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Game Night
“Eat shit, pigeon!”
“I’m gonna serve your ass on a platter, lizard!”
The rest of Star Fox and Star Wolf had met each other in a bar downtown and were now exchanging matches around a ping pong table. The avian and the chameleon were current opponents and, as usual, were fiercely competitive, slamming the ball back and forth between each other.
“Show him you’re truly the Great Leon!”, called Panther from the sidelines.
“Send his ass to the cleaners!”, Wolf smirked.
“You can do it, Falco!”, cheered Slippy.
“Show me a real ace can do!”, Fox called with a wink.
“Is that the best you’ve got?!”, jeered Leon, “I’ve seen old women with more fight than that!”
“Well, that’s because, you haven’t met a Lombardi yet!”, Falco jabbed before giving a hard whack of his paddle, “HO-YEAH!”
Falco’s aim shot the ball to Leon’s right as he was unable to deflect it in time before it bounced off the wall behind him.
“YES! In your face, Scales!”, Falco boasted.
“Pfft, whatever”, snorted Leon as he whipped his tail in the avian’s direction, “I’ll let my frustrations out later…when you least expect it, of course.”
“Yeeeeeah, good luck with that”, Falco waved dismissively before he suddenly felt Leon’s hand on his shirt, pulling him closer to the reptile’s face.
“Oh, trust me, I will…”, Leon smirked. Falco could have sworn he saw some sort of lust in the reptile’s eyes…but brushed it off as the chameleon backed off.
“...You are a weird fuckin’ man, Leon”, Falco shook his head as the two sat down with their respective group. Panther and Krystal were next to face each other off as they took their spots on the table.
“Ah, the lovely Krystal, to what do I owe the pleasure?”, purred Panther.
“A drink if I win, which I probably will”, replied Krystal.
“Aaaah, fighting words. We’ll see who’s really got skill”, smirked the feline.
“I’m sure you say that to many people”, Krystal replied coyly. As the match started between the two, Slippy couldn’t help but take notice of the recent acquisition that Star Wolf appeared to have with them.
Sitting not too far from him and the others was a tall brown bear, with a stony disposition about him at that. The bear had a set of scars on the left side of his face, coupled with his black leather jacket, brown boots, and combat gloves, he looked the part for a bouncer, especially with his muscle mass.
“...What the hell are you starin’ at?”, snorted the bruin. Slippy immediately turned his head away with a sweatdrop.
“Uh…nothing…nothing at all”, replied the toad, nervously.
“Easy there, big guy, we’re all friends here”, smiled Bill, patting Slippy assuringly on the shoulder.
“Yeah…he’s still adjusting to that whole angle”, remarked Wolf, “Just go easy on ‘em, Razor…for now.”
“Hmph…I know how to bring my A-game on a group of space cadets”, murmured Razor. His attention was then diverted over to Krystal and Panther’s game, an event score matched between them.
“My, my, you strike with such ferocity”, Panther remarked as he smacked his paddle back, “Must be channeling that amazon spirt of yours.”
“Who said all I could be as a pretty face?”, replied Krystal, “I can match you boys pound for pound.”
“Don’t go too hard on him, Krystal”, purred Katt as she sat to Falco’s right, “Hmmhmm, I like this gentleman here.”
“You fall for any guy that catches your eye, don’t you?”, snorted Falco.
“You would know me, I like being a tease”, grinned Katt, “But I know you’ve got another party to occupy you.”
Falco blinked as he looked over at Leon leaning on his shoulder, a smug grin plastered on his face.
“...Well, least we know who wears the pants in this relationship”, The avian affirmed, patting down on his waist.
“Shameless as usual, aren’t you, Falco?”, murmured Fox.
“You say that and you’re all sickly sweet with Patches over there”, Falco retorted, “You could give me diabetes with that.”
“Not my fault this one’s a sucker for yours truly, I’ve just got certain…assets”, smirked Wolf. He then looked over at the ping-pong table as Krystal had scored the winning point.
“Oh, to lose to such an opponent, tis more of an honor than a burden”, Panther remarked theatrically.
“You don’t need to be so extra, you know?”, Krystal deadpanned.
“I know, but I like to be”, Panther grinned coyly, “Good game, my dear.”
“Yeah…good game”, smiled Krystal, leaning to shake the feline’s hand, and much to her surprise, he didn’t reach up to kiss it, “...what’s this, finally learned boundaries?”
“I already did, I just prefer to keep us content with each other”, replied Panther, “It’s the least I can do.”
