This was starting to get messy.  There were so many Aparoids swarming the sky that Falco could barely see a few feet in front of him.  Star Fox was trying their best to play exterminator, but they needed to do so without knocking each other out of the sky in the process.  Krystal already had to retreat to the docking bay; they couldn’t afford another accident.

“Geez!  Watch it!” Falco warned, narrowly avoiding a collision with Slippy.

“Hey, I’m trying!” Slipped replied in defense.  “There’s just so many of them!  The radars are practically useless!”

There was no arguing with that.  It felt like they had wound up in a hive of the damn things.  The air was so thick with pests that their Arwings were taking a beating. 

“Just hold it together a little longer, guys,” said Fox.  “Believe it or not, they’re starting to thin out.”

Falco was leaning heavy into the “or not.”  From where he sat, they hadn’t even made a dent in the horde.  Their constant buzzing was so loud, he could hardly hear himself think.  It was like something straight out of a horror flick.  If he were a lesser bird, he might get claustrophobic.  He did a barrel roll in an attempt to deflect some of the Aparoids that had gotten a little too close for comfort.  His Arwing shook before he heard beeping, followed by a robotic voice informing him of wing damage.

“Shoot!” Falco exclaimed, wondering how the hell he’d even manage to make it back to the Great Fox for repairs if he took another hit.  “This isn’t lookin’ good, Fox.”

The next voice that came through his comm was not the one he expected to hear.

“Need some help, babygirl?”

Falco sputtered, unable to believe what he was hearing. 

“Zorra!?  That you?"

He looked around for her Wolfen, but there were Aparoids as far as the eye could see.

“Miss me, Lombardi?” he heard her ask.  “Got yourself in a mess, huh?”

“Yeah, so maybe we got a bit of a bug problem,” the bird responded.  He didn’t know if he was relieved or annoyed by her timing.  “You’d be smart not to get in the middle of it.”

“Yeah, yeah.  You know I don’t do bugs,” said Zorra.  “I’m keeping my distance.  Hold still and I’ll knock ‘em off you.”

“Great!  We appreciate any help we can get, Zorra,” Fox added.

“Don’t have to tell me twice.  Ready or not, I’m lightin’ ‘em up!”

Falco stalled his Arwing, not wanting to move too much if Zorra was aiming in his direction.  The sea of Aparoids was dispersed by a few streaks of crimson.

“Well, that certainly got their attention.  They’re headed my way.  Do a U-turn and haul ass,” Zorra’s voice instructed.  “Once you’re out, I’ll boost away from them and drop a nova or two.”

Falco didn’t think twice.  He navigated his Arwing upwards and out, trailing behind Fox and Slippy who had decided to do the same.  True to her word, Zorra lured the Aparoids in the opposite direction.  Right as they closed in on her Wolfen, she pulled a U-turn of her own, dropping a few smart bombs into the swarm before zooming away.  The explosion that followed decimated the entire group of Aparoids, with shockwaves strong enough to cause slight turbulence even from Star Fox’s safe distance.

“Woo-hoo!” Slippy exclaimed when the smoke cleared.  “You did it!  Thanks, Zorra!”

“Yeah.  We owe ya one, Zorra,” Fox said.

“I’ll put it on your tab, but someone’s got some explaining to do,” Zorra responded.  “What the hell were those things and why are we crawling with them?”

“Some pests called Aparoids,” Falco said.

“Zorra, have you seen Pigma?” asked Fox.  “We’re still a little in the dark, but we’re thinking he has something to do with them.”

“Pigma?” she scoffed.  “I wish.  Last I heard, it was shoot to kill.  Big bounty for anyone who shows up with his head on a pretty silver platter.”

“Geez,” said Falco with a laugh.  “This guy made enemies out of everyone in the system?”

“Well, he’s certainly not making friends,” Fox muttered.  “Well, we can worry about him later.  Let’s get back and start on repairs.  Thanks again, Zorra.  Our offer still stands.”

The sound of Zorra’s laughter over the comm had Falco’s feathers ruffled.  It’d been too long since the last time he’d heard it.  He reached forward, pressing a few buttons on the console.  He sat back after requesting access to Zorra’s private channel.  Following a few beeps, Zorra’s voice came in loud and clear.  Her face appeared on the terminal.

“Ooh, private comm, huh?” she laughed, sitting up and leaning forward into the camera.  “Am I in trouble?”

Falco chuckled, shaking his head.  “Nah.  Just wanted to check in on ya.”

“Aww, miss me?”

He clicked his beak and rolled his eyes, only causing her self-satisfied smirk to grow.

“Oh, yeah, terribly,” he said, sarcastic tone doing nothing to conceal the truth behind his words.  “So, uh…  How about dockin’ with us?  Refuel, both you and your ship.  Rest a bit.  Maybe squeeze in a few repairs.  Least we can do after you saved our tails.”

