It was a relatively quiet day for everyone on the Great Fox. No missions were coming in, and the crew on board had to resort to doing something in order to keep themselves from going insane. After some time, one of them suggested playing a few team games, in order to keep them on their toes, and help them with quick decision-making on the battlefield. It also wanted to prove the other three's theory on if their captain was quick to save his "friend" in choppy territories.

Boy, it sure did.

When his plan fell apart, their captain suggested individual play, which is the scenario they're in now. Four of the five were in the den playing a cutthroat game of poker. The eldest of the pilots had his fair share of wagers in his youth, and decided not to be a part of their game. He didn't have an addiction; he just thought he was unlucky when it came to money.

So, the other four sat in the den, having their cards buried in their hands so no one but themselves could see. However, they all had something on so the playing field would be fair, and no cheating would be present. Namely, no cheating via telepathy. The current round, in which the flop showed a five of hearts, a Jack of hearts and a Jack of spades.

It was the orange tod's turn, and he immediately placed down fifty credits. The green toad and the blue pheasant looked at the amount, and to theirs. Even though they accumulated a good amount, it was quite a bit for the first round of betting, suggesting he was really pushing for a win here.

"I ain't falling for you, Fox." The toad said, throwing his cards away and folding.

"I'm with Slippy. You're not getting more from me." The pheasant tossed his face down cards to the center with Slippy's.

"Aww Falco. You were my only source of income." Fox pouted in mock disappointment.

"Oh, can it!" Falco quipped as he got up and went to the fridge to get another drink.

That left one more player willing to compete with Fox. He looked to his left and saw those beaming blue eyes he loved to stare at. But, if looks could kill, then the vixen's death glare surely would send him to meet his maker more than a few times.

"This is so stupid." She began reaching up to her head.

"Hey, hey!" Fox shouted.

"Whoa there, blue girl." Falco yelled from the counter.

"This is so humiliating for me!" The vixen groaned as she shot looks at each of her teammates.

"C'mon Krystal, we're all wearing one. You gotta do the same." Slippy explained.

Again, Krystal surveyed the room to be reminded that they were indeed all wearing the same headwear. Even though she rejected it at first, Fox explained why it was for the fairness of everyone, so she reluctantly wore the tin foil hat; as did everyone else in the room. They weren't scared of her telepathic abilities; they just didn't want her to cheat when games involved money.

(Let's be honest, though.)

Krystal took another look at her cards, a Jack of clubs with a ten of hearts for a runner. Three of a kind, but her hopes were still up that another Jack would show up, but she needed to match him in order to see that outcome.

"I'll call." Krystal threw fifty credits to the center.

Fox clicked his lips. "Okay then. Let's go, Slip."

Slippy pushed the deck together and burned the top card as they went for the turn. He waited a few seconds for suspense and flipped the next card.

"Four of clubs," Slippy announced.

It was Fox's turn to start the betting. He took a quick glance at his two, and back at the turn. He placed his hand over his mouth and started to think. Half was to actually think of an amount to put, the other half was to annoy Krystal. He removed his hand and went to his pile.

"Hundred." Fox placed a single hundred credit bill down, doing his best to keep the shit-eating grin off his face. He turned to Krystal.

Krystal looked down at her Jack and ten. She really needed that Jack of diamonds to show up on the river so she could go for the kill. Without hesitation, she looked at what was left and scarped up one fifty and five ten credit bills.

"Call." She said with as little emotion as possible.

"C'mon Krys, show some enthusiasm. You don't have to be so mad." Fox started to poke her cheek fluff. Krystal swatted it away.

"I can't express how much I hate you right now." Krystal said as Slippy burned the top card.

"I've been with you long enough to know you don't mean it." Fox said, leaning back in his chair.

"I do. I hate you right now."

Fox began making an exaggerated pouting face. His bottom lip began to quiver as Slippy revealed the river card. "Ace of clubs."

Fox's face went back to that cocky grin he's been wearing since they started playing. He gave a wink towards Krystal. Oh, how she loved and hated him right now. Of course, she didn't mean it; It was just one of those "heat of the moment" things, but she always had Fox to cool her down. Then again, he always made a habit to get her riled up again, at least in a different sense.

What they do on their own time is their business, but what they were doing right now was serious business. Fox took another look at his cards, then to Krystal's pile. He could be a good boyfriend and go easy on her, or he could be ruthless and match the amount she has just to milk her dry, like she always did with him (wink wink).

"200." Fox pushed two 100 credit bills.

Krystal's eyes grew wide. Falco scurried from the counter back to his seat just to see how this round would play out. The final bet lasted with Krystal and she looked down at her credits. She would have to bet the remaining 200 she had on her. She could just fold, but Fox would get the other earnings she betted. Or, maybe Fox was being generous. Maybe he didn't have anything and was betting all his so she could win.

She was hoping for the latter and decided to go with her gut.

"All in." She said and she pushed her 200 credits to Fox's pile. She flipped her cards first. "Three of a kind."

Fox looked at her cards facing up. A Jack of clubs and a ten of hearts. A good hand, Fox was a little surprised that she had been able to keep up. Fox went to his cards and flicked them up to himself before looking at Krystal with saddened eyes.

For a moment, Krystal's eyes lit. She was thinking that he didn't have anything, and that he actually let her win. Those thoughts were quickly thrown out the Great Fox's airlock as Fox flipped his cards.

"Full house."

Krystal's mouth grew wide as she finally saw where her Jack of diamonds was, and it wasn't helpful with a five of diamonds as his kicker. Indeed, he had a full house. With that, Krystal went broke. Fox slowly reached over and grabbed his 200 credits, never breaking eye contact.

