Chapter 30

Pressure and Confidence Issues: Part 3

Everyone focused their attention on Slippy, who was going to tell how he found out his sexuality. When they saw how tense his face looked, Fox, Falco, Peppy, Krystal and Lucy could see that he was in some stage fright mood and he's pushing himself really hard. Wolf, Panther and Leon were a little nervous of how he was reacting, though Leon was more impatient in wanting to hear the story rather than seeing him look sweaty-like.

With a few deep breaths, Slippy braced himself and began to tell his story. "It started when we were about to graduate from the Cornerian flight academy. We were finally able to get out of the books and officially head on into the skies and outer space. It was also the right time for us to take part as the newest generation of the Star Fox team…"

Hearing the monologue made Fox begin to reminisce of how great things were when they were back in their academy days. But they stopped feeling great when his father, James, was betrayed by Pigma and killed during the previous Lylat wars. He shook his head a little to take his mind off that fact and get back to listening to the story.

"I had to break up with Croakella around that time when we were going to war," he continued to explain. "Not only that, but I didn't feel comfortable with a long-distance relationship. She was understanding, but I can tell that she was heartbroken as well."

This made Fox, Falco and Peppy feel guilt struck over what he said. They knew that Slippy had t0 break up with Croakella due to not feeling good with long distance relationships, but they can't help but feel that it was their fault that he did it.

"But it doesn't stop there," he continued again. "When we tried to have a good relationship with each other, things just felt a little different for me. Whenever we kissed, I'd feel flattered, but not feel affected, and whenever we touched hands, I'd feel like…like…something didn't feel right."

"How did it not feel right?" Panther asked.

"Well, it was something I was in denial of when we had to use communal showers back in the boys' locker room. But by the time after we finally defeated Andross and reclaimed the Lylat system, I began to realize that I liked guys too."

"What?!" Fox, Falco and Peppy shouted in shock and disbelief. In Fox and Falco's case, they used to think that Slippy was gay back in their early years but when they saw he had a girlfriend they began to think that they were wrong from the start. Now, after hearing what their friend had confessed, they couldn't believe they were right all along.

In Peppy's case, on the other hand, felt embarrassed and ashamed of himself for not realizing that Slippy was into men too…

…and he shared a SHOWER WITH HIM! His face turned a beat red over the memory of them in the gym working out, and when they were in the shower washing each other, luckily nobody noticed what he was thinking.

Nobody except Krystal and Sabre. 'Geeze, it's like every man in the world is a homosexual. Reminds me of our home planet, right brother?' she asked her brother telepathically.

'Definitely,' he replied.

"Yeah, no surprise there," the frog said in a sleepy tone.

"Have you talked to Croakella about this?" Falco asked.

"No. In fact, I never even told her of what I was thinking during the time I was dating her," he replied. "I might've figured I was just having thoughts I never intended to have. But as it turns out, those thoughts were coming true as I started to realize that I was 100% gay."

Everyone stared in an awkward silence from hearing that response. Fox, Falco and Peppy were most affected because they were the only men that Slippy was ever around when the four of them were in space together.

"Did you have any…" Wolf said with a growing smirk. Slippy looked nervous as he was going to be called out as a pervert. "Fantasies?" He was right.

"N-no! No! Never! Don't be silly. I'd never think of my own friends in some deviant way. I knew better than to try to picture myself having…well, having…"

He shook his head in embarrassment as Wolf and Falco began to chuckle a little. Fox gave them a glare and they stopped instantly, not wanting to get into any trouble.

"A-anyway. I didn't tell Croakella about it, and I feel bad for not being honest about it with her before," he said, trying to get back to the subject at hand. "I don't know what will happen if I either intend to go see her or randomly bump into her, but I'm afraid of hurting her feelings if I tell her that our relationship was based on a lie."

"It probably would be best to tell her the truth," said Lucy. "Besides, you said it yourself. You didn't know you were gay when you dated her, and you were in denial that you ever were. So, you didn't exactly lie to her, just tried to avoid something about yourself that you didn't want to be hated for."

"I'm not too sure I could do that," he replied. "I might hurt her feelings…"

"Well, I'm sure we could figure something out," Peppy said with a calm sense of compassion. "Whenever you're ready to tell her, we'll be there for you.

"Thanks," Slippy said with a smile. "So, who wants to go next?"

"Me."

Everyone turned their heads to the one who volunteered to share their story. Wolf.

This was going to be interesting. Aside from a lot of those who're present that know little to nothing about Wolf before the Lylat wars, though only a few days ago they learned that he was an orphaned teen, this felt a little weird for them as they will learn something new about his past. Even for his own teammates it felt weird, as it was something he wanted to keep to himself. In fact, not even Leon or Panther knew that he was gay for as long as they've worked for him, though Leon did have some suspicions about him but couldn't fully conform it. But now that he knew it was true, he was intrigued to know how his leader found out about his own sexuality.

"Well, as not many of you know," Wolf began to explain. "I was born and raised in Corneria, and I went to middle school in the part of the city I used to live in. It was at that time, a few years before my parents' deaths, that I discovered my sexuality."

