World Tree MUSH

     Krystal wanted Fox to see this alternate universe for himself, but figured Corneria was as good a place to meet as any, it was relatively safe, and she presumed it was one of the planets Fox would be more familiar with. She sent him the coordinates of the vines that would need to be taken to get to Corneria City, and asked him to meet her at The Wooden Ladle. It was the same restaurant where she had met Wolf and his crew for the first time, but it she liked the atmosphere and the food was even better. Clearly, whoever booked the location among Wolf's crew had good taste. 

     Tonight she had reserved a table for the both of them, near the stage where tonight a violin quartet were playing. Krystal arrives wearing a royal blue open back sundress and matching healed sandals, and is lead to the table by the host. She takes a seat and begins looking at the menu.

It didn't take Fox long to find the place. This Corneria was very similar to his own. Little differences, but similar enough that he could navigate around.

Finding Krystal at the table of the resturant, he pulls a seat up, pulls it around and then sits down, "Nice place. Don't think I've ever eaten here before though. How'd you find it?" He asks her, before reaching for a menu.

     Krystal smiles as Fox arrives and joins her at the table. She nods at his assessment of it being nice, and chuckles a little as he asks how she found it. "Honestly, I was just in the area after doing a bit of shopping some time ago, and kinda stumbled onto it, looked like a nice place, so I went in to check it out. Seems the entertainment rotates regularly, it was jazz when I was here last. Anyway, I invited here not just because I thought you should see this place, that is so much like home, but unfortunately, not actually home, but also for another reason. You'll never guess who I ran into in my travels around here since I happened upon this alternate universe..."

"I don't suppose it was one of my old crew?" He asks, as he browses through the menu a bit, "No. If that was the case you'd have told me sooner." He says, as he hmms a little bit, rubbing his muzzle with a paw, "Was it another version of yourself? That'd be weird.." He muses, as he flips the page, "Not sure what's good here. I assume everything.."

     Krystal shook her head at Fox's guesses, but at his comment of her telling him sooner, she would stifles a laugh. "Well, it's not for lack of trying. As for food, I've already decided to order the steak fillet with the spicy potato, but I was told the ranch mac and cheese casserole was good, and had it last time I was here, and it was good. As for who I ran into, it was Wolf, and his crew. Actually ran into Panther first, and he greeted me by name, so I was left wondering who he was and how he knew me."

Fox's expression drops a bit after she mentions who she ran into, "Wolf is here? On Corneria? And nobody was arresting him?" He sets the menu down so he can look across at Krystal, "And his crew is here too? One of his crew betrayed my father and got him killed."

Fox does not look happy about this revelation, "Do you know where he is now?" He asks her, seeming to have had his mood change almost instantly at the mention of Wolf.

     Krystal frowns and shakes her head, wondering a moment if she should have waited till they had eaten to break the news, as this may well ruin her chance to have a nice dinner here with Fox, but then, she supposes if she had waited he'd be mad she didn't tell him sooner. "I'm afraid I have no idea where he is now. He may not be the same Wolf from our universe, but still, he did seem to have a... less than great relationship with the Fox from this universe, so I thought you should know..." She offers, not sure what else to say exactly. It was clear that the feelings were mutual, even across universes.

The vulpine takes a deep breath, and then rubs his face with his hands, "I appreciate you telling me." He says, as he tries to calm himself down, "I'm not mad at you for telling me. In fact i actually appreciate you telling me so I know to watch my back."

     Krystal nods and smiles at Fox. "Of course, I wouldn't want to see you get hurt." She says before her attention is drawn away as a server finally appears at their table. "Hello, my name is Ayanna, I'm sorry for the wait, there was a bit of a mixup with your table. May I offer you anything to drink and also take your order if you are ready?" The young female feline offers brightly, looking between the two foxes. Krystal nods to the server. "I'll have a glass of red wine, and the fillet with spicy baked potato."

"I'll have a sirloin." Fox replies, "And a double shot of whiskey on the rocks." Fox tells the waitress, "And don't worry about the delay, it's fine." He turns back to Krystal, "So have you been exploring the various worlds we have access to now?"

     The server jots down their orders and smiles. "Alright, thank you for your patience. I'll go put this in and have your drinks out in a moment." With that the feline walks off and disappears around a corner. Krystal nods at Fox's question. "Yes, it's quite an exciting place I must say, with so many places to visit, and lots of different people and interesting things to see..." She trails off and is quiet for a moment, seems something is nagging at her, but for the moment she just quietly forces a smile at Fox. "So what's your favorite place so far?"

