Chapter 3

Everyday Routine

The room, now that Judy looked at it for the second time today, is definitely a wreck. Scattered across the floor were her clothes from yesterday along with a few clean ones that she tossed out of the drawers and closet when looking for a dumb pair of pants. Half of the comforter was on the floor too with the sheets in a tangled mess on the mattress. Last night's dinner was still on the coffee table and a few books from her personal shelf can be found anywhere but on the actual bookshelf.

Nick sighs, "It hasn't even been 24 hours yet, Carrots." The fox looks down at the bunny who's staring at her fiddling fingers in shame. "You come home to a lovely, clean bedroom where you can find everything and just relax." He crosses his arms with a smug smile on his muzzle. "It must be nice to have someone pick up after you. Do you think anyone comes to clean up my room?"

The bunny shakes her head. 'I feel so stupid. How did I get like this?! Back in BunnyBurrow I used to pick up after myself and at least keep my personal space tidy.' Judy groans and finally works up the nerve to make eye contact with Nick. "Okay I admit it, I did get a little lazy over the two years of living here. But! We can fix that, so let's get started!" She proudly marches into the mess that she made, Nick shrugs and follows.

Nick heads over to the empty white basket next to the bathroom door and picks it up. "Carrots." He called and she looks over her shoulder. "This is your laundry basket." He holds it up and waves it around a little. "I guess I should've labeled it before putting it in your room." He grins and Judy rolls her eyes, scooping up the clothes from yesterday.

"I know it's the laundry basket." She dumps the dirty outfit into the white basket and Nick raises a brow. "I just forgot about it."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"Do you want me to make you some sticky notes as a reminder?" He joked, Judy catching onto his playful tone.

"Only if you color code them."

"Don't worry Fluff, I'll add glitter and everything." She stifles a laugh and picks up one of the shirts from this morning and begins placing it back on the hanger. "What are you doing?" The knight gives him a confused smile, taking note of his semi serious expression.

"I'm putting the clothes away? Don't worry these are clean from this morning."

"Yeah, except that's not the way my job works. Carrots, all clothes on the floor are dirty, that's what they taught me. And if you don't do it right, you get suspension." The grey rabbit furrows her brows.

'That's a little ridiculous.' Is what she wanted to say but the sincere glimmer in his eyes told her otherwise. "Fine." She huffs and pulls the shirt off the hanger and tosses it in the basket. "So we have to wash all of these?"

The fox nods, "Yes, but we're going to tidy up in here first before moving to the laundry room."

"By tidy, do you mean just picking up trash? Or is there more?"

"There's more." He replies as the last pair of pants is tossed into the full basket. "We have to make your bed, reorganize the bookshelf, put the trash in an actual trash can, sweep the floor, and scrub down your bathroom. Though I personally like to wipe down everything else and clean your windows, but I guess we can skip that for today."

Judy, trying to stay as enthusiastic as she can, gives a thumbs up and a forced smile. 'How did "tidy up" turn into this long list of chores?!' She thought. Nick seemed happy about it though and Judy just assumed she was overthinking the boring tasks. The knight picks up five books, two from the coffee table and three from underneath the couch before making her way over to the shelf. Nick, surrounded in his own little stacks of books, looks at the spine of each one and places them in separate piles.

"Wow. How did you find all of those so fast?"

"I know where you tend to leave them." He doesn't look at her and the bunny shrugs.

She takes the first two books from her tiny pile and reads the cover. The Awakening by Kate Chopin and Heart of the Hunter by Linda Anne Wulf. Both are great books and Judy makes a mental note to read them again. Placing the two books side by side on the empty shelf, she looks down at the other three.

"Woah, okay hold up cottontail." She jumps and turns to face the fox.

"What? I'm just putting the books on the shelf."

"Carrots they have to be in alphabetical order." Her violet eyes run over the titles before switching their places. "No, alphabetically by the author's last name!"

"Wha-I had it right the first time then!" She shouts, switching the two books again.

Nick groans, "No, all of the books have to be alphabetized by the author's last name." He reaches over and snatches the two pieces of literature off the shelf and skims over the titles and authors. "Does W come right after C?"

"No, but why does it matter?! It's my bookshelf, not the library." Judy didn't understand how Nick could be so organized, as long as all of the books were on the shelf it should be fine.

"If you put them in order, then you know where everything is." Nick noticed the look on her face and he sighs. "Tell me, Fluff. When you go to the library, are the books alphabetized?"

"Yes, but like I said, this isn't the library." She takes the two books from the fox and places them on the shelf. "I don't care if my bookcase isn't perfectly organized. Just as long as all the books are on the shelf it should be fine. Right?" Nick furrows his brows and makes an attempt to take the books off the shelf but the knight catches his wrist and looks into his frustrated eyes. "Right?" He doesn't give her a glance.

