Disclaimer: Zootopia and all related characters are owned by Disney. All other characters, product names, trademarks, and copyrights, belong to their respective owners.
…..
A/N:
- For those who don't live in the US, the drinking age here is 21 and an official ID is required to purchase alcohol or go into a bar/event where alcohol is served.
- A reminder that this story is rated M and that the last scene in this chapter after the sleepover scene is mildly M for lemony behavior.
…..
Squinting at the ID card he was holding up to the light, Nick shrugged, "Not too bad, I suppose. If it's dark out and whoever's checking IDs isn't paying too close of attention, this should be okay."
Judy turned onto a parkway as she asked, "You could do better?"
"Of course, a quality fake ID is a staple of life on the streets. I mean, look at this, the background tone is a little too light, the watermark is blurry, and Torrie looks waaay too happy for this to be a real DMV picture."
"I can't believe Torrie had a fake ID, my own sister. And she's been going to illegal parties instead of studying."
"Carrots… she did sign us up for the rave, and we're invited over to the house Friday afternoon to wait for her to get the 'go' text."
Judy sighed, "I know, I know. I promised I wouldn't tell Mom, but that doesn't mean I'm giving it back to her though."
"Of course, whatever you say, uh, Torrie Van Bunn from Newbark, New Grrsey. You know, I always thought you East Coast girls had the sweetest accents."
Judy groaned.
"Hey, be thankful the accent is the worst of what you'll have to fake. She could have added seven or eight years to her age like I used to do on my fakes. I always went for the sophisticated, mature fox persona to confuse the bouncers. It's probably better you stick with the party-bunny cover, maturity isn't really a bunny thing."
Judy snagged the ID out of Nick's paw and slipped it into her pocket, "Hardy-har-har old-timer, at least I'm not going to need a full makeover to look like a college student."
"Actually Carrots, besides needing to match Torrie's muzzle fur pattern, you're going to need a bit of a clothing intervention if you want to look like a UNZ college student. No offense to whoever helped you dress this morning, but ode' to country-girl is not going to cut it if we're trying to fit in with the city's rave crowd."
Judy tapped a thumb on the steering wheel, "Yeah, you're right. If we're going to go undercover as students, besides an age-appropriate ID for Nicholas Coppertail, we'll need party clothes and makeup."
"I can't believe you had Torrie use Coppertail for me. My tail fur color is clearly a very handsome burnt orange, not copper."
Judy smiled sweetly and said, "It was either that or Floofstein."
"Floofstein?"
"Yup."
"Please don't tell me you named my tail Floofstein."
"Nope, not me."
Nick raised a brow.
"Sunni's quite creative for a seven-year-old."
"Yes, yes she is," mumbled Nick as he pulled out his phone, tapped a Pawpsicle icon, and set it on speakerphone."
"About time you called. It's been days. What the hell have you been doing, playing hide the carrot in the middle of a field somewhere?"
"Hi Finn," chirped Judy as she pulled off the expressway making her way to Nick's place.
"Officer Toot-toot? What the…? Where's that pain in my tail, former partner of mine who–"
"I'm right here, buddy. Sorry I haven't called. Carrots and I have been busy."
"Busy busy or busy?"
"Mind out of the gutter. We're in town tracking down one of Thorn's crew who went missing with the lioness cousin of someone at the ZPD."
"Holy hell, what kind of stupid goes after both the cops and a major gang? Do you want me to start asking around, see if anyone's heard anything?"
"No, we've… Hang on."
Pointing to a family-owned market, Nick said, "Pull in there. We need a few things."
Judy nodded and slid into the right lane without getting honked at.
"…no, we've got a bead on them, and anyone asking around might spook whoever snatched them. But there is something I need you to do for me, I need an ID."
"Why don't you just use one of the ones you already have?"
"Ahem," said Judy as she shut off the car.
"Ha, Ha, uh, Ha. You know I got rid of those a long time ago. No need for such obviously illegal documents when I'm a cop, and my ZPD partner is sitting right next to me listening to everything you say."
"Sure, whatever," replied Finn, "Do you want The Forg– Blythe to use one of the pictures he already has, and what name are you using this time?"
"Finn," said Judy into the phone, "we're going undercover as college kits, so Nick will need a makeup job to young him up before we take the picture for his ID.
"Younger? That's a first," chuckled Finn.
"Yeah. Is Toni around? I'll explain it all to her. She said she majored in theater, and I'm hoping she took a class in makeup and costuming and can help us out."
"Hang on, she's in the kitchen putting together snacks for tomorrow's picnic at the Penguin's."
"The Penguin?" whispered Judy to Nick as she heard Finn open a door and stomp down a hall.
"Sister Mary," Nick whispered back.
"JUDY!" came a happy screech from the phone. "How are you? I was so worried. Is Nick with you? Have you guys–"
Judy quickly took the phone off speaker and said, "Toni, hang on." And after using an ear to motion Nick out of the car, Judy caught up with her bestie.
Nick watched Judy from the sidewalk for a few moments until she cutely started twirling her free ear while smiling and laughing talking to Toni.
Waving at Judy, Nick pointed to the small market's doors to let her know he'd be inside. Judy waved back and mouthed, "Be right in," to Nick.
Chuckling, Nick shook his head. He remembered his mom when she got going with one of her vixen friends, and with how Judy looked, he was pretty sure that grocery shopping would be on him. He just hoped that his phone had enough charge left to handle his bunny's conversation.
Of course, seeing Judy keep glancing up at him as she listened to Toni was probably another sign that he'd be better off shopping than smirking at his blushing bunny, who now had her ears covering her eyes.
