I do not own Zootopia, that belongs to Disney. This a fan work made solely for the sake of amusement.

The Lionhearts

Chapter Seven: Big, Part 2

By: Gabriel LaVedier

Soft classical music filled the air, performed by a live quartet of well-dressed mammals positioned on a tiered dais in the middle of a small marble circle, which was itself surrounded by a circle of tall plaster arches wrapped with living vines that hung nearly to the ground. All around the central dais bustled a busy, well-decorated restaurant. The building curved in a gentle fashion, showing it ultimately to be an undulation, with the tables arranged in size sections, three bars arranged along the wall of different sizes for the clientele.

Nadiya Erminova had never had the opportunity to go to Alla Tuscano before, being big on always spending her money at the local places in Tundratown, which played well with her constituents. The location had been suggested by Dawn, as it offered a highly unique selection of both predator and prey dishes. It was exotic, a bit like her own District cuisine was exotic to the wider city. It sounded like a good thing.

She took a slow sip of a fairly tasty sparkling wine, another suggestion. Apparently it was a traditional beverage for the place. Though she preferred herbed vodka, it wasn't bad. The Lionhearts had good taste. She didn't normally drink before a meal but she had insisted the waiter serve out her portion early. She also idly nibbled on the bread from the basket that had been on the table when she arrived. The wine may have been plain but the bread was herbed, and it worked for her.

She rose up suddenly on seeing someone approach. She had dolled herself up in a non-traditional outfit, for going around outside of her District. It was a long, tight sheath dress that reached to her first leg joints. It was black, with a filmy crepe-type scalloped fringing around the arm holes in a dark purple tone. Several long, looped chains of gold hung around her neck, ending in a large, dark teardrop pendant made of alabaster, pure white save the top of the teardrop which was a small portion of rare black alabaster. She had also shed her usual snow boots for a pair of Preyda heels, a low and sloping pair in black with black straps holding them on her paws.

The one that had arrived was a taller mustelid, a black-pelted mink with a white patch on his upper lip. He smiled easily, approaching with a confident swagger. He was extremely well-built, someone that spent plenty of time at the gym. He was dressed casually for the setting, in black slacks, a white shirt that almost seemed to be under strain and a black dinner jacket. His tie was dark blue and slightly cooked but still looked passable. He stood a fair bit taller than Nadiya, even in her heels, looking even more built up beside her shorter, svelte form.

"Hello there. I... It's good to finally meet with you, Robert" Nadiya said, pulling out the chair opposite the one she had risen from, pushing it back in once the mink sat down.

The mink slid his hand along the top of his head and gave a toothy, brilliant smile. "Hey, just call me Rob. We've been talking long enough. Thanks for inviting me out to this place. Never even knew it was here."

"It's a little out of the way, especially for me. It was suggested by the Lionhearts, telling me it was a good place for a... first meeting..." Nadiya motioned in the direction of the waiter that had seated her.

A snowshoe hare in black slacks and a black vest over a white shirt and with a white apron trailing from his waist came up. "Councilor Erminova?"

"Please bring the menus. I think we'll be ready to order right away," Nadiya said. "And please bring me a bottle of this same thing, and a fresh glass for my guest."

The hare nodded and quickly moved off. Rob watched him dash off and then looked to the glass. "I dunno if I can order that fast. I'll bet it's fancy."

"I have suggestions. Mayor Lionheart told me about delicious meals for predators. Need me to order for you? A little traditional..." Nadiya started.

"I don't mind. I liked that about your profile. I've been at home for a long time, just working out. My mother keeps telling me to get out there and date," Rob replied.

"Oh, you live with your mother?" Nadiya asked.

"And father," Rob replied.

Nadiya leaned back in her chair, sighing happily and smiling. "You weren't kidding. A traditional family. I like that. And one that's fine with Inters. I never knew minks were okay with ones and twos."

"They want me to have a good girlfriend. You know how mink guys are. They're so proud of all the iron I pump but they think I need to meet girls, too. They said I could date anyone. If I was an Outsider they would have been happy about that, too. Like that super lucky weasel dude that married that rich chinchilla that was in the news."

