WingedKatt here. I hope you have your insulin shots ready just in case you feel yourself slipping into a sugar comma. And then you might want to grab a box of Kleenex once the sugars gone. You have been warned, now let the sugary fluff commence.
PS Nick does play (not sing) one song for Judy in this chapter and I found it on YouTube. It is Relaxing Piano Music: Calm Wind by Peder B. Helland.
Nick's grin widened. "Just what I said. We'll be flying to my cabin."
Judy sat stunned for several more minutes, then cocked her head. "Like in a biplane or something? Do they have a place around here where you can rent a small plane to take you places?"
Nick didn't immediately answer, but then nodded his head. "There are several places where you can rent a small plane. You can take a tour around the city or go sky diving. And with an extra fee, you can even rent one to fly you to a few select destinations."
Judy beamed again. "So we're going to rent a plane? And do you think we can take one of those tours over Zootopia? I think that'll be a really neat experience."
Nick met her excited gaze for a moment, then said, "Uh, no, we will not be renting a plane. There's no landing strip near my cabin, just unbroken forest, rocky hills, and jagged peaks. There's no way to get a vehicle in nor is there a place to land a plane."
"But you said—!"
Nick placed a finger over her lips and explained, "I said we'd be flying, I never said we'd be flying in a plane."
"Then how?" Judy mumbled against his finger pad.
"You know how I mentioned a lot of toys sitting out in my garage." Judy nodded, and then her eyes widened at the implication. Not leaving her guessing long, Nick continued, "It just so happens I have a gyrocopter sitting out there collecting dust. I think it's about time I pull it out and give it a test flight to make sure it's still in working order."
Judy squealed in excitement. "Ni-ick! This is so amazing! Oh, that means you can give me a personal tour over Zootopia." Hugging him tight again, she exclaimed, "I can't wait, Nick! This is going to be the greatest!"
"It's a date, then."
Judy paused a moment, then pulled back to look at Nick. "A date?"
"Yes, a date, you silly rabbit." Booping her nose with his own, he continued, "I'm your boyfriend now. And as your boyfriend it's my job to take you out on dates—lots of dates. Since you want to be married before your next birthday, we have lots of dates to make up for and a short amount of time to do them in."
As Nick talked, Judy just stared at him wide-eyed as she internalized what he was saying. When pushing to become Nick's girlfriend, she'd hardly spared any thoughts to any dates he might take her on. After her one failed date, she'd pretty much written them off (along with bucks) and hadn't thought much about them. There were a few times she thought something would make a fun date, but immediately dismissed them as she never thought she'd have a boyfriend to enjoy them with. But now that she had Nick, her boyfriend, she could now go on all those dates.
With a blinding smile slowly making its way across her face, she met Nick's expressive emeralds, and said, "That's right. If we're dating, then we get to go on dates."
Nick flicked his ear. "That is the definition of dating."
She gave him an exasperated look and then said, "I know that, but . . ." Taking a deep breath, she explained, "After my failed date with Rick, I'd written off bucks and dating altogether, so I never pictured myself actually on a date."
Nick's eyes widened. "Never?"
Judy shook her head. "Never. There were several things I thought would make a fun date, but never imagined them actually happening so I let them go."
Nick rubbed a paw down his face. "Okay, Fluff, this is your homework for the week. While sitting around letting your leg heal, you're going to go through that pretty, little head of yours and write down all those ideas you thought would make a fun date. After giving me the list, I'll do my absolute best to make them happen."
Judy's tail twitched happily, and she hugged Nick tight again as she hummed into his neck ruff. "I finally get to go on dates. Now I won't be left out when my sisters want to talk about all the dates they've been on." Sitting back, she clapped her paws together and hummed excitedly, saying, "I'm so happy. This is going to be great. I'll make them green with envy after telling them all about the great dates you take me on. Haha! I can't wait. They'll be so jealous when compared to their boring dates."
Nick could only laugh. "If that's the case, I'll have to make sure they're all envy-worthy." As Judy snuggled into his side again, he reached down and picked her up before plopping her back in his lap. "There, is that better?"
"Hmm, much better." Wrapping her arms around him, she buried her face into his chest and breathed deeply of his scent. His fox musk was strong, almost overpowering, but after spending so much time with him, she'd grown accustomed to it, and now she couldn't get enough of it.
Mmm, her fox's musk with a strong hint of violets. Delicious. Continuing to rub her nose into his chest, she took another deep breath.
