And now we get to why I started these guys to begin with. Guilt-free rule 34 lemon-y exploitation! But, of course, I can't help but over-think things. And so, a bit of fourth wall breaking, a guest appearance of The Creator! This was originally written as a one-shot short bit with a more detailed 'happy ending'. Only afterwards was there the idea to turn the Rule 63 aspect into an extended story and fudging it into the newer narrative.

Officer Nichole Wilde sauntered into the bullpen, sizing up the largely male crowd of officers she had to choose from. Not that she was opposed to a couple of the more yummy females available... But there was her Bunny Boy, Julius Hopps, the savior of Zootopia and the one mammal in the world who could have turned her head so as to become a shiny new officer of the ZPD.

Well, not exactly turn her head; more like saved her life, as she had saved his in those crazy days. But he had also saved her soul, in the sense of giving her life meaning again after so many years as a street con in the not always lustrous avenues of Zootopia.

She had wanted to do something more and better in her life, not defined by species and gender, but earlier circumstance had worked against her and she had given into the expediency of expectations that society had branded her with. But now. So she was making the world a better place, but wasn't above doing so with an irreverent jab now and again, just for the fun of it.

Morning address by Bogo was all too routine, which meant Nichole could not resist some kind of comment. So when he announced assignments, "Traffic Khan and Whitehorse, Hopps and Wilde," she murmured in her best sultry, "Traffic..." and licked her lips for extra effect.

Bogo gave her his 'what, again?' look, then snarled, "What do you feel about a partner swap?"

Looking over to the young wolf, she leered, "If I get the yummy puppy..."

"Not going to happen with two rookies. Khan, you get Wilde for the day, for starters."

The Vixen was genuinely shocked, "Chief, Sir, please! Anything but Khan!" That she and Khan actually got along just fine wasn't the issue, but traffic could get boring in the best of times, and the Tiger could be as dull as dirt in those circumstances. If she had to be stuck in a cruiser all day, she much rather be with her Bunny Boy.

For his part, Julius looked over at his erstwhile partner with his patented 'see what you did, again' smirk. He wasn't thrilled with the swap either. True, having the snarky Vixen around was fun, and he'd miss that, but Whitehorse was one of those very earnest and painfully naive young rookies that demanded constant attention.

"Survive the day and we'll see how it goes." Rumbled the Chief, and she could swear that he was ever so slightly enjoying himself.

Fortunately, the first half of the shift was just busy enough to not be boring, a couple of speeders, a DUI, some equipment violations. Just enough to burn up some time until lunch. Then, when she though she could get some small face time with Julius over lunch, they got the call from dispatch, "Sorry guys, was informed that he wants you on staggered coverage, so the two cars will have to do lunch separately."

Khan found the entertainment value in the Vixen's over-theatric whines and complaints to that getting old rather quickly. To break her rant, the Tiger tried her favorite distraction, dirty jokes. And for the next while the pair attempted to out do each other's rude and crude. Finally, Nichole was recounting a web comic, "And then she said, okay, what have you got? He whispers in her ear. She admits that was pretty good and he challenges to do one better. He recoils in horror at what he hears, to which she snarks, so he wouldn't? Oh no, he's all in, but would need bleach and steel wool after."

The Tiger saw an opening to The Big Question that has been on the precinct's mind since day one of Nichole's assignment to Julius Hopps. "So, you and Hopps...?"

The Fox visibly cringed at that, much to Khan's surprise.
"With all the back and forth between you two, everyone thinks you're at it pretty much non-stop. However, anyone with a proper nose..."

And that was the great mystery. Anyone with a proper nose really couldn't tell what was going on. Clearly there was some level of literal chemistry between them; the little hormonal reactions were all too obvious. And that they were groomers, no surprise with that. The suggestion that they were merely 'cuddle buddies' was roundly dismissed, with all the theatrics, all the hints- but, yet...

Nichole gave the Tiger a Look. There were lines that partners-by-assignment did not cross unbidden, especially between species and genders, and he knew he had stepped on it. Before he could apologize, the Fox sighed, "Fegetaboudit."

