"A date?"
"Yah, a bit surprising, huh?" Nick chuckled.
"A bit? I've never even seen you with a prey, but now you're telling me you're going on a date with one. Who are you and what have you done with my kit."
Nick let out a hearty laugh; she isn't wrong. He was enjoying this, the fox really loved being able to talk with his mom as if she were a friend just like when he was a kid. He never realized just how much they've grown apart until he started calling her up daily; it was a real eye opener.
"So what are you two planning on doing?" The older vixen asked. Nick might be enjoying this, but Vicki felt as though she had won the lottery five times over. She had realized that she was losing her kit a long time ago, he was growing away from her and had been ever since that damned night. She had spent long night's wishing and praying that she could have her little boy back, and finally she was getting what she wanted. Reconnecting with Nick gave her a new found joy that was lost to her for many years.
"Just some simple things: go get a bite to eat, then catch a movie. Nothing too big," Nick laid out the plans of his night.
"Sounds fun. I hope you have a wonderful time tonight, just don't have too much fun," Vicki chuckled.
"MOM! Seriously?"
"Oh calm down, I'm only kidding. I haven't been able to tease you like this forever," She giggled in delight. This is how she wanted to feel as a mother.
"I suddenly feel compelled to hang up the phone," Nick expressed with fake annoyance. The two shared a laugh for a few moments. Yah, this is what they wanted.
"Well I better be getting back to work before Ms. Fester has my tail. I'll talk to you later; Love you."
"Love you too, Mom. Talk to you tomorrow." With that the two foxes hung up. Vicki continued with her duties in the small shop, and Nick lied peacefully under his favorite tree.
It was an unusually peaceful day around the property. Nick honestly had no idea where anyone was; he had woken up and hadn't seen any sign of anyone. No Deb making breakfast, no Tim anywhere to be found, and the others were all a mystery? The weirdest thing, Nick had to admit, was not hearing McCabe work on his car; the fox had become quite accustomed to the sound of the wolf banging on that heap of scrap metal. It seemed almost alien not hearing the many sounds of the wolf in his shop. Instead he was lying in complete silence, nothing but the sounds of nature could be heard; prefect. At least it would be if Nick didn't have a couple things on his mind.
First, the date he was going to have tonight with Judy has been running through his mind all last night and this morning. He wasn't really stressed about it, or nervous; he's gone on countless dates with other's, so this isn't really new to him. However, it is the first prey he's ever taken out on a date. He also doesn't know that much about her, but from what he does know about Judy he can honestly say she's a very intimidating bunny. Never thought I'd say that, the fox chuckled to himself. It's true though, she is one of the most headstrong, determined, willful mammal he's ever met, and they've been around each other only a few times. All in all, he was looking forward to spending some time with her.
The other thing on his mind had to do with his best friend back in Zootopia, Finnick. They usually text each other everyday to keep in touch. They haven't had any form of communication since the day he told Nick that he was working for the mafia. That's been setting off some alarms in his head. Nick just can't believe that he actually went and did that; sure the guys always been one to find the next big thing to do and get a big takeaway, but he's usually safe and smart about it. Now all the fox can do is think of the worse.
Besides those two things, Nick didn't have much on his mind. For the first time in a long time he actually felt stress free. He didn't have to worry about anything; not his family life, not any relationships with friends or anyone else, and especially no drama. Everything was going fine, maybe a little to fine. The pessimist in him told the fox that it wouldn't last, that's just the way the world works. But he decided for once that instead of worrying about all that negative crap he was going to just ride this smooth path until something inevitably went wrong.
Just as Nick was about to close his eyes and lose his mind to his imagination, the sound of whistling approaching got him to look towards the source. He relaxed when he saw who it was; for the first time that morning Nick saw another member of the family, and unsurprisingly it was McCabe walking over to him.
"Sup," the wolf greeted cheerfully.
"Nothing much, Just lying around relaxing," Nick replied lazily.
"Sounds fun," McCabe said.
Nick just gave a grunt in response. Not fun, per say, but it was relaxing. McCabe was slightly reluctant with his next statement, but he knew this day was coming from when he first got here.
"Well I just wanted to come over and say goodbye." That got the fox to snap his head back up at the wolf.
"What do you mean?" Nick asked with slight concern. He really liked McCabe and didn't want him to leave. He's honestly the only friend he's got out here (though he was hoping to change that tonight).