"You had my Jack." She said in disbelief.

"I should be saying the same thing. But I already won that game in the first round." Fox was stacking his credits. He looked up and saw Krystal staring out in the distance. Fox took in a breath and started counting off half his credits. "Here. I'll buy you in."

Krystal came out of her trance and stared at Fox. She saw him cutting half his amount. She didn't want that; it just didn't feel right. She took off the tin foil hat, crumpled it and threw it at Fox. She stormed out of the den, her tail trailing behind her while puffed up in anger. The three of them watched with widened eyes, all dead silent as she left.

"You should have let her win." Falco said.

Fox sighed as Slippy handed him the shuffled deck, indicating that he was the dealer. Fox grabbed it and placed it in front of Falco.

"You're calling it?" Falco asked, arms spread out.

"Nah, I just need to calm her down." Fox stood up. "Don't even think about stealing them. I'll take it out of your account if you do." With that, Fox left the den and chased after Krystal.

"How much does he have?" Falco looked over.

"About 1,400." Slippy said after he counted.

"He won't mind if we split it. Just as long as we give 14 back, right?" Falco reached over and split Fox's earnings between him and Slippy so they could keep playing.

Ever since Fox and Krystal's relationship became more intimate, Krystal suggested the idea of them sharing the same room. Fox was on a seesaw, tipping from yes to no. He loved the idea of being with her, but the pessimist always showed, saying that if their relationship were to hit a breaking point, then them sleeping together would completely fall apart, possibly leaving time for themselves.

A year later, there were some small spouts between the two, similar to tonight, but they were never that severe; which is why Fox came in with a chummy attitude. He saw Krystal looking through the drawers on Fox's side. It looked like she was searching for something as if her life depended on it. Fox quickly went over to his bedside and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"C'mon, Krys. Don't be mad about it." Fox said as he nuzzled into her neck. "I was going to go half after we were done playing."

She slowly abandoned her search and nuzzled Fox back. "It's not that. It's just…"

Krystal looked up and grabbed the shiny tin foil hat from Fox's head. "This. What you made me wear. It was so humiliating."

Fox, internally, knew that the tin foil hat may have been a bit overboard. The reason she wore it was that everyone else was.

"Krys. It's not that we don't trust you, we just want a fair fight when we're playing. Especially when money is involved." Fox turned Krystal around. He brushed some hair from her face. Krystal looked up and Fox had that boyish smile he always had when he's around her.

"You're an idiot." She leaned forward.

"Yeah, but I'm your idiot." Fox leaned forward, meeting her halfway.

"That you are." She closed the few centimeters between their muzzles.

They both never got tired of this. Every time they locked lips with each other, it felt like the first time they kissed. Krystal's tongue entered Fox's mouth and Fox let out a small satisfied moan. Fox moved his hands to her hips and started to press her against the nightstand. Krystal noticed this, but reluctantly pulled away.

"I'm still mad at you." Krystal said as she pushed off him.

"How was I going to throw away a good hand like that? I had to play it." Fox explained. "Also, what are you searching for?"

Krystal turned back into Fox's drawer. "Looking for loose change."

"Krys, I told you I'd buy you in." Fox placed his hands back on her hips as Krystal continued digging through his drawer.

She bumped her rear against his hip and Fox let out a small grunt. "Oh no. I'm not taking any of your dirty money."

Krystal slipped out of Fox's grasp and went into their closet. Fox was close behind her as she looked through some old clothes laying on the floor. She got a small whiff of them and threw them aside, eyeing Fox about not keeping up with his laundry.

Fox leaned against the doorframe of the closest and watched Krystal scrummaging through the bottom of their shoe rack. She started to toss aside some boots and Fox finally knelt beside her to get her to stop. He lightly grabbed her wrist, but she yanked it from his grasp, still on the search of more credits.

Her search stopped abruptly when she saw a small black case hidden between another pair of Fox's old boots. Carefully, she opened and retrieved a black rectangle, wearing a puzzled expression as she studied it.

"What's this?" She asked as she turned back to Fox. The vulpine looked down to see her holding his camera, something that he hadn't touched in quite some time. Fox studied it for a while and found the power button on the top of the device. A small chime sounded as the camera started up.

Fox had taken a few pictures with the device, mostly of the different landscapes he'd encountered on all the planets he'd seen, pictures of him and his team on the battlefield, and of course, pictures of the stars that he flew among every day. All-important memories and information, but they were also made immortal via the device the vixen held in her very hands.

"It's a camera," Fox said as he handed it back.

"A camera?" Krystal was still confused. "Don't we have one on our wristcomms?"

"We do, but this was before Slippy made them. It was issued to us for war photos and stuff. I'm surprised that it still has any battery." Fox saw the small battery icon and that it was blinking red.

Fox stood up and started to fidget with the settings. He went to the menu and started to adjust the white balance and ISO numbers to the lighting of the closet. Krystal abandoned her search and looked over Fox's shoulder to see what he was doing.

Krystal saw the screen was projecting the doorframe and when Fox moved, the screen would pick up what the lens was reflecting into the device. Krystal's arms poked through the holes of Fox's arms and tried to reach for the camera. Fox felt this and picked up his arms over his head and Krystal was still reaching for it.

"I want to see it." Krystal was on her tiptoes to get the camera.

"Hold on. It's about to die." Fox chuckled. "I need to find the charger for this."

"Can we at least take one picture?" Krystal was jumping and trying to swipe the camera from Fox.

