Hey guys just a quick note here, I am so so happy with the great reaction to this story and I will try to update as quickly as I can. Hopefully I can manage a biweekly (once every other week) basis but life gets in the way some times as you all know.
That being said, I wanted to give a huge shoutout to my editors for this story: Mainly Pulltogether, without him this thing would be half done and make no sense. I'd also like to thank Kohgeek for helping me with grammar
"C'mon Nick! We're gonna be late." Judy angrily stomped her left paw. She had finally gotten a reservation to the nicest restaurant in town and she didn't want Nick to ruin it. Le Cul de Moufette was very serious about who they did and didn't let in, and Judy had had to place a reservation months in advance since she wasn't a predator.
"Calm your bushy little tail, Carrots." Nick said, adjusting his tie. "We're the cops, just put on the lights, and we can be there in a minute."
"We can't just break the law, Nick. We're supposed to be making the world a better place."
"All I'm saying is you don't take advantage of the connections you have." A car honked outside, Judy pulled back the blinds and saw a black limo outside. A polar bear in a tracksuit was the driver. "Me? I took advantage of Mr. Big still saying he owed me and you a debt. He was also pretty happy about me giving him the name for his restaurant." Nick replied.
"You mean to tell me I didn't need to go through all this trouble getting a reservation? Dozens of calls for nothing?"
"It's called a hustle sweetheart, and you're cute when you're angry." Judy decided to change the subject, she could never stay mad at Nick.
"How's his daughter?"
"She's great. Got a litter on the way"
"You ever thought about kids, Nick?"
Nick stepped out in a black tuxedo. He straightened his bow tie and began to stare at Judy. "You look great, that blue dress always suited you."
"Nick, you didn't answer me."
"Do I not like talking about kids?" Nick stared vacantly ahead, he couldn't even use his own tactic to get out of this one.
She knew she wouldn't get anything out of him; whenever she asked him this question he always dodged it. Something about kids made him not want to talk about anything. She suspected it may have been the reason why he didn't want to go and visit her family as pair walked outside and into the waiting limo. After greeting the polar bear driver, They rode in silence, Judy absentmindedly adjusting her earrings and making sure her dress was on right while her Nick nervously fiddled with tie. She knew she had to find some way of calming him down. She reached over and began to rub his tail, feeling him relax as she did it. "I wish I had been friends with foxes sooner, I love their tails." She said teasingly.
"Miss Hopps, are you coming onto me? We're partners, Carrots."
Judy's face turned bright red. "No I just…" She wiped her forehead nervously
"I'm just messing with you Carrots, you can rub my tail anytime. If I did the same to you, you'd probably slap me silly."
The rest of the way there their conversations were jovial. Judy decided it would be best if she waited until the end of the night to bring up her plan.
They arrived at the restaurant, and it was packed. The place was full of celebrities, politicians, and some of Mr. Big's "associates." A dik dik hostess walked up to them and smiled, "Ahh, Mister Wilde and Miss Hopps, your room is this way."
"A private room? Nick, you didn't have to…"
"It's all already paid for, Carrots, you can thank Mr. Big, not me." The hostess opened up the door, a lone table was in the room with two fine leather chairs beside it and a bottle of vintage red wine in the middle with two glasses. They sat down at the table, Judy was handed a small prey menu while Nick received a predator menu.
"I've been meaning to ask you? What do predators even eat? I mean I know you love blueberries, but what else?"
"Mainly fish and poultry, but I'd love to get a taste of you." Nick slyly grinned. Judy blushed, but she knew it was just some of Nick's usual banter.
"How was your first week on the force? Everything you dreamed it would be?"
"As long as you're there Carrots, I don't have to dream." He always knew what to say to make her blush. "You've got to be one of the finest cops I've ever seen in action, jumping from the sidewalk onto a 2 story building just to catch a petty thief? Now that's dedication."
"Don't act like you didn't do anything, we would have only caught one of those smugglers if you hadn't convinced them you wanted to join their operation. You certainly know how to act like a criminal."