Krystal nodded as she and Panther went to sit down for the next match. Fox looked over at them, a small smile on his face as he leaned on Wolf’s arm.
“See somethin’ ya’ like, pup?”, smirked Wolf.
“Oh, just the fact that I’m not having to “defend Krystal’s honor” and all that”, replied Fox, “How funny she and Panther would end up getting along like that.”
“Well, suppose that’s how it works when we’re allowed to speak outside of the cockpits”, remarked Wolf.
“Awww, ain’t you two just the sweetest”?, cooed Bill from Fox’s right, the vulpine blushing in response, “Trust me when I say, I ain’t one to turn on my bestie for his tastes in men.”
“Hehe, aaaah, Bill, coy as ever”, Fox murmured.
“Hey, I don’t blame you for this one, bro, Wolf’s hot as hell”, smirked Bill.
“Hrmmm…well, I’ll say this about your little friend, pup”, said Wolf, “He’s got good taste.”
“Hooooo, you kids really do have no filter”, sighed Peppy as he put a paw to his temples.
“Well, you signed up to join us, old man”, remarked Falco.
“Mind your tongue, Lombardi, cuz I don’t wanna have to be the one needing to clean your messes…like I typically do”, replied Peppy.
“Well, I’ll try to keep this next match civil, General Hare”, smiled Bill, “Who wants to take on the top dog?”
“Top dog, for sure…”, muttered Razor as he stood up from his seat, “Alright, time to show you military hot shots a thing or two.”
“Whatever you say, big guy, all in a good time”, replied Bill as he and the bruin took their spots on either end of the table.
“Uhhh…he’s not gonna go completely wack with Bill, is he?”, asked Slippy.
“Razor? Well, he did mention on his resume that he’s knocked out a good few men who wronged him, with photo evidence to prove it”, replied Panther.
“I like a man who knows how to put idiots in their place…”, smirked Leon.
“Isn’t that ironic coming from you?”, Falco deadpanned.
“Shush, pigeon”, Leon murmured back.
“Whoa! HUH! You got some power in those arms!”, cried Bill as he hit the paddle back.
“Try and keep up, puppy dog”, replied Razor as he whacked his paddle back at the Labrador.
“Easy out, Bill…show him the Cornerian military doesn’t hold back”, grinned Fox.
“You got it, dude!”, smirked Bill as he hit back at the ball. Even with that encouragement, Bill found himself conceding defeat to the brown bear.
“Told ya…”, smirked Razor, flicking the paddle in his hand, “You three shoulda’ called on someone like me sooner.”
“Not a bad show, Razor”, smirked Wolf, “Now then, how about we close this off with the heads of the squads?”
“Hmmhmm, looking forward to losing again?”, Fox grinned cheekily.
“You sound pretty confident about that, McCloud”, remarked Wolf, “Think you might be setting yourself up there.”
“Nah, I just have a gut feeling given our history”, replied Fox.
“In that case, prepare for a gut punch when that fantasy’s destroyed”, smirked Wolf.
“I’ll hold it to the one with limited depth perception”, grinned Fox, flicking his paddle. Wolf, in turn, readied his own with a competitive glint in his eyes.
“Then get ready to suck my co-”
“Can you bitches quit flirting and actually play the damn game?”, snorted Falco.
“Pfft, and here I was enjoying the foreplay”, sniffed Leon.
“...Again, weird fuckin’ man you are, Powalski”, Falco deadpanned.
“Says the avian with peculiar tastes, Lombardi”, purred Leon as he scritched under Falco’s chin.
“Okay then, you fuckers want a match, I’ll give you one”, Wolf retorted as he made the first serve. Fox quickly deflected right back at him.
“You gotta try harder than that, Star Wolf”, smirked the vulpine.
“Remember what I said before, pup. I will be the one to take you down”, Wolf said, grinning with sadistic anticipation as he managed to strike the ball at an angle where Fox was too late in deflecting it, “You were saying, Star Fox?”
“...Okay, time to rock n’ roll with this one”, Fox remarked as he readied the ball…he then struck, with Wolf quickly reaching to bat back.
“Gotta be sharper than that, McCloud!”, smirked Wolf.
“You want sharper, you should see all the shit I’ve been able to do between the end of the war and now!”, retorted Fox as he looked like he was going to strike one way as Wolf deflected, only to strike the other way, and Wolf missed his shot.
“Damn it!”
“C’mon, O’Donnell! Send that kit back to his maker!”, called Razor.
