A/N: Dear, God! Why did this chapter take so long?! Anyway, no time to waste. Onwards!
Disclaimer: Bla bla Zootopia bla bla Disney.
2 days has passed after their visit at Sahara Square but somehow it's as if the heat had followed them back home. Max was seen laying on the couch, fanning himself with a magazine. Unlike his penthouse back at Los Horserus, his home in Zootopia doesn't have an air conditioner. Only his bedroom does. But he wasn't complaining. He still had that expressionless face intact even though he was frying alive.
Sophie however sat next to him, her tongue sticking out as she looked up at the ceiling with her ears all droopy behind the couch. Even though her fur has turned back to white, she could still feel that heatwave from Sahara Square. It's like they never left the place at all.
"So… HOT!" she exclaimed, planting her chin on the side of the couch. Her nose began twitching.
Max stopped and fanned at her direction. She moaned at the weak breeze blowing into her fur with a smile.
"Thanks…" she said.
Max didn't answer. He never liked to talk whenever he feels hot. Because he thinks that it uses up too much of his energy anyway.
He stopped after a few minutes and lay back down, groaning.
"I kinda wish I was in someplace cold…" she muttered.
"Then use my bedroom," Max suggested.
"What about you?"
"No thanks. I hate the sunlight more than the heat." Which was true. Because Max's room is the only part of the house with the biggest window where the sun is very, very visible after being risen. And the worst part is that there wasn't any curtains for his room that came along with the house when he bought it.
She pouted and sat there, laying back down. The truth was that because she didn't want to leave Max's side. Even though they were completely doing nothing, she still can't seem to get away from him even though they were living in the same house.
"What's wrong, Soph?" Max spoke up.
She sighed. "Nothing… Just… I kinda miss the cold weather…"
"Like I said, my room."
"No, not that." She turned to him. "I mean… Tundratown."
"Oh, right. Arctic hare."
She nodded.
"Well, you either have to get use to the heat or you just have to stay in the snow."
She thought for a moment while looking down. And then, an idea struck her. She grabbed Max's paw. "Max… Do you… Wanna check out my place tonight…?"
Max was speechless but he held on to that blank face of his. "Your place?"
She nodded. "Think of this as… Repaying the favor, you know?"
He chuckled. "For what?"
"Well… For… Helping to solve your heat problem after you've brought me to so many other places?"
Max smiled. "I'm flattered. But what I'm curious is about…" He turned to her with a very mischievous smile. "Tonight…" he said in such a seductive tone with a wink.
Her ears immediately stood up with her eyes widened. Blushes form on her cheeks as she gripped on his paw tight. "It's…! It's nothing like that!" she said nervously.
Max placed his other paw on her head. "Just kidding…" he said softly with an assuring smile this time.
She pouted and looked away from him. "Silly fox…" she muttered.
"You mean, 'baka'."
She giggled and tackled him. "I swear if you use one more Japanese word…"
"Or what? Baaaaakaaaaa~"
She grinned and tickled his chest, making him squirm like crazy along with his laughter.
He grabbed her wrists, raising them up, placing his nose against her.
She looked at him. She has never seen such serious eyes from him before. He looked rather annoyed at her.
"No…" he muttered. He nuzzled her nose and let her go, laying back down.
She looked at him and smiled. Looks can be deceiving indeed. She placed her paws on his chest and lay down on him.
"So… Tonight, huh…?" he said.
"Mhm…"
He blinked once, looking up at the ceiling. "Might as well take a nap while I still can then."
She giggled and gripped his shirt. "I should too, I guess…" she said.
It was around 6pm in the evening and the two of them were sitting on a bench waiting for their train to Tundratown. The heat wore off from them but they were still willing to go for at least one more adventure.
Sophie was wearing a sweater and was holding onto a scarf just in case if it gets colder in Tundratown. But as for Max, he was wearing his usual grey hoodie with a black long-sleeved t-shirt underneath it.
