Here's Chapter 2 for y'all! I will be working on a Zootopia Christmas special - a whole new story - which will be released Dec 25. Wait till then to receive any further pieces.
Chapter 2: Game
"Nicholas Piberius Wilde, get over here!"
I wake on the couch, my arm no longer in debilitating conundrum. It takes a minute for my brain to process her words, I realize the trouble I'm in. Oh, no. When Judy calls me by my full first name, that means bad news. My full name? Even worse. I walk from the living room up to the kitchen, cogitating why I had given her my full name in the first place. I don't even know hers. She looked at my application form to the ZPD before I turned it in and found it. Hers had already been turned in months before, so I was out of luck.
I trudge to the kitchen, staring into her eyes. I notice her paw, with an outstretched finger pointing at the ground. There in its direction is puddle of red-yellow translucent liquid. "What is this?"
"A puddle," I say vaguely.
"Explain," she replies calmly, a strain in her voice.
"I may or may not have invited Finnick over at about 10 last night for a little game."
She frowns. "And how exactly did this 'game' lead to a puddle on the ground?"
I decide whether or not to continue. I decide to continue. "We had these things called 'pawpsicle shots.' He brought over a jar of it, we put it in shot cups, then mixed a few of 'em with mustard. We mixed 'em up and took a turn drinking one each. Whoever threw up lost." And I wanted to add that someone actually did throw up, but decided against it. I knew that it was obvious already.
Judy's eyes widen. "So that puddle is..." she stares at it for a moment and groans. "Throw up."
I smile. "You've got it. Finnick also knew exactly which cups had mustard, and gave 'em all to me. Let's say I lost fifty dollars last night - and my dinner."
She gags. "That's yours?" She motions to it again.
"Let's not talk about it. Are you gonna stand there, or are you gonna clean it up?"
Her eyes widen. "Heck no," she leaves the room and returns with a mop and a bucket of water. "It's your throw up, therefore you clean it up. Excuse me as I go recollect myself on how dumb some foxes are." She leaves the room and shuts her bedroom door.
I mop up the puddle on the ground as I ponder that night. I knew I shouldn't have bet him the money. The first shot I drank, as it dropped down my esophagus and into my stomach, I could feel my stomach instantly regret it. I ended up throwing up by the second shot, giving Finnick his money and going to bed feeling nauseous, forgetting completely about the puddle on the ground.
I finish up and put the mop away. I decide to attempt apologizing to Judy. I walk over to her door and knock. "Judy? It's Nick."
No answer.
I try again. "I know it wasn't the most appropriate thing to do, but you know boys can be boys."
This time she answered. "You're really sorry? If I were to tell you to do something for me right now, would you do it?"
I absolutely hate it when she does this. The last time I tried to apologize, she made me drive her to a movie. The thing is, it was my deepest hatred of movies - Floatzen. She's 24 and still enjoys watching movies that are made for mammals a third of her age and under.
"Sure," I say, because I had no choice. If I said no, she'd hate me for the rest of the day. Say yes, and I could possibly end up watching Floatzen again.
She opens the door. "I want you to kneel down, right here."
I do so without complaining. "Now what?" My snout was in her face.
"Go a little lower," She says, and I do so. She grabs one of my ears and starts rubbing it between her two paws. She does so for about two minutes before stopping. I refrain from acknowledging that it felt comforting and relieving, just in case.
"Happy?" I say, starting to stand up.
"Not yet," she says, and I bend back down. "I want to you to turn around."
I do so. She climbs onto my back and puts her right leg on the right side of my neck, and her left on the left side of my neck. She reaches her arms around my neck and junctions them at the anterior side of my neck, near my voice box. "Now what?" I say.
"Woah," she says, her paws now over the part of my neck containing my voice box. "Do that again."
"Do what?" I say, and she giggles. I could feel the pressure of her weight on my neck.
"It feels funny when you talk. Your neck vibrates when I put my hands over your voice box."
"So should I stay squatting like a little kid at gym class, it do you want me to stand?" I choke. "You're kinda choking me."
"Sorry," she says, moving her hands and reaching them over my forehead and again junctioning them. "You can stand, by the way."
I feel my weight shift on my shoulders as I ascend. She giggles a little. "This is fun."
I feel my face warm. "I'd normally enjoy doing this with one of your little sisters."
She gasps. "That's a great idea! Let's go visit my parents."
Oh, no.
