Judy rubbed her nose after Nick booped it with his rough finger-pad. "So what else is up . . . here . . . ?" Judy's eyes widened at the obvious.
Nick grinned as wonder spread across his honeybun's face. "The other half of your boredom solution, of course."
Now that Nick and the piano were no longer the focus of her attention, Judy finally took a good look around the room and realized the piano wasn't the only thing of interest in here. There were also books. Hundreds of books. Heavy fat ones and small paperback ones. And the walls of the room were lined with them.
The bottom shelves were the tallest and held the largest, fattest books, with the shelves—and consequently the books—getting smaller the higher up the shelf went. Judy could only gape. Sure, they had a huge library back at home in Bunnyburrow, but that was because she had hundreds of siblings all contributing to the library over many years. But this library was the result of just a few mammals and was quite impressive for a family home to have here in the city.
"Wow, Nick, you own all these books?"
Nick just watched her with his smug smirk turning his lips up. "That is correct." Pointing to the books on the right side of the room, he explained, "The books there in that section are all Honey's old mechanical and electrical engineering books, along with her favorite science-y magazines, showcasing the latest gadgets and doodads, some of which I think you'll find highly interesting. The books there under the windows are Daphyd's old architect books and the blueprints for all the buildings he's designed, helped construct, surveyed, or helped renovate. The books between the windows are all of Honey's novels. She enjoyed the mystery/adventure books and I think you'll enjoy them, as well."
Judy's interest was definitely peaked, but then her gaze wandered over to the other side of the room. "And the books there on the left?" she asked curiously, her amethyst gaze studying the books with a critical eye. Many large, fat books lined the shelves, most of which were hardbacks, and very few looked like easy reads.
"Those would be my books." Sliding his hands down Judy's back, to rest on her firm butt cheeks, Nick gave the barest squeeze as he stood up. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help himself. She'd been sitting on him a good while now, with her legs straddling his thighs, and didn't even seem aware of the intimacy the position evoked. Well, she did now, he thought with a smirk.
Judy 'eeped' at Nick's light touch on her bum, then slugged him in the arm. "Nick! What do you think you're doing?"
After standing, Nick moved his hands to a more appropriate position, and carried Judy over to the wall on their left. "What? With the position you were sitting on me—you were just begging to be squeezed."
She slugged him again, bringing a laugh from him, even as she demanded, "That is not what I was doing, and you know it!" She poked him in the chest with her blunt claw to emphasize her point.
With another chuckle and an over-the-top smug grin, he asked, "Are you saying you didn't enjoy it?"
Judy opened her mouth to deny it, but then froze for a second before snapping her mouth shut. Folding her arms across her chest, she glared over his shoulder at the far wall. She should be mad at Nick for copping-a-feel, and if it was anyone else, they'd be seriously hurting right now and eating a mouthful of dirt—or heading to the emergency room.
But this was Nick, and by-golly, she did enjoy it. Every single, cotton-pickin' touch from him—she enjoyed them all. No matter where or how Nick touched her, she couldn't be mad at him for taking advantage of her because, heaven help her, she wanted his touch. She was a bunny who craved the touch of a fox. Something had to be wrong with her head, or her instincts were playing tricks on her, or something. And to make matters worse—he knew it. The smug, cheeky fox holding her knew she enjoyed every touch he gave her. He knew she craved them. "Dumb fox," she muttered under her breath.
Nick almost missed her irritated mutter, but his ears weren't just for looks. With a smug chuckle, his smirk grew bigger knowing he'd gotten to her.
"Just wait, fox, I'll get you back yet," Judy hissed.
Nick's tail wagged. "I look forward to it." At Judy's sharp look up, he met her glare and said, "But in the meantime, this is what I wanted to show you." Turning sideways so Judy could see the wall without twisting around, he motioned with his muzzle to a framed certificate that hung on the wall with a few others.
Judy reached a paw out towards the one he indicated, then froze when she realized what the certificate was. It was diploma—a very prestigious diploma. "Is that . . . is that . . . a . . . a Law Degree?"
"Yes, yes, it is."
Pointing with his nose at the next certificate, Judy scanned over it and whispered, "Is . . . that . . . is that . . . real? This is legit? You have an Attorney's License?"
"Absolutely. 100 percent." Judy turned back to him and gaped. With a light chuckle, Nick placed a gentle finger under her chin and closed her mouth before explaining, "I graduated high school a month into the police investigation on the full extent of the fraud and malpractice taking place. I knew that once the courts convicted the criminal doctors, that there would be a lawsuit to compensate the victims for their pain and suffering. I also knew that there wasn't a lawyer alive, at least none that we could ever afford, that would represent my mom fairly, if at all."
Nodding towards the Law Degree and License again, he said, "So I took it upon myself to become a lawyer and represent my mom fairly so I could ensure she wasn't cheated or overlooked. Honey assured me the legal mess would take several years to sort out before they started compensating the victims and encouraged me to apply to law school. She even went in with me and made sure they didn't deny me simply because of my species. You should have heard her threats should they deny me after I passed all their rigorous tests with flying colors."