Fox thought about it for a little and saw that there was at least some power for one picture. Fox looked over his shoulder and saw Krystal's head resting on his back. She beamed at him with those beautiful blue eyes. Bluer than any oceans Fox had ever seen. She would blink slowly in a sort of teasing way, trying to get him to budge or fold over.

It worked.

Fox gave a defeated sigh and grabbed Krystal's hand. He guided her to the bed and Fox instructed her to sit down. Krystal sat there and didn't know what he was going to ask of her next.

"Alright. Just one picture. This thing will die after I take it, so don't get upset if I can't show it to you." He began to change the settings now that the lighting was darker, and the only source was the open door to their room.

After Fox spent a few seconds readjusting the settings and features to the camera, he brought the camera up and held the bottom with his hand. Krystal was still sitting on the bed and didn't move from her position, just waiting for Fox to tell her what to do or what pose to take, so she asked.

"Do you want me in any position?" Krystal raised an eyebrow. It sounded like she was leading him to something.

"Um," Fox started to blush a little. "Y-You look fine as you are."

He looked down at the screen and saw Krystal's current position. She had her hands together and they were resting on her lap. She was sitting up and her legs were crossed with her feet barely touching the floor. Fox looked up from the camera and just stared at her.

Krystal could feel a small radiance coming from Fox's mind. His smile was simple. Nothing malicious or sultry about it. Just a smile. She could feel his aura emanating and Krystal couldn't help but to match his smile.

Fox looked back at the camera and almost forgot one thing. He pressed a button, extending a small hood that had a white line across it. Krystal's head tilted as he did this and her smile did wither a little. Fox didn't even count down and his finger pushed down on the button. The light from the flash flickered and Krystal blinked once before the light dimmed. Fox pushed the button with full force, and the light reappeared as a bright flash enveloped Krystal.

The flash was too bright for the poor vixen's eyes. She closed them and her face turned as if she had something sour in her mouth. She saw small stars under her eyelids and she rubbed them with her palms to make them disappear. Fox looked up and saw Krystal still rubbing her eyes.

"You could have at least done a countdown," Krystal groaned, removing her palms and blinking rapidly.

"Sorry about that." Fox chuckled.

However, his chuckle turned into a roaring laughter when he looked back at the screen. His inhales were contagious as Krystal wanted to know what he was laughing at. She peeked at the screen with a curious look, but it turned to disgust as she saw what Fox was laughing at. The picture in question was not a pleasant one of the vixen. Fox had to keep the camera away so she didn't try to grab it or do anything to compromise the picture.

"Get rid of it!" She demanded, reaching to the camera above Fox's head.

"Why?" Fox giggled. "I should totally get this framed."

Krystal's eyes returned to that death stare she had when they were playing poker. Fox looked down at her and gave her a small kiss on her nose. Only then, did her death glare begin to soften. She could feel that he wasn't serious about framing it, just a little something to tease her about.

She was still curious on how to work the camera. Sure, she'd taken a few pictures on her wristcomm, but they were always grainy and had a blur to them because she had to take them quickly. Now with a device that could automatically do the gimmicks for her, she wanted to know more about it.

"Well, can you teach me how to use it." Krystal wrapped her tail around Fox's waist.

Fox felt her tail grip around him and he stiffened, but the camera made a few beeping noises before finally shutting off. Fox turned the camera over and found the slot to the battery. He opened and had to pull hard to get it out. The small grey rectangle had a string of serial numbers and branding labeled onto it.

"Maybe tomorrow. I need to find the charger for it if you want to test it."

Krystal released her hold, and Fox returned to their closet to see if the charger was inside the black case. It wasn't inside the main holder where the camera was, so he looked in the side pockets. After a few minutes of searching, he yipped when he finally found it. Krystal let out a small giggle at his excitement.

Fox exited the closet and found a small outlet near the far corner of their room. He knelt to plug it in and inserted the battery in the holder. The light started to flash a steady red as the battery began charging.

"It'll be ready in a couple of hours, but I think we should call it a night." Fox said as he stood up.

Krystal thought about it, but agreed that they should get some shut eye for another day of probably doing nothing. Krystal shut their door and gave it a lock before she turned to Fox.

"Did you get your money," she asked.

Fox was in the middle of taking off his shirt before he stopped and remembered where he left them. It was already gone at this point.

"Damn it. Falco and Slippy probably took it." Fox finished taking off his shirt. "I threatened to take it from their accounts, so I'll probably just do that."

Fox stretched and his tail puffed up a little. The fluff fully exploded when he felt his vixen's touch around it. She gave it a small tug as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You're so bad, you know that." Krystal purred into his back.

"Only when I'm with you." Fox said in a low growl, one that gave Krystal a jump.

As the night cycle on the Great Fox came and went, the early morning grind for Fox was imminent. He tried to carefully maneuver his way out of his vixen's arms, but she held him with an iron grip.

"You're not going anywhere," Krystal said in a sleepy voice.

"Krys, I gotta check the ship and," Fox tried to answer, but Krystal's hold became tighter and she buried her head in his chest.

"The ship is fine." Krystal yawned. "Just, stay here for a while."

He did just that. She rubbed her head on his chest before picking it up and placing it on his shoulder. Their breathing was getting rhythmic and soon they were starting to fall asleep again. It was pitch black in the room, but there was a small green light that was blinking in the corner of Krystal's eye.

She opened them slowly and saw in the corner of the room the charger that Fox placed the night before. The red light must have changed to green overnight, indicating that it was finished. Krystal released her hold of Fox and flung the covers off her and over him.

"Oh sure, you can get up for a camera, but I can't get up to check the place we live in." Fox removed the covers.

"Hush you." Krystal went to the outlet and pulled the charger out and retrieved the battery.

