A/N: My entry for the Foxhole 2023 Christmas Contest! I hope you all enjoy, and I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
20:37; Corneria City Highway.
The roads were barren for as far as the eye could see. With everyone home for the holidays, the once-packed super-highways of Corneria City would only ferry the odd vehicle up and down it. A light dusting of snow began to flutter down from the arctic sky, too light to stick to the ground just yet. The flakes would be illuminated by the headlights of whatever car was out late enough, either driving to visit friends and family or making a quick trip to the few stores that were still open. The illusion of jumping through hyperspace would mesmerize any driver on the road, flakes looking like passing stars on the vacant stretches of road.
One of these vehicles was louder than all the others as it roared down the highway, an old-school and rebuilt chopper. Even though it was stone-age in comparison to the various plasma and hydrogen engines that powered standard civilian vehicles, the rider preferred the rumble of a v-block between his legs. His blue tail feathers were the only visible part of his body as he sped down the highway, letting his black leather jacket and jeans flap in the icy wind. His head was concealed by his fitted matte black helmet, worn and scratched flames adorning the side of it. Matching flames on the motorcycle paired up nicely with the metallic red paint that sparkled in the snowfall.
Pulling down hard on the throttle, Falco accelerated past the speed limit. Being pulled over by law enforcement was not a concern at the moment, not like there were any cops out at this time anyway. The motorcycle roared down the road, the sound of the ancient combustion engine drowning out any other noise on the highway. The rider shook his head with a muffled sigh as he grabbed his chest, making sure that the small bag was still strapped to his back.
Highway hypnosis was slowly starting to kick in for the rider, the road slowly meshing into a blur of black, white, and yellow. Shaking himself awake, his eyes darted around before he eventually found a pull-off spot on the side of the road and began to slow down, eventually coming to a stop.
Hooking the toe of his motorcycle boot under the kickstand, the rider popped it out and turned his handlebars to the left. With the chopper safely resting on the concrete, he stepped off. A shiver went up his spine as his tail feathers ruffled in the cold, the avian crossing his arms to retain as much heat as possible. Looking out over Corneria City, the visor twinkled in the reflection of their lights. It was a breathtaking sight. Like an oasis shining in the distance, the uncountable high-rises made up their own star clusters in the night sky. Flakes of snow slowly began to occupy the avian's vision, and he was getting sick of wiping them off his visor.
Hooking a gloved finger underneath the latch of the visor, Falco Lombardi barred his freezing face to the world. The icy air nipped at his beak and cheeks as he let out an audible shiver. The riding gear at least prevented most of the cold from freezing him where he stood. Falco's eyes danced over apartments and homes alike from his vantage point, barely able to make out figures surrounding spires of light in their respective abodes. He questioned himself why he was even out right now. His little hovel of a house was messy sure, but it was warm.
Looking back down the road he came from, the inky black of night meshed with the powdery flakes to give the appearance of a portal home. There was a temptation bubbling up, one that was pulling Falco back home. The item on his back was the only thing keeping him in place. He never liked to make decisions, life was much simpler when someone else gave the marching orders. He needed advice from someone he trusted.
Fishing his phone out of his pocket, Falco began to snarl in frustration as his gloved fingers were not registering on the touchscreen of the device. After a few harder-than-necessary taps on his phone, he had finally unlocked the device. Hovering his finger over his messaging app, he pressed down on it, watching the screen fill with texts from friends over the years. His beak twitched slightly before it faded as he scrolled down to a picture of a pink feline. Tapping on it, his fingers began to compose a text.
im havin doubts.
Hovering his finger over the send button, Falco hesitated for a second, before pulling the trigger. The text went from the box to the blue speech bubble displayed above it, with a little checkmark under the bubble. Standing in the silent night, Falco watched and waited. All he did for the next minute was stare down at his phone until a pink speech bubble with blinking ellipses in it popped up. Falco's heart sped up slightly as he waited for her response. After another minute of waiting, it came.
are u kidding me? what a perfect time to second guess yourself, genius. why?
