The late afternoon was turning into an evening at the center of Sahara Square, where its fanciest hotel, the Palm Tree, was shining bright and bustling with activity. Being the landmark of the district, this was a very common sight around it, especially since the hotel hosted all sorts of parties and fun activities for its patrons. Such was the case now, for Gazelle had arranged a costume party with a 1001 Nights theme this time.
Along the guests she had invited were the two mammals who had saved the city a few years ago, Judy Wilde and her husband Nick Wilde. Not only had the famous popstar gotten into good terms with Zootopia´s heroes over time, but the famous rabbit police officer had been very enthusiastic about the party for a specific reason too.
When the occasion had been announced, Judy had remembered the time she had decided to try out belly dancing with a local dance instructor a long time ago, where she had turned out surprisingly well. With her beloved fox also being impressed by her skills, the rabbit decided to refresh her skills again, for she had volunteered to be a part of the night´s entertainment. It also gave her an opportunity to attend the best costume competition there, where Nick would attend too.
As the kind of couple who loved to spend quality time together even at big parties, Nick and Judy couldn´t even dream of refusing from such a fun event. Not only were some of their friends there, but the idea of them dining together and admiring the beautiful skyline of Sahara Square at night from there sounded very tempting.
The party had just begun as the two were entering the hotel via an elevator. Nick had still his white sultan´s robes, golden and purple belt, fancy cape, prop sword and turban with an emerald on, while Judy wore her coin-trimmed royal purple belly dancer attire with its strapless bra and chiffon skirt, several veils and golden jewelry. The fox and his wife held hands as they walked vigorously out of the elevator as it reached the right floor.
"We´re late. Hope we didn´t miss anything big. It´s gonna be a real bummer if they´ve run out of the hotel´s famous palm pastries", Nick moved his turban a bit as he swiped sweat off his forehead.
"Don´t worry. The party only started an hour ago; there´s more than enough time for us to spend with our friends…and especially with the two of us", Judy smiled warmly at him.
Nick nodded, looking admiringly at his wife. He thought the rabbit looked ravishingly beautiful in her dancer wear, more than in any fancy dress she had worn. The fox didn´t mind the robes Judy had chosen for him either, even though they had looked like big pajamas to him the first time he saw them.
After walking a bit across the corridors, they reached the party area. Decorated by fancy lanterns, Oriental rugs and a giant lamp prop at the center of the hall, they could tell that they were at the right place.
A huge smile appeared on Judy´s faces as they walked across a crowd of smiling, partying mammals, some in full costume while some were just in their usual formal wear. Most of them were desert mammals, like sand cats, ibexes, aardwolfs and so on, but there were mammals from other districts as well.
While going further to the area to see Gazelle, Judy and Nick noticed a familiar face near the doorway that led to the spa area.
"Hi Nick and Judy! Haven´t seen you two in a while. Nice outfits too, you really rock a turban there, don´t you Nick?" asked Yax, who sat at the desk near the spa. Wearing nothing but a fez, he was the one running the naturist spa there that night. It was proving popular with the patrons, for such activities were rarely hosted at The Palm Tree.
Judy and Nick smiled, coming to greet him too.
"Great to see you again. Have you seen Gazelle around here?" the fox asked.
"Yeah, she´s near the stage. Won´t you come and have a stay at the spa? This hotel´s got even better baths than my place!" the yak asked.
Judy chuckled.
"No thanks. Maybe some other time", she said. Even though she didn´t mind naturism that much anymore, she still preferred to do it in private with Nick instead.
"Send the ZPD my regards!" Yax said as the two moved forward.
Finally, they reached the end of the room with a bar and a stage for entertainment that night. There had been a couple of performers before that day, but more was coming soon. The famous popstar herself sat near the stage, wearing a red and gauzy dress fit for an Arabian Princess with a matching crown. Her tigers wore turbans and swords like if they were her guards.
"Good evening, ma´am. How´s it going, is Bogo here too?" Nick said as the two bowed before her. Both of them were aware of how their boss was very close with the pop star, and not just in being a big fan of her.
"It´s doing great. He wasn´t able to attend tonight, unfortunately. Busy at work, he said", Gazelle explained, drinking from her glass.
"Or maybe he was feeling shy", a giggling Judy whispered to Nick, who nodded. They had heard rumors about something interesting between the pop star and their ever-grumpy boss.
"Great costume for you, Mr. Wilde. You really look like a Sultan. All that´s missing is your treasure and your harem", Gazelle complimented.
"Would love the former….but I don´t think the latter is necessary at all for me. My heart only belongs to this beautiful bunny belly dancer here", Nick chuckled as he placed his paw on Judy´s shoulder, who blushed in return.
