A/N: Hello everyone!
Here is the second chapter of "Embrace It". Please excuse any mistakes, I did my best to edit as much as I could. To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I think I managed to get it into the direction I wanted, since I actually have a plot line to follow this time, but I'm not sure if it flows. Please let me know! Also, be patient with me. Things will be revealed in their due time.
Anyways, I wanted to give a big thanks to all my readers and reviewers! I may have mentioned this already, but whenever I read a review, it makes my day! It also makes me think. You know who you are! Lol anyways, enjoy!
UPDATE 7/8/2016: Oh my goodness! Why didn't anyone tell me there were so many typos?! I am appalled! I was just reading it for fun, and then all of a sudden I see typo after typo! I just had to go back in and fix it! I hope it's a lot better now guys.
Disclaimer: I do not own!
Judy Hopps was a proud bunny. With no one supporting her and her decisions for most of, if not all of her life, she had to be. While her parents no doubt loved her, they didn't support her. It was that pride in her accomplishments and actions that kept her going for all those years. The motivating factor each and every time she reached a low point in her life. Admittedly, her pride did get her in trouble every now and then, most memorable being her first press conference and her falling out with a certain fox…it still hurt to think of it, even now.
She made it a point to keep it in check nowadays.
Today, however, was special. For she had never felt such pride as she did then as she pinned a brand new badge onto the uniform of her best friend. Nicholas P. Wilde was now a cop, graduating at the top of his class, a mammal of law, and her partner. She was so proud of him she could just hug him! But she won't. Not yet. She had to remain professional, even though she was so excited!
He was the first fox cop! Just like she was the first bunny.
Looking up into emerald eyes, Judy gave him a salute as she tried to calm the trembling that was slowly starting. Because of his Academy training, they hadn't seen as much of each other as they had the month before, so the knowledge that this would no longer be the case was making her jittery. Nick gave her an affectionate look, his tail swaying happily, before he gave her a salute. As the cheering began, she couldn't stop the huge smile from overtaking her small face.
It was all a blur for Judy after that, her entire being focused on getting to her fox so she could hug him. It seemed like it was no time at all before she was in front of her fox once again, her paw clutching his tie as she gave him a smile. She watched as he smirked lazily at her, a witty remark on his lips, no doubt. Before he could even get the words out, Judy tugged on his tie, hard.
Chuckling softly as he returned the hug, Nick nuzzled his face against the top of her head. "Hey Carrots, you were great up there. You have surprisingly good vocabulary for a country bumpkin."
Judy punched him in the gut halfheartedly, causing the fox to let out a small "ouf" as she giggled. "Sly fox."
"Smart bunny."
"Let's celebrate!" Judy suddenly exclaimed as she pulled away from the hug. Her eyes were bright with excitement. "We have the rest of the day off!"
"Well what did you have in mind?"
"Well, Clawhauser and a few others from the force are getting together. Apparently, Fangmeyer's cousin graduated with you and will be joining the precinct as well." Judy said as she tapped her chin in thought, her ears quirking to the side slightly. She missed the way Nick's eyes narrowed minutely at her words. "I was thinking we could mingle with them for a little while, so you can get to know your new co-workers a bit, and then go back to your place for movie night!"
Movie night at Nick's place was a favorite of Judy's. Because of the income he was making previously, he had been able to afford a very nice entertainment set that the two used a lot in the month prior to him entering the Academy. It hadn't gotten any use since then, becausse he had to stay on camp grounds for the duration of his training, so she was eager to start the routine again.
That she got to spend more time with her fox was a bonus.
Judy wasn't exactly sure when she began thinking of the fox as her fox, but she knew it was sometime around his savage episode. The fear of losing him, of never having him around again, had terrified her more than she could have ever fathomed. The relief she felt when he was savage, but still her Nick, had been so immense, that she hadn't cared what the other officers thought as she cuddled with the savage fox. She was just so glad that she still had her fox. The extent of her feelings terrified her, but she couldn't help but want to be around the fox, and knew she was in over her head.