Nick laughed as he leaned down and nuzzled the fur between her ears. As she hummed happily again, a mischievous idea entered his head and he couldn't resist trying it out. Opening his muzzle, he ran his tongue up one long ear, and then the other.
Judy gasped as Nick's warm tongue slid up her ears, and then she moaned as her body suddenly became hyper-aware of his presence. As a fire began smoldering in her belly, she pressed her hips against his stomach and breathed, "Nick, that . . ."
While breathing on her ears, and with a teasing voice, he asked, "That . . . what?"
"Mmm, that feels incredible. Do it again."
With a chuckle, Nick complied. Running his tongue over the outside edge of her ears, he then nibbled on their tips briefly. Enjoying the soft moans and gasps he drew from his honeybun, he then turned his muzzle slightly and trapped the base of her ear between his sharp canines before running his teeth up to the tip of her soft ear. Judy's groan deepened as her scent suddenly spiked and became thicker, richer, sweeter. Taking a deep breath, his black nose flaring, Nick quickly switched to her other ear and did the same thing. Her scent spiked again as she ground her hips against his and Nick felt his mouth fill with saliva. With his abdominal muscles clenching in response to her movements, he suddenly felt his briefs feeling a bit tight.
With a heavy, ragged breath Nick pulled back and rested his nose lightly between her ears.
"Ni-ick," Judy moaned as she kneaded his shirt between her fingers. As she had her hips pressed up against Nick's stomach, she felt him harden against her. This probably should have made her wary of getting any closer to him (it was obvious he was packing more than a buck), but just like everything else about her vulpine boyfriend, the knowledge only thrilled her further and dumped another load hormones into her system.
With another heavy breath, Nick whispered, "Judy . . . I don't think . . . I should bite you again . . . until I get that ring . . . on your finger." With a shaky whisper, he added, "Your scent is killing me."
A slight whine sounded from Judy, then she took a deep breath and tried to calm her raging hormones. She never realized just how sensitive her ears were—especially while having a predator run his sharp canines over them. Her instincts should be telling her to run, but just like in the pit when Nick bit her neck, all she felt was the stirring of desire. She wanted to feel more of his teeth, but he was right. Now wasn't the time. It was too soon, and as Nick pointed out, he still needed to get her a ring.
With a slight nod, Judy answered, "You're right." Another deep breath. "Ring first." She felt Nick nod, his nose barely grazing the fur between her ears, then she pulled back to look at him and said, "But Nick,"—he pulled his head back to meet her gaze—"you still need to suffer the consequences of your actions."
Nick tilted his head and cocked his ears, wondering what she meant. Her meaning became crystal clear as she gripped his shirt tightly and jerked him down to her level where she kissed him, their tongues hungrily dancing together. This time it was Nick groaning into her mouth, which quickly turned to a growl. If this was Judy's idea of him suffering for his actions, then he'd have to give her plenty more reasons to make him suffer.
As they finally broke for air, Judy murmured, "I'm suddenly feeling a strong impulse to find out what a make-out session feels like. My crazy sisters would always go on about them and I'd have to threaten violence to shut them up, but now—" She rubbed her nose against his and breathed in his intoxicating scent, which, like hers, was becoming quite thick and heady.
With his ears cocked forward, Nick stared into Judy's dazed amethysts and took a large lungful of her deep, mind-numbing scent. "A make-out session, huh? I missed those in high school." Taking another deep, intoxicating breath, Nick continued, even as his pupils narrowed slightly and his irises became burning emeralds. "I'm game if you are." With a predatory grin, he added in a husky voice, "You're the boss."
"That's right," Judy breathed as she pressed her twitching nose against his and dug her fingers into the thick fur around his ears. "I'm the boss, so shut up and kiss me."
Nick chuckled lightly then licked her tongue before following it into her mouth, where he thoroughly followed out her order. Reaching behind her, he closed the piano lid, then slipped his large paws under her rump, gave her a firm squeeze (which drew a squeak from her), then lifted her up and sat her on the piano lid, all without breaking the kiss. With her comfortably sitting, he ran his paws across her back and up and down her sides.
