Looking for love

Judy-
What was she doing?! Prowling the interweb for 'hormone hook-ups'. As a Hare, she didn't have the inconvenience of cyclic estrus, 'heat', or as some of the web sites put it 'happy hormone times'. Instead she was 'receptive' pretty much all the time, though some times she was more receptive than others, and for the longest time she had been taking suppressants to avoid any distractions.

However, with her very improved relationship with that very yummy Fox, suppressants were very much not necessary. On the other hand, not having him around meant that she was all too aware of her more receptive times.

As much as she loved Nick, and was certain that he loved her too, there was still some question as to their future together. Would they each yet want a family of their own? And with that, how exclusive was their relationship? She had made it clear that she didn't begrudge him if he dated, or went further, with some Vixen if he found that truly perfect someone.

For herself, she was so career oriented that the notion of a really active social life, especially with the underlying intent of marriage for a family just wasn't what she wanted. Besides she had her sweet Nicolas. So snarky and exasperating, so warm and cuddly, but, ultimately, so perversely perfect.

So why was she prowling these hook-up sites? First, they included non-cyclic parings, and two; she had to admit she still had some unanswered questions about Bunny Boys. And, finally, as she clicked her teeth in a rather particular kind of frustration, she was feeling a bit 'tense', and her usual cure was still weeks away on that damned extradition case.

But, oh boy, what would they think back in Bunny Burrow. In a community in which even pre-marital dating could get the stink-eye in some quarters, her conduct was already beyond the pale. Her parents had long ago resigned themselves to their unorthodox Daughter's career and police partner, even embraced some of her progressive ideals with their partnership with Gideon Grey. She suspected they also knew about her having a closer social relationship with Nick. But sexy times? They likely didn't want to think that any of their offspring actually had sex, and that grandkits were found under cabbage leaves.

She was relieved to find any number that seemed to offer a low-risk opportunity of a safe and sane meeting and she added a profile to a local club that promised a neutral meeting environment for potential contacts.

What to wear? She didn't have a wide wardrobe, only a few really nice outfits, and with a touch of regret about all this, rejected most for how much Nick liked to see her in them. She opted for a simple skirt and top. Then, steeling herself, she was off

Nick-
Where is the bar in this hotel? After a particularly wretched day in court, Nick could use a drink. He already had a rather cynical view of the judicial process back in Zootopia, as he had been on the receiving end of an often less than fully impartial system in his bad old days. But this foreign jurisdiction was a cruel farce.

True, the suspect was guilty as sin, and in that Nick had no sympathy for his plight. And he also had no love for the tortured lawyer's logic in the various legal arguments, though had a grudging recognition of the big con in a lot of it. But justice ought to be about more than just measuring out punishment. The defense had attempted to argue for mitigating circumstances and issues of context, and had been shut down by the panel of judges (they didn't do juried trials) who seemed all too cozy with the prosecution throughout the case. In that, Nick was torn, as the arguments were flimsy at best, but the basic unfairness of not even given the chance rankled. And don't get started on the pred/prey mix...

He sat at the bar and considered his drink. In the bad old days he found himself with a bottle on occasion, self-medication to blot out the often bleak days. But that kind of abuse was behind him, and he only intended to take the edge off his still stress-poofed tail. He slowly nursed the nasty thing, he'd deliberately ordered his least favorite drink in a tiny gesture of self-mortification, and was on the way to a little relief when his nostrils flared.

She was a Vixen, his colors, about his age, in a business suit. She sat some stools down the bar and her look back over at him was ever so the 'hello, what do you think' variety. Not a blatant come-on or coy flirtation, just an honest opening line. Nick paused, then gave her a 'well, maybe' and she in turn gave a 'come on over' head nod.

"A long way from home." She obsevered Nick's uniform. The local accent added a soft purr to her voice.

"Legal stuff." The case was one of many and had not drawn much media, but Nick was careful not to mention specifics. "I assume you're local?"

"Yeah, I come here once in a while to see..." She honestly blushed, then started over. "Hi. My name is Barbara. I'm a project developer for Solenodon and Shoot-Eater. More of a glorified editor, coaxing brilliance out of sad hacks."

"Sound fascinating." Nick was impressed, especially in a society that seemed more overtly pred biased than home.

She sighed,"Yeah, lucked-out with my English major from collage."

More and more impressed, so much so that Nick was beginning to feel just a tad outclassed, an unusual sensation as he normally had a snarky disregard for social status.

