Bogo sighed as he headed back accross the plaza towards headquarters. The conversation with the mayor could have gone better. It also could have gone worse he supposed. Giggling at various points at the ridiculousness of the situation probably didn't help matters. Neither did some of his quips back at the mayor.

"Have you been drinking?", she asked after one of his giggles.
"Not yet."

He knew he shouldn't find it funny but couldn't keep from chuckling as he remembered the mayor's expression. Apparently those two were starting to rub off on him.

The mayor was going to meet with her PR team and prepare statements for when they were needed. All of the usual political shenanigans. She didn't seem per se angry about the development - just the timing; it certainly wasn't what she had been planning. Reminding her that he'd warned her how WildeHopps tended to derail and shatter any plans around them had earned him another glare.

He sighed again. She was still against including them directly in her plans. He thought it was foolish.

"You realize that they are getting stronger as a team the closer they get?", he'd tried to point out.
"They're still just junior officers."
"I strongly disagree, however it's your decision. I'd suggest you be prepared for them to show up at your office one day having figured out what you're doing."

His job was to meet with them tomorrow morning. She had decided to extend the pair's time-off for a week - essentially a mandatory vacation. The mayor felt that if anything did appear in the news or social media having them out of Zootopia would make it easier to manage. He didn't bother trying to correct her thinking. She'd eventually understand that "manage" and WildeHopps really didn't belong in the same thought.

He'd have Ben text both of them a message to come in tomorrow morning. He had thought about calling them but part of him didn't want to disturb the new couple.

That same part of him also felt they wouldn't be surprised at the meeting request.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day, he thought, but he still found himself smiling. At least for a moment.


Snuggled together in Nick's bed, or rather their bed now, were two forms - although they were so tightly snuggled they'd appear as one to the casual observer.

Energy and emotion spent after the last few hours, their bodies were interlinked as they had dozed off. The larger curled around the smaller and wrapping them with its tail.

Their ears, noses, and sometimes paws twitched as they dreamed...


Well that certainly made for an interesting evening.

It's been long overdue.

Perhaps, but it's not what we had decided. Whatever happened to a simple dinner? You know, the whole let's get them on a real date?

[trilling laugh] Tonight was all her idea.

You're kidding.

Nope. [sense of smugness]

Talk about impulsive. You went along with it?

You try dealing with rabbit hormones for almost a year! Yes I went along with it. And calling her impulsive? Mr. life-mate ceremony? Really?

Hey! I was a little busy over here with your surprise party. Masking scents and sounds so he wouldn't see through it. Finding an angle to channel his anger into something else so he didn't walk away. Again.

Oh. [contrite]

Yes. Oh.

Well they're together now. It's good to really be connected again. I've missed this.

Me too. Although I was worried you were going to break him in bed there. Talk about connected.

[trilling laugh] There was some pent up energy to work out.

I'll say.

She is scared, though. Evolution has been good in many ways, but not all. So many more possibilities but with the loss of connectedness - both to self and to their surroundings. She's still adapting to this. I am too.

Same here. He'll have adjustments to make. I do to. Our role has always been to keep them safe. Safe has very different meanings now. It's been hard for that evolved mind to handle this.

It'll be easier after tonight.

True. Just take it slower. An open bond to a predator is stronger - in both the good and the bad.

[snort] You know they started this long ago. Neither of them are typical. If they were we wouldn't be here. Literally.

Just try okay?

Try every- [singing]

No. No Gazelle.

Fine. [chuckle] I'm sure their dreams tonight will be pretty interesting as they try to make sense of all this.

True. Over time that will change and become more normal as well.

They are adapting fairly quickly. I'm not all that surprised given their natures.

Speaking of surprised...how did you get Bogo involved. He's always been closed.

He had suggestions for her on how to get him to admit his feelings.

Really. That's...unexpected.

Agreed. That plus his shock at what she did made him open just enough for a nudge since he was already considering it.

He wouldn't have made those suggestions on his own.

The mayor is probably involved. I imagine he's already gone and talked to her about tonight.

Hmm. We'll have to handle that when we meet with him in the morning.

You focus on that. I'm working on how to talk to her parents. Especially her mom.

Fair enough. You have any ideas for mom? That could be tricky.

A few. You'll know when I know. [laugh]

Sly bunny.

Dumb fox.


Still cuddled in bed both forms let out a sigh and tightened their grips on each other. They stilled as they fell into deeper sleep.


[AN - so, some questions for the readers and then notes/explanation.

- Were there enough hints along the way?

- Was it clear by the end who was actually pulling the "sting"?

- Did the misdirect to Bogo/the mayor work until the final reveal?

Some of the premise for this comes from real life relationship experiences. Have you been in one where you really do finish each others sentences? Answer questions that your spouse/partner/whatever is thinking but haven't actually asked out loud?

Several times a month (sometimes 2 or 3 times in the same week) something like that happens with my wife and I. It's almost a running joke at this point about how we can't have secrets. They are completely random incidents which makes it even more strange. As an example, a few weeks ago the Brexit decision was made (Great Britain leaving the EU). We were having an animated discussion about the political and economic impacts of that decision. At a pause in the conversation I completely changed topic and reminded my wife that there were two packs of meat in the fridge that needed to be cooked or frozen. She spit out her coffee and went on another rant about how her thoughts were supposed to be private and how she had just been thinking she needed to cook them today before they went bad.

As humans we talk about people being intuitive - some more than others. In Zootopia the equivalent would seem to be the mammal's instinct.

So I decided to take all of that and play with it. As Mr Big said "...we are just animals...". They certainly evolved to have speech, higher thought, and so on. But the instincts and savagery are just under the surface. So...what if their "instincts" evolved too? How would they evolve? How would that instinctive side "communicate" with a more highly evolved mind? Could the instincts between two mammals "communicate" with each other if they were close enough emotionally or in proximity to each other?

Judy/Nick are atypical - both in breaking societal norms and in what they've accomplished. What would lead to that? How would some of their scams/accomplishments have been pulled off against the odds they were facing? What if they were highly instinctual (e.g. intuitive) and the reason they connected so well in the film all stemmed from that primal/instinctive side. What if that instinctive side decided they belonged together and had to persuade...if you will...the more evolved side to go along with it. What might that look like? And so on.

As always...feedback/comments are welcome.

MinscLoveBoo]