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It was a small, fenced off venue—the house was quite underwhelming on the acre plot of land, which had now become scattered with various different flight vehicles. The wind was characteristically dry but gentle, the sky a near perfect hue of blue with no cloud in sight. Fox was running around frantically, setting up the outdoor tables as guests worked their way inside the quaint private venue. At the very least, there would be no media to bother them for the next few hours.
Fox heard soft footsteps on the grass behind him. “You ought to relax, dude,” said a voice—it was Bill. Fox turned around and responded with a warm smile; he found it very endearing how Bill still called him “bro” and “dude,” as if they were still the platonic friends they were in their Academy days.
“We still need to set up,” Fox replied, putting down neatly wrapped cutlery next to the plates he had placed down. He brushed the left shoulder of his tuxedo, then instinctively adjusted his lapel.
Bill sighed, then moved across from Fox, looking at his face from the other side of the table. He leaned on his arms, putting down both paws on the red tablecloth. “We didn't have to do this, you know,” he said quietly.
“Isn't it fun?” Fox asked, giving a cheeky grin. Bill chuckled in response.
“It's performative.”
Fox scoffed. “That's the point. Now help me set up. We don't have many guests anyways,” He pointed towards the cart of plates and cutlery a few tables away from them. At that moment, the first guest exited the home and wandered into the outdoors. Fox and Bill simultaneously looked towards the glass door.
“Hey Fox—Bill,” waved Peppy, nodding as he acknowledged their names respectively. He was dressed very sharply, his suit fitting him perfectly, his years of experience with formal events evident. Fox looked at his cuffs, which were slightly too long. I really should have listened to Bill and gotten this tailored, he thought in silent despair.
Bill was the first to wave. “Hey Peppy.”
“You need help here?” Peppy was already walking towards the cart.
“No, we should be—” Fox began, but Peppy interrupted.
“Oh Fox, I may be an old man but—” he grunted as he picked up a giant stack of ceramic plates “—I still have it in me to do physical labor.” He hesitated a moment. “Say, why do you have this many plates?”
Bill exhaled. “Fox was worried we wouldn't have enough,” he shrugged.
“So you buy a hundred for less than a dozen of us? You never change, Fox,” Peppy shook his head with a smile, clicking his tongue.
Fox sheepishly smiled back. “Thanks…” he said, his voice trailing. Just then, a second guest walked through the door. It was Falco.
“Foxy! Bill!” He was in a black tuxedo, with a standard red tie, his left breast pocket displaying a prominent, bright orange pocket square. Complements his beak, Fox thought. “Big day today.”
“Yep,” Fox nodded.
“Is it everything you've dreamed of?” Falco asked, crossing his arms.
“We'll see,” Fox responded. After a brief hesitation, he followed up, “Uh—what exactly did you write in that script?”
“Like you said, we'll see,” Falco responded with a smirk. Then, he began to walk back towards the house. Bill looked at Fox.
“You think it'll be stupid?” Bill asked.
“It's Falco. He's designed to embarrass us,” Fox responded, garnering a laugh from Bill. They worked their way through the tables, placing down the cutlery fairly quickly for there were only ten tables. Their last table was near the door to the house. After finishing setting it up, Fox turned around to face the home, approaching the beige wall nearest to the glass door and leaning against it, turning to face the venue. It was a very cozy space, with each table having a uniquely colored tablecloth. A white carpet divided the tables into two sets of five. He witnessed Peppy finishing placing the last plate on the table closest to the stage.
Bill approached Fox from his left. “I'll be back, alright?” he said, to which Fox nodded. Bill slid open the glass door, where he briefly heard loud laughter from Slippy and Fay, before it was closed again. Peppy glanced at Fox and began to approach him—but not before first setting down his large stack of plates on the cart.
“Geez Fox, you did not need this many plates—or tables! Ten tables is simply outrageous,” Peppy chuckled. Fox briefly smiled, before looking away from him towards the venue. Peppy frowned.
“Something on your mind, Fox?” Peppy asked.
“Uh—well yeah?” Fox responded. Peppy sighed.
“I meant outside of planning this stuff,” he said.
Fox looked to his right, avoiding Peppy’s gaze, then swallowed. “You knew my dad well, right?” he asked softly as his ears slightly flattened.
“Yeah, what's up?” Peppy cocked his head and placed his right paw on Fox's left shoulder, causing him to tense up for a moment.
“Um—” Fox shifted around, then looked around as if searching for privacy, “—do you think he would—uh—be okay with this?”
Peppy scrunched his face in confusion. “With a wedding at his house? I don't see why not—”
“No, no, uh—I meant—um—” Fox stammered while fidgeting around, his chest growing tighter. Peppy stared at Fox, hearing him struggle to communicate his thoughts, until Peppy suddenly realized what he was really asking.
