; - A Star Fox fanfiction

Tension

The sun was shining, warm and golden, and the birds were dancing and singing in the trees as the flowers bobbed in the summer breeze; it was a wonderful day to die.

He was no longer listening to the calls of his friends as they kicked the ball back and forth through the muddy field. Their voices blended into various cries and shouts, one hurling insults and another telling the first to knock it off. Throughout all of it was laughter, genuine... and bright. It was nice to listen to, but not really something he could relate to. At least, not today. Today was an off day. It was just an off day... right?

"Aye, yo Foxy!" He heard the familiar, northern accent of his best friend, a bright, blue bird with fiercely blue eyes, calling out to him from the field.

He looked up to see a shirtless avian running up to him, the tips of his feathers brown and stuck together with mud. A grin plastered his yellow beak, and the red feathers around his eyes seemed accentuated by the mud covering his body. He also wasn't wearing shoes; typical, for a bird. "Don't call me that, Falco," he sighed.

"Yeesh, and I thought I was the one stuck in the mud," he chortled. After no response from his vulpine friend, Falco edged closer, "Come on! Come play with us! Peppy's tired 'n needs someone to fill in for 'im anyhow."

"Not today. I'm tired."

"No, you're lethargic, 'n there's a difference! Come on!" Falco grabbed Fox by the paw and hauled him out to the center of the field. "You can go rest now, Pep."

The old hare nodded and raised his paw in a thumbs up, visibly out of breath. He walked off in the direction of their ship, stretching as much he could and complaining loudly.

"Falco, please, I told you-"

"I heard what you said and I ain't takin' no for an answer," his co-pilot grinned, "Now, if you don' wanna get mud and shit all over your clothes, I'd suggest takin' 'em off."

"You want me naked?!" Fox cried.

"No, ya perv! I'm jus' sayin' you'll be a lot better off like me." He gestured to his own shirtless body, complete with an old pair of black, baggy shorts. They had several large dark green and brown stains across them.

Fox stared a little longer than he knew he should have. He nodded and said, "Yeah, okay, I'll be right back." He raced off towards the Great Fox – or, rather, the Great Fox 2.0, since the first was obliterated in the Aparoid Invasion – a feeling of excitement gripping at his chest. He hadn't felt like this in a while, especially not during the wars, and it was nice to have it back. He passed Peppy on the way, who was wandering towards the bathroom completely naked. Fox stopped mid-stride and yelled, "Peppy?! What the hell are you doing?!"

Peppy turned nonchalantly and laughed, "Oh! Fox! Well I was going to take a relaxing shower. I didn't know anyone was on board..."

Fox looked away, covering his eyes, "No, it's fine. I was just coming in and out." He continued towards his room, climbing on the elevator and pressing the button for the top floor, where all the bedrooms were. He bounced on his feet, waiting for the elevator to bring him up to the top, and once it did, he raced out and tore open the door to his bedroom. He flipped through piles of dirty laundry he'd been meaning to clean for a while now, looking for something he wouldn't mind soiling. After about a minute or so, he pulled out an old pair of cargo shorts that had been sitting at the bottom of the pile for who knows how long... He gave them an experimental sniff, remembering what he'd last done in these shorts. He tossed them aside without a second glance. Finally, he pulled out some shorts similar to Falco's, only they had a bright green stripe on the side that matched his eyes. He quickly stripped down, throwing all of his clothes aside except for his underwear, and slipped on the shorts and a black tank top he'd found while sifting through the pile.