Big cameos in here, be sure to look out for it.
Judy's, Nick's and Viviane's jaws dropped at what was before them. Near mirror images of the couple stood there gazing at the too, right down to the way they stood and smiled. However, at closer inspection, Judy noticed a few subtle differences between her and Julie's fox, differences she was sure Nick and Viviane caught as well. Richard's fur was a slightly darker shade of auburn, with flecks of brown intermixed, the creamy color of his front fur was little more tan than Nick's, his build wasn't as lean and toned as her boyfriend's but not as plump or chubby as Gideon, but a nice middle ground, possibly from a recent job of doing just enough exercise to not pack on the weight as quickly. Not that body mattered to her, she would've loved Nick if he had 'more to love', but she was just partial to the leaner predator look Nick often flaunted. Even though the two vulpine shared a similar smirk and almost cocky toothy grin, Richard's eyes was a tad shade darker green as opposed to Nick's more emerald tint, but it was the very slight grey fleck near the tod's eyes that told Nick at least that Richard had previously had it rough before VERY recently coming into good fortune, a look Nick himself had not long after getting accepting into the academy. All in all, it was still very unnerving to say the least seeing your doppelganger in front of you dating your girlfriends doppelganger, and the tod had a very strong feeling to ask his mother if he had an unknown twin, but quickly shook the thought free, his mother of all mammals wouldn't lie about something like that.
As Nick went to make a snarky comment to his doe, he noticed something about her. From the way her ears twitched, eyes narrowed, and fists were tight and clenching, to even the telltale scent of anger all gave the warning signs of a very angry bunny and lots of red flags went off in his brain. Judy had a very predatory anger to her and, in a private situation he would have been VERY aroused by the idea of her being aggressive, he knew that the anger was going to be directed very quickly to either Julie or Richard, who both looked worried at the body language and scent Judy was giving off. Thinking quick, he gently grabbed her by the shoulder and knelt down in front of her, drawing her anger away for a split second. Her face softening as he looked deep into her eyes, amethyst on emerald, as he spoke softly and quietly, "Take a deep breath Hun, and let her explain. Let's not start our vacation with you in jail for assault. K?"
The doe took a deep breathe in and exhaled, as Nick stood and motioned to his mother, "Ma, Why don't you go ahead and head to the house, Mr. and Mrs. Hopps should be out shortly to meet ya. While Richard and I go talk tod stuff." Viviane nodded with an understanding smile, turning on her heel and walked slowly up to the large building, where the vixen explained briefly what was happening.
Richard meanwhile cocked his head confused as to why Nick said that until he fully noticed the look on Julie's face, telling him silently that the two does needed to be alone for a bit. Richard bent down and placed something small in her pocket. She looked confused as the tod backed away with a wink, "Just in case you need help, just throw it."
The other three looked confused as Richard stood and followed Nick a bit away, far enough for privacy but close enough to intervene if needed. As soon as the two tods started talking, Judy quickly reeled around to her sister, her voice harsh and on edge. She pointed a dull clawed finger right Julie's muzzle, nearly touching her now twitching nose, "You," Judy hissed, "Had better start explaining Julie. That last letter you sent me hurt, like really hurt. You said a LOT of terrible things, calling me names like a predaphile for merely having a passing interest in a pred, never even apologizing for it for nearly a year, then you show up during the harvest festival with a predator yourself on your arm, smiling like nothing in the world was wrong. What the hell?"
Julie sighed, as she looked away, a regretful look on her face as she rubbed her upper arm, "Judy…I'm so so sorry for saying all those things to you back then. I was in a rough spot, lots of things going on in my life at the time and well, when you said you may have had feeling for a fox, well I just let my anger talk for me….along with the alcohol I might have over indulged in." Julie's purple eyes got misty as she looked at her twin in the eye, a pleading and mournful look to them.
Judy's harsh gaze softened, "What was going on sis? Thought you loved being a Park Ranger, every letter before that was nothing but how great it was."
"Oh I did love my job, but it started when me and my boyfriend, another ranger named Jack, had a bad break up, turns out he was a major asshole, saying we bunnies had to stick with bunnies. Tried to convince me to marry him solely on the fact of us being rabbits. You know, major sexist as well looking back. Anyway, budget issues, several time consuming meetings that yes were fun and we joked a lot, but were also so draining. Plus the lack of nearby friends and stuck in a wooden tower for weeks alone, along with being told we may be getting a new temp guy so I'd have to baby-sit them..ugh Oh and on top of all that, two other rangers, who were my best friends in the world pretty much, started dating each other…I guess jealousy made me snap and was so fed up that I took it out on you Judes…Please I'm so sorry."
Judy wiped her tears and gave her sister a tight embrace, "I suppose I can be persuaded to forgive you…IF you tell me just how you and Richard got to dating." She gave her twin a smirk worthy of Nick, causing Julie to pull away chuckling as she wiped her tears as well.
