Falco was tinkering with his Arwing when he heard a voice above him.

“Hey.”

He peeked over to catch Zorra.  The sight of her had him straightening up.

“Hey yourself.”

“You don’t happen to have a cigarette, do you?” she asked.

“Nah, sorry,” said Falco with a shake of his head.  “Fox doesn’t want anyone smoking up the Great Fox.  Still got loans on it or something.”

The raccoon made a face.

“Not even in the hangar?”

“What?  Are you kidding?” he said, half-laughing.  “Especially not in the hangar, with all these jet fumes.  You wanna blow us out of the sky?”

Zorra huffed and scrubbed her face.  Falco didn’t envy her.  He knew these past couple of days had to have been pissing her off.  She wasn’t used to being cooped up around others and was one to come and go as she pleased.  Following a deep inhale, she lifted her head.

“And you don’t have a vape either?”

She sounded so pathetic; the bird couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny, birdbrain?” she asked.

“If you need something to suck on that badly, I might can help.”

He knew she was in no mood for his shit, but he couldn’t pass it up. The stare she gave could have killed him in an instant.  He swore she was about to knock the beak right off his face.

“Go pluck yourself, Lombardi.”

Falco snorted at her outburst.  She went to storm off, but he called out to her.

“Peppy might have some hard candy if you’re a good girl and ask nicely.”

Crossing her arms, she turned back to him.  “Can you not tell I’m really not in the mood for your bull?  I haven’t had a smoke in days and you’re on my last damn nerve.”

“Geez, I was serious that time,” he said.  “If he still has any, the old man’s candy came in real handy when I was trying to quit.”

Zorra’s anger faded, leaving her visually conflicted.  She and Peppy hadn’t exactly seen eye-to-eye since this whole thing started.  The hare didn’t have a bit of hesitation voicing his disapproval of her affiliation with Star Wolf, and she didn’t feel like she needed to explain herself to anyone.  Yet desperate times called for desperate measures, and the raccoon was desperate for something to distract her from the smoke she was craving.

“If you don’t wanna talk to him, I might can-…”

“No.”  She cut him off, rubbing the bridge between her eyes.  “Don’t worry about it.  I’ll only look like a bigger bitch if I’m bumming candy off him without having the decency to ask myself.”

Falco nodded, causing her to sigh and nod too.

“Well, wish me luck,” she said, shoving her hands into her pocket.  “Thanks, babygirl.”

With a shake of his head, Falco’s attention turned back to the Arwing.

✩

When Falco saw her again later that afternoon, Zorra was relaxing on the couch watching some show.  She no longer seemed to be on edge.  He saw a stick hanging out of her mouth and figured she had to have made a successful appeal to Peppy.

“You seem to be in a better mood,” Falco said.  “Whatcha got there?”

Zorra pulled the lollipop out of her mouth.  “Wanna lick?”

“Of…?”

“Very funny,” she said and stuck it back in her mouth.  She pulled a handful out of the pocket of her jacket.  “I think these should last me a few days…  At least until we get to Eladard.”

“Didn’t give you a hard time, did he?”

“Nah.”  She shook her head.  “He seemed happy to share, actually.  Gave him a chance to start going off about his family, I guess.”

“Yeah, sorry.  Should’ve warned you about that,” said Falco.

Zorra shrugged.  “It wasn’t a big deal.  Just blew my mind he has so many kids.”

“What can I say?” the bird said with a cocky shrug.  “Star Fox has game.”

“Oh, my fucking stars.”  Her face dropped to her palm, but it was clear from the shake of her shoulders that she was laughing.  “Dude, shut up!”

Falco chuckled before seating himself at her side.  She inched closer and he threw his arm over her shoulder.  He tried to pay attention to what was playing on the screen ahead, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see her playing with that damn lollipop.  It was distracting, honestly.  He cursed himself for finding the sight so intriguing.

“What?” she said after a few minutes.

“Huh?”  He turned his head in her direction.  “What?”

The candy was pulled out of her mouth again with a pop that almost made Falco shudder.

“What the hell are you gawking at?” Zorra asked, raising a brow.

“Nothing!  Geez, I wasn’t even looking at you.”

His huffy response came out too quick.  It sounded defensive.  She stared at him for a moment, trying to read his expression.  A grin soon spread across her face.

“Oh,” she said.  “I get it.”

“Get what?”

She held the lollipop in front of her mouth and stuck out her tongue.  The candy was slowly dragged down it before she slipped it back between her lips.  She gave it a good suck, hollowing her cheeks around it.  His eyes widened at the display.  His beak dropped open, but not a word came out. 

“Enjoying the show, babygirl?”

“What?” he squawked, coming back to his senses.  She had no shame.  The fact that any of his crew mates could step in at any time and see her being so obscene did not bother her in the slightest.  He averted his eyes back to the screen ahead.  “Pfft.  No.”

“Uh-huh.”

Despite the fact that he was trying not to let her teasing get to him, the way his feathers puffed ratted him out.  He felt Zorra snuggling up closer and couldn’t help but groan.

“I think someone’s jealous,” she teased in a sing-song voice.

Falco scoffed.  “Of what?”

She merely laughed at how worked up he was getting.

“You’re so cute when you’re jealous, babygirl.”

“I’m not jealous!”

“Mhm.”