Fox flipped his legs over the bed and walked over to where he placed the camera. Krystal gave him the battery and Fox slipped it inside the camera. He pushed the power button and the camera was fully powered.

"Rule of thumb. These things are expensive." Fox cautiously handed it to Krystal. "Don't be throwing it around like its plastic."

"You don't have to treat me like a child." Krystal took hold of the camera, but she misinterpreted the weight of it and she almost dropped it. Fox cupped his hands under hers as if he was trying to catch it. He then eyed her as Krystal held the camera close to her chest.

She looked down and carefully brought the camera up to her face. The screen projected the same image that was in front of the lens and she pointed the lens at Fox. He had to pick his chin up so the lens wouldn't hit him.

She snapped one picture of Fox and it was just a photo of his chin fur. She giggled at the detail that the picture had. She then walked to the bed and sat down to mess with some of the settings. Fox took this distraction to get some early work done around the Great Fox.

Fox got himself dressed and Krystal would take pictures of any object that piqued her interest. Fox found it cute that she would position the object in a sweet spot before she brought up the camera to take a picture. He shook his head with a smile and walked out of the room to get his morning activities done.

For the first few hours while Fox was busy looking over the Great Fox, he would casually bump into Krystal here and there. Each time, she would take a picture of either an empty room, or just an object that would make her ears swivel. However, the majority of the pictures were the ones she'd sneak of Fox.

Her vixenly smile would grow every time she managed to take a photo of him. Fox would be late to hear the camera go off and Krystal would already run off to another area before he could get to her. Each time, the tod would shake his head as he was always late to catch her.

The rest of the day was uneventful as they thought. No jobs were coming, so another night of games was in order. This time was just Fox and Falco. Slippy was stuck in the mechanic bay fixing some gadgets that they've broken over the past couple of weeks. As for the older hare, he sat in the corner of the den, reading a magazine and a bowl of sliced watermelon on the coffee table.

His ears perked as he heard a motorized whirr. He looked over to see Krystal had taken a picture of the hare sitting in the chair. She smiled at the picture and showed it to him.

"I think I got your good side, Peppy." She commented.

Peppy looked at the picture and gave a hearty laugh as he looked so committed to reading the magazine. "It looks nice, Krystal. You seem to have really picked up on it."

"Thank you," she got all giddied with Peppy's words. "I'm still learning with the settings and the lighting here was good, I couldn't pass it up."

"Forward that to me. I'm sure Lucy will frame it." Peppy leaned forward and grabbed the fruit bowl. "Watermelon?"

"How come?" She was puzzled.

"Some cat from space is telling me to give you a watermelon when you do something good." Peppy explained, extending the fruit bowl to her.

She just shrugged, taking one slice and tossed it into her mouth. She put her hand under her chin as some water started to drip out of her muzzle. She rushed to the countertop where the towels were, making sure to hold the camera close her body. After she wiped her muzzle, she overheard Falco throw another curse word towards Fox.

"There ain't no way you're that good," Falco yelled at the vulpine, who was just slouched in the chair.

"Or you're just bad at bluffing." Fox held his grin and reached to grab Falco's pile.

Falco took a glance at Krystal and she had a smile while pointing the camera and Fox. Another mechanic whirr sounded as she took another picture. Falco saw Krystal look up and then Fox had a sideways smirk; he guessed it was Krystal's weird brain powers. And then it hit him.

"You better not be telling him my hand!" Falco said pointing at Krystal.

"Why would you accuse me of such an act?" Krystal said in a fake hurt. She walked over and wrapped her arms around Fox's neck and nuzzled his face.

"Ugh, don't bring that mushy stuff in here." Falco got up and went to the fridge.

Krystal dragged Fox's chair out so she could sit on his lap. Fox rested his arm on her leg and looked over her shoulder to see the different pictures she's taken over the day.

"Wow Krys, these look good." Fox commented, he lightly took the camera to see the rest.

Krystal gave a light giggle and took the camera back. She turned it around and had the lens facing her. She outstretched her arms and had rubbed her back against Fox to get his attention. Fox looked up and saw that Krystal wanted them to take a picture of themselves.

"Are you sure you can hold it?" Fox placed his head on Krystal's shoulder.

"Falco. Could you be a dear and take a photo of us?" Krystal batted her eyes at the pheasant.

"Picture taking ain't my thing. Also, I'm calling it a night. I ain't playing if your psychic girlfriend keeps calling my cards to you."

Falco didn't give them a chance to answer back because he was out of the den while talking. Krystal felt Fox's muzzle get close to her ear.

"Thanks for your help on the river," Fox said in his thoughts.

"Just this once," she responded by licking his nose.

She grabbed a couple of bills from Fox's earnings and pocketed it before he could protest. She brought up the camera and Fox returned his head to her shoulder. Krystal had to sink down a bit to get into frame. They both had a smile as Fox started to squeeze Krystal's sides. Her giggles were enough to make Fox's day.

The camera shuttered and the picture was taken. She turned the camera around and looked at the photo on the screen. Their smiles, the way they held each other, it almost made her tear up knowing that they were right for one another.

Even if Fox didn't have telepathic powers, he could sense this from Krystal and gave her a small kiss on her shoulder. They heard some rustling behind them and some groaned stretching.

"I'm going to call it early, as well," Peppy said after he finished stretching. "Don't let her get too addicted to that thing." Peppy said as a warning.

"C'mon old timer, gotta have something to do around these parts." Fox said as he looked over their selfie. Peppy said his goodnight and out he went. That left the two foxes to themselves.

"Any other pictures you'd like to take?" Fox asked as he started to collect his earnings.

