Finnick stepped out of the large post office that was built next to the train station as he rifled through the mail in his paws. He and Nick had gotten a post office box to share, as he had no permanent place of residence and Nick didn't want anyone knowing where either of his homes were. Since most of their hustles took place in Savannah Central, getting a box near the train station was a given.
Looking at the envelopes in his paw, he frowned. Junk mail. Junk mail. More junk mail. At least he'd have good fire starter the next time he wanted to grill something. Last night at the store, he had Nick buy him some salmon steaks, so perhaps he'd invite himself over to Nick's this weekend and have him grill them up for him. He hadn't eaten grilled salmon in forever. As he pictured how it would taste (Nick knew how to bring out the perfect flavor of the fish), Finn began to drool. Now if that blackberry cobbler was ready for pick up by then, he could die a happy fox.
Licking his chops in anticipation of both the grilled salmon and the heaven-sent cobbler, he continued flipping through the mail as he walked into the station. Nick's utility bill had come in, and, oh, this was good. Anya sent Nick a letter. Although Nick's sister liked talking on the phone, she didn't always have time, so she kept in contact with him through letters. She also liked to have something physical that she could pull out and reread when she was missing her little brother. Judging by how thick this letter was, Finnick guessed that Nick had failed to reply to her last letter and she probably wrote several pages of her chewing him out.
With a chuckle, Finn shook his head. She and Nick were quite close, with her being one of the few mammals that could make Nick squirm—his mother being the other one. Remembering the energetic ball of fluff who was now (hopefully) a permanent fixture in his life, he could probably add Cottontail to the list of mammals who could make his taller friend squirm.
With another chuckle, he glanced around the large, cavernous building as a train sounded its whistle before thundering out of the station. Most mammals were coming or going on the ground level where the main entrance stood, or from the lower level where the trains pulled up and disgorged their passengers before filling back up, but there were quite a few mammals like him who were up on the second level where the small shops, stands, and food joints were.
While making his way towards Mediterranean Cuisine, a herd of about nine wildebeest tramped their way towards him while talking to one another or texting on their phones. Not one of them was paying attention or looking out for smaller foot traffic—which meant Finnick had to dodge around them to keep from getting kicked or trampled.
"Hey!" he yelled in irritation. Several of the wildebeest looked around before one noticed him. Throwing up his paws, Finnick shouted, "Watch it!"
The wide-shouldered wildebeest sneered at the tiny fox, saying, "You watch it, fox. We were here first."
Finn's jaw dropped for a moment, and then he yelled back, "What does that have to do with anything? You need to watch where you're going before you kick someone!"
"Not our problem," a second wildebeest joined in as he looked the sand-colored fox over with an air of disdain. "If you don't want to get kicked then stay out of our way." Turning their backs on the small canine, they proceeded to ignore him as they continued on their way.
Finnick curled his paws into fists as the wildebeest disappeared into a clothing store for larger mammals. Glaring for a moment longer at the spot where they disappeared, he then let out a breath and relaxed. Rubbing his paws down his face and across his muzzle, he muttered, "Why do I even bother? Talking to a rock would be more productive. I'd probably have a more intelligent conversation, too." Turning around, he mumbled, "Cottontail treating me like a real mammal has ruined me. Now I'm expecting everyone to treat me like I matter."
Shaking his head, he then rotated his large ears slightly as he tried to home-in on the voice he knew he wouldn't soon forget. It took a bit to filter out the other noises, but he finally picked up on the one he was here to keep an ear on.
"Nope," Judy's voice carried over the din of mammalian noises.
"Come on, Jude!"
"Ehh," Judy said with a finger in the air. "Zip it."
"But, Judy, you can't—"
"Yes, I can."
"That's not what I was going to say."
"Doesn't matter, Henry, 'cause I'm not listening."
"You don't even know what I was going to say!"
"Yes, I do. You just want to badmouth Nick and use it to convince me to come home. But that's not happening. I'm not going and there's nothing you can do about it."
"But he's a fox!"
"Gee, I hadn't noticed."
"He'll sneak into your bed and gobble you up!"
Judy snickered as she remembered having this very conversation with Nick just yesterday. While trying to not to think about what it'd be like if Nick actually did crawl in bed with her (and wondering if she shouldn't just crawl in his first—snuggling with him this morning felt wonderful), she focused back on Henry and said, "What are you? Five? Stop living in our ancestral past and start living in the evolved present."