And everything went back to normal. Sort of.

Later, Julius was giving his Fox a bit of a back rub at his place. Despite stereotyping, females could live in conditions just as squalid as any bachelor pad so her place was not a good option. Conversely, The Hare was from a rather tidy and industrious family so had spiffed up his tiny shoebox of an apartment to within an inch of its life.

Nichole half-rolled to give her Bunny Boy a better look. "Carrots, what are we here for?"

Julius enjoyed the extra view. She was no Doe, but there was something in the long lithe body from any angle that could stir the blood if he let it. "Is this some existential quiz?"

She was still mulling over Khan's comment.
"In a way. How do you feel about us?"

"As a couple? Yes. We are a couple." But Julius could tell there was a lot more to this. "Are we going to get into how much of a couple?" The Buck gnawed on a claw. For all of their time together and for all the grab-ass they liked to play, especially at the expense of their easily shocked colleagues, they had not actually done much of anything with each other. And why?

In a flash of insight, Julius knew why. It was not just because he had been so focused on being the Perfect Cop, nor her persistent concerns about the risks of a Vixen living on the margins of society.

He stood up in the middle of the room and yelled up into the air, "Enough of this! We got to talk!"

"Yeah, I agree." I said.

Julius was momentarily stunned, "Damn! It works! Like that episode in The Twilight Limits Zone or something!"

"I need to apologize. I originally intended that you guys would do all the over-the-top Rule 34 stuff that I'd rather not have Nick and Judy do. Not necessarily anything heinous, just more graphic. There was just so much brain-bleach bad p0rn out there with them in it that I didn't want to add to it too directly."

Nichole jumped up, "Oh. My. Glob! I knew there was something more going on. I'm me, but I'm also some kind of horrible gender-swapped Rule 63 mutant?"

"Well, yeah, pretty much. But you're one of the nicer ones. I mean, there are some fierce fetishists out there and have all kinds of twists."

Julius looked to her incredulously for a moment. Then, I allowed a flash of insight. "Those images. She and me doing stuff. You did a batch of fan art of us having rather a lot of fun. What's with the lack of carry -over?"

"I did the fun stuff, a bit silly here and there. There were a couple of too far jokes too, Khan and Whitefoot would have heart attacks if you actually tried them. But it was all in fun and there wasn't anything to your characters beyond being the props for some harmless cartoon sex."

"Then I began to think in terms of some back-story, and I can't help but put some level of realistic features in how I work up my characters. So, you two became more rounded individuals, roughly analogous to your source characters. More accurately, my take on your source characters. And with that I turned down the sex angle."

"But not off." Nichole grumbled. "Do you know how much of a distraction it is going around at times hotter than a half-f-ed fox in a forest fire?" She recoiled from her own comment, looking up at me in shock and anger.

"I've wanted to use that line for decades. Stolen it from an old men's magazine comic strip. Sorry that I left you hanging, so to speak."

"But back to you and your sources. I wanted to not only avoid the obvious Rule 34 stuff, but also the inevitability of two characters getting romantic right off the bat. So, my Nicholas and Judith have a drawn out friendship that becomes closer over a couple year period after the Bellwether case. Part of me would still like to do a version with them never going beyond their police partnership, but shipping them is so much fun."

"But you two. You were originally made for the hot and poundy happy-good times. But now, since you are more than just sex toys, you've got the chance to make an input into how you want your lives to unfold. I know you do respect each other, more than just friends, but how much more?"

The two looked to each other. I allowed them to become aware of the myriad variations of what a couple could be, from literature and drama, from the most ancient sagas to the most recent web-fiction. Grand romances and burning passions had some attraction, but as a steady diet? They already suspected they were soul mates, as much as I'd grant such. And each in their own way had a touch of 'careful what you wish for', suspecting that I might be just enough of a dick of a creator to stick them with some too literal detail of their wishes. I wouldn't actually do that, of course, but I'm not about to tell them that.

"We'd like to be happy. And have some fun. But not in some impossibly sickly sweet 'everything is beautiful and nothing hurts' world."

