at him, it was more than enough to get him in a flustered mood.

"I… Uhh…" mustered the captain. It was too much for the 18 year old, though. He desperately looked at his watch, and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Oh! Um, I left my laundry for too long, it's gonna burn? I'll catch you two in a bit!

With that, the largely revered Cornerian hero darted out into the hallway with his tail between his legs. Falco was wide-eyed, and figured that his actions weren't unjustified. Meanwhile, Katt silently chuckled to herself, while leaning back onto the chair with delight.

The slightly more dry avian leered at the smug feline with a stare that could melt a hole through a lead wall. Katt turned, and winked at the bird as she stood up.

"Well. I think I'll take my leave as well. I'll be in your room, Falco." she sang, sashaying toward the door, her hips swishing left and right, while her tail swung completely out of phase. "Oh, and if you're gonna come in, make sure you knock first."

Falco was the only one left in the room, and he was completely flabbergasted. He barely committed to that conversation, and here he was, freaking out like he was a little schoolgirl or something. Well at this rate, he may as well be. There was only one word in the avian's head to describe this event.

"Shoot…!"

I really like writing this story. StarFox is easily one of my top 10 franchises. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one.

-LuanOTP