"What?"
"I'm sorry. Was that too many big words for you?"
"Now you're starting to sound like that pelt."
"Call Nick a pelt again and it'll be your arm I'm punching." Leaning over the table to glare at her specist brother, Judy tapped the table with her knuckles and said, "And trust me, I'll be punching you"—she pointed at him—"a lot harder than I do Nick."
Henry opened his mouth, but Judy cut him off, "If one more specist word comes out of your mouth against Nick, your arm is going to be paying for it, so unless you want to feel like it's broken, then I suggest you think really long and hard about what you're going to say next."
Henry snapped his mouth shut and glared at his sister. How she could defend the lying pelt so vehemently was beyond his understanding. And the fact that he was a todd and she a doe just made everything worse. Folding his arms, he leaned back in his chair and stared at the table while he continued his dark musings. The conniving fox was probably already plotting on how to get his claws and teeth into her.
As Henry's imagination began running away with all the foul things the fox might do to his sister, his dark musings were interrupted by a loud, deep-throated laugh. Looking around, his eyes finally landed on a small, sand colored fox hunched over several meters away.
Billy also saw the hunched over, shaking fox, and said, pointing to him, "Is that fox kit having a seizure or something?"
Henry shook his head, not caring a wit about the small fox. It didn't concern him, so why waste his time and attention on the filthy, little pelt.
Judy turned around in her chair to see what the commotion was, and then exclaimed, "Finnick! What are you doing here?"
Finnick raised a finger to let her know he heard, but to give him a minute. For the first time in a long while he was actually laughing with real warmth and happiness. Listening to a specist jerk get told off was always fun, but what had him hunched over in pure mirth and joy was hearing Cottontail, Nick's prey girlfriend, defending him and threatening violence on her own brother if he didn't stop badmouthing the red todd. Any lingering doubts he had about the bunny's commitment and devotion to his tall friend were laid to rest. If she was willing to stand up to (and even harm) one of her own family members to defend her foxy boyfriend, then Finn knew she'd have no qualms about defending him against anyone else.
Listening to another mammal, a prey and rabbit at that, defending a fox soothed a raw scar he'd carried around since he was a little kit. Having come from an abusive, broken home, and then forced into an even more abusive foster home after the death of his mother, Finnick had given up hope of foxes ever being treated as anything but worthless, second-class citizens. But if bunny cop was willing to defend his friend, her boyfriend, with her being in such a high-profile position, then maybe things might finally start to look up for foxes.
Finally getting a hold of his mirth, Finnick straightened up and shook his head, then walked over to the bunny who'd turned his friend's world upside down and gave Nick another lease on life and the chance for lasting happiness.
As the sand-colored fox drew near, Judy stated, "I see you got your van put back together." At Finn's nod, she repeated, "So what brings you here?"
"Mail," he replied, showing her the stack of junk mail. Pulling out the two envelopes addressed to Nick, he handed them up to Cottontail, saying, "Here's Nick's mail. You can give it to him when he gets back."
Glancing them over (the utility bill was the one showing), Judy then looked back at Finnick. Since the small fox seemed to know what Nick was up to (and wasn't surprised to find her here with a couple of bucks), she asked, "Nick asked you to come, didn't he?"
Finn shrugged. "He wanted me to hang around here and keep an ear open in case Thing 1 here tried anything." He jerked his thumb at the brown buck with dark-brown highlights who'd been arguing with cotton tail just moments before.
Judy snickered. "Thanks, but I think I got it covered." Finn shrugged, then turned to leave, but Judy stopped him a word. "Wait." As Finn glanced over his shoulder, Judy continued, "Since you're already here, why don't you join us and keep me company until Nick returns."
Turning back around, Finnick looked at Judy, glanced at the two bucks, then back at Judy. "Are you sure?"
Judy beamed at him. "Positive." With a wave of her hand, she explained, "Billy isn't much of a talker and Henry has absolutely nothing to say I want to hear, so you'd be doing me a huge favor by joining us."
"Judy, no!" Henry hissed even as Billy looked unsure at having a fox sitting next to him (they had finally sat down after Nick stood up and swiped Judy's box from Henry's startled paws before leaving).
Judy glared at her jerk of brother. "Finnick is my friend, too, so if he wants to join us then he can."
