Fox woke up, and had to recollect his senses once again. It was, for once, not a pain to come to his senses, literally or otherwise. It also marked the first time he had a peaceful sleep, especially in terms of mind. No longer did the threat of Andross loom, but also gone was the omnipresence of his Supreme General, presently laying dead in the room down the hallway. It was to be a very important day in the history of Corneria, he knew, and that of the entire system, too! The day of freedom, and of the long-overdue dawn of a new rule over the planet. This was a day that he was sure was to remember, and one that he knew has been awaited by the masses of the system.
This all came to him in the moments of his waking, but immediately driving away those seemingly unshakeable thoughts of immediate destiny was the tightening of a wolf's hold on his body. Fox didn't realize whose grip this was, at first, and thought he was still dreaming, something trying to pull him back from this pleasant wake. "No—!" he softly barked.
"Mmh, Fox," Wolf grunted, "I know you want to go now, but... it's early. Corneria can wait a few more minutes, can't it?"
It was now that Fox knew what situation he was in, and the confessions that he shared with his former nemesis the night before. "Well... Yes," he insisted now, turning back over and snuggling into O'Donnell's chest. "Yes it can. Maybe not too much longer, but for now."
"Thank you," the wolf sighed, lifting his chin and closing his eyes, as none other than the captain of Star Fox was now nosing his way into his bare chest. "Mmh..."
Fox made a slight purr, as he turned his head, to use Wolf's lower shoulder as a sort of pillow.
"You like that?" Wolf asked, raising an eyebrow while he reached down and scruffed the cream-colored tuft on Fox's head.
"Yeah," Fox replied, and sighed, taking in this feeling for just a few more precious moments. It was mid-morning now, but the room remained dark, thanks to being just out of atmosphere. There was a fine view of the space outside in the window, and the purple glow of the system star gave a vibrant tone to the whole room.
"Wolf?" Fox now huffed.
"Mhm?" O'Donnell grunted.
"Where do you really think we'll go from here?" the vulpine cautiously asked.
"This might be a bit of work... telling the world, finding a leader for us," Wolf explained.
"I know," the fox replied, now burdened with the thoughts of dangerous politics and risky framing and negotiation.
"Not saying we couldn't be, y'know," Wolf chuckled, rubbing his new partner's smooth-furred shoulder.
"Why should we? Seems a little selfish," Fox stated, "and undemocratic, nonetheless."
"Undemo— phah! Fox, I'd vote for you," the wolf responded. "And I'm sure that well more than half of Corneria would, if you gave them their choice."
"You really think?" McCloud chuckled.
"You know it, Fox," Wolf gruffed. "Now, I have something to ask of you..."
"Shoot," Fox urged, only to be suddenly pinned down, with a strength, despite his best training, twice his own.
"Can we— maybe get to foolin' around?" he smirked with a canine tooth, as he asked.
"...God damn," Fox yipped. He felt that creep of hot blush across his cheeks, and, no longer refusing to deny his feelings, quickly nodded.
And so, it was within the span of minutes that Fox found himself at the mercy of a ferocious Wolf's stray tongue, as the latter showed his affection in the way that he knew best. It wasn't of excitement or even eagerness, though... This was a slower, passionate delving that Wolf made upon the vulpine beneath him. It was entirely clear what he wanted.
Falco, after a while, opened the door and poked his head in. "Hey, Captain, you good?" he asked to a dimly-lit room, assuring not to make the mistake of flipping on the lights, in case the two were still asleep.
"R-Right there! Ahh!" Fox quietly stammered.
"You like that, huh, Foxy..." Wolf groaned. "Fuck..."
"Aaand I'll see myself out," the bird whispered to only himself, closing the doors, and trying, for a moment, to pretend nothing happened... before realizing that this was somewhat important news. He went right to the General's ship's leisure room, where the rest of his crew was.
"And what, in goodness's name, has got you looking like that, Falco?" Peppy asked.
"Got spooked by something?" Miyu questioned.
"Is one of those Star Wolf goons here?" Slippy meanwhile deduced.