-/-/-
Bonnie checked the time, it was around four hours until dinner, and this recipe would take about half an hour to mix and an hour to bake after being refrigerated for at least two hours. After spreading the ingredients out on the counter, she carefully unwrapped the package of ground turkey Brian had given her. Leaning down close, Bonnie gave it a sniff. It smelled a lot blander than the turkey sausage she'd cooked this morning. Nose twitching, she wondered how different it would taste too.
She'd planned on saving the egg and turkey roll-up for later for when she could add notes on the taste to the recipe card, but she'd had to eat it down in a hurry when Stu's truck unexpectedly pulled up to the front of the warren.
It wasn't bad, but the next time she cooked them, she wanted to add some chopped scallions to the recipe to spice it up a bit. Maybe some diced red pepper too.
And the next time she cleaned up from one of her secret experiments, she needed to remember not to leave out the meat wrappers.
Stu walked into the kitchen, grumbled a 'good morning' to his mate, and, searching for a mug, instead saw the offending white paper butcher's wrap that could only mean one thing. Predators were somewhere close.
"Is he back?"
"No, Judy and Nicholas are still in the city. Judy said they won't be back for a week."
"Then what's this?" asked Stu, holding up the butcher's wrap with a couple of small globs of turkey sausage still attached.
Bonnie grabbed the paper out of Stu's paw and said, "I'm experimenting."
"Why? If he comes back, his time at the Sheriff's Department is almost up. There's no reason to put yourself out trying to cook predator food for someone who's got one foot out the warren door."
Bonnie shook her head, "You don't know that. Nicholas has made quite the impression on the mammals in town. Enough that I wouldn't be surprised if the Sheriff didn't offer him a full-time job once his temporary duty is finished."
Stu groaned, "And I suppose he'd expect to stay living here? Well, I won't have it. We don't need him around our kits any more than he has been. Dad-blast it, how are any of our girls going to find good, decent rabbit mates with a fox living here corrupting Janae with his City ideas or hanging around Judy and scaring away any bucks that might be willing to have her as a mate. It's not natural, and I don't like it."
"You don't like it," Bonnie huffed, "who says you or I even get a say in who our kits fall in love with? As a matter of fact, Judy and–"
"I don't want to hear it," replied Stu heading back outside. "You should be spending less time experimenting with predator food and more time finding rabbit bucks for our unmated daughters. Especially Judy!"
Pounding the ground meat with her paw, Bonnie was glad Stu would be gone until late. She was also glad she hadn't spilled the beans that Judy and Nicholas were courting, and possibly more.
'And what was that about Janae being corrupted by City ideas?'
Checking the recipe card, Bonnie took a deep cleansing breath and–
*Slam*
"Hey Mom! We're back, and I passed my carving merit badge test," said Kristy, proudly showing off her new badge while sliding onto a stool.
"And we gave the fifty dollars we made at the stand to Scout Master Burns. She said Kristy and I are doing the best of anyone so far in raising money," added Charlie taking the stool next to his friend.
"What are you making?" asked Kristy.
"Yeah, Mrs. Hopps. That smells like turkey."
Bonnie nodded, "You have an excellent nose, Charlie, I'm making a turkey meatloaf. I was told it's a predator favorite. Have you ever had it before?"
Charlie's eyes went wide as he tried to shrink into his stool, "Uh, you didn't get that recipe from my mom, did you?"
Recognizing another go-round of fight or flight, Bonnie replied, "No, this is another recipe from Brian Leapwell."
Charlie uncoiled, took a deep breath, and shaking his head, said, "Not really."
Bonnie raised a brow but kept from smiling at the ferret's discomfort at trying to remember forgotten, or deeply buried, memories of failed meals from the past. 'Maybe–'
"Is there a merit badge for cooking?" asked Bonnie.
Kristy nodded at her mom's question, "Uh-huh, I was going to ask if I could cook something, and you'd tell Scout Master Stoan so I can get one."
Smiling now, Bonnie waved the two kits to her side of the counter, "How about if you both help me make this meatloaf, and I give each of you a note for your merit badges."
"Yay!" shouted Charlie and Kristy as they high-foured each other before running around the counter and huddling up next to their new cooking instructor.
Putting a paw on each of the kits, Bonnie steered them toward the sink and said, "First step, wash your paws. This is going to be messy."
-/-/-
Nick made his way out of the baking needs aisle of the family-owned market with his cart loaded down with organic flour, white and brown sugar, cooking spray, and a variety of high-end spices.
He'd heard the market had been here for years, but it was still new to him, having only been in his place for a few months. The owners, a middle-aged beaver couple, seemed nice enough and hadn't objected to a fox stopping in to pick up ingredients for the few times he'd cooked while setting up his place.
They also hadn't minded him squeezing some of the produce and checking out their poultry, fish, and bug meat selections that all looked and smelled fresh. It was nice living within a long walk of a well-stocked grocery store that catered to both pred and prey mammals. One of the perks of not living under a bridge surrounded by old, abandoned warehouses.
Pushing his small cart past the bakery section, where he grabbed a day-old loaf of sourdough bread, Nick stopped in front of the refrigerated cases of the dairy section.
"Hey Slick, almost done shopping?" asked Judy bouncing up to Nick and rummaging through his cart, "By the way, Toni says hi."
Giving Judy a quick smooch on the cheek, Nick asked, "Is that all she said? It looked like a pretty heated conversation."
Pushing Nick's nose away, Judy fake-laughed, "Nope, just girl talk, nothing else. She's going to meet us at Sister Mary's tomorrow and help you with your makeup for your ID picture and help me pick out some party clothes for the rave."
