Author's Note:
It's so hard to find good help these days. This times a thousand. I cannot seem to keep folks in place to allow me to have enough free time to do the things that I love most. I am working on it. I have been keeping up, mostly, with my fare, but I have not done this nearly as much as I would enjoy. I want to make sure I am updating at least once a month, however, and will push hard to achieve that. It's good for me.
If you are just joining Guardian Blue for the first time, you will want to check out Season 1 and 2 first, and I would highly recommend Thanks for the Fox even before that as well so everything makes sense. ^^ Duke of Absolution will likely also be needed. This story is getting big.
Zootopia is owned by Disney. I claims rights only to the happiness I feel writing about it, even after all these years.
Also! Another HUGE shout-out to J. N. Squire for assisting with editing for Season 3. Also, I would like to extend a special thank you to a few others who are helping me to keep updating and keep the quality high even with my busy schedule, and my friend Alex who helps me greatly with beta-reading and constant support!
Guardian Blue: Season Three
Episode 18: Leo
Tora stared across her desk at Nick and Judy as they both stood on the large plastic chair in front of the desk. The tiger was seated, but her muscles looked compressed like she might just dive over the desk at them. She didn't look angry, just… intense.
"Let's take a step back here – hold on. You… were following a lead to your possible dairy source… and got..." She put her large tiger paws over her muzzle as she considered wording while she worked it out in her head. "And you got, on video surveillance using a… a bat… who owed you a favor for..." She looked down. It was a complicated explanation in the report. Judy worried she rushed it if the interim chief was having trouble digesting it. Francine called those kinds of reports 'half-baked'. Nick 'mlemed' nervously, tongue flicking out briefly. Judy stood still. "… She owed you a favor because you… saved the life of her close friend, the suspect who flattened half of Precinct One… Someone who might have actually died without your direct intervention… while trying to get information from her former lover… about cheese. The cheese case I have you working on. The case that I gave you that was about..." She bridged her paws in front of her face. "… cheese."
"Nick loves cheese," Judy offered casually, honestly just trying to deflate some of the tension.
"Nick likes cheese?" responded Tora, her tone softening.
"I like cheese," Nick confirmed, a curt little nod to punctuate its validity.
"Fascinating," Tora said, staring fixedly at him. Judy felt bad about it because she'd unintentionally put her partner in the hot-seat.
"We are very close to the source, Chief," Nick said genuinely. He was looking down at the desk where Tora kept her small collection of cultural items. Judy knew what he was looking at. The Got You coin. Did he think Tora believed it was a prank? Even a fox couldn't muster this level of craziness into a prank, surely.
"You mean the source we have getting kidnapped on video," the tigress qualified. Judy looked at the clock on the wall. They had helped with the briefing in the bullpen and she and her partner wanted to get out there and start looking for the kidnapped lady goat. They both were willing to put in overtime to that end, but Tora told them to log out and sleep, other officers would take up the hunt. Morning came and nothing more had been discovered. The bunny was feeling antsy just standing there in the chief's office.
Her husband responded. "It's a lot of actionable evidence. Were you able to get a plate number or anything from it?" It was a fair question. Rosa didn't follow closely, but the detectives might have been able to glean something in the AV lab.
"Nothing of use, no," Tora said, squinting at the distraction, "Do you have any idea who might be involved?" Tora asked flatly. Nick and Judy glanced at each other with weighted expressions. They had left that out of their report as it was pure speculation. 'Only put the facts, never speculate'. But speculation happens anyway, inside the report or not. It's unavoidable, and Tora was smart.
"Nothing we can prove," Judy said cautiously.
"But you suspect?" Tora quickly replied.
"We do," Nick offered.
"So… I am assigning you both to a security detail at City Hall this morning," Tora dropped.
"What?!" cried fox and bunny simultaneously.
"It's not personal," Tora said with a dismissive gesture. "It was actually requested by Bogo yesterday.
"And there's no one else who can do this?" Judy asked, feeling a prickle of indignant rage. The case got too big and now their chance to prove themselves as detectives was being squashed. It was just like day one as an officer. Yes, she misunderstood Bogo pretty badly back then, but she was already established as a good cop here. There was absolutely no reason to take her and her partner off the case they had worked so hard on.
"No one who was requested by name," Tora said, narrowing her eyes, "Which, I should remind you, is a very good thing to have happen in an officer's career... while looking for a single goat and one of four thousand cars in the city matching the description of the suspect vehicle is now the job of every single detective, officer, meter maid, and traffic camera in Zootopia."
