A/N

Hello everyone. This is proving to be quite popular, much to my pleasure as the author. I love hearing how much y'all enjoy this dalliance of my muse.

Of course, I do not own Zootopia, and can therefore make no claims to Zootopia or its characters. I only make claim to my own OC's included herein as needed. Though I think I could do more with it than Disney is at the moment. So many awesome ideas that they could use, and they're sitting on their asses.

I blame Bear678 for this.

Anyway, on with the show.

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Wilde Cardz - Savage Territory - Chapter 17

Nick, quickly left the others behind as he zipped up the side of the tree the sky-tram platform was on. Standing on the platform, he looked over and could still see the slight indentations left from Renato's claws all the years previous. A grin on his face, he could already smell his bunny. She clearly wasn't here now, but she had been, and recently.

Backing up, Nick sized up the bridge. It was clearly in disrepair. Instead, he readied himself and with a quick run, leapt upwards out over the gap, landing on the support platform on the far side, right next to a squirrel that screamed in terror at a fox appearing next to him.

Grinning, Nick sniffed the air. He could tell even more now that this is where Judy had been living until recently. Though there was something about her scent he wasn't sure about. A hint of something that tickled his brain but he couldn't place. Looking down at the squirrel, Nick smiled. "Hi. I'm here to inquire about Judy WildeHopps."

A lynx and a bobcat came running up, weapons at the ready and froze. The lynx suddenly grinning. "Nick?! Oh, please say this isn't a dream."

Nick chuckled. "It is not a dream, Jacob. I'm hunting my bunny. I can smell she was here, and recently."

Jacob nodded. "Yes. She was here only a few weeks ago. She headed home."

A rabbit buck appeared carrying a small caracal kitten. "What's the ruckus? I'm trying to get the kits down for a nap…" Seeing Nick his eyes went wide. "Nick? Oh thank the gods! Nick!" Quickly wrapping the Nick in a hug.

Looking down at the tearful buck, and the kitten looking up at him with wide eyes. "Herald? Uhm…" Patting Herald on the back.

"Oh, gods… Nick, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. I want to tell you how sorry I am for how I treated you. My mate saved me from a savage right after things went crazy, and opened my eyes to what you, Judy, and even Amy were trying to get me and others to understand for so long."

Smirking, Nick chuckled. "Glad to hear it, Herald. I'm sure Amy will be along shortly, with her fiance."

"I'm betting it is that little fennec she started hanging around with."

"The same. You going to be okay with that?"

Herald laughed, finally releasing Nick and wiping his eyes. "I better be. I think my mate would consider me a bit hyporicial if I did. With you here, maybe we can hold an actual fox wedding. We don't' have any other foxes here."

"Fin and Amy might want the same thing. Now. Who is this handsome kitten, and why does he smell like Judy?"

Herald smiled and hefted David up to Nick, forcing Nick to take him. "This is David. We don't know his last name, and he is too young to know. He was saved by Judy right after things went nuts, including his mother. He has kinda adopted Judy as his mom. So by extension, you are his adopted dad. The only reason he didn't go with was because Judy was going by herself. I hope you will stay a few days and get to know him."

Nick grinned. "No kidding." Giving David his full attention as Lizz stepped off the elevator platform and it started descending again. "Is that true, David? Judy saved you, and now you consider her your momma?"

David smiled. "I know she not my real momma. My real momma went crazy like most mammals. But momma Judy took care of me, she helped uncle Herald build Treetop to keep us all safe from the crazy mammals."

"How old are you, David?"

"I'm five. I don't know when my birthday is. So momma Judy said we will just make it the day she saved me."

Grinning, Nick nodded. "I see. Did mamma Judy tell you about me? I'm Nick. I'm married to momma Judy, and I'm currently looking for her, actually."

David grinned. "She told me about the smart fox that she loved and missed more than anything." Looking down to Herald. "Uncle Herald. Is this really papa Nick?"

Herald nodded. "He is, David. This is your momma Judy's, Nick."

David beamed up at Nick, then hopping out of Nick's arms, grabbed his paw and tried to drag him into the settlement. Herald laughing. "You'd best just go with him, Nick. Jacob can follow you and make sure you don't tear the place up."

With that, Nick allowed himself to be pulled away as the others made it to the top. Mike laughed. "I wonder what that is about. That kitten seems to be maybe five."

