Judy and Nick arrived at MacNelly's right at seven, both relaxed and in high spirits after spending the past hour and a half in each other's arms. They had not gotten to the point of taking clothes off again, but not everything required taking clothes off… not entirely anyways. Judy did have to retouch her makeup a bit and both needed to run a roller over themselves to get loose fur off, but they were prices both were happy to pay.
MacNelly's was fairly nondescript from the outside. The name was in large golden letters on a blue background above large glass windows. Various neon signs were in the windows in the form of logos of popular beers and one near the door blinked OPEN, displaying each letter in turn until the entire word was spelled out.
Nick and Judy walked in arm-in-arm and looked around. The interior was dark with a long bar against one wall and various round tables throughout with some booth style tables against another wall. There was a small empty area for dancing, colored lights shining down and a large screen TV mounted at a downward angle from the wall and currently playing the video of the song that was quietly playing through speakers installed around the dance area. Lighting was subdued and mostly in dim blues with red accents here and there, a nod to the fact the place was a cop bar.
There were various others here, almost all of them officers that Judy, and to a lesser extent Nick, knew or had seen around the ZPD. More than one looked their way, calls and waves came out to greet them. Both Judy and Nick waved back and called out greetings in turn. Although most of the calls were to Judy, Nick did spy a few he had gone to the Academy with.
Nick was a bit nervous, unable to help it. MacNelly's was the kind of place he avoided like the plague before his change in professions and it was just so odd to think that he was now 'one of them'.
As they made their way in they spotted Clawhauser and Howlson sitting at a big round table in the back and off to one side.
Howlson spotted them first and waved them over.
Clawhauser turned, in mid motion of eating a fried potato stick dripping cheese and white sauce. The cheetah energetically waved a paw at the both of them with a big smile on his muzzle.
Both Howlson and Clawhauser were dressed in casual clothes, the wolf in a simple white t-shirt and jean shorts. The pudgy cheetah was in a big red t-shirt with the stylized character from the movie Pig Hero 6 emblazoned on it and also wearing denim shorts.
"Hi guys! 'bout time you came out Judy!" Clawhauser said around a mouthful as they drew close, then his eyes went wide, "Ooo, I got something for you!" He sucked several fingers clean one by one then stuffed the paw into a pocket, pulling out a wad of folded paper. He opened the bundle up and smoothed the contents out on the table, which turned out to be two envelopes. He then handed one to Judy and the other to Nick. Each crumpled envelope had their names printed on the front. "Mayor's assistant dropped those off a while ago," he said and stuffed another cheese fry into his mouth, making pleased nmmm noises, "So good…"
Judy took her envelope and eyed the cheetah, wondering how he passed his PT tests. "Ben, you're going to eat yourself to death," she said and the cheetah's expression fell.
"I know…" he said dejectedly but then brightened as he ate another fry, "But it'll be delicious until then!"
Judy shook her head and smiled and she and Nick looked at the envelopes, knowing they were the cards promised earlier.
"What's that?" Howlson asked curiously as Nick climbed up on a stool, Judy had to spin the round seat around to raise hers up higher before climbing up beside Nick.
"Part of our punishment," Nick said wryly and refolded the envelope, stuffing it into a pocket.
Judy settled on her seat and started to open her own envelope, pulling the card out of it and looking at it. "We get to be poster kids for the Mammal Inclusion Initiative for the next week," Judy said with some irritation.
Howlson raised his eyebrows. "How's that?" he asked. Before either Judy or Nick could say anything Clawhauser spoke up.
"Mayor's trying to capitalize on the pictures in the paper," he said while dipping a fry into a tub of ranch dressing, "They're officially to be seen smooching in public as much as possible."
Judy's ears fell. "That is not what they said! We're just supposed to be seen doing things together!"
Nick snickered and Clawhauser leaned over and stage whispered. "Smooching," he said with all seriousness, "Lots of smooching."
Judy made a noise and pushed the fat cheetah away then suddenly remembered this morning. She pointed a finger at Clawhauser.
"You!" she said accusingly and Clawhauser stopped with another fry halfway to his muzzle.
"Me?" he asked, trying to look and sound innocent.
"You're behind the betting!" Judy said.
Clawhauser smiled and popped the fry into his mouth and mmmphed. He chewed for a moment then swallowed. "And I have made bank on it too!" he said with glee, "You guys have paid for a new TV!"
Judy made a disgusted noise and Howlson barked out a laugh.
Nick chuckled as well and leaned in. "So what's the spread? I have some money to put down," he said.