"But, Jude, he's a—"
Judy smacked the glass table with her knuckles again and pointed a finger at her bigoted brother. "What did I just say about watching what you say? Doesn't matter if it's Nick or Finnick, I'll slug your arm if I hear anything negative coming from your mouth."
Henry glowered at her, but kept his mouth shut. He'd experienced some of Judy's irritated punches in the past and had no desire to experience a truly angry one. He had little doubt that his arm would feel broken if she hit him in her current mood.
Finnick looked between them and grinned. The fact that Cottontail's threats extended to include him, too, helped heal a little bit more of his raw emotional scars that had been festering for years. Meeting bunny cop's gaze, he said, "Let me put this mail in my van, then I'll join you."
Judy nodded and watched Finnick disappear, then grinned. She should feel annoyed that Nick sent Finn to watch over her, but she didn't. It just showed how much he cared and worried about her. It was his way of letting her know she wasn't alone. And Finnick wasn't some overbearing mother-hen type to make her feel claustrophobic but was there only in the event she actually did need help. Which she wouldn't, but the gesture was nice.
Billy had watched the small fox slip through the crowd and disappear, then he turned back to Judy. With a low hiss, he whispered, "Judy, why are you hanging out with a bunch of foxes? You can't trust them."
Glaring at the idiotic, tan buck sitting across from her, Judy said, "Billy, do I need to hurt you, too?"
Billy immediately waved both paws out to her, saying in a panicked voice, "No! I just . . ." Taking a deep breath while running his paws through his dark-tan fur, he stared at the table and muttered, "It was just a question." Although he hadn't spent any time with Judy after they graduated high school, Billy could never forget the fights she got into while defending other mammals.
Judy sighed. Folding her arms across her chest, she leaned back in her chair. "Finnick is my friend. He won't hurt me any more than Nick will. I know he has my back which is more than I can say about most mammals." Perking up, she added, "Besides, he makes fantastic pancakes." Closing her eyes, a wide smile crossed her face. "Mmm, I can still taste them." Opening her eyes to meet Henry's and Billy's stunned expressions, she added, "I think there was some left over, so I'll be able to eat them tomorrow morning, too."
Billy choked at the thought of eating food made by a fox (he refused to eat anything Gideon baked), but before he or Henry could say anything, the small, sand-colored fox scampered back over and hopped up onto the chair the red fox had been sitting in earlier. Watching as the tan fox got situated in his chair, Billy leaned back in his own chair and tried to sit as far away from the fox as he could get.
Henry merely ground his teeth and seethed. Judy was letting another filthy pelt sit so close to her, and he couldn't even say anything about it without her punching him in the arm. It was insane!
Grinning at Cottontail, Finnick handed her a popsicle (an actual popsicle) and settled back in his chair and started licking a red one of his own.
Judy took the popsicle, this one blue, and raised an eyebrow at the small fox.
"No, it's not one of mine and Nick's," he answered her questioning gaze. "It's the wrong the shape." Taking another lick, he then said, "Besides, Nick hasn't done much of anything the last three months." Dropping his voice to a mere whisper that only carried as far as Cottontail, he added, "Just moped around his bridge cursing your existence one minute and lamenting your loss the next, or just sitting for hours in a sullen, sulky silence. It was annoying and disheartening to see how pathetic he'd become."
Judy's ears drooped to hear just how bad Nick had gotten after their fight at the press conference. Although Nick admitted he hadn't done much better than her, hearing it from someone else drove the point home harder. She stared at the popsicle in her paw a moment as she remembered her first and second encounter with Nick. He was such a jerk back then that it was hard to believe how they made it this far. But now, he was her whole world, the vital piece she'd been missing in her life. Turning the icy treat back and forth for a moment as the last two and a half days played themselves out in her mind, she then licked it. Blue raspberry. It's was quite good, and she stuffed the top half in her mouth and sucked on it happily. Now that Nick was back in her life, her life felt complete.
Watching Cottontail happily licking her frozen treat, Finn turned his attention to the two bucks across from him—the brown buck with dark highlights who sat glowering at him, and the dark-tan buck who sat cringing away from him with his nose constantly twitching with unease. Pulling his muzzle back slightly as he smiled wider (and showing off his needle-like teeth), Finn asked, "So what's cookin?"
