Chapter 2 - Pink Squirrels
"Look at that ther' blue sky Travis, it's a day just-a screaming to be explored." Gideon, the chubby country fox, was looking outside his bakery's front window. Travis, his business partner, was busy rolling out some dough behind the counter. Travis and Gideon had known each other ever since they were children, and it was with Travis that Gideon decided to pursue his hidden talent of baking as a profession. Travis the weasel wiped a bead of sweat away from his forehead, "Gideon I'm sure the distributers will call anytime now don't ya worry none." The fox looked down passed the white gate in front of the bakery and studied a group of children playing a rather disorganized version of football in the street. Travis knew Gideon like the back of his paw, the predator was anxious, nervous even. "Tell ya what Gideon, why don't you run these deliveries around, Matts busy in the back and the fresh air will do ya some good."
The truck was humming along the dirt path, windows open and the sun shining bright in front of the fox as he made his way to the day's last stop. He always saved the Hopps as his last delivery, he enjoyed catching up and messing around with some of the younger bunnies. He saw the carrot stand in the distance so he swerved on the side and got out into the beating sun. "Hotter than a billy goat with a blowtorch out here ain't it Mr. H?" Mr. Hopp's met the fox with a smile as he took ahold of a tray of beautifully baked apple pies. "That it is Gid, that it is, don't go nowhere ya hear, the misses got something to tell ya." The fox cocked his head a little and whipped his paws off on his apron as he followed the bunny to the stand where Mrs. Hopps was fanning herself in the shade. "Now that's one way to stay cool I do say, what can I do ya for Ma'am?" In a split second Mrs. Hopps took her fan and smacked the fox on the back of his head. The fox reeled back and rubbed the back of his head, "Oh jeez Mrs. H, what was that fer?" The mother bunny reached into her pocket for something, "Judy has been trying to get ahold of you all weekend, she says she's been texting the number she has for you but you are just not replying." The fox looked down at the smartphone that was being held in front of his face with texts from Judy to her mother describing her dilemma. "Oh well, that's on account-a I don't really have a real fancy machine like yours ma'am those things scare the dickens out of me." Gideon reaches in his own pocket and pulls out the cell phone used for his business, an old Nokia cell phone from the stone ages. "If not for the help from Travis I would barely know how to call someone on one of these things to be truthful."
The fox found himself standing outside the doors of the Pounced Cell Phone Company store, the only one in the tri-burrow area. To his dismay he could not arrange a time where he and Travis would have the time off to go upgrade his phone, Travis would know what to do at a place like this, he was sure of it. Alas he would have to take this plunge by himself, he was uneasy but he found the will to open the doors to venture inside the pure white building. He immediately regretted the decision as soon as he stepped a paw inside the building, the room was full wall to wall with phones and phone accessories. He swore he saw more cases for phones than he did actual phones. If you could even call what he was laying his eyes on as phones, they looked like miniature television sets to the fox. "Where in tarnation are the buttons?" Gideon was being helped by a panther in a bright yellow t-shirt that read "The future is one tap away." "How can I text my friend if ther's no buttons on this thing? What am I even paying fer if there ain't no buttons? Don't sound like such a smart phone to me." It took a good hour and a half and all the patients the panther could muster to explain the broad strokes of a touchscreen and its properties. When a purchase was finally made (The I-Claw 4) Gideon walked out of the store with a grin from ear to ear. "Ha, this is easier than I expected, not much to it really, even got the weather on here ain't that fancy!" The fox sat in his car in the parking lot for a good hour just fiddling with his new toy and feeling like he was one of those characters from the city he saw on the TV so often. After setting a background wallpaper of a cornfield, and inputting all his contacts both personal and business, he set off down the road brimming with confidence and self-esteem.
"Well I'll be Gideon Grey with a smartphone this I must see" – Judy Hopps
"Believe it bunny, I can't believe I've been so long without this thing,
I purchased what they call an app, been tossing birds at pigs all day." – Gideon Grey
"Oh no, you found games now there's no turning back :P." – Judy Hopps
"Sorry about missing you the other day, I would never have thought
that you would be in Zootopia, Nick said something about a meeting?" – Judy Hopps
"Travis has been trying to expand the business into the city" – Gideon Grey
"So I went and met with some folks and been waiting to hear back from" – Gideon Grey
"That's so awesome! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you Gideon" – Judy Hopps
"Actually I've been trying to get ahold of you for a bit now,
What do you think about coming back into the city again?" – Judy Hopps
"What for?" – Gideon Grey
"Nick and I are going to the new Gazelle concert since a friend has some extra tickets
would love for you to come and get the full city night time experience! You can stay
at my place for the night." – Judy Hopps
Gideon was once again on the train speeding into the city of Zootopia, this time the night time sights were greeting him rather than signaling to end of his day. The only experience the fox had ever had to attending a concert was the local barn dances in the tri-burrows and since this was the city it only made sense to Gideon to dress up. He had to do some digging in his bottom draw at home to get to some of the clothing he had not worn in some time. He was sporting a button up silk brown t-shirt with a red stripped tie, his shirt was tucked into a pair of blue jeans that was neatly cuffed and fitted just right. His once again felt his paws sweating as he felt a combination of excitement and anxiety, coming to the city twice in one week was taking a toll on the country fox. The train slowed down as it entered the station, the fox exited and looked around for any sign of his bunny friend.