"And you, Officer Wilde?" reading off his nameplate. She had very nice eyes, his favorite gold.

Nick whipped out his slyest grin, "Oh, just some guy, ya know." He then tipped his head to a booth for a more private setting then the slightly precarious bar stools, built just a tad high for mammals of their size. And the ulterior motive of the bar being set with silent but very efficient ventilation fans to keep various aromas to a minimum. The booth offered a little private pocket of whatever...

After a bit of very pleasant small talk they got down to business, so to speak.

"So... You come here on occasion..."

Barbra blushed, "Once in a while. Not a lot of places for me to go, and the last thing I want to do is to run into clients or co-workers." Looking a bit embarrassed," So, a bar full of strangers that will never be back..."

Nick saw a touch of shame in that. "Its alright, mammals got itches that need to be scratched. But, yeah, anyone else is just looking for a little release, but WE must be some kind of depraved and immoral sex maniacs..." He slapped himself in reproach, "Sorry, I'm normally better about not letting them get to me. Even Zootopia isn't always the sterling beacon of egalitarian ideals, though it's getting better."

"As compared to my home." The Vixen's face clouded a bit. "At least don't let them see that they get to you."

"Funny you should say that." Nick reached over and held her paw, and with a wane smile, "I've got a suit six floors up with a huge bed, and I give great back rub, if nothing else." Even as he said that he thought about Judy and their unresolved social parameters. He wasn't exactly cheating on her, and he thought he'd be okay with her going out with some young buck for a little relief while he was away.

Barbara sighed, "I think I'd like that to start."

Judy-
Judy looked around the place. It was classy, open and mid-century modern, low light and quite slow music for the dance floor. A bit much for a country girl, but she was ready to try everything. She was given a little hand pad to check on possible hits on her posted profile as well as any approaches here.

She found she had a few looks but no winks or hits yet.

She settled into a comfy seat and had just settled when she got a wave from across the room and her pad pinged.

"Hi there!" A cheerful face of a perfectly average Buck appeared. "Saw you come in and peeked at your profile."

She typed for him to come on over. He didn't rush, but the cop side of her could tell he was a bit excited in his gait. He snagged the attention of a server en route and indicated that he would need attention when he arrived.

"Peter, Peter Pan. I swear, my parents must have hated me." He looked all right, her age by his profile, a young urban professional, structural engineer for an architecture firm. Honestly casual, high-end clothes, though more for quality than style, not over-groomed.

"Nichol, Nichol Savage. Says you're well up in your firm." with the unspoken 'for someone so young'.

"Yeah, no wonderkit, just the only one in a house full of artistes willing to grind the math to make sure their design obey the laws of physics." With a shrug. "Says you work for the city."

Judy was very much not going to mention that she was that Bunny Cop Hero of Zootopia. Such celebrity brought out too much trouble as far as she was concerned. So the pseudonym and faked profile. "Nothing special, just another anonymous cog in the machine."

She noticed his nostrils flair and eyes dilate just a tad and couldn't help but let out a tiny chuckle behind her paw, then continued. "This is my first time to this kind of thing, and it seems kind of a hot house of hormones."

"Thank goodness for the intense ventilation. I'm not a real regular, but they do have a really nice snack menu so I'm here as often as not just for a late night bite. But once the fans broke down and there was something between a gas attack, riot and orgy."

The pair attempted some awkward additional small talk but it looked like they both were getting cold feet. Finally, Judy made a decision. "This isn't getting us anywhere." The Buck's ear drooped dramatically. "We both came here for a reason, and you seem perfectly adequate," Seeing his further reaction, "Perfectly nice- guy. So, before we both chicken out entirely, let's go."

Peter instantly perked up; chuckled and sighed in relief, "Thank you ever so. Not just for saying yes, but cutting the tension." He reached across to a friendly touch, "While I have come her a few times for this, I've usually weenied out."

Judy shook her head, "Yeah- So, where can we go?"

"My apartment is just a couple blocks away."

Nick-
The promised back rub quickly segued into some fevered foreplay as Nick found Barbara's scent intoxicating. Given his recent experience with Judy, and perhaps in just a touch of guilt, he concentrated on giving this sweet Vixen all manner of attention with tongue and paw, rather than go too quickly to the coupling. She had the defined breasts of one who had been a Mother and she pressed his paw to one to make it clear they could use attention as well. She clearly appreciated all the care, with cheerful coos and moans.

