Chapter 36

Jealous Much?

Earlier…

Fox was waiting in the hotel lobby for Falco to hurry up with his trip to the bathroom. At the same time, he was waiting for a Taxi cab to arrive and was looking out the window to see if it was almost here. He was really hoping that things would go so well today.

Yesterday evening, Wolf had asked Fox if he would like to go to the store with him today and help stack up on some food for him, Panther and Leon, and he happily agreed (hiding his excitement of being with one of his crushes). Falco heard about what they plan to do and asked if he could join them, and he became more excited that he was going to be with both of his crushes today and he pleaded Wolf to agree with the invite.

He sent Slippy a text to let him know where he's going, considering that Peppy told him that he was still sleeping when he was getting ready for work, and didn't want to disturb him. He also figured that the toad didn't turn his phone ringer back on after our private group confession on the Great Fox a few days ago… so that's another bit of good news, as he noticed that his toad friend has been feeling down since yesterday. What could've happened that made-

"Hey Fox! Sorry I'm late."

A voice interrupted his train of thought which caused him to jolt in surprise. He turned to the source of the voice which was Falco, drying his hands with a paper towel from the men's restroom.

He sighed as he replied, "That's alright. I was keeping a lookout for our Taxi ride anyway."

"The one that just pulled up?" Falco asked as he threw the used paper towel in the trash can.

Fox looked back out the window and, just like his feathered friend pointed out, there was the Taxi that they were waiting for. Early in the morning, their ride to Wolf's place prepared and their grocery trip, and everything is beginning to go smoothly for them.

Fox then smiled, thinking that spending this day with his two crushes wouldn't go wrong.

…

Thirty-one and a half minutes later…

When they got to the store, Fox noticed that Falco and Wolf had started to become a little clingy with him.

When they first arrived, the two of them were doing some strange things; like insisting to let him through the doors first, even though the entrance was mechanical sliding doors, both grabbing buggies for him even though they needed one, and they both wrapped their arms beneath his as he was pushing the shopping cart. He finds it sweet that they're doing these things for him, but this was beginning to bug him as they began glaring at each other as if they were… fighting over him.

This is something new and awkward for Fox. He's never had anyone ever fight over him before, and it's happening for the first time with his two male crushes. He only hopes that they don't do anything stupid that could end up putting him on the spot. It's a good thing that whenever Fox asks either one of the men to retrieve something from the shopping list, they do it without either questioning or, at least, fight each other over it.

As the three of them were walking together, the vulpine noticed that a few bystanders were staring at them as they were walking by. He could describe their stairs to be disturbing and uncomfortable from his perspective, as they were intentionally glaring at him like they were disturbed by their presence. He started to become nervous, hoping that Wolf and Falco would stop their behavior before they got to the cash register so he didn't have to endure the disturbing audience anymore.

They were able to get half of the things on the grocery list and were entering the dairy section to get some milk and eggs. Hopefully, he can try to calm things down between them…

"Say, uh. You guys?" Fox asked, grabbing the two males' attention. "I know that you two like to have me around, really I do. But…" he pauses for a bit upon looking at the wide-eyed expressions on their faces. "Can you two please stop fighting each other? It's kinda getting on my nerves."

"Whaaat? Fighting? Me and HIM? No, not a chance!" they both said with what sounded like a laugh that you use to pretend that nothing's bugging you when, clearly, there is. They shake their hands to try and make them look more assuring. "We're not fighting, we're just enjoying your company."

Fox wasn't buying it though. Many years of having to deal with pretending to be alright when he wasn't, there's no fooling him that these two are obviously fighting. Maybe he should try and give them some more time for them to get along better, but he wants to know what's got them fighting.

But for now, he just gave them an unsatisfied look and said, "Alright. But if there's anything you'd like to share, let me know okay?"

The blue pheasant and the gray lupine hastily nodded at him. Then, as soon as the vulpine turns away to look at the grocery list, Falco and Wolf go back to glaring at each other like two predators fighting over territory. Fox turned back and they went back to pretending that nothing was wrong again.

"Can you guys get the milk for me while I get the eggs?" he asked as he pointed to where the shelves with the milk cartons were.

"Sure thing!" Both Wolf and Falco said, triggering their warrior instincts upon hearing each other agreeing to aid Fox's request.

They both walked past Fox and ran to the milk aisle without him noticing so they could look for the right milk carton that was needed. Unfortunately, there was only one carton left and, seeing no other option, Falco and Wolf decided to struggle for it. They were both determined to receive Fox's affection and they will do anything for it.

While they played tug-a-war with the milk, as Fox was distracted with picking out a carton of eggs that Star Wolf could use, one staff member peeked from another aisle shelf and shivered nervously at the commotion that was going on as well as the people involved in it. He was confused and shocked as to why two members of Star Fox were grocery shopping with the feared Wolf O'Donnell at this very store, and that two of them are fighting over a single carton of milk. Looking over at Fox, he got the feeling that he should let the team leader know about the commotion that was happening behind him so he could do… something about it before things get out of hand.