Judy turned her head to give Nick a look as Clawhauser snorted, turning his nose up.
"I can't let you do that, " Clawhauser said, "You have inside information."
Nick noticed the look Judy was giving him and lifted his shoulders. "What?" he said, "I may be a cop but I'm up for some good odds."
Judy sighed and shook her head.
"At least tell me what the bet is," Nick asked.
Clawhauser licked a smear of dressing from a finger and smiled. "Two pools," he said, "First is how long until you two call it quits… but nobody is really putting money down there, the odds are waaay high. Second is how long until you get married."
"What?!" both Judy and Nick said at once and Howlson laughed again.
"That's where I put my money!" the wolf said.
Nick and Judy looked at each other, Nicks ears splayed and Judy's down. They both knew at an intellectual level that any kind of thoughts along those lines were, at best, extremely premature but in the middle of the chemical fueled start of their relationship it was something that had passed in the back of their minds more than once.
Judy cleared her throat, ears burning horribly. "We are just dating, guys!" Judy said defensively.
Clawhauser rolled his eyes. He swirled a fry in the dressing and gave Judy a knowing look, muzzle resting on his other paw. "You just keep telling yourself that honey," he said, "you have been pining for that fox for months."
Judy's eyes went wide. "I have not!" she squeaked.
Clawhauser popped the fry into his muzzle. "Mmmhmmm," he said with a knowing look and smile then mmmphed! and swallowed hurriedly. "Can I be the flower girl?" he asked, "Please?"
Judy groaned and waved a paw at the Cheetah. Howlson laughed again and shook his head before taking a drink of his beer.
Judy looked at Nick, who was still staring at her and Judy had to look away, chest tight at the thoughts.
They were rescued by a big lioness in a tight white t-shirt and jeans, a bar towel slung over one shoulder.
"Hey guys," she said to Nick and Judy, "Get you anything to drink?"
Nick blinked and turned his gaze away from Judy. "Uhmm, " Nick said, shifting his thoughts elsewhere, "What you have on tap?"
The lioness started ticking off names on a paw. "Black Ram Stout, Red Oak Hill Lager, Hoppus Bitter, Ramstel Lite, and Rolling Stone," she said, "The Red Oak is really good right now, just tapped a new keg."
Nick mmmed thoughtfully for a second, "I'll go with that," he said.
"What about you hon?" the lioness asked Judy.
Judy was about to just say water but… She looked at Nick. "SO," she said, "as someone who doesn't know her drinks what would you suggest?"
Nick raised his eyebrows, not expecting her to go for anything alcoholic. He pursed his lips and looked at her appraisingly for a moment then shifted his eyes to the bartending without turning his head.
"Can you do frozen carrot bombs?" he asked and the lioness nodded.
"Sure can," she said and Nick nodded.
"She'll have one of those, " he said then amended with a raised finger, "A small one."
The lioness nodded. "You guys need menus?"
Nick turned his eyes back to Judy, "You hungry?" he asked and Judy nodded.
"I could eat," she said, her stomach was rumbling a bit now… those fries of Clawhauser's did look and smell good.
Nick nodded at the bartender.
"Gotcha," she said and looked at the other two, "You guys good?"
Howlson lifted his mostly empty beer glass. "I'll take another," he said.
"More ranch?" Clawhauser said and the bartender nodded and moved off back behind the bar.
Just then the McHorn boys came through the doorway with DelGato and Fangmeyer in tow, all dressed in civilian clothes. Fangmeyer spotted the small group and pointed, and began heading their way.
"Well I'll be," Fangmeyer said and reached out to ruffle Judy's head, "They weren't kidding! You did come out!"
Judy errphed and closed her eyes, putting up with the ruffling. It was patronizing but all the guys, while they respected her, also tended to see her as their little sister too. It was annoying but sweet so she put up with it… and it came in handy sometimes.
"Hi guys," Judy said, running her paws over her head and down her ears to smooth her fur back down and Nick raised a paw to the newcomers as well.
They all pulled up seats, the McHorn boys having to grab the extra-large ones from another table.
Frank raised a hand and caught the bartender's attention.
"Can we get a few pitchers of Red Oak?" he asked and the lioness inclined her head without comment as she bustled behind the bar. They all settled into their seats and George leaned in.
"Hey Hopps," he said with a grin, "I hear you had an interesting day!" Everybody around the table gave knowing chuckles.
Nick gave Judy one of those sly sidelong surreptitious looks, a slight grin on his muzzle.