“Oh—shoot. Kid,” Peppy began, “I…I knew you’d eventually ask this. Uh—”
Fox remained quiet, looking at Peppy's changing face showing signs of thoughts forming.
“I never got to know James enough to know the answer to that. It just never came up in conversation. But he loved you very, very much,” Peppy said, giving Fox a warm smile. “He always talked during our missions about how great you were, how you were always so good at the Academy, how you were the greatest pilot below him on the simulators, and all that fun stuff. I don't think that he would have let something like this affect his relationship with you.”
Fox felt a lump in his throat as his ears flattened and his eyes glistened. He sniffed, and slowly nodded. “I see.”
“Kid, don't worry about it,” Peppy said, patting Fox on the shoulder. “He'd be proud of you.”
Fox shrugged. “Thanks—” Suddenly, the glass door opened. Falco poked through to witness the scene.
“Aww, is the mentor and the mentee having a tender moment?” Falco cooed. Peppy gave him a sharp, threatening glare, to which Falco cleared his throat. “Ahem—Fox, you have some guests very eager to talk to you.” Fox watched him disappear into the home again, then looked back at Peppy, who released his grasp on Fox.
“You okay?”
Fox nodded, wiping away tears, then smiled. “I should go inside.”
“Yeah, ‘course.” Peppy gave Fox one last smile. Fox took in a deep breath before making his way back inside, where there was a bustle of voices in the air.
“Fox!” exclaimed Slippy, who made a beeline towards the now-conspicuous Fox.
“There you are! Miyu is looking for you,” said Fay.
“What for?” asked Fox.
“She just wants to say hi, it’s been a while.” Just then, a familiar tan-colored lynx made herself present. Slippy halted his approach.
“Hey Fox, I think I already drove Falco insane with my yapping,” Miyu started, “Mind if I drive you insane too?”
“Falco already does that well, thankyouverymuch,” Fox responded, smirking. Falco was sitting on a couch a few feet away listening in and flipped them off.
Fox pointed to him with his thumb. “Damn, and I got this guy to officiate my wedding.”
“Big mistake. Should have been me,” Miyu responded. Fox rolled his eyes. Unlike Fay, who was in a flamboyantly pink dress, Miyu was wearing a tuxedo with a red tie. “Anywho, how’s it been?”
“Busy, you know,” Fox shrugged. A toilet flushed in the distance.
“I question your decisions sometimes, Fox,” Miyu shook her head playfully, crossing her arms. “I mean, you chose Falco as your officiant? After choosing Bill as your partner for life?”
“Hey—what’s wrong with—” Fox started, before Miyu closed his muzzle with her paws. Falco laughed at the display, catching the attention of the rest of the attendees. There was a sound of footsteps.
“What’s…going on?” Bill said, having just come from the restroom, hastily adjusting his lapel. Miyu released her hold on Fox, who was now extremely warm.
“We were just talking—well, I was talking. He wasn’t,” Miyu responded in a matter-of-fact fashion.
Bill blinked a few times. “Alright…should we all make our way outside?” Bill asked loudly, looking at the now-full living room. A majority nodded silently, prompting Bill to direct them towards the glass door. As everyone made their way outside, Bill approached Fox. “What was that about?”
“Miyu being herself,” Fox muttered before stopping dead in their tracks. “Hey, look at me.”
Bill did as he was told, turning towards Fox, then stopped. Fox gently caressed Bill’s head and adjusted his suit. “You had some loose hairs.”
“Thanks, dude,” Bill said, smiling. Fox returned the smile. They looked at each other for a long moment, their green eyes twinkling at each other. Fox was the first to approach a smidge closer, then Bill—
“You lovebirds! You’ll get your chance when I tell you to, now come on!” Falco yelled. Fox stepped back from Bill and scoffed as both of them laughed.
“His script is going to be a mess, isn’t it?” Bill asked.
“Yep,” Fox shook his head.
•—•—•—•—•—•
Fox and Bill approached the makeshift stage, holding each other paw-in-paw, as they walked down the white carpet while the small but lively audience clapped. Fox looked towards the audience: the Star Fox team was at their own table, with Falco’s and Slippy’s friends taking up the tables closest to them. Miyu and Fay were both at the same table—Fay throwing roses towards them. Yeah, far too many tables, Fox thought.
Once they were underneath the arch in the center of the stage, they stopped. The arch was of mahogany wood, covered in vines and an array of vibrant flowers. It was Falco’s turn to walk up, who pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket square. He approached the wooden lectern, and tapped the mic.
“So,” Falco began, opening his paper loudly—the ruffling echoing to the house wall and back. Falco hesitated, then said, “Actually, I won’t be needing this.” Falco ripped the paper, causing Fox and Bill to look at him in surprise. Peppy buried his face with his paws in the distance.