"Naw, naw," Lombardi shook his head as he answered, "nothing like that! I was just—" he then stammered, wondering how to word this.
"Well, what happened?" Slippy impatiently asked.
"Just give me a minute!" Falco lashed back, holding his head.
"You know what, if it's something that implicative," Peppy resolved, "I think it would be best if the captain himself told us."
The room was silent afterwards, as everyone tensely waited for Wolf and Fox to readily come from their apparently shared room. The minutes eventually wore onto hours.
"I think I'm headed to take a nap," the hare of the team spoke.
"We can't wait that long to get back to the capital," Miyu warned.
"Do we really have to hurry?" Falco proposed. "In fact... Why not just dash off with the old General's ship, and live off the stars!" he, of course, joked.
"The people trust us, Lombardi," the tired rabbit chuckled.
Then, though, Fox finally emerged from the cave of the former General's room. "Mmhah... Best sleep I've ever had," he said, innocently enough.
"Yeah, slept well, huh Fox?" Falco raised an eyebrow as he teased.
"By far!" McCloud nodded.
Wolf came along behind him, and sniffed passively. "Mornin'."
"It's 11 o'clock PM in interstellar time," Miyu informed.
"Mornin'," O'Donnell repeated, denoting how little he cared. He wrapped an arm around Fox's shoulder, and pulled him in for a ruffle of his head. "Mmmhmhm," he softly chuckled as he did.
"You two sure are chummy now, huh," Peppy figured, leaning against the hallway wall.
"Aw, shush," Fox blushed as he said.
"A little more than chummy, I'd say," Falco huffed.
"Whaddaya mean by that?" Miyu curiously mewed.
"Uhhuhm—!" Fox coughed, anxiously realizing that he indeed heard Falco trying to check in earlier, and that it wasn't just his imagination. "We— We're a lot alike, we were talking a bunch about it! We're gonna be great friends."
Wolf rolled his eyes, and looked to Miyu. "You and Falco planning to get it on later?"
"And what kind of a pervy question is that?!" Miyu now blushed as she yelped.
"What's the big idea?" Falco furrowed his brows, standing.
"Aw, hell! All I was gonna say is that the mattresses are GREAT for swingin' on," Wolf slyly recommended. "They were, weren't they, Fox?"
The vulpine captain silently exploded with embarassed blush, covering his face. "YOU— HAHHGH! SHADDUP!"
"I knew it!" the bird gasped, and couldn't help but chuckle. "Ohhoh, jeez—!"
"You owe me," Slippy suddenly demanded to Peppy, who handed him a few bills.
"See? You don't have to fib around your team," Wolf gruffed, and gave Fox a sweet kiss on the cheek.
"Did you really have to tell them like THAT?" McCloud grumbled.
"It's how I do, Foxy," Wolf sighed. "It's how I do. And you wouldn't have me any other way, would'ya...?"
"...No," Fox smirked, and quickly returned the kiss, though he still seemed a degree shy about it.
The discussion, from then on, was mainly about how to configure the fancy controls of the ship to fly back to Corneria's main city.
• • ● • •
There was immediate conundrum when the highest-ranking Cornerian residential ship finally touched back down on the launchpad of the General's headquarters, and the people, ready for the update on the status of their livelihoods' nature, began to crowd around this public center of the city.
Fox McCloud was as nervous as ever. All was over, save for this final step. He was a dead man in the eyes of the Cornerian public, and to reveal himself as otherwise would surely send a historic shock. Whether or not it was to be a celebration or an outrage was left uncertain, and he had to prepare himself for any outcome. A few armed guards, recognizing their new authority before anyone else, saw the crew touch down, and saluted them. Fox saluted back.
Then, Wolf made his casual way out; Immediately following this was the cocking of these guards' every blaster.
"Where's the prisoner headed?" one guard asked.
"At ease. O'Donnell's one of us now," Fox explained. "Things will be different around here, more than ever before."
This was done, and the five plus one members of Star Fox made their way out onto the General's stage, where, not at all long ago, they had vowed to set out.