Judy sighed heavily. "Yes Georgie, "Judy said, giving him a bored look, "You could say that."
Clawhauser's eyes went wide. "Oh. M. Goodness," he said, "The Chief was being sooooper nice to everybody, it was scary! Did you guys get in trouble? I tried to text you!"
Judy shrugged. "No, not really," she said… yet again the conversation all about her and Nick.
"They gotta go meet her parents," DelGato added in helpfully and Frank started to chuckle. Looks turned to the tiger. "Her mom kept calling the Chief, so to get her to stop he told her that they would come visit as an extension of the MII, then sent me and Frank after them. Oh you should have seen the look on McFluff's face when she opened the door and saw us standing there."
Nick did see the look on Judy's face right then and leaned over to whisper quietly. "Relax, Carrots," he said, "It's all in good fun."
Judy grunted and looked at him briefly but started to relax. She was slowly getting used to being the focus of attention. Not that she was not used to attention. There was all the scrutiny on her at the academy, being the first rabbit officer, and all the fallout from the missing mammals case that gained her quite a bit of notoriety, but this kind of attention was of an all more personal nature. It would not be so bad if it didn't mostly revolve around her and Nick's relationship but she decided that she could continue to be upset about it or just accept it. There was no turning back the clock to change the situation, not that she wanted to in regards to Nick, but it would have been nice to at least avoid their faces in the paper like that. It wasn't like anyone was being mean about it though, and when she finally realized that it went a long way to that acceptance.
George peered at her from across the table, squinting his eyes in the dim light. "Hey Hopps, " he said and Judy looked to him, "Are you wearin' makeup?"
Judy's ears fell and burned again as all heads swiveled to her. She sighed. "Yes Georgie," she said calmly, "I am."
There was a silence around the table for a moment and glances were exchanged before heads turned to Nick.
"Hey, " Nick said, holding up his paws defensively, "She just came out of the bathroom like that."
This got a few snorts of amusement except for Clawhauser, who had his paws up to his cheeks and was starting to make a delighted squeal.
"What?!" Judy asked her ire rising, "I'm wearing makeup, so what?"
"You never wear makeup for nothin'," Frank said, "boy you really do have it bad for him."
Judy pursed her lips as the chuckles began again and Nick decided he should step in. "Okay, okay guys, " he said and put an arm around Judy, "Let's lay off the lady, she's had about all the ribbing she can take for one day." This seemed to get through and they all turned their heads away, looking at the table or elsewhere, someone cleared a throat.
"Ahh, we don't mean anythin' by it, " Frank said and the others nodded, "We're just happy for you guys and glad to see you mellow out a bit, ya know?"
Judy relaxed again and smiled. "It's okay guys, " she said, "It has just been very long, very strange day."
DelGato rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, that whole thing with the paper was kinda messed up," the tiger said to sounds of agreement around the table.
Just then the bartender lioness rescued them again, sliding up to the table with a big tray laden with drinks and three pitchers of amber liquid. She set the pitchers down first, two going to the McHorn brothers and the third going between Fangmeyer and DelGato, each getting an empty glass. A large, large for Judy anyways, rounded glass on a squat stem was placed in front of Judy and filled with an orange slush with a straw sticking up out of it. Nick and Howlson got their beers, Clawhauser got his ranch, and the lioness set down a stack of menus for everyone.
"Let me know when you're ready to order anything else," she said and moved back to the bar.
Judy leaned in and sniffed at the drink. Carroty and some other sweet scents, pineapple for sure. She pulled the straw to her muzzle and took a tentative pull. It was good, really good in fact. Carrot was the dominant flavor but with added sweetness of pineapple and what she thought was apple juice plus some other odd flavor she could not place. It didn't really taste alcoholic at all and she wondered if Nick had slyly ordered her a non-alcoholic drink.
"Mmmmm…" she hummed and smacked her lips, "That's good! You want to try some?" she asked Nick and he held up a paw.
"No thanks, Carrots," he said, "I can't drink tequila, I break out in handcuffs."
Judy snorted a little laugh. "You've never been arrested," she said, "I know."
Nick winked at her. "Just a little joke of mine," he said, "but I avoid the hard stuff."
Judy hmmed at Nick thoughtfully and took another sip of the tasty frozen drink.
The conversation around the table broke into various topics and Judy and Nick started to review the menus. This was no high-class place so the food was all simple fare. Lots of fried items, cricket burgers, salads, anything that was easy to put together in a limited kitchen.
Judy decided on a fresh greens salad despite the temptation to get the greasy cheese fries, as good as they looked.