Nadiya nodded, holding up her glass to the waiter as he came back. He uncorked a bottle of the sparkling wine, filling the long flutes for both of them. "I know about them, peripherally. Apparently he's related to Judy Hopps, and Mrs. Lionheart mentions them now and then."

"Wow... rabbits give birth to weasels? Didn't know he was passing," Rob said, taking a sip of the sparkling wine, his lip curled up more than normal.

"No, no, it's some marriage thing. One of her brothers married his cousin," Nadiya explained, picking up the menu that had been presented to her. "Do you happen to know what the Lionhearts get when they're here?"

"Ahh yes, they usually share the frutti di mare," the waiter said. "It's a sauce of anchovy and tomato with your choice of many kinds of seafood over a pasta you want."

"Do you have any favorites?" Nadiya asked across the table.

"I'm kinda like an otter. Ma always said I could have taken up swimming on my back. I love shellfish," Rob chuckled.

Nadiya looked at that portion of the menu, nodding slowly. "Yes, let's have a full sized frutti with the mussels, clams and scallops, over the... fettuccine."

The waiter crisply wrote down the order and nodded his head. "I'll have that out to you as quickly as possible, Councilor."

With the waiter gone a silence descended on the two, both of them slowly sipping their wine, with Rob continually lifting his upper lip a little too much. Nadiya ran her finger pad along the edge of her glass, drawing out a soft hum. "So... you were telling me you were a personal trainer? That makes sense, that seems like your area. Rare for a mink hob to have a job but I'm impressed."

"It's not really a job-job. I'm not just volunteering but... it's complicated," Rob said, idly rubbing the back of his head and giving a lopsided grin. "Tough guys don't do charity, but they'll be okay if they pay a little something. This one tod at the gym used to be a really rough guy, 'til he did a month in Savannah. He didn't want it anymore, and he could do better. All he knew was pumping iron and boxing, so he did that. Personal training for rich folks that wanted the pride of having a former gangster with all his fur discoloring and scars teaching them. Then he started in on guys like him, guys on the edge. He helps them channel all that loco machismo he says they have into themselves. They get big, and focused and they can make something out of themselves. I figured, I can teach tough dudes to box and lift and do cardio, and I don't need that much money. It's doing some good for the city, you know?"

Nadiya's smile lifted slightly higher and she gave a nod. "Sounds wonderful A truly worthwhile endeavor. You both should get recognition for your services."

"Nah. I'm just doing it for a hobby, and he doesn't like the attention. He's got a nice life and a llama girlfriend. Como Gazelle. Tienes una cula maravillosa. I looked that up. It means she has nice rear end, like Gazelle. I guess it's his thing. I think that's why I was so eager to get out there. I want to find my thing."

"And what is your thing, Rob?" Nadiya asked, looking on him with a penetrating gaze.

"I want a traditional weasel, I guess. A professional moneymaker that I can be with and have a good family with. We'd have a bunch of super smart daughters that do like my sisters and go on to be doctors and lawyers, and a few sons we can take care of until they find their own way in the world," Rob replied, looking off into the middle distance with a dreamy expression.

Nadiya brought her glass forward and softly clinked it against his. "You've got a fairytale mind in there, but I don't blame you. Sounds like a great hope. If nothing else, I hope that's what happens for you."

More silence followed, more comfortable and enjoyable, before the waiter returned carrying two large, moderately deep dishes filled with the fettuccine topped with a deep red sauce and open, steaming rings of mussels and clams, topped with seared scallops. "Futti di mare on a bed of fettuccine. If you or your guest need anything else, Councilor, please do not hesitate to ask."

"Yes, thank you," Nadiya said, to the hare's retreating back. "No matter how important you are, all restaurant mammals are the same."

"Is this how it is? I mean, we've been to places but they were always nice enough, for the tips," Rob said, setting to his dinner by immediately spearing and eating one of the clams.

