Disclaimer: The "Star Fox" videogame series is owned by Nintendo and Platinum Games. The "Sly Cooper" videogame series is owned by Sony, Sucker-Punch Productions, and Sanzaru Games. There are also many other videogame properties but rest assured, I credit their creators and developers for the wonderful IP's that inspired this story. Said story itself is a fan-based non-profit work of fiction written strictly for entertainment purposes only. Please support the official releases.

Game Over

By MaveriKat & Nanya

Beta Read By Innortal

Chapter 10: No Ends Just New Beginnings

Even as his eyelids remained shut, consciousness was brought to one Fox McCloud when darkness suddenly gave way to a piercing light forcing its way through the membrane of his eyelids, filling his vision with a red haze of flesh. As consciousness streamed, he was immediately filled with disgruntlement as his sleep was interrupted by the brightness of the day. The vulpine male groaned irritably for more of the very needed dreamtime, but the fiendish, unforgiving light of the sun demanded the Papetoonian's surrender.

Friggin' daylight... he thought in annoyance as he felt a desire to curl his toes... only to have to settle for clenching his fingers, the cape fox twitching in annoyance. It had been twenty years since he got his prosthetics, had them for more than half his life... and he still hadn't adjusted to the fact he didn't have legs anymore! His body's initial engrained reactions and desires were still prominent. Feeling a little depressed from the thought, he turned atop the bed, rolling onto his right side to put his back to the window in an effort to regain some desperately needed rest... only to feel motion beside him on the bed.

Needless to say, that startled the man. What the hell? He thought before he opened his emerald eyes, adjusting to the dimly illuminated bedroom. As they did, the vulpine felt his heart jump and his throat clench shut as he immediately focused on blue. "Krystal...?" he murmured questioningly before memories of the previous night came flooding back. No, this was not her... far from it. This was Carmelita.

Slowly, those green eyes of his came into focus. The man's gaze was filled with the sleeping beauty to his right, the cerulean that he initially made out revealed to be the expanse of her luscious, navy blue tresses. Her eyes were closed and soft breathing indicated that she hadn't woken yet, the image of her a serene one. McCloud couldn't help but smile as he just watched her sleeping form, slowly relaxing from the startling shock he'd given himself before his consciousness caught up with his waking state. It was surprising how the red fox's very presence was having an overall calming effect on him.

Fox had to admit... he had missed this terribly. Waking up to Krystal in his bed had always been the highlight of his day. Usually they would be up late talking, sharing their days, their thoughts, just teasing fun... it was also why he slept on the right side of the bed. Because he was usually the one keeping the Cerinian vixen up, it was only fair that he be in the side of the bed that would get hit by daylight first. He didn't mind. Normally it gave him a chance to get him up and about to start the day, which at the time would include making breakfast for Krystal to wake up to.

It gave him a sense of self-worth.

And he felt incredible to know that this woman wanted to be with him. He hadn't gone out expecting to find a girlfriend, his heart still aching for the blue-furred vulpine beauty that had left him five years ago... but now that the cape fox had the lovely Hispanic vixen here, he felt there could be life again. This was a second chance to do things right. God as my witness, I will do it right this time, he thought confidently as a smile graced his muzzle. Raising his left arm, he brought his hand to the woman's face, gently brushing some of the locks away from her visage, both to make sure it didn't interfere with her breathing as well as expose more of that gorgeous vixen to him.

Fox lost track of time when it came to watching her sleep. He couldn't bring himself to disturb the woman in bed with him. In this small tableau of time, things felt right. For the longest time, he felt great about life. The might not have gone all the way completely that morning but he could wait. He had all the time in the world to build up more repertoire with the woman... with his girlfriend.

*Thump*!
*Thump*!
*Thump*!
*Thump*!

The man blinked his eyes at the sound and turned slightly to look over his left shoulder. He couldn't help out but bark a laugh as he realized he was wagging his tail like a common dog. "Haven't done that in a while," he murmured to himself. It was one of those little things in life that made him realize that he had a bit more canine in him than he would rather admit to. It took a bit of mental agility, but eventually he got the appendage to stop flopping about. Turning back to look at the woman, the male vulpine let out a sigh of relief to see the noise hadn't woken her up. He settled back onto his side fully, just intent to watch her sleep.

Such peace and tranquility couldn't last, of course. It amused Fox that Carmelita sneezed moments before she woke up. Seeing her move slightly and let off a soft groan made him smile. "Morning," he cheerily greeted.

Slowly opening her eyes, the vulpine beauty with navy blue tresses stared blearily at the source of the voice. That was probably the calmest response she heard from people when she woke up. Usually some baby would be screaming in one of the other apartments, or a dog would be fighting a screeching cat, or those blasted Mars people would be making a racket as they attempted to either abduct someone or tentacle rape them–Carmelita wasn't sure which–to greet her as she woke up.

Privately, she was thankful those damned Martians had avoided visiting her apartment. "Morning fuzzy blurry man..." the vixen murmured as she smacked her lips, trying to get rid of the dry feeling. "I must still be dreaming."

That response made McCloud blink his eyes a couple of times in response to that. Soon though, a most mischievous grin split across his muzzle. "Oh yes... you're dreaming all right, Miss Fox..." he said teasingly as he slowly scooted himself closer to the lovely vixen, his gaze drawn to her unfocused eyes that had the glaze of sleep shimmering over the surface of those chocolate pupils. "I hope it's a good one for you," he whispered softly as he craned his head forward, kissing her on the lips.