"Oh please Carrots, I've never done anything illegal in my life." Nick poured himself a glass of the vintage and then poured one for Judy. He began to chuckle, "Who would've thought I'd come this far Carrots? Thanks for believing in me. If it hadn't been for you, I'd still be hustling dumb bunnies like yourself." His smile grew wide, almost breaking the sly smirk constantly plastered on his face.
The waiter brought their food. Nick had ordered a chicken Valentino and Judy a carrot soup. The chicken Valentino was stuffed with mozzarella aged in Slothcily and red peppers shipped fresh from Nueva Leon. Although more modest, Judy's carrot soup was brought out in a golden, Alexandrite encrusted dish.
"This has got to be the nicest place I have ever dined at." Nick took a bite of his food, then moaned as if he had just climaxed. "I haven't made a sound like that in a couple of years." Nick winked at Judy. Judy blushed and began to chuckle
"Well this time you're the one eating the white sauce, not someone else." Now it was Nick's turn to blush, not expecting Judy to say anything like that. He quickly sipped his wine to stop himself from laughing.
"You know, Nick," Judy began. "I had an idea for something 'fun' we could do when we get back to the house."
"What are you suggesting, Carrots?"
"You'll see when we get back. For now, just enjoy your meal, you'll need all the energy you can get." Nick's ears perked up. He knew that this was going to be an interesting night.
While they ate, Judy stared longingly into Nick's eyes. She knew him just as a partner and a close friend, but sometimes… she just wasn't sure how things would turn out between them. Nick smiled back, his emerald eyes looking back into hers. He always knew how to make her smile or laugh and sometimes even how to bring her to tears. But she could not love him as long as he lived in fear, she could sense it, whenever certain topics were brought up. Years of not letting people see they had gotten to him had left Nick constantly in fear. Judy hoped that he would let her in, and that her plan would help him open up to her. At the same time, she wanted to help him, not change him.
"Carrots, is something wrong? You look worried," Nick said soothingly. He could always read her, she hoped that he hadn't been able to deduce her plan.
"I'm fine Nick, I was just thinking about how wonderful this night has been."
"It's not over yet Carrots, not by a long shot, and I'm excited to see whatever it is that you've got planned. I'm sure I'll love it as much as I love you." Judy turned redder than the wine in her glass.
She quickly downed the glass to regain her composure, before saying, "Yea Nick, you're a really good friend, some days I don't know what I'd do without you. Um, is it hot in here?" Judy nervously started thumping her foot against the ground, her ears lowered back. Nick just grinned and looked at her
"I don't think it's hot, but I'm sure they'd be willing to lower the thermostat just for you." Nick began to chuckle as he saw Judy squirm. "I meant that I love you as a friend Carrots," Nick said while finishing his glass of wine. He poured another, then filled Judy's empty glass as well. As soon as he set down the almost empty bottle the waiter ran up with a fresh one, setting it down on the table in a matter of seconds. "In some languages there's a word for that, at least I think there is, but I'm not good with foreign languages." Judy drank another glass of wine in an attempt to calm herself, by that point she was starting to get quite tipsy.
"You're a good partner and a good friend, Nick. And don't worry, what I have planned for tonight is something completely normal for 'partners' to do." Judy began to chuckle, her purple eyes shining as she motioned for the waiter "What do you want for dessert Nick?"
"Well I can guess what you want. Carrot cake." Judy gasped and raised her ears.
"Nick that is so small minded of you, I thought we were past things like this" The waiter quickly came over to Judy "We'll take a slice of carrot cake please." She winked at Nick as he began to laugh. "What, I didn't say that you were wrong."
When the two had finished their cake, they walked back out to a waiting limousine. A gentle breeze blew through the air as they entered, and the not so sober pair found a waiting bottle of champagne. Finishing the bottle on the ride back to Judy's was an easy task, and the two stumbled out of the limo back into her apartment.