Nick closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side as he remembered the way Honey stood up for him and ensured he was given a fair chance. Opening his eyes again, he met Judy's stunned amethysts and continued his story. "I think they assumed I'd flunk out within the first semester, but I showed everyone what a sly fox was capable of. Not only did I finish all four years, but was top of my class, and graduated as the second youngest attorney in Zootopia history, having turned 20 just five months prior."
Judy could hear the pride in his voice and see it in his eyes. Squealing at his victory, she reached forward and hugged him tightly. "You really are amazing, Nick!" Laughing, she pulled back to meet his emerald gaze again. "And you were able to represent your mom?"
"I sure was. The lawsuit started several months before I graduated, so I told my sister to hold off and not accept any offers until I graduated. I also told her to spread the word that I'd represent any of the other victims, pro bono, if they didn't mind having a fox for a lawyer. They didn't."
He paused a moment, then continued, "Most of the victims were like my mom, lower-class predators and underprivileged prey who had no way to pay the lawyer fees. The ones that offered to represent my mom with no upfront costs, wanted her to settle for the least amount of money the lawsuit allowed, and then they wanted 70-80 percent of that for their fee. Talk about highway robbery!"
Judy's ears dropped to learn about how crooked the lawyers were and was glad Nick was able to step up and represent the victims. "And you won a better settlement?"
"You betch-ya. Including my mom, I represented 13 of the victims and they all got awarded the highest amounts from the settlement money. My mom is now retired and living peacefully in a little town outside the city. And I'll tell ya, my mom has never lived better. I no longer have to worry about what's to become of her."
Judy hugged him again and rubbed her cheek against his, happy that something finally went right with his family. Pushing herself back she laughed again, and said, "Now I know how you were able to bend the laws until they screamed without actually breaking them."
Nick chuckled himself and exclaimed, "Exactly!" With a smug grin spreading across his face and a mischievous sparkle shimmering in his emerald eyes, he added, "I did have a little extra help with that, though."
"What do you mean?"
Nick indicated the last diploma hanging on the wall and Judy looked over to read it. "A Business Degree? You also have a business degree?"
"Yep. Although my mom no longer had medical bills to pay while the case was being investigated and the trial was drawn out, she and my sister still needed help getting by. Especially since it took several months for my mom to overcome the effects of that drug they'd pumped her full of. Needless to say, I was still hustling while going through law school. Not as much, obviously, since I didn't have a lot of daylight hours to spend on it."
Pausing in thought, Nick continued, "I tried to make the most money with the little bit of hustling me and Finnick were able to do, but several of our endeavors bombed horribly and I had to hide my face for several weeks till things cooled off."
"So after you graduated Law School you decided to take a business course?"
"Au contraire, my cute, little friend"—Nick grinned at Judy's glare—"while sitting over there," he indicated a little alcove next to them that housed a desktop computer, "hiding my face from the world, I decided I needed to get more business savvy, so I poked up several colleges that had excellent business courses and signed up for a two-year on-line course."
"Okay, Nicky, you . . . what . . . ? Completed a two-year business degree while you were in the middle of Law School?"
Grinning, Nick said, "Not quite. I finished a two-year business course during the last year-and-a-half of finishing my law degree."
"Wait—you finished a two-year course in just a year and a half? All while excelling at a rigorous law degree?"
"That would be correct." At her 'But how' look, he explained, "One whole semester was on business laws: infringement laws, liabilities, loopholes, stuff like that. I had just finished covering a whole year's worth of business laws at law school, so I breezed through the whole semester's worth of work in 2 weeks. I finished all the tests the beginning of the third week, then had to send my professors my transcript for law school so they couldn't accuse me of cheating." With a proud smile, he added, "I received my business diploma a month after graduating law school."
Judy sat in his arms, stunned to realize just how brilliant her best friend was. Law School was a very demanding course, with over half the students flunking out by the end of the first year, with half of the remaining students dropping out halfway through the second year—and yet her best friend not only passed with flying colors but earned a business degree at the same time!
With pride and wonder in her warm gaze she hugged Nick tightly and laughed. "Oh, Nick, I'm so proud of you." Drawing back, she nuzzled her nose against his, drawing a look of surprise from him. With a bright smile, she repeated, "I really am proud of you, Nick."
At Nick's wide-eyed gaze at her nose nuzzle, Judy laughed and buried her face in the side of his neck while hugging him tightly again.
Nick took a second to gather his thoughts again, then wrapped both arms around her lithe body and hugged her back while rubbing his muzzle against the back of her neck. "Thanks, Fluff. Not many mammals appreciate the effort those two degrees took."
"Well, I do. I know it wasn't easy, no matter how much you pretend otherwise."
Nick chuckled, murmuring, "Sly bunny," then decided to change the subject as he felt his emotions coming to the surface. "Okay, I don't know about you, but I'm feeling hungry. What do you say to some lunch?"
