(A/N) Back again! Sorry for disappearing for a while, but I figure you're all used to it at this point. XD
It's back to Nick POV for this chapter! Also since one reader noticed Nick being confused by Bonnie's actions as well (despite Judy generally being the more 'innocent' one) I figured I should mention...there is a reason for it, but...it's something that will come up later. Though it's a fair thing to point out as I'm still not sure if I got the characterization quite right, but hopefully it should make sense eventually.
Also, thank you to everyone who chimed in on the "what can I say in a T rated story" question! I appreciate your help. :)
In the weeks that followed, Nick was finding it harder and harder to focus on school. Ironically, now it was his tutor that was taking up so much of his attention, though she didn't know it.
Still, he was more determined than ever before to apply himself to his studies. His mother had already mentioned weeks ago that if the tutoring wasn't doing anything for his grades, there would be no reason to continue it.
He couldn't help but think back to before all of the school drama, before Trevor and Vanessa had come along. Back then, he didn't need an excuse to see Judy. But those memories weren't something he particularly wanted to dwell on. That brought all the arguments to mind, and thinking about those only made his head hurt. He still didn't think Judy fully understood why he was so upset back then, but he couldn't deny that hanging around Trevor and Vanessa had been a pretty poor substitute.
These days, he hardly ever saw the other two foxes. That was fine by him, as he wasn't really interested in rehashing their friendship troubles any more than his and Judy's. It did mean, though, there weren't really any mammals at school he was close with anymore.
One March day, he was walking down the hallway to his locker, when a rabbit came up to him, crossing his arms. Nick shrugged and started walking to the side, but the rabbit predictably mirrored his movement.
"Hey," the bunny said. "We have some stuff to talk about, ok?"
Nick frowned.
"Do I...know you?" he asked. "Sorry, your voice sounds familiar."
The rabbit scoffed.
"Whatever," he said. "I just wanted you to know I'm not gonna let you push me around anymore!"
Now Nick was sure he'd seen this rabbit before, but he still couldn't place it. Someone he had picked on when he was friends with Trevor and Vanessa, probably…
"Good for you!" Nick said with fake enthusiasm. "That's really great, really proud of you for that. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta—"
"No!" the bunny insisted, jumping in front of him again, and then smirking. "Ha. Looks like you're not going anywhere, fox."
Nick burst out laughing, unable to stop himself. The rabbit's smirk slowly disappeared, replaced by an irritated scowl. The sight of him standing almost a head shorter than Nick, genuinely believing he could block his path, was too much.
"Shut up!" the rabbit shouted. "Stop laughing at me! I'm not scared of you anymore!"
"Oh, really?" Nick chuckled, bending down slightly to look him in the eye. "I think you're bluffing, rabbit. Oh, and guess what? I just remembered who you are! Can't imagine that puny attempt at bravery coming from anyone else, James."
Judy's brother balled his paws into fists, glaring at Nick. Nick stood back at his full height, smirking back at the rabbit.
For a while now, he'd given himself a rule not to get into squabbles with prey anymore, but this...this was too hard to resist. And James had come to him, so he wasn't going to feel guilty about messing with him a bit.
"What are you gonna do?" James demanded, his confidence wavering as he started shaking. "Y-you can't eat me! Y-you'd...you'd get in trouble…"
"Only if I get caught," Nick laughed darkly.
James started backing away, eyes watching Nick carefully.
"You're not being serious!" James said, though it was painfully clear he was trying to convince himself. "My sister would never be friends with you anymore if you ate someone!"
"Well, then, I guess you should let me get to my locker, shouldn't you?" Nick suggested calmly.
He started walking to the left, James mirroring him again. He switched back to the right with the same result. Then he jumped quickly left, and again to the right, twisting around James and leaving the rabbit startled and furious. Nick waved to him, smiling as he continued to his locker.
"Better luck next time!" he chuckled.
"You cheated!" James complained.
"Surprise you?" Nick asked. "Why, I thought you would have expected such a thing! After all...I am a fox."
James muttered something under his breath that Nick didn't pay attention to, before turning to run off down the hall. Nick sighed as he opened his locker, taking a moment to remember what he was here to get.
"I can't get caught up in all of that again," he told himself. "He was asking for it...but if I let myself start acting...predatory again, I might actually hurt someone. I need to...I need to focus on school. And...and Judy."