As pleasured as she was with this silly Fox's attentions, Barbara still had a desire which needing filling. She made a move that got her legs wrapped around him and found his hips and hers in sync for penetration. Very nice, but she notice all too well his hesitation to take the next step and she added some motion of her own to give him a hint. He got the message and proved to be delightfully athletic to climax and she gave him a hard kiss for the favor of his knotted fullness in her.

As they both caught their breath and eased into the afterglow, She gave him an examining look. "So, who is she?"

Nick half-smiled and chuckled, "Are we that transparent?"

"Only those who are really in love, silly boy."

"Really in love." Nick considered that for a moment, then began to absently trace a delicate touch across her face and body. "Yeah, I guess so. And she is special, I suspect you noticed my - ah- different approach."

"A welcome change of pace." Most Todds got too excited, or too selfish, and often rushed to the finish line with little consideration to their partner. "She's lucky to find such a considerate mate."

Nick's tracing paw paused at her breast, and a slight sad sigh escaped him. Barbara cocked her head quizzically.

"First, let me say that these are a delightful aspect to your already beautiful body. But they also represent something I can't share with her, she could never be a Mother with me." He pulled the Vixen close, to feel her fullness and the comfort of a caring being. She wasn't going to ask but stroked his head and ears.

"Life sucks sometimes."

Judy-
With the pressure off, the walk became a delightful stroll. Peter had noticed Judy's Bunny Burrow accent and Judy admitted she was still fairly new to the city. They compared notes about his upbringing as a small family urban Rabbit versus her expansive rural clan. After a few rounds of embarrassing relative tales they found themselves in front of his apartment building. Newer and comfortably upper-middle-class in contrast to her place. They paused.

Judy's cop radar had been set on maximum since she had first set foot in the club, and had absolutely no negative vibe from him. As an officer, she was trained to detect a range of aberrant behavior, not just criminalistic or violent, but the range of lesser pathologies that she would have to deal with on the street. She had also seen the risks and results of being a single female in potentially vulnerable situations.

This Peter Pan (yikes, what were his parents thinking) seemed simply a decent guy looking for a little friendly time. She made a final decision, gripped his hand and nodded to proceed.

The pack of Merced teens were heading out for a pizza run and got quite an eyeful when the elevator doors opened. There, a pair of Rabbits were in the middle of an intense make out, half into each other's clothes and faces matted with sloppy kisses. It took a beat for the pair to realize they had an audience, and rather than break the clutch, they simply shuffled out of the elevator and down the hall. After gawking at the show of a moment, the kids prepared to get into the elevator, but though better of it with the lingering funk.

Inside the apartment, the police officer and engineer only got half way across the living room before they became simply a pair of mammals in rut. Shortly, they found themselves lying side by side, idly grooming each other as they recovered, but that devolved into another round of foreplay. They did make it to the bedroom and repeated the cycle several times.

The next morning.

Judy found herself in the shared bathroom in her apartment building, sitting on the toilet, considering what had happened last night. It certainly got the job done. And in thinking like that, she frowned. There had been an erotic thrill to it, but there was an almost mechanical or reflexive nature to it, like the leg twitch when she was scritched just so. True, she didn't have a deep emotional investment/rapport in the Buck, and perhaps, in that, the act had been as much about selfish need as a shared experience. She then found a wane smile in the thought of the difference between having sex and making love.

But two thoughts still plagued her. That she was so willing/able to surrender herself so fully to the all but stranger Buck while her time with Nick was, still in many ways, a more measured approach. There was a practical part with that; their differences in anatomy required a level of care, precluding wild abandon. But was there also wariness, a hesitation, to engage too quickly to her Fox? Or, was it that, as he was a Fox, she couldn't rely on instinct and assumption, could not take anything for granted? Every nuance needed a conscious and contentious choice. And in that wondered how much of Nick's actions were also so tempered?

The second thought was more fundamentally troubling. In the rut, she had been reduced to a mammal intent on reproduction. And on a deep level, she, or was it just some instinct talking, yearned for Motherhood. She had not taken a preparatory contraceptive; it also tended to also be a suppressant and would have undone the situation before it ever started. She looked at the 'morning after' meds that she clutched in her paw.

Right now, a pregnancy would unravel her career. She knew herself well enough to realize that she had the kind of focus that could never divide her attention between that and being a Mother. She also had a, perhaps over weaned, sense of mission. She had a whole army of sisters to carry on her familial genetic legacy, but only herself to make Zootopia a better place.