Billy shuddered at the predatory display and allusion to food while the fox looked at him and licked his treat. Twitching as the tan fox took a toothy bite out of the red treat, Billy shivered as the melting red juice reminded him of blood. He had never been comfortable around predators, had never trusted those who survived off the life and flesh of other living creatures. It just wasn't right. And although predators no longer hunted other mammals, who's to say they won't get a hankering for some fresh meat when some weird mood overtook them? Most still lived off the meat of birds and fish, so what would stop them from making a meal out of their fellow mammal if the idea struck them?
Henry merely grunted and stared off into the crowd. He was regretting forcing his sisters to stay home. When he'd heard Lily and Rachelle talking about the trip this morning, and how excited they were to see their injured sister and the handsome todd who'd (supposedly) saved her, Henry knew he had to do something to save his headstrong sister from being taken advantage of by the worthless pelt (he also didn't want to see Rachelle and Lily getting close to the filthy predator, either). He should have known that Judy would never see reason. Once she got an idea in her head, no one could talk sense to her. Which made his coming here was a complete waste, and time couldn't move any slower. He just wanted to grab the truck and head home. Judy was too bullheaded to see reason, so if she wanted to stay here and get messed over by the two foxes she was stubbornly defending, then that was her problem. He was washing his paws of her.
"Not much," Judy replied to Finnick's question as she looked down at the mail in her other paw. Moving the top envelope forward to see the one beneath it, she read the name at the top right corner and her jaw dropped. Then with an excited squeal, she met Finn's questioning gaze. "This is from Anya!? Nick's older sister?"
Finn nodded while licking his red treat. "Anya likes to keep in touch through letters. Says it's more personal that way."
Judy clapped her paws together (the popsicle held tightly between them) and asked, "So what's she up to? Nick hasn't told me much about her yet." Taking another lick, she waited for her friend's answer.
"Nick hasn't told you about Anya?" Finn asked in surprise.
Judy shook her head. "He hasn't had the chance. We've been too busy discussing other things. He told me what Honey did for him and his academic achievements. And he told me about his mom and what the two of you did to help her." Her voice dropped to a pained whisper as she continued, "And I now know what happened to his dad and brother." Pushing the dark images down, she said with a little more pep in her voice, "But we haven't had a chance to discuss his sister. The only thing I know about her is that she plays the piano, and if she's as good as Nick then I can't wait to hear her play." Sticking the popsicle in her mouth, she started sucking on it again.
Finnick nodded. "She lives in the same town as Vivian—Nick's mom."
Judy glanced at the return address on the envelope and asked, "Rándýrabær?"
Finn nodded. "Ya, the two of them moved there after Anya graduated. It started out as a middle-sized town for predators, but has since grown into a small city. It's still predominantly predators with only a handful of prey living there—which is why Anya moved there after her graduation. It has a large fox population, so she knew she could get a good job there and be treated with respect."
Judy took another lick of her popsicle and tilted her head in question. "Graduated?"
Finn licked his treat and nodded again. "She graduated med school top of her class and moved to Rándýrabær to get a job at the hospital there, and Vivian moved out there to be close to her."
"Med school! She graduated med school!" At Finn's smug grin, Judy then asked, "How? With what Nick said, foxes are severely discriminated against in school, and especially in advanced schooling."
"They are, but Nick hooked Anya up with a special scholarship program for small, disadvantaged mammals—predominantly foxes—but any mammal that meets the requirements can receive help. And those who receive it are protected from discrimination from their chosen college or university. If it's proven that discrimination or bullying is affecting the recipient's grades, then the school will be hit with a huge lawsuit."
Finn's smug grin couldn't get any wider, and Judy could guess who was behind the scholarship's lawsuit clause—as well as the lawyer who would enforce it. With a smile, Judy stuck the rest of her icy treat in her mouth and sucked on it while a hundred questions ran through her mind. Questions that she wasn't sure she should be asking while her brother and his friend were around. Although she couldn't see how a scholarship program could be illegal, it was still part of Nick's checkered past, so she didn't want to ask too many questions with twitchy ears listening in.
Finn took another bite of his treat and licked the red syrupy juice from his chops, all the while grinning widely as Billy continued to cringe. There was a reason he'd chosen a red popsicle for himself.
