Characters mentioned by name except one are disney, blah blah. You would think service to the mouse as a janitor would be enough, but nope... Disclaimers still apply
As the sun starts peeking over the mountains, one of a series of alarm clocks starts going off in the valley in a home featuring a newly minted friendship, one of two occupants in a bed stirring awake as the radio plays a song.
We choose it, win or lose it
Love is never quite the same
I love you, now I've lost you
Don't feel bad, you're not to blame
Yawning as he stretches and rolls over, eyeballing a clock displaying 0600, Nick shakes his head a bit and pulls out his wallet from some clothes on the floor, flipping it open to reveal some photos, one of them a pretty looking woman smiling at the camera.
I know now I must go now
Though my heart wants me to stay
That girl is your tomorrow
I belong to yesterday
Sniffling a bit, Nick touches the photo and sets the wallet down on the bed, sitting up and looking at it, feeling a pair of arms suddenly wrap around his midsection, turning red in embarrassment and looking away as tears start to fall.
"Nick? What's wrong?" Dean asks, looking down at the bed, spotting a photo of a woman "Who is the lady?"
"Huh? Dean? I didn't mean to wake you... Just... Ugh... We barely know each other, and this song had to come on the radio.. heh..." Nick says, shaking his head. "True, we don't. Still will take time to get to know each other, but yesterday was a good start. Gotta start somewhere after all, hmm?" Dean says, wiping away some of his new friend's tears
"Yeah... just... it's hard you know... Remember when I mentioned that lady named Judy on scene yesterday?" "Yes I do Nick, assume that is her in the photo?" "Yes... I've managed to not cry as often since she passed on in my arms, but it still happens... Especially when the right song comes on"
Linger awhile, then I'll go with a smile
Still sniffling, Nick forces a weak smile "Well, should be easier now... The song is over.. "She was more then just a patient, We actually went back to elementary school. Might be cliché, but we met when some schoolyard bullies tried to harm her. It was in 4th grade, and they employed the tired rhetoric of picking on someone for what they wore. Why you verbally taunt and push someone for wearing a Rabbit patterned dress I still don't understand... Never will. Anyway, for some reason that day I rushed over and told them off, to leave her alone. Usually I kept to myself, but still not sure why I did that"
Dean ponders for a moment "Hmm, well maybe you started maturing on taking care of those who can't defend themselves?" "It's Possible Dean... Not exactly the product of a totally happy upbringing family wise, so good possibility that I reacted because of being pushed around myself. It was the typical verbal sparring and getting pushed myself, but managed to stand my ground. Oddly, it never went further like you would expect most playground skirmishes to go. A teacher on playground duty did see it and came over, Had some minor lunchroom skirmishes with tray tipping, but that was about it"
Dean smiles a bit "Well hey, at least you can say you helped save a rabbit in your youth!" Nick Frowns a bit as his eyes cloud over some "True, when you put it that way... heh. Oh geez, now I sound like a zootopia cliché! Anyway... A friendship did start there. She viewed me as a protector and clinged to me. Did hug many times on the playground. Then one day, she wasn't in school. Thinking she was sick, didn't think too much. Then it turned into a week, then a whole month. Finally, she came back, but in of all things... a wheel chair. I was called into the office later by the principal where Judy and her parents sat..."
Dean rerranges himself on the bed some, laying back and pulling you down with him onto the pillows "Oh no... that doesn't sound good. But why would you get called into the office?" "Well.. turns out I was all she really talked about when she was gone. Of course she talked about other stuff, but I was a near obsession. So, I walk in and get told to sit. Turns out, she had fallen ill when she got back home one day and rushed to the ER. They discovered she had a unknown heart defect. After that knowledge, I really became a protector of her. Luckily we went into junior high and high school together. With strength and age on my part, it became even easier to protect her. High school had to be the worst, but thank god for wrestling and weight training... Heh..." Nick Trails off, tears starting to flow again a little.
"It's... still hard to believe she is gone, you know? Our only ever real "fight" was that she wanted to become a police officer, Yeah yeah, it sounds like the movie, but she had a heart bigger then what was capable of making her function. She outgrew the wheel chair, but i'd more say she willed herself out of it. Much stronger then she actually was, at least physically. She got rid of that around the 8th grade. The best job she could find was being a stenotype operator. As much as we shared with each other, that was one thing she would never share... The absolute dirt, filth and bullshit that filled the court room. She heard it all. I still wonder if she just couldn't take it anymore, being stuck in that as police came in and out all day, doing what she truly yearned to do..." Nick says, taking on a very hardened but oddly soft look to his eyes
"What I say here never leaves this room okay Dean?" "I promise Nick... scouts honor and all that!" "Oh, you were a scout also? Eagle myself, i'll assume the same for you?" "Yep Nick, go big or go home!" "True true, especially those palms... whew... talk about difficult, eh Dean?"