Falco smirked at Fox, then cleared his throat. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of two people whom we all recognize to be great leaders. Both, I have the privilege of knowing closely.” Fox’s expression softened—this was not what he was expecting to come out of Falco’s mouth.
“My knowledge goes so far that, when I suggest that these two are perfect for each other, then you better know that they are perfect for each other. For who would be crazy enough, but Fox, to arrange to have me—” Falco thumped his chest “—as their officiant?” There were some chuckles in the audience as Bill smiled at Fox, who looked annoyed.
“Who would be crazy enough but Bill to suggest that they have their marriage in Papetoon, which is basically just a glorified desert?” Fox was now the one smiling at Bill—whose expression had dropped—as there were more chuckles in the audience.
“Ladies and gentlemen, believe me when I say that these two are crazy enough for each other. I know the majority of us skew young here, so excuse my français, but these two were crazy for each other at the Academy, even if they didn’t quite know it yet. At least if the tales are correct,” Falco looked towards Miyu, who was crackling in laughter. Fox closed his eyes and sighed as Bill laughed with Miyu. Peppy was smiling in amusement.
“The story we have here is—is that—what the—” The sound of flight vehicles flying low to the ground suddenly filled the air. Everyone looked up to the sky, where a group of familiar vehicles began to approach for landing.
“Are those Wolfens?” Bill asked, his shoulders tensing up. A wave of sharp concern filled the room as the vehicles landed.
“How the hell did they find us here?” Peppy yelled. “We aren’t even armed, damn it!”
Fox began to run his way through the small crowd into the house. “Fox, what are you doing?” Slippy cried out, but to no avail. Fox rushed his way through the living room—through the kitchen—through the front room, then opened the wooden front door, where he was greeted to the sight of the Star Wolf crew already awaiting them, save for Oikonny.
“Long time no see,” Wolf said, smirking while waving to Fox. He was dressed in a dark tuxedo with a purple tie and a white tie clip, and his pocket square was the same shade of purple. He still carried his trademark eyepatch. Fox became very tense as the breeze gently stirred his cream-colored fur.
“W-what do you want?” Fox spat out unevenly. His eyes were locked to Wolf’s.
“Relax, kid, I’m not here to bite,” Wolf said. Peppy was the second to come out the door.
“We’re not armed, you know,” Peppy said through gritted teeth. “If you had any sense of honor you would leave us alone.” He angrily pointed at Wolf, who only smirked in return.
Wolf lifted up his jacket and motioned for his crew to do the same. “We have no weapons.” It was true: they had no holsters in sight.
“Then why are you here?” Fox asked.
“To see my favorite rival have his big wedding,” Wolf gave Fox a wide, cocky smile.
Fox tilted his head in confusion. “What?”
“You ain’t deaf now, are ya?” Wolf snarked.
“No—how did you know about—”
“You told everyone through an unencrypted SMS. Weird thing too, given that it’s the only unencrypted message you’ve ever sent,” Wolf replied. Fox stood in silence for a moment before facepalming. “Shit…okay.”
“So are we invited or not?”
Fox looked at Wolf, who was still grinning. “Why would you want to be here?” Fox asked.
“Why wouldn’t I? You know, I had a lot of respect for yer father,” Wolf replied. Fox’s tail flicked as his ears stiffened and his fists clenched. Wolf sighed.
“I’m not here to taunt you in front of his home, kid,” Wolf began, “I’m serious. We were rivals, but I had nothin’ to do with his death. He was as great of a challenge as you, and I feel I owe it to him to honor his son.”
Fox’s expression softened as Peppy placed a paw on his shoulder while glaring at Wolf. Fox swallowed. “Uh—so you’re just here to watch the wedding?”
“Yep.”
“Nothing else?”
“Nope. We want nothin’ to do with this planet after this,” Wolf shook his head.
Panther cleared his throat. “Panther, too, would like to add that he would like to vacate as soon as possible.”
“Me too,” added Leon, his tone of voice implying he was coerced to be present.
Fox looked at Peppy, then behind him towards Falco and Slippy, who had been silently listening. Their faces gave Fox no answers as to what to do. Bill pushed his way through the crowd and stood beside Fox and smiled.
Fox looked back towards Wolf. “Um—yeah sure then,” he said, nearly muttering, before adding “Where is Andrew?”
“Told him to beat it for this occasion. Didn’t need you to dredge up memories,” Wolf responded. Fox’s throat tightened.
“Right—yeah come on in.” He muttered quickly before turning around, prompting everyone else to come back inside. A long, deep exhale escaped him, which Bill had heard.
He grabbed Fox’s arm. “Are you okay with this?”
