A fox? In Bunny Burrow? Who'd ever heard of such a thing?
Then again, before a few months ago, no one had heard of a bunny cop in the booming metropolis of Zootopia.
Nick Wilde considered his options. He could turn down the request, never meet his friend's family, and never risk a possibly horrible encounter with another fox, or he could confront what might be a horrible situation. He wasn't terribly worried about meeting Judy's parents (he figured if they were able to raise a bunny to become an officer, they could take whatever he threw at them), it was just that Nick didn't always deal with his species in quite the same way as others. He had felt comfortable teasing Judy when he had first met her because he already carried the prejudice that so many others had for her; now, it was just a matter of humor between them.
Nick used to react in much the same way with other types of species; he'd met them all in his daily hustles. He had a tasteful sense of how the general public looked at them. If he followed that, his reactions would be expected, and he wouldn't get that awkward emotion everyone gets when they say a bunny is cute. (Okay, bad example. Nick said that all the time to Judy.)
Anyway, that was all 3 months ago. Who knew how Nick reacted to social encounters now; his entire world had been flipped over by the night howler case.
As for the police academy, his prior experience and success had allowed him to race through his training in less than 2 months. Nick liked being a cop. He felt as though his life was no longer maintaining an image given to him at birth. He (or rather, Judy) had turned his life around. He was doing good for the public, and could still maintain that sly, cool, nonchalant swagger he and those around him loved so much.
As for Judy's question, he finally decided.
The maglev train sped across the tracks. Due to new advancements in the field of room temperature superconductors, the train was more efficient than ever, requiring less energy than a car going the same distance.
Nick allowed his mind to wander as he watched the hills and valleys of the rural outskirts fly by. Field after field of carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, and other types of produce came into his vision. The fox had always wondered how the rabbits could eat carrots for hours on end and never get tired of them. He had seen his best friend dig into a carrot broth soup, a dish of sauteed carrots, and finish off with a few slices of carrot cake, all in one sitting. Personally, Nick didn't mind a carrot or two, but he wasn't obsessed…
Some time later, the train made a horrible screeching sound, as if it's metaphoric nails were etching a deep scratch into some poor school's chalkboard. The deceleration of the car was not smooth, and everyone was jostled around. Slowly, a line formed to exit the vehicle and everyone grabbed their baggage on the way out. Nick didn't have any; he didn't know what to expect, and he had never really carried personal items on him, save for a pawpsicle.
As the fox strolled along the small dirt road surrounded by forest on his way to the Hopps' house, he wondered what this "Gideon Grey" might be like. Judy hadn't told him much, just that he had undergone a dramatic process of maturing during the years she hadn't seen him, so that gave Nick some comfort. However, he didn't know how bad Gideon had been at the start, so really it was all a game of luck.
As the valley where Judy's family lived came into view, Nick's jaw slowly dropped. Sunlight streamed through the openings in the hills and short mountains in the distance, while acres upon acres of produce sprawled before his eyes, all surrounded by the infamous night howlers, or
Midnicampum holicithias. He nonchalantly picked up a few blueberries from a nearby bush as he wandered over to the huge hunk of wood known as the Hopps' residence.
For such a large family, the two rabbit parents had a surprising amount of influence over their offspring. At the door, Judy introduced her parents to Nick, and after that, the line of over 200 little bunnies slowly streamed out of the door, offering their names and hands at each encounter. It all went by in less than 10 minutes, and considering how many times the fox shook his hand in the same up-down motion, he was extremely grateful when the last rabbit (Jack? Or was it Thumper? Or Flopsy? Whatever…)
The four mammals sipped tea on the porch as the kits played the largest and most intense game of soccer in the history of Zootopia. Nick was having a hard time paying attention to the conversation with such "MLG playz" occurring not 10 yards away, which made it that much more awkward when Mr. and Mrs. Hopps asked him what he did for a living before he signed up to become a cop.
"It's funny, actually," he said. "I was on the other side of the war for justice originally. A $200 daily hustle for popsicles was my source of income."
Bonnie and Stu did a relatively decent job of covering up their shock, but Nick's people skills had always come in handy for these types of situations.
