For the longest time I've envisioned Fox McCloud as the dominant one when paired with Wolf O'Donnell, who winds submitting to him because he's the only one close to being worthy enough.
Wolf is "on" just about all the time, always having to watch his back and keep his team in line. Though he'd loathe to admit it, submitting to Fox is one of the very few ways he can turn "off" for a while, not even to have to think about overseeing others. He knows Fox is too much of a goody-goody to do anything truly harmful.
Fox, with his disappearing father and frustrations working with the more restrictive Cornerian Defence Forces, finds relief in assuming a "fatherly" role in the relationship, one who doesn't accept disobedience, and Wolf, being something of a bratty sub in need of taming and disciplining, is the only one he feels who can take it. Not that he does anything overly severe or concerning, just more severe in comparison to his everyday public self.
🐦🔗The bottom half of this is kinda how I imagine it.
I hope this all makes some kind of sense. I'm kinda sleep derped and throwing this out in a sort of stream of consciousness.