Falco sighed, typing his response with one hand subtly moving to his pocket.
its been a long time, i havent been by his place 4 a while. why would he even want me there?
The incoming text came at a lightning-fast pace, Falco barely having time to take a breath before his phone buzzed.
bcuz he invited you? bcuz ur his best friend? stop being a moron and go see him. Before Falco could begin his next text, the ellipses appeared again. wait, u $$$ a gift, right?
Falco replied with a simple thumbs-up emoji.
and its age appropriate?
Falco scoffed, rolling his eyes as he typed.
yeah. how irresponsible do u think i am? not like im gonna give the kid a live blaster or smthin.
Katt's text box replied with a simple ";p" emoji, before the pink ellipses appeared under it once more.
enjoy the solstice, bird brain. xoxo
Falco began to type a response, getting as far as yeah, u 2 before he sighed and tapped the backspace key multiple times. Giving Katt's text a simple thumbs-up emoji response, Falco stuffed his phone back in his pocket. Turning back towards his bike, Falco flicked his visor down and mounted the steel stallion as he had done a thousand times before. Pulling the chopper up, Falco kicked the kickstand back up with his heel before he began to accelerate down the highway.
~::::~
The city faded from view as Falco pulled off the highway, riding inland towards the suburbs. Towers were replaced with townhouses as the isolation truly struck Falco. The only vehicles around were parked on the side of the road, with his chopper making enough noise to account for fifteen vehicles at once. It was like driving through a foggy town full of mystery and horror. The winding roads and worsening conditions meant that Falco had to slow down around the various bends and curves unless he wanted to turn into a statistic tonight.
Falco's heads-up display in his helmet's visor told him he was near his destination. Once again, there was a desire to turn back and retreat to his house. He had no reason to come out this far from home. Especially not in this cold. At this point, Falco needed a warm stop. The heat from the engine was keeping his legs warm, but it could only do so much. Stopping at a red light, Falco took the time to rub his hands together and perk himself up, giving him the extra warmth he needed to make it through the rest of the ride.
Another intersection led Falco down a secluded forest road, the trees that towered over the asphalt quickly becoming weighed down with snow on their barren branches. It was like riding through his own winter wonderland. Lights from a small guard booth in front of a massive wrought iron gate labeled "Seraton Shores" got Falco to slow down and eventually stop, flicking his visor open so the guard could see his face.
With a flashlight in one hand and a cup of hot coffee in the other, a tiger wearing a thick winter coat with a small badge on his breast walked out of the booth. The nametag reading "Antonio Tiger" would have been invisible if not for the floodlights. The crunch of fresh snow beneath his boots barely rose over the idle rumble of Falco's engine, prompting him to kill it for a short while.
As soon as Antonio got a good look at Falco, a smile crossed his lips. "Hey, Lombardi! Swinging by to see Fox?"
Falco nodded with a smirk. "That's the plan, Tony."
Antonio chuckled, walking back to his booth and pressing a hidden button to slowly swing the gates wide open. "That's great! Just try not to burn anything down while you're here, I wanna watch my movies in peace!"
With a wider smirk, Falco raised a middle finger to the tiger before lowering his visor and starting up his bike. The rumble shook trees as he slowly accelerated into the neighborhood. Falco rode by houses that could only be described as manors, his eyes wandering now and then at each passing home. Falco saw the spirits of the season were high here, from decorations wrapping every house to cars lining the streets for family parties. He even rode by a small four-way snowball fight between a cheetah, a zebra, a fox, and a tabby cat. His bike was loud enough to distract the cheetah, who promptly received a snowball to the face. It put another smile on Falco's face.