“Yeah, they can’t do shit to us,” Fox whispered, his voice unsteady. He was fidgety. Bill caressed Fox’s arm, then scratched behind his right ear, causing his breath to become shaky. “Oh God—not in public, Bill…”
Bill stopped his motions and smirked. “Did it help at least?”
“...a little bit.” Fox said reluctantly, smiling. A few moments later, they were greeted by the outdoor venue again. Just behind them came Leon, Panther, then Wolf in sequence. Being the last to come through, Wolf leaned in towards Fox and whispered, “We’re just going to pretend we didn’t see that,” causing Fox to become warm with embarrassment. Star Wolf then took their seat at an unoccupied table.
Fox sighed, taking Bill’s paw. They both walked down the white carpet for the second time, as they encountered a second grand round of applause. Falco was already waiting for them at the lectern. The breeze had gotten stronger, the flowers and vines in the arch whipping in the wind. A sudden wind gust had scattered away Fay’s remaining roses, and Bill’s fur became unkempt as his ears flopped in the wind. Fox thought it was cute.
They were below the arch again, to which Falco tapped the mic and cleared his throat. “So—where were we—ah yes. For our new, unexpected guests, you missed out on learning just how crazy these two are for each other. I don’t want to recount all of that, so why not go into how these two are walking contradictions? I mean, did you know that Fox hates the everliving sh—crap out of asparagus? Meanwhile, Bill here could eat it up for days.” There were chuckles from the audience as Fox and Bill remained silent.
“And while Bill is a savant at swimming, Fox can hardly float in the water. I reckon he’d drown in three feet of water.” There were some hearty laughs from the audience. Fox and Bill joined in.
“All of this to say that these two are quite literally perfect for each other. Where one lacks in capability, the other fills it in. And when both meet in their capability, both complement one another. It’s like—like a puzzle being solved perfectly. Like—like a—you know I’m just making this speech up as I go—” Fox and Bill looked towards Falco in amused shock, before turning back to each other “—so I would like to finish it up by asking the pair a couple of vows.”
Falco turned to face Bill, pointing at him. “You, Bill. Do you promise to take care of Foxy here?”
Bill glanced at Falco for a moment, before hastily looking back at Fox. “Uh—yes, I do.”
“And to you, Fox, do you promise to care of Bill?” Falco looked at Fox.
“I do.”
“Bill, will you support Fox through both good and bad times?”
“Yes.”
“And Fox?”
“Yes.” Fox and Bill were tightly holding each other’s paws in theirs. Bill’s eyes had become glossier.
“And Bill, will you forever learn to live with Fox’s peculiarities—whether good or bad?”
Bill snickered. “Yes.”
“And Fox, will you forever learn to live with Bill’s peculiarities—whether good or bad?”
“...yes,” he muttered after a hesitation, garnering laughs from the audience. Fox thought he heard a hearty bark of laughter from Wolf in the background.
“Finally, Bill, do you wish to marry Fox?”
“I do,” Bill said, sniffling.
“Fox, do you wish to marry Bill?”
Fox looked deeply into Bill’s eyes before muttering the words: “I do.” They came softly, his voice shaking. He looked tenderly at Bill, whose eyes had filled with tears.
“Then the bride and groom shall kiss,” Falco said, then he shook his head and corrected, “Er—groom and…groom?” Miyu laughed as Fox and Bill chuckled.
Fox and Bill looked at each other for one last moment before they both glanced at the audience. In the back was Wolf and his crew, smiling in approval. They looked back towards each other and smiled, their hearts pounding—they were each brought back to the first kiss they had after Bill graduated from the Academy. It occurred in a secluded restaurant alleyway somewhere in Corneria City, awkwardly booping their noses on their first attempt before succeeding on the second. Bill was happy to be in the moment, but Fox was terrified of being caught. It was a feeling that had stuck with him for a long time, how a parasite might cling to one's digestive system, sucking its host dry of nutrients.
But now, they could live free and express themselves without worry, surrounded by their loved ones who wholeheartedly accepted them. Fox strongly hoped that his father would have accepted them, too.
Each male took in the other’s respective scent as their muzzles approached each other: Fox smelled strongly of oranges while Bill leaned towards a sweet cinnamon. They both leaned in to plant a kiss on each other’s mouths before both of them quickly pulled back. Bill was the first to embrace Fox, who responded by gently placing a paw on Bill’s muzzle and leaning in for a second kiss as the venue erupted in applause and cheers. Breaking their kiss, they took both of their paws in theirs and glanced towards the still-clapping audience. Peppy was beaming, and Wolf seemed uncharacteristically joyful.
It may not have gone to plan, but that didn’t matter—both Fox and Bill would remember this day for a long time.