"Uh-huh."
"What?" replied Judy innocently batting her eyes.
"Okay, take that innocent farmgirl look and go pick out some strawberries, blueberries, and a sweet onion, and then grab a couple of bags of green lentils from the soup section and meet me at the register."
"What's all this for?"
"Dinner, now git," replied Nick, batting Judy's paws away from her rummaging through the cart.
Nick watched Judy's tail wiggle all the way to the produce section, where, giving him a glance and a final wag of her tail, Judy disappeared around a display stacked with bags of potatoes.
Shaking his head at the overtly cute display, Nick tore his focus away from bunny tails and put it back on his grocery list.
…..
Emptying his cart onto the counter, Nick watched as a sixteen-year-old beaver buck with braces and thick glasses started ringing up the items.
"I've got more coming," said Nick as he turned and watched an armful of groceries topped with bags of bug chips, veggie chips, and kettle corn make their way to the counter.
"I don't remember that much junk food being on the list."
Dumping everything on the counter, Judy said, "I found some of the Honey Mustard chips you like."
"Oh, well, in that case…"
"Excuse me, I need to see some ID," interrupted the clerk.
"ID? What for?" asked Nick.
Tapping a sign on the counter warning 'Buying alcohol? If You Look Under 30, Be Prepared to Show ID,' the teen said, "The vanilla extract. It's like a third alcohol. I can't sell it to you if you don't have ID."
Judy and Nick looked at each other until Nick broke the standoff, "Miss Torrie Van Bunn from New Grrsey, I seem to have forgotten my wallet, do you mind?"
"Who?"
"You, Torrie. The ID in your pocket. This nice young mammal wants to see it."
"Oh, me. Yeah, sure–"
"Ahem, UNZ student… from New Grrsey."
Judy nodded as she pulled Torrie's ID out of her pocket and said in her best Grrsey Shore accent, "Yeah, my fault, homeslice. Don't worry, we're gucci, I got my bonafides right here. By the way, nice bodega youze got goin' on here."
Nick looked at Judy and mouthed, "Homeslice?"
Judy waved an ear at Nick to be quiet while she smiled big for the teen clerk.
The kit looked up from the ID, squinted at Judy, and looking back down at the picture in his paw, said, "I don't know, the fur around your eye looks different, and the pattern on your muzzle doesn't exactly match, and your accent… who talks like that?"
"She's from the East Coast, you know, New Grrsey," interrupted Nick, "their accent's kind of unique, and they're always coloring their fur. And don't get me started on the clothes, talk about retro farmgirl. Where do you think that came from?" Waving his paw at the map on the wall behind the counter, Nick added, "I mean, look how far north in the cold and where the hurricanes hit, you'd color your fur and wear… weird… What's wrong with that map?"
The kit turned around and, pointing at the large framed map hanging on the wall, said, "I have some cousins who live in Baaston, and they said the cold is way worse up there than it is in New Grrsey."
Looking closer, Nick mumbled, "Yeah, I meant…" nodding toward the map, "How old is that? The continent is right, but I don't see Zootopia on it."
"There's Bunnyburrow," said Judy, sans accent, pointing at the map too, "I see Hillsburrow and Podunk, but not Volesburrow."
"Yeah," said Nick, "wasn't Volesburrow the last of the three major Burrows to be established? And look at the rest of the towns on the map, they spread east to the Great Lakes and south to Alpacama. And look at the overall map boundaries, this map covers most of the Commonwealth's breadbasket."
The teen waved his paw at the old map, "This is my grandma's. She said it's a map of the old prey alliance from before the Commonwealth was formed. My family moved to Zootopia from the Upper Peninsula here, between these two lakes. My grandma's family is from a long line of traders going back to forever ago."
"What's that symbol there in the corner?" asked Judy.
The kit shrugged, "I don't know, you'd have to ask my grandma."
"Do you mind if I take a picture of the map?" asked Nick holding up his phone.
Stepping out of the way, the young beaver said, "No problem." And handing Judy her ID back, he added, "It'll be forty-five eighty-one for the groceries. And you might want to work on your accent some more before you try using that ID for reals."
Judy sighed, "Thanks."
Nick snickered as he and Judy made their way out of the market.
"Don't say a word."
"Moi, aggy my homeslice? Never."
-/-/-
Toni poked her head into Finn's office and, holding out his phone, said, "All done." Not getting a response from her boss and seeing his large ears down and the rest of him focused on his computer screen, Toni stepped into the office.
"What are you doing?"
Finn's ears popped up and swiveled toward the intruder.
"Sorry, I'm done with your phone," said Toni setting the phone on top of a stack of printouts.
"S'ok," replied Finn as he typed in a command and pressed the enter key with a flourish. "My boy Rat wrote me a special computer virus, sent it before his mom shut him down. I've got it sitting pretty in the bunny cop's bank accounts, muzzle book page, and in her work account. I'm hoping whoever's been getting into her business will pick it up, and I can figure out who they are."
Looking over Finn's shoulder at the monitor, she asked, "You can do that?"
"Yeah, all Pawpsicle hustlers can."
Toni turned to Finn and raised a brow.
Chuckling, Finn said, "Planting the bait isn't too hard. Whether or not he gets infected all depends on how good this guy is. We'll see."
Toni turned back to the unchanging computer screen and stared for a double pawful of breaths before grunting, "Nothing's happening. Shouldn't there be lots of stuff flashing on the screen, and maybe a laughing Jolly Roger?"
