The giant doors of the cockpit slided open as Fox went near. The vulpin flew his Arwing inside and landed on the metallic floor inside the Great Fox, turned it off, grabbed the keys, and exited the vehicle. He stretched both of his arms above his head, feeling tired from the flying and wished to head back to bed, but he had other things to worry about right now: his team.
He felt nervous again, not the first time all day, as he began to walk down the hall to find the others. He was finally going to open up to them about his sexuality and how he found out about it. He was only hoping that some of them would freak out and hate him for it, especially Krystal. He thought that she would be homophobic and that she would be upset about it. He never once let her try to read his mind and find out about it, as he's grown a resistance to her mind reading, so here's to hoping that she doesn't try to do anything again.
At least Peppy would be by his side since he already knew about him being gay. Slippy once opened up that he was acexual, so he would be fully supportive about it. As for Falco, well... he once developed a crush on the pheasant during the Lylat Wars, but when his old teammates from his old gang needed his help and that he went on his own way before heading to Sauria, things were starting to get a little... complicated there. So, he had to let those feelings go too.
He sighed thinking, 'That would be embarrassing for him to hear.'
He noticed a light coming from the break room and saw that the others, minus Krystal thank god, were present while having a few bottles of chocolate soldiers and pretzels by the table...and for some reason, they were in their undies. Which made him aroused and have an erection growing a little bit.
He gulped, and straightened up his pants a bit before shaking his head as he went in casually. Slippy was the first one to notice him coming from the doorway, his face starting to light up with joy.
"Fox! You're back!" he exclaimed happily.
Falco and Peppy reacted quickly and looked at Fox a few feet away. They were overwhelmed to see their leader and friend returning for a long while. The three mammals quickly got up, ran towards the vulpin, and gave him a big hug, Peppy's eyes on the verge to tears.
"We were so worried about you!" Peppy said.
Fox felt flustered when he was being hugged by the guys in their undies, but he returned their hug while blushing.
"It's okay now," he said. "I'm feeling better now."
"Glad to hear that," said Falco, releasing the hug. "We've been waiting for you to come back for a while now. I'm surprised that you came back at all after what Krystal did earlier."
"H-how did-"
"In case you've forgotten, Fox," Slippy cut him off. "Falco is good at reading people like an open book."
"I figured," he said with a sigh.
"So, what happened when you were out, Fox?" the rabbit asked.
"A lot happened," he said. "I met a few new friends today. They helped me coax me out of that big mess of a morning I had."
"Glad to hear of that!" Peppy said. "To be honest, I wouldn't know what to do at this point."
"It's okay, Peppy," Fox said in comfort. "It is, really."
"Thanks, Fox."
Fox stood there for a moment before remembering that the others were in undies. He curled his lips upwards while blushing a little.
"Why are you all in your underwear?" he asked.
Peppy and Slippy felt a little bashful of embarrassment upon remembering their little relaxing time, while Falco just snickered for three seconds after hearing that.
"It was my idea," said the pheasant. "I wanted to see the look on your face when you saw us like this! Ahahahahahahaaa!"
The vulpin blushed again and grew a frown on his face before saying, "Falco! That's not funny!"
Peppy and Slippy began to laugh too.
Fox was feeling better again, but it wasn't over yet.
"Thanks for the cheer-up there guys, but I've got something I've been meaning to tell you."
Upon hearing those words, Peppy's eyes grew a little wide. He knew what Fox was going to say to the others, as he was the only one whom he ever told about his sexuality. He was actually feeling concerned about this. After all these years of knowing Fox was gay, he would have no doubt that he would grow the courage to finally tell others the truth.
"Fox," he said. "Is this really the best time?"
"Yes," he said. I believe it is."
Falco was curious about what was going down, but he wondered if it was about the secret that he discovered about his foxy friend and leader. Unaware that he could be right. Slippy was curious too, but also in a small state of worry over what Fox had to say.
Fox turned to the bird and frog and took a deep breath.
"Guys?" he started. "I'm gay."
After Fox made this announcement, there was a silence that lasted for a few minutes. He was afraid of what Falco and Slippy would say at that moment. He just closed his eyes and waited for one of them to say something. He only heard a few footsteps approach him, one feathery hand on his shoulder and a slightly sweaty hand on one of his. When he opened his eyes, he saw his pheasant friend having his hand on his shoulder, and his froggy friend with his hand on Fox's.