Sighing dramatically, Nick replied, "I suppose we could do that, but!" He lifted up a finger here. "You have to make me that blueberry crumble dish you learned from your mother."
Judy giggled. "Sure, no problem. Is that all?"
The sly, almost flirtatious smirk the fox directed at her made her heart beat faster and her ears heat up as she blushed. As if he knew, his smirk turned into a mischievous grin as he winked at her. "For now."
Eyes wide, Judy chuckled nervously as she tried to come up with a witty comeback, but her mind was currently frazzled from what she assumed was implied. He had started this type of teasing about a month ago, and while she joined in the banter sometimes, it mostly left her flustered and speechless the majority of the time, much to the fox's amusement. "Right…" Grabbing his tie once more, it was quickly becoming her favorite way to lead him places, she pulled him away from the crowd. "Come on! We need to meet up with everyone else at The Watering Hole in Savannah Central!"
Nick chuckled in amusement, his green eyes warm with affection, as he let the small rabbit lead him. He ignored the stares the pair garnered, the expressions of shock the other graduates had when they realized who exactly he was so familiar with. He had made it a point to keep his friendship with Judy a secret during his time at the Academy, knowing how animals would react if they knew he was on good terms with a semi-celebrity. He had wanted animals to get to know him for who he was, not who he knew. In the end, there weren't very many, maybe three or four, out of all the graduates that he was on good terms with. The rest had been less than savory with him, and he enjoyed their reactions immensely.
Petty revenge was a dish best served cold, with a side of carrots.
~o.8.o~
"Judy!" Came the overly enthusiastic voice of Benjamin Clawhauser as he waved at the officer that had just entered the diner known as The Watering Hole. It was a cozy, homey kind of place, owned by a family of lions. Being late afternoon, there wasn't much activity, only those looking for a cheap but good lunch meandering about, and of course a group of nine from the ZPD precinct one.
The large cheetah quickly scooped up the giggling rabbit and gave her a big hug before glancing around. "Where's this new partner of yours that you've told me so much about, Judy?"
"He's just making sure the parking meter is set for a long enough time. It would be embarrassing if we got a ticket." Judy smiled sheepishly, remembering her first day when she had to give herself a parking ticket. At that moment the door opened, and Clawhauser turned his attention towards it. Unbeknownst to the two, so did the eight other officers that were seated not too far from the door.
Usually, the appearance of a fox would not garner the reaction this particular fox did. In fact, most would either ignore the animal, or keep a close eye on it, just in case it tried to pull a fast one on them. This fox, however, was not your usual fox.
It was the subtle edge of danger the fox gave off, the almost feral air around him. There was a particular type of grace as he moved, giving the perception of deadly precision. No step was unintentional; his tail swayed with purpose; large ears catching every sound and taking them into consideration; and the careless half-lidded nature of his eyelids did nothing to take away from the piercing gaze of his emerald eyes as he removed his sunglasses from his face.
The new officer may have been the smallest predator in that bar, but he suddenly seemed to be the most dangerous.
"Whoa…" Benjamin said in awe, gaining a curious look from Judy, who noticed none of this. For the rabbit, the fox was just Nick, her best friend.
The perceived deadly grace was vanquished in the blink of an eye as the fox tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "Is it national Stare-At-A-Fox Day, or do I have something on face?"
Rolling her eyes at his bad joke, Judy ignored it in favor of introducing her fox to the cheerful cheetah. "Nick, this is Benjamin Clawhauser. He's the receptionist during the morning for the ZPD. I've told you about him." Indeed, Nick remembered the many tales of gossip the bunny had told him she had with the large cheetah, as well as his obsession with Gazelle. He was not disappointed by what he saw. "Ben, this is Nick Wilde, my new partner!"
"Pleasure meeting you!" Ben exclaimed excitedly as he shook the fox's paw. "Judy has told me so much about you! I look forward to seeing you in action!"