Finn shook his head, "Nah, that only happens in the movies. In real life, if I's get lucky, I should get a–"
Lines of text started scrolling on the screen like an old-style dot-matrix printout. Line after line scrolled until…
Toni nodded toward the screen as she patted Finn on the back, "Told ya. You have fun hacking. I'll be in the kitchen finishing the food prep for tomorrow."
Waiting for the door to close behind him, Finn reached over to clear the text-art skull and crossbones from his screen when, before he could touch a key, it cleared itself, and more text started scrolling.
"Whoa," Finn mumbled as he squinted at the fast-moving text. "This ain't good, bunny-girl. Who the hell did you piss off?" Catching a few keywords that scrolled past, keywords that he'd really hoped not to see, Finn groaned as he said to no one, "This guy ain't no script kittie after a few credit card numbers or some internet cred. He's got to be a black hatter for hire or someone who's got a real revenge hard-on for going after Wilde's girl."
Finn pulled open the center drawer of his desk and fished around for a USB stick. Pushing aside a small sealed envelope, he paused, shook his head, and snagged a memory stick from a bag of them he kept for backing up his computer. Inserting the stick into an open slot, Finn typed in a few commands and started copying files, lots and lots of files.
Leaning back, Finn watched his handiwork as he smiled to himself, "Good boy, keep doing what you're doing. We're cooking with gas now."
-/-/-
"Now the icky part."
Bonnie had shown both the kits how to chop an onion without tears, mince garlic without getting the smell on their fur, and how to remove the stems from fresh parsley before chopping it. Next up was cooking the onion and garlic in oil. Bonnie was thankful Kristy didn't take after Judy and was able to cook the onions soft without Charlie having to deploy the fire extinguisher she'd pulled out, just in case.
Charlie grabbed a mixing bowl, and Bonnie cooed as he then held the skillet up so Kristy could scrape the cooked onion mixture into the bowl and take over the mixing as Charlie added salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and all the parsley.
The two kits looked like they were performing a well-practiced dance together as Kristy stirred and Charlie added in the remaining ingredients, oats, yogurt, and to Bonnie's wonder, an egg Charlie cracked directly into the mix without any added eggshell bits.
'If Uncle Lewis were here, he'd chuckle and say the kits were 'Cooking with gas' the way they worked so well together.'
A five-minute break to let the mix stand, and Bonnie was pointing at the open package of ground turkey.
"Dump it in and use your paws to mix it up."
The kits grinned at each other, and as one, kneaded the gooey mess until it was a lump-free uniform putty-like substance.
"Wow," Charlie said. "This is so much more fun than how my mom does it. Do you cook it until the smoke alarm goes off like she does?"
Bonnie chuckled, "No, I'll use the timer on the stove since this is my first time making meatloaf. Go ahead and put the mix in that glass bread pan, and I'll cover it and put it in the refrigerator."
Paws covered lightly in goo, both kits looked disappointed, "We're not allowed to help cook it?"
Tussling Kristy's head fur, Bonnie replied, "It takes about an hour to bake. Why don't you two go set up for your sleepover, and while the rest of the girls are helping me with dinner, you both can put the meatloaf in to bake."
"Really, we get to help cook the family dinner? The actual dinner?" shouted Kristy.
"We'll get our merit badges for sure!" added Charlie as he turned to high-four Kristy again–
–until both kits found their gunk-covered paws inches apart and held tight by Bonnie, "Wash your paws first, please."
-/-/-
Judy dumped her grocery bags out on the kitchen island and, spreading the items out, said, "I still can't believe how great your place is. A lot of my sisters would kill for a kitchen like this."
Nick closed the refrigerator from putting away the items he'd carried up and replied, "Yeah, the pictures Mr. Howell sent me of the kitchen were what sold me on buying this place. Well, the balcony too, but his mate designed the kitchen, and she really liked to cook. So, since I was stuck working my tail off at the ZPA trying to become somebunny's partner, I said yes to his offer and signed the paperwork as soon as he sent it to me."
"So, you bought this place sight unseen while you were in training? How were you able to do that? Dharma Armadillo wouldn't rent to me without proof of ZPD employment which I didn't have until after I graduated and was assigned to Precinct One.
"Wait a second. You didn't buy this place with money you hustled, did you? Nicholas Piberius Wilde, you told me–"
"The truth," interrupted Nick. "The coyote couple that used to own it were friends of my dad. He and his mate wanted to move closer to their grand-pups outside of Zootopia and gave me a call when I was at the ZPA. We did the deal so he got paid early, and he and his mate could stay living here until they could buy a new place near their daughter.
"They moved out a few months ago, and the rest is history."
"So, how could you afford a place like this?"
"A story for another time, oh fluffy one, but don't worry your pretty little head over the money, it's all legit. And yes, I made sure taxes were paid on it too."
Judy's eyes narrowed, "Uh-huh, you better have."
Booping Judy on her cute pink nose, Nick replied, "I did, just ask Finn. He laughed his tail off when I told him I'd finally found my own place, and it had to be paid for on the straight and narrow."
Staring at her smirking fox, Judy nodded slowly until her mental wheels turned a bit more, "Sooo, if you weren't living in your parent's old place, and if this was the first place you found on your own, and you just moved in, where were you living before a few months ago?"
Nick's smirk fell, "Well, uh… that's one of the perks of being a street fox, I know everybody, so lots of places to couch surf. You know, swanky digs, top-notch hovels, wherever the mood struck me."
"But, after you graduated, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't figure it out."