The image of Judy's violet eyes was enough to distract him from his less innocent thoughts. Sure, it wasn't helping him keep his grades up to think about her all the time, but if it kept him from getting too carried away again…
Satisfied, he collected the books he needed and headed down the hall to his next class. He imagined he was probably going to be late after that little incident, but he'd have no problem coming up with an excuse. He was a sly fox, after all.
To Nick's relief, his next visit with Judy was the following weekend. He woke up early in the morning and got everything he needed packed up in a few minutes, just as he did every time he went over to the Hopps' farm lately. His mother had taken note of it and said she wished he would do the same when getting ready for school.
He ate breakfast as fast as he could, so rushed that Brendan took notice and laughed.
"Are you trying to see who gets done eating first?" he asked. "Ooh, I bet I can beat you—"
"No, Brendan, he's just trying to get ready to go and study with Judy," their mom said. "Please don't try to eat that fast, you might choke yourself."
The warning was directed at Brendan, but she gave Nick a brief pointed look as well.
"Mallory says that her brother's mad at you again," Brendan said.
"Which...oh, James?" Nick guessed. "Wait, does Judy know about that?"
Brendan frowned.
"What are you so worried about?" he asked. "Judy doesn't get along with him either. She's probably glad you're annoying him."
Nick wasn't completely convinced by that, especially if James had related the more predatory things he'd said, but he didn't want to explain that to Brendan right now.
"Did Mallory say what happened?" he asked.
Brendan frowned again.
"Well...you were there, so you know what happened, right?" he replied. "I mean, she just said that James was complaining that you wanted to eat him or something. Which is what he says every time he talks to you, apparently."
"Yeah…" Nick chuckled awkwardly.
He soon finished eating and headed to the living room to tell his mom he was ready to go. The two went outside to the car, and from there it was a short drive to the Hopps' farm.
For most of the drive, Nick's mind was torn between excitement at the thought of seeing Judy again, and fear at how she might react to hearing about his last encounter with James. Sure, she wouldn't have a problem with him messing with her brother, especially when James was always the one who came looking for trouble. But he worried he had gotten a little carried away trying to act intimidating.
They pulled up to Judy's house before the fox had too much time to mull over those thoughts, and found that Judy and Sharla were already waiting for them on the front porch. Nick said goodbye to his mother, and then ran up to meet the others.
"Hi!" Sharla said cheerfully. "You're getting earlier every time! You almost beat me here this time; I just got here less than five minutes ago…"
Nick shrugged.
"Guess I'm just eager for learning," he said with a smile. "So...ready, Carrots?"
Sharla giggled to herself, while Judy rolled her eyes.
"I have a feeling you're not going to stop calling me that anytime soon," she sighed.
"Not as long as it makes you roll your eyes!" Nick chuckled.
"Fair enough," Judy conceded. "Alright, let's get out to the shed before James wakes up and tries to follow us."
Nick internally jumped a little at the sound of Judy's brother's name. She seemed mostly annoyed with James, if anything, but the reminder was still enough to make Nick feel uncomfortable on the walk over.
When they reached the shed, Sharla stayed behind as the other two went upstairs into the attic. Nick was always a little confused about why she never came with them, but then he'd forget about it soon enough as Judy took over most of his thoughts. If he had to guess, he would say the sheep seemed like she wanted or expected them to do exactly what Judy's mom had been worried about, but he still wasn't sure why that was on either Sharla's or Bonnie's minds. Maybe it was just a girl thing.
Once in the attic, though, Nick's mind was right back to stressing about what Judy knew about the latest James incident...as well as trying hard not to stare at the rabbit's purple eyes too much.
"Alright, so, did you read up on Chapter 8 last week?" Judy asked, pulling some books from her backpack.
"I...um…" Nick started, his mind having gone blank. "I think...yes! I read all of that at the start of the week! How's that for getting assignments done on time, Carrots?"
"Hmm, a pleasant surprise," Judy admitted, smiling slightly. "Maybe you are actually learning something from me. Now, come on, get your book out and we can get started on the next one."
Nick quickly sat down on the floor across from her and started rummaging through his backpack for the right book. He could almost feel Judy rolling her eyes at him as he did so.
"Aha!" he exclaimed, holding it up dramatically. "That's a whole three seconds faster than last time!"