“You clearly don’t know how much he can take”, remarked Krystal, “I’ve seen that man in action. He’s like a machine.”
“Oh, he’s more than that, he’s like a whole army wrapped in one!”, smiled Slippy, “He can do just about anything.”
“Well, hehe…I don’t mean to brag, but…”, Fox waved modestly before Wolf directed his attention.
“You can save bragging rights if you win”, He smirked. Fox immediately turned his attention back to the lupine.
“Alright then…let’s keep the streak going”, smirked Fox as Wolf began the match once more. Back and forth they striked, as soon as Fox would gain ground, Wolf clutched it back from him. Of course, Fox knew how to level the playing field as Wolf easily found out.
“My, my, that McCloud’s a savage”, grinned Katt, “No wonder he’s the golden child of Corneria.”
“You say that, but our captain’s no poor shot”, mused Panther, “He strikes with just…prowess.”
As if to prove the feline’s point, the two captains were on their final point, their eyes locked on each other…Fox struck the ball, and Wolf looked ready to strike back…before pulling a fakeout and smacking his paddle at an angle Fox failed to check, causing the ball to shoot past him.
“...Well, what do you know, game point”, smirked Wolf, “So…what was that about a streak, Foxy?”
“Okay, I’ll give…you beat me fair and square, Wolfy”, Fox grinned coyly, “So…you gonna claim your prize?”
“You bet your ass I am…”, Wolf grinned back, coming to the other side of the table to wrap an arm around Fox’s waist.
“Okaaaaaay, ya’ might wanna keep it PG till you’re alone”, remarked Falco.
“I mean, I wouldn’t complain, Fox knows how to pick ‘em”, smiled Bill.
“You guys are really somethin’ else, you know what?”, Razor sighed, shaking his head, “Then again, I fully knew what I was getting myself into.”
“No need to be so stoic, my dear bruin”, grinned Panther, “Love is truly a beautiful sight in many forms.”
“Says the Casanova who asked me to ride on his wing”, remarked Krystal.
“Well, you can’t fault a man for trying…besides, I’m flexible anyways”, replied Panther, stretching his arms out.
Peppy shook his head before turning his attention over to Fox and Wolf who had just sat back down. Truthfully speaking, the hare had accepted Fox’s choice in partners, and from what he could, Wolf did appear to be genuine…even so, a small part of his was coming to terms with how things had changed, let alone his own account of what had gone down with Wolf in the past.
The hare stood up from his seat and walked up to the two while the others were chatting amongst themselves.
“AHEM, uh…Fox, I wanted to speak with you”, said Peppy.
“Oh…what about?”, asked Fox.
“Well…I dunno if I should say this in front of Wolf, but…”, Peppy trailed off. Wolf had a feeling he knew what the hare was going to say, but decided to intervene.
“Hare, I can assure you, the pup here ain’t bein’ subjected to any secret evil schemes I’ve got back home”, said the lupine, choosing to leave out the suggestive subtext.
“Well…from what I can see, that appears to be the case…”, murmured Peppy, “Still, Fox…I just wanna make sure you’re alright.”
“Peppy…I can promise you from my own account, Wolf here’s been on his best behavior”, replied Fox, ignoring the eyeroll Wolf gave, “I just don’t want you to worry…”
“Well…I just wanted to make sure, is all…”, said Peppy before turning his attention back to Wolf, “I trust you’ll be keeping your end of the bargain, O’Donnell? Through thick and thin?”
“General, I swear on scout’s honor, Fox here’s safe with yours truly”, replied Wolf, giving a scout’s gesture with a wry grin.
“...You were never a scout, for sure”, Peppy deadpanned, before giving a small smile, “But, so long as Fox is happy…then I can be happy for him…I’ll let you two get back to your thing.”
With that, Peppy turned away to go speak with Slippy, leaving Fox and Wolf to their own devices.
“...Ya’ know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Peppy’s like a fath…AHEM, well, you know what I mean”, Wolf corrected.
“I do…you know…this is nice…”, smiled Fox, “Seeing everyone like this…”
“You got that right…and hey…I wouldn’t have it any other way…”, grinned Wolf as he pressed his nose to Fox’s cheek, “And I meant what I said…you’re in good paws with this one…”
“I’m sure I am…”, cooed Fox as he turned to look at the lupine, before pressing his nose against the other canine’s.
“...Ah, that’s so beautiful, dude”, Bill said with a dramatic wiping of a tear.