Judy stared back, wide-eyed. Okay, yeah, she might have been taking that personally. She spoke softly, "Sorry, Chief. That… That's fair, I just… feel..."
"Responsible for the fate of the suspect? Don't." Tora's tone was softer. Nick put his ears back. He spoke up with an anxious tone.
"We suspect Felix may have tipped the responsible party off. It was my knowledge of his possible criminal dealings that led to that. They might have been there because of me." Judy felt an ache run through her. Of course he felt at fault just as much as she did. She didn't want that for him, but it was unavoidable. Nick felt bad because it was his intel-gathering method that might have gotten the goons sent to Edy's, but Judy felt bad that she wasn't able to save both goats, only getting to choose one that she felt was in more immediate mortal danger. Ultimately, however, Edy was still in danger, however less immediate, and the ZPD had failed to find her inside the short window Judy suspected she might have had. It was painfully possible they had lost one goat to save the other. And that sucked.
Tora sharpened her tone. "An angle that worked. You got a lead for an investigation that's been going on since you were still a card shark, Nick."
"Uhhh..." the fox responded with a stunned expression. Right, Tora probably knew more about Nick than the fox would have openly told her.
"I cut my stripes in my precinct as the lead detective for a decade, Wilde," the tigress continued. "I have been trying to find Kitsune for nearly eight years." Judy dropped her paws down by her sides. Oh. Reassigning her and Nick today wasn't personal, but her involvement with the investigation of the biggest and most elusive smuggler absolutely was, and the Chief had invested far more time into it. "That's who I was investigating when I had that little mishap at the chop shop I mentioned to Judy. I haven't had an actionable lead on them in almost two years. The only reason we even know to look for Edy is your unorthodox method that allowed you to tail someone else to get to her. Trust me, I am giving this investigation and your kidnapped suspect my full attention, I assure you." Tora paused a moment, glancing back and forth at the two pensive officers on a chair in front of her. She then softened her expression. "You both need to understand that while I was clearly skeptical at first, I have a better understanding of the confidence Bogo has in you two."
"Oh," Nick sucked in a breath, having clearly not expected that any more than Judy had.
"I know you two are absolutely capable of finding a missing goat. You two found fifteen missing mammals in Judy's first 48 hour on the job, and Nick hadn't even gone through the academy yet. I still feel like some of the assignments Bogo gives to you pose unnecessary risk, but I am naturally cautious. It seems like caution is absolutely pointless with you two, however, so I'm having to learn to just go with it. Wolfard will meet you at City hall. Please try not to get a lion chucked at him today. Dismissed." The tiger moved her attention back down to the stack of officer reports that were the result of Nick and Judy's investigation. They were not the only ones having to write reports relating to this simple case and poor Mayumi was having to read all of them to look for information that might be helpful.
Nick and Judy exited the office and walked almost all the way to their car in the large police garage in near silence. When they got into the car, bunny in the elevated driver's seat, Judy sighed.
"I know," Nick offered before she could speak. "But Tora's right, in this case. This got way bigger than just the two of us, and frankly, she probably has way better information than we do if it really is Kitsune." Judy put her head on her steering wheel. He was being supportive, but she still felt guilty about the goat.
"Edy… Do you think she's..." That was the problem, ultimately. The full weight on the doe's heart.
"So… this is not going to make you feel that much better, I think, but it's really where it stands now," her fox semi-whispered. "If their intent was to kill Edy, it's probably too late. But she still had a way better chance than Lewis. If they were not going to do that, then we have a few hundred mammals looking for her with clear images of suspects, suspect vehicles, and some idea of motivation. And that part, Carrots, really is our fault." Judy leaned back again and nodded slowly, speaking in a tone of forced calm.
"I wish we could help more, I know we both do, but it's not our job alone. Pawlander… is a great detective, and you saw her desk… Tora's on this herself. We have our city's best working on it. I was wanting to see how Doctor Oak was doing anyway." This was really more to push herself back onto her feet, as it were, but it was working.
Nick smiled at his partner. "That's better. And remember, you aren't in this alone. You have me, alright?" the fox expressed steadily.
Judy looked up at him. "Then I want to make sure you understand… What Felix did to mess things up for himself and others even worse was his choice, and we can't be any more at fault than we would be for an accident because someone was intoxicated when they were sitting at a traffic light when we drove by. We can do a lot together Nick, but we can't prevent everything. We can only try our best." Nick brightened up a bit at that as well.