Nick scanned the menu, not really finding anything he wanted and he found he was not even that hungry even though he had not eaten since breakfast.
He leaned over to Judy. "Split some fries with me?" he asked.
Judy nodded. "I was looking at those," she said, "but I'm going to get fat if we keep eating like this."
Nick eyed her and Judy looked up at him.
"What?" she asked.
"I think you would be adorable with a little pooch," he said and Judy's ears fell as the insides turned pink.
"You say the sweetest things, Nick," she said dryly and Nick laughed.
Nick set his menu down and noticed that half of the frozen carrot bomb in Judy's glass was now gone and she was sucking down even more of it as he watched.
"Whoa whoa whoa there Drinky McFluff," Nick said and reached over and physically pushed Judy back with a paw on her forehead while the other paw pushed the drink back.
"Hey!" Judy said indignantly, pushing Nick's arm away and glaring at him.
"You need to pace yourself there, Carrots," Nick said, resting his arms on the table and taking another drink of his beer, "I don't want to have to carry you home with you throwing up all over me."
Judy snorted. "There can't be that much in there," she said dismissively, "I can't even taste any alcohol!"
Nick rolled his eyes. "That's how they get you," he said, "Just sit there, you'll feel in a minute."
"Fine," Judy muttered.
"You've been on a few drunk and disorderly calls I'm sure," Nick said, "Do you really want to be hanging off everyone saying 'I love you guys!'? Plus you haven't eaten anything since this morning."
This gave Judy pause, he did have a point. She had been on enough calls where someone had drank too much and were incoherent or worse.
"Okay," she said in concession, "You're right."
"Of course I am," Nick said with a smile which earned him a little punch in the arm which he chose to ignore, just giving her that sly sidelong smile of his.
The bartender returned to take orders and Nick and Judy put theirs in as did a couple of the others.
They were mostly quiet as the others talked, but after a few minutes Judy began to notice a warm tingle in her belly and she could feel her perception subtly shifting. She sucked some air through her teeth.
"Okay," she said again, "You were right."
"Told you," Nick said and looked down at Judy who was staring at her glass, the alcohol starting to take a firmer hold. "You said you were tipsy before? From what?"
Judy looked up at him. "What?" she asked, "Oh, uh, champagne. I was at a wedding."
Nick nodded. "Okay, you remember that feeling?" he asked and Judy nodded in reply, "That's where you want to be. Maintain that and don't go overboard." Nick narrowed his eyes, looking at Judy, "You might be able to handle two of those, depending on how long we're here."
Judy nodded again slowly, it seemed like sound advice. She was definitely at the 'tipsy' stage already but she really wanted another sip of that drink. She sighed and resisted. "I will defer to your vast experience, oh wise fox," Judy said and Nick chuckled.
Nick leaned over and gave her an affectionate smooch on the cheek, making Judy's ears heat. She nuzzled him back, a different kind of heat rising. They heard one of those squeals of joy from Clawhauser and both turned to look at him, he was staring back at them with rapt attention, his elbows on the table and his muzzle propped up on his paws.
"You two are just so adorable!" he said and then mouthed the words 'flower girl' with raised eyebrows at Judy. Judy let out a sudden bark of laughter at the thought, the alcohol having started to loosen her typically tight control.
"Ben," she said and looked up adoringly at Nick, who was looking rather uncertain, "When and if we get married you can be the flower girl."
"Yes!" Clawhauser said, both paws thrusting up into the air.
Frank McHorn, sitting next to Clawhauser, turned. "What?" he said, "What I miss?"
Ben wriggled with pleasure. "I get to be the flower girl at their wedding!"
Frank looked at Nick and Judy with wide eyes, other heads turned to look at them as well. "You two are getting married? Already?" he said in disbelief.
Nick laughed and so did Judy who held up her paws.
"No! No!" she said, "We are NOT getting married! I just told Ben he could be the flower girl IF we do!"
This caused everyone at the table to laugh and DelGato pointed at Clawhauser.
"You would make one ugly flower girl," he said.
Clawhauser's face fell and he looked down dejectedly. "Oh…" he said, which caused another round of laughter, but it was all in fun, and Clawhauser didn't take it personally as he looked up and chuckled along with everyone else after a moment.
The night progressed and Judy took Nick's advice, pacing herself with little slips. The drink melted slowly, but even then it was still tasty. She found that as the night went on she started to care less about the feeling, she still felt in control so guessed it was okay.