Judy immediately wrapped her legs around the lower part of his chest (ignoring the pain that shot through her leg) and pulled herself flush against his body as he scooted to the edge of the bench seat. As the kiss continued, Judy alternated between rubbing Nick's furry cheeks and digging her blunt claws into his fur and pulling him deeper into the kiss. She now understood what her sisters were always going on about, but she couldn't see how anything they did with all those dumb bucks could remotely compare to her sly fox.
Their make-out session went on for a while, as neither was paying attention to the time, but they eventually came to a mutual understanding that it was getting late and that they needed to sleep. Judy said she was still too keyed-up to sleep and asked Nick to play her a lullaby. He did (Calm Wind by Peder Helland), and she fell asleep in his arms just a third of the way into the song. As the last note hung in the air, Nick picked Judy up and carefully carried her to her room before laying her gently in bed. After covering her with the blanket, he leaned down a placed a soft kiss on her cheek. With a warm grin at her small smile, he gave her cheek one last caress, then turned and left the room.
Making his way to his own bed, he flopped down on it and groaned. He didn't need to bother with his shirt as Judy had, at some point, peeled it off him. He wasn't sure exactly when she'd done it, but he could still feel her small paws running through the bare fur of his chest. And with his nose still full of her scent and her taste on his tongue, he found it difficult to fall asleep.
This whole day had been one rollercoaster ride after another. And as he fought to fall asleep, his mind brought up the last two days as it tried to make sense of everything. Yesterday morning, he'd been moping around his bridge missing Judy intensely. Then yesterday afternoon, he'd saved the city with her and then brought her home with him (something he never thought he'd do). This morning he was still trying to come to terms with the fact she was actually here in his house, and thoroughly enjoying her time with him (after her reaction to him at the press conference, her desire to be close to him still boggled his mind). Then there was Finnick coming over, his and Judy's first kiss, their dinner out and the idiotic buck who interrupted it (he was still a little worried about what the buck might do as a consequence of Judy's rejection), and now . . .
Not only was he dating a sexy bunny and making out with her while she sat on his piano, of all places, but he was also under strict orders to marry the impatient ball of fluff within a month and a half. Or more like two weeks (long enough for her leg to fully heal), as he couldn't see Judy waiting any longer than that—ring or no ring.
With thoughts of their impending engagement and marriage looming in his mind, along with their three-day retreat (which he thoroughly looked forward to), Nick rolled over and crawled under the covers while trying to calm his overactive mind enough for sleep to claim him.
...
In a distant part of the city, another mammal was struggling to stay awake when he should be sleeping. Chief Adrian Bogo sat in his office going over the myriad of reports which came in that day regarding Dawn Bellwether and the insidious activities she'd been involved in. After arresting the former mayor, her office and home had been raided and all her electronics—home computer, office computer, cell phones (they'd found a second, unregistered one on her person)—were all sent to the tech department to be analyzed and all her activities catalogued.
A list of her accomplices were typed up and Chief Bogo personally took the warrant request forms to the DA's office to be drawn up, then over to be signed by a judge. With something so crucial, where time was of the essence, he left nothing up to bureaucratic red tape and time wasting. Once he had the warrants in hand, he'd sent them out to have the specist terrorists rounded up and their own property raided. What they'd found on one of the properties, owned by what looked like Bellwether's right-hand mammal, astounded and sickened him, along with all the officers who'd been on the raid.
Reaching over, Bogo picked up a device found in one of three shipping containers that were chock full of them. A device for every predator in the city—shock collars. Turning the innocuous looking device over in his hand sent a wave of sickening dread through his system. He didn't even want to think about what the city would look or feel like if Bellwether's plans hadn't been thwarted and her reign of terror stopped.
Flipping the collar over in his hand, Bogo looked at the icon showing the species the collar was made for. A red fox. He'd picked it out because it reminded him of Wilde, the fox who'd risked his neck to help a rabbit prove she was a real cop. The fox had stepped so far out of his stereotype that Bogo still had a hard time grasping it. Especially after pulling up the traffic cam Hopps mentioned using to find the missing mammals 3 months ago.
Seeing that she hadn't exaggerated about the savage jaguar, and then seeing how close they both came to death, made a ball of guilt roll around inside his gut. And then seeing that Hopps wasn't the timid liability he'd assumed she'd be due to her small size and the stereotypes about her species made the guilt swell inside him. Watching Hopps keep her cool and think quickly and logically in the face of a savage predator many times her size was inspiring, but she'd been trained and, as she'd clearly pointed out, the valedictorian of her class. But Wilde—Wilde was a wild card.