Wolf began to look back to that part of his pre-teen years, something he'll never forget.

Flashback

Wolf was a student at one of the most prestigious middle schools in Corneria, and his performance and education there would hold him a bright future. Since he was one of the best students in the school, his grades were exceptional so he could make it big in some parts of the galaxy. Though he practically preferred to be left alone, nobody seemed to mind that. On the other hand, many girls considered him attractive, however he was never interested in them since, in his case, the most important thing for him was his studies. He was the pride of his parents and he wanted to prove it to them by being the best student in the entire school, both in behavior and in having good grades.

One of his favorite subjects was PE since his gym teacher was good at all kinds of sports, and that was what Wolf liked to do in his spare time: Practice sports. Although he does it with his parents sometimes, there were times when his teacher, when he had no classes to teach and they both had free time, they both liked to play a game with each other. Whether it was soccer, basketball, tennis, etc. Every time they had a sports practice, half of the time Wolf would win and on the other half his teacher would win, but the most important thing was that they had fun doing it. The teacher had in mind that Wolf could become a great athlete one day, depending on what sport he wanted to practice after graduating.

Also, between Wolf and his teacher, there seems to be a relationship beyond teacher and student. Despite their age difference, they seemed to see each other as siblings since Wolf was an only child and because of the way his teacher treated him, it seemed that he didn't grow up with any siblings either. After his parents, he was the next person Wolf looked up to in his entire life.

But one day, something else came up that made Wolf learn something that made him question himself. That day, when he finished a practice game of soccer between him and his PE teacher during free hours, Wolf went to take a brief shower in the men's locker room. After five minutes, he dried himself off, put on his uniform and was about to leave the locker room when his teacher was about to come in too. After saying their goodbyes, Wolf went past him only to slightly look back at his coach from the corner of his eye… witnessing him take off his shirt when he was about to head into the shower. He blushed as he saw how muscular his torso, arms and shoulders were. Without him noticing, Wolf also watched as he took off his pants and boxers, seeing him completely naked as he continued to walk into the shower.

Wolf began to feel a strange sensation under his pants, as he felt that they were a little tighter and feeling harder than before. When he looked down, he noticed a bulge in his crotch. It wasn't huge, but it was big enough to notice as it was stretching out from behind the front of his pants. Before anything unintentional could happen, Wolf quickly fled from the gym to a secluded part of the school where he hid until his erection finally subsided for a few minutes.

He was feeling confused. He never had that kind of feeling for his teacher, or anyone in general, but, if he wasn't honest, now he was beginning to see his teacher as a really handsome man and he couldn't deny it. He felt like he was the perfect man for him, someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

From that moment on, every time Wolf spent time alone with him, he tried to stay long enough to observe him undetected and see his sexy, naked body again when he could. Sometimes he was lucky, other times he wasn't.

End of flashback

"And that's it," Wolf said as he finished telling his story. For a few seconds, everyone was feeling some kind of feeling of pleasure during the silence. Then, Leon spoke up to break it.

"Wow," he said in satisfaction to know the truth from his leader. "Student falling in love with a teacher, what a classic!"

"But what happened to your PE teacher?" Fox asked slightly, fearing that Wolf would still have feelings for him.

"Well, shortly before leaving school, after my parents died, I found out that he was gay. But due to the facts of our age difference and that I found out he was already married to three other guys-"

'THREE OTHER GUYS?! That teacher must have been in heaven!' some of the others (mostly men) though.

"... I wasn't able to have the chance to tell him that I had feelings for him. After the last time I saw him at school, on the day I found out my parents died in that car crash, I never saw him again." He paused for a moment to gulp before finishing. "I don't know where he is now, and I doubt I ever will…"

Slippy thought for a moment, shaking off the 'foursome marriage' though, and spoke up, "Well, if you'd like, we can try to locate him for you. So that you could meet him again and talk together."

"I don't think so," he said doubtfully. "After how much I've wasted my life over working for Andross, I'm definitely sure he's disappointed with me and doesn't want to see me ever again. Aside from that, I don't have feelings for him like that anymore.

Fox relaxed a little upon hearing that one of the two men he was in love with was no longer in love with his first crush.

"You don't know that for sure," said Peppy in a consulting tone. "I think we could talk to him for you, so you could at least be able to get in touch with him and try to reconcile your friendship."

Wolf hesitated for a little, kinda ironic as he said 'Don't hesitate. When the time comes, just act.' back in the battle against the Aparoids, but he nodded saying, "Well, okay. But I don't feel up to that right now. I'll let you know when I'm ready."

Both Peppy and Slippy nodded in agreement, understanding where the lupine was coming from.

"Well, now that we've got that settled," Leon said to grab everyone's attention. "Now it's my turn to tell a story of me finding out about my own gayness hunger."

"'Gayness hunger'?" Falco said with a small laugh.

"Being gay means, you get to have a lot of man food," the chameleon explained. "And I can hardly wait to get myself someone tasty~."

Those words made every guy blush.