He spoke again, his voice a little lighter. "I know we'll sometimes have to make decisions we don't like, and maybe some we won't even agree with each other on. I'm glad I have someone I can trust to talk to about it. Thanks, Fluff."
"My pleasure, Slick," the bunny fired back, feeling more composed. Nick held up a closed paw.
"Ready to make the world a better place?" he asked with a heart-melting smile. Judy fist-bumped him and they headed out with a bit of hope that they had still made a difference.
City hall was not abuzz with activity, so Judy and Nick agreed it was kind of odd that they were being assigned a security detail. Being given such an assignment was not that unusual in and of itself. They were both small, blended in with the crowd, and could radio other officers when they observed something suspicious. What they didn't understand is why they would be specifically requested for it. Judy suspected that it was because the mayoral candidate had developed a level of trust with them, and it might also be that he was still reeling from his uncontrollable phobia of being eaten. She and Nick were just smaller and not as likely to put him in their mouths.
They stepped inside and immediately got a pleasant surprise.
"Artificial Mayor Bogo!" Nick chimed. Judy flinched as he gave them his attention.
"Don't call him that!" the bunny hissed.
Bogo scowled at that and waved a hoofed hand dismissively. "No, it's accurate. And thankfully very temporary. We are getting closer to a swearing in date and there are still no other candidates running against Oak... so we are hard at work building the correct PR for him in order to prevent snags or counter-pressure. This city wants a mayor, and so far, he's inspired confidence that he's at least not a bad choice. Please, come with me. We will have a quick meeting before today's short press event, so you understand why you are here."
"Oh. Good. Yes. I would like to know that," Judy explained. "Are you aware of our current investigation?" she asked. She didn't want to imply that they were being pulled away from a literal life or death situation for a PR thing, but it would be unfair if he didn't know.
"No. I had asked Tora to put you both on traffic cameras for the duration of my absence," Bogo informed. Nick gawked.
"Whu..." Judy barely emoted.
"Just kidding. I wish I were unaware, but you two struggle with the whole low profile thing. I thought detective work would help, but I was wrong." He lead them into an elevator. Judy was not sure if he was still kidding. Bogo had a really good grasp of his emotions when delivering that kind of joke. "I assure you, there is no better mammal to have as police chief during this investigation.
"I am glad to hear that," Judy said with a sigh. It was further confirmation that the investigation was not suffering for their absence today.
"Also, as a result, Chief Tora owes me a very fine bottle of 12 year old scotch," Bogo informed.
"Sir, you actually had a bet riding on us?" Nick asked incredulously. He'd bet on Judy winning the match between her and Tora, so it was a safe assumption.
"No, she owes me a bottle of scotch to replace the one she drank," Bogo said with a flat tone. It was impossible for Judy to tell if he was still kidding.
"My condolences," Nick delivered, bowing his head.
"Indeed," the chief stated, before grinning broadly at the fox. Uh oh. Bogo smiles prefaced vulpine discomfort. "How's married life treating you two?" he asked. "I heard you recently had a kit. Have I really been gone that long?" he said with mirth in his deep voice as the elevator began to rise.
"Sir..." Judy said, suddenly speechless.
"This is my life now," Nick said with a mock-depressed tone.
"He… He's Nick's little cousin, he was just… How did you..." Judy scrunched up her nose. Who else even knew about Sam's visit?
"My mother," Nick sighed. Bogo laughed.
"What? How?" Judy responded, staring at the smirking stand-in mayor.
"I don't know, but somehow, I know." Nick replied flatly. "Oh, this is going to ride so long..." Judy lowered her head into her paws.
The cape buffalo responded. "I drop by her bakery and buy red bean buns for my wife on the way home every few days as penance for the New Reynard fiasco. I met a little kit and jokingly asked if she was babysitting for you two and she said yes and I absolutely dropped my buns." For some reason, hearing him say it made Judy and Nick both laugh loudly. The elevator door opened and they stepped out and moved down the hall. Judy recognized it. The office of the mayor. The last time she had walked in there with Bogo, she turned in her badge.
Bogo opened the door and spoke softly before moving out of the way to let them in.
"I need you both to listen before you speak, and keep an open mind. Trust that with everything that has happened in the last year, these are very carefully thought out moves that are being made. Very carefully thought out."