Herald walked up and wrapped Amy into a hug. "Sis. Oh gods. It is so good to see you. Other than Judy, I don't know how anyone else fared." Looking up at Mike after releasing Amy. "That was David. He essentially adopted Judy after she saved him from his mother who went crazy. He's been depressed since Judy left to head to Bunnyborrow to check on the family."

Amy grinned. "Well, you can add Jason to the list of family that survived. He's a member of the council over in Otterdamn."

With a happy grin, Herald laughed. "That's awesome." Then turning to Finnick, Herald grinned. "Finnick." Then wrapped the fox into a Hopps hug. "I'm glad to see you too. I'm sure you are taking good care of my sister. I hear you proposed recently. You two wouldn't want to get hitched in a fox ceremony, would you? We only have one fox here, and I understand you need two as witnesses."

Finnick looked at Herald with confusion and suspicion once released. "Yeah. That's right on all counts. How would you know that, though?"

Grinning, Herald motioned for them to follow. "The answer to that is both simple and complex, as love and the end of the world tends to be. So follow me and I'll show you."

Following Herald, they found Nick and David surrounded by mammals of all sorts, a lot of them younger. Nick laughing at something someone said. "I have no idea. Is it possible, sure. I have not been by the prison, however. So I don't know one way or another. If some prisoners became empowered, then I'm sure they did. Then again, the prison is such a secure facility, if I had an option, I would have staked out a claim on it as a settlement. It is defensible, has huge yard areas where planting and food raising could be done safely. The watch towers would let you keep an eye out for any sort of encroachment, etc…"

A deep male voice replied. "This is a good point. So you are hunting your rabbit?"

"I am. I am also out here seeking to make contact with other settlements, and offer them to join a pact with those that have already joined. The pact is for mutual protection, trade, and the eventual hope to reclaim the city and start rebuilding mammalian society. That such a mission lets me hunt down my bunny is just a bonus."

Lizz laughed. "Don't let him lie. The entire reason he sold the mission to the council was to hunt for his bunny. Making contact with other settlements is the bonus. That said, the pact he is talking about is legitimate and now has three signers on it. Our settlement, Haymarket and Vole, so named for the two streets it grew out of. Then there is Otterdamn, where Fin and Amy are from. I'm guessing they named it for the Otterdamn fish market that makes up one wall of the settlement. Finally, there is Busston Rodentia. Basically a mini city of rodents in a mega-fauna bus."

Mike nodded. "With Nick's prompting, we collected a number of radio repeaters, which are how the ZPD's radios provided coverage throughout the city. If you join, we will provide a radio if you do not already have one, and the access code to gain access to the radio network. It is and always was an encrypted radio network. So you will need that to listen in and communicate. Though, with all the trees, you will need to have repeaters added between here and the edge of the forest to gain access that is reliable."

Herald laughed. "We have half a dozen of them, and Judy gave us instructions on how to set them up. We just didn't know where to put them since there was no ZPD radio traffic we could find. Though she blamed it on the forest, just as you suggested. I suppose if we join, we now have a direction. What are the terms of this pact?"

Nick grinned and pulled a sheaf of papers from his pack. I suspected I might need these, even hoped. Given the lateness of the day at this point. We will ask if you will allow us to stay, or if we need to retreat to our vehicles to make camp. We will do either, and I will accept any and all information that you can give me on Judy."

Herald turned to several of the mammals, getting nods from all of them. "We will be happy to set you up for the evening. Though you may want to move your vehicles. One of our team will happily assist in directing you to a secure parking area that we have."

Nick looked over his shoulder. "Lizz, Fin." They both nodded and followed an Okapi back towards the elevator. Nick turned back to Herald. "As for the pact and all the expectations, that is listed out in the agreement there. If you agree, the ruling mammal, council, or whomever, will sign the documents. I'd then make copies, and send a drone back to Haymarket, which will communicate the addition of your settlement to the pact to the other members. The drone launch includes a GPS fix so that if you call for help, they know exactly where you are. As with Otterdamn, you're free to add things like trade offers and such."

One of the obvious council members stepped forward, a capybara. "How are you feeding your predators?"