"I've got to head back to Zootopia," McCabe revealed, "I have work tomorrow and need to be there if I want to keep my job; I'm lucky to be good friends with my boss so he'd let me have this many days off, but now I've got to get back," McCabe explained with bitter-sweetness. Sure he was sad to be leaving his family since he loved them all unconditionally, but he has made a life for himself back in the city; that and he really can't wait to see his love again after all this time. "I've already said my goodbyes to everyone else, and I'm going to Judy's before I leave. You're the only one left."
Nick wasn't happy with the news, he really enjoys having the wolf around, but what was he going to do about it? Beg him to not go back to his own life? He was going to miss the guy, but he'd be fine without him.
"I'm going to miss you man," Nick said as he stood up to give McCabe a proper farewell. The two embraced in a hug, though it was slightly awkward due to the slight height difference.
"Keep yourself out of trouble now, you hear?" McCabe smiled lightly.
"No promises," the fox chuckled jokingly, getting McCabe to smile happily at his newest friend. He'll be just fine, he thought to himself.
"Bye Nick," McCabe bid his final farewell before walking off behind the house. Moments later Nick heard the engine of his truck roar to life and he came driving around. He waved at Nick as he drove away from the property and Nick returned the gesture. Well that kind of sucks, Nick shrugged. All those weeks building up their friendship, then he has to leave with a simple goodbye. He was going to miss him, definitely. He was the greatest friend he's had only topped by Finnick- Nick and the fennec had a special friendship, that is for sure. Hopefully they'd see each other again sometime in the future. He looked forward to that day.
The fox again lied himself down, resting his head on the base of the tree. He closed his eyes and relaxed his entire body. Sleep soon overcame Nick with McCabe on his mind and the thought that they'd see each other again. When he would wake, however, he knew all he would be focused on is one thing: his date with Judy.
Nick's nap was ended when the sound of his alarm brought him back to consciousness. At first he was a little groggy and annoyed that his sleep, which was going wonderful, was interrupted by the obnoxious sound of his alarm. However, when he realized what that alarm meant a small smile found its way to his lips. It is now 5 o'clock, and time to start getting ready for his date.
Nick drawled out a hefty yawn as he stretched his resting muscles. Feeling woken up and even more energized from his nap, Nick got to his feet and went inside the house.
"Seems someone's happy about their nap." Nick looked over into the family room to see the entire rest of the family sitting down watching something on the TV. It was Deb who had acknowledged his presence. She was looking at him with her regular sweet smile waiting for his response.
"Yep! It's always nice catching some sleep before going out on a date," he claimed as the fox zipped up the stairs with a mischievous smile.
"wait, WHAT?" Nick heard exclaimed from downstairs and he couldn't stop himself from cackling. He hadn't bothered telling them about it and knew telling them would come across as a bit of a shocker considering he hasn't done much of anything for the entire summer. He knew he'd have to reveal all the details to them when he goes back downstairs, but he didn't mind it he just enjoys screwing with other's.
Judy was supposed to be picking him up at 6, so he'd have to quicken his pace up just a bit. He hurried into the shower and rinsed himself off. After the shower he dried himself off and groomed his fur the best he could, and it was good. He returned to his room and pulled the nicest clothes he had out from his closet. Nick chuckled slightly to himself, he remembers fighting with his mom about taking this shirt with him. She tried to convince him just in case he went to something more formal; Nick argued and insisted that it wasn't going to happen. Guess I was wrong, that seems to be a reoccurring theme lately.
Nick gazed at himself in the mirror and was pleased with how he was looking. Hopefully his bunny date would think the same thing. The fox looked at the time , Seeing he had 10 minutes until Judy was supposed to be here. It felt kind of backwards that she would be driving him to their date, but what was he to do about it.
He walked downstairs where there was no escaping his waiting family.
"Well, you clean up nice," Tim complimented seeing the young fox saunter down the stairs and over to them. Nick thanked him.
"So what is this about a date" Deb brought up what everyone else was thinking. "When and where were you able to ask some vixen out?" Nick would understand her confusion, if it was another fox he was taking out.
"Simple, I'm not going out on a date with another fox. I got myself a rabbit," Nick smiled. Oh, how Nick wishes he could have a camera to capture the looks on everyone's faces: priceless.
"Judy?" Deb guessed considering she's the only rabbit he's been around.
"Bingo!"
"Gonna be honest, didn't expect you to be the type of mammal that…" Tim wanted to chose his words carefully as not to say something offensive.
"Dates different species? Yah, all the time. More often than not it's usually a different species," Nick shrugged. It really wasn't that big of a deal to him.
"So what are you two doing exactly?" Deb asked, purposely moving away from that subject.
"Dinner, movie, the classic date," Nick explained, again.