Judy barely chuckled, her expression still neutral. Nick frowned. She hadn't even rolled her eyes.
"Hey...Nick?" she started.
"Yeah?" Nick replied. "Is... something wrong?"
"Please let it not be that!" he thought. "I can't talk about predator/prey things with her again, not now… That's where it all went downhill last time."
"Has my brother been bothering you again?" she asked, meeting his eyes. "He was complaining again and I just...wanted to make sure everything's ok."
Nick hesitated for a moment. She was worried about him, not upset with him, or at least it seemed so. But how much did she know? Given the information came from James, she might not have believed Nick said the things he did even if James did tell her the details.
"He tried to block the way to my locker a few days ago," Nick answered simply. "I just tricked him and jumped around. It wasn't...wasn't anything serious."
"Well, it never is with him, is it?" Judy chuckled, smiling a little again. "I just wanted to make sure he's not being...you know, any worse than usual. I'm gonna be telling him off for it either way, but still…"
Nick nodded, but didn't say anything. He genuinely wasn't sure whether or not he should tell her about what he'd said to James, or if it even mattered at all. Did she know and it didn't matter to her, or would her whole outlook on the situation change if she knew?
"Forget that, how should I feel about what happened?" Nick thought. "I know, I wasn't really going to hurt him, but...why do I always want to act like that anyway? Am I really not that different from Trevor and Vanessa…?"
The questions made his head hurt, so he tried to put it out of his mind for now. He was going to waste his whole visit with Judy if he obsessed about this too much!
"Anyway, let's get started," Judy said. "We can start with the…"
She stopped, looking at Nick curiously.
"Nick, is something wrong?" she asked. "You look a little bit...uh...spacey. You're not usually like that."
"It's fine," Nick said. "Just...had a lot of stuff to think about. You know, trying to make sure I understand everything in that chapter I read!"
"Hmm…" Judy said. "Well, let's get started and see just how much you do remember."
For the next hour or so, Nick did his best to concentrate on the material they were studying, but keeping focus proved harder than usual. He couldn't stop wondering how Judy would react to what he'd said to James, and more than that how she would feel about knowing that he liked it.
It wasn't that he wanted to actually eat anyone; the idea was honestly far too gross to consider even if his morals would allow for it, but he wasn't sure he could explain it to Judy properly. Given their past conversations about predator and prey behavior, he was worried she would think there was something very wrong with him.
Then, halfway through their session, he remembered something. Judy's older sister Chloe had apparently always had a bit of an obsession with predators, specifically the more aggressive aspects of them. Maybe she would be able to shed some light on whatever Nick was feeling?
For the rest of the session, his focus drifted off to finding a way to talk to Chloe. He could just ask Judy, but he didn't know whether or not that would raise too much suspicion. But since he only ever visited the Hopps for his tutoring, he didn't know if there was a good way around that. Given that Chloe was in high school now, this was the only place he'd run into her.
He did his best to concentrate on the schoolwork, but as the session went on it only got more difficult. A few times, Judy noticed he wasn't paying attention, but thankfully she didn't seem to suspect it was anything out of the ordinary.
Finally, they finished up and went downstairs to join Sharla, before walking back towards the house. They talked a little on the way back, though it was mostly just Sharla telling Judy about what was going on at her house lately.
As they neared the house, Nick wondered if he should ask about Chloe. She and Judy always got along well, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?
Unfortunately, once they got back, Nick's mom was already waiting there to pick him up, and he couldn't think of a good excuse for why he suddenly needed to talk to Judy's older sister. So, the friends said their goodbyes, and Nick got in the car to head home.
Over the next few weeks, Nick's mind was more or less consumed by thoughts of not only the incident with James, but what it meant for who he was. For a while now, he had tried not to think about the time when he was friends with Trevor and Vanessa, but those memories were pushing their way into his mind now and he couldn't make them go away.
He knew he had never really been just like them. They would go out of their way to scare prey mammals for little to no reason at all. But still, in the right circumstances he had also enjoyed being seen as intimidating, had liked being free to snarl and show off his fangs. There was something appealing to him about that, even without Trevor and Vanessa in the picture.
Of course, with that realization also came the memory of that one rabbit he'd bitten, which was enough to make him want to forget it altogether. There was nothing enjoyable about that moment, not even then. And he was worried that if he kept pondering these thoughts, it might lead him back down that same road again.