“Clever way to trick me into helping you get the dents out of your wings,” she said, before shrugging.  “But sure.  Beats heading back to Sargasso.  I cannot stand being around Wolf during all this Pigma shit.”

“I don’t see how you can stand being around Wolf on a normal day,” Falco scoffed.

“What can I say?  I guess I have a way with assholes.”

“Pfft, no comment,” he said.  “I’ll let Fox know you're joinin' us.  See ya in the hanger.”

“Toodles.”

After the comm ended, Falco gave Fox the heads up and joined the others in flying back to their aircraft carrier, with Zorra tagging along behind them.  All of the Arwings soon landed in the docking bay, with her Wolfen squeezing in too.  The moment the raccoon jumped out of her ship; she walked right over to where Falco was already leaning against his Arwing.  She stopped in front of him with her arms folded.  The two stared at each other for a moment without saying a word, before Falco threw an arm over Zorra’s shoulder and walked her out.

Though the others in Star Fox knew the deal, the sight of Falco being so amiable to anyone caught the newest recruit off guard.

“Who was that, Fox?” Krystal whispered as the two left the docking bay.  “Falco seems to fancy her.”

Fox nodded.  “Yeah,” he said.  “That’s his, uh… girlfriend?  I think?  Zorra, the one that helped us out.”

“Oh!” Krystal gasped.  “Oh, my!  I never knew he had a girlfriend!”

“Yeah, most people don’t.  He likes to keep his business on the down-low,” Fox explained.  “Especially since she’s still with Star Wolf.”

“How clandestine…”  Krystal couldn’t contain her giggle, causing Fox to grin too.  It certainly did take some getting used to...

💫💫💫

Falco’s arm remained slung over Zorra’s shoulder as he guided her through the Great Fox to his bunk.  The walk had been astonishingly quiet considering that both were notorious loudmouths.  The silence was comfortable, but it was no surprise that it didn’t last.

“Cute new suit, babygirl,” Zorra commented when they turned a corner.  “You look good in red.  Those boots are a nice touch.”

Falco looked down at his new flight suit, then over at Zorra, who was wearing her usual red leather suit under her signature big bomber jacket.

“Lookie there… We match,” said Falco.

“Copycat,” she said.  “My color first.”

“Was not.”

Zorra playfully shoved Falco, only for him to grab her wrist to pull her back.  After all the excitement today, she was too exhausted to play hard to get.  She leaned into him.

“I missed you, you know,” she whispered.  “I feel like it’s been too long…  We’re kind of bad at this relationship stuff, huh?”

Falco wrapped his arms around her waist, causing her tail to curl around him.

“Yeah,” he said.  “But I think we both know we’re better for each other if we’re not up each other’s ass all the time.”

He leaned down, pressing the tip of his beak against her snout.  She pressed a soft kiss on it.  After a moment, Falco shook his head and loosened his grip.

“We should probably duck into my quarters before I never hear the end of this.”

“Good idea.”

Zorra pried herself off of him, but not before Falco could reach for her hand.  Even as she tried to hide her grin, her tail swished behind her, and continued to do so as they reached the end of the corridor and into Falco’s room.  The door shut with a hiss, sealing them off into their own little world.  Without letting go of his hand, Zorra sunk to the floor by his bed, guiding him down with her.  She crawled onto his lap afterwards, facing him and throwing her arms over his shoulders.  She buried her snout in his feathers and sighed.  He held her, his beak resting in the crook of her neck.

It was a tender moment, but there was no denying the effect they had on one another.  The scent of her fur, the warmth of her body, and her weight on his lap stirred something more than just affection inside of him.  He shifted under her, causing her to let out a half-laugh.

“Are we doing this?” she softly asked.

“Sorry,” he breathed in reply.  “Not like I meant to kill the mood.”

She shook her head without lifting it.  “Nuh-uh.  You didn’t kill shit… I’m just lazy.”

“Can we stay like this then?” he asked, to which she hummed in response.

One arm remained wrapped around Zorra’s waist under the warmth of her jacket, and the other trailed downward.  The tension between them mounted when she began to subtly move her hips, becoming as thick as the earlier Aparoid swarm.  His breathing hitched.  His arm tightened around her on instinct when she began to grind against him, and her soft curves squishing against him when he squeezed her turned him on that much more.  He shifted again, angling himself so that she’d be able to better stimulate herself on his swelling arousal.  Even through both thick layers of leather, the pressure and friction from her ministrations was driving him wild.

“Fuck,” she whispered, clinging to him now.  “Fuck, babygirl… How is this the hottest thing we’ve ever done?”

After not even a second of contemplation, Falco knew the exact reason why, but he wasn’t about to be the cornball that pointed it out.

“Mmm… You don’t want the answer,” he muttered against her instead.  “It’ll embarrass ya.”

The laugh that pulled out of her confirmed she had the same thing in mind.