"When did this happen?" Deb wondered, then thinking back to yesterday when the two went off alone. Nick was about to answer, but the sound of a car horn cut him off.
"Tell you what, I'll give you the details when I get home," Nick suggested, but not giving them anytime to answer before he said goodbye and walked out the door. What the fox saw parked in the driveway almost got his jaw to drop. Judy noticed Nicks reaction from the drivers seat and couldn't help but giggle. She got that a lot when she drove this beauty around.
"What is a precious bunny like you doing driving a beast like this?" Nick jokingly asked as he climbed into the classic muscle car: a 1969 Ford Mustang Fastback. And Nick thought he was done being surprised by her.
"Come on fox, you should know by now I'm anything but precious," Judy stated, taking off down the driveway and turned towards town. "Your looking nice. I was starting to think you always looked like you'd just gotten out of bed," the bunny laughed. Nick scoffed, placing a paw over his chest acting like her words hurt.
"Come on now, you'd think someone like me would always look like trash. You know there's a reason the term is called looking foxy," Nick expressed huskily as he gestured to himself. The look he got from Judy was priceless . She looked at him with a mixture of embarrassment and disgust; mostly embarrassment though as he could see the redness of her face from a mile away. Doesn't seem like she's used to this. Oh this is going to be a fun night. If there's anything Nick loves to do, it's seeing others get flustered; especially attractive girls such as the bunny sitting across from him.
"I can't believe you said that."
"Calm down fluff, I'm just messing with you," the fox smiled happily to himself.
"Yah I know, but still, I was just caught a little off guard," She admitted bashfully.
"Anyway," Nick decided to spare her- at least for now- and change the subject. He was actually really curious about this car and how she acquired it. "Where'd you get this beauty?" Nick questioned as he caressed the interior. The fox used to be an enthusiast about old cars like this; it was awesome seeing this car in such good condition .
"It's my dad's," She told him patting the dashboard. "He beat some poor mammal in a poker game and won it off him. Luckily I'm the oldest and he let's me drive it around every so often. Tonight is one of those nights." Nick laughed slightly at the misfortune of whoever was dumb enough to lose this in a game of poker.
"So you pick out where we're eating at?" Judy asked, finally bringing up the fact that they were out on a date.
"I mean I did like that one place we all are at the other night," Nick said tilting his head over to the bunny who didn't look very pleased with that decision. Fortunately for her, he was only kidding, "But I figured that wouldn't be the best place to take you out on a date. I did some research and found that the Elkhorn Dinner was probably the best choice."
"Good choice," Judy said, looking a lot more pleased about the choice. "I haven't been there in awhile, but it's really good."
They drove for a while longer until Judy pulled into the parking lot of a very nice looking restaurant. The two climbed out and started walking in. It was at this time Nick took his first full look at the bunny all dressed up and he had to say she was looking stunning. She was legitimately breath taking which is something he never thought he'd think about a rabbit.
They walked into the building, and were lead to their seats. Their waiter, a teenage bull elk, brought them over to a window seat with a beautiful view, as if he knew Nick and Judy were on a date. The two asked for just waters and the elk said he'd be right back with them.
"Man, it must be nice always having a view like this," Nick sighed as he gazed out the window.
"Yah I guess it's pretty nice, but you get used to it. I bet its nothing like the city, though," She voiced. Nick gave a shrug.
"I guess it just depends on your taste of scenery," Nick replied. Sure, the city had it's moments of beauty, but he couldn't help but see beauty everywhere he looked here. The city… well not so much.
The elk came back and served the couple their waters and asked if they were ready to order. Judy ordered a nice salad, while Nick did the same only wanting crickets with it as well. "I'll have your food here shortly, and I'll male sure it gets here extra quick for you," the waiter said , gesturing to Judy. He walked away and Nick looked at the bunny with pleasant curiosity.
"So, does everyone here know you, or have I just gotten lucky in meeting everyone you know," the fox inquired. Judy gave a half shrug and looked away shyly.
"I mean it is a small town, everybody knows everybody," She tried to play off. But come on, does she really think she could fool this fox. Not to mention how she was acting, but there is no way that someone would be able to pick out a normal rabbit from the hundreds of others. She'd have to do something special.
"Come on now, Carrots, you can't keep the truth from me forever," he grinned boastfully. Judy saw his little smile and wanted to smack the smugness off of it; although she had to admit it made the vulpine look slightly more attractive. Every time the fox gives her that sly smirk she gets a warm feeling in her chest.
"Yah, I suppose I have a bit of a reputation around here," Judy admitted, not feeling like arguing with her date. Besides, maybe if she tells him a little about her life, he'll open up more with her.