He tried to pay attention in class, but it wasn't easy. Due to recent events, the fact that he was in a school full of mostly prey students suddenly made him feel very uncomfortable, all over again. None of them really ever spoke to him or acknowledged him anymore, which was probably for the best, but sometimes he found himself just wishing he knew what they were thinking. Did they all see him as a monster? Did they even pay him much mind at all?
He wanted to talk to Chloe so badly. He wasn't sure what exactly her obsession with predators was all about, but he got the impression she was possibly the one prey mammal who wouldn't be disturbed by hearing what he was feeling right now. And maybe she would even be able to tell him why it was happening…
Finally, his next tutoring session with Judy arrived, and he decided he was just going to have to ask her. Even if it meant he had to tell her some portion of what was happening, he couldn't stand the thought of going home from another visit with all of this still swirling around in his head. All through the morning and the drive to the farm, he tried to think of a way to ask that wouldn't sound too suspicious.
They arrived at the farm, where Judy was waiting on the porch with Sharla, as usual. Nick grabbed his backpack and hurried over to meet them, a million thoughts racing through his mind.
"You're here!" Judy said, smiling. "Even earlier than last time, it looks like. Ready to go?"
"Say something, say something, you idiot!" Nick screamed at himself.
"Is Chloe around?" he blurted out.
Judy frowned.
"Yeah, she's probably sleeping in, as always," she answered. "You...need her for something?"
"Well, I…" Nick started. "I was gonna ask her if I could have some blueberries."
Judy laughed, while Nick internally cringed at his excuse. He was sure he'd ruined his chance of talking to Chloe by saying that was his urgent reason for wanting to do so.
"I'm sure she'd share her blueberry stash with you," Sharla said thoughtfully. "I mean, you know how she is about predators. I doubt you'd even have to ask."
Judy narrowed her eyes at Nick.
"Oh, I see," she said. "You want to see her because you know she'll give you special attention, hmm?"
"Hey, can you blame me?" Nick replied, smiling. "You know me, Carrots."
Judy sighed, shaking her head.
"Well, I'll see if I can find her when we get back from studying," she said. "How about that? She might actually be awake by then, and I don't really want to go wake her up early…"
"Yeah, that's fine," Nick said.
She led them towards the shed and Nick followed almost mindlessly; he knew the way pretty well at this point. Sharla stayed behind as they went upstairs, and Nick realized he'd almost forgotten what he was here for. He quickly set his backpack down and started rummaging through it, making sure he'd remembered to bring all of his books. Thankfully, they all seemed to be here.
"Oh no, don't tell me you forgot something again," Judy said.
"Of course not, Carrots!" Nick exclaimed with mock surprise. "What would even make you think such a thing?"
Judy gave him a look, and Nick couldn't help but chuckle. Thankfully, his slightly panicked behavior hadn't surprised her in the slightest.
"Alright, alright, just get your stuff out and we can get started," she said.
He eagerly did so, and just like that they were back into studying. Nick did his best to pay attention, which he'd thought would be easier now that he'd mostly solved the Chloe problem, but in reality it was harder because he was still thinking about what he would say to Chloe. Judy, however, was focused enough that it wasn't too hard to just follow along with her. Though he didn't know how much of this knowledge he was going to retain after they finished…
The session seemed to drag on forever, and time only slowed down the closer they got to finishing. At this point, Nick was really trying to pin down exactly how he would explain what was happening to Chloe, and barely paying attention to the schoolwork. A few times, Judy chided him for staring off into space, but she just chalked it up to him being lazy.
Finally, they finished up, and the two went downstairs to join Sharla.
"Hey, you two!" she said. "So...how's it going up there?"
"Uh...fine, I guess," Judy answered.
"Are we gonna go see Chloe now?" Sharla asked. "I thought about going to get her while you guys were up there, but I didn't want your mom to find out I wasn't over here with you."
"Yeah, we can go see if she's awake," Judy said.
They exited the shed and walked back to the house, where they ran into Peter and Stu, doing something with one of the cars.
"Hey, Jude!" Stu exclaimed upon seeing them. "Study group going well?"
"It's all good, Mr. Hopps!" Sharla replied cheerfully.