Nick relaxed as well, the second beer putting his nervousness at being at a cop bar to rest and the third loosening his muzzle up enough to start contributing to the conversations. The others seemed to see him as one of them, even if he was still fresh out of the academy and despite his questionable past. A couple of those he had trained with came over to talk for a bit too, and the conversation shifted to stories of the Academy under the tutelage of Ursula, some of the veterans chiming in as well since most of those here had trained with the big polar bear.
Judy found she was actually having fun, much to her surprise. She had heard alcohol called 'the social lubricant' and she now understood what was meant by that. She started to join in the conversations along with Nick, having a few stories of her own and gave the entire group a retelling of some of the most exciting parts of her and Nick's adventures during the missing mammal case.
Nick kept a careful eye on Judy as she started on her second carrot bomb, but she seemed to hold her own in that regard.
Eventually, Judy wanted to do something else. The drink was having an odd effect on her. She wanted to move, she wanted… something but could not exactly figure out what. She looked over to the dance area that was still empty. The large screen TV angled down at the dance floor played the video of some pop song, the music piped throughout the bar at a low level. She eyed the machine on the wall next to the dance area and smiled, hopped off her seat, and grabbed Nick's paw.
"Come on," she said and Nick blinked.
"Where are we going?" he asked and Judy smiled back and up at him as she towed him along.
"We're going to dance," she said with a grin.
Nick's ears splayed out. "We are?" he said.
Judy gave a little laugh. "Yup," she said as she pulled Nick across the small dance floor, letting his paw go when he was in the middle of it, "Stay!"
Nick stayed, watching Judy pad over to the machine mounted to the wall.
Judy stepped up to the sleek looking device. Thankfully there were a couple of small steps for her to climb up so she could access the brightly colored touchscreen. The screen displayed a smaller version of the video currently playing but stopped as she prodded it with a finger. A menu popped up, the garish letters across the top proclaiming "Video Dance! Play all your favorite songs off Zootube!" Below that, in smaller letters, it said: "Free to use for our Boys and Girls in Blue!" Judy made a 'huh' noise and poked the large 'Search' icon. A search box and a virtual keyboard popped up and Judy thought about what she wanted. She wanted something that summed up the day, something fitting the events but also fitting her happy mood… but something else as well. She smiled as she thought of the perfect songs to play and punched the letters. The first song was easily found and queued up. The second was a bit harder to find. Not exactly hard just that there were a plethora of covers of it that showed up. Judy saw one by someone she didn't know but thought it looked good given the ridiculously ripped, shirtless black panther that was shown, so she selected that then hit the play button.
She hopped off the steps, a little giddy now. She had never been dancing before, not really, not like this, and it was exciting. It would also be another first with Nick.
Nick stood in the middle of the dance floor and watched as Judy worked the machine. He was a little nervous now, he was not the greatest dancer… but with Judy, what did it matter? He saw Judy eventually punch the start button and then hop back off the steps as the first song and video began to play. The screen came alive with a white setting with several animals laying on the ground, seeming inside a glass box of some sort. The title popped up in the lower left corner:
SavannahBoy
Crazy Something Normal
WeasleBros Music Group
Authors Note: I highly recommend you go to youtube and find: donkeyboy - Crazy Something Normal for reference...and watch Nick and Judy dance in the theater of the mind ;)
The video started with the beat and music, some kind of synth or electro pop, started as the animals laying on the ground, an impala, tiger, a zebra, and a lion, starting to 'wake up' in apparent confusion.
Nick arched an eyebrow as the video took a bizarre turn as the scene shifted to other animals dressed up in costumes that were apparently big aerosol cans.
The small collection of colored lights surrounding the dance area started to come alive, synced to the music, and the volume increased noticeably. Nick's attention, however, was drawn back to Judy, who was still facing away but now backing up towards him. Her hips shifted back and forth in time with the music, little puff of a tail flicking back and forth with her hips, mesmerizing Nick. She slid her arms up her thighs, torso and pushed her arms up into air, palms up towards the ceiling. She then turned as the song started picking up, mouthing the opening 'Whoa a-oh! Whoa a-oh!' to Nick as she danced closer to him slowly and reached out to him and he took her paws.
Champagne glass
And a merlot wine
With an old guy staring at his broken time
Nick smiled and started to move until they were right up against each other. Judy turned, rubbing back against him, her arms moving back and paws feeling his hips. Nick had to admit the song was catchy and he started to lose himself in the music as Judy already had. Neither of them were good dancers, but you really didn't have to be, not when you were with the one you loved… and a nice buzz certainly helped.