Nick sighed. "Haymarket is working to build a bug farm, and we have a small one running, it just isn't quite enough yet. We send out expeditions to scrounge for canned foods, protein bars, etc… Otterdamn has a much smaller population of predators and has a very successful chicken raising operation. Though at the moment it is only large enough to support themselves, they are trying to expand it. They also have a lot of potentially farm-able land. Having a Hopps rabbit on the council has proven helpful in both cases." Chuckling, Nick glanced at Herald. "Who knew that a family of rabbits was one of the biggest suppliers of chicken to the city? Came as a shock to me, let me tell you."

With another shake of his head, Nick continued. "Both have decided to do as you have done here. Allow the hunting of savages for meat to feed the predators until such time as the chicken and bug efforts are large enough to adequately feed the predator population. Those predators that do the hunting are given chicken, bugs, or anything else that may be had, instead of the meat from the hunt. Every hunting party includes at least two prey mammals who are the go/no-go on if a given possible kill is to be allowed. Essentially verifying to the predators that will be eating said kill, and the prey of the settlement, that it was a savage beast and not a sentient like themselves. It is also kept a secret what kind of mammal it was that was taken down. Only those that did the hunting know, and again, they are separated not just from the meat, but from those that consume it for two hunts."

The capybara nodded. "That is good. Wise, even."

Nick nodded. "I am on the council, and am head of security when at home. It was my requirement for signing off on the policy. If we were going to do that, than those that do the killing should be kept from the kill, that it be done as compassionately as possible, and that the prey mammals be a part of the process. This ensures that there are no accusations that the predators are just giving into the world we find ourselves in and their blood lust. It is that sort of thinking that fed the evil that was Bellwether and is what created the world we find ourselves in."

A red squirrel spoke up. "What do you mean?"

Nick nodded towards the packet. "The information is in there, but to put it simply. The world we find ourselves in was the direct result of Bellwether acolytes who sought to finish what she started and kill all predators on the planet. They had a virus created, but used themselves as carriers. They were all prey mammals, and so caused the virus to mutate and affect all mammals, not just predators as it was designed. From what the scientists Judy and I were talking to said just before things went south, the design of the virus was either genius, or pure, dumb luck, sloppy even. Though from the message I got from Judy, the scientist that created it is dead, so we may never know."

"Do you know how the abilities came about? Like your wolf. He can clearly see, even though he has no eyes."

"I do not. Judy collected as much data as she could from the scientist's home, but it was mostly burned. The lab area anyway. She got a lot of data, and we have some scientists in Haymarket that I sent it to in hopes that they can make some sense out of it. I'm just a former hustler turned cop, doing my best to survive this nightmare and find my bunny."

The squirrel nodded. "That makes sense. So you have companions from both, or all three settlements?"

"Just Haymarket, which is Lizz, Mike, and myself. Otterdamn made us members of their settlement as well, and then Amy and Fin joined us, though not really giving us a choice but to let them join." Giving a small smirk. "We do not have a rep from Busston, unless they didn't mention that they were joining."

Fin walked back up with Lizz. Two mice and a rat hanging by their tails and cussing up a storm. "Put us down you mangy cat! What did we do to deserve this?"

Nick motioned for Lizz to put them down. "I'm going to guess Lizz found you stowed away in the cruiser."

The rat stood tall, rubbing his tail a moment. "Look, you guys decided to take off before Madam Fru Fru was able to let you know about us. She wanted to include a delegation on your mission. We are also required to follow you in your search for Madam Judy's namesake."

Nick frowned. "Is that so? Well, that is easy enough to check on." Pulling a radio from his pack, Nick turned it on and tuned to the frequency set for Busston. "Busston Rodentia, this is Nick WildeHopps, do you read?"

The rat frowned. "What are you doing? There is no way you can get a signal through…" His eyes going wide as Fru Fru's voice came over the radio.

"Nicky? I read you. Where are you?"

"Hi Fru. I'm at that settlement I told you about. Judy was definitely here. She helped set this one up. Anyway, I called because I have two mice and a rat here that stowed away on the cruiser. They say that you sent them as a delegation."

Fru Fru audibly groaned over the radio. "We were discussing it, but no decision was made by the time you left and I didn't want to ask you to wait."

"That's okay, Fru." Looking at the mice and rat. "What are your names?"

The rat crossed his arms. "I'm not telling."

Nick turned the radio. "You get that Fru? Clearly a teenager. I'm assuming the mice are probably his friends he bullied into coming with him."