"I've already taken pictures around the Great Fox about three times, even then, some of them are the same." Krystal stood and started to collect the cards scattered on the table.

"Are you already calling it quits?" Fox started to clean up as well, picking up the fruit bowl that was on the coffee table.

"Just for today." She stacked the deck in the center of the table. "I'm just waiting for the opportunity for ground jobs to see the camera in full action."

Fox put a plastic covering on the bowl and placed it in the fridge. He felt Krystal's hand wrap around his and he pulled his gaze to her.

"I think we should head in as well." Krystal suggested.

"Alright, I'll meet you there. Still got some stuff to get clean in here."

Krystal understood and let Fox clean up the rest of the den. He always made sure the Great Fox was in top shape, no matter who was occupying it or if there even was inside. Krystal was quick to change out of her flight suit and into her more comfortable pajamas, them just being Fox's old t-shirt and jogging pants, though both she and Fox preferred her sleeping in her natural state.

Fox came in a few minutes later and he saw Krystal still going through most of the photos she took of him. He looked serious in the pictures she managed to snatch. She saw him take off his shirt and looked him over. She returned to the camera and then a thought came across her. She started to feel a little hot on her face.

"Fox, I actually had another idea." Krystal said, not turning to him.

"And that is," Fox asked with a rising voice.

Fox didn't hear Krystal respond. He turned around and she was shifting on the bed. He noticed that she was avoiding his gaze. Fox was curious at this point and sat next to her.

"What is it?" Fox took hold of her hand.

"It's somewhat silly and…" She started to trail on her words. "Well, I was thinking about having our own little shoot."

"That doesn't sound too bad. I'd love to take pictures with you." Fox squeezed her hand.

"There is a catch." Krystal tugged on one of the belt loops of Fox's pants. She got close to his face and whispered, "it would have us wearing no clothes."

Fox's face went blank at the words he heard her say. He looked at her and she had a small blush forming, although he did too.

"You're saying we should have a… nude photoshoot?"

"I think it would be exciting." She ran her hand up his chest and grabbed a small chunk of his chest fluff. "What do you think? It'll give you some pictures to look at when you're alone."

Fox, of course, didn't want to pass up on this opportunity. His grin started to grow as he placed his muzzle on Krystal's cheek. He let out a low growl of approval. "Let's get started."

Krystal shivered as Fox did this. He always found a way to get her revved up, and this was one of those ways. The only way to answer back was to match his level of readiness. She started to lift up her shirt. "That's the spirit."

However, for the first five minutes, the camera didn't come with a tripod. So, they had to find something to hold the camera in place. Fox decided to move the drawer on Krystal's side and found three books to set the camera on top. He set a time for ten seconds and each time they would have to get into a flavorful position for both of them.

They alternated between who was laying on the bed and who was on top, as well as who was facing the camera during the shots. They would throw quirky and dirty remarks to the other as they wrestled for control. Fox did get the upper hand and pinned Krystal on the bed with a fire behind his emerald eyes.

He started to plant small pecks as he went down her body. Krystal was squirming under him as she heard another click from the camera go off. She felt Fox's claws dragging through her fur and they rested on her thigh. Fox continued to kiss her stomach and then he heard the camera start beeping, indicating another countdown.

He kept kissing her stomach and Krystal let out sharp exhales. When the final seconds counted down, Fox stopped and looked directly at the camera. The camera took the picture and Fox continued his assault.

Eventually, all good things come to an end, or at least the first part. Their photoshoot lasted well over an hour, in which the two had taken more than enough pictures for their enjoyment. Fox moved the drawer back to Krystal's side and he joined her in bed. She was looking over the pictures they had taken. He slipped under the cover and wrapped an arm around her.

She pushed her back against his chest and he rested his head on top of hers. Krystal scrolled through the pictures and she would star the ones she liked, which was all of them. As she kept marking them, there was one that caught her eye, one that lit a fire inside her.

It was the one where Fox was looking directly at the camera. His head was resting on her stomach, his hand wrapped around her thigh. In the picture, she had a face of pure ecstasy, but Fox had, what she would call, a predator's gaze. One in which the predator would find and claim his prize, fending off anything that would come near it.

Fox saw Krystal shifting under the covers and let out a low hum. "You like that one."

"It looks so… primal." She couldn't look away from Fox's stare. "It's like you're… claiming me, as yours."

Fox started to form a sultry grin and put his muzzle on the back of her neck. He let out a low growl and Krystal froze. "It's true. You're the best prize I've ever caught."

Krystal tensed as she felt Fox's words vibrate against her neck. She didn't want to moan, but it slipped out. Fox's grin grew wider as he started to give small love bites on her neck. Krystal continued to squirm under the covers to the point where she could barely contain her primal drives.

She quickly placed the camera on her drawer and flipped herself onto Fox. The vulpine wasn't too surprised at this, he reveled in a dominant Krystal that he could just lay back and watch the show from where he was.

As the night cycle on the Great Fox turned to early morning, the vixen, after giving and receiving another blissful night with her vulpine, was again, looking through the pictures on what she would call "her" camera. Many of their desires showed in these pictures and Krystal found them all too titillating, especially the one she nicknamed "Primal Fox". As she was scrolling, a message appeared on the screen that both shocked and confused her.

STORAGE FULL. PLEASE INSERT NEW SD CARD.

Fox began to shift a little as the message did produce a small ping, but it wasn't enough to wake him. Krystal looked at the message and exited it. She didn't want to delete their photos, but the other ones she took were all good. As she was now getting invested in the camera, maybe it was time to buy new storage for it. It was the only possible solution, right until she found something in the settings that caught her attention.