As the song played another couple joined them on the floor, but neither Nick or Judy paid them any attention, only having eyes for each other. The dancing was inexpert, and Judy tended to be the more energetic with her strong legs putting more bounce to her steps. At one point Nick spun Judy around in a little pirouette and pulled her in against his front, making her laugh in delight.
Nick thought he understood why Judy picked this song when it came to a pair of verses. Judy sang the lyrics to him, looking up at him adoringly with half lidded eyes.
Living how we wanna
Whoa oh!
Speeding through the life
Crazy Something Normal
Whoa oh!
We don't need advice
Living in the color
Whoa oh!
There's no black and white
Crazy Something Normal
Whoa oh!
We're Taking off tonight
As the song started to reach the end, Judy danced backward, away from Nick, and started singing the end chorus, making 'follow' motions with her paw.
If you don't know where come follow me
If you don't know where come follow me
In the midnight air no I don't sleep
If you don't know where come follow me
Nick followed after her as she danced backward slowly around the small space. As the song started its quiet outro, Judy hopped forward and pressed her head against his chest and hugged him, arms wrapping him tightly. He hugged her back and found he was more relaxed and happy that he had been in a long, long time. Such a simple thing… a dance with a pretty rabbit girl, a light buzz, and not a care in the world. I could marry her, he thought, right here, right now, I could so easily.
Judy looked at him, a silly smile on her face, and a definite flush to her ears that was not from any embarrassment. "Pick me up," she said.
Nick raised an eyebrow but did as asked, squatting down to lift her up. She wrapped her legs around him and he cupped his paws under her rump as the next song started. He didn't catch the opening title but a tribal-like drum beat began and the screen faded into overhead black and white shots of a beach cut with others of a buff looking black panther and strong looking white female tiger in close, sensual, contact. A low synth started and it sounded familiar but as the panther started singing he understood. Judy was looking right at him, her eyes locked on his as she mouthed the lyrics at him.
Authors Note: Again, highly recommend looking up the cover on youtube: WICKED GAME - (Chris Isaak Cover)
The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.
It's strange what desire will make foolish lovers do.
I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you.
And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you.
Judy deliberately changed the one line like she did last night and exaggeratedly mouthed love instead of lose. Nick started to slowly move with the music. He had not heard this version of the song before but it seemed to have more power behind it than the original. The drums, the piano, the deep low voice of the panther made something stir in him, his chest tight like it got when he thought about his love for this little rabbit. He began mouthing the lyrics back to Judy, staring intently into her eyes as she stared back into his.
What a wicked game to play to make me feel this way.
What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you.
What a wicked thing to say, that you never felt this way.
What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you
As the song's last words drifted into silence Judy turned her head slightly to one side and Nick turned his the other way and slowly they began to kiss. Nick had the hoppy taste of beer, Judy of carrots.
The group at the table had watched the two move off to dance, giving little quiet chuckles and comments as they watched the two dance for a bit but the conversation turned back to a story George McHorn was telling about an incident from earlier in the week.
Howlson took a drink of his current beer but did a doubletake as he set it down, seeing the two in the middle of the dance floor kissing.
"So I had this guy up against the car and he says," McHorn was saying and Howlson interrupted.
"Hey hey hey!" he said, gesturing to Nick and Judy, "Look at those two!"
Heads turned and someone let out a low whistle.
"Holy crap," DelGato said, "They must be able to feel each other's tonsils!"
Clawhauser made a squeal of delight.
"Get a room you two!" Fangmeyer called and the two suddenly broke the kiss.
Frank leaned over to Clawhauser. "So, what's the odds now?" he asked.
They pulled apart at the catcall from Fangmeyer and Judy gave an embarrassed little laugh, ducking her head into Nick's neck.
Nick chuckled as well and set Judy down and they made their way back to the table, trying to be as nonchalant about it as they could. They climbed back up into their chairs, avoiding the looks of amusement directed their way, each taking a sip of the drinks they had left.
Frank McHorn chuckled and shook his head. "You two are somethin' else," he said, chuckling, "Fox and a rabbit… never seen that before."
His brother ribbed him lightly. "That's what I told him earlier!" George said gesturing at Nick and laughed.
"Well I think they're adorable," said Fangmeyer, "Perfect match if ever I saw one."
Judy and Nick gave each other little looks of embarrassment but they were both smiling.
Nick ahemed and waved a paw in a regal manner. "Nothing to see here you guys," he said, "Just us foxes and rabbits… carry on."