Carmelita blinked her eyes once, twice, thrice. "Hmmmph?" She queried in confusion, unable to speak. It took a moment for her eyes to focus; as they did, the memories from yesterday came flooding back. The new job, the dancing, the fight, the meal, the... shower...

Her face flushed a bit before she returned the kiss. Fuck it, she thought as she rolled onto her left side to make it easier to do so; her right arm coming out from under the blanket so she could cup his left cheek and caress it affectionately. So she had a boyfriend again... a boyfriend with a very talented tongue.

She withdrew the kiss for a moment, smacking her lips again. No, she didn't taste herself on him, thank goodness. The vixen smirked at him as she kept her gaze locked on his eyes, staring into those viridian depths with her own stare. "Well, well... good morning my Aviador," she cooed to him. "Did you sleep well?"

Smiling, the Papetoonian vulpine nodded his head. "Of course I did... best night's sleep I've had in years," he admitted as he nuzzled her hand. He then turned his head so he could give her palm loving little kisses. "It's nice to have someone I care about share my bed again." Even better, she didn't hog the sheets! Krystal had a tendency to do that on the much colder nights.

"My, what a romantic gentleman." Carmelita felt herself blushing slightly and wondered what she had done to deserve this. Then again, with all the crap I put up with before this, maybe someone in charge of everything cut me a break for once? She wasn't going to question it though, instead just basking in the moment. "I'm glad you slept well."

"Thank you," he replied in honestly. He moved in closer to her so their noses were touching. His left arm moved underneath the comforter, snaking around as to wrap around her waist, pulling her a bit closer as well. "And how about you? It looked like you were sleeping nicely. Any dreams I should know about?" He queried softly as his hand came down to caress the base of her tail. "If not, maybe I could try and help give you reasons to have them?" He offered teasingly, wagging his eyebrows at her.

The Hispanic vulpine felt herself go flush with a mix of embarrassment and arousal. "McCloud," she said his name softly with a mischievous, chiding tone. "It's first thing in the morning." Her blush reddened so it was showing through the lighter portion of her facial fur. "Didn't we do enough to sate your lust last night in the shower?"

Considering it for a moment, the male canid grinned slightly. "Last night? Of course! That was far more than I expected. But THAT was first thing this morning." He looked over his left shoulder for a moment towards the window. "It's closer to noon now."

The female vulpine blinked her eyes in surprise at hearing that. "Well that would explain why I'm feeling so hungry then," Carmelita muttered softly. She was still blushing but not resisting as Fox continued what he was doing, bringing them closer. "You know, if we keep this up, neither of us are going to be moving from this place all day." However, another urge suddenly came up and she grimaced. "And not to spoil the mood or anything... but I need to use your restroom."

Fox considered it for a moment... before laughing. "All right, all right..." he offered her a gentle smile. "If you want, you can use one and I'll use the other. I believe I did mention I have two full bathrooms earlier." He rolled onto his back and sat up before he stretched his arms out to the side, releasing a little grunt as he felt a number of the vertebrae in his spine pop. "Anyway," he spoke up as he turned to take a look at the woman still lying under the bed covers. "If you want, you can take a shower. I'll wash up a bit myself but I can be quick so I'll have time to work. Is there anything in particular you want for breakfast?" He offered.

Considering that for a moment, the Latina vixen smiled. "Anything's good. While I normally prefer something with meat, right now anything sounds good." She then let out a tired yawn as she got out of the bed, revealing her nude frame to the fox. Taking two steps, Carmelita sighed as she realized her undressed state. "Um... you don't have any spare towels, do you?"

After all, besides walking around naked, she didn't like the thought of drip-drying wet fur.

It took a moment for the woman's words to penetrate Fox's skull; his attention drawn to the woman's naked form. "Oh yes... quite..." he finally replied before bringing his right fist up to his mouth, coughing into it to clear his throat. He then continued in a steadier, more controlled voice, "There are also more towels in that bathroom's linen closet. You can use the bathrobe in there for now too. In the meantime, I'll put your clothes in the washing machine so they're ready for you later today."

Damn, he was glad he still had the comforter over the lower half of his body. He was pretty sure the vixen would have seen what the perfection that was her beauty caused in him. She truly was inspiration for a number of things... a few of which would be quite naughty.

Hands on her hips, the vixen with navy blue tresses nodded in understanding, thankful for that before heading to the bathroom. As she sauntered off, her hips began swaying side-to-side, causing Fox to stare long and hard at her luscious posterior as she walked away.

McCloud both physically grinned as he mentally groaned. He was going to have to take care of this issue when he was in the bathroom or he'd never be able to get out of there this morning. "Dating a stripper," the Papetoonian vulpine finally murmured to himself. "Both a wonderful blessing and a terrible curse..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Turning the faucet, the Latina beauty shut the water off, the last of the soapy suds going down the drain. She shook her head, trying to whip the water out of her navy blue tresses. The woman was definitely feeling more refreshed and alert. And now that she could think more clearly, that brought a whole new set of thoughts to the forefront of her mind.

I have a boyfriend, she thought, simply mystified by that little fact. Carmelita truly felt that breaking up with Sly was the end of dating for her, that she wouldn't be able to trust a man that intimately ever again. And yet, here she was, in a relationship once more and using his amenities. As the vixen slid the shower door open and reached out for the towel hanging on the handle, she just hoped that he was everything he seemed to be. She once thought a number of things about the raccoon and... well...