And yet...

'Home again, home again, jiggity jog'-
The gleaming spires of Zootopia rose in the distance. With his rather colored past, Nick had never had any nostalgic feels for the sight. But that was before, now he was going back home to her. 'Home' and 'her' were concepts that that were still a bit of a novelty, and he relished the thrill of them.

He was ever so glad to have the trip behind him.

And there was His Bunny waiting for him at the station. He wanted to be coolly nonchalant, but he found himself rushing to her as she lunged into him.

"Missed you so!" They shared as they hugged, then gauging the crowd's obliviousness to their PDA, gave each other an intense kiss. Then whispered to each other, "missed you so."

"So, how was your trip?"

Nick drew in a deep breath and began. He hated long distance travel, en route food, the wretched pred/prey status at his destination, and mostly he hated the cruel farce that was that state's legal system. While he was required to write a report about the case for the ZPD and ZDoJ, he vowed to add recommendations to reconsider the criteria for extradition, as no mammal, especially a pred, had any chance for an honest day in court there.

Judy recognized his need to vent, and it also provided some insight for her as to what she might face in the future, so let him go on and on.

They finally arrived at their home, the new apartment they secured together when they made detective. It was still in the Grand Pangolin Arms, a perverse sense of nostalgia kept them there, but a large suite with enough extra room for small avalanches of Hopps kin to crash over in anticipation of future visits. Technically they were just roommates, though it stretched department policy awfully thin.

Nick called the precinct to let them know he was back and would able to report in tomorrow. But instead of the watch commander, he was passed on to Chief Bogo. "Made it back in one piece, Wilde?" Nick couldn't tell if was in wishful thinking that he might not have, or what.

"Sorry to disappoint, but yes. Yes I did. And please let me thank you and the ZDoJ for the lovely trip to that hell-pit." Nick stated flatly. He was not in a joking mood about that subject.

Bogo grunted and scowled, more to himself. "Been there, done that myself."

"oh" Nick was immediately apologetic. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah. Anyway, you and Hopps have tomorrow off to recover, and we won't need your report until the end of the week."

"Thanks- What?" Nick was shocked, that was more than generous, that suggested... "Sir, you're not implying Detective Hopps and I have a social relationship?"

"No. That would suggest I had knowledge of a potential policy issue. I am, rather, interested in her performance, which had declined while you were out of town. And, coincidentally, perks right back up when you two have any breaks at the same time."

Nick looked to Judy. "Dang."

Later, as Judy gave Nick a serious Hopps Full Treatment, a thorough massage/groom, Nick asked. "And how was your time while I was away?" punctuating it with an exaggerated sniff in her direction.

Judy looked a little guilty, "I got - I dunno, an itch, and a little bit curious," deep sigh, "And tried a hormone hook up club."

Nick bolted upright and gaped in mock shock. "Judith Laverne Hopps, seeking out anonymous sexual gratification in the big city!" He leaned over and gave her a hug then held her at arm's length, examining her. "Was it - Goood?" He leered.

She looked a bit pained, then admitted, "It was perfectly adequate."

"Euw, that bad, eh?"

"No, just - adequate. Took care of the physical need."

Nick was still a bit quizzical, and ostentatiously sniffed her again. "You still smell - off?"

Judy grimaced and looked away. "I didn't take a morning after."

Nick's brain went slightly 'tilt' but before he could recover and say anything, Judy continued. "So I had to take a more extensive treatment. I'm fine and all."

It got Very Quiet. They had already talked about this a lot more than Nick found comfortable, mostly for her sake. Maybe a drastic distraction, potential dangerous, but anything to keep her mind away from That Subject. "For full disclosure, I had a little distraction when I was away too." And braced for the worst.

Judy took a fraction to process, then she broke into her best 'isn't he just the cutest thing' grin and gave him an intense hug. "Was she pretty?"

"Well, she wasn't short, grey, and fluffy, but yeah." He broke into a sad smile. "She's an educated professional, but being both a female and a pred in that place means she'll never get an even break." He gave his Doe a tender ear stoke, "You're not...?"

She held herself off to give him a good look, "Nicholas Piberius Wilde, I Really love you, and that includes accepting your personal choices. Besides, Junior Ranger Scout Nick, sounds like you did a good deed for her." And a wink, "Just don't go around being too generous with those good deeds."

"No Ma'am, Scout's Honor!" And they drew into a warm cuddle.