A/N Hello in another chapter! :) Sorry for making the update so long.
I had this chapter ready for a long time, but I always post a chapter when I have the another one finished. And let me tell you, that wasn't easy. It's not like I want to make you waiting, God no. I had that damned writers block. There wasn't even one sentence I could produce. I didn't have the concept and generally I didn't know what to write next. Over two weeks- and nothing! I was really frustrated. But one day (well, actually it was a night and I was almost asleep), I was finally enlighted, and chapter 12 was all written in two days, ideas almost pouring from my sleeve, as one sentence was building another. And believe me, it's a sweet chapter:) worth waiting for.:) My favourite so far.
But first, chapter 11.
As usual, big big thanks to my editor blueberryandhoney- for everything.:)
Chapter 11
Nick felt like he wasn't walking, just flying a few inches above the pavement. Judy's words had that alarming effect on him. Yet, he couldn't find it in himself to feel anything less than elated. The seed of hope she planted in his mind was rooting madly.
He wasn't inquiring further though. He was just holding tight to the thought that maybe, maybe, it really meant what he thought it meant. That he has a chance. And he decided to exploit this as hard as possible.
But there were some "whoopsies", which the darker part of his brain was constantly whispering in his head .
"Whoopsie" number one was she said that her parents were looking for bucks for her. Not "males"- bucks specifically. That caused the fox to wonder if her parents would accept him as a match for their daughter. Him, who wasn't just NOT a buck, but a fox no less... A natural enemy many, many lifetimes ago. A predator.
But even if the vision of bunny hoards with pitchforks and torches wasn't enticing, he was ready to take that risk if Judy would want him to.
However, here comes double "whoopsie": was SHE even interested in any males other then rabbit bucks? Did she ever consider inter-species relationship? Was she against pred- prey dating? Times change, and now it wasn't as odd as it was a few years ago. However, it still wasn't terribly common.
Nick was really beginning to hate that. Feelings aren't something you can control. How do explain to yourself that 'no, you can't love that mammal, even if it's the best one you've ever met, because you both are different species'? It felt stupid and unfair. And he really hoped that Judy was on the same page with that.
And then there was "whoopsie" number threesie: Even if she wouldn't mind dating someone other than a bunny, would she like HIM for her mate? He was a nice guy, funny and all, but would it be enough to conquer her heart? To be willing to put up with criticism sure to come if she decided to be with him?
He was ready to fight for this. Nick really would do anything and everything to get her feelings. But what if it didn't work? What if she never felt the same?
Suddenly, Nick felt his heart sink, bringing him back down to Earth and weighing him down like an anchor on a ship. He had to summon all his willpower to stop his tail from scraping behind him.
"Hey, you know you have experience with interrogating suspects, right?" A sly though crept into his head, almost causing his muzzle to curve in a smug smile.
Suddenly, the cop he worked so hard to become woke up in Nick. That was the solution. Interrogate her, just a little, to see if he had a green light to go further. It was so simple, so easy. Especially to a pro like him.
He wanted, needed even, to explore the ground more.
Collect evidence.
One after another, in a small, delicate steps.
"So..." he began, "your parents just can't wait to see more grandkids?" Nick asked, trying to gain more informations about potential in-laws.
"Oh, gimme a break!" She shook her head. "If I had a dollar every time my mother said 'it's about the time' or 'I met the perfect guy for you', I'd be on Canarian now, laying on the beach, sipping cocktails, and getting pampered!"
Nick instantly imagined Judy in bikini, lying on the blanked at the sanded beach, her rear up as her fuzzy tail flicked invitingly... But he quickly cleared his mind and chuckled a little to let the images fade away (at least till he was alone).
"Don't they have enough of them with those two million siblings of yours?"
He asked with his brows high.
Judy gave him a look, but then she shook her head.
"It's not like that. My mother just wants me to make a family before it's, you know, too late." she explained with sigh.
"And how old are you?" he asked, because she really didn't look like her biological clock was ticking that insistently.
"Twenty four." Came the dismissive response before she turned large, curious eyes to him. "And you?"
"Grandpa here is thirty two, young lady..." he said, pointing his thumb at himself, sounding like his own grandfather.
The bunny's mouth dropped open on a fake shock, before she grinned at him.
"Cheese and crackers, thirty two? I didn't think mammals even lived that long!" She said with a giggle.
"Har har!" Nick said, rolling his eyes with a smile. "So funny! Forgive me for not dissolving into laughter. Bad back, you know."
Judy giggled again.
"If you can remember my name, you're not that decrepit. My grandpa, PopPop, still calls me Trudy."
"Wait a sec..." He said, and the bunny looked up at him and his far off expression, her brow crinkled in curiosity, before he turned back to her with a sly smile. "Ok. Added to the list of annoying nicknames, Carrots!"