He'd had the chance to escape and leave Hopps to her fate, and yet he hadn't. He'd been worried about her and so lost his chance to escape. If he'd lived up to the shifty, untrustworthy fox society said he was, then he would have turned tail and run without a second glance back. In fact, he would have used Hopps in order to escape—and yet he hadn't. He'd stayed and nearly died—twice. And although he wasn't much help in the fight, the fact that he stayed had distracted the savage jaguar long enough for Hopps to get her bearing and neutralize the threat.
And then, after facing down a savage jaguar, the same fox had broken out of his stereotype again and stood up to him, the Chief of Police (who happened to be a very large, very angry cape buffalo), a whole slew of very large officers, and told them all off for how they were treating one of their own, and then followed Hopps, literally, into the lion's den surrounded by a pack of wolves. If they'd been caught, they would have disappeared as surely as the otter and jaguar they were chasing. And yet they didn't. Again, Wilde stuck with the rabbit and they'd made it out with the evidence they needed to put Lionheart behind bars.
Wilde had disappeared after the Missing Mammals case, but since they already had his statement, Bogo hadn't thought much about him. Now he wished he had, because if half of what Hopps said was true, then they owed the fox far more than he'd ever get recognition for. If he hadn't agreed to help Hopps a second time, and risked his life to do it, she would have never been able to survive to get the evidence to them. She wouldn't have figured out Bellwether was behind the attacks, and she certainly wouldn't have gotten a confession from her. And then by this time next year every predator in the city, from 5 years old and up, would be collared. The fear and unrest in the city would then turn this fair Zootopia into a dismal Dystopia.
The fact Hopps sought the fox out upon returning to the city instead of coming to the ZPD told Bogo that they'd failed her. Hopps needed someone she could depend on explicitly, someone who'd proven to her time and again that they were loyal, trustworthy, and brave. Everything every officer in the ZPD should stand for, and yet she hadn't found it in a fellow officer, but in the arms (quite literally) of a street fox. Bogo couldn't forget how comfortable Hopps had been while Wilde carried her through the Natural History Museum. Theirs was a weird friendship for sure, and yet it was undeniable. Hopps, a rabbit, held absolutely no fear of Wilde, a fox.
With a heavy sigh, Bogo dropped the shock collar onto his desk and rubbed his eyes. They were lucky the Natural History Museum was across the square from Precinct One, which gave them a chance to arrest Bellwether and her cohorts before the media clowns showed up to interfere. Getting Hopps and Wilde out of there before the clowns showed up was also a stroke of luck. There had been another protest that afternoon which had most of the news crews occupied, along with a car accident that ended in a several car pile-up, which thankfully delayed their arrival. They wouldn't have been able to catch half so many of Bellwether's coconspirators if the media got wind of it first.
Bringing up a mug of coffee, Bogo took a sip as he punched Wilde's name into the computer. He'd been wanting to look into the todd's records since the arrest of Bellwether, but never had the time. Seeing as he had a meeting with the fox in the morning, it would be better if he knew something of the red vulpine beforehand. He wasn't surprised to find Wilde had no criminal record. Several officers had flagged his file as a mammal of interest, but no one could say why the interest. Of course, with Wilde being a fox on the street, that might have been all the excuse the officers felt was needed to make him a mammal of interest.
With another heavy sigh, Bogo held his large mug of coffee in hand while clicking on Wilde's family link. His ears immediately drooped as he realized that from a family of five, the fox only had two living relatives. Clicking on his father's name, he read through the report on the murder of John W. Wilde. Wilde and his twin brother were witness to the murder, and yet there didn't seem to be any follow up on the case. No suspects were interviewed or apprehended even with two eyewitnesses.
Bogo set his mug down and rubbed his face again as he realized there was no investigation into John Wilde's murder. He was a fox and so nothing was done beyond the initial report. Looking at the date of the report, he saw that Wilde was seven at the time. He watched his father brutally murdered and nothing was done about it. Bogo could only imagine what the young fox was thinking to see such gross injustice done.
Closing the report, he clicked on the link to his brother's death. It was another police report, this one of a drunk driving accident. The drunk driver was eventually apprehended, but just as in John Wilde's murder, justice wasn't served. The drunk driver had his license revoked for six months and was required to attend an alcohol treatment center, but he was never charged with the death of the young fox.