"Dad, do you know if Chloe's up yet?" Judy asked. "Nick wants to talk her into giving him some of her secret blueberries."
Stu burst out laughing, and Peter chuckled a bit too.
"I don't know, that girl does like to sleep in!" Stu remarked. "Peter, did you see her this morning?"
"I think she's up but sitting in her room," Peter answered. "Or she was. Haven't seen her come outside, though, so she should be in there."
"Alright, thanks!" Judy said.
She led them to the front door, and just as they were entering Nick realized how long it had been since he was here. Actually, he hadn't seen Peter or Judy's parents or any of her other siblings in a long time, aside from James.
As they stepped into the living room, Nick only felt more bizarre. Everything looked more or less as it had, as if a piece of that time was preserved in these walls. He'd never imagined something so simple could evoke such intense feelings.
All around, Judy's siblings were running through the house, looking at their phones, chatting amongst each other… A number of them glanced at Nick, some becoming noticeably quieter upon seeing him.
"I can't hear anything in here!" Sharla said in a high-pitched, singsong voice.
"No kidding," Judy replied. "Come on, I think Chloe's room is—"
"Hi!" shouted a younger voice.
A younger bunny came running up to them, one that looked familiar but Nick couldn't immediately place.
"Brendan's brother!" she exclaimed happily, running up to Nick and hugging him. "I wanted to come say hi to you but Judy says you're always too busy studying with her!"
She stepped back and frowned at those words. Judy sighed.
"Yes, well, I didn't know if he wanted to talk to anyone else," she said. "Speaking of which, Mallory, do you know where Chloe is?"
"Mallory!" Nick remembered. "No wonder she called me 'Brendan's brother.' Wow, I almost didn't recognize her. She must be about the age Judy and I were when we met…"
"Yeah, Chloe's in the kitchen helping Mom make muffins," Mallory replied.
"Alright, thanks," Judy said.
She led them into the kitchen, where Bonnie and several of the kits were rushing around. Nick spotted Chloe in the corner by the fridge, looking at something on her phone.
"Hey, Chloe!" Judy called, waving to her sister. "Do you have a moment?"
Chloe glanced up, eyes widening, and immediately put her phone away and hurried over to them.
"I can have a moment, if someone needs me," she said. "I hope you guys aren't looking for my help with studying. I'm not the best to emulate when it comes to grades."
"No, it's not that," Judy said. "Nick wanted to say hi to you before he goes home. I think he remembers your stash of blueberries."
"Oh, that's right!" Chloe said, turning to Nick. "I forgot you liked blueberries too! Come on, we should head back to my room. I think everyone's out now, so we should be able to sneak in and get some…"
"As if no one knows about your stash these days," Judy remarked.
"Hey, not everyone does!" Chloe whispered loudly. "Mostly just you and Mallory. And probably Peter. He never forgets anything I do…"
"Well, you did try to steal his homework," Judy pointed out.
"That was one time!" Chloe replied. "Alright, come on, Nick. Let's go get some blueberries before you have to head back."
She turned and led Nick back into a hallway, and he looked behind him to make sure Judy and Sharla weren't following him. Thankfully, they both remained in the kitchen, talking about something he couldn't quite make out.
"So…" Chloe said, opening a door and stepping inside. "Looks like no one's home right now. Quick, get in and close it before someone sees!"
Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he did as she said. For a brief moment, he was so taken aback by the ten sets of bunk beds crammed into this little room that he almost forgot why he was here.
"Here we go…" Chloe said, pulling a blue box out from under her bed. "Agh, the ice is probably melting again. I used to just keep them in a basket, but uh...they last longer this way."
"Um...Chloe?" Nick started nervously. "I actually...wanted to ask you about something."
"Huh?" Chloe said, looking back up. "Is it...something you don't want me to tell Judy about, I guess?"
"It's...it's not that I don't trust her or anything," Nick said. "I just don't know how to tell her, and I'm worried she won't understand."
Chloe frowned.
"Well, it seems I have a pretty good reputation, if you came to me instead," she noted.
"Yeah…" Nick said. "It's just that...I've heard that you're...kind of interested in predators?"
Chloe's eyes widened.
"Is this a predator matter?" she asked flatly.
"Well...yes," Nick said.
"Hold that thought," Chloe said.
