There is no way on heaven nor hell...

Fox's jaw slacked, and his mind whirred like a busy computer fan. Millions of thoughts, emotions, feelings, and memories twisted and turned through his head as if stuck in a vortex. Fox wanted to talk, but he found he didn't know what to say.

Just say something, Fox, common

Fox was getting desperate. He tried to snatch a memory from his raging mind, but every time he tried the memory would dance away from his grasp, mocking him.

Damn it Fox, anything!

Fox tried to remember inside jokes. He tried to remember something that only he and Kursed would know about, and maybe she'd understand... Understand what? What am I trying to accomplish? Am I trying to apologize? Am I trying to be indifferent?Am I going to try to pretend nothing was wrong? Fox was running out of ideas, and was painfully aware of each awkward second that ticked by as he tried to compose his thoughts. He felt himself getting faint

ANYTHING Fox, just don't lock up dammit!

"Hi, Krystal..." Fox trailed off, completely lost and clueless as to what to do next. Mentally, he was busy berating his ineptness in front of the vixen he so loved, yet whose life he'd so destroyed.

Really Fox? "Hi" is all you could think of? Well damn, you could make a blockbuster movie around that little nugget of goodness, couldn't you?

Kursed interrupted Fox's self-inflicted mental beatdown.

"Kursed, Fox. My name is Kursed." Her voice was like chipped ice, jagged and cold. She strode past him without another glance, and began to converse with Peppy as if Fox wasn't in the room.

"You told me that you'd given me all the details to the job, Peppy." Kursed kept her voice level and her demeanor cold.

"Well, I told you just about everything, yes."

"You didn't tell me Fox would be here Peppy." Kursed added a dangerous edge to her voice. Peppy was getting nervous now, and rightfully so.

"I was hoping your, uh, professionalism would overcome any emotional shortcomings."

"Shortcomings?" Kursed let her voice drop down even lower, with a lightly-veiled snarl behind it.

"Not shortcomings, I mean-"

"I know exactly what you mean asshole."

"I'm sorry Kursed, it's just -"

"Shut. The. Hell. Up."

Peppy wisely steered the discussion into safer waters.

"Your room is located off to the left side of the east hall, first room. Here's your room key. Let me know if you need-" Kursed didn't let him finish. She snatched the small ornate key away from Peppy with frightening speed, breaking his middle finger. Peppy yelped.

"I need you to start thinking with your damn brain instead of your ass. You think you can handle that?" Peppy was not one to back down, in his own house no less, but some primeval instinct told him to stand down.

"Yes Kursed."

"Good."

Kursed turned and strode angrily out of the room, knocking Fox's shoulder as she passed hard enough to spin him partly around. Fox didn't notice. He was in some sort of emotional shock; his eyes were slightly glazed, and his jaw slack. He turned slowly to Peppy, who was just recovering from being cowed in his own territory. Peppy was expecting a slightly shellshocked Fox, but not...

"What the HELL were you thinking Peppy?" Fox yelled.

"Fox, I knew there were some issue between the two, but I figured it was nothing you two couldn't overcome." Peppy had just now resumed him normal officers posture, albeit while nursing his finger, after scraping and bowing to keep Kursed from dismantling him. Unfortunately, Fox was in no mood to be placated. His wounds, memories, longing, and hurt bubbled to the surface.

"You figured huh? You have no idea what the hell you've done here. If your house is still standing by this time tomorrow it will be because God intervened. Of ALL the damn things you could have screwed with, you had to screw with me and her and our past. There's a REASON she never came back to talk to me, and now an above-it-all-dumbass goes an re-earths the whole damn situation!" Peppy was back in "cowed" mode. Fox was livid, and his voice was both raised and cracked with his emotion. Fox's muscles were tightened. His eyes were burning now. Burning with rage, shame, self-hate, and something... something else

"Fox, I'm sorry, I didn't know all the details between you two..."

"Go screw yourself Peppy." Fox didn't scream it. He stated it. As if he expected Peppy to go do it. There was an awkward wait, as Peppy tried to discern if Fox was a threat to kill him as well. Fox was trying to get a hold on himself. Finally, his muscles relaxed slightly, and his eyes calmed down.

"Where am I staying?" Fox's voice was slightly modulated now. Peppy took that as a good sign.

"Second room of the east hall, on the left."

Is Peppy serious?

"The same hall as Kursed, with a room directly adjacent?"

"Well, yes... Is that a bad thing?" Peppy said with the clueless air of a five year old who'd just sent a ball through a window.

"Peppy, you are either the biggest dumbass on the planet, or you are deliberately trying to create some type of reaction of mass destruction." Fox sighed, and took the key with an air of resignation.

"Your house, not mine. I'm sure as hell not paying for the damages."