Eyes narrowed on him, Judy's mouth fell open.
"Jerk!" she said, with a look of offense that had Nick's smile faltering for a moment. But the subtle twitch in the corner of her mouth and twinkling eyes gave her away.
"Fluff!" he shot back.
This time she couldn't hold back her grin.
"Dork!" she countered, nudging him with her elbow.
"Fuzz!"
"Goofball!"
"Sweetheart!"
Ok, that last one wasn't planned.
A powerful blush consumed his entire body as his mouth snapped shut. As though he could take back the word.
Even if Nick had a very, very bad experience with a muzzle, he really started considering buying himself one right now. He was totally pissed with his brain, because since yesterday it seemingly left on vacation, with no plans on returning.
Nick looked at the bunny, feeling panicked, and was met with her happy gaze. Too happy. Judy was giggling still.
"Hey, that last one was cute!" she said sweetly. "It sounds better than Carrots!"
Tension that had his stomach in knots began to dissipate. She wasn't offended and didn't mind him calling her sweetheart! True, he meant it in jest (at least, so she thought), but the fact remained she was okay with that endearment. What was more, she wasn't just not bothered, but she liked it.
And he liked it that she liked it.
"Ha! Maybe another day..." He smiled smugly and shrugged. "Today you're 'Carrots', and I'm ready to milk it as much as possible."
"Don't remind me I agreed to that..." Judy shook her head with a smile.
"I owned that! I risked my life!" Nick said in exasperation, causing her to laugh again and shake her head.
"Eh-hem, philanderer, didn't we plan to interrogate her a little?" His brain reminded.
Nick decided to bring their talk back to his original objective.
"So, anyway, why are your parents pressing you so hard? It's not like you'll retire this... venture... anytime soon."
Judy's smile faded as her eyes darkened in annoyance.
"I always get the speech like 'when I was your age, I have already had you and sixty of your siblings'. So that's the model they think I should follow. And considering most of my brothers and sisters are married with kits, the pressure is quite big." She sighed.
"You know that you don't have to do that. It's not like you have to be happy repeating somebody's patterns." Nick said. "There's no point in following someone else's dream."
"I know, right? But my mother claims that I'll feel my maternal instinct when I meet the right guy. So, beside providing fresh fruits and vegetables to surrounding stores, she never forgot to supply me with my daily dose of 'suitable bucks' since I became of age." Judy explained.
"Huh, your mom seems to be completely opposite of mine." Nick responded with a thoughtful smile. "She quit asking me about this stuff. I think that I'm just too old to be pestered with it anymore. That, or my mom just lost hope for me." He chuckled.
"...Or maybe she knows that you're waiting for 'the right one'." Judy suggested with a smile.
"I'm not waiting anymore, Fluff..." Nick thought to himself, looking at her beautiful muzzle. "And you wouldn't guess who happens to be 'this right one'..."
"Huh, maybe." Nick shrugged. "Surely she doesn't think that I'm going to be a priest anymore, since I'm already a cop."
Judy looked at him and bursted into laugher, seemingly imagining Nick in a cassock.
"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers, I can't see that!" She shook her head as she wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.
Nick rolled his eyes and pretended to be offended, one paw going to his chest.
"Hey, I'm a fox of many talents. I sure would make a great priest." He huffed. "I'd reside over the best funerals ever! The pianist would play 'Highway to hell', I'd add some puns and jokes to the preach to revive the atmosphere..." Nick's eyes got wide as he began to picture his life as a fox of the cloth, using his paws to set the scene for the bunny. "Ooh! And there would be that wedding game, but with the funeral wreath. You know, whom ever catches it will be next to die!" He nodded, sure of the fun this idea would bring. "I tell you, mammals would be DYING to see this. I could totally URN for living like this. Make money LETTING mammals DOWN."
Judy had a problem breathing from laughing so hard. She gasped and shook her head, waving her paws in attempt to shut him up.
"Nick..." the bunny said, desperately gasping for air between bouts of laughter, "I'm... so glad... that you're already a cop!"
"Ooh, you are no fun!" he said childishly with a pout.
But he was really happy that his babble made Judy laugh again. And to hear that sweet sound, he was ready to act like a nitwit for the rest of his life.
He then looked at the chuckling bunny beside, and suddenly Nick's brain was brightened with a great thought.
He didn't need to check if he had any chances with Judy.
There was no point in interrogating her and was no need to find out what she looked for in a male.
Because it didn't matter.
Spending time with her was truly great for him, and he wanted to do this no matter if she felt more than just friendship, or not.
Because whatever happened, he wouldn't just stop talking with her, helping her, entertaining her, making her laugh.