"Is that good or bad," Nick asked intrigued, eyeing Judy as he sipped his water.
"Good for the most part; everything except all the attention I get from it." She said shyly.
"If I may ask, what did you do to rise to your fame?"
She seemed a little reluctant to go into depth about the whole thing. It's kind of a touchy subject in her life, as well as many others; that, and it is a long story. She finally decided that she'd just give him the story everyone else knows.
"You remember when you saw me standing up to that jerk fox, Gideon?" Judy asked. Nick nodded, indeed he remembers that day, he also remembers being really impressed with how she dealt with him. "Well, it wasn't only McCabe and I he liked to torment. Him and his friends bullied just about everyone, and they were ruthless. This went on from elementary until I was a sophomore and he was a senior. I had finally had enough of his crap and got into a fight with him," Judy paused for a moment and let out a suppressed laugh.
"What's so funny?" Nick wondered.
"I'm just remembering all the hype that lead up to that fight," She giggled. "The whole school was putting bets on who'd win, everyone expected Gideon to win no problem. I was told I had no chance in hell," Judy wore a smug grin that told Nick just about everything; still, he was curious how this ended.
"What happened?" Nick inquired. Judy was about to answer when the waiter came back with their food, putting it down in front of them. Nick was slightly annoyed by the interruption; he wants to hear how this ends.
"As I was saying, the school was going crazy about this whole thing, calling it the fight of the century, and everyone expected it to be this big thing. Turns out Gideon wasn't as tough as everyone thought he was. The fight started, he charged at me, then I landed one kick to his head and knocked him out cold. I'm usually not one for violence, but that was the most satisfying things I had ever done," Judy explained with a gratified smile. All the while Nick had his face buried into the table laughing his head off. The image of Judy, this small rabbit, one hitting that large fox set him off into a hysteric laughing frenzy.
"That's just too good," Nick wheezed out.
"Yah, after that everyone lost their respect for him, his friends abandoned him, and he just faded into the background for the rest of the year. I started getting a lot of attention after that," She rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed by the sudden attention. Though it wasn't necessarily the attention she didn't like, it was more of how she got tIt.
"So what about you?" Judy asked.
"What about me?" Nick questioned.
"Besides all your scamming, I don't really know anything about you," she's only been around him either during negative circumstances, or when she was preoccupied with her other friends. She saw this as a good chance to actually get to know the fox and judge him from there. Really all she wants to know is if Nicks really a jerk or not.
Nick kind of caught on to this and decided to play along. If he was going to get her to like him back, then he might as well give her a peek into his dysfunctional life.
"What do you want to know?" He opened his arms letting her know he was open to any question.
"Just who you are. What do you like, what do you do for fun, what makes you, you," Judy inquired of the fox. Suddenly, Nick felt like he was being interrogated, and he wasn't sure how to answer. Most of his life has revolved around scamming mammals, and not much else. It really put his life into perspective. "Come on, don't tell me all you've done with your life is hustle animals," Judy joked, though she was a little worried that's exactly what he's done.
"Nah, I've got other interests," he laughed. "I enjoy listening to classic rock, I'm pretty decent at running track, and I love meeting new people, to name a few things," Nick listed from the things that came off the top of his head. There are other things, he just can't remember them at the moment. Judy seemed slightly satisfied with the answers given to her, though kind of vague. It was a start.
"I wouldn't have guessed you to be the social type, considering how you act around my friends and I," Judy giggled.
Nick shrugged, "People in Bunnyburrow are a whole other breed of animals; I know how to talk the language of Zootopia. I know quite a few of important mammals in the big Z, both good and bad, but we don't need to go into detail about that," Nick liked to pride himself on how much he knew the animals of Zootopia. Of course a lot of them were on the shady side of the law, but it's also good to knows types of mammals too; it's amazing what kind of information you can get from them.
Judy seemed pretty impressed with him. She's not very much of a people's person. Yah, she has her group of friends, but it's a small one and that's how she likes it. "So I'm guessing you have quite a bit of street smarts, with all those years of 'business' and knowing all those mammals, you seem like the type who'd be very knowledgeable in that area," Judy commented as she took her last bite of food. Nick bobbed his head around not disagreeing, but not wanting to brag to much. He likes to think he has some of the best street smarts out there.
"I mean I don't want to brag, but yah I'm very smart when it comes to the streets. Not so much with the books, but I gave up with that a long time ago," Nick admitted, now fishing for his wallet since the two were done eating.