"At expensive places like this they're always a little snooty. They know they can get away with it. It's part of the atmosphere almost," Nadiya chuckled, twirling up the pasta and dragging it generously through the sauce before having a taste. Deeply fishy with the salty tang of the sea and that particular essence of seaweed, with the taste of the tomato and onions folded into the overall profile. "They aren't that bad in Tundratown, but I may not have the same experience. I'm actually from there. They might be keeping me happy so I keep their interests in mind."

"I don't know how you can do politics," Rob commented, his mouth slightly full from failing to swallow a mouthful of pasta. "It's so much talking. I like watching you on television doing the city council stuff but there's so much involved with all the tax rates and municipal codes and zones. I mean, I vote but I need that little guide that comes with the ballot."

Nadiya chuckled, daintily dabbing her mouth after cutting and eating part of the scallop."It's a complicated specialty. I'll admit it's not for everyone. You either study it or move into it. Cecil moved from the private sector. I think Leodore was born into it, I know Dawn was. Arthur should probably move on, Matilda too. He's going to give himself a heart attack and she just doesn't seem to have the stomach for it."

"Never heard that before," Rob idly said, picking more clams and some mussels along with his pasta. "Private sector. He was in the army?"

"No, but his brother-in-law was," Nadiya laughed. "It means he worked for a company as opposed to a government. He loves to talk about working through university, making it big in corporate finance and then settling down as a politician and family mammal. I swear, if he shows off photos of his wife and children again I think everyone will throw him out."

Rob laughed at the comment, quickly wiping his mouth off and largely wiping away the white mark from his upper lip. "I wish I had stories about work too. I love work comedies. But all I've got is that the guy loves his girlfriend's big booty and she can get him on the Zootopia express for free."

Nadiya watched the white mark get wiped away, and let a small frown dip the corners of her mouth. "I know it's a line that mammals lie online. It's just cosmetic but... did you have to lie about something like that?"

"What? Lie? Lie about what?"

Nadiya pointed to her own lip and ran a claw slowly over the downy white fur. "You didn't have to. I'm going out with you knowing you're a mink. Do you think I care about your subspecies?"

Rob slowly rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepishly around. "All minks are the same, that's what everyone thinks. Some of us are from farther away, even if we're from here. But that little patch of white makes a lot of big guys feel even bigger. I just wanted to look good when I was looking for a date."

"Is there anything else?" Nadiya asked, giving him a sustained, piercing stare. "Anything at all?"

Rob shook his head quickly, wiping at his upper lip again and eliminating the mark entirely, leaving him a plain black mink. "I figured it would help..."

"I don't know a lot about minks... but I know I've dabbed a little black along the tip of my tail to even out the dip. Vanity. I guess mink hobs have that too," Nadiya said with a smile, reaching out to clink her glass against Rob's. "It's a little thing. But it does matter sometimes."

"Maybe we can start off a little more honestly?" Rob asked, giving his best smile, showing off his needle teeth.

Nadiya matched the move, raising her free hand and making a signing motion in the direction of the snowshoe hare that had served them. "I took the time to meet you here. Might as well give this a chance."

o o o

It was a cliché that everything in Tundratown was ice and darkness, but some locations played to the bulk of their clients and the thick coats of natives. Those locations made by Tundratowners for Tundratowners were exactly like that. Heavy in atmosphere, dark, unfriendly to outsiders, and kept bitterly cold with open windows and few sources of heat. Most of those places were connected through a byzantine, murky string of paper companies to a single puppetmaster. It had, at one time, been Anatoly Koslov. But his few small threads were added to and ruthlessly consolidated under the one who pulled his own strings, Corleone Big.

One of those locations was an original holding, Koslov's Palace, a place that reflected the personality of the original owner. The exterior was a gaudy, ostentatious golden-toned creation, with traditional bulbous tower tops in wild colors making it quite notable. Inside it was a different matter. The light was low, the floors covered in thin carpets, and the temperature kept low. The wood was aged and distressed, the stone undressed, which formed the walls and most of the furnishings, including the bar.