The vulpine woman snorted as she began to towel herself down, starting with the hair and trying to push any excess moisture down her body and into the tub she stood. "I'm being silly," she murmured irritably to herself. There was no way Fox was like that. He was incredibly generous with her... with his money, with his home, hell even with pleasure! He had quite the talented tongue.

Pausing in toweling her hair, the vixen blinked her eyes once, twice, thrice. "Dios bueno, I did NOT just think that..." she murmured in embarrassment before working even harder to dry off with the towel, forcefully taking hold of either corner with her hands and rubbing it back and forth along her backside.

She wasn't some horny high school kid, so why would she... well, okay. Considering what he did last night, it was easy to see why that would be the first thing on her mind this morning but she was still a mature woman! No way should she think solely about what he could do with that tongue or his fingers... or pushing her down onto the bed, spreading her legs and...

"Maldita sea! Llegar juntos aquí chica!" She cursed herself aloud to break off that train of thought. She did NOT need to have her hormones working overtime at this moment.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, the vixen continued to towel herself down for a bit, her backside feeling drying before she brought the towel around, working over the front of her torso. She was being very thorough, doing what she could to get herself as dry as she could so that the final air dry wouldn't take long at all. So with the cloth towel in hand, the vulpine woman stepped out of the shower, her foot coming down on the green and red bath mat...

A bath mat she realized was some sort of logo. Likely that of his game, she surmised. The woman couldn't help but smirk to herself for a moment before shaking her head good naturedly. "I wonder if his company gave that to him or if it was a custom purchase..." she murmured as she made her way to the end of the room where the closet lay. Opening the door, the Hispanic beauty saw the hamper on the left; she quickly pulled the lid open before tossing the towel in. Closing the hamper afterwards, the woman then turned her attention to where there was a pole with coat-hangers. The array of plastic hangers held aloft an array of coats and jackets... the kind where the steam from a shower would help keep the materials soft and wrinkle-free.

And at the very end of it was a white, terrycloth bathrobe. The female vulpine removed it from the hangar and slid it onto herself. The vixen blushed slightly as she realized it was sized more for McCloud than just a standard robe. While it was fortunate that the torso fit, the length however gave it more of a skirt-like effect, the material coming down to just above her knees.

Gazing towards the mirror in the bedroom for a moment to look herself over, the Latina beauty couldn't help but laugh at what she saw in her reflection. "Good lord, I do look sexy though. McCloud better appreciate this."

And with that thought in mind, the vixen turned about and left the bathroom. However, stepping out into the house, Carmelita couldn't help but notice an aroma greeted her, a lovely one that enticed her to sniff at the air. As she did, she soon realized that it wasn't just one smell but a series of them... a wonderful melody of scents that were quickly making her mouth water.

Following her nose, the woman soon came to the kitchen. She perked up considerably as she was greeted to the sight of Fox, the Paperoonian standing in front of the stove wearing nothing but a pair of green sweatpants. "...Yum..." the vixen murmured. She couldn't help but watch as the man worked at the stove; a couple of skillets going before him as he was using a spatula to keep the fried eggs from burning in one of the pants while sausage and bacon were cooking wonderfully, the grease of the meats aiding in cooking them. A toaster was also in use, the smell of bread baking within wafting into the air while a coffee pot was doing its best to put off an aroma of caffeinated goodness at the same time. Really, it looked to be the beginnings of what would be the best breakfast she had in a while even if it was...

Was...

Just what time is it anyway? The Latina vulpine thought as her eyes darted about the kitchen, searching for a clock. The vixen blinked her eyes in surprise as she caught the digital piece by the stove. "Damn. It's already past two in the afternoon?" Jesús Cristo! She thought in complete shock. We slept in late!

Hearing the familiar female voice, Fox turned to look over his shoulder. He smiled as he caught sight of the lovely woman standing in the doorframe. "AH! Hello Carm! Sorry if this is taking so long. I tried to clean up a bit from last night's mess before I started; I wanted to make sure I had a clean area to cook," he told her apologetically. "But please, come on in, take a seat. I'll have your meal ready in a jiffy." He gave her a most prideful, toothy grin. "Maybe even half a jiffy!"

Shrugging her shoulders at the rather quaint language used, Carmelita didn't argue. She made her way over to the kitchen table and grasped the back of one of the chairs. Pulling a seat back, the vixen slowly slid herself down into it. Settling herself on it, the vixen folded her hands as she looked towards her fellow vulpine. "You know, watching you at the stove, I feel the need to ask... where did you learn to cook like this?"

The Papetoonian vulpine let off a snort. "Ever eaten anything made by Slippy Toad?"

Shaking her head in a negative fashion, the anthro vixen answered, "No. Can't say I have."

Taking a moment to look over his shoulder, Fox grinned at her. "Consider yourself lucky." Seeing his girlfriend tilt her head and look at him with a curious expression, he explained, "Let's just say that his piloting skills are only slightly better than his cooking ability."

Sitting upright in her seat, Carmelita's fur somehow managed to pale at hearing that. "He was a cook!?" She might not have followed the Star Fox games all that much, but the absurdity of Mr. Toad's ability–or lack thereof–behind a ship's control system was known by everyone.