"Yeah, that had to be the hardest to get in some cases, but worth it..." Dean says, detecting a shift in the air as Nick hardens his jaw even more, inhaling and exhaling sharply
"I... wanted to take her to see Zootopia so bad, to see it in the theater. It became hard, as my training was wrapping up, and it was brutal. She also was on that whopper of a case that turned out to be a total waste of time I just found a couple of days ago... Anyway, After the call came in for a wrecked vehicle on the freeway, my heart sank when we rolled code onto a very familiar car.. She was too far gone at that point, only able to weakly speak, and all that was able to be said was her name. I wanted to hear her voice the last time, strong as I could remember it, but that wasn't to be... As strong as she was, that strength has it's limits..." Nick says, sobbing suddenly, tears really flowing now
"As she laid to rest for the last time ever, all I could say was "Judy... you are at peace now. May you be free of bullies and goodnight... Carrots..." Nick hangs his head, the grief immense now, coming off his body...
"Nick... that's..." "Stupid to say? Yes... It still makes me recoil in horror, but i've managed to deal with it.." "No, it isn't. Don't ever think that, you were not in the right frame of mind.. No one is, especially when a close friend dies" Dean says, tightly hugging his new friend closer, wiping away tears again, but Nick pulls back a little
Shaking his head, Nick slumps down into the mattress, totally defeated and drained "I... I... had to attend her funeral. With the permission of her parents, I was able to place something in her coffin. Thankfully, they understood my need for privacy and left the room, or it would have been like that day in her vehicle all over again..." Nick says, the room taking on a very somber but light edge as the sun shines in, strangely brighter for some reason then usual
"I managed to overcome my intense shyness at a situation I created and, well... After speaking to her for the final time, I placed..." Nick starts to say, cutting himself off and shudders, a deep primal sob coming deep down from his soul "A carrot pen I had to scramble to find, only getting lucky 20 minutes before the funeral started... Every disney store except one was out, and after a conservation I hope to never have again, It was mine... Still can't believe I did that... Me, a grown man, slipping a kids toy into a grown ladies, a friends, coffin?"
Nick just lays out on the bed, completely drained of all emotion as he looks over at his wallet, slapping it off the bed and turns away from Dean, looking at the opposite wall
"Nick... that took courage to admit what you did... and, and I see nothing wrong with it.. I'll admit i'm jealous even. Seriously jealous. I never have luck befriending women like you do.. try my best, but the drama is way too difficult to get around. If it's not one thing, then it's another..." Dean says, sitting up and coming over to the side Nick is facing, but he flips the opposite way, eyes still watering
"Don't... even look at me.. If I was so good at that, why was I not there to support her? To protect her?" Nick yells, inner anguish flaring out
"But... you were there. She may have been gone at that point, but she would have been standing by, outside her body if you will, seeing what you did.. You were the last thing she saw, and ironically... Considering you were the first thing she saw coming to defend her in school, you closed a very important loop for her soul being the last thing she saw coming to administer medical care. I can't underestimate your pain that you lost her in front of you, but... You could have been asleep, at another call, in line at the store... Anywhere but there.. But there you stood, getting her ready for her last ride... her last act of protection by you... Dean says, sitting on the bed quietly, looking down at him, not making any motion of touch or cuddling
"That... has to be the... the... the... best... thing anyone has ever said to me..." Nick says, a raw primal cry issuing from deep down again, trying to get up and get close to Dean, realizing a deep touch is what he needs now.
Dean jumps up, rushing over and pulls Nick into a deep embrace "Nick... You have no idea how lucky I am to know you..."
"Oh please... I'm a wreck right now... I wouldn't call that lucky, it's like oprah in my childhood again" Nick says, pushing his face deep into his friends chest
"Hardly.. Crocodile tears from her cast of the latest actors pulled from the community college theater class is more what i've always thought..." Dean says, half joking but more serious, hugging him even tighter.
"I miss her so much... but nothing will bring her back.. Just to have a final hug goodbye would be nice..." Nick says, absent mindedly looking down at the floor.
