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Since it was founded, the Star Fox organization typically adhered to the ideal that no problem was too large or too small for their squad to tackle. Whether it be that they happened to drive by a traffic accident and citizens needed assistance, or they were in the midst of issuing an attack upon an enemy in battle, or anything inbetween, Star Fox always prided themselves on their moral standings. None more so than Fox McCloud, who would endanger himself simply for the benefit of one person if it meant they were happy and safe. Peppy, being as naggy as he was, never forgot to remind Fox that his selflessness could be as much of a curse as it was a blessing.
Fox was beginning to see what he meant.
Not much was going on lately in the Lylat system lately. Or any nearby system, really. The team had just finished a routine planetary check on Papetoon, and were well over a week into their voyage to Katina, per the request of the Cornerian armies stationed there. Apparently, the planet was experiencing their worst drought in decades, and with the depleting water supply, tensions were growing high, and the police force needed a few extra hands keeping the peace.
Of course, Fox didn’t hesitate to agree to lend his team to help. One more stop wouldn’t hurt on the way back to their base on Corneria. Granted, the team was exhausted. And they still had a long way to go until they reached Katina. But it was a unanimous decision to at least spend a little of their time helping the sister planet of Corneria.
Fox stared out the window of his personal chamber, his mind buzzing with fatigued thoughts that caused sleep to evade his conscious state of mind. Fox would like to sleep, of course, but there was a lot of work to be done. Katina was badly positioned right now, so there had to be constant adjustments made on their flight route from Papetoon. Usually, the Great Fox self-adjusted its path in case of small obstructions, but the amount on the way down required the ship’s flight to be manually corrected.
On top of that, he still had to draft the plans the Cornerian reserves asked for so that there would be organization spread between the troops, and there were long-needed repairs he had to do on his Arwing that both he and Slippy were too busy to make time for… Also, the damn heating system was broken. That needed to be fixed as well.
Fox rubbed his forehead, sitting up in bed. He wasn’t gonna sleep anyway with all these thoughts running wild. He may as well make a cup of coffee.
Shuffling quietly to the kitchenette of the ship, he rubbed his eyes with a soft groan. The 24/7 lights that lined the ceiling along every hallway and room were quite stark at this time of night. The captain pulled his mug out of the cupboard (personally inscribed with his initials so that Peppy would stop using it). He reached for the coffee jug, pulling the container haphazardly out of its holder.
“Can’t sleep?”
Fox’s ears perked up suddenly at the sound of a voice behind him. He turned quickly, a bit more alert. There stood Falco, who was also clutching a coffee cup, eyes grizzled and dark from lack of sleep. Even his feathers looked a bit disheveled.
“Yeah. I needed to check the flight course. No biggie. Why are you up, hm?” Fox queried, turning back to the counter to carefully pour the coffee.
“Huh. That’s just what I was doin’,” the blue avian replied.
“Oh, you don’t have to anymore.” Fox twitched his ear drowsily, taking a harsh swig of his coffee as he drifted to the control console toward the nose of the ship. “I’ll take care of it, Falco. Go get some rest.”
Falco chuckled. “No, you. You’ve worked hard enough, man.” He followed McCloud, standing beside him, watching him as he examined the central board still half-asleep. “Besides, nothin’ but smooth sailing from here on out. Our radars detected no more hindrances.”
It took a moment for what he had said to register in Fox’s brain, but he looked up at Falco after a moment. “Yeah?”
“Yea.”
“...I think I should stay and keep watch, just to make sure.”
Falco let out a relaxed laugh. “Shit, man. If you stay, I’ll stay, too. You’re aboutta knock out.”
“I am not,” the vulpine let out a slightly irritated huff, his aggravated tone brought on by both fatigue, and by Falco’s naturally sneer mannerism.
Falco took the coffee mug out of Fox’s hands, though he didn’t raise any objections to this. Instead, he passively allowed the falcon lead him to one of the couches in the nearby rec room.
“Look, we’re both exhausted, but with the clear charts, we’ll get to Katina within a day and a half. So just relax,” Falco sat him down, and Fox rubbed his muzzle tiredly.
“No, Falco, look. It’s okay. I need to make sure-” he opened his maw wide in a yawn. “-that everything is gonna be… uh, satisfactory... I guess.”
“Uh-huh.” Falco perched beside him, lying comfortably against the armrest of the couch. He snatched the blanket slung over the top of the couch, then pulled Fox by his shirt collar closer to him. Fox’s head merely bobbed, but he said nothing besides meek complaints and reiterations of “I have work to do”.
It didn’t take long for the canine to snuggle closer to his teammate; it was the middle of the night and the broken heating system didn’t make it any better, but their mixed body heat at least gave him some warmth. The softness of Falco’s cerulean feathers was as comforting as sleeping on any pillow. Fox’s tail twitched contentedly, and he subconsciously began to clutch at Falco’s sweatshirt as he began to drift off. It wasn’t more than 3 minutes before he passed out, snoring softly on Falco’s chest. The avian lolled his head to the side, and he, too, fell asleep, completely at ease.