"I honestly haven't done that much exploring yet.." He muses, as he looks over at Krystal, "I need to follow along with you and check out some of the places you've seen." He smiles towards her, "I really should get out more, I know.."

     Krystal smiles and nods as Fox talks about exploring with her. "Sure, I'd like that." She comments, then falls quiet again, not sure if she should ask Fox what she wants to ask him, knowing it might make him angry with her. Ultimately she can't keep it held inside her anymore. 

     "Fox, I need to tell you that I more than just saw Wolf, I talked with him for a while. Now I'm not saying I trust everything he told me, and I of course know this is not the same universe we came from, and there can be differences big and small, but of all the things he told me, the worst of it I was able to corroborate through looking at records on the Cornerian Extranet and talking to some other people here on Corneria. The Fox in this universe charged the Cornerian Government some pretty steep fees in the wake of the Lylat Wars, despite the fact that the the whole system was already economically wrecked due to the wars themselves, and they needed all the help they could get to recover and provide relief for the refugees affected by the war." She pauses a moment, seeming to choke on her thoughts. "So tell me Fox, how different are you from the Fox that is of this universe?"

"How am I different?" He asks, as he leans against the table a bit, "I'd never charge them so much it would hurt innocent people. My team exists to help those in need...But helping people in need isn't cheap, I'm not going to lie. So while we do charge for our services..We're not going to up and demand payment."

He sighs and rubs his muzzle a bit, "I'm not going to act like I do everything for altruistic reasons. I don't, I am still a mercenary. But I like to think the contracts I pick speak for themselves...Plus I don't work for Andross so that puts me a step above Wolf right there."

     Krystal listens carefully to Fox's response, almost not even noticing when the server comes out with her wine and Fox's double shot of whiskey. He certainly sounded genuine, and she definitely understood that the sorts of things Fox's team does aren't cheap, but he said his team wouldn't outright demand to be payed by someone who was not in a position to pay, and she believed him. 

     Of course, she had also done some further digging while she was on the extranet, and when Fox mentioned Wolf working for Andross, she nodded. "Alright, I believe you. I'm sorry if that came off like I was accusing you of being the kind of person who would save someone who lost their home, and then demand they pay with the shirt off their back, figuratively speaking, but this has been burning a hole in me for a while, I had to ask."

"I understand. You don't know me, and if this world's Fox is that ruthless, well...I wouldn't want to invite him to join my team." He says, with a slight grin, "Besides that would end up being confusing after a while I think...But that gives me an idea." He picks up his glass, "This world's Wolf doesn't know I'm not the same as this world's Fox. Maybe I can use that to my advantage somehow."

     Krystal nods to Fox as she takes her glass of wine and sips from it. "Yeah, if you were that ruthless, I certainly wouldn't want to be working with you either. The work I've done in the past was not always paid for by some government, and sometimes I got nothing out of it beyond the gratification that the I had stopped two groups of people from destroying each other, and that was reward enough." Soon their food is delivered as Krystal ponders Fox's idea of using his alternate universe status to his advantage. "Hmm, not sure what advantage that would give you, but then, you know him, or at least, your world's version of him, better than I do." She says as she cuts into her steak and takes a bite.

"Unfortunately a sense of satisfaction doesn't put food on the table or repair Arwings." Fox replies to her, as he digs into his meal. He eats fast, military training will do that to you. Especially when the food is as good as it is here. He admits he's happya bout where she picked for their dinner.

     Krystal nods to Fox's statement about finances. "Oh I do understand that, and I'm sure it's a lot tougher to take on a job and not get paid when you have a whole group working for you, and a fleet of expensive Arwings to maintain. I'm just saying that sometimes I did things because it was the right thing to do, not because it had a paycheck attached. She watched as Fox ate, while she did so at a decidedly slower pace, savoring her food. Apart from her last visit here, she hadn't had the chance to eat such great food in a fair while. After a few bites, she lifts her glass of wine, taking a few sips.

It doesn't take Fox long to finish up his meal, but when he does, he leans back in the chair for a moment, "Tell you what...Next time you run into Wolf, give me a call...I promise I'll be civil." He says, holding up his right hand to swear that he means it. He gets up from his chair, and pulls out some money he's made, putting it down on the table, "That should cover the meal.." He says, with a slight grin, "You can get the next one."