"This is the place? Casa de Carrots?" Nick said dramatically, waving his arms with each word. "You got some fun planned for me honey? I mean bunny?" Nick hiccupped and fell onto Judy's bed. Before he knew what was happening, he felt his wrists bound to the bed, his paws now secured to the headboard with some rope. "Oh so you're into that eh Carrots?" He looked up expecting his partner to be showing off her bun buns, but instead she was fully clothed with a concerned, almost motherly look on her face. She sat down next to Nick on the bed
"Nick," she said tenderly. "We need to talk about something." She gently rubbed his shoulder
"So you need a captive audience, eh, Fluff?"
"Nick, I've noticed something about you lately, since you started working for the force." Judy rubbed the top of Nick's head "As your friend, it's worrying to say the least"
"What's that, Carrots?" Nick replied, looking more confused by the second
"Nick, you might not want to admit it, but you almost died this week, both of us almost died."
"What are you talking about Fluff?" Nick replied indignantly.
"Your third day on the force, they sent us after that wolf arms dealer, it was a cut and dry case. Lone wolf operation, we had all the evidence we needed, all we had to do was cuff him and muzzle him if he put up a fight"
"That operation went great Carrots! Why we came busting in…"
Judy put her finger to Nick's lips. "Nick, I cuffed him easy, but when you reached for your muzzle you just froze. His teeth were an inch from your neck when I tazed him. If I hadn't had a Wolf tazer."
"But you did have one Judy! And we're both alright! Nothing else to talk about." Nick started to breathe heavily, the hairs on his neck raising.
"Nick, you may not remember, but I had to take your muzzle from your holster and put it on the perp myself, you didn't calm down for five minutes, and in that time three back up officers saw you in your catatonic state. One of them reported you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nick," Judy said softly "I had to pull in every favor I had to stop them from putting you on paid leave and giving you several psych evals. We can't have your childhood trauma affecting your work."
"Judy… it's nothing to worry about I'll be fine"
"I don't wanna lose you. Not again. Never again." Judy held back tears. "I… I" She put back on a tender but straighter face. "I care about you Nick" she gently caressed his cheek, making him relax once more. "I did some research, even asked a couple of the lab coats. And I found something that just might work. I might be able to 'cure' you."
"Fluff, the only disease I have is eternal smugness, and there's no cure for that."
"Nick… have you heard of aversion therapy?"
"I thought you said I wasn't getting a psych eval." Nick chuckled
"What I'm going to do follows a similar premise, instead of making you dislike something good or neutral, it's going to make you like something that you think is bad. The best term is reverse aversion therapy." Judy rubbed Nick's snout softly
"Carrots, this is the most you've touched me since I've known you, what's your grand plan here?" As Judy pulled out a muzzle, Nick's expression went from sly to terrified in a heartbeat. "Hey now Fluff, maybe you should reconsider." Judy straddled Nick's stomach.
"It's alright Nick, I'm going to talk you through this, it'll be hard at first, but it'll gradually get easier." as she slowly inched the muzzles closer, Nick went silent and began to tug at his bindings. His terrified expression was replaced by one much more primal. "It's ok Nick, everything is going to be ok."
"Judy! Please!" Nick looked into her eyes as a single tear rolled down his cheek.
"Listen to me Nick, this is going to hurt both of us but I don't want to lose you. Just think happy thoughts and try to calm down." She stopped moving the muzzle closer and rubbed his shoulder. instead of relaxing him, for once her touch made Nick tense up even more. "Remember the day you met me Nick? How happy and carefree you were? Remember the times we've had together Nick. Remember the day I helped swear you in as a police officer. Just think hard and remember" She felt him relax slightly
" Judy, is there any other way? There has to be another way."
"I'm sorry Nick, we can't lose each other again. Let me in Nick, I can help you." She once more moved the muzzle closer, she took Nick's silence as confirmation that she could continue. The bonds on Nick's wrists were beginning to fray as he kept pulling, but Judy cared too much to stop. She finally touched the muzzle to his snout, and Nick let out a single, long, breath. "See? That wasn't so hard."
As she fastened part of the muzzle, she stopped to speak with her partner again. Before a word was out of her mouth Nick was on top of her. The last thing she heard before her head slammed into the bedframe was a primal growl.