Quickly, she grabbed some pillows from one of the bunk beds, tossing one to Nick. Startled, he fumbled it around in his hands, while Chloe set hers on the floor and flopped down on it. She sat up and looked at Nick with an eager smile.
"Go on, sit down," she urged. "Tell me what's on your mind."
Shrugging, Nick placed the pillow on the floor across from Chloe, and sat down. He paused for a moment, trying to think of the right words. He didn't want this to take too long, or else Judy and Sharla might come back to hurry them along.
"I...I've been having...well, I've been feeling weird about...stuff," Nick said vaguely.
"Ok…" Chloe said, clearly confused but looking thoughtful. "What kind of stuff? What's weird about what you're feeling?"
"Well…" Nick started, now second-guessing himself. "You know how...well, predators...we have, like…claws and fangs and stuff?"
"Oh, I know all about that, believe me," Chloe said with a smile. "Are you feeling self-conscious about them?"
"Not exactly," Nick said. "It's just that I've been...for a while now, almost...wanting to be aggressive, wanting to...you know, to use them."
"Ah," Chloe said, nodding. "I always wondered if predators felt like that! I mean, it's hard for me to see how you couldn't!"
"So you don't think it's a bad thing?" Nick asked. "Because I...well, this one time a few years ago, it got to where I...I bit someone. But I didn't actually like it when I did that! I was actually just upset, and...a lot was going on back then…"
He trailed off, and Chloe paused for a moment.
"So you're saying you want to be aggressive, but you don't actually like when you do?" she asked.
"Yeah...I guess that's right," Nick agreed. "Except most of the time I don't actually feel like I want to attack someone or anything like that. But I kind of...seem to enjoy...scaring them. But only if they're already being jerks! Some friends I don't talk to anymore would always do it to nice prey too, but I've never wanted to do that."
"Hmm…" Chloe said thoughtfully. "It sounds like you don't actually want to hurt anyone. You just like seeing yourself as a predator and you want to have fun with that. And sometimes use it to your advantage if other mammals are picking on you."
"That...yeah, that sounds right," Nick agreed.
"So...what exactly did you want to ask me about that?" Chloe asked. "I mean, don't get me wrong! I'm always down to talk about predator stuff, I don't need an excuse! But I thought you wanted help with something, right?"
"Well, yeah, I guess I just wanted to know...why?" Nick said. "And...what am I supposed to do? I mean, should I...be worried? I don't want to hurt anyone, but...I don't…don't know why I feel this way…"
"Honestly, I'm kind of learning it for the first time too," Chloe replied. "I never knew if preds actually felt like that or not. But it doesn't sound like it's anything bad, right? You seem like a good kit, you're not going out of your way to be a jerk or anything, so why worry about it?"
"I...guess. You don't think it's bad that I kind of...maybe like scaring mammals? W-when they're picking on me, I mean. And I really like that I...that I have the fangs and claws, you know?"
"Well, of course!" Chloe said with a smile. "Those are just plain cool, no doubt about that. It's fine to like that you're a little intimidating, Nick. I think those, uh...other friends of yours probably confused you, wanting to use it to push everyone around. That doesn't seem like you. You're just kind of playful and you want to have fun with it."
"I just don't know what everyone else is going to think…" Nick said sadly.
"Don't worry about that," Chloe replied, putting a paw on his shoulder. "Look, sure, you can't just go around clawing and biting everyone and expecting them to be ok with it. But they can't expect you to hide your fangs, or tell you that you can't growl or something every now and then. That's like a bunny being told they can't jump...and trust me, that is a recipe for disaster."
"Thanks, Chloe," Nick said. "I...think I understand it a little better now."
"Good, I'm glad I could help!" Chloe replied. "Just let me know if you need to talk about it again. Seriously, doesn't matter how 'edgy' it might seem. I can handle hearing about predator stuff, trust me."
Just then, the door opened and Sharla peeked in.
"Guys, Mrs. Hopps is starting to get really suspicious out here!" she whispered loudly.
"Oh, right!" Nick said, jumping up. "I...guess I should go now. Thanks for the blueberries, Chloe."
"Anytime," she replied.
(A/N) I know I've said this before but I love writing Chloe's parts. It gives me another way to vent about my never-ending obsession with predator/prey stuff! XD
And it's been a little while since I've included James. It seems like he hasn't changed much, though...
Fingers crossed I'll get another chapter done before the year's over!