"Well, he was the temp I was to baby-sit essentially. Well, not baby-sit, but tell him what to do basically. How to do his job, call in problems, what to do when 'this' happens, or 'that'. Basic stuff." Julie paused as she smiled lightly as the memory, "Anyway, I was told only his name and species, so at first I was a bit uninterested. Then we started talking and I found he was a very sweet mammal, but still a fox. We had this game where he would try to guess my species based on only a few clues, but he kept guessing other preds so I figured he wasn't interested in me, not that it mattered early on, I wasn't thinking anything passed being just coworkers or friends. As time went on and more we talked, the closer we got, and I started to…imagine him as more than that, but he still never thought that I was a bunny so…I kept my distance, not wanting another heartbreak to soon again."
"Understandable," Judy shrugged, knowing she herself was in a spot not long ago after Terry's stunt.
"Yea, but then I saw how happy the other two rangers were and well…I thought hard about actually trying."
Judy cocked her head, "What made them so special you thought about trying?"
Julie blushed a bit, "Well she was a doe like us, but he was a painted dog, with really pretty markings. And they seemed so happy all the time, nearly flaunting it when we would cross paths, especially the bedroom bits," The two does blushed hard in understanding, "So I…took a chance and we met up, and the species thing never came up. We've been so happy ever since."
"Sounds like it," Judy shuffled her feet a bit, "I got worried when I heard about the fire not long ago, afraid that…things would be left unresolved."
"Yea, I got worried too cause he was stuck in there for a bit, but luckily no one was seriously hurt…minus the loss of a good chunk of timber area. On the plus side though, Richard going to be going through ranger training soon so he will be a permanent member of our group." Julie put her paws in her pockets as she smiled, only to pull something out in confusion, revealing a small pinecone in the center of her paw, causing Julie to chuckle at her tods antics and Judy's look of uncertainty.
Julie shrugged and tossed the small item in the air a few times , "Ranger thing," She chuckled then looked to the foxes and yelled out, "Ya know Twin Forks, should put you in cuffs for transporting an non-indigenous species of tree to an unapproved location."
Richard's eye lit up humorously, "Ooh you promise to use the cuffs." He sent her a sly wink as Julie blushed, muttering about a dorky fox, "So, shall we grab our mates and head in?" Julie replaced the pinecone in her pocket as she nodded to their mates.
Judy nodded as they made their way over to the two vulpines, who them selves were wrapping up their own conversations.
Earlier…
"So, Where ya from Richard?" Nick inquired as they started their own conversation.
"Zootopia originally, mom moved us there when I was super young. " Richard shrugged, "Had a pretty basic life…school, mom worked, graduated, fell in love then got hurt broken pretty bad."
"Why did ya go out to the sticks to be a ranger? Seems like an odd choice of career…considering how rough we foxes can have it." Nick asked, honest curious about this fox's choice.
Richard shrugged, "Yea it was hard to find work that wasn't cash only or part time. Plus, with what happened after my breakup…I didn't have any ambition. I needed to get away from it all for a bit so I went out to clear my head, checked out the classifieds and found out about a temp job being a firewatcher with the local rangers. Thought what the hell and signed up. Turned out to be the best idea I've ever had."
"That where ya met Julie?"
Richard smiled wide with a goofy love struck expression, "Yea…at first, I didn't know she was a bunny, the other rangers I had met were other preds so I didn't think about it. She knew about me being a fox, but was clueless about her species. We started talking, had me guessing her species which led no where. Not even the other rangers that knew her very well would tell me. Especially her best friends, which themselves were dating each other, which I thought was odd seeing as she was a doe and he was a painted dog. Seeing that though gave me thought, I didn't care what she was, I felt something for her regardless. After gaining the courage to meet up we did, and was a bit surprised that she was a bunny, but it didn't matter, I fell in love with her, not her diet. It all went up hill from there."
"Wow, we seem to have a bit in common." Nick chuckled.
"Yep, and starting in the spring I start my full ranger training, which shouldn't be too bad," Richard laughed, "Heck if a fox can become a fox a little ranger training will be a walk in the park."
As Nick was about to laugh at the other tod's joke, a female voice cut him off, "Ya know Twin Forks, should put you in cuffs for transporting an non-indigenous species of tree to an unapproved location." They turned to see Julie tossing a pinecone in the air. Nick and Judy shared the same baffled look as Richard smiled, his eye lit up humorously, "Ooh you promise to use the cuffs." Nick snerked as the does blushed, then started heading their direction. The two foxes grabbed their bags again and the four mammals walked to the door, ready to start the week.
Huge Huge thanks to BlueLightHouse for giving me permission to use his AU version of Judy and Nick for my fic (although I did tweak a thing or two to fit it better here, including names). If you haven't read his Firewatch or Firefalls, you should they are really good... and to those who have...Pinecones!
Don't forget to give feedback and look for some drama next chapter