That got snorts of amusement and chuckles from all, but after a bit the group turned back to the story Frank had been in the middle of.
Nick looked at Judy and she looked back at him, both of them feeling flushed and with more than a little buzz caused not just by the alcohol.
Judy ducked her head down, a smile on her lips and pulled her drink closer, half of a melted carrot bomb still there, and sucked some from the straw.
They listened for a few minutes as McHorn finished his story and Nick looked a Judy, who was in the middle of a big yawn.
Nick leaned over. "About time to go, Carrots?" he asked and she nodded.
"Uh huh," Judy said and blinked.
Nick sat back up. "Well, guys," he said, "I think we're going to call it a night."
The others turned and Frank said,"Alright. Good to see you out Hopps, you better come out again!"
Judy smiled, a little bashful still, but nodded. "I will! This was fun," she said. DelGato made a noise and arched his back.
"I need to get going too," the big tiger said, "Told the missus I would not be out too late." He looked to Nick and Judy, "You guys need a lift? You live just down the road, don't you Wilde?"
Nick nodded. "I do indeed," he said then paused, "You okay to drive?"
DelGato nodded back. "Yeah," he said, "I only had two. If I drove home lit up I would lose my hide."
That got a few chuckles.
"Give Donna my love," Frank said and DelGato pointed at the big rhino.
"Stay away from my wife you big pervert," he said and everybody laughed, including Nick and Judy.
Nick waved the Bartender over and when she made it to the table Nick had pulled the envelope out Clawhauser had given him. He extracted the shiny new government card and gave it to her.
"I got us," he said, waving a finger between him and Judy and the lioness nodded, padding off to run the bill. He looked down at Judy and saw that she had sucked the remainder of her drink down since they had gotten back to their seats.
"Oh boy," he said, "You probably should not have done that."
Judy waved a paw at him. "Shush," she said, "I'm a big girl."
Nick debated that, watching her start to sway slightly in her seat. "Okay then," he said in that tone that said 'you asked for it'. The bartender returned and Nick scrawled his signature over the receipt, leaving a nice tip, and pocketed the card. He hopped off the seat and DelGato followed suit. Nick reached up to offer Judy a helping paw down but she ignored it and hopped down herself, and nearly fell over.
"Wooah," she said and wobbled, Nick reaching out to steady her, "Okay… you were right about that too."
Nick started to open his mouth and Judy held up a finger. "Don't say it!" she said as she rallied herself and stood up straight.
"Yes ma'am," Nick said but with a little amusement. Judy would be okay, she would not end up hugging the toilet crying and vomiting her guts out, but she might reach the 'Oh gods why is the room spinning' level of intoxication.
Judy sucked in a breath and pushed her paws out.
DelGato had stepped up next to them and was peering down. "Everything okay down there?" he asked and Judy answered first, looking back up at him.
"Fine! Ev…everything is fine!" she said.
DelGato arched an eyebrow at Nick and Nick winked back at him with a sly smile."It's all good," he said and turned back to the table, "See you guys later, was a lovely evening. I just need to get Drinky McCarrots here home and into bed."
Judy slapped his arm and everyone laughed. "Jerk," she said, but there was no anger in it.
There were a few additional calls of farewell and raised paws.
"Yeah," Nick said and offered his arm to Judy, "but I'm your jerk."
This made Judy smile and they headed for the exit, if a little bit unsteadily.
They arrived in front of Nick's apartment about ten minutes later, the streets of this part of town nearly empty this time of night.
"Thanks for the lift," Nick said to DelGato.
"Yeah, thanks John," Judy said and gave him a little wave as they slid out of the back seat and onto the sidewalk.
DelGato held up a paw. "Don't mention it, you guys take care!" he said and drove away after Nick shut the door.
Judy groaned and put a paw to her head. "Everything is starting to… spin." Nick opened his muzzle and Judy whipped a paw up, finger extended up.
"Don't say it!" Judy said.
Nick clicked his muzzle shut and offered his arm again, which Judy took gratefully. They made it into Nick's apartment, Judy wobbling a bit.
"You going to be okay?" he asked, knowing she would be but still not wanting to see her feeling ill.
Judy sighed and rubbed her head. "I think so," she said, "I... just want to crawl into bed."
"Okay, come on then," Nick said and guided her to the bedroom. He inwardly cursed, having left the window open, but the fresh breeze that lifted the curtains was pleasant and since nobody had robbed him blind he guessed there was no harm, not that it was a bad neighborhood to begin with. Nick flicked the light on and Judy squinted.