Judy tensed up. Suddenly it felt like this was about more than her and Nick being smaller and less threatening. There was another reason it had to be them.
"We will do our best, sir," Nick said for both of them. Judy nodded. Bogo did not accompany them inside.
Oak was there. They expected that.
Who was with him they did not.
"L… Lionheart?" Judy stammered.
Leodore Lionheart was standing by the large mayoral desk where the small Doctor Oak was standing and pulling documents to the side. The stately lion was wearing jeans and a sharp-looking polo-style shirt, looking quite casual.
"You're both here!" he said with delight, showing that he was perhaps not completely horrified by one of the largest predators in the city being in the same room as him. Maybe his medication really did help with that.
"We… We are," Nick said nervously.
"Good morning," Lionheart said with his usual booming and almost overpowering voice.
"You are looking… well." the doe stated.
"And less… imprisoned than I remember you," Nick added, making the bunny flinch. Was there a filter at all?
Oak chimed in. "He was released two weeks ago, though he will be serving community service for... what was it?"
"Two whole years!" boomed the lion. The door opened again, this time a grey-furred lupine entering the room.
"Wolfard, duck, it's a lion," Nick teased.
"Woah..." He didn't duck, but Timothy Wolfard was just as clearly surprised at who was there.
"Officers, I assume I do not have to introduce you to our guest," Oak indicated.
"We're familiar," Nick said evenly.
"Did… you request us?" Judy asked of the squirrel.
"I did, actually," Lionheart confessed.
"Why?" the bunny fired back. It was a fair question, but it felt negative the moment it left the bunny's mouth.
"I need to clear the air between us, Hopps," the lion explained.
"You cleared the air with the public in your documentary 'Framed', sir," Nick said with an accusatory tone, Judy laid her ears back. Sure, Nick was there when she arrested Lionheart, and he did get flushed down a toilet because of him, but she wasn't entirely sure why the fox was being so presently hostile. It might have been because of the misuse of her old name, but she was cutting Leodore some slack, what with him having been in prison and all.
The big cat nodded solemnly. "True, however much of the public feeds on the original animosity that metastasized after my arrest, and that's what we are really trying to address."
It was Wolfard who spoke next. "So, are you going to be attaching yourself to Oak's campaign? Is that it? An assistant mayor now?" he asked. Judy gritted her teeth. That sounded like a terrible idea. She'd never met anyone with a more alpha personality. The city would hardly notice Oak at all!
The squirrel responded to that. "It's really not a campaign so much at this point as it is a formality, as no one else seems to want the job at present," the squirrel reminded. "But no. I am to name Lionheart as my chief political adviser. I don't have a running mate as I am not running. Not really. We are out of cycle, but on the next genuine election I will be choosing someone to run with, as I assume I will have someone to run against."
"I'm still not… sure that's a great idea," Wolfard remarked. He sounded obviously uncomfortable giving his opinion.
"Did you vote for him?" asked Oak.
"I… uh..." Wolfard faltered.
"You?" the squirrel asked of Nick.
"I wasn't registered to vote back then," Nick shrugged. Because of course he wasn't. He wanted to stay off the radar. Besides, registering to vote got you jury duty.
"I wasn't in Zootopia back then," Judy explained.
"Okay, so not a useful question," Oak paced. "How did you feel about his policies then?"
"Other than his 'lock innocent mammals up and experiment on them with only limited medical oversight' policy, I feel like his foundation was pretty solid," Wolfard offered. Judy cupped her muzzle. Wow, predators were not cutting Lionheart any slack.
"This is more challenging than I thought it would be," Oak admitted innocently.
"Okay," Nick said with a sigh. "I did promise Bogo I'd be open minded here, so… I get why you might want Lionheart. You want to make inroads with predators who have been unfairly maligned by the recent events, and Lionheart also did a lot to boost the sheep community who has also been somewhat unfairly maligned. He's got good PR in both groups and polled higher in his last election than any mayor in the history of the city because of his ability to pander to both sides of the fence, as it were." Leodore looked proud as the fox laid out his accomplishments like that. He had an ego, that could never be denied. "However... are you not worried about alienating yourself from… you know… everyone else?"
Oak scampered over to Nick, his tail twitching. "As I mentioned when I addressed everyone at the precinct, I intend to surround myself with professionals. I want mammals around me that know more about what is going on and how to do the many jobs a Mayor has to be in charge of than anyone else. Lionheart is only one of these chosen mammals, and his rather glaring previous error aside, he did a lot for the city of Zootopia in his time as mayor and developed a lot of very important connections. He had a very good social platform and I believe he genuinely does want to undo some of the damage that was done by his being framed."