Down a ways, towards the entrance, he saw a rather small bunny jumping up and down waving her arms around to get the attention of the fox. Judy jumped in for a hug which took the fox by surprise and almost doubled over on himself. Nick was smiling behind her and went in for a handshake. "Ok guys, Ben just texted me, either we get there soon or he and the chief are going in without us sooooo let's get a move on shall we." Gideon's ears perked up when he heard mention of the name. Ben? Could it be the officer behind the counter? He couldn't help but feel his nerves returning to him, but shook it from his head and followed the two out of the station. Walking down the streets of Zootopia at night was like a completely different city all together, the night life here was everything that he came to expect from watching on the TV. Gideon and Judy stayed behind a bit talking and catching up on the everyday life in the burrows while Nick walked ahead texting. "Miss Benson did WHAT?" Judy threw both of her paws to her muzzle in astonishment. "I swear on a stack-o bibles Judes she got the broom and stormed out towards the youngn's I could have sworn she was out for murder." The two giggled and continued to swap stories of their day to day lives.
They finally arrived at the large stadium that the concert was being held at, at this point Gideon was just used to being out of words, he had never seen so many people in one place. Nick got a text and lead both Judy and Gideon to a location near a sign that read "VIP" standing right underneath was a rather large muscular bull and Gideon's stomach quickly knotted. Right beside the bull stood the Cheetah from his last visit, he was in civilian clothing and had thick framed glasses on, but all he needed to confirm that it was indeed the same creature was the smile. His smile made the fox smile, his knot grew tighter and his paws started to sweat once again. He needed to get ahold of himself this was not like the fox at all, he needed to regain his composer. The two groups met, Nick and Benjamin started immediately talking about some work related inside joke, and Judy introduced her boss to her home town friend. Gideon shook the hand of the large bull, Bogo was his name, he talked about how proud he was in Judy and how much she had down in the little time she had been there. Gideon was only half listening to him, he couldn't stop glancing over at Nick and the cheetah.
The concert was in mid swing, loud was an understatement. The stadium was roaring with the cries of fans and lights were flashing all over the place, Gideon was afraid he was going to have an episode of some sorts from the over stimulation of the experience as a whole. The fox was seated next to Judy who was jumping up and down and talking to Nick, who was video taking the stage as per her request. Down the line of furs he could barely make out the bull and next to him was Benjamin. For someone of his size he was surprisingly agile, he was dancing in perfect unison to the tigers on the stage, it seemed he had memorized all their moves. It was at this time that the fox noticed some things. The cheetah's tail was long and thick, his body was much tubbier than his but for some reason the fox admired the way he carried his weight. His eye's, were brown. He was snapped out of his trance by Judy touching his arm. When he turned to face her he saw that both Nick and their chief were walking out to the aisle in quite a hurry. "I'm so sorry Gideon" The fox saw that the bunny had a rather worried look on her face. "We just got a call in from headquarters, a major break in a case that we have been working on for months, we need to head to the rainforest district, is it ok if I leave you here with Benjamin he can walk you to my apartment after the concert I'll meet you back there ok." Gideon could see the urgency in the bunny's eye's and gave a nod, "No need to worry about me Judes, go get em miss officer"
All through the concert Gideon's mind was racing, what would he say once the concert was over? Did Benjamin know he was supposed to walk him to Judy's apartment? He didn't want to be any trouble to the cheetah, he barely even knew him. Yet his heart was pounding uncontrollably at the thought of being able to even talk to the big feline. Why was that? Before he knew it the singer on stage was giving her final encore and thanking the crowd for attending and the lights flashed back on in the stadium. Gideon looked down at the concrete ground and twirled his paw pads together fidgeting. He looked up and when his eyes got to level ground he was staring right into the eyes of the cheetah. "THAT WAS THE BEST PERFORMANCE EVERRRR!" The fox was knocked off his feet and fell right on his ass, luckily the fall was cushioned by his bushy tail. The cheetah laughed a bit and helped the fox off the ground. "Sorry about that Gideon, Gazelle is just such a goddess in vocal form, I just can't believe the concert is over already." "I. sure was something wasn't it." Gideon regained his footing and looked around at all the fans who were now chatting amongst themselves gushing over the nights events. "It's too bad the others missed this encore it was the best encore I've ever seen of Gazelle and TRUST MEEEEE I have seen a LOT" Gideon couldn't believe it, he was really talking to this guy, this person that had been in his thoughts for a week straight. The cheetah whipped his head around at the fox "Gideon, I know this amazing bar down the street it's where all the fans go after a concert, the bar plays the greatest hits of Gazelle on repeat, we HAVE to go." Gideon nodded and replied "Sounds like a plan Mr. Benjamin, I've been a fixin for a good drink for a bit." Benjamin lead the way out of the stadium dodging and weaving through the crowd of hyped up fans.