"Ugh! Turn that off!" she complained and Nick did, it had been rather glaring and there was enough moonlight to see by, plus a bit of a street light down the road leaked in as well. "So…," Judy mumbled, "This is drunk." She shuffled to the bed and shrugged her overshirt off, letting it fall, but Nick caught it before it hit the floor. Judy plopped herself onto the edge of the bed.
"This is too drunk," Nick corrected, "I warned you about maintaining," he said as he moved to stand in front of her. She looked up and blinked at him, then lifted her arms. Nick understood what she wanted and leaned in to pull her t-shirt up and off. He cleared his throat and looked away, moving to lay her clothes on the top of the dresser. He turned around and steeled himself. Judy sitting there in the moonlight, bare chested and wearing that choker, was something to see.
Judy laid back and started to squirm and wriggle, working her shorts and panties down at the same time and kicking them off. She laid there, panting.
"I'm guessing you don't want to bother with night clothes?" he asked and she waved a lazy paw at him.
"No," she said, "Just… just wanna crawl under the covers," she said and placed a paw over one eye. Nick was feeling a bit guilty now, he should have been watching her and stopped her from gulping down the rest of that drink. She probably got the better part of the shot in that half glass of melted carrot bomb.
"Sorry," he said and started to undress.
"For..what?" Judy asked.
"I should have been watching you," Nick said and set his shirt down on top of Judy's.
Judy mmmphed and slowly sat up, "Okay, I'll blame you then," she said teasingly and started to crawl to the head of the bed, pulling the still mussed sheets down.
"Oh boy, whew," she said. The room might be aired out but the sheets needed changing.
"Yeah…" Nick said, cringing, "Really should've changed those."
Judy made a grunt of disinterest and pulled them down, giving them a little wave. "It's fine," she said, "It's just us… s'not like we peed all over it."
This struck Nick as particularly funny and he nearly tripped himself trying to get out of his jeans. He left the pants on the floor and moved over to the bed. Judy was propped up on one elbow, looking at him. She still had the choker on. He motioned with a finger to her.
"Come here," he said and she blinked, but scooted over. Nick reached behind her neck and undid the choker.
"Oh!" Judy said, "I'd forgotten about that."
Nick set it on the nightstand and smiled. "I noticed… and it looks splendid on you naked by the way," he said.
Judy snorted and flopped onto her back. She moved back over to make room for Nick and he climbed in next to her, pulling the covers up to their chests.
Judy snuggled up close to him and made a pleased mmmmmm. "S'better," she said sleepily.
Nick didn't reply and just pressed himself back against her snuggling. Judy settled down and seemed to drift off over the next few minutes, but Nick was not exactly sleepy. They had slept a large chunk of the day away, and the beers had taken their toll, but not so much to make him too tired.
He half dozed, arms up with hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling and contemplated the day's events. He had dealt with something that he honestly didn't think he ever would, thanks to Judy. His thoughts then drifted to the idea of marriage that had popped up more than once as well. It was not something he had seriously contemplated before. There had been Svetlana, of course, but he didn't think that really counted. Too young and dumb at that age to make decisions like that and have any real idea of what you are talking about, he thought. Now, however, when he thought about getting married to Judy, as premature as that idea was, it just made him smile. He could do that. He could marry this rabbit girl from the country and be perfectly fine with that.
Then there were Judy's parents. Oh boy, he thought. He really would have to be on his best behavior. He still wasn't sure what to make of Judy's folks. Dad seemed okay, but it was obvious who wore the pants in the family so it was Mom he would have to win over. He thought he was up to the job but he would need to tread carefully.
Judy suddenly roused next to him, inhaling deeply and suddenly, seeming to come awake. She started to snuggle against him, letting the breath out gradually. Her breathing then became slow and deep. She nuzzled up his side and began to lightly nibble at his shoulder.
Nick swallowed as his own body reacted.
Judy lifted a leg and moved it over his own, rubbing herself gently against him.
"Nick," she said in an almost whisper.
Nick swallowed. "Yeah Carrots?" he said in a quiet voice.
"You remember when we were in the pit at the museum?" she asked, rubbing her chest against his side.
"Kind of hard to forget," Nick said uncertainly.
"You remember when you pretended to go savage?" she said and scooted up a little so she could start nuzzling up to his neck.
"Yuh…yes," Nick said, his voice now rough.
"You remember how you bit my neck?" she asked, her voice husky now.
"Yeah," he said, almost breathless.
"Do you… think you could do that again?"