"Fox," said Falco. "I always had the feeling that you were gay, even from the day I met you. The reason I didn't tell you was because I was waiting for you to admit it. Even though I never expected it for you to take so long to do that, and don't worry about it. Your sexuality doesn't change the friendship we both have. I accept you whether you are straight or homo.
He was definitely being honest with the vulpine, there was sincerity in his voice, face, and he raised his thumb.
"As for me, it doesn't bother me that you like men," said Slippy with a happy expression on his face, feeling happy that his friend had the confidence to reveal his secret to him. "In case you've forgotten, I don't like women romantically either, therefore, you have my full support, and we're still best friends forever."
"You also have my full support, too" said ROB through a communicator that was in the room while he was in the main cabin. ROB connected to the break room in there only, so what he said to the guys couldn't be heard in another section of the ship.
Fox felt a tear leak from his eye as his worries of being rejected by his friends dissipated. Even ROB supported him. He just hopes that some of his other acquaintances like Bill, Lucy, or even Fara and Krystal. Although, if Wolf accepted it, he doesn't think it would be difficult to accept it either.
"Well Fox," said Peppy. "Now that everything is settled, why don't relax a bit with us. Maybe you could tell us how it went down in Corneria."
Fox nodded at Peppy's suggestion.
The pheasant and the toad sat down by the rabbit again, who was the only one who remained seated at all times. Fox walked over to them and sat down as well, very carefully though. He didn't want them would notice the erection he still had, so he tried to think of something else to get his erection back to normal.
"My stay at Corneria was a bit surprising if I could say so," said Fox, starting the conversation. "I made a new friend. His name is Dash Bowman.
"Oh, that's great!" said Peppy. "I'm glad you made a new friend. Is he from Corneria?"
"No. He told me that he'd just arrived there today. His old home has some extreme poverty and everything was going from bad to worse for all the inhabitants" Fox said, keeping secret of where Dash came from.
"Did he tell you where he came from?" Slippy asked.
"No. I forgot to ask him" he replied. "We both gave each other our numbers when we said goodbye, so I can get in touch whenever we want. Although, it's not the strangest thing that's happened."
"What happened?" Falco asked.
"Well, after the press conference, I invited Dash to lunch at a steakhouse, and when we were about to head inside, we ran into Star Wolf there. We already saw them before the press conference, but this meeting was different from before."
"How different?" asked the guys at the same time, with wide eyes and moving their heads forward.
Fox had told them the whole story in most of the conversation, leaving aside a few details. One of them was the fact that Wolf was gay, as he figured that he hadn't revealed it to anyone else yet, he wouldn't do it either until he felt ready to.
"Are you serious?!" asked Falco with an incredulous attitude. "You're talking about Wolf, Leon, and Panther, the same villains that we've faced multiple times. And in the case of Wolf and Leon, they tried to kill us on several occasions."
"Yeah." said Fox. "I know it was weird, but it was different. While me and Dash were dining with them, we were having a fun time together. Like, those three were actually old friends of ours that we hadn't seen in years."
"What if it's a trap, and they're trying to hurt you?" Slippy asked.
"Well, it's not an obligation for you to trust them right now. But, I'm really sure when I tell you that they really want to change and make better lives for themselves" he noted. "Just give them some time, and you'll see what I mean."
Both the pheasant and the toad felt that something had been done to Fox, due to how his behavior on Star Wolf has changed. This morning, he refused to accept that Wolf and Leon were innocent of his father's death, and now he treats them as if they're his friends. That felt very strange for both of them, but Falco is thinking much more than that. What he's thinking is if they were manipulating Fox with the intention of hurting him, he would be the one to finish them off with his own hands, starting with Leon, then Wolf, and finally Panther. On Peppy's thoughts, he too was concerned for Fox's safety like that, but he also knew that Star Wolf deserved a chance. If the investigations were completely true, and Pigma never framed them, they would've had a better life and would've never become criminals. He partly supported Fox for giving them a chance, but he would have to be careful with them, in case something bad happened.
...
Meanwhile, on the planet Zoness…
There was a wolf who was about to leave in his ship to the planet Corneria. He had already finished his training to be part of the Cornerian army, although he was a few days before his first day of work. He wanted to reach the planet in advance to get to know his new home and see the new environment he's going to see from now on.
He had packed all of his things; civilian clothes, Cornerian army uniforms, and even some memories of his original home on the planet Cerinia. Among them was a tribal garment that he wore as a kid, and even a knight's suit with a sword that he got when he was a teeager.
Once he was completely ready, he got on his ship and started the engines while saying, "It's time to start a new life on a new planet."
After that, his ship took off and left the planet Zoness.