"He's in less danger piloting an Arwing than he is cooking," Fox stated bluntly. Admittedly, he felt bad for his co-star. Slippy did actually get better at cooking eventually. After all, no one got violently sick the last time he cooked and he could at least boil water without it exploding now.

The Latina vulpine grimaced at that. "Los buenos dioses..." she murmured, partly in disbelief, partly in prayer for whoever ended up eating whatever concoction the amphibian came up with.

Turning his attention back to the stove, the cape fox sighed. "Yeah, it was either get better at cooking for myself, spend all my money on takeout, starve, or die to Slippy's cooking. You can guess which one I chose," Fox replied as he shook his head. "Keep in mind this was back in the days when we were first starting out as a videogame actor. Would you believe that it wasn't until I was chosen to work on the first Smash Bros. game that I actually got to try ANY of Nintendo's catering?" He questioned. "During the first two Super NES games and even the Nintendo 64 iteration... we had to fend for ourselves!"

Carmelita considered that for a moment. However, as she began to open her mouth to speak, the vulpine woman went silent, the words caught in her throat as she mulled over Fox's words. "Wait a minute," she was finally able to mumble softly. "You did two Super NES games?"

That question made the Papetoonian stop his own work for a moment. "Ah, that's right..." he whispered softly, more to himself than the vixen. He then shook his head before speaking up, a bit louder. "You wouldn't know, would you? But yeah, back in the day, we were working on a Star Fox 2 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Practically finished it too, had a demo display for it at the Tokyo Game Show!" He inhaled deeply before he slowly exhaled. "But then shit happened..."

Raising an eyebrow, the Hispanic beauty queried, "What kind of shit are we talking about here?"

"The Virtual Boy happened," the male vulpine answered. He turned his attention back to the stove top, his features scrunching up in annoyance as he used the spatula to turn over some of the breakfast sausages. "That piece of crap lost Nintendo so much money! Made them change game plans and reconsolidate their resources. And we can't forget that the Big N also saw what happened with the Genesis' underperformance of the Sega CD!" He scoffed. "Needless to say, the failure of those things is what that KILLED Nintendo's relationship with Sony! They dropped all plans for extending the lifespan of the Super Nintendo and focused all their efforts on the 64 System." He frowned. "And that includes games that would have either used three-dimensional graphics or the CD add-on they were planning... such as my sequel."

Understanding coming to her, the vixen winced. While she had entertained thoughts earlier of having been on a Nintendo console, it appeared she wasn't the only one that got the short of of the stick with those turn of events. "Looks like we both got screwed over by Sega..."

Considering that for a moment... Fox had to laugh. "And at the same time, we both have to thank Sega as well." He turned to look at her, smiling as he saw the curious expression on her face. "If it wasn't for that asshole hedgehog, I doubt I'd have you in my home right now."

With that said, Carmelita chuckled, despite herself. It was amazing how he could try and look on the bright side of something as terrifying as they went through together. "So I break his knees and you give him flowers or the other way around?"

A small chuckle reverberated in Fox's throat. "How about we break his knees with flowers?"

That gave the vixen fur a moment of pause. "I... could probably arrange that, actually..." the woman admitted, her brown eyes darting from side-to-side. "In fact, it wouldn't be a problem at all. I know a guy who knows a guy that did work for the Saints Row series."

Slowly, the vulpine male turned to look over his shoulder at the woman and stared. "...What?"

Shrugging her shoulders, the woman helpfully offered, "You meet weird people in my line of work."

The man's smile returned to his muzzle. "I believe that's my line," the male cape fox replied as he turned his attention back to the eggs. He began lifting them off the pan and moved them over onto the pair of plates he had to the side one at a time, using the spatula. "Hope you like sunny-side up."

Nodding her head, the red fox woman replied, "I do... but seriously, what do you mean that's your line?" She scoffed in a rather teasing fashion. "Please, that's cute Fox. But the strangest things you probably see at work are all of a PG-rated nature at best. Trust me when I say you don't want to be anywhere around Kratos when it comes to working for Sony." And the less said about the Sack Boy, the better!

"Why? Blood and guts?" The Papetoonian asked as he turned his attention back to the stove and began to use the spatula to free up some bacon from another one of the frying pans.

Schooling her features, the woman calmly supplied, "No, that's just his standard mode. You should see when he walks around in costumes around the office. Fish... potatoes... cows... cardboard robots... all while yelling at the top of his lungs before gutting some poor intern."

"..." Fox just stared at the woman as if she'd grown another head.

Shrugging her shoulders, the vixen replied, "Personally? I think it's because they replaced his blood with Red Bull." Even the red orbs in his game were just frozen spheres of the high energy drink to replenish him.

With that, Fox started laughing. "Well, that would explain why he has wings, wouldn't it?"

That caught the Hispanic beauty off-guard. "...Never thought of it like that," Carmelita muttered. Truth be told, when it came to the God of War, what she and more of her co-workers wondered was how to make sure they didn't get stabbed... or get any splash-back from the various interns' blood all over them. "Heck, Kratos isn't even the most crazy one!"

McCloud just stared at his girlfriend with an incredulous expression. "...Do I even want to know?"

The vixen with navy blue tresses chuckled at that response before she went on to explain, "Sony's RPG department has some terrible nutcases working for them there. I mean, sure, the drunk ones are the easy enough to deal with but you need to be careful. It's the prima-donnas are the real pains in the ass!"