Judy looked dolefully at the fox, She could only guess why he didn't have an interest in school any longer, but she assumed it had something to do with him being a fox. "You shouldn't give up on your education, you know," Judy gave her opinion.
Nick didn't even look up from grabbing his debit card out of his wallet, just gave a small scoff. "I tried doing the school thing, I really did," he told the bunny. They both got up and went over to the front counter to pay, "But when your always accused of cheating for getting good grades just because of your species, you tend to lose your motivation," he gave a soft laugh, but the expression on his face told Judy everything. "But, hey, what can you do?" He shrugged taking back his card.
They walked out and got into the car before continuing to talk. "Is Zootopia really that bad?" Up to this point Judy figured the city was this great place, but from what Nicks told her about it, it's not all it's cracked up to be.
"I wouldn't say it's the worst place in the world, but it definitely has its flaws," Nick told her.
Judy looked to be deep in thought as she pondered about her outlook on the city she has praised so much. It seems like she was wrong about the whole 'perfect city' she had convinced herself Zootopia was. However, though she may have been wrong, it didn't a damper on her dream of becoming a cop there.
Nick noticed the grin Judy had and wondered what she was all smiley about. "What's got you so happy?" Nick asked, and couldn't help smiling with her. She has such a contagious smile, he cooed silently to himself.
"Learning all this stuff about Zootopia made me realize something," She said. Nick looked at her expectantly to finish what she had to say. "I've always had the dream to be a cop there only I thought Zootopia was this perfect place, but knowing all this stuff now gives me a chance to do what I've always wanted," Judy explained boastfully.
"And that is?"
"Making the world a better place," She beamed.
Nick didn't say anything at first, mostly because he was inwardly freaking out. Holy hell, this little rabbit is such a precious soul. How on earth is someone like me good enough for her. His last thought was kind of depressing as he thought back to how terrible an animal he actually was. "Well if anyone could make a difference there, it would be you."
Judy looked away bashfully, "Thanks, Nick." The conversation came to an end when they pulled up to the movie theater. They got out and Judy asked Nick if he had any movies in mind.
"I was just going to let you pick it. I didn't want to end up choosing something you don't want to see."
"Aww, what a gentlefox."
"Yep, that's me, the sweetest fox you'll ever meet," he flashed her a smile. "So what will it be?" He pointed over to the selection of movies, secretly hoping that it wasn't a chick-flick. Judy scanned over her options until seeing one that she thought looked interesting. She pointed it out to Nick , and upon seeing her selection inwardly sighed in relief. Of course she'd be the one to pick the action-thriller, and one he was actually wanting to see. "Wonder Woman it is then," He agreed.
Cut to a couple hours later and the two were walking out of the theatre around 10:30, pretty happy with their selection of a movie. "Definitely one of the better DC movies," Judy commented.
"Absolutely, though all of the other ones set the bar kind of low," he mocked.
"Can't argue with you there."
"I've had fun tonight," Judy said as she drove out of the parking lot, and started heading back to Nicks house to drop him off for the night.
"I would hope so, or else I spent the entire night being nice to you for no reason," he teased.
Judy rolled her eyes, lightly hitting him on the shoulder, "Har, har. But seriously, this has been really fun. It was nice to hang out and get to know you better," she smiled.
"I'm gonna have to agree with you on that, fluff; this has definitely been one of the more fun times I've had this summer," Nick expressed with joy. "Funny how most of those times include you," he uttered a little shyly.
"Guess I just enhance your life; you're just lucky to have to have me, aren't you?" She giggled.
"I guess so," Nick laughed along, neither of them knowing how true that statement would be in the future.
They eventually reached Nicks house, and Judy parked in the driveway. The two looked happily at one another, "Maybe we can do something like this again?" Nick proposed. Judy didn't even have to think about it.
"That's be nice."
Nick climbed out of the car and his Judy a good night. He watched her drive away off the property and towards her house. And there she goes, the mammal of my dreams, the fox smiled like a lovesick puppy. His little crush on the bunny had steadily grown over the night, and now he felt like he was actually starting to fall for her. Who would have ever guessed, he softly chuckled as he walked into the house happier than when he left earlier that night.
This took a little longer to get out than I wanted. It would have taken longer if I hadn't decided to stay up to 1 in the morning for the past couple of nights. At least it's something worth losing sleep over, so I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter.
Next chapter is gonna be a bit of a surprise. Good or bad? Well you'll just have to come back for the next chapter to see.
Thanks to everyone who has read, favorited, followed, and reviewed this story, I reallyappreciate it. Please continue to give me feedback, as I enjoy reading what you all have to say.
Keep on Keeping On
Peace Out