Fru Fru groaned again. "Greg Rathington, which means the mice are the twins, Janice and Jake Mince. You three really stepped into it this time. Nicky, I will need to talk to their parents, but I am hoping you can keep them safe there at that settlement for now."

The red squirrel nodded. "Hello Ma'am. Daryl Redwind of Treetop. We have a large community of rodents. We will keep them safe and out of trouble until we can figure out a way to get them home."

Fru Fru chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll have my actual delegation there some time tomorrow, along with some mammals to escort them home. Though I expect they'll wish they had gone savage by the time their mothers get done with them."

Daryl laughed. "I have no doubt. I have a teenager, so I get it. Though I certainly hope they have more sense than these three."

"Thank you. Nicky, you don't mind waiting for the actual delegation, do you?"

Nick chuckled. "No. Not at all. It gives us a chance to get to know the mammals here, and me a chance to learn more about what Judy has been up to. Her scent is strong through this settlement, so it is calming my instincts."

"That's good, Nicky. I'll let you know when our people are on their way."

"Roger that." Nick put the radio away and looked up. Everyone looking at him in surprise. "What?"

Herald frowned. "I thought you said we would need the repeaters?"

Nick shrugged. "You will. My radio is a bit different, as am I. Sadly, Judy clearly doesn't have hers, or it is broken and she hasn't been able to fix it."

"How is it different?"

"Uses different frequency bands than the normal radios." Nick was lying through his teeth. He wasn't sure how it worked either, but he knew it was him and some ability that was actually the cause. "Lets me piggyback on other radio signals, as well as access just about any other radio I choose, as long as I know its ID."

Not knowing any better, this was simply accepted by everyone but Lizz and Mike, who chose not to challenge Nick right then. The council took the paperwork on the pact to the area they used for meetings in order to review it. Nick, and the rest of the group were led deeper into the settlement and one of the common areas.

After a few hours, Nick found Herald again. "Herald. I need to see where Judy lived while she was here. I assume she had her own space."

Herald nodded. "She did. Isn't easy for most of us to get to. It is up there." Pointing to an apartment far up the tree with no clear way to get up to it. "Judy just jumped. The rest of us had to climb, or convince Renato to give us a ride through the shadows."

Nick nodded as he looked up and judged the distance, then he noticed some very distinctive wear spots on the ground. "I'm going to guess she jumped from there." Pointing.

"Yeah. I mean, she could jump from other places, but that was her usual jumping and landing spot. Everyone just kinda stays clear of it by habit."

Standing in the spot, Nick is hit with her scent strongly. "Makes sense." Looking up he measured the distance again and nodded. "I will be back." Crouching down, Nick leapt and sailed upwards, leaving behind several shocked mammals. Catching on the railing, he swung himself up and over it onto the walkway that acted as a deck or patio for Judy's home. Judy's scent hit Nick so strongly it made his knees week as he gripped the railing to stay standing.

After standing there for several minutes, Nick was able to get his legs to work and let go of the railing. Looking around he could only smile as he saw signs of his bunny everywhere. The chair that faced out into the rainforest still had some of her fur on it. It also had the clear impression of a bunny curled up in it. As he approached, he could see her in his mind's eye, curled up with a cup of tea and looking out into the forest.

Shaking his head, he sniffed the chair a few times and frowned, his head cocking to the side and his ears and tail twitching. There was something about her scent that he felt was different. Not wrong, not negative, but different. Something he felt he should recognize and just wasn't able to pin down. He collected as much of her fur from the chair as he could and slipped it into an evidence bag.

After examining the few other items that were outside, Nick approached the door. Testing it, he found it locked and chuckled. A moment later the door swung open as Nick stepped back and to the side. A sign dropped down from above the door after a few seconds, causing Nick to laugh.

Sign: Hi Nick. Glad you made it. Hope you are doing well. Love you.

Shaking his head, Nick entered the small apartment. To the right as he entered was a small kitchen area. To the left a living area with a couch, chair, overloaded bookcase, and large window. At the back were two doors, one for the bathroom, the other the bedroom. It was small, but a perfect fit for his bunny, and actually enough room for both of them.

He checked out the kitchen first and confirmed that she wasn't planning on being back any time soon. There was basically nothing there but a few fox sized beers that he knew were not there for her. Nick then investigated the living area. The couch was clearly for guests, as her scent was concentrated in the chair that faced the window next to the bookcase. He found more fur there and slipped it into the evidence bag with the fur he collected out front.