I could tell they were thinking about a lot of Zootopia fan fiction. There were some pretty appealing scenarios. And they and I both kept coming back to an intense little web comic by trashSavage and Mead, called the Darkest Places. In it, Jack Savage explains how far he went to avenge his lost love to Judy, but as horrific as his act was, and the intensity that drove it, it was nothing in comparison to the passion he saw between her and her Fox. It was very moving. Then, less apocalyptically, there were some Princess Bride level perfect loves too.

We all knew that it was on one hand a bit of romantic hyperbole, but on another, who wouldn't want a taste of that?

"What do you think about a little version of that, really good together, happy, without regrets?" They would have to add that. Too much of my perspective is colored by regret, despair about the what could have and what weres. It's terrible when your creator is a chronically depressive old fart with just enough real tragedy to keep the pain sharp at times.

But, as I am my own micro-cosmic ghod I can give them the transcendence that I can't give myself. Sort of.

Julius's ear twitched, was there a something? He turned to his Vixen. They had been grooming and she was nude, standing before him with an atypically goofy grin on her face. "What?"

"I just had a thought. Here we are, consenting adults, with Urges, and we're Not Doing Anything about them." She had her paws on her hips and gave him a 'what are you going to do about that' look.

He stepped up to her and guided her muzzle down to his for a kiss. It started delicately, but became a firm press, as they embraced, taking in each other's breath, smell, taste. After long moments they surfaced to breath separately.

"We should have been doing this more often."

"Well, Yeah!"

They kissed again, a bit more vigorously, but not the frantic flurry of 'do it Now 'passion, but a more savoring act of mutual enjoyment. Their paws too began to explore and exchange contacts with each other's bodies as well.

With innumerable grooming sessions, they had all but a few forbidden zones of familiarity, but now they explored such. Still, it was more a matter of new pleasures, new comforts, rather than simply foreplay for any particular climatic act.

"So, that's the carrot you've been hiding from me." Nichole cooed. "I may have to take a taste of it sometime." Though Julius, as a rabbit, was smaller than her, he was 'robust' for a male of his type, and though lacked a canid 'knot' seemed to have diameter enough to make up for it.

For his part, Julius blushed at the reference, a joking aside of their first undercover mission. He loved pushing his paws though her lush pelt in more innocent times, and now could advance though and caress more of her lithesome form. Though only modestly defined, she responded with considerable effect to his attentions.

However, as a paw advanced further south, he sensed his vixen tense up in a bad way. He stopped and then cupped her face, while she drew him close. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry." She breathed, her face in a bittersweet attempt at reassurance. "I've had some - bad times, early on." She gripped him more strongly now, an almost desperate hold. "As much as I want you, really want you in every way -." She looked away, "We're going to have to take this kind of slow."

"Did something happen - ?" Julius' heart stabbed him in dread.

She looked past him at something long ago. "As such things go, I wasn't really physically hurt, and I didn't like to think I was terribly traumatized, but who knows? But I've avoided some things ever since."

"Is it anything you can talk about?"

"Not at the moment." They had already progressed to his bed, She shuffled their positions a bit and he was now propped up and she lay on her back on him with her head under his chin. Their arms intertwined on her chest. "Just hold me for now."

After a rather long interval, the immediate emotions fading into the simple mutual comfort they had for each other, Julius broke the spell. "Is this going to be a thing we can ease into, or are we talking couples therapy?" He got an arm loose and massaged her ear, "Or, we can forego taking it to that level."

"You'd do that for me?"

"I've always known you were my special, and this just pushed it up a notch. So yeah, I'm here for you, for better or worse."

Yeah, I'm a stinker and not going to go any further for the moment, but rest assured they will do the happy, made even more precious for the effort needed to get there. While I did create them for gratuitous rule 34 exploitation, my emotional investment wants them to be happy rather than mere sex puppets, not like the world needs any more of that. I'll likely have more little bits with them; they are fun with or without the sexy bits.

And there are the crazy youngsters and who knows what they might get into?