"There's an RPG department?" Fox asked before turning his attention back to the stove, moving generous portions of bacon slides onto either plate. "Even with this industry, it sounds a bit redundant to have a department catered around one type of game genre. You could get way too many people under one roof and spread your resources thin."

Nodding her head I agreement, the Hispanic vulpine anthro replied, "Tell me about it. By the time the PS2 Era of the company was drawing to a close, most of Sony's finances were sunk into that one department and they weren't turning a profit like they used to... especially when some of those groups which helped head the charge since the first Playstation started double-dealing with other companies for multi-platform deals... such as that bitch Lightning."

The Papetoonian vulpine rolled his eyes. "No kidding. From what he was saying last night, Cloud doesn't outright dislike her but sure as hell wasn't speaking all that highly of her either." His attention turned to the skillet with the sausages. "Personally? I think he's annoyed that he couldn't get the Seventh installment of the Final Fantasy series on any other system besides a PC port–you know, back before they overworked him and he actually gave a crap. But when some pink-haired twat demands full coverage for her story, she gets not one, not to, but THREE games and they went multi-platform!"

"I still think she had blackmail on the higher-ups or was blowing the right ones," Carmelita interjected. "There's no way in hell that, 'Hallway Simulator' should have gotten a damned trilogy, let alone one sequel." It especially annoyed her when she considered how much time she and the others in her series lost waiting on just their ONE sequel for the PS3.

He looked away from the good to the woman sitting at his kitchen table, feeling for his girlfriend and her frustration. "Then again, I suppose with the success of that genre on the previous two systems, Square-Enix thought they could continue to milk it on the next generation." Fox shrugged. "Anyway, enough of that!" He smiled as he turned his attention back to the plates, using the spatula to put the sausages down on them. "Let's eat!"

Needless to say, that little phrase perked the Latina vulpine right up. "Yay! Food!" The vixen grinned as he brought their meal to the table. She watched him set down one of the plates that had a pair of lovely eggs, sunny-side up, a quartet of breakfast sausages–which, if the aroma was anything to go by, were chicken-apple–and a large stack of bacon. She smacked her lips as she looked up to the man. "You realize you spoil me, don't you?"

"Maybe," Fox admitted in all seriousness as he made his way to the toaster. He plucked the pieces of bread out with a pair of wooden tongs. "But I haven't been able to do this for anyone in a long while. You're my first overnight guest in years..." he paused in reaching for the butter. The canid male pursed his lips together, mulling over his thoughts.

Finally pulling her eyes from the food, the vixen raised her head, intent to make a joke that he was just trying to make her fat. However, such words died before they even reached her throat as she noticed her fellow vulpine had stopped in his tracks. The woman raised one of her lovely navy blue eyebrows in curiosity. "Fox?" she called out to him. "Is everything all right?"

Blinking his emerald eyes once, twice, the man shook his head, clearing it of the mental tableau he fell into. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just getting lost in thought is all..." he replied honestly before he brought the plate of toast over, placing it down near her with one hand and the plastic tub of butter in the other. "Do you want any jam with that? I have some sweet red pepper jelly." He'd received a jar of it last month at Christmas. Tasted really good with cream cheese, actually...

Shaking her head, the Hispanic woman politely declined, "No thank you, Fox. I'm good." Still, she had to wonder, just how hung up on his ex was he? It was pretty obvious to her that he was still pining for her or at least still thought fondle of her to the point he lost track of everything else. It was best to get his mind off of the Cerinian vixen. "Say, after we're done here, do you want to go for a ride?"

That caught McCloud off guard for a moment. "Hmm? A ride, you say?"

At the puzzled expression on her beau's face, the red fox anthro couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Well for starters, I would like to go home and get a change of clothes for one," she admitted as she prodded one of her sausages with her fork, breaking off a piece with the side of the utensil before spearing it. "Secondly, I need to call work to see if everything is okay after last night. Finally..." she shrugged at him as she brought her fork up and took a bite of the food. "This is really, really good!"

Watching the vixen eat and enjoy herself brought a happy little grin to his lips. "You know..." the fox anthro said softly as Carmelita was chewing on her food. Taking a deep breath to settle his nerves, Fox realized it was now or never. Still, he managed to keep the calming smile on his face as he continued, "From what I understand, things are probably rough for you. If you want, I can try to help."

Swallowing a mouthful of sausage–chicken and apple, just as she thought–the vixen smacked her lips for a moment before turning her gaze to the vulpine male leaning against the counter, off to the left of the kitchen sink. "Oh? You plan to become a regular, do you?" She asked in a teasing tone of voice. "I admit, I wouldn't mind seeing you at the Game Over more often. I'd feel safer with you there," she admittedly softly. Plus, it would give her more changes to show her appreciation.

That little admittance steadied the cape fox's nerves a bit. So straightening up where he stood, the vulpine made his way to the coffee maker and began pouring some of the contents into a pair of mugs he'd retrieved from one of the kitchen cabinets earlier. "Well if that's the case... maybe I can help you out with your finances in another way." He took a deep breath and just finally blurted out, "Do you want to move in with me?"

Eyes snapping wide open, the Latina beauty's fork fell from her fingertips. "...Um... move in?" She squeaked out in surprise. It was one thing to do what they did last night after the first date but move in? So fast?

Blushing a bit as he realized she sounding uncomfortable, the Papetoonian vulpine slow nodded to her. Being careful to keep his tone level and soft, he explained, "I mean, I can understand how you feel. We've only known each other for a day but I feel—"

"Okay."