Nick then opened the door to the bathroom and was again assaulted by Judy's scent. After using the facilities, he located the source of her scent. Cleaning out the fur brush he found into the evidence bag, he exited the bathroom and considered the other door. The door to the bedroom. Steeling himself, he opened the door to the bedroom, and was literally punched in the face by her scent. It knocked him to his knees as tears welled in his eyes. "Judy…" It took him several minutes to pull himself together.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Nick took a long, deep breath, wallowing in Judy's scent. Once he was calm, something her scent did for him once he was over the initial welling of emotion, Nick entered the room. As he moved around the room, the part of her scent that was different continued to bug him. It made him feel giddy and excited, beyond the simple fact of scenting Judy again. It was almost like a mix of their scents, yet also different.

Finding himself at the bed, it was large enough to fit them both with the way they slept, him wrapped around her. He found more fur, adding it to his evidence bag. Finally he laid down, curled around her pillow and was asleep a few moments later. "Oh gods, Judy. I miss you so much."

Back in the common area, the others were enjoying a meal. Mike was looking up towards the apartment Judy had lived in and Nick was exploring. He chuckled and turned to Lizz. "We won't be seeing Nick until morning. The whole apartment is saturated in her scent. He just curled up on the bed and around her pillow. If he isn't asleep, he will be very soon."

Lizz nodded. "Yeah. Doesn't surprise me. He needs the rest, and being surrounded by her scent will help him immensely."

"It will. I think I saw him collecting some of her fur, but I didn't want to watch too closely."

"All good, it was more just to check on his safety. He's held on this long, but he really needed the tangible scent of her to let him know he hasn't lost her."

Herald looked across the table at the tiger and wolf. "What do you mean?"

Mike smiled, seeing the kit fox snuggled next to Herald, as Amy looked on in shock. "Simple. Nick is a Red Fox."

The Kit fox, named Linn, sat up in shock, her ears folding back against her head. "Oh my gods. And he is still alive? Judy was always saying that she prayed he would hold out but I wasn't sure why. I just thought she was worried about him surviving this apocalypse itself."

Lizz shook her head. "No, she wasn't worried about that. Especially with what we have learned about that fox recently, and I don't mean the fact that he is empowered. No, she was worried about him imploding over losing his mate. He's stronger than I think any of us realized though."

Mike nodded and turned back to his meal. "Yeah, he really is. The more I get to know that fox, the more I understand why Judy was the only mammal for him, and he her." Lizz nodded emphatically to that. "Also, he's out cold. Wouldn't surprise me if he looks for a plastic bag to put her pillow in."

Herald looked to Linn. "Linn? What are they talking about?"

Linn shrugged. "Well, with a tiger mated to a wolf, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you know more about fox culture than most. Especially with Nick Wilde as your friend."

Lizz smiled. "It is actually WildeHopps. We were at the wedding."

Linn grinned. "Oh, that's great. So I'm not the only one who fell for a Hopps rabbit."

Fin walked up with a smile and pulled Amy into a kiss. "Nope."

Linn's grin only got bigger. "Oh my!" Letting a joyous squeal go, she shook herself. "Sorry, as I was saying. Foxes, once they have a mate, and unless they are really strong, or have family and friends that can support them, can very easily die of a broken heart. Red's have it the worst though. Other foxes, like myself or the fennec here, can take a new mate after a period of mourning, though still rare. Reds are not so lucky. It is truly one and done for them. For a Red fox, even if they survive the loss of their mate, they are just not biologically wired to be able to take another mate."

Herald looked down with a frown. "Oh. So all the worry I had about him being a player and leaving her when he was done with her… I was such a jerk."

Amy growled at her brother. "Herald, you were far more than just a jerk. You actively tried to break them up. I am going to guess that is why you were here in town. Hoping to find a way to break them up again?"

Herald's ears fell flat to his back and he refused to look at anyone at the table. "It's worse than that. I was here to join a group of prey that were actively working to get laws passed to outlaw inter-species relationships. Being a cop, it was my hope that once outlawed she would abandon what I saw as an unnatural relationship."

Linn chuckled. "Now look at you."