Unlike the other two times when they were waiting for the train, both of them were still active this time. None of them felt tired so they actually manage to talk more about their lives after their seperation.
It wasn't long though for their train to arrive. Their destination was Glacier Falls in Tundratown. The main part of the arctic section. As soon as they went through the tunnel, Max felt his ears starting to freeze. They twitched a little from the cold feeling and put on his hood, trying to keep them warm.
Sophie giggled and lay back down. "Too cold?" she asked.
"Not just that. But because it's been a while since I felt cold air from snow."
She looked at him. "Don't they have snow in Los Horserus?"
"On occassions, yes. Like… Christmas."
"That explains it." She smiled at him. "Here…" She lay on top of him and hugged him tightly.
Max was frozen in his seat and looked around, hoping no one noticed this moment. Luckily, there were no one around in their carriage to witness them. He hugged back and patted her on the back.
"Let go of me now?" he asked, feeling a little awkward.
"Nope."
Soon after, the train arrived at Glacier Falls. Sophie heard the doors opening and held his paw. "Come on," she said, grinning. She hopped in joy repeatedly, feeling impatient, while he stood up, grabbing his backpack and putting it across on one shoulder.
She led him the way out and introduced him to the snowy disctrict.
"Welcome to Tundratown!" she said in joy.
Max looked out for a few seconds and turned back to Sophie. He noticed that her fur changed color again. Her white fur turned a bit brighter than before. And… She was so beautiful under the falling glaciers. Her eyes were shining, as he gazed upon them.
"Max?" she called. "Are you okay?"
Max shook his head slowly and smiled. "Yea," he said softly. "Just… You look different a bit."
"How?"
He chuckled. "Well, your fur got whiter."
She grinned and looked away shyly. "Well, I DID say hare fur changes color because of different kinds of temperature, didn't I?"
Indeed she did. Even though she looked a bit different, Max finds himself hypnotized by her beauty. The snow fit very well with her figure. She truly looked glorious under the moonlight along with the snow. He slowly turned his attention away and looked around the place again.
There were lights turned on in every building. Almost as if the whole district was wide awake 24/7. However, one of the buildings caught Max's eyes very quickly. A shop by the name of, 'JapanExport' was what brought his attention.
He pointed to the building and looked at Sophie. "Um… Can we…?" he said.
She laughed, shaking her head. "I don't see why not," she said, shrugging.
And with that said, Max quickly carried her up on his shoulder and quickly made a run for the shop. She held on to his forehead but he wasn't stopping at all. It's almost like he just went full-on anime character.
She shook her head again, getting her eyes back to normal from all the dizziness she just went through. Max put her down and planted his paws on the glass looking into the shop. It was so bright with the bright blue pillars at the corners of the store and the cream colored wall. There were mangas, DVDs, keychains, figurines and some even clothing from the actual anime themselves.
Max's tail wiggle like crazy yet his face didn't show any emotion. But Sophie giggled, looking at it moving left and right so quickly as if he was a dog who just fell in love.
She went straight to the front door, ringing the bell, causing the fox to turned to her direction. He quickly followed her in and looked around the place from the ceiling to the ground. Posters… Posters of anime characters everywhere!
"To be honest," Sophie said. "I never actually realized there was a shop like this."
Max's feet began hopping a little. "Is it… Normal to be hopping when you're very happy?" he asked still inrtrigued by the inside of the building. "Like… VERY happy?"
She smiled. "Maybe," she said.
"Welcome, sir, madam," said a rhinoceros walking towards them. "Can I help you?"
Max shook his head. "Not at all. Just…" He sighed. "Feels like I'm in heaven."
The rhino let out a soft laugh. "To be honest, I'm about to close the shop. But I think you can look around if you want."
Max grinned widely and swiftly move around the place, looking at everything as quickly as he can and trying to find whatever he was thinking to bring back home. It only took him a few minutes to finally decide what he wanted. He picked a 7-inch model of one of his favorite anime characters, Ryuk from Death Note.