"A less is more type, eh? I can get behind that", Gazelle laughed.
"You look great tonight too, Gazelle", Judy noted.
"And so do you. I heard a lot of compliments from your instructor, for I used to take lessons from her too. They say you´re the best student since her most famous one, who´ll be attending the party later tonight as well. She said she wanted to meet you in particular", the celebrity mentioned.
"Meet me?" Judy was curious.
For a while, the party kept going as Nick and Judy eventually sat down and ordered their meals and drinks. Drinking their cool fruit nectars, Mr. and Mrs. Wilde enjoyed the elegantly lit atmosphere of their dining area.
"Reminds me a lot of our first date night back then. I remember how shy you were", the rabbit smiled beautifully at her husband.
"Not so shy anymore…and I have you to thank for it", Nick clasped her paw a bit. Before and after their romance started, Judy and Nick had encouraged each other in almost any occasion, whether at having fun or in serious matters. Everyone around them who got to know the duo knew how inseparable they were.
Her heart beating peacefully, she kept on gazing at the warm, smiling face of her fox. Just his company alone was making this party feel enjoyable for her at that moment.
"I hope we win the prize tonight. Wonder what that´ll be", Judy said.
"Well, a 1000 dollars would be nice for starters. But even if won´t win, it has still been a nice evening here so far. We came in here to have fun, after all, as you said", Nick noted while finishing his baklava slice.
Both of them looked at the stage, where entertainment for the night was being held. Currently on the stage was Nick´s good old friend Flash, who was trying out fire-breathing to fit with the theme. Very slowly, he chowed on something spicy and in a few minutes after that, fire came out from his mouth.
"He´s good at that for a sloth", Judy smiled, turning her attention to the stage. She was also waiting eagerly not only for her turn, but also for the professional dancer Gazelle had mentioned about, and what she wanted from the rabbit.
"Indeed. I couldn´t keep on eating chilis that long without needing water", Nick nodded.
After his act ended, acrobatic meerkats and a magician zebra performed there too, getting huge applause from the entire audience. Eventually, Judy´s turn came.
"Good luck", Nick blew a kiss as she headed towards the stage.
"And now, the show ends with a magnificent belly dance from one of our guests, the city´s hero cop herself, Judy Wilde!" the announcer declared.
The stage was lit up again as Judy rose there in a smooth yet confident fashion. As the fast and dynamic yet sultry music begun to play, she extended her paws and begun rolling her belly, jiggling her breasts a bit and putting her curvaceous and flexible body into use. Judy did the same moves she had shown her husband already, but this time in front of a bigger audience.
Nick looked just as enthralled as during the previous two dances, smiling in admiration. Gazelle and Judy´s instructor hadn´t complimented her dance skills for nothing, for the rabbit was a natural. Definitely one of the best dancers at the city so far, and easily the most beautiful to him. Her radiant purple eyes, feminine body, curvaceous hips and adorable smile were all present there at the moment in the most marvelous way possible.
"The piece de resistance of this whole party, without question", he sighed.
Whether swaying her hips slowly or engaging in fast-paced shimmies, the doe stayed flawlessly in tune with the music. Judy kept on undulating her body until the music ended, where she was greeted with an applause, just like the other performers.
"Wonderful!" a sand cat clapped.
"She´s amazing. Too bad she´s taken", a caracal patron commented from the bar.
"That was a 10/10 performance, without question. Well done, my Ara-Bunny Princess", Nick said as Judy went back to the table.
"Thanks for the praise, my darling fox sultan", she kissed his cheek softly.
Judy leaned closer to him around the tableside as they kept on enjoying the drinks and the atmosphere at the party as time went on. Even though there were many mammals present, they still felt just as comfortable as they would be at home.
She put down one of her veils on her shoulder, letting Nick drape his paw on it gently while holding her by the waist. The rabbit closed her eyes and smiled blissfully.
A couple of hours passed, and the party went on just as well as the two had hoped. They had enjoyed the dessert table, taken a lot of photos, given a couple of autographs to a few fans who knew the hero cops, and had just won the top prize at the costume competition, which had been a small sum of money and a gift card to Salim´s, Sahara Square´s finest pastry shop.
"Not bad for a prize at all, I´ve always wanted to see what´s on sale there. But I´m sure even they can´t hold a candle to your blueberry pies", Nick said as the two walked off the stage hand in hand.
"Thanks. Not trying to brag, but it´s no wonder we won when I have such a handsome companion with me at this party", Judy smiled.
"It was a brilliant idea of you to come here", Nick added, sitting back at their table.
The fox and his wife were about to spend some time at the party before going home, until they heard a voice speaking behind her.
"Judy Wilde, I presume?" a husky female voice asked.