Fox immediately stopped in his tracks at that. He blinked his eyes, staring at the lovely vixen at his kitchen table. He'd not been expecting her to be so ready with an answer. "Uh..." he mumbled, finding himself at a loss for words.

Seeing the puzzled expression on McCloud's face made the woman smile. He was so adorable like that. "It makes a lot of sense. I was just surprised you suggested it so soon," Carmelita admitted. "Plus I would like to get out of my apartment before the Mars People decide it's my turn to be probed or tentacle raped!" Seeing the shocked look on his face, she shook her head. "Trust me: don't ask. It's just what it sounds like. And, yes, there are Mars People living in my apartment building."

"...You see? Stuff like that is why I felt bad about hearing you live in Stockton," Fox admitted. Taking a deep breath he managed to get back to smiling and brought over a cup of coffee for her. "So that's the plan? We finish breakfast, head over to your apartment, and pack whatever you actually care about into your car and bring you over to..." he blushed a bit. "To live with me." His smile became a rather silly one. "So you're really okay with this?"

Catching the adorable flush of embarrassment on his face, the Hispanic vulpine gently accepted one of the mugs from him. "Any cream and sugar?" she requested, purposely avoiding his inquiry for the moment.

Nodding his head, the male vulpine replied, "Sure. Sugar's on the table," he said as he motioned to the glass canister on the center of the table with smatter salt and pepper shakers and a stack of napkins. "As for the creamer, give me a moment." As he said that, he made his way over to the refrigerator to retrieve a carton.

Watching the man buzz about his kitchen, Carmelita turned her attention inward, glad he wasn't pressing the issue. To be honest, she wasn't sure why she so was accepting of his offer. Well, other than the Mars People and the fact doing so would save me a ton of money on rent, she surmised. But other than that... well, she would probably move in with Kratos if it meant getting out of her hellhole apartment! But still, she wondered, was it because he was nice? Was it the fact he didn't mind making the offer? Or was it that he was great with his tongue and it had been too damn long since she was with someone?

The Hispanic beauty blinked her eyes, wondering where that last thought came from.

Dios mio, I am becoming a pervert, the female red fox thought with embarrassment before she had a purple carton held before her line of sight. McCloud's yellow-furred hand shook it a few times to get her attention before she brought her own hand up and took hold of it. "Gracias," she replied as she took the carton and began to prepare her coffee while Fox went back to the counter by the stove to prepare his own breakfast.

Finally, the male vulpine came to the table with his own plate, choosing to sit to the vixen's right. "You're welcome, beautiful. And thank you..." he replied as he set down his breakfast. He then pulled the chair out and came around to settle down, before his hands came down to the cushion and he scooted the seat forward to push himself closer to the table.

Her eyes turning towards him even as her head remained facing forward to her breakfast, the woman looked at him around and through some of the navy blue locks that framed her head. "Oh? Thank me for what? I didn't do much..." she smiled wider as she finally turned her noggin to look at him. "If anything, I'm the one who should continue thanking you!"

Smiling wider, Fox replied, "For being patient with me... and being so darn wonderful." Despite himself, he leaned in to kiss her. At least when they were sitting down, they were closer in eye-level, allowing him to reach her lips much more easily than when they were standing. Not that he would complain about that; she had some lovely long and luscious legs.

A shiver went up the woman's spine, causing her to tremble slightly. As the two broke the kiss, Carmelita gave him a smoldering gaze. "You know, if you keep that up, we probably won't be getting much else done today."

Considering that for a moment, the cape fox nodded his head. "Probably..." Fox admitted. Although he wouldn't be too upset if more kissing lead to them having some more fun of an adult nature.

"Besides," the Latina vixen continued. "Wouldn't it be more comfortable in your bed than at the kitchen table?" She offered before winking at him.

Blinking his eyes once, twice, thrice, it took a moment for that to register in his mind. Soon though, Fox was smiling, a grin that was very predatory in its nature. "Well then we better start eating... we're going to need our energy!"

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Carmelita's chocolate eyes fluttered slightly as her consciousness was brought back to the forefront of her mind, a noise disturbing her sleep. "Darn it..." she murmured as she recognized it to be the ring-tone of her phone. This had better be important, she thought as she let off a small yawn. Realizing it was now dark out and that the day had been spent, the woman reached out towards the nightstand to find out who was calling her this late...

Only to go stock-still as she felt as something tightened around her waist, the Hispanic woman having frozen up in response. It took only a moment for the realization of what it was that had a hold on her and she smiled. "Mi tonto Aviador..." she murmured, grinning wider as she felt the still sleeping male press up against her, nuzzling his face into her back. Letting out a contented sight, she leaned towards her side of the bed, pulling the male vulpine with her as he held on possessively. She was just able to reach her cell phone without waking him up.

Bringing it before her, the woman's chocolate eyes widened as she saw it was Lara's number. Swiping her thumb over the screen to answer, the vixen brought the phone to the side of her head and answered in a quiet tone, "Hola," she let off a small yawn. "Lara, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me Carmelita," the voice replied. "Is everything all right? I thought I'd hear from you this morning or afternoon and..." she paused in her voice. "I even sent someone by your place earlier and they said you weren't answering at the door either. Where are you?"

She rubbed her eyes with one of her hands and blinked a few times, trying to get her mind and senses up to speed. "Sorry, chica. I didn't get home last night," she explained. Hell, she had been up until late into the wee hours of the morning dealing with all of Fox's friends. "Please don't worry. I promise you that I'm fine."