"Uh, thanks?" Nick said, unsure what exactly to say to that. What had Carrots been telling the cheetah? Glancing at the grinning bunny, he asked, "Should I be worried? You didn't tell him anything embarrassing, did you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know." Judy smirked, eliciting one from her fox.
"Sly bunny."
"Dumb fox."
Ben couldn't help but be amused by their antics, and quickly ushered them to the table with the other officers. "Come, let's get you two seated and introduce you to the others, Nick. Though from what I've heard, you might know a few of them already."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Nick asked in mock offense. The cheetah merely chuckled as he gestured at the two empty seats next to his own as he took a seat. Somehow, he already liked Benjamin a lot. The cheetah was unbiased. Maybe that was just Judy working her magic, but he already felt a lot more comfortable than when he had first entered the diner.
Seating themselves, Nick surveyed the group at the table, tallying up the animals in attendance. A polar bear, a tiger, a hippo, an elephant, a pure white wolf, a grey she-wolf—his eyes lingered on her a second longer in recognition, finally putting a face to the familiar scent—and two rhinos; one male and one female. 'It's like the start of a bad joke.' Nick snickered mentally. Surveying the animals once more, he lingered on the male rhino for a few second before recognition flashed in his mind.
"Officer McHorn!" Nick greeted, earning a raised brow from the other mammals there and an amused look from the male rhino, now identified as Officer McHorn. "I almost didn't recognize you! Did your horn grow? Get a tan?" He teased, much to the officers' amusement.
Ignoring the jest, the rhino nodded in greeting. "It's good to see you walking upright and talking, fox. I'm surprised you recognize me, considering the circumstances of our last meeting." Everyone at the table, save the she-wolf, knew what circumstances McHorn was talking about. The she-wolf looked to the white wolf with confusion and suspicion, who merely shrugged and muttered, "Later."
"I make it a point to remember every mammal I meet." Nick smirked. "Just in case."
"You must have the memory of an elephant." The elephant herself chuckled as she extended her trunk to the fox. "Maxine Francine." She introduced herself, and proceeded to introduce the rest of the officers there, all giving waves or nods as greetings. "You already know Dwayne and Ben. The other rhino is Dwayne's sister, Sasha Rhinowitz. Alexei Grizzoli is the polar bear, that's Diego Delgato," she said gesturing to the tiger. "Jeffrey Higgins is the hippo, and then you have Ralph Fangmeyer and his cousin, Jennifer Howler. She's a new recruit, like yourself, so you probably recognize her from the Academy." Nick nodded in confirmation, barely giving the she-wolf any acknowledgement besides that.
"Name's Nick Wilde, for those who don't know."
"So has anyone order yet?" Judy asked as she grabbed a menu. "I'm starving for some carrots!"
"That's called cannibalism, Carrots." Nick pointed out with a smirk.
"Oh shut it!"
Once the laughter calmed down, the table placed their orders and delved into small talk as they waited for their lunch. It was Delgato, who sat across from the two small officers, who asked the question of how the two met.
"Oooh, I want to hear this, too." Came Ben's two cents. "You haven't told me this one, Judy."
"Well, uh…" Judy hesitated, glancing towards the fox, who laughed once he realized her issue.
"I appreciate you trying to protect my reputation, Carrots, but Bogo already knows, so there's no point in keeping it a secret." Nick smiled before facing Ben, who was curiously watching the fox. The other officers were as well. "I was in the middle of trying to hustle a jumbo pop from an elephant ice cream shop not too far from here. I was then able to con Carrots here into paying it for me."
"In my defense, I thought he was a single father trying to buy it for his son's birthday." Judy moaned in embarrassment. Till this day, even though she'd never regret meeting the cunning fox, she wished she hadn't fallen for the act.
"Dumb bunny." Nick snickered.
"So you were a con artist?" Ralph asked, intrigued. "A small time criminal? How'd you get into the Academy?"
"Carrots here and the Chief put in a good word for me because of my role in the Nighthowler case. I guess you'd call it a 'field-promotion' type of situation." Nick explained. "I also made sure all my debts were paid; my record's clean now since I never did any jail time. But man, did my savings take a hit. Good thing I have a steady job now since I can't retire early." He sighed dramatically on that last sentence.