Nick chuckled, "That's because I'm a smart fox, and you're a–"
"The bridge, you were living under that bridge, weren't you? That's why you'd always come over to my place to watch movies. And why you tricked me into dinner that one day I tried to follow you home.
"Why didn't you tell me? You could have stayed with me."
Nick raised a brow, "Carrots, your place wasn't big enough for you, let alone a full-sized fox, besides, most landlords don't take kindly to foxes in their buildings, drags the rents down. Even as a cop, no landlord is going to want to rent to a fox. And forget about an agency selling a condo or a house to a fox, as soon as they'd see my muzzle at the door, the place would suddenly have a bunch of offers the owner was 'mulling over.'
"That's why I needed to find a place I could buy privately from someone willing to sell to a fox."
"A friend of your dad's."
"Yup, and of the community.
"Now, any other questions I need to take the fifth on, or are you good?"
Judy made big eyes and pouted, "Well…"
Nick poked Judy's bottom lip, and said, "You can holster the look, dinner prep now, more fox interrogation later. Okay?"
"Fine," groused Judy looking at all the ingredients spread out on the counter, "What are we cooking for dinner?"
"We aren't cooking anything for dinner, you, on the other paw, are going to be making one of my mom's secret recipes, veggie loaf. She used to make it for the neighborhood potlucks since those were a mix of predator and prey families."
Judy gulped, "Are you sure? You saw what happened to my mom's rose bushes, and your kitchen looks brand new."
Nick walked over to the pantry and, pulling out a medium-sized fire extinguisher, said, "Not to worry, Carrots, I'm prepared." Slipping the extinguisher back into the pantry, Nick went over and kissed his sulking beauty on the top of her head, adding, "No pressure, and nothing to do with any fox courting rituals. We're just going to go over a few of the basics, so we don't get visited by the ZFD Fire Marshall."
Judy huffed and folded her arms across her chest.
"Although, Terrance is quite the strapping middle-aged bear. I suppose we could invite him to dinner, the hard way if you'd like."
"Terrance?"
"The City Fire Marshall, terrible poker player by the way. Bad enough that he owed me a favor I used to get my inspections expedited."
"Just expedited?"
"Of course, I'd never skimp on an inspection. Remember, this fox is all about Fire Safety."
Judy rolled her eyes, "Sure."
Motioning Judy back from the island, Nick used his toe to press a hidden release in the cabinet's toe-kick and waited for a built-in platform to extend out. Stepping back, Nick bowed slightly and motioning a paw toward the platform, said, "After you, madam."
Judy chuckled, "Your kitchen has built-in step stools?"
"Of course, here to help with food prep, and another one in front of the cooktop. We'll still need to get a regular stool for the upper cabinets and the pantry, but I figured having these installed would help somebunny when she wanted to cook or clean dishes, and her handsome fox wasn't around to help."
Judy huffed as she stepped up on the small platform and said, "You know I'm not short for a rabbit."
Smirking, Nick slid up behind Judy and nipped the bottom of one of her ears as he said, "True, but you are slightly height-challenged for a vixen."
Not willing to give in to her sweet fox just yet, Judy retorted, "My sisters say that good things come in small packages."
"That they do, but you have to admit that using them is more comfortable and," nodding toward the cooktop, "safer around pots of boiling water."
Judy tried to come up with a counter, but Nick was right. With the extra inches, she could easily use both sinks, reach the faucet knob, and everything Nick had laid out on the center island for food prep was easily within reach.
Sighing, Judy mumbled, "Maybe."
Nick raised an eyebrow.
Judy smirked, and, taking advantage of another feature of the built-in stool, pecked Nick on the lips without having to pull his head down.
"Thanks, you're right. They're great.
"So, what happens first? Is there a recipe we're using?"
"Yes, there's a recipe, but it's up here," said Nick pointing to his head. "So, I'll be walking you through it step by step."
Judy nodded, "Just like field stripping a pistol and putting it back together."
"Sort of, except hopefully not as deadly once we're done," said Nick opening a drawer next to the cooktop and pulling out a saucepan. "First step is to bring two cups of water and a teaspoon of salt to a boil for the lentils." Setting the pan in front of Judy, Nick added, "The measuring cup's right there."
Turning on the faucet, Judy held the glass measuring cup under the flow and carefully filled it to the two-cup line. Well, almost. Sticking her tongue out in concentration, she slowed the water to a trickle and turned it off and on until the measuring cup was precisely two cups full.
Proud of her precision, Judy dumped the water into the pan, added a pinch of salt, and carefully carried it over to the cooktop behind her. Reaching out with her toe she–
"Press the right side of the panel to have the platform slide out. Pressing the left side will store it. It'll lock once it's open halfway and again when it's all the way out."
Nodding, Judy opened the stool halfway and, stepping up, put the pan on one of the front burners.
Nick clapped his paws, "Now you're cooking with gas."
"Huh?"
Chuckling, Nick said, "It's just a saying. It means you're doing great so far." And waving at the cooktop, added, "And in our case, since this is a gas cooktop, it also means we're ready for the next step. A step I heard didn't go over so well the last time you tried it, boiling the water."
Judy huffed, "Anything anyone back home told you was a lie, it totally wasn't my fault. Even the firemammals said it was a once in a lifetime fluke of nature."
Nodding patiently, Nick replied, "Neither of us wants Terrance breaking down the door, so, since your mom's kitchen is all electric, how about I go over the controls here just in case."
Pointing at the leftmost knob on the front panel of the stove, Nick said, "First step is to ignite the burner, turn this until you hear clicking, and once you see the flames, turn it to 'high' to boil the water."