"I would hope so," the voice with a lovely British accent replied. "I got worried when you weren't at home. And you still haven't answered my question: where are you?"

"I was checking out some new living arrangements today, actually." She smirked as a number of naughty thoughts came to her mind, the better memories from the past twenty-four hours. "It will help save me some money on rent and all that. Plus my new roommate was quite..." she grinned wider. "Well, enthusiastic about it."

"New roommate?" Lara queried for a moment. She went silent on her end of the line for a moment as she considered that. "Good Lord... did you shack up with McCloud?"

The grin on Carmelita's face reached form ear-to-ear. "What can I say? He's a very good man. And he was the one to make me the offer." She sighed wistfully. "You should have seen it. He was trying to be nonchalant but his body was giving off every indication that he was nervous as hell. The twitch here, a bit of unnatural stiffness to his posture there... I could see he wanted it more than anything. How could I tell him no?"

Silence greeted her from Miss Croft's end for a moment. Finally, the voice of the British brunette came over the line once more. "Just answer one thing for me right now. Will you be coming back to work?"

"I was hoping—wait!" The Hispanic vixen gasped. "You mean I still have the job?" She queried, the warring mix of disbelief and relief prevalent in her voice.

The Tomb Raider chuckled. "Carm, my dear... if we fired everyone who had something happen beyond their control, we wouldn't have much of a staff." As the woman said that, Carmelita couldn't help but wonder why she felt Lara was smirking. "Believe me when I say you aren't the first person working here who had stuff like that happen to her."

The vulpine couldn't help but frown a little as she mulled over that. "...I'm almost afraid to ask."

"Let's just say that you have more in common with a lot of the girls than you think. If you want to know, ask Lilith about some of her worst nights sometime."

That made the Latina vixen cringe. "Dulce madre de Dios..." she whispered to herself as she shook her head. "Would I be better off not knowing?" she queried of her boss.

"Probably," Lara admitted. "But now that you know it happened, your curiosity is going to make you find out. Trust me, some of those stories will leave you laughing, crying, or both." Her melodious laugh came over the cell's receiver. "Trust me though, your job is secured. In fact, you made the most money last night so Richard really was torn over how to continue. He knew that the chaos last night revolved around you but he loves his money and he's going to need a lot of it to get a new Nukem Pussy Wagon."

Shaking her head, the navy blue haired woman let off a small sigh that was a mix of both exasperation and relief. "Well that's good, I suppose. I would have hated to lose my job over this."

"Very true," her employer agreed. "Trust me though, despite what you had to go through, you ended up doing us another favor. You, my dear Miss Fox, finally gave us a legitimate excuse to ban a troublemaker of a high profile name from the club permanently."

"...Sonic?" Carmelita queried.

"Sonic," the former Tomb Raider assured her.

Considering that for a moment, the vixen eventually nodded her head. "What of his friends?"

"We're handling them a bit more light-handedly," Lara admitted. "Even if they were part of hedgehog's group, they didn't cause nearly as many problems, as the Sega mascot did. Raiden isn't going to be allowed back into the club for a few years after pulling knives inside the establishment. Shepard on the other hand really didn't do anything too bad. Yes, he threw a bottle at Cloud but he was pressured to and Mr. Strife isn't pressing any charges. However, we did recommend to the man that he get better friends."

"Oh. That makes sense..." she sighed and settled into the bed a bit more to make herself comfortable again. "Listen, Lara? I hate to say this after everything you've done for me but I need to ask you something. Would it be okay if I didn't come in tonight?"

The woman on the other end of the line let out a laugh. "You kidding? I would let you take a week off to recover after last night if you wanted to! But please, don't take too much longer than that now. There's always someone who wants to get into the business," she added in a warning tone. "Otherwise, we'll keep a pole polished for you."

The female red fox anthro went quiet for a moment after being offered that bit of advice. Not liking the quiet, the retired Tomb Raider continued once more. "Speaking of you getting settled," the British beauty began, switching gears. "You're with McCloud now, right? As in a relationship and not just housemates?"

The vulpine woman couldn't help but feel a blush threaten her face, just glad Lara couldn't see it and that neither could her beau as he was sound asleep while he spooned her. "Sí," she responded, sounding much calmer than her body felt. "He asked and... I really couldn't think of any reason to disagree..." she let off a small giggle, despite herself. "Let me tell you, I think we're good for each. He's a really gentle, loving man."

Lara went silent for a moment, as if considering what she'd heard. Finally, when she spoke, it was all business. "Is he okay with you wanting to be an exotic dancer?" She asked seriously. "No offense, but something I've learned from experience is that a lot of boyfriends can become the jealous types over time. I would hate for him to give you a hard time or for your new relationship to get a rocky start because other men would be ogling and touching you."

Now it the vixen who had to mull over things for a bit, thinking about what she'd been told. "We talked about it a little, but admittedly neither of us knew if I would still have my job after what happened, even with Mario's assurances. Still, Fox told me he was all right with it. If I was comfortable with it and enjoyed the money I made, he wouldn't stop me... as long as I safely came home to him at the end of the night, that's all that mattered."

Again, the vixen's boss was silent for a while before she finally spoke up again. "Sounds like you have a winner. Do your best to make it work, okay?"

The seriousness of the woman's tone caught the Hispanic vulpine by surprise. "Lara...?" She queried, not sure what to ask but feeling that something was wrong.