"It's called Karma." Judy said casually, ignoring the mock glare the fox shot her. "Anyway, it was actually thanks to his…former lifestyle that we were able to crack the Nighthowler case. If not for his knowledge, it would have ended before it even started." The smugness radiating off of Nick was palatable.
"You obviously give the fox too much credit." The snide remark came from Jennifer. "Be honest, you did most of the work, didn't you?"
"It was a team effort." Judy said in a steady voice, her face hard. Nick merely glanced at the wolf with bland curiosity while the rest of the table fell silent. Their faces, however, told one what they felt about the turn the conversation took. Higgins, Rhinowitz, and Grizzoli looked uncomfortable in the sudden tension, almost guilty in fact. Francine stared incredulously at the she-wolf, while HcHorn scowled in disapproval. Delagto was rubbing his face in exasperation, mumbling in Spanish, while Fangmeyer remained expressionless, but the hard glint in his eyes said otherwise. Clawhauser had both paws covering his mouth in shock, wide eyes bouncing between the she-wolf, the fox, and the bunny.
"Meaning, you did all the work." The she-wolf said smugly.
"Do not put words in my mouth." Judy said firmly as she stood up on her chair, gaining the attention of the few mammals in the establishment. "Nick was a key witness, and his knowledge of Zootopia and its mammals is why the case was solved in the first place. It's because of that that the relationship between predators and prey is starting to heal." She was on a role now. "If you would just open up your mind to the fact that anyone can break out of the chains set by society, you would see what a great—"
"Okay, Judy, we get it." Nick interrupted in a calm voice, gaining her attention by using her given name. He really only ever used it to get her attention, since it was so different from what he usually called her. He placed a calming paw on her shoulder. "You're causing a scene."
Judy hadn't realized how out of breath she was until Nick stopped her rant, and suddenly she was panting. Taking a quick glance around the table and the diner, she realized that everyone was staring at the bunny. Heat radiating off of her entire body and her ears flat against her back, she sat down quickly with a quiet, "Oh."
"Don't worry about it, you're too cute for anyone to get mad at you." Nick patted her head, and she didn't even protest about the jab. "She's just jealous that a sly fox like myself made it as valedictorian fair and square, while she didn't."
A snort came from the she-wolf after she had recovered from the dressing the rabbit had given her. The small cop was surprisingly intimidating when she wanted to be. "Yeah, right. I bet you cheated on the written exam and took steroids for the physical exam."
Nick was not at all surprised by the outburst. He remembered Jennifer Howler alright. In the Academy, there had been three types of cadets: the largest group being those prejudice and downright speciesist and violent towards the fox; the next group consisted of those who, while they never attempted anything against his person, they didn't stop it either; and then there were those who honestly wanted to get to know him. Jennifer was a part of the second group.
Adopting a disinterested look, Nick smirked lazily at the glaring she-wolf. "Nope, went about it the old fashioned way: I studied hard for that exam. As for the claim of steroid, that's just preposterous. Those drug tests are taken randomly and supervised by bloodhounds. There's no way to cheat it."
Humiliated and upset, Jennifer stayed quiet, knowing she had made a huge mistake with her false allegations. Especially when the group she was with seemed rather fond of the fox.
Standing up, Nick pulled out his wallet and placed a few bills on the table. "I just remembered that I have an appointment I cannot miss, so you'll have to excuse me. It was nice meeting you all. This should cover the both of us. You coming Carrots?"
Judy nodded mutely, still embarrassed by her outburst. Glancing at Ben, she mouthed, "Sorry." The cheetah merely gave her a thumbs-up.
"See ya tomorrow!" And with that, the two smaller mammals walked out of the diner.
There was a moment of silence before Fangmeyer stood up. Without turning to his cousin, he said, "We'll discuss this later." And then the white wolf chased after the two. The resulting silence was devastating for the grey she-wolf.