As Billy continued cringing as he watched Finnick eat the last of his popsicle, Judy thought of a way to get her answers. Shifting her gaze to her brother, she said, "Hey, Henry, Billy's not looking too good. Why don't you take him to get something to drink? There's a lemonade stand near the ground level escalators."
Henry grunted but stood up and motioned for Billy to follow him.
As the two bucks stepped away from the table, Judy said, "And while you're over there, you might as well just grab a table and wait there. It's obvious neither of you want to be near a fox."
Henry glared at her for several moments, then grunted again and moved on. His sister was nuts and it was disgusting to see her get all chummy with the foxes, but he knew better than to pick a fight with Judy. She never backed down and rarely lost.
Once the bucks were out of earshot, Judy leaned closer to Finn and asked, "Okay, now that the busybodies are gone, how is Nick involved with the scholarship program? And how did you two even meet?"
Finn chuckled. "I'll answer your second question first." Relaxing back in the chair, he rested one arm across his chest and scratched his chin with the other. "We met shortly after Nick ran away from home. I'd been on the street a couple of years and had an established route where I did most of my hustling." He paused a moment, then his smile shifted to a frown, "And then this snot nosed kit comes in and starts hustling in my territory. I didn't like it." Finn shook his head and waved his paw, saying, "You have to know that foxes can be pretty territorial about what we consider ours."
Judy nodded and murmured, "Like Nick is with me." It was a statement, and one that thrilled her, oddly enough. Any other bunny would feel annoyed at the least, and terrified at the most, to have a large fox getting all territorial on her, but not Judy. She loved seeing Nick's territorial side. It meant he intended to keep her, that he'd fight to protect her—that she didn't have to fight alone to keep what they had.
Finnick nodded slowly while scratching his throat. "That don't bother you?"
Chuckling as she shook her head, Judy said, "If it was the old Nick, then yes, I'd be bothered. But if it was the old Nick, we wouldn't even be together. I like this new Nick. The Nick who stood up to Bogo so I could keep my job. The Nick who snuck into an asylum with me. The Nick who forgave me when I was being a dumb bunny. And the Nick who saved the evidence we needed and refused to leave me when we both knew I wouldn't survive alone. This Nick can get as territorial as he wants with me, because for the first time in my life, I have something I want and I don't have to fight alone to get it." Biting into the last of her popsicle, she quickly finished it off and smiled brightly at Finn.
Her smile was blinding and Finnick could only stare for several moments before shaking his head and smiling himself. "You two are nuts." Judy just chuckled, and Finn continued with his tale. "Okay, so back to my story." Tilting his head back as his mind wondered down memory lane, Finn finally said, "At first we butted heads a lot since he was taking some of my customers, and we were always trying to outdo the other." Finnick shook his head and laughed, "Nick made a lot of rookie mistakes, but he was smart, way smarter than I was when I first started out, and he learned quickly. And boy could he talk your tail off. Just by looking at one's clothes and body language, he could guess fairly accurately what a potential customer needed to hear in order to make a sell."
Judy continued to smile as she remembered Nick telling her about the lesson his dad had taught him when he was only five, and then how he was able to easily read her brother—and herself that first day they met. "Yeah, I can believe that."
Finn nodded, then said, "It went on like that for nearly a year, and then one day he was just gone." Finnick's large ears disappeared behind his head and he continued his tale. "At first I thought maybe he got picked up by the Child Welfare system or he actually did the smart thing and went home. From the few conversations we had I got the impression he was sending any extra money he made home to his mom." Finn shook his head, wishing back then that he still had his mom around to send money to. "Anyway, I didn't see him for a week, and then I'm walking by this alley and I smell blood. A lot of blood. It was a week old, but that much blood lingers, even outside in the elements."
Finnick shivered at the memory. "I knew right away it was fox blood, and there was only one fox I knew who frequented the area and was no longer around. I was sure Nick was dead and I started beating myself up over not helping him, for pushing him away. I didn't like him, but I didn't want him dead, either."
Finnick was quiet for several minutes, lost in the past, and Judy waited for him to collect himself. She knew where Nick had disappeared to and was once again grateful for Honey's compassion that compelled her to save the fox kit that was now so very important to her. Perhaps she'd ask Nick to take her to Honey's gravesite so she could pay her respects . . . and to his dad's and brother's.