My eyes widen. "What? I didn't want to encourage anything!"
She ignores me, judging by what I feel on my shoulders. "Carry me out to my car."
I sigh as I walk out the door and close it behind me, one hand gripping Judy's leg to prevent her from falling. I walk over to her car - a blue Nizzan Verza S Zedan, which she bought a month earlier - and pick her up by the underarms and lower her to the ground. "Thanks." She runs over to the other side, unlocks the car, and gets in. I join her by sitting myself in the passenger's seat.
Why am I not driving? Because I don't like to. I can't trust myself to assist on others' behalf. I also can't afford a car.
Does Judy trust me behind the wheel? Probably. Have I asked her? No.
I pull out my phone as she pulls out of the driveway. "You want to take the shuttle to Bunnyburrow?"
"Let me check the prices," I do so. "There's a departure at 11," I say, glancing at the clock, which said 10:32. "Thirty dollars per adult."
"Sure," Judy says.
I buy the tickets before she has any chance to intervene. "Bought 'em for us."
She sighs. "I could've bought them."
"It's okay," I object. "You're too nice anyway."
"Thanks," she puts her right hand atop my left. I smile a little, looking out the window. I turn my hand upwards and weave her fingers in between mine, then hold her hand.
"Your hand's warm," she says, moving her index finger across my knuckle. "I like it."
"Will it get warmer if I do this?" I say, kissing her on the wrist.
She smiles. "Even though gentlemammals did that a hundred years ago, I still like it."
"I'll do it more often." I kiss her hand again.
We board the shuttle two minutes before departure. I sit next to Judy at a table, the other side empty.
Suddenly a bunny plopped down in front of us and occupied the empty seat. "Hello, y'two. Name's Samuel."
We both shake his hand. "I'm Nick, and this is Judy," I say. "We're on a trip to visit her family."
He nods. "I don'wnt to get too creepy, but are you guys married, friends?"
She smiles. "He's just my boyfriend," she pats me lightly on the back. "Wish we were a little farther though."
My eyes widen at the first statement. She actually considers me a minor romantic partner? Yes. I like it. And she wishes we were a little farther? Its not like I'm planning to dump her.
"Hmm," Samuel nods. "I'm visiting a few down in Bunnyburrow also."
She smiles. "You've ever heard of the Hopps Family Farm?"
His smiles. "Yeah. I go there evry'day for a morning carrot."
She sits erect and proudly. "My parents are the owners."
I sigh as I palm my face. Not only is she giving her identity to some creep, she's giving him her relationships - our relationship specifically.
She ignores me and Samuel's eyes widen. "That's incredible. Say, I'd like to come catch up on a'few later. I'd like to see if we could go out sometime."
That got her mad. She kept her cool, but I saw her anger. "No," she laughs nervously. "I'm taken at the moment." She leans next to my forearm. "Nice m'tn you. G'day." She says as he stands up and walks away.
Now its not like I'm not mad. I'm mad all right. When he said that, I felt like I should just walk over and punch his little face in.
She looks me in the eyes. "Keep me away from that guy, alright?"
I rub the top of her head. "Don't worry," I laugh nervously. "Some people are creeps like that."
"But I know you're not a creep," she kisses my hand. "Because you protect me."
"Well, that's what boyfriends are for, right?"
We get to Bunnyburrow in an hour. The train stops and I lead Judy out. The large porch to the house was empty, surprising considering she had so many siblings, or so I assumed.
"So, how many siblings do you have?"
"275," she says quickly as she opens the door to the house. "Enjoy."
Instantly, at least two hundred bunnies jump onto me and pull me into the house, throwing me onto the ground in a furry mess. I try to remove the bunnies, but they keep on coming.
Until I hear a sharp whistle beside me, and they all retreat.
I see Judy talking to her mother, and her father with two fingers in his mouth - most likely the source of the sound.
Judy's mom walks up to me. "I don't know if you saw, but I overreacted when I discovered you're her boyfriend," she reaches her arm out. "Bonnie Hopps."
I shake her hand. "Prob'ly already know, but my name's Nick Wilde."
"I know," she says as I exchange greetings with Judy's father, Stu. As soon as I conclude, Bonnie calls attention to the bunnies, saying something about that I'm a 'trusted predator' and I needed to be treated with respect.
The moment she released them, I was surprised to only see a few walk up to me. One looked into my eyes. "Mr. Fox," she said, "I'm Lily. Can you wead to my brothers and sistews?"