As if on cue, a smell so profound and aromatic filled the air that it might have made Nick detest blueberries for the rest of his life. The soccer game stopped, and all heads turned to a small pink truck on the side of the gravel road that seemed to appear out of thin air. Out stepped the reddest fox Nick had ever seen, with a mop of parted hair sitting contently on a furry scalp.
The mammal strolled over to the back of the vehicle, opened the doors to the payload, and screamed, "Coooommmmeeee and get it!" in the most Southern accent this side of Sahara Square.
The tsunami of bounding bunnies nearly overtook the fox, who Nick assumed was Gideon, yet managed to maneuver their way around him to reach the source of the smell that now consumed Nick's mind: pie.
As the crowd cleared, Nick and Judy walked over to the truck. Nick was sweating; he didn't know what to expect. Gideon seemed like a nice guy, but the closest bonds he had made with any fox outside of his family were with Finnick, and they still had so much to work through. His mouth dropped open, allowing his tongue to slowly pant off his new-found thermal energy, while his ears filled with blood to do the same. He fidgeted with his paws, nearly tripped over himself, and constantly looked around himself. Judy heard the stress his body language was screaming at her, and grabbed his arm.
She always did that whenever someone got to him. It was strange how effective it was, but it never failed to send jitters down his spine. He regained his cool pose as they neared the newest member of Nick's mammal archive; he usually just referred to it as "knowing everybody."
Judy was the first to speak.
"Hey, Gid. How's business?" Grey's eyes seemed to turn towards Nick and Judy in slow motion; it was comparable to whenever Flash prepared to respond to Nick's questions. When Gideon saw Judy he smiled; then he saw who was standing next to her.
He dropped the tray of pies in his hands to the ground, rushed toward Nick, and embraced him in a tight squeeze. Judy held a paw to her mouth, dumbfounded.
"It has been too long since I've seen a fox. Welcome to Bunny Burrow."
The rest of the evening seemed to fly by. The lot of them had pies till the could measure each other's diameter, and later they played charades. It was the best game Nick had ever enjoyed, as he shouted his answers rapid fire while the kits took turns acting.
Nick marveled at Gideon. He had a charm to him that revealed the remnants of his self-doubt in childhood, which manifested itself, not as rage or aggression (at least not now), but as a somewhat distant insecurity. Despite all of that, he was able to keep himself calm, sociable, and kind. He wished his life had played out a little closer to Gideon's, but then again, he might have never met Judy in that world.
Above all, he was amazed at how similar and different their backstories were. Nick had wanted nothing, save for fitting in and being accepted, when he was a child, and when he was denied that, he lost hope and turned to prejudice. Judy had eventually turned his life back, but that feeling of stereotyping and judging still lingered in his heart. With Gideon, prejudice had also not been his first choice, but seriously: a fox in Bunny Burrow would be subject to some harsh comments and face the realities of intolerance early on in his life. Neither fox had wanted to hate; and yet, they had both been forced to. Nick was just appreciative that they had somehow managed to regain their innocent approach to differences.
As Judy, Nick, and Gideon left the residence, they stopped for one last goodbye outside of the pink truck. Gideon hugged Nick one more time, recounted the amazing evening they'd had.
"I hope we can keep in touch. What's your Litter name?" Gideon asked.
"TheHustler. It's an old name…"
"That's great. I'll send you a message later."
The truck drove off into the dark valley, giving a little rumble and shake as it disappeared from view.
3 MONTHS LATER
Nick threw his tie across the room and flopped down onto his bed. It had been a long day, and his Reports Due list for the chief just kept growing. He turned on his phone and scrolled through his Litter feed. He had a message from Gid.
It was a pie emoji, followed by a smiley face, followed by another pie emoji.
Nick replied, "Saturday?"
A few seconds later, the response came: "Totally."
Nick lay in bed. He had two amazing new friends; supportive, funny, and loving friends. He didn't know why he deserved all this. He was just an ex-hustler who turned into a cop. He did know, however, that he was grateful beyond compare that he had them.