Judy turned the knob until she heard the clicking followed by a whooshing sound as the gas ignited, and then setting the knob properly, Judy smiled as she looked up at her fox and said, "Easy peasy."
"Yup, as long as you don't get distracted from keeping an eye on things, you'll be good."
"Oh? You mean no doing… this?" asked Judy as she quickly gave Nick another peck on the lips."
Nick shook his head and with a gentle swat to Judy's butt, said, "Time to focus, food prep before fun."
Turning Judy back to the center island, Nick pointed to a knife block and cutting board and said, "We need that onion diced. Grab the big knife, and–"
"Don't worry, I think I know how to do this part," said Judy reaching down to lift the cuff of her pants.
Nick held out a paw, "This is different than using a combat knife in a fight. We're trying to avoid any body parts getting sliced off, and if there's any screaming, the neighbors will call the ZPD. You don't want McHorn breaking down the door armed and ready, do you?"
Straightening up, Judy shook her head, "No, that would be bad."
"Yup, real bad. So, using the big knife, cut off the top and after you peel off the outer layer, cut it in half through the root."
Judy was back in concentration mode, "Got it."
"Good. Now resting the onion on the flat side, make a curled claw with your paw to hold it. Lightly use your claws to hold the onion and make a bunch of vertical slits while leaving the root intact."
"I've seen my sisters use their knuckles to guide the knife. Should I do that?"
"When my mom first taught me how to slice, she had me keep my fingers away from the knife, less blood, so since it's your first time, let's do it that way too."
Waiting for Judy to finish the vertical cuts, Nick showed her how to safely make horizontal cuts and finely dice the onion. With Judy working on the second half, Nick opened up the package of green lentils and sorted through them to make sure there weren't any twigs, pebbles, or discolored beans before scooping up a cup's worth into a bowl.
Seeing that Judy was done dicing, except for the tear-inducing root, which Nick had her throw away, Nick handed Judy the bowl of lintels and said, "The water's ready. Pour these in, and turn the heat down. They need to simmer covered for about twenty-five minutes to soften up."
Setting the bowl back on the counter, Nick had Judy scoop in the diced onion and add a cup of quick-cooking oats and three-quarters of a cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese.
"Now the hard part," Nick said, holding up an egg, "Normally, we'd just dump all the liquid ingredients in with the lentils when they're ready, but just to be sure we don't end up having to pick out eggshells, we'll use another bowl."
Judy rolled her eyes, "Seriously? Anyone can crack an egg," and grabbing the egg out of Nick's paw she–
"Whoops!"
–grabbed a washcloth from the sink and cleaned up a raw egg mess from the floor.
"Totally not my fault. My paws were slippery from the onion."
Taking Judy's paws in his, Nick smiled softly until she started nibbling on her bottom lip.
"Sorry," came a whisper.
"It's okay," and giving Judy a quick kiss, Nick added, "I dropped my first egg too. Wet pawpads don't always grip that well."
"I don't have pawpads."
Kissing the palms of her paws, Nick hummed, "I know. Soooo soft. Perfect for belly rubs."
Judy chuckled and kissed Nick's nose, "How about after dinner I show you what I've learned about fox belly rubs."
"What you've learned? Where'd you learn about fox belly rubs?"
Judy smirked, "I know people too, and one of them might have helped me out with a different kind of cookbook."
Picking up another egg, Nick handed it to Judy and, waggling his eyebrows, said, "Can't wait."
And yes, it took a minute to pick out the eggshells from the second try, but five ounces of spaghetti sauce, and a teaspoon each of garlic powder, dried basil, and dried parsley, and the liquid mix was ready for the lentils.
Nick checked the pot and, seeing that most of the water had been absorbed by the lentils or evaporated away, nodded and said…
"…Carrots, what are you doing?"
Judy clapped the oversized oven mitts she was wearing together and chirped, "I'm going to drain the lentils."
Shaking his head, Nick said, "I got this, I've heard stories about mammals spilling hot water on themselves, and in addition to the ZFD and the ZPD, I don't want any EMTs in our place either."
Judy stepped back and watched as Nick poured the lentils into a colander sitting in the sink, shook them until there weren't any drips, and poured them back into the saucepan. Handing Judy a small plastic potato masher, Nick motioned her back onto the pullout stool in front of him.
"This is the fun part, mash these first, and when you're done, you'll be getting your paws dirty."
Judy gripped the masher tight and, ready to grind the small legumes into a compliant paste, she–
"Gently. Partially mashed is what we want before adding all the other ingredients."
"Okay."
Loosening her death grip on the masher, Judy squished the lentils until she felt a kiss on the top of her head.
"That's good, now scrape them into the bowl with the oats and cheese."
Using a spatula, Judy cleaned the saucepan of lentils and stirred them in.
"Okay, paws ready?"
"What for?" asked Judy handing the spatula to Nick.
Nick grabbed the bowl of mixed egg, sauce, and spices and dumped it into the larger mixing bowl. Scraping it clean, he motioned toward the mass of ingredients, "The fun part, mix and knead this with your paws, and once it's good, scoop it into that loaf pan."
"Ewww," teased Judy. "Why don't you do it?"
"Asks the Kohai of her Senpai Chef. We learn by doing, but don't worry, I'll stay close and help you every step of the way."
After glancing behind her to Nick, who was now pressed up against her back with his paws resting on the counter to her sides, Judy pulled the mixing bowl closer and dipped her paws into the mix.
"Good job, now squish it around and mix it up good."
Judy looked up at Nick's muzzle that was now positioned between her ears and, while giving the mix a good squish, wiggled her tail into Nick's front.