Cloud Storage

She stared at the icon, the outline of a cloud with a black arrow pointing upwards sitting idly in its own little corner of the screen. . Curious, she selected the icon and saw that there were empty slots that could likely be used to store more pictures. She looked around for the question mark icon for help, but she then figured out how to import the images to the cloud. One by one, she uploaded the private photos, each taking about ten seconds to show up on the columns. It took her awhile to get all the pictures into the cloud, but when she checked the SD card, most of the storage was back.

Krystal let out a sigh and turned off the camera before placing it back on her drawer. She made sure Fox's arm was snug around her and that it wasn't being squished by her weight. She closed her eyes and got the next few hours of sleep she greatly needed from last night's escapade.

The morning shifts are not kind to those who work at the Corneria Defense Force's public relations. The coffee rush doesn't hit until the next officer says something controversial resulting in them having to issue a statement on a moment's notice, and it didn't help that new recruits made their jobs more difficult than it had to be.

One of the new recruits had the privilege to be called in as the officer in question had to take an "administrative leave". They didn't question it, so the recruit was in charge of watching the news and gathering information as it arrived to corroborating a cohesive narrative about whatever the CDF was doing at this point.

The feline would slouch in his chair, looking over his phone at the latest trending news and sports, clearly uninterested at being up so early. He kept scrolling on his phone with his head propped with one of his hands, squishing the side of his face. Most of the social media pages were not updating, as he kept pulling his screen down to refresh the whole app.

He did this for a few minutes, until he heard a sound come from one of the many computers in the room. It was in the back, and since he was too lazy to walk over, he used the main computer that he was at to get the message to his screen. He found where it was and made quick work in opening the message.

To his curiosity, he saw that there were pictures uploaded to a cloud server that the CDF owned.

He opened the message and saw that the sender was from the mercenary group Star Fox. The feline sat up and looked around to see if anyone else was nearby. In a couple swift motions, he opened the folder to view the pictures that Star Fox sent them.

The feline's eyes went wide as he scrolled through the pictures that Star Fox had sent them. He took another look at his surroundings and opened some of the pictures to full screen. He saw the picture of two Star Fox members sharing a very intimate moment.

Not just one, but many.

Very many.

He saw that these photos were uploaded no more than three minutes ago, but they were taken late last night, indicated by the time stamps. So someone must have uploaded it accidentally or without their knowledge. It didn't matter which one it was, all that feline could think about was how much he could bank on this. Some saucy photos would make for a good story and some fat stacks.

He quickly downloaded all the pictures to an external hard drive. The device would notify the main computer and server that there was a download happening, so he had to do it quickly, or the superiors would make him show what he downloaded. The files took about five minutes to extract, he took out his personal laptop and started to log in.

The hard drive notified him that the downloads were complete and he quickly took it out and practically slammed it into his laptop. He looked online for the email to a local news tabloid's public relation and whipped up an email on the spot.

"I'm gonna get so much money from this."

Fox awoke to something clinging to him. Knowing who it was, he gave the ear that was near his face a light nibble. The blue body started to move under the covers and Fox started to bite her ears a little harder. Krystal finally woke up and gave Fox a small slap on his chest. He laughed as she rubbed her ear.

"You don't have to bite so hard," she said with a yawn.

"You didn't complain about it last night." Fox had a grin forming.

"That's… different." Her blush was starting to show.

"And why is that?" Fox got close to her face.

She used her index finger and thumb to close Fox's muzzle. "Shut."

Fox shook his head and pulled the covers off him. He could smell the faint scent of coffee flowing through the cracks of the door. His nose began twitching as the coffee smell infiltrated his nostril, his stomach started to rumble.

He sat on the edge of the bed, but he felt Krystal wrap her arms around his waist. He lightly chuckled and got some shorts and a shirt to at least go to the den somewhat decent. He looked back and saw Krystal returning the covers to her body.

"You coming?"

"I'll stay here for a little." She said as she got more comfortable.

Fox rolled his eyes and walked out of their room. He stretched as he walked down the hallway and the coffee smell kept getting stronger as he came closer to the den. He entered into the den and all he could feel was the urge to get coffee. He did eye his other teammates, they were sitting at the table.

"Morning guys." Fox said, flicking his head to them.

He went to one of the cabinets above the sink and pulled out one of the many cups that were stacked in the cabinet. He turned around and got a clear look at his teammates. They all were eyeing him, coffee mugs in one hand, and the other hand under their pit. Fox started to walk slowly to the coffee pot and they all watched him walking to it.

"What's going on? Do I have something?" Fox slowly patted himself down.

Peppy took his eyes off Fox and looked at Falco and Slippy. The hare darted his eyes to a tablet that was laying on the table. Falco began to sit up in the chair and Slippy kept staring at Fox. This point, Fox was starting to get annoyed.

"Guys, what is it?"

Peppy looked down at the tablet and up to Fox. He removed his hand from his pit and slowly slid the tablet towards Fox. The vulpine looked down at the tablet and grabbed it, he placed the empty mug on the table. He pushed the power button and the lock screen popped up. He entered the password and the lock screen opened, and so did Fox's mouth.

His eyes widened and his mouth was opening more. The picture that was presented in broad daylight. It showed Fox kissing Krystal's stomach and Krystal was looking down at Fox in full pleasure. Fox had a bead of sweat dripping down his skull and quickly eyed the rest of his team, they did not move from their original position of mug in hand.

However, what made Fox almost faint from this series of events was the publisher's name above their picture, the Cornerian Chronicle. Fox's hands started to get damp and the tablet almost slipped out of them. He read more on the cover page and saw the headline that ran underneath the publisher's name.

