Chapter 25: Their First Date (Part III of III)

"You just had to say it, didn't you!"

It was more of a statement than a question, the irony of which was not lost to Nick as they ran through the hailstorm that was currently beating on them.

"I didn't think it would actually get worse!" Nick replied, annoyed at the smirking bunny running next to him.

"Thank goodness you're a cop and not a weather-mammal then, Nick."

The pair finally made their way out of the park, the blanket held over both of them. It wasn't helping much as the rain and hail was hitting the ground with such force that it was bouncing off the pavement and onto them.

They were absolutely drenched by the time they made it halfway to Judy's apartment and when the sudden thunderstorm began to disappear as quickly as it began.

Judy peaked her head out from under the blanket as the rain lessened to a sprinkle. She sniffed the air and smiled. "I think we're past the worst of it now."

Nick glanced at her with his own smirk, "And you were the one who told me I shouldn't say things like that."

She rolled her eyes, "When you grow up on a farm, you tend to learn how to predict the weather since it's basically the only thing keeping you in business."

Nick smiled. "So what you're saying is that you should have become the weather-mammal then. The groundhog on ZNN doesn't seem to know what he's predicting anymore."

"Never trust a groundhog on predicting the weather," Judy quipped as the rain finally dissipated. "Best way to destroy your crop is to plant after one of them says it will be an early spring."

Nick laughed and tussled Judy's ears, which sent water droplets shooting everywhere. "You know, Carrots, I don't think this blanket really did much for us." Nick said, attempting to fold the sodden fabric. Water gushed out of the cloth with every fold until nearly a stream of water leaked out. It was then Nick had an idea. A terrible, wonderful, awful idea.

He glanced down at Judy, who even though she was drenched, still had a smile on her face.

Well, we can't get any more soaked then we already are...Nick thought. Besides? Aren't you supposed to live a little on a date?

Nick held part of the blanket over the rabbit, then twisted it in his paws. Water poured out of it and onto Judy's head. She jumped in surprise with an 'eek' as most of the water drained down the back of her shirt.

Nick quickly pulled the blanket behind him as Judy turned and glared at him. He pointed a paw skyward. "I think I just saw the cloud that did that. It said it was mad about the comments you made about groundhogs."

"Nicolas Piberius Wilde..." Judy growled as she began wringing out her shirt.

"I'm telling you, you simply cannot trust clouds these days." Nick looked around, not wanting to meet the glare sent his way by his partner when he noticed a truck barreling down the road towards them.

As well as the massive puddle they were currently standing next to.

Nick's ears shot up and in a second he brought the blanket out from behind his back and threw it over top of Judy.

"Hey! What are you doing Nick?!" he heard her cry from underneath the blanket as the truck rushed past them, hitting the miniature lake head on. A huge wave of water shot up from the puddle, hitting both of them with enough force to knock them off their feet.

Nick blinked and rubbed the water out of his eyes. He was now completely and utterly soaked.

He looked over to his side to see Judy struggling to escape from the now fully-drenched blanket over her. Nick unwrapped her quickly, revealing a quite angry bunny.

"Nick! What was that for?" She yelled, before noticing how soaked the fox was. She looked around, noticing the water covering the sidewalk, the truck cruising down the road, and finally, the puddle sloshing back and forth in front of them.

"Oh..."

Judy suddenly felt her ears turn red as she realized what Nick had done.

"Um...sorry about yelling and...thank you."

Nick smiled. There had been several times before when he had been on dates with vixens and this same sort of thing had happened. In each previous case though, he had shielded himself with the umbrella or blanket, and left his date to get drenched. Call it a self-defense mechanism from living on the streets for so long, but it was just what he did. It probably stemmed from when he was younger and had been caught in a downpour. He had caught a dreadful cold lasting over a week. Since that time, he had always shielded himself first over others.

Guess there's a first time for everything.

Judy noticed the bemused look on Nick's face. "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing..." he replied.

"Well," Judy stated, standing up and walking over to Nick. She lent him her paw which he took, helping him to stand. "I guess you do have some good traits in you after all. Seems I'm rubbing off on you."

She went to release his paw as he stood, but found his grip tighten. She looked at his paw in confusion, then up at her partner.

"Well," he smirked, "I may have good traits, but I still think I deserve an award for being such a – how did you put it? - an overall, articulate fella." Nick held out his free arm with a grin. Judy knew what was coming.

"Oh no you don't! Nick! Don't!"

Nick pulled Judy close to him despite her pleadings, wrapping her in a huge, wet hug. She pushed against him, trying to release herself but after several moments stopped and just went limp in his hug.

"I take it back. You are an incorrigible mammal, Nick."

Being so close to his chest, Judy both heard and felt the fox's laughter.

"Yes, but I'm your incorrigible fox. So you'll just have to get used to that idea." Gently, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Judy sighed and rolled her eyes.

The two heard a banging sound down the road a ways which caused them both to jump and separate quickly. They saw a female muskrat yelling at a young male deer holding a purse.

"Someone stop him, he stole my purse!"

The deer was running towards them, about to sprint in between them when both Judy and Nick slipped their feet out. The deer didn't even see the sudden movement and tumbled to the ground, rolling several times as they walked up to him. In seconds, Judy had cuffed the deer's hooves behind his back. Nick stared at her.

"Where did you get those?" he asked. Judy glanced at him, a smile on her face.

"A good cop always carries their gear with them at all times, Nick."

"Yeah, but this good cop doesn't seem to have any pouches where she could have kept them." He was staring at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

Her smile widened. "Well, I guess that's a secret for another day." She hopped up to him, kissing him on the cheek as he stared at her. She bounded away, grabbing the purse from the sidewalk and returning it to the elderly muskrat; Nick could only stare after her.

Seriously, where did she get those from?

Kiss Count:

Nick : 25

Judy: 27

AN: That is a question I've been asking since watching the movie. Where does Judy keep all her gear? The carrot pen, notepad, pawcuffs? I have no clue so if you do, let me know.