Meanwhile, with our favorite duo, Judy glanced at Nick worriedly as they exited the diner. She was still upset about what the she-wolf had implied about her fox and her reaction to said implications, but it was him that she was worried about. His face was calm, but the erratic flickering of his tail told her what he was really feeling, to an extent. Reaching out a paw and grabbing his arm, she pulled them to a stop just a few feet from the diner.
"Nick, I—"
"It's fine, Carrots." Nick cut her off, not looking at her. Ears flat, eyes narrowed, he allowed the mask of calm to crack a little in her presence. He didn't shake her paw off, which she was grateful for. "Prejudice will follow me wherever I go, I know that. I'm used to it. I just thought…I don't know what I thought. Forget it." But he did know. He had taken a page out of Judy's ever optimistic book, and had applied it to his life, only to be disappointed. He wasn't giving up; no way was he giving up over something like this. Not again. It was just a painful reminder of how he felt when he had been betrayed as a kit. It was a feeling he was sure he needed to get quickly used to.
Silence fell on the pair as Judy kept her concerned gaze on the disappointed fox. Most fell for the untouchable façade Nick put on, and when they had first met, so had Judy. But time had passed, and as she got to know the fox better, she knew that a lot more things affected him than he let on. Only the slightest of tells would give it away when he was in the act; the slight flick of his tail, the twitch of an ear a certain way, or the brief pause before a smirk slowly crossed his snout. The bunny had become an expert on reading her best friend, but lately, it seemed like he wasn't trying as hard when it was just the two of them. She didn't know what to make of it.
She hoped it meant he was letting her in.
Nick took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he rubbed his face with a paw. He couldn't let little things like this get to him, and normally, they didn't. It could be dangerous. Well, not really. He could control himself well enough to where he wouldn't snap at anyone overly aggressive, but he was still working the kinks out of his control. He was not one who liked to flirt with this type of danger.
But Judy's reaction affected him as well. While he appreciated it, for there weren't many who would stand up for him, he knew she hurt because of how he was being mistreated.
He didn't like Judy hurting. He didn't like it all.
Before either of them could break the silence, the sound of the door to the diner opening drew their attention to the white wolf walking out.
"Ralph?" Judy questioned curiously.
The white wolf nodded at the bunny before he focused solely on the fox, who's mask was now perfectly intact. "I apologize for my cousin's behavior. Bigotry was not a trait I was aware she possessed." His ears flicked to the side slightly in shame.
"Don't worry about it." Nick said indifferently.
Fangmeyer cleared his throat. "Just know that not everyone shares her opinion on such matters, and that I would trust you with my life in a situation."
This time, a genuine smile spread across Nick's face. "Likewise, Fangmeyer."
Satisfied, the wolf gave them another nod. "Wilde, Hopps. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he disappeared back into the diner.
There was beat of silence before a small touch on his paw brought Nick's attention back to the bunny at his side. Judy was looking up at him with big, violet eyes, a small smile on her face. Rolling his eyes as he secretly cherished the warm feeling rising within him, Nick stretched and ostentatiously changed the subject. "Come on, Fluff! I have an appointment with a tasty fish fillet at Casa Bronco that I simply cannot miss."
Shaking her head in amusement, but deciding not to comment on it, Judy chased after the fox, who had started walking in the aforementioned restaurant's direction. "Nick, Casa Bronco isn't opened at this time of the day."
"Well you see, I know this honey badger that owes me a favor…"
"Of course you do." Judy giggled as the pair walked side-by-side.
"If you're nice enough, I'll even ask them to whip up their famous carrot soup." Nick said with a smirk.
"When am I not nice?"
"A week ago, when you stole a blueberry from me."
"That was a week ago!" Judy protested. "And it doesn't count! You took a tomato from my plate."
"Well…"
And the two continued their banter, smiles on their faces, as they walked. Just enjoying each other's company. In fact, they were so engrossed in their conversation and teasing, not even Nick noticed the eyes on them as they walked pass a small café by the name of Tasty Belles.
So, what do you think? Let me know! Until next time^^
Ja ne!
~Star