"Hmm, lunch sounds great. I could also do with some water. We haven't had anything to drink since breakfast."
"Okay, I'll drop you off in your bedroom so you can get a drink, and then I'll run downstairs and make us some sandwiches. How does peanut butter sound? I got jelly and honey to go with it. Which would you prefer?"
"What kind of jelly is it?"
"Blueberry."
"Of course," Judy said while smacking her forehead. "What else? Why did I even I ask?"
"I don't know, why did you?" Nick smirked back as they reached her room. Judy lightly slugged his arm, muttering, "Dumb fox," and he laughed harder. Setting her on the bed, he handed her the water bottle and said, "You should elevate your leg while I make lunch. The doc said to keep it elevated and we haven't done that once this morning."
Judy's ears drooped as she finished getting a drink. "Yeah, we haven't, have we?" With her ears perking back up, she added, "But I'm really glad we had that talk. Thank you for telling me, Nick. I appreciate your trust."
"For you, Fluff, anything." Reaching over, he lightly ran a paw up her ear and smiled at her hum of pleasure. "Come on, let's get your leg up." Grabbing the closest pillow, he set it up against the headboard, then helped her get her legs on the bed. Reaching over for the second pillow, he lifted her injured leg and slid the pillow beneath it. "Are you comfortable?"
"Yeah, but I think it's time for some more pain meds. My legs starting to hurt."
Handing her the pills, he replied, "Well, I'm not surprised, seeing how tightly you had your legs wrapped around me earlier."
Judy opened her mouth to argue, then a mischievous twinkle entered her eyes. "Is that you complaining?" Dropping her voice several octaves, she murmured, "I thought you liked my legs wrapped around you."
Nick's jaw dropped, and then he had to hurry and close his mouth so he could swallow down the saliva that his mouth suddenly over-produced. Swallowing down another mouthful of drool, he stammered, "No, no, complaints here. Wrap your legs around me anytime you want."
Satisfied with her victory, Judy whispered smugly, "That's what I thought."
Another gulp and then Nick stammered, "I'll . . . I'll just go . . . go get . . . get lunch ready."
"You do that, Slick." Opening the pill bottle, Judy took one out while watching Nick make a quick retreat. Chuckling at his reaction, she popped the pill in her mouth and swallowed it down with some water. Closing her eyes, she rested her head against the pillow and took a deep breath while reviewing everything Nick had told her that morning.
Some of her happy mood evaporated as she thought of the tragedy Nick had lived through. She could feel her eyes getting watery as she thought about the pain her fox had suffered and was still suffering due to society's prejudices against him and his species. He had a law degree, for crying out loud, and he was still forced to hustle on the street to make money.
Rubbing a paw across her eyes, she told herself not to cry. She'd done enough of that already today. After taking a deep breath, she realized they had a lot more in common than she first thought. Although she didn't have the tragedy in her life that he did, she was still underestimated and told she couldn't. Even after putting in the insane amount of effort to graduate top of her class at the Academy, no one cared.
She was a cute, little bunny and therefore wasn't up to the task. No one had given her a chance until she met Nick. No one else stood up for her or her dream and said, "Yes, she can." Not one single person before Nick. Nick had saved her just as Honey had saved him. Judy really wished she could have met Honey and thanked her for being there for him, for saving him, both physically and emotionally, and showing him that he wasn't alone, that he could be more than a sly, untrustworthy fox, no matter what society said.
Well, she still had his Academy application. Maybe he'd reconsider being her partner. Then he could finally be the fox he always wanted to be. Closing her eyes again, she could just picture the two of them out solving crimes, maybe do some undercover work. How fun would that be? After a moment of fantasizing, her broad smile slipped down into a slight frown.
"But would Nick even want to be my partner still?" she muttered to herself. Thinking back to their conversation earlier and how they cleared up the misunderstandings from their fight after the press conference, Judy thought there might be a chance.
Then she remembered their conversation on the couch last night and had to laugh. "What am I saying. Of course, he will. There's no way he'd pass up the perfect excuse to spend all day, every day, with me—and get paid to do it! And if that isn't enough incentive, I'll just have to remind him of all the bucks who might try and hit on me while I'm out patrolling." She giggled. "He'll have to come with me just to defend what's his."
She giggled again and reached over to pick up her phone where she'd left it on the dresser. She wanted to check the news and see what was said about Bellwether's demise and how predators were forced to go savage. She wondered if she'd have to do another press conference to fix what she'd said from the last conference. She was not looking forward to that. Although, if she could convince Nick to stand up with her, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
With a heavy sigh, she tapped on the news and started looking through the different feeds.
….
WingedKatt here. Nick will stop at nothing to protect his family, and with Honey's help he's able to do just that. Now he has Judy in his life, and he'll show her the same dedication that he has for his own family.
Next chapter: Death by Cuteness, will post on Saturday. It will be a light hearted slice-of-life chapter before a new character will make an appearance. Have a good week and I'll see you Saturday.
Any thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear from you.