Judy smirked as she heard her fox inhale.
"Am I doing it right, oh great Senpai? It feels a little lumpy."
"Make sure you slide your fingers around the edge to mix in all the lentils. Gently though, a little like…" came Nick's breathless reply as Judy wiggled her tail again.
"Like wha–"
"Mmmmmhhh…" It was Judy's turn to tremble as she felt Nick lightly glide his fangs along the inner edge of her erect ear.
"Like a live-fire exercise," replied Nick. "You know, cooking under extreme pressure."
Judy started to pull her paws out of the mix so she could properly grab her fox's muzzle but was stopped by Nick's larger paws on her arms.
"Just a little more."
Judy hummed her answer until, getting on her tippy-toes, she nipped at Nick's ear and kissed her way down the side of his muzzle.
A fox sigh was followed by a whisper-moan, "Mmmm… I think, uh, that's probably good enough."
"Are you sure? Don't I want it to be a gooey mess before the next step?"
"Yeah… Uhmm, I mean, it's gooey enough. Go ahead and scoop it into the loaf pan."
Scooping out a pawful of the mixture, Judy plopped it into the greased pan, spread it around, and reaching for another pawful…
…felt Nick's paws slide across her middle and pull her in close to him while his heavenly muzzle nipped at her shoulder and worked its way up her neck with fox kisses.
Held tight and unable to use her sticky paws on her fox, Judy groaned in pleasure as she tilted her head so Nick's sexy fangs had full access to her newest most-favorite erogenous zone.
"Mmmmhhh."
Wishing desperately to return the sexy ministrations, sans paws in her case, Judy caught Nick's lips with her own as his nipping made it to her cheek.
"Mmmm."
Feeling her fox shift around to deepen their kiss, Judy pulped the mix she was supposed to be putting in the loaf pan just before using her small tongue to demand access to Nick's larger, more magical one.
More than a few hot and steamy moments later, Judy took a breath and whispered, "No fair, my paws are stuck."
"All's fair in love and cooking lessons."
"Incorrigible fox."
"Sexy bunny."
Paws still stuck in the mixing bowl, Judy used her lips to recapture Nick's and proceeded to search out his wonderful vulpine tongue and tame it with hers. Humming led to a bunny moan followed by fox growls which led to large paws sliding up a taunt bunny waist, then bunny growls, lots of heavy breathing, and…
…a breathless bunny whispering, "Balcony."
-/-/-
Orange zoomed in on a graph and rubbed his chin as he clicked on a cluster of data points.
Data scrolled down the right side of his screen, most of it highlighted in red due to the female's numbers falling out of tolerance.
"Damn," grunted the river hog. "I finally stabilize the male's numbers, and the female's start to deteriorate."
Loading another spreadsheet, Orange was about to check the concentration levels of the prohormone he'd induced the pred's system to produce when his cell rang.
"Please don't tell me your kits are getting out of hoof again, and you can't handle it."
The phone rang again. It wasn't his mate.
"What have you got for me Orange?"
"Uh, Mr. Brown," replied the suddenly nervous Orange to the wildebeest glaring out from his phone screen. "How are you?"
"I don't know, you tell me. White said you were 'cooking with gas.' Whatever the hell that means," spat back Brown.
Orange straightened up and said, "Ah yes, uh, an old lab term that means the formula modifications are working adequately. Here let me show you."
Pointing the phone camera at his large monitor, Orange minimized the spreadsheet he'd been looking at and focused in on another one.
"As you can see, the male subject has responded well to my final formula variant, and his numbers are stable and within tolerance. The creature's prohormone production appears to be self-sustaining, and there's no sign of rebound. I think, in regards to the male, we're ready to go."
"The other table," grunted Brown, "the female's, bring it back up."
A few clicks later, red highlighted numbers belied Orange's claims of success.
"The female's numbers are fluctuating. You need to tweak the botanicals to augment the bonding agent."
"Sir, we've discussed adjustments before, but what we're dealing with in this case may be as simple as the seasonal urea level in the irrigation water used to hydrate the botanicals. I believe the prohormones are the key, more than the botanicals."
Brown rubbed his beard for a few moments before saying, "We'll split the difference, tweak the botanical concentration five percent, and up the female's dosage by twenty percent. That should achieve the targeted results."
Orange sighed as he replied, "Yes, sir."
"Can the males handle the larger dose? Production isn't set up for any kind of red pill, blue pill manufacturing based on gender."
"Well…" replied Orange before pausing and taking a closer look at what was displayed on his monitor. After a few moments of staring, and a grunt, Orange brought up another detailed spreadsheet and grunted again.
"Orange," prompted Brown.
"I believe so, sir," said Orange pointing his phone's camera back to him, "I'll adjust the regimen and use the stronger dose on the male specimen White is procuring for me. The initial effect takes only a few moments to manifest, so assuming the animal doesn't expire outright, I should know relatively quickly if the higher dose works on males the same way it does on females."
"What about long-term viability? Constantly overwhelming the pred neuroreceptor might damage the filth before they reach the proper steady-state for maximum effectiveness."
Orange shrugged, "We haven't suffered a chemically induced lobotomization since we gene-spliced the botanicals and changed the first processing stage. Give me a couple of days after dosing the new specimen to run our standard tests on viability, and I'll have your answer by early next week.
"Good, and Orange…"
"Yes, sir?"
"Now you're cooking with gas."
-/-/-
"That's Catsiopeia right there," said Charlie pointing with his free paw.
"Which one's Pigasus?" asked Kristy squeezing Charlie's paw in hers.