"But why does he need us?" Judy asked flatly.
"I need you to visibly interact positively with him to instill to prey viewers that there isn't some lingering animosity from the incident," Doctor Oak explained. Judy frowned. That was just… political. She looked to Nick who seemed irritated.
Lionheart spoke up. "I need to make sure that the public perceives that a mistake can be forgiven, and that what we do after is what we, as mammals, are really about. I served my time. I didn't get special treatment. We need to make the right impression that my past with Officer Hopps does not object to my being able to give advice to the current mayor."
"Yes, this is what we need to carefully imply," Oak stated, nodding. Judy kind of expected Nick to correct Lionheart on her name, but it was Wolfard who strode right by the big cat and leaned down, almost nose to nose with the squirrel.
His teeth showing, he growled, "Officer Wilde is not a prop."
Rather predictably, Oak froze right up. Nick intervened, first moving Wolfard back a few steps with a kind smile on his face.
"Thank you, Wolfard. Thank you for that, yes. Judy is not a prop. Yes. Just gonna..." He then turned around and just picked up Oak and took him over to the window sill. He placed the squirrel in front of it on the file cabinet. This let him look out at the big wide city and not feel 'trapped' in a wolf mouth. The squirrel started breathing again, but didn't immediately begin interacting. Nick tried to dismiss that like it didn't happen as Wolfard just head-tilted at the whole thing. Not knowing anything about the future mayor's phobia, that had to be just inexplicably weird to the other canid. A larger mammal picking up a smaller one without it being requested was actually a serious violation of personal space.
"You don't understand," Lionheart stated, almost just as oddly ignoring it completely as well. "You guys aren't the prop here. I am. I have to show that I made a mistake but that I'm trying to do the right thing, and that means helping the mammals who need it most after the awful things that happened. Not just predators. All of them. I have to show the city that I want to do the right thing here because this mess occurred while I was mayor. Bellwether or not, I am still responsible for things that happened. Bad things. And it's time for me to help fix it."
"I have never expressed having some kind of grudge against you," Judy explained to the lion. "And I still don't."
"Right, and you've said as much in an interview. I saw that," Lionheart added. "But they need to see that I don't have any ill feelings toward law enforcement for arresting me, and you are very symbolic of that exact event."
"I would think you would have to be at least a little miffed," Nick offered, paws on his sides.
"You guys might not know it, but you saved me from something a lot worse," Lionheart stated.
"What? How?" Wolfard asked.
"He means Bellwether's original plan," Nick stated. Judy nodded.
Judy spoke up. "You weren't in the trial itself, Wolfard, but Woolter talked about it during his plea bargain. It was not heavily publicized because it would have stoked unnecessary anger during a very volatile time. I wasn't actually there for that part either, but I heard from Pawlander that it got pretty dark. Lionheart was the original fall guy in all of this."
"Okay, I gotta know," Wolfard said.
"It'll come out eventually," Oak expressed, turning around in the windowsill, seeming less rattled. Judy appreciated that Nick somehow knew exactly what to do to help him. Judy then considered the squirrel's visible discomfort. He probably didn't want to go back over the ugly details of Bellwether's plan.
Lionheart cut in. "No, I'll tell you, because I need you guys to understand why Oak and I want to work together to repair the damage this did."
"First, who's idea was this team up?" Nick asked. It was sudden and blunt.
"Mine," Oak offered.
"Fine, go on," Nick pressed, not saying why. Judy felt it had something to do with Oak not primarily being a politician. That made the intent here more genuine. If it was Lionheart's idea, it might have been seen as self-serving. It might still have been, but at least it didn't reek of it.
The former mayor resumed. "When you guys discovered the mammals I was holding, there were some questions that didn't really get asked about that whole affair until much later, and even then only because they corroborated the story provided by Bellwether's henchman." The officers listened intently, but Oak seemed to busy himself looking at documents. He was obviously unhappy with what happened to the predator population back then. "The first question is… why did no one else know about the savage mammals?"
"Because you had those wolves going out and picking them up," Nick responded.
"Right, but the police somehow didn't know about it? They were looking for missing mammals and no one thought, hey maybe it's the crazy mammal calls we've been getting?" Lionheart illustrated, wide gestures to make out how preposterous that fact was.