Finally, the woman spoke again. "I won't lie. I like you, Carmelita... but I've seen far too many young women ruin their relationships with their boyfriends. Just remember he's a fairly big name in the industry and Nintendo can be very... shall we say... protective of things they consider to be theirs."

That made the woman frowned. Sure, Fox wasn't as big as some of the other Nintendo stars out there, but he was up there. "You're the second person to mention something to me along those lines. Even Mario dropped that hint when he considered me, 'part of the group'. Warned me that I should keep my relationship with Fox secret until his game drops... but why is that? Why is everyone afraid of Nintendo?"

The answer she got was a point-blank response of, "Did you know that the Sony Playstation would never have happened if Nintendo hadn't dropped the money to get the prototypes made?"

Although the brunette wouldn't see the motion, the vixen couldn't help but nod her head on reflex. "Yeah. Mario also dropped that little bit of history this morning. Fox and I talked about it too. Apparently if it weren't for a couple of mistakes on Nintendo and Sega's parts, you and I might be working for the Big N with them."

"That's only the tip of the iceberg, my dear," Lara told her. "Trust me, there's far more that never made the news but the grapevine knows all too well. So while it may suck, Mario has the right idea. Keep things on the down-low for now. If you both really want to make this work, you will. You just need to be careful about things for now."

Smirking confidently, the Hispanic vulpine happily replied, "We will. I promise you, we will. This is something we both need desperately." Carmelita frowned slightly as a realization came to her. "And I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner. I didn't mean to make anyone worry. Do give my best to the girls and let them know I'm all right."

"Easy enough to do, since I'm sure most of the girls have been listening in somehow."

The vulpine woman with navy blue hair blinked her chocolate eyes in surprise. "How...?"

The vixen's both gave the rather blunt reply of, "I think Lilith's bats can do damn near anything she wants them to. Knowing her, she's probably been listening in this whole time."

"Damn right I have!" Lilith's voice was heard on the line, leaving the pair on their cell phones proper in silence for a moment. "...SHIT!" the voice of the succubus cursed before cutting out.

Carmelita blinked her eyes once, twice... only to bark out a laugh. A laugh that made her go wide-eyed as she brought her free hand to her mouth to quiet herself. Fortunately, she didn't feel Fox's body move; just his breathing against her back. Releasing her mouth, the vulpine woman let off a small sigh of relief as she hadn't woken him up. "Listen Lara, I mean no disrespect whatsoever and I thank you for everything you've done. But I'll admit, Fox and I have had a very long day getting settled into our new roles as boyfriend and girlfriend and tomorrow, I think we're going to move my stuff over to his place. But if you want, I'll make sure to call you sometime tomorrow, okay?"

"That's all I can ask for," Lara's voice chimed over the cell phone. "Sleep well and when we see each other face-to-face again..." there was a small pause. "Do let me know how he is in the sack." Before the vulpine could argue with her or sputter off in denial, the human woman hastily added, "Good night!"

And with that, the human woman hung up, leaving the poor Latina red fox blushing. "I can't believe she said that..." Carmelita murmured in embarrassment.

"I can," Fox whispered form behind, his hands moving to gently scratch and knead her belly.

Needless to say, that caused the woman stiffen up in surprise. "Fox, you're awake..." she cooed as she reached her right arm out to the nightstand, placing her phone down. "Sorry about that," she apologized to her boyfriend. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't. I've been awake since you answered the phone," Fox admitted. "I just wanted to enjoy feeling you in my arms."

Carmelita smiled as his hands moved over her abdomen a bit more, tracing his fingertips lovingly over her soft fur. "Still, I didn't mean to wake you... sorry about that."

"Don't be..." the cape fox replied as he settled himself up higher on the bed, so that he was at head-level with her. He buried his face into her long mane of luscious, navy blue tresses and nuzzled her, reveling the sensations. "Being awake means I get to spend more time with you..." he smiled, his hands now caressing her tits in adoration as they came up higher as well. "And I love just being with you."

"Such a sweet-talker," the navy blue haired woman replied as she reached her left arm behind her and ran her hand over his back. "A girl could get spoiled with how you keep talking." Not that she had any issue with that. After all, it was better than being alone in her dingy apartment.

Continuing to place kisses along the back of her head and neck, the male vulpine murmured, "I can't help it. You make it so easy to..." As he said that, his hands were trying to move her so that he could roll her around to face him.

Getting the hint from how his hands pawed at her, the Hispanic vulpine did as he wanted, rolling over in place so that she was looking into his green eyes. "Yes, my dulce Foxy boy?" she cooed to him, offering the man a playful smile. "What is it?"

"Love you," he said again before kissing her on the lips, his arms embracing her once more and pulling her close as he dueled tongues with her.

Closing her eyes, Carmelita enjoyed the kiss, just feeling better than she had in a long, long time...

Who knew it would take going along with the Game Over to get on with her life?

Fin

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Author's Note: Well, there you go. Ten weeks of on-schedule updates and I've crafted and completed my first fanfic in ten years. Admittedly, I was a little saddened by the lack of input from fans but I could see the traffic and I knew people were seeing this at least.

I do hope to do a second story for the Game Over series, but for now I'll be taking a break. Need to prep myself for a convention next month and I wanted to try my hand at another story idea I've had in the back of my head for the past month that's been demanding my attention.

See you all next time. Thank you for reading.