Because, no matter what, he still wanted to try to be the best version of himself when she's around.
And because even if she's not into him now, who knows what tomorrow would bring? Maybe she'll fall for him someday?
And if there's any chance for this, he refused to give up without trying.
"Nick..." her sweet voice brought him back from his rumination, "You are the first person who made my stomach ache without even touching it!" She was still giggling. "If I spend enough time with you, I'll probably get abs from laughter."
"Ha! I'm better than any gym!" he exclaimed proudly. Then he started tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I'd make a great gym trainer, too... Imagine this: weightlifting, but with donuts instead of dumbbells! My customers would never get slim, so I'd get money from them to no end! And my clients wouldn't feel guilty, because they're 'working out'."
"Ha! That's a hell of a hustle, Slick!" Judy gave him another nudge, her smile nearly as sly as his own.
For the rest of their walk, they made up alternative professions for the todd. Nick was having fun describing the twisted ways he turn each one into a joke. Though in reality, he most likely would be fired one his first day. But the game made both of them laugh like maniacs.
And in that moment they were just good friends, and nothing else mattered.
/
They stopped in front of Judy's complex. The bunny took the stroller from Nick, moved it to to bike stand, looping a chain around it before securing it with a padlock. Then she came back to the todd with a bundle of keys, searching for the one which would open the front doors.
"Nice carrot, Carrots!" Nick said, pointing out her orange keychain. "Can't get enough of them, huh?"
Judy playfully stuck out her tongue at him as she find the right one and started walking upstairs to the doors.
"Come in before I decide you need a warrant to enter." With a wink, she opened the door. "Or before I consider assaulting a police officer."
Nick obeyed, shutting down his brain as it started showing him some strange, BDSM images with Judy in the main role.
The building didn't look inviting from the outside, and inside it wasn't much better. In the corridor, the wallpaper looked like it was older than the building itself. Large strips hanging off the wall where the glue had worn off, there were whole sections where some mammal had put it out of its misery. The floor was hardwood, but the boards lacked either paint or
varnish and were water stained in many places.
A lonely, long, dirty carpet led from the entrance to the stairs to the first floor. The stairs did not look inviting as well, old wood looked like it was begging for setting it fire. At first glance, nothing there looked like a residential complex.
Nick looked at Judy to make sure if they entered the right place, but the bunny didn't even acknowledge the dilapidated lobby. She waved to an elderly armadillo, apparently the landlady, who was sitting in one of the rooms with doors opened, before she bounced happily to the stairs.
And that was all Nick needed to see to make the dreary hall brighter and prettier.
She hopped up a few steps and turned to the fox, beckoning to him to follow.
They went up to the second floor, and Judy guided him to her room. As they passed the other apartments, Nick wondered about the material the doors were made out of. Surely cardboard would muffle sound better, since every bit of noise from the other rooms was heard in the hallway. Perfectly.
They stopped by one of the doors and Judy put a key in the lock. After a small wrestling match to get it to turn, it was finally pushed open, revealing the bunny's apartment. Well, apartment wasn't really a good word. For Nick, it was just shoebox, but a bit bigger.
As they entered inside, the todd could see the tiny, nice made bed on the left and a desk loaded with equipment across from it. Probably something connected with making the chocolate. Next to the desk was a little fridge.
When he moved closer (which meant two more steps and he was there), he noticed something that caught all his attention. A dozen of plushy bunnies on the bed, all in different sizes and colours, but definitely all just too sweet to let it go.
"You didn't say you had roommates." Nick chuckled, taking one of the plushies in his paws. His fingers moved over the soft cloth ears and stitched eyes before he returned it to its spot on the bed.
Judy gave him a stormy look, but said nothing. Instead, she turned on something that looked like a big fryer situated on the desk.
"First, we need to go to the bathroom to wash our paws." Judy commended. Nick's uncertain gaze wondered around the room to find a bathroom inside, making her chuckle a little.
"Unfortunately, this is a trip down the hallway." she explained as she headed for the door again.
Nick was shocked. Not only did she lived in a shoe box, but she didn't even have her own bathroom. And no matter how many possibilities of peeking at Judy in communal shower his brain was presenting, he still couldn't believe that in this times that things still happened. But he didn't say anything, obediently following the bunny to wash their paws.
When they returned, the odd fryer looking machine started beeping. Judy moved to take out disposable gloves from her desk. She put them on at her paws, then she looked at the fox with a smile and asked:
"Ready?"
And meeting her eyes, realizing he was in her apartment, her own space, the only place in the city that was truly her own with no one else around, Nick gulped in what was not entirely fear. But that didn't stop him from smiling back.
"Ready…"