The low tables filled with sullen regulars were being tended by various sizes of native creatures, each section divided by size, with different employees. The largest had caribou does by and large, in long dresses that hugged them and provided little protection. Mingled with them were a few polar bear women, similarly attired. Medium mammals got wolves and nothing else. Those slightly smaller were tended by snowshoe hare does, arctic vixens and a small collection of types of mustelids. All the tight, scanty outfits seemed to suit most of them, with the occasional shiver that rattled plates and glasses.

Their power, and menace, left Anatoly and Corleone alone. Mammals naturally left an unspoken buffer zone around the two, as there were only Tundratown natives there, occasionally looking over in fear and quickly looking back to their drinks.

"Consigliere..." Mr. Big said, in his rasping, deep voice, seated at a table atop the table, his small setup putting him neat to Koslov's ear. "Has any change come on the ground? Are we now in control and halting the cave mammals from interrupting the flow of our business?"

Koslov shook his huge head, eyes cast down, the bags under his eyes looking especially deep. "No, sir. They change the police officers, we cannot predict who will work, and cannot offer them... incentives. They've been especially upright. Commissioner Bogo has been unbending, and Chief Oliphant is equally iron-backed. I suspect the strength of the Lionhearts is influencing the resolve, which reaches into the council."

Mr. Big nodded slowly, stroking the end of his chin. "I suspected it. They started down that road, they looked on us and did not blink. I worry about these Lionhearts. What they did to Vesper Bellweather was ruthless. Brutal. How they savaged Cheviot McLiff and Commissioner Shearly. They're more effective than I expected politicians to be. A true problem..."

Koslov accepted the drinks that arrived, delivered by one of the scantily attired, quivering snowshoe hares. A tiny glass of amaretto that Koslov placed before Mr. Big and a few huge glasses of vodka. He waved off the delivery hare with a snort and gave a curt nod. "Politicians come and go. Politicians are small obstacles. For all that Mayor Wulfberg did, there were still places that allowed for growth. I made a good living from the clean slate."

"And I made a living from you," Mr. Big said without too much pride. He sipped from his glass and regarded the slight twitch on Koslov's face. "Such is life. As you said, politicians come and go. So do leaders. It takes a special kind to last. I will last out these Lionhearts."

"We can't be shaken by them," Koslov said, slamming back one of his enormous glasses. "They are nothing. We can buy and sell their like."

"No, no, my consigliere... you should learn to look more carefully. These mammals are different. Very different. They show themselves to be strong, too strong for all the normal things. Scandal would be impossible, no one would believe it. They have money, they have power, they have the support of the city. Strong mammals like that take special care. The council is where we should look. One of them has to have some kind of secret, some need. One hook, and the fish is caught. And then we profit from fish once again."

"It's a dangerous game when they want us landed at the bottom of a boat," Koslov warned. "I may think little of them, but the police are still not ours. All of them have their eyes sharp and seeking us. Together, they might be a danger."

"And that is why I have you here, to say the things that get at the heart of matters," Mr. Big said, sipping his drink casually. "Weaken that, we win. Distract them from protection, make other matters more important, we get our ends. We only need to find the weakness, and all is done."

"We should continue. We needed the police to operate in our other endeavors. Enough time has passed that the city is less tense. They will never oppose us. They know what power we hold. Our union members will do their duty, and keep the others in line. We can continue to sabotage the Nocturnal fishers. Accidents happen in the dark," Koslov said with a grin and a quick drink slam.

"I appreciate your passion for this work, and I do agree. The Nocturnal mammals may have the senses for it but they've hired outsiders. They can miss details. And they won't see very large mammals coming to give them a reason to stay away from working. It should work just as well as it did in the Rainforest," Mr. Big said, finishing his drink and shaking the glass.

The same hare stepped up with fresh drinks for the two, taking away the empty glasses and leaving off the new beverages. "I'm glad you think so. I was getting cramped with all this waiting after Happytown."

"It was time. Spending without earning is a dangerous thing for those in our position. It should be good to get back to business." Mr. Big sipped his new drink and watched the hare skitter off. "Your employees are attentive indeed..."