"Yeah, I guess that doesn't make… much sense," Wolfard remarked.
"The first one, a concerned citizen tipped off my office, but for some reason they hadn't called the police. Bellwether said she would make sure someone looked into it, did a welfare check, whatever. As you can guess, the officers she sent were in her pocket. I was called an hour later and brought to a local holding cell. The medical examiner for that precinct was investigating a weird case with the mammal they brought in. A savage mammal. Unthinking, furious, wild… I was consumed by how much this could hurt the slowly improving relations in the city, so yeah, I panicked. It was one teensy otter. We would help him… cure him, maybe… or at least keep it from spreading."
"Otterton," Judy said. "Poor guy."
"But we kept getting tips, and I had the original officers watching the cameras, as I didn't want others to know. We eventually had more than a dozen of them, and I was desperately trying to find a cure but we couldn't find a disease. No detectable virus… there were stress chemicals in the bloodstream, but we thought they were the result of a disease, not the cause of it. All that time, instead of thinking it was intentional I was only thinking what good fortune it was that I had been able to keep it all a secret. It was absolute hubris on my part. I was wrong to hide them, and I was playing right into the original plan. I should have known it was fishy just because I was somehow able to stay ahead of it. That could not have been the case unless it was supposed to happen that way. I felt so stupid."
"She tricked everyone," Oak said with disdain.
"But the plan was for me to do exactly that. Catch all of them. Hold them..." Lionheart's tone was dark.
"Why?" Wolfard asked.
"Because the first one to go savage in public was supposed to be Lionheart,"Nick answered with a tone of deep dread. It reminded Judy of the tone he used when he figured out Darmaw's plot.
"No..." Wolfard responded as Judy cupped her muzzle.
"Bingo," the huge lion agreed. "You guys are good detectives. I was supposed to go nuts, maybe right in city hall, and then the lab with my name all over it would be found due to an anonymous tip, and the whole city would think that it was a way bigger issue, a possible plague, and that I had tried to contain it but I failed and now because of me, it was out in the general public. It would have possibly even been implied that I created the disease for some reason while experimenting on predators."
Judy felt a rush of cold clamminess sweep through her. How bad was it going to get? She had heard accusations made by the prosecution during the trial that painted Bellwether out to be a monster, but was it really going to be that bad? It failed, but how close had she come?
"That's… chilling," Wolfard commented.
"So, no. I am not mad at you, Officer Hopps," Lionheart explained.
"She's Wilde now," Wolfard finally corrected.
"What?" Lionheart countered.
"Let's focus," Nick pushed.
The lion continued, shaking off the confusion. "I've been in jail for a while, and I've had time to reflect on myself, on this city, and about what my original plan was for it in the first place. I'm not mad about being arrested because I would probably have been the star of the very first publicly seen savage predator, and there's no telling who I would have hurt. I'll never hold a grudge against you for sparing me that. I owed the public an apology, and I did that. However, to show it was sincere, it's not about my words. It's about my actions. I'm not running for office. Politically, I am finished, I believe. I know that. But what I hoped to do for Zootopia for equality and community… those dreams didn't just go away. I can still help make it happen. I can't do this alone though."
"Now aren't you glad you didn't throw him at Wolfard?" Nick asked his bunny kindly.
"What?" the former mayor responded blankly.
"What do you want us to do?" Judy asked, ignoring her husband. He was diffusing his nervousness at being suddenly thrust into an uncomfortable political position. "Do I just go out on stage with you? I don't like making speeches." She did not like making speeches.
Oak broke into the conversation, seeming to have finished calming down. "Actually, you aren't supposed to make political speeches and the like. You only have to be there when I announce it and try not to look like you're going to be ill." He hopped over the gap from the window to the desk effortlessly like squirrels do. "Like Leodore said… it's about action, not words. Look serious, look happy, it doesn't matter, just try not to seem angry."
"I'm not angry," Judy said. "Nick, did I look angry?" The bunny worried that she had a sour expression and didn't know it.
"You always look angry," Nick replied.
"Can confirm, very scary," Wolfard teased with a smile.
"So this is more of a visual assignment, and not an actual security detail?" Wolfard asked.
"No, you'll be doing actual security," Oak expressed. "While I have not had much push-back, no one here can pretend there won't be a vocal few who think that this is not a great idea. Don't worry, though. If mammals start throwing chairs, I will be able to hide behind a very large cat."
Lionheart's expression fell. "Wait, what?"