"No, they ha-" Judy cuts him off and leans into his line of sight, trying to make some form of eye contact with the fox.

"Nick this isn't the library, and I'm not asking you to alphabetize them." Judy could tell that this alone was difficult for him. Striving for a perfection that goes unnoticed everyday. Was this the way slaves were trained? Her mind could only wonder why they had to be taught to correct even the smallest things. It caused her great confusion but the knight didn't want to debate it anymore. "Come on, lets get these on the shelf."

"You're frustrating me."

"Huh?" She looks over and noticed the anger coming off Nick, the light on his collar remaining a bright yellow.

"I said you are frustrating me. Why can't we do it my way? You volunteered to help me, so it should be done my way." Judy could hear the bitterness in his voice, but the light on his collar remained yellow.

'Still yellow? He's got a lot of self control...' Judy thought, she was amazed at how the fox could still express some emotions without the light turning red. Nick pushes himself off the floor and makes his way to the coffee table where last night's dinner laid.

Soon enough the two mammals finished cleaning up the bedroom and were heading down the hallway, Judy carrying the laundry basket. They walked in silence and haven't spoken after the book incident.

'Maybe I should've done it his way...' The knight thought, 'I didn't mean to make him upset. But I also didn't take Nick to be such a perfectionist.' She looks up at the fox. "Hey Nick? I'm sorry, it's just-"

"Saying anything after sorry is not an apology."

"...I'm really sorry, but-"

"Not an apology."

The rabbit sighs, "I'm just trying to explain myself."

"You shouldn't have to explain your actions when giving an apology. It means you're defending your own actions and that diminishes the purpose of apologizing. Just say I'm sorry and nothing else."

"But you should listen to what I have to say. Then maybe you'll understand things from my point of view."

"Fine." He stops and turns to face her. "I'm listening."

"Okay." She breathes. "I know you've been taught to do things a certain way. Some of which is a little excessive, but I want you to know that you don't have to do those things around me. I'm sorry if I made you upset, and I really hope you're not mad at me. I shouldn't have tried to change a routine you've been doing for years. So please, accept my apology."

Nick blinks, his face emotionless. "Accept your apology?" The fox turns away and begins walking again. "Can I ask you something first?"

"Y-Yeah! Anything."

"Why are you trying to interact with me? You've never taken an interest in low lives such as myself, nor have you attempted to mingle with the mammals of your status." Judy thinks for a moment.

'Why haven't I socialized with my peers?' She looks up at the fox and smiles. "As I've said before, I find you very interesting. And for the record, you're not a low life, nobody is."

Nick rolls his eyes "Give it a rest Carrots, it's not like I can get offended by my own life status."

"But I don't think of you as someone beneath me, you're just...an employee."

"An employee with no rights and a torture device around his neck." Nick stops in front of the laundry room. "Oh! And this employee works for free too. My life is amazing! I'm so happy with this great fortune the queen herself bestowed upon myself and fellow predators."

Judy looks down at the laundry in her paws. "It's not her fault that predators were reverting back to their savage instincts."

"So what?! It's our fault?!" The light on his neck flashes yellow and Nick bites his tongue to suppress those strong feelings of anger.

"Look all I'm saying is that some things can't be helped. It's in your DNA after all." Judy finally looks up from the basket, regret immediately overcoming her calm exterior. "I-I mean this was the only way we could help you!"

The fox takes in a deep breath before exhaling, "Yeah right. You prey didn't even bother helping us. The moment T.A.M.E collars were introduced you all said yes without taking the time to find a less painful, a less humiliating way of helping us." The bitterness in his voice made Judy's ears fall. "Not all predators were going savage, maybe they ate something bad or were having a mental break down? But nobody wanted to consider those possibilities." Nick snatched the laundry basket from her and glares. "I guess all it takes is a little fear to force mammals to turn their backs on each other."

"Nick I didn't mean...I didn't mean to-"

"Just stop! Go find something else to entertain you. I may be a slave but I'm not your slave! So leave me alone." The fox enters the laundry room, slamming the door in Judy's face. The bunny's sharp ears catch a faint yelp in pain from behind the door. She assumes it was from the collar around his neck. The torture device. The rabbit sighs and turns to walk away but is stopped when the door opens with Nick poking his head around the corner. Judy's ears perk up with a hopeful expression on her face. "By the way." The fox spoke, "I don't accept your apology." And with that, he slams the door again; leaving Judy to sulk by herself.

"How am I going to fix this?"