Finally they got out of the stadium and it was pitch black outside, the street was lit up by neon signs and taxi's weaving through traffic carrying passengers to their next night club or bar. They only had to walk a good 5 minutes till they reached the bar in question. The Pony Bar, was the name, it seemed small and charming from the outside. Once inside though it was a mess of neon lights and loud music that made the concert seem like a quiet event. The fox stood at the entrance, he immediately realized that he stood out in his formal attire. Slightly embarrassed and ready to turn tail and run, he was stopped by a paw grabbing his own. His stomach immediately filled with butterflies and he saw Benjamin take ahold of him and guide him to the middle of one of the many bars in the room. He could feel the warmth of his touch, he could no longer hear the loud music or hear the chatter of the hundreds of creatures dancing and talking. He could only feel the fur of the cheetah rub against his own paw pads. He was snapped back to reality when he was seated at a stool and his paw was released.
"MATTHEW! Over here, were gonna need two Pink Squirrels pronto thanks a bunch." It seemed Benjamin knew quite a few people here, must be a regular. Set in front of the fox, was what looked like more of a juice or lemonade than an alcoholic drink. He looked over at the cheetah who took a sip and giggled with delight. After tasting the drink it was very different from the straight whisky the fox had grown accustomed to in the country. Fruity was not necessarily bad for this fox since he did spend most of his time baking pies with the fruitiest of flavors imaginable. He just never expected this to be in his drink. "Matthew keep em coming till I fall off this stool or so help me, so what did you think about the concert foxy?" Gideon turned his head to face the smiling feline who was resting his head on his paw and looking intensely at the fox. "Well… it certainly wasn't anything you'd see in the tri-burrows I'll tell ya that." The cheetah laughed and started on his second bright pink drink. The alcohol was taking affect and eased the fox up a little, his started to settle and he was finally starting to relax for the first time that night. The cheetah in the stool was a funny sight, he could barely fit on the stool because of his size but he seemed to be quite comfortable. After about the forth glasses the fox and the feline were talking loud and covered all sorts of conversation points. Gideon talked about his pie business and about some of his rude customers, about the meeting and how his fears of not being good enough for the city in terms of business, about how it had made him doubt himself. The fox was also getting to know the cat on a very personal level, that night he learned that Benjamin loved his job at the precinct, he was from a family of 8 brothers and sisters, and also he had an uncle that worked in politics. Gideon finally felt like he was getting to a level of comfortability with someone he met in the city, he started smiling and his stomach was filled with butterflies once again. He could not imagine wanting to be anywhere else than where he was at that moment with Benjamin.
The fox's ears began to ring, his head gave a sharp painful prick and his neck was stiff. The fox had felt this feeling many times before in the past. He had drunk a little too much and was experiencing a very strong hangover. Trying to open his eyes and look around was a task, the room he was in was out of focus and his head was pounding. Finally he regained his consciousness, he was laying in a bed, but who's bed? Gideon's eyes shot open wide and his stomach feel flat, he was under the covers in a bed….. completely naked. His breathing started to quicken as he looked around the room trying to make sense of something, was he in Judy's apartment? He wanted to get up but his body was still aching and in utter shock of the situation. He then heard something from outside the room. A voice that was familiar to him. The voice was humming a song that he recognized from the concert last night, and his nose started to twitch as he sniffed around at his surroundings. He could smell the scent of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and what he could only describe as was his own fox musk coming from his exposed private parts underneath the sheets. He looked to his right and saw his clothing laid all around the room. The humming voice…it had to be. It was Benjamin, and Gideon was in HIS bed. The fox was on a verge of a nervous breakdown. What happened last night?