As the employee was about to step out of the aisle, Falco's and Wolf's hands accidentally slipped and the milk carton was thrown into the air. The three males witnessed the carton making its way towards Fox, who turned around, holding a pack of eggs in his hands, and his eyes widened in panic as the milk carton crashed onto the eggs in his hands. Breaking them, their egg shell pieces and the yolk inside of them splashing all over the vulpine, making a mess over his torso and arms. It gets even worse as the lid of the milk carton pops open and the contents spill all over him as well, making an even bigger mess than before!

Wolf, Falco and the employee witness were wide-eyed in shock, looking at the vulpine as he was processing as to what happened. Fox looked up at the two of them and he looked as if he was turning red… unfortunately, it wasn't a good kind. The lupine and the pheasant were thinking 'Oh, crap' as they saw how much they f***ed up.

...

Dash had left the hotel he was staying at earlier, and he was eager to go to where he was needed.

Last night, he received a call from Peppy asking if he'd like to accompany him to the Cornerian army base since he noted that Dash quite enjoyed the visit they had a few days ago. He thought that, since Dash liked riding with Fox aboard the Arwing II, he might be interested in becoming a pilot and would like to learn more about how to pilot ships if he wanted to pursue it as a future career. The monkey was already near the army base. He had arranged to meet Peppy at a specific time, but out of his excitement he decided to leave earlier before the agreed time. Perhaps he could take some time to explore some areas of the city that he didn't have time to see before.

He was having so much fun here in Corneria, he wondered what it would've been like to grow up in this city. He and his parents could've had a normal life away from Venom… He would've gone to school, made friends, maybe could've been a pilot to this day, considering how many of the inhabitants of the city were part of the military.

During the walk, Dash notices that an acquaintance of his was in the distance. It was Fox!

As he saw that he still had time before he had to go meet Peppy, he decided to go say 'hi' to him for a bit. But once he called out to him, and Fox turned to his direction, the vulpine was not very happy right now and the expression on his face brought back some terrible memories for the monkey. So much so, that Dash thought that Fox was mad at him, judging by the way he was looking at him.

That made Dash feel a little intimidated…

When Fox saw how the monkey looked at him, he felt guilty. He knew what Dash had been through his entire life and he didn't want to make him feel bad by making him think that he was mad at him.

" Hi Dash," Fox said as he approached his friend. "Sorry for looking at you like that. I just went through something and left me emotionally bad for a moment…"

"Oh, i-if you want," Dash said nervously, trying to hide his blushing from Fox again. "You can talk with me about it. Maybe I can help you feel better, like you've done for me?"

Fox and Dash walked for a bit and found a small bench where they could chat for a bit. There, Fox told him about what he was doing with Wolf and Falco a while ago. (Hearing that part made Dash feel a little annoyed, though he didn't want Fox to know about that.) He told Dash about how they were fighting over something he didn't know about and he couldn't understand why either. Their fight ended up getting the eggs he was picking out and the milk they were getting all over him. He felt so embarrassed, angry, and sad about what happened that he ran into the bathroom for a while to clean himself off and quickly ran out of the store before Falco and Wolf could stop him.

Dash saw that Fox's eyes were beginning to form tears when he remembered that earlier event, since this morning he hoped that everything would go well. Dash placed his hand on Fox's back as comfort for what had happened. He didn't know what words to say to make him feel better; a part of him wanted to tell Fox to forget about them, but he knew that it wouldn't be appropriate since Fox appreciated them both. Besides, even though he was in love with the vulpine, he wouldn't want Fox to stay away from his friends.

"Well," Dash began. "Maybe they still haven't gotten used to being so close to each other, so if you leave them alone for a few hours they'll realize that they did something wrong and fix whatever problem there is between them.

"You're right," he sighed as he wiped away some tears from his eyes. "That might be best for them, and for me. I hope it's the right decision for this situation."

Dash smiled, feeling relieved that Fox is starting to think a little positive.

"So Dash, do you have any plans today?"

"Well, yeah," the monkey replied. "Peppy invited me to help him with some things at the army base. I was going to meet him there."

"Oh, I'm sorry for distracting you," Fox said in worry. "If you don't hurry, you could be late."

"Don't worry about it," Dash said, waving his hands. "I left an hour earlier than expected, so I've got half-an-hour left to make it there." He pointed to the clock of a nearby building, reassuring Fox that he hadn't been wasting the monkey's time. Dash thought for a moment, before turning back to the vulpine. "Say, did you have other plans later today?"

"No. Why?"

"Well, why don't you come with me? Maybe going there will help take your mind off of what happened to you earlier?"

Fox thought about it for a few seconds before nodding his head. "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. Let's do it!"

Dash was excited by the affirmative answer, and he and Fox began to walk to the military base together. Dash was very happy about this, but he had to be careful to maintain his excitement and not to blush so hard during the trip.