"They know to be when I am here. That hasn't changed, no matter the management," Koslov grunted, downing a glass of vodka with a single, huge swallow. "They know to anticipate. They can be replaced."

Mr. Big pulled his attention away and chuckled deeply. "As long as the river flows under the ice, they can always be replaced..."

o o o

One of the advantages of living in Leodore's lion-sized apartment was a lot of lion-sized items. That was a disadvantage as well, but runners, climbing bars and other modifications canceled the downsides. It turned the bathroom mirror into a full-length mirror, by and large. Setting down a rubber mat, placing cosmetics around and having brushes, shears and other items around practically gave Dawn her own ready-room in the bathroom.

She was nude, and looking at herself in the mirror. She was newly sheared, professionally, and was considering what she could see with the wool on her torso gone. She slowly executed a turn, pushing her glasses up her snout, getting every angle she could manage.

"That's a lot longer than you usually take," Leodore said, standing in the doorway and watching Dawn with a smile.

"Did I eat that much at mother's home? I didn't think I had indulged that much. I know cousin Gideon makes his pastry with full-fat everything but... I didn't eat all the tarts and cookies he sent back with us," Dawn said, patting the slight rounding of her belly while getting another angle on it.

"Just most of them," Leodore said with a deep chuckle, running his huge hands along Dawn's belly, nuzzling at the top of her head. "Mmm, feels... well, it feels nice. Not like you've put on weight. But you did indulge a bit at you mother's place. It's fine. Nothing wrong with a little padding, if that's what it is..."

"I mean, that's what Dr. Garanuug-Honeybadger says. That works with her particular body plan and her husband's particular taste. But I'm not supposed to be plump," Dawn said, patting her stomach. "Feels... I'm certainly larger but the padding sits a little low and it feels firm."

"Have you been trying to undo it with exercise? I don't know if a muscle-ewe is my thing. But I'm willing to try it if you're willing to life a lot of weights," Leodore said with a small lick of his lips.

"Maybe I will. You do plenty of work to keep yourself pumped up for me. It wouldn't be too bad of an idea to match my good diet with a good bit of exercise. Maybe I'll but a treadmill in my office," Dawn mused, giving a flex with one arm while rubbing her belly. "Do sit-ups really work for all that?"

"For building the muscle, yes. Sit-ups would put on the abs. Fat burns as it burns, you can't spot-lose it. It's a myth everyone believes," Leodore chuckled. "Been doing those after eating those sweet treats?"

"You know I'm not the type. I stay small by nature, no fat, no muscles. And you love it," Dawn giggled, sticking her tongue out at Leodore. A sudden look of realization crossed her face. "Love... you love it... love me..."

Leodore nuzled the top of her head again and chuckled deeply. "Love you so much. And often..."

"And unprotected..." Dawn practically whispered, framing her belly with her hooves. "Unprotected. No rubber, no pills. And we went at it so much. Even in Bunnyburrow... was it there?"

Leodore was about to question the odd musing, but the full comprehension slackened his features. "Wait... wait... you're... but... are you sure?"

"I've felt a little sick in the morning but I thought it was stress over the situation in the Nocturnal District. I have so much on my plate already... but life doesn't really care about that," Dawn sighed, with a smile on her face. "I'll have to confirm it, of course. I'll call Dr. Saltenlick and arrange an appointment. She can do a pregnancy test and give me any suggestions that I'll need."

"Mother will be so happy. She loves Agnes but wants more grandchildren. Father... well, his pride in our work is clear, and Agnes is part of it. Your mother will probably throw an actual parade," Leodore said with a wide smile.

Dawn's hooves slowly stroked across the expanse of her belly, remembering it swollen with Agnes, the inconvenience, the pain, the uncertainty, the joy, the love, and longing to see her. Another child, following so soon on Agnes' heels. "This is... I can't believe it. But... should we do anything about protection?"

"I don't mind a big family. Neither of us had siblings. I think it might be good," Leodore said, his big hands covering Dawn's midsection, her dainty hooves placed atop them. "Even if we change our minds later, two is nice."

Dawn nodded slowly, caressing his strong, loving hands. "Yes. Very nice."