*giggle*
Shifting a little on his sleeping bag, Charlie pointed again, "Look to the right, see the lizard-shaped constellation? That's Lacerta. And below and to the right is Pigasus. It's hard to make out since it looks upside down from here."
Kristy lay silently looking up at the sky. Perfect weather meant a cloudless sky and lots of stars for her and Charlie to check out. Perfect weather also meant that it was okay for the two of them to camp out for as long as they wanted, or midnight as was decided by the moms after a short negotiation where Charlie's mom actually lobbied for them to get an extra hour before having to head inside.
"Your mom's nice."
"Thanks, sorry she took the rest of the meatloaf home for dinner."
*mmm-hmmm*
"It's okay. It tasted good, but I don't think my dad would have been too excited to see leftover turkey meatloaf in the fridge."
"Yeah."
*mmmmmm*
"It was nice of your mom to bring you your stuff. You know you could have borrowed something from one of my brothers if you'd wanted to."
"Yeah, I know, but she had to go into town anyway, and this was her way of checking on me, you know how parents are."
*ohhhh-mmmm*
"Yeah, sneaking into the shelter through the tunnel probably didn't help."
"Nope."
"I can't believe your mom said I could come over for a sleepover Saturday night."
*giggle giggle*
"Yeah, I kind of told her about the turkey and egg roll-ups your mom made. I think she's hoping we'll cook breakfast for everyone."
"You and me?"
Charlie nodded in the dark, "Uh-huh, my mom is a better stewardess than a cook."
"Stewardess? Like in an airplane?"
*mmm-ahhh*
"No, like a manager. She helps the Bunfrey's run their warren since most of their kits have moved away, and Nurse Carol works all the time at the hospital."
"Oh."
Scootching closer to Charlie, Kristy pulled the flap of the sleeping bag over their legs and–
*mmmhhhmm*
Grabbing a small rock, Kristy threw it into the darkness.
"Ow!"
"Stop it, Janae. You're supposed to be watching us."
"I am. Now look at those stars over there."
Charlie chuckled, "Have you ever heard the story of the Moon Rabbit?"
"No," said Kristy as she leaned her head close to Charlie's, "I'd love to hear it, though."
-/-/-
Judy pulled back from her fox's amazing lips to catch her breath, and before Nick could do anything but pant, she buried her muzzle in the thick fur of his shirtless chest, "Mmmmhhhh, I could lose myself in your scent."
Chuckling, Nick rubbed the back of the bunny sitting in his lap and whispered, "Don't let any of the other prey hear you say that. I think you're supposed to be running away when you smell a fox stalking you."
Judy leaned back and ran her fingers through her boyfriend's fur and smiled. Their 'cooking lesson' had migrated from the kitchen to the balcony with only a short detour to put the veggie loaf in the oven, wash her paws, and show Nick her handiwork with the privacy mesh for the balcony she'd found in the downstairs storage unit. Privacy that they were both enjoying right now.
"Run away? I don't think so. I've found my guy, and I'm not letting him go."
"What about…"
Judy put a finger up to Nick's muzzle, "Not now. You're supposed to be teaching me more about cooking without having to use a fire extinguisher."
Nick stealthily reached under the loveseat swing and slid a red canister out of view.
"And if you're reaching for anything but my tail, you'll be sleeping on the couch by yourself."
"No ma'am, wouldn't think of it."
Judy leaned back in and wiggled her fluffball of a tail until her predator's paws caught their sought-after prey and, with claws sheathed, gently stroked her tail fur.
"Mmmmhhh," moaned Judy into Nick's ear as she stretched against his chest and whispered, "Use your claws, please."
Nick chuckled as his claws extended, and he redoubled his efforts to pleasure his bunny, "I must have done something right in a past life to fall for the only rabbit doe in the world turned on by claws and fangs."
"Mmm-hmm," replied Judy as she undid the top few buttons of her shirt, "My tail isn't the only part of me that enjoys the feel of your claws and fangs."
Nick nipped at Judy's exposed shoulder and licked and kissed his way along the top edge of her light t-shirt bra as his paw moved from tail petting to lock-picking. Kissing his way back up to Judy's mouth, Nick's tongue demanded entry at the same time his paw released the front clasp of Judy's bra.
Judy deepened the kiss while at the same time pressing her chest into Nick's paw, letting him know–
"Mmmmm, if I'd known cooking felt this good, I'd have studied to be a chef, ohhhh, instead of a cop."
Nick let his fingers wander through the softer, silkier fur surrounding Judy's hidden mounds until she gasped when he unsheathed a claw and delicately drew circles from base to peak of what he'd found.
"Yeah, cooking is an art…"
Nick kissed his bunny down her now exposed front until he came to the mounds so recently enjoyed by his paw and hummed, "…an art that requires lots of taste testing."
Nick's tongue took over where his claws had left off.
Judy panted, "Niiiick, don't, mmmhh, that feels so good, don't stop… please."
"Always. You're amazing, I could–"
*sniff*
Nick pulled back, put his nose in the air, and went still.
"What's wrong?" asked the panting bunny.
*sniff sniff*
"I smell… Oh crap, Nick said, suddenly standing and dumping Judy on the loveseat, "I forgot to set the oven timer. The veggie loaf's burning!"
Judy lay stunned on the bench in a heap until she heard the smoke alarm go off and laughed. Sliding onto the balcony floor, she hooked her bra back together, and still laughing, she grabbed the fire extinguisher from under the loveseat and followed her frantic fox into the kitchen.
"Yeah Slick, we're really cooking with gas now."