And just as with his father's brutal murder, the young vulpine was witness to his brother's hit and run. Looking at the date, Bogo saw that the accident took place mere days before Wilde's 12th birthday. Bogo shook his head as he couldn't even imagine what that kind of loss would feel like.
Wondering if Wilde had even bothered graduating high school with all the grief in his young life, he brought up the transcripts for the fox's schooling. While taking another drink of coffee, he scanned through his school records, surprised to see he finished high school as an honor student. Taking another drink of coffee, he moved on to Wilde's advanced schooling, then choked on his drink when he saw the fox had a diploma from the University of Zootopia Law, the city's most accredited law school.
Hurriedly setting down his coffee mug, Bogo coughed to clear his throat, then clicked on Wilde's university transcript. Just as with high school, the fox graduated law school with top honors and earned his attorney's license. Bogo couldn't believe what he was seeing. The fox he scoffed at just 3 months ago was a licensed attorney! If he or Hopps wanted to, the vulpine could probably slap the ZPD with several lawsuits for their misconduct and mistreatment of them.
Leaning back in his chair, Bogo rubbed his temples. He wasn't expecting the meeting with Hopps and Wilde tomorrow to be stressful, but depending on Wilde's disposition (and whether or not he felt like pressing charges), tomorrow's meeting could be just as stressful as everything else on his plate right now.
With a heavy sigh, he considered the request he had for Wilde. Would the fox even consider joining the ZPD when he'd been so ill treated by them? And not just in the past. He, the Chief of Police, had dismissed the fox's credibility just three months ago. And going by the glares several of his officers had leveled at the fox the evening before while at the Natural History Museum, Bogo knew there were many officers who wished they could just kick the vulpine out on the street and be done with him.
With everything Wilde had done for the city, and the courage and loyalty he'd shown Hopps in keeping her alive, Bogo knew he had to do something to insure Wilde wasn't mistreated when he arrived at the Precinct—especially if he had any hope of convincing the jaded fox to join the force and partner with Hopps.
Reaching forward to click out of Wilde's law school transcript, he froze as his gaze landed on Wilde's date of graduation. With eyes widening, he realized the sly fox had graduated top of his class when he was only twenty years old. Looking back over his transcript, it was obvious Wilde had attended all 4 years—which meant he must have graduated high school when he was just 16.
Clicking out of Wilde's law transcript and back into his high school transcript, Bogo saw that Wilde had indeed graduated when he was 16. The transcript didn't say how Wilde graduated so early, but there was no denying the fact that the fox was finished with high school at the tender age of 16 and then jumped right into Law School. The fox was ambitious, for sure. Too bad his species meant few would hire him.
With a weary sigh, Bogo clicked out of the links detailing Wilde's schooling and glanced at the clock. It was late and he did need at least a few hours of sleep before roll call in the morning. He wanted to dig further into Wilde's life (he still hadn't checked out his mother or sister) but knew he didn't have time tonight. What he had would have to suffice for now. He also needed to figure out something to improve the opinions of his officers in regards to the fox, as well as call them up for their treatment of Hopps before she'd turned in her badge. Had they treated her more like one of their own and not someone to merely tolerate, she might not have resigned at all.
Feeling the headache he'd had all day worsening, Bogo rubbed his temples again. There were some major changes that needed to be made in the department and knew they would have to start with him. It was his example the others looked to so if there were any changes to be made, then he had to make the first move. Gah! He hated being wrong and he hated admitting it even more. But it had to be done. He just needed to bite the bullet and do it.
Closing out the links on his computer, he opened his email account and sent a message to Major Friedkin requesting any videos showcasing Hopps's ability at the Academy. Then he brought up the video of the savage jaguar attack and downloaded it to a USB drive. Last, he saved a copy of Bellwether's confession that had been sent to him and moved it to the USB drive, too. Once done, he shut down his computer and stashed the USB drive in the locked drawer of his desk. Standing up, he walked to the door and opened it, then turned around to look once more at his office (and thinking of the meetings that were planned for the morrow). Finally, he flipped the lights off and locked the door. With a weary sigh, he considered just how very busy tomorrow was going to be.
Wingedkatt, again. I hoped you enjoyed these several chapters of fluff because Nick and Judy won't be spending a lot of time alone for the next several chapters. I'll be bringing in quite a few new faces and a lot more things will be revealed. So stay tuned.
Chapter 27: Thursday Morning, will post on Wednesday.