I smile at her adorable accent. "Suwre," I mock, pointing to the front room. "Go get a book and I'll read -"
She pulls a book from behind her back. "Hewre."
I walk over to the front room and sit crisscross on the ground, inviting a few of the smaller bunnies to sit on my lap. The book I read was about a fox - ironically - who comes from the country and visits the city and has to adapt to city customs. It really was a good book.
After reading I get riddled with questions, most of them unrelated to the book.
"Mr. Fox, have you ever been here before?" One older bunny named Tristan says.
"Nope," I reply.
"Mr. Fox," Tristan asks again, "Are you and Judy gonna get married?"
"I dunno," I say. "Maybe."
"Mr. Fox, what's your name?" Tristan asks for the third time.
I sigh. "You can call me Mr. Fox, but my real name's Nick."
"Nick what?"
"Nick Wilde."
"Does that mean," Another bunny butts in. "If you get married to Judy, her name'll be Judy Wilde?"
"Yep. Okay, I think that's enough que-"
I get riddled with so many more that I am forced to answer many more, completely pointless questions. It took so long that Bonnie cut me some slack and excused the kids for lunch.
"That was quite a show you put on," Judy says to me. "You're pretty good with kids. I heard a few talkin' about us getting married."
"Yep." I feel my face get hot.
"This is just a hypothetical situation, but if we were married and had a few kids, I think you'd be a pretty good parent to 'em." She kisses me on the cheek.
"Thanks," I say. I feel my face warm, as I was in the presence of Judy's parents and was unsure of their reaction as I walk over to them and chat for a minute, and in the meantime Bonnie pops a question.
"Me 'nd Judy were talking while you were reading to the kids. She wants you to spend the night with us."
I swallow the lump that formed in my throat. "S-stay the night?" I say, thinking. "If Judy wanted me to stay, she'd ask me to pack."
Bonnie smiles. "Don't y'worry about that. Judy'll figure something out. She has a few oversized clothes she'll probably lend you."
"I guess it's done," I smile. "I guess I can stay the night."
"Great," Bonny says. "Say, would you like some lunch?"
"Sure. What's for lunch?"
"We have an assortment of jams and jellies, peanut butter, and lots of homegrown fruits 'nd veggies."
My eyes widen. "Oh. I'll ha-"
Judy interrupts me. "He wants a peanut and blueberry jam sandwich, carrots and blueberries on the side. Oh - and give him some of that blueberry pie Gideon brought us this morning."
Bonny looks at me. "Did she sum it up for you?"
My jaw was still weighed open from her psychic ability to read minds. I wanted everything she said. "Yeah. Get me everything she said, but do you mind giving me double the blueberries?"
"Sure," Bonny says, scurrying off to the kitchen.
I look at Judy, smiling. I wave my hand in my direction, walking toward the couch. She follows me and sits next to me.
"How'd you know what I wanted?" I say, perplexed. Her nose twitched slightly, signifying her nervousness.
"You told me that one day, remember? You said that you liked peanut butter and blueberry jam sandwiches and blueberry pie." She replies.
"How'd you guess the carrots?"
She smiles. "Usually the first thing most mammals choose," she winks at me, her nose twitching again. She starts smelling the air. "What's that smell?"
"What smell?" I say. "Does it smell nice?"
"Yes, it smells good," she replies. "It smells like a grove of orange trees."
I raise my eyebrows, impressed. "That's my cologne."
Her eyebrows raise at me. "You wear cologne? What's it called?"
"Orange Daylight," I say. "I assumed you would like it, since you're a farmer and all."
She winks at me again, patting me on the back. "It's nice," she says, looking at my snout this time.
"What?" I say.
"I never noticed that," she stands from her spot on the couch, looking atop my snout. She runs her finger vertically, up and down, in between my eyes. I object with, "what are you doing?"
She smiles as she continues this action. "You have a divot that runs from the top of your forehead down to your nose. It's strangely addicting to touch..."
I push her away, my face warming again. "Please stop, Carrots. I'd prefer if you'd do that away from your parents' presence..."
She stops and walks off the couch. "See you outside."
I grab my plate Bonny prepared and walk outside and join Judy on a blanket in the grass. She smiles at she watches me eat. "Say, I never noticed that before."
"What?" I say, not looking at her. "Another divot in my skull?"
"No, but you look pretty cute when you eat."