"Nick... I have to ask... did, you, well... love her more then just friends?" Dean asks, slipping his hand into Nick's "Now what kind of question is that? Did I... have s" Nick starts to say, getting angry as Dean cuts him off!" "No! That's too personal, especially me still a stranger in many ways!" Dean turns bright red, ashamed for even asking
"As of now, we are hardly strangers, especially what you know about me now... I wouldn't tell a complete stranger it... The same thing I felt for Judy, I feel for you... except you are different.." Nick says, tightening his grip on Dean's hand. "I realized around the time every horny douche bag that starts stealing his fathers playboys in the middle of junior high or early high school that I was gay. And, when I was walking with Judy to the cafeteria one day, it struck me as we stood in line that it was a intensely deep and spiritual relationship that would always be spiritual and never... Sexual... in nature. Soul Mates? Who knows... I cringe at that word, as it is still overused like may aspects of love..." Nick Says, Reaching out suddenly and kissing Dean on his cheek
"You... you... you.. are different. Being that we are compatible dating wise, that, well at least in the eyes of society opens us up to the act of sex... But, I don't want to rush into that, that is frankly repulsive... It takes time to build a connection like that, at least to me... I view you the same as I viewed Judy. Not a soul mate, but a variant of the term old soul. Somehow, we are connected deep in our pasts together. That, is not known how though. Religion, society, even politics blocks those who want to seek that answer out. It's not good business/relations for any of those to have it out there the true answers of the universe. "Freedom through obscurity" is probably in everyone of their fucking mission statements and talking points" Nick says, revealing a rare outright hostile side
"Sorry, that probably isn't right to say" "It's okay Nick, really.. remember, we think alike more then you know, said it during the pillow talk before sleep?" "Oh, right.. my bad.. my brain is scattered currently" Nick trails off, just collapsing into Deans arms, looking off in the distance as a light fills the room some.
"Dean? What is that? Do you have a night light going wonky?" Nick asks, just laying there calm as he is stroked gently by his boyfriend
"No... I... only in the bathroom, and that's behind us..." Dean mutters low, raising a eyebrow when it becomes even brighter in the room
"Maybe it's the sun through the shades? The fan does move things a little" "Perhaps... Just was wondering for a moment. Oh well. Bathroom? Heh heh... that would be novel, That soda last night ain't going to keep these red briefs dry..." Nick ponders, smirking a bit as he fidgets a little, turning to look down at the floor as the light shrinks down to a ball, enveloping a wallet and starts to levitate it up, His eyes going wide as he shakes Dean's arm "What the hell is going on?" He blurts out
"What? The light? It's just..." Dean cuts himself off, shocked as he looks at the wallet also levitating, dropping onto the bed as it flips open and the photo of Judy pulls itself out and drops on the comforter, the light suddenly vanishing as quick as it came out into the hallway, two mouths agape
"Umm, Nick?... I think Judy just paid you a visit..." Dean says, holding you close as a phone starts to go off on a nightstand and a radio squawks out tones "Shit... ugh, fuck work" Two voices say in unison, distracted as they reach for their respective devices
"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP ALL UNITS REPORT TO THE FREEWAY MAJOR WRECK AND POSSIBLE CHEMICAL SPILL. OFF DUTY FIREFIGHTERS REPORT ASAP TO YOUR STATION" A radio goes off as Dean picks up his phone and spots his bosses phone number, showing it to Nick "Well, this just got interesting... We get to work it together..." Dean says, answering the phone and stands up, admiring Nick in his red briefs and pulls him off the bed while talking on the phone, hanging it up a few moments later
"Time to get going for both of us... Such a shame I can't enjoy your briefs right now and the surprise they contain... heh heh" Dean says, looking away as he heads to the closet and pulls out clothes, tossing on his belt containing his cell phone holster and flashlight pouch, slipping in his trademark red multi tool and pulling a shirt on... "I'll be idling my wrecker outside, just come out and i'll drop you at the station you need, here's some keys to lock the door" Dean says, tossing a set and clomps out of the room in heavy work boots, a big diesel turning over a moment later.
"Judy... be safe wherever you are.." Nick says out loud, getting ready as he follows suit a few moments later, entering into a destiny he and his new boyfriend could never predict...
"Nick... I'll be seeing you soon..." A voice says in the now empty room, a ball of light returning, hovering over the bed as it morphs into a young lady, a pair of intense purple eyes tinged with a sadness looking down at a wallet, a photo of Nick and Judy hugging tightly showing
"I'm safe, but you need all the protection you can get, and no one can offer..." The room fills with a voice again, a figure getting off the bed and walking to a window as a heavy truck races by it.
"Godspeed Nick... and to your friend Dean, Godspeed also..."