Star Fox lover's secret, HOT photoshoot! See how long both foxes last.

Fox looked up with a flat expression. He clicked the lock screen and put the tablet behind his back. The rest of his team did not break their gaze.

"I'll be back." Fox said with an unreadable tone..

He bumped into the door frame and hit his elbow. Once he was in the hallway, he turned to his right and bolted back to his and Krystal's room. He slipped when turning the corner and did a bear crawl before standing up. He reached their room and had to pry the door before it slid open.

He looked inside and saw Krystal with the covers over her. She looked peaceful, but this was something that Fox was not wanting to break out. He rushed to Krystal's side and started to shake her awake. Krystal slapped Fox's hand off her and closed her eyes tight.

"Krys! Wake up." He shook her violently, even though he didn't want to.

"What!" She shot up and she shot him another death glare.

Fox had to step back. "I'm sorry for waking you, but this is important."

"It better be," she mumbled, stretching. She remembered that she didn't have any clothes, but it was too early in the morning for her to care.

"Well, did you do something with the photos?" Fox sat on the edge.

"Huh? Why do you ask?" She brought her legs up.

Fox gave her the tablet and she looked at it. She took it and opened the lock screen to see the main issue that Fox ran back for. Her eyes were still adjusting and were watering a little, but she wiped them before she finally saw what Fox was being so freaked out about.

Fox saw her face get wide, but it turned into more of confusion at what she was looking at. She turned her head and then her eyes spiked up.

"Oh, my gods," she exclaimed.

"You see what I mean."

"They used the wrong picture." She shook her head. "Why couldn't they use the one where you were looking at the camera, the one I like."

"What? How are you not freaked out by this? Better yet, how did they get these pictures?" Fox was just trying to piece together what was happening.

"Um, there was something on here that I added the pictures to." Krystal reached over to her nightstand and turned on the camera. She scrolled through the menu options and found the one icon that she found early in the morning.

"This is what I found." She presented the cloud icon to the Fox and he opened the app. He saw the many pictures that they took the previous night. He looked through the settings and found the one thing that linked everything. An email address that had a CDF domain. Fox's brain finally clicked and he passed out from the series of events.

Krystal tucked her feet and saw Fox fall on his back on the bed. She poked his face and there wasn't a response from him; she could feel that he was actually passed out. She sighed and rolled her eyes. She dragged him onto the bed and laid him down, letting him rest as she got herself decent.

Fox felt light slaps on his face. He churned on the bed and blinked a few times before getting a grip on his surroundings. He sat up and looked to his right to see Krystal, she was sitting with legs crossed and staring at Fox. He rubbed his head and Fox turned to Krystal.

"Feeling better," she asked.

"Not really," Fox shook his head.

"Why are you so upset over this?" She handed Fox the tablet.

"Why would I not be," Fox didn't understand why Krystal wasn't acting the same. "I mean, you sent the pictures to the CDF! Someone must have sold them off to the chronicle. Why aren't you freaked out by this?"

Krystal tilted her head in that cute manner. "I will admit that someone giving away these pictures of us is a disgusting person, but did you read what print this is?"

Fox looked at the blank tablet and opened it to see what she was talking about. He looked over the cover image, studying it and trying to ignore the picture altogether. His eyes were scanning the borders of the magazine, and he finally saw what she was talking about.

In red letters, the small word of "Draft" was inked. Fox looked at the time that was displayed on his alarm clock.

8:30 CCT (Corneria City Time)

"The chronicle doesn't go live until nine." Fox made the realization.

"There we go. Now, if you're so adamant about getting this wiped out, do it. You got your connections." Krystal gave Fox a kiss on his nose and got off the bed to get some coffee.

For the next twenty minutes, Fox made many calls to the Cornerian Chronicle and the CDF. Turns out, there was a breach of information within the CDF public relations. The culprit was dealt with accordingly and the pictures that he downloaded properly deleted, all at the request of the general.

However, it took a lot of persuading with the chronicle to not go through with publishing the feature story. Fox didn't want to make threats to the editor, and he even offered a payment to get the story off, but they wouldn't budge. With only minutes before the issue went live, Fox decided to go to the extreme and ask one more person to get the article from not publishing.

A known friend who was good with computers, and someone who was close with the team. He scrolled through his contacts and found the name he was looking for. It took awhile for the receiver to answer the call and Fox was not sure if they'd go through with it, but he had to ask.

"Hello?" They finally answered.

"Hey…. Fara, how's it going?" Fox scratched his neck. He could hear papers rustling in the background.

"Who is this?"

"Heh, it's me."

"That doesn't narrow it down." Fara sounded annoyed. "If you don't tell me who you are, I'm hanging up."

"It's Fox." He looked over his shoulder and saw that there were five minutes left.

"What is it? Blue girl ain't pleasing you anymore?" Fox could hear the sass in her voice.

"That's not it. Krys and I are fine, thanks for asking." Fox sat on the bed and decided to get to the point. "I'm not sure if you remember when we dated, but I got a favor I'd like to call in."

Fox heard Fara standing from her chair and was pacing in her room. He looked back and saw there was three minutes until nine.

"I don't think I owe you anything, Mr. McCloud. If you aren't calling for business with Space Dynamics, then this phone call is over."

"C'mon Fara, you owe me for saving you from being captured. Don't think I forgot about that." Fox didn't want to bring that part back, but he did save her from being a captive from Andross' soldiers.

There was a beat of silence and Fox looked back to see only two minutes left. He shook his leg as each second ticked by. He pinched his eyes together, waiting for a response from Fara. His heart skipped as he heard her let out a deep sigh.