I nod. "Maybe so," I switch the subject before it became too awkward. "You want to try a bite of this pie?"
"Sure."
I spoon a piece of pie onto my fork and put it into Judy's mouth. She smiles. "Tastes good," she licks her mouth. "It does taste a little odd with fox spit on it, though.."
I laugh. "I put that fork in my mouth once. Either my saliva is extremely rich, or I'm salivating more than normal. Anyway, in that case, you can use your own fork from now on."
We spend a little outside in the yard, watching the kids play out in the woods. I finish my food and join Judy at the swing by the house.
She smiles as I approach and pats the cushion next to her. I sit where she signified and she puts her hand over my shoulder after I sit. I rock the swing with my feet as I try to converse with her. She starts first.
"How's my family? Is anybody offending you?"
I shake my head. "Not at all. I love the energy of your siblings."
She nods as she looks out into the forest. "They're rambunctious little scamps, aren't they?"
I nod. "We've got to do something to pass the time, right?"
She smiles. "I dunno what we can do."
I think for a moment. I'm honestly emptier than a bucket of water after a fox spent three days in the desert without it. Speaking of water, "Hey," I say anxiously, putting on a fake smile. "Where's your bathroom?"
She rolls her eyes, muttering something under her breath. "Go through the door, take a left in the hall, and the closest one is the third door on the left."
"Thanks," I say, standing. "See you in a minute." I walk through the door and follow Judy's instructions. "It's the third door on the left," I say to myself. I find it and knock, somebody answers within it. I wait until they emerge. Tristan opens the door a minute later and smiles. "Oh, hey, Nick," she says quickly before I enter.
I emerge later and return to my spot near Judy. She smiles as I return. "Comfortable?" She asks.
"Well, a bathroom's a bathroom. What can'ya say?"
"True," she laughs. "I think it was good having you here."
I smirk. "You're wanting me to leave already? If so, I'd be glad to…"
She shakes her head. "Just came up. Howabout we go play with my siblings?"
"Better than sittin' here and getting older." I say.
We did a lot to waste the afternoon - we played with Judy's siblings, I read them another book (or two, or three) and went on a walk-and-talk with Judy in the woods, along with a few other things. It felt weird, yet satisfying to be out in the country with my friend and to be away from city life. I did get caught staring at my phone a couple times, and Judy firmly told me to put it away.
The afternoon went as fast as ice cream selling during a hot summer day in Zootopia. Dinner arrived and we all had soup. We played a little more until Judy decided it was time to go to bed.
The sun was hiding behind the tree just ahead of the house, revealing a truly beautiful sunset. We went inside to discover most of the kids asleep, and Judy quietly lead me to a bedroom up the stairs, and she turned on the light. The room was omitted from decoration except for a single lamp on a bedstand adjacent to a bed, which was in the corner of the room. The walls were painted a light grey, and I presumed it was a guest room.
"This is our guest room," Judy says to me. "If you're having trouble or such, my room's down the hall, third door on the right from here. It says 'Judy' on it. The bathroom is exactly across from this room - oh, and I need you to follow me for a sec."
I follow her to her room and she opens the top drawer of her dresser. She pulls out a pair of black shorts and a plain white T-shirt. She puts the shirt to my chest and the shorts to my waist to be sure that they fit, which they did. I wished her goodnight and hugged her, then departed to my bedroom.
I changed into my PJs and got into the bed. It felt better than the floor, for a change. I smile as I begin to drift to sleep.
Just on the verge of unconsciousness, I hear a noise. It sounded weird, like a knock.
A knock?
I swing my legs over the side of my bed and walk over to the door. I open it slowly and my eyes widen as I examine the figure before me.
Hello, guys, CrazyWriter here. I thank anybody who has read this chapter. I will publish a new chapter between the time periods of 3 days and three months. (As aformentioned, I will be working on a Christmas special, so estimated creation may be subject to change.) If you want to give me suggestions, please do so, and anybody who also wants to ask a question, to add something to this current chapter or suggest something for a future chapter, please PM me or send me an email (address is in my profile) and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Any constructive criticism is appreciated, but please try to avoid flares, as they will not be tolerated and will be immediately removed/reported. Thank you for your cooperation.
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Disclaimer: I am not involved in the creation, distribution, or design of any of the characters, settings, or personalities involved with any involved characters or settings already mentioned. The original characters are a property of Disney© and Disney Animation Studios©.