Max happily paid for it and the two friends left the shop, with a very ecstatic fox, that keeps on looking at the model inside the box through the transparent plastic.
Sophie giggled, after witnessing how happy Max was. She let out a sighed as she focused on the path.
"You know…" she said. "I haven't seen you this happy since before we got separated…"
Max's smile disappear as he looked at her.
"Before when… Those jerks came… You would always talk about anime and all that stuff on our way home. It was the happiest I've seen you. And it's been a while since I've seen that silly smile of yours."
Max smiled and put the box away into the bag. He held her paw which she noticed quickly. She glanced at it and felt his paw tightening on hers. So warm…
Max didn't even say anything. Instead, he just kept his smile on and it was enough to give her an answer about his thoughts. She buried her cheeks underneath her scarf and blushed, feeling warm all around her face. But, she was resisting this time. She just let it went on as both of them walked back to her place.
Snowball Drive. A simple, average, regular neighborhood. Only with snow. Lots, and lots of snow.
The hare and fox finally reached the house they were heading for. She held on to the doorknob and reach for her keys and opened the door. It wasn't long until they heard the creak of the door being opened, slowly showing a little light into the room. She turned to the left side and turned on the lights on the wall.
The first thing revealed was an acute-shaped couch in front of a flat screen TV set up on the left most of the wall. There were cabinets, shelves and drawers around the TV. All DVDs and a GameStation4 (PlayStation4) right below the TV along with a radio. A dual stereo-system was on the side of the game console and radio right next to the cabinets on the side. The walls had two large windows, from the height of almost the ceiling, to the ground and green curtains were covering them. A coffee table and cushion stool was in between the couches and TV. And behind the couch, was a set of shelves and on them were just random knick-knacks.
Next to the living room on the left, facing the TV, was a small kitchen, fit for a small mammal like a rabbit. And across the kitchen counter was a small round, wooden dining table with two wooden chairs facing each other.
Max looked around. The place looked small but not cramped at all. He chuckled and stretched his arms after taking off his hood. He sighed, putting down his souvenir next to the couch and tossed his backpack on a recliner facing back next to the kitchen.
"Looks way better than my place," he said laying on the couch. He sighed again, feeling the soft couch slowly pushing onto his back comfortably. It was way more comfortable than the couch he had back home too.
"Max, please," she said taking off her scarf. "You're the guest this time. You can use my room."
Max turned around, laying his front on the couch this time, ignoring her offer. "But I don't wanna!" he pouted. He buried his face into the cushion with his tail slumping left and right every 5 seconds.
She smiled slyly and raised an eyebrow with her arms crossed. She took a few steps back, ran forward and jumped, landing on his back.
"UNF!" he reacted, feeling her body thud on his back. She giggled and rest her head between his shoulder-blades.
Her paws ran down on his back. She felt his muscles. They were so… Thick. Her fingers moved slower than before. Her attention was so engaged to his back. And now her mind clouded her with another thing. What about his front torso…?
"Soph?" Max called, snapping the hare out of her thoughts. "Feeling comfy back there?"
"Huh?!" She realized that she was touching him way too much and she squirmed.
Max smiled and lay his head back into the cushion. "I don't mind," he said, assuring her.
She looked at him and smiled after getting off of him. "I'm… Tired…" she said.
"Me too…" he agreed, turning his head to another direction.
She turned on her heels and glanced back at him as she picked up her backpack. "Goodnight, Max…" she said.
Max smiled. "Sweet dreams," he replied.
A weak smile appeared on her face and she walked at the back of the hallway which led to her room just behind the living room.
She lay back into her queen size bed and sighed, looking up at the ceiling with her paws across her waist.
She smiled and rubbed her fingers on the sheets, feeling the cold, soft mattress in her paws. It was great to be home…
A/N: There you guys and gals go. It's time to take the story to another location to start off. Expect chapter 11 soon. I hope…