"What do you want," she asked, annoyed.

"Well, you're good with computers. I was hoping you could, um, hack some place." Fox sheepishly said.

"Which place?" Fox could hear her sit back down.

"The Cornerian Chronicle." Fox said it outright.

Fara started to type on her keyboard. The sounds of the clicks filled the call for a short while until Fara asked another question.

"What happened," she asked, sounding curious.

"Some pictures got... leaked," he paused for a moment. "Let's just say Krystal and I don't want them to get out."

He then heard furious typing at the other end, like that of someone in a Discord voice chat at 2 AM, followed by some clicks of her mouse. Fara let out a steady hum as she continued typing away. Fox looked back and saw the time read 8:59. If there was any sort of diving being out there, he started to pray with all his might that it might help him.

"Here's what I can do." Fara's voice broke Fox's concentration. "Since the issue will be published in twenty seconds, I can halt it before they go through with it." Fara typed furiously to the point Fox thought her keyboard would break. He heard Fara hit the keyboard loud one time and she exhaled.

"Okay, the publication has been halted. Everyone subscribed will get a notification that there has been a delay. Now I can go in and get those photos removed from their servers."

Fox sighed and fell back against the bed. There was another awkward silence as Fara was looking over the photos herself.

"We never did anything like this." Fara broke the silence with her comment.

"Just get rid of them, please." Fox groaned and went red all over

He heard the mouse being clicked rapidly and then one hit key. Fara cracked her knuckles and there was the sound of rubbing leather, as if she was getting comfortable in her chair.

"There, we're even." Fara said.

Fox let out a sigh. "Thanks for this. I hope they don't track you for that."

"I've got firewalls up and the lucky powers of VPNs to cover my tracks, so they won't find me. I suggest you teach Krystal on how to keep your photos stored safely. She may be smart, but she's still a novice with Cornerian technology." Fara continued typing on her computer. "Damn it, I'm late for a company meeting. Then again, I wasn't expecting a call from my ex."

"Sorry about that," Fox sat up. "I guess it was great talking to you again?" Fox was unsure how to end the call, but she was the one who ended it because of her being late to the meeting.

Fox began leaning back, but felt something soft on his head. He quickly shot up and looked behind him to see Krystal, coffee mug in hand. Fox let out a sharp scream.

"How long have you been there?"

"I just got back." She took a sip. "So, were you able to get the pictures down?"

Fox leaned back and laid his head on her legs. "Yeah, but I needed some help."

"Fara. I heard the ending of your call. I guess it is my fault because I am still a novice at Cornerian tech."

"At least she was right about that."

Fox felt a sharp flick on his ear. He rubbed it and looked up.

"So you're taking her side on this?" Krystal eyed him.

"Well…" Fox shrugged his shoulders, which resulted in him getting punched on his arm. "Hey, it was your fault that those pictures got out." Fox turned around and faced Krystal, his legs crossed as she still sat on hers. "You should have talked to me before you uploaded them. I would've shown you where to place them so we could avoid the CDF getting them."

"What'll happen now?" Krystal took another sip.

"The guy that leaked them has been handled by Pepper, and Fara said she got rid of the copies they sent to the chronicle." Fox reached for the tablet and tried to see if the next issue was up.

As Fara said, a notice appeared saying that the latest issue of the chronicle was delayed. Fox sighed and threw the tablet onto his nightstand.

"Everything is good?" Krystal scooted herself closer.

"Yeah, it should be. We gotta repay Fara somehow."

"How about a calendar with those photos? She'd find it rather interesting." Krystal wiggled her eyebrows.

"I think she would hunt us down if we did that to her. Just a simple gift for her troubles. As for you, we need to get you a spare memory card if you keep taking pictures like those."

"Maybe I could call it "Foxy's secret stash". What do you think?" Krystal wrapped her arms around his neck, making sure not to spill the coffee on him or their bed.

"That doesn't sound too bad." Fox closed the few centimeters between them, squeezing her sides.

Krystal removed herself from Fox's grasp and she made her way to the door, motioning with her finger for Fox to follow. Fox jumped over the bed and Krystal jogged down the hall, making sure not to spill her coffee. Fox caught up to her quickly and wrapped his arms around her waist. Krystal giggled as Fox tightened his hold of her.

"Looks like you caught me again." Krystal pushed her back against Fox.

Fox produced low growl, one that gave her a shiver. He placed a small kiss on her cheek and took her free hand. They walked down the hallway and into the den where the other three were talking amongst themselves. It wasn't until the two foxes entered that they all stopped and gave them a look.

Fox rubbed his neck. "Did you guys really expect anything else from us?"

The three didn't respond to his question and made room on the table for the foxes to sit down. They were a bit awkward, but once other topics came to light, they forgot about their risky escapade and settled for their next few days of rest.

As for the two in question, they just had to wait until the night cycle started again for another round of picture taking.

A/N: Just a silly one-shot that I thought of the past couple of months. Since school was starting up, it was difficult to sit down and write it, but I was able to push through it.

Also, big thanks to SpaceCat010 for looking over and revising some stuff. Check out his profile for some good stories (still waiting on TimeWarp). Other than that, not much to say ̶e̶x̶c̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶o̶n̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶b̶u̶i̶l̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶g̶e̶s̶. What? Who said that?

Anyways, thanks for the read and looking forward for more exciting stuff.

Until then, Stabby out.

Another update almost a year later. I got a cover image commissioned by Kokoro-Tokoro. It was very nice to work with her again. Can't thank her enough, but go check her out on Twitter for more amazing Star Fox art.