Herald nodded, while still looking down. "Yeah, now look at me. Such a hypocrite. Yet I don't think I have ever been happier." He smiled shyly up at Linn. "Though I am wondering if, with you Fin, here, along with Nick. If you wouldn't be willing to act as a witness for Linn and I?"

Fin blinked and then grinned. "He serious, Linn?"

Linn nodded with a shy smile. "He is. We're official in every other way but a ceremony. It isn't as if there are laws for or against at this point, but we want the tradition."

"I want the tradition. To prove to Linn, and myself, that I have truly moved beyond that and to show that I am committed to her forever."

Fin grinned. "I'll be happy to. Under one condition."

Herald smiled. "What is that?"

"You act as witness for Amy and I. Like you, we're mates in every way but the ceremony. I want her to have that."

Amy grinned as her ears flushed and fell behind her. "Oh Fin. You mean it?"

Fin gave Amy a truly genuine smile. "I lost one mate before I could make her official. I don't want to wait, and now that I have the opportunity, to do it with family of both you and myself. I would be a truly miserable fool not to take the opportunity."

Amy grabbed Fin and pulled him into a deep kiss. David walked up and set his tray down and then upon seeing Amy and Fin scrunched up his face. "Ewww."

Amy and Fin separated and laughed, Fin looking at the kitten. "Hey, don't hate on it kitten. When your momma Judy and papa Nick finally get back together, they'll make Amy and I seem like we are just giving pecks on the cheek."

Herald chuckled, helping David up. "Before you ask. I don't know if they will take you with. That is going to be on your papa Nick."

Lizz frowned with her head to the side. "What do you mean, Herald?"

Smiling and ruffling David's ears. "David wanted to go with Judy when she left, but she wouldn't take him because she was traveling alone. You have two vehicles and multiple mammals with abilities. So I know he wants to go with you so he can catch up with his momma. He has been really sad without Judy here. I'm sure he is worried that she isn't going to come back. I keep telling him, she promised to come back, and she will. But I can't tell him how long she will be."

Lizz nodded. "I see." Turning to Fin, Amy, and Mike. "What do you three think? The representatives from Busston aren't here yet, so it's just us."

Fin glanced to Amy then back to Lizz and shrugged. "I don't know. I'm good either way. As long as he is not in the way, I don't have any issue with it. That said, I agree that it should be on Nick as well, and any Treetop rep that might join the group. At this rate, we're going to have a full caravan by the time we leave the city."

Mike chuckled. "I agree. But at the same time, that is a good thing. I'm sure that several of the small towns between here and Bunnyburrow along the rail line will have settlements to add to our group. Really, the trip to Bunnyburrow continues to serve the same purpose. Then we can come back along the road, which hits other towns."

Fin nodded. "Good point." Looking to David, Fin smiled. "Well, we still need to talk about it, and I don't want you to get your hopes up, but we might be convinced to take you along."

David grinned. "It's okay. I know I probably can't go with you cause I'm still just a kitten." Getting sad for a moment and looking down at his plate. "I just miss momma Judy. She saved me when my real momma went crazy. I don't know where my papa was or if he went crazy or not. So I have momma Judy to look after me. And Uncle Herald teaching us in school."

Fin smiled warmly at David, reaching over and lifting his face up. "It doesn't mean no, either. Just that we don't know yet. As your uncle says. There are a lot of us, but it is also dangerous out there. Then again, it is dangerous everywhere in the world right now. So let us talk it over."

David nodded. "Okay Mr. Fin."

Herald smiled and pushed David's plate back in front of him. "Now eat your food, David. You don't want to get weak. Then you wouldn't be able to go for sure, even if they wanted to take you with."

After more conversation, Lizz and Mike regaling the residents of the state of other parts of the city. Later that evening, after putting David to bed, Herald returned and led the group to a collection of unused apartments. "You are all free to consider these yours while you are here. There isn't any food, but there is power from solar and batteries Judy helped set up in the treetops.

Amy and Fin took the smaller apartment by default. Lizz and Mike entered theirs and got ready for bed. Mike looked back towards Nick and smiled. "He's sleeping peacefully, and actually sleeping I think."

Lizz smiled from the bed, wearing nothing but that smile. "Good. He needs the rest. He's earned it. Now get your fluffy tail over here and take care of your mate." Mike grinned and leapt towards the bed, shedding his clothing. Though they did not sleep until early that morning, they slept very well, having properly exhausted each other.