Finally, Falco had arrived. It was a decently sized manor by the lake, lit up to celebrate the holidays. Quickly parking and dismounting his bike, Falco took a deep breath as he shut the vehicle off and removed his helmet. Wasting no more time, Falco approached the front double doors and rang the doorbell. A lavish chime played out, with the sound of muffled footsteps getting louder. The door opened a few seconds later, Fox McCloud standing in the doorway wearing nothing more than a t-shirt and sweatpants.
"Falco! You made it! It's been a while, come in!" Falco needed no more invitation, quickly stepping inside Fox's home. Out of respect for the well-furnished house, Falco got down on one knee and undid the clasps on his boots, bumping Fox's fist in the process.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Life, y'know?"
Fox waved his hand as Falco unclasped his other boot. "Don't worry about it. You're here now!"
"And we are glad to have you with us." The soft voice was soon given a face as Krystal rounded the corner, dressed in similar attire to Fox.
"Thanks, Blue," Falco replied, standing up and reciprocating a hug offered by the blue-furred vixen.
Falco barely had time to neatly place his boots next to the door before a small blue bundle of fur appeared around the corner. "Uncle Falco!" Marcus was dressed in a pair of red-checkered pajamas, and was on a collision course with the avian. Falco got down on one knee and held his arms out, letting Marcus run full-speed into him.
With an "Oomph," Falco caught the tiny todd in his arms and picked him up, groaning as he did so. "Oh man, you've gotten big, kiddo!"
"Mom said I'll be getting even bigger," Marcus replied in an excited tone, his tail acting like a propeller as it swung back and forth. "And I've been getting better with my tele... tee... talem..."
"Telepathy," Krystal assisted.
"Yeah, that! I knew you were here before you walked in!" Falco chuckled, rubbing the swirl on top of the vulpine's head. Marcus quickly spotted the pack on Falco's back, his eyes darting between it and the avian. "What's that, Uncle Falco?"
There was a pause from Falco, prompting Krystal to jump in for the save. "Uncle Falco just had a long ride over, sweetie. Let him rest for a while, okay?"
"Okay!"
Marcus wiggled his way out of Falco's arms, taking his place by Krystal's side as she walked back into the kitchen. Falco could smell the delicious meal being cooked, causing his empty stomach to roar. Along with the hunger pangs, he felt a thirst rising in his dry and freezing throat.
Luckily for him, Fox had a solution.
~::::~
Plopping down on the couch, Falco let out a long sigh as he rested his feet on a nearby ottoman, with Fox doing the same. The warmth from the indoor fireplace warmed the duo up as Fox placed two small glasses in the cupholders between them. Uncapping a bottle of rum, Fox neatly poured the liquid into both glasses before capping it back up and placing the bottle at his feet.
With the pilots holding their glasses up, a clink echoed throughout the house as the two began to drink. The rum had a sweet taste to it as Falco let the beverage warm him up. For a short while, the two pilots sat in silence, taking the odd swing of alcohol while staring into the fire. After a few moments of silence, Fox spoke up.
"Thanks for coming out here, Falco. I mean it."
Falco simply nodded in response.
"Marcus is gonna love what you got him, he's been asking for that for months now."
Falco nodded again.
"You know all of us are here for you if you need it, right?"
Another nod.
"I can tell it was hard for you."
"...yeah, it was. I just didn't wanna bother you with... well, me."
Fox scoffed. "You're my best friend, Falco. You know I'm there for you, through thick and thin. Why else do you think I invited you here? I didn't want you spending another Solstice alone."
It was Falco's turn to scoff. "Pity ain't a good look on you, Fox."
"It's not pity, it's being there for a friend."
There was a long silence between the two, the crackling of flames cutting through the silent air as Falco took another drink.
Krystal's voice broke up the silence, announcing that dinner was ready. Fox let a smile cross his muzzle as he stood up, taking his glass and picking up the rum. Turning back towards Falco, he jerked his head toward the kitchen. "Well, wanna have a family dinner?"
Falco swished the liquid in his glass before looking back up at Fox, a smile on his beak.
"I'd like that."