The rabbit turned and saw a very beautiful peach-colored vixen with sapphire-colored scalp hair and a curvaceous yet muscular body very much like Judy´s, smiling at her. She too was wearing a purple belly dancer outfit with gold jewelry.
"I´m Carmelita Montoya Renardine, pleased to meet you. I´m an officer from the ZPD´s Meadowlands District, but on my summer breaks, I work as a professional belly dancer. My instructor has told everything about you", she said eagerly, shaking paws with Judy.
The rabbit was surprised and delighted. Working mostly in the city central, she hadn´t heard that there was another fox in the force at an another precinct, and didn´t expect one of them to have tried out the same hobby as she had.
"Pleased to meet your acquaintance as well, ma´am. Gazelle told that you were looking for me. Why won´t you join me and my husband´s company?" Judy asked.
Carmelita nodded as she sat down by her and Nick.
"Definitely. I´ve been looking forward to meeting you for a long time. I have a little proposition for you, Mrs. Wilde", the vixen said.
The Wildes and Carmelita introduced themselves at each other, and sat talking by the tableside for a while, getting to know each other. The couple quickly took a liking to the friendly vixen.
After talking about what they had been up to recently in the force and outside of it, Carmelita finally got into business.
"Since we´re both hard-working officers from the ZPD with similar hobbies, I´ve come to make an offer to you after hearing about your skills and seeing it myself", she sipped on her martini.
"I´m all ears", Judy said.
"As someone who has had a summer job as a performing professional belly dancer when I´m taking a break from my cop duties for quite some time, I´ve often thought that it would be nice to have a partner", the vixen explained.
"Partner?" Judy asked curiously.
"I would love to have a respectable and talented beautiful young mammal like you by my side as we´d travel through the city and outside it, entertaining the finest clubs and even courts with our talent. You´ve shown how much potential you have; we´d make a great team. You´d be rewarded fairly for your efforts, even if we´d perform only during summers", Carmelita explained.
"Sounds pretty fun and exciting, Carrots. I´d seize the opportunity if I were you", Nick smiled.
Judy considered it for a while. The offer sounded promising and interesting; she hadn´t seen much of the places outside of Zootopia, even during her holidays. She really enjoyed her newfound hobby, and Carmelita came across like a reasonable and friendly partner already.
"Your offer sounds promising, ma´am. Not the type of a summer job I would´ve expected to find for myself….but I´m accepting it", Judy nodded.
Nick gave a surprised smile as well as the two shook paws.
"Well, now I have to mark certain days in the calendar during summer when I get to see you perform", he liked the idea already.
Carmelita looked very happy. She couldn´t wait to share her summer job with Judy, but to get to know her even better too. It sounded like a beginning to a great friendship for the two.
"I´ll stay in touch with you, ready whenever you need me, my new partner", Judy said as she signed a paper Carmelita handed her.
"So will I. We´ll start next month", Carmelita decided.
The fox looked proudly at his wife as she finished her deal with the dancer and hugged her new friend. He looked forward to seeing her live up to her full potential in the rabbit´s hobby, which would be her temporary summer job now.
Later, Nick and Judy were returning home to their apartment via a gondola in the night. Moonlight shined lavishly on the two as they enjoyed the beautiful sights of the city nightlife during their trip home, almost like a magic carpet ride.
"What a night. Looks like a yet another unexpected leaf turned in my life", Judy looked at the stars with Nick by her side.
"And I´m happy for it. You´re going to make for a great belly dancer, Carmelita can be proud of you already. If you work just as hard as you do in the ZPD, I´m sure the result will be something wonderful. I can´t wait to see you perform myself, as long as I get the front row seat in every performance", Nick chuckled lovingly.
Judy turned around and held him, gazing into his kind green eyes.
"You´re welcome to see my every dance, darling. With a supportive mate like you, I´d be willing to tackle any job or hobby in the world. And yes, that includes parking duty", she laughed.
Nick draped his arms around her waist and leaned his head closer to hers as the two hugged. In the cool summer night, the fox´s touch warmed the rabbit in a very pleasant manner, especially as he stroked her ears gently.
As the gondola was getting near their home, the rabbit leaned her head upwards as she gave her husband a loving kiss. The fox returned the favor deeply and firmly.
"Wherever our road takes me, my heart will always beat for you only, my foxy desert prince", she fluttered her eyelashes at him.
"And mine only for you, my Ara-Bunny Princess. So excited to see how your new little career plays out", Nick embraced her again.
For two months, she´d be seeing more of the world in her new brief summer job, before going back to her main work in the ZPD. But the next year, she´d try that out again. It was going to be quite a career for Zootopia´s first and only belly dancer bunny.
With her husband and her work partner, Judy was ready for another Ara-Bunny Night.