Finally, Finn continued his story. "I asked around, but no one seemed to know anything—which was weird. I should have heard something if Nick was dead or lying somewhere at death's door. But no one knew anything about him." Shaking his head at the guilt he felt during that time, he then continued, "It was over 4 months later that I saw Nick again, back on the streets and as smug as ever. I'll tell you, he never looked better—and I mean that literally. Even though I could see patches where the fur was still growing back over a few of his injuries, he was dressed much better and no longer looked starved. His frame had filled out, too, and the bags under his eyes had disappeared. I never felt so glad to see another mammal in my life."
Judy nodded, glad to hear how Honey's care had improved her fox's young life.
"After he came back, I decided to take him under my wing and mentor him." With a lighthearted chuckle, he added, "Teaming up with Red was the best decision I ever made. Together, we more than doubled our cash flow, and sometimes tripled or quadrupled what I could make alone." With a shake of his head, he grinned and said, "I knew Nick was smart, but his mind worked much faster, much sharper than even other foxes I'd run across. He was truly a cut above the rest." With a shake of his head, he added, "It's a good thing Honey took him in, otherwise his talents and abilities would have been squandered."
Judy continued to beam at hearing another mammal acknowledge how smart her fox was. She couldn't wait to hear more about her fox's early days. "And Honey wasn't bothered by Nick's hustling?"
Finnick slapped the table, laughing, then stated, "Bothered!? She helped fine-tune a bunch of 'em!"
"Huh?" Judy tilted her head slightly in confusion and one of her long ears dropped sideways slightly, giving her an odd look as one ear stood straight up with the other cocked to the side.
With a grin, Finn explained, "Honey was a daredevil and a bit of a conspiracy nut, so she was more open minded than most. She also understood how bad foxes had it. Nick wanted to help his family but didn't want handouts to do it. But any job he could get as a teenage fox would've paid pennies. So, Honey supported Nick as long as our hustles didn't actually hurt anyone."
Scratching behind his ear, Finn added, "It's probably a good thing Nick was planning most of our hustles. He still had a heart, but I was less scrupulous when it came to my hustles. I was definitely headed towards hardened criminal when I met up with Nick. I'd been burned too many times by society and had just about stopped caring. But after working with Nick a while, and after he began dragging me home with him, I found my moral compass again."
With a wide grin, he explained, "Honey didn't treat me any differently than she did Nick and went out of her way to help me. That kind of compassion I hadn't experienced since I was a small kit." Leaning forward to point his clawed finger at Cottontail, he said proudly, "She even homeschooled me along with Nick and helped me graduate. She had to pull a lot of strings, too, since I was already 19 when I finally finished." Glancing at Cottontail's stunned expression, he clarified, "I was a few months shy of my 17th birthday when I met Honey, and I had a lot more catching up to do than Nick."
Judy didn't know what to say. To hear how Honey had saved Nick was one thing, but to hear how she also saved Finnick—she was definitely stopping by her grave and paying her respects. As Nick had pointed out to Bogo, Honey truly was a saint. "Wow," she finally said. "Honey did all that for you, too?"
Finn nodded. "She was even willing to take me in and let me room with Nick, but I'd been on my own too long, so didn't feel comfortable accepting." With a wide grin, he added, "I sure spent a lot of nights passed out on her couch, though." With an even wider grin, he slapped the table and said, "She even got me an automotive and diesel mechanic license. If it has an engine—I can fix it."
Judy's smile widened to hear of Finn's accomplishments. "Have you ever considered getting a mechanic's job?" she asked curiously.
"I had a job with a garage while Nick was going through law school, but the hours were long and the pay wasn't that great. There wasn't a lot of respect there, either. I got along with a few coworkers, but our boss was real hard to please. After being my own boss for so long, it was a hard mental shift to begin taking orders." With a shake of his head, he added, "It was at that time I got the apartment at the Grand Pangolin. The job was close by and I could walk, thus saving time and money. Nick would pick me up when we did our hustles."
"So, you no longer do anything with your license?"
Finn shrugged. "I use my skills to keep my van running and to fine-tune all of Nick's toys, but not much else. There are several mammals I made deals with to be their personal mechanics, so whenever they need work done on their rides they give me a call. Pay's good and the hours are flexible, but I don't get called too often." With a grin of appreciation, he added, "They take real good care of their wheels."
Judy nodded, then asked, "So what toys is Nick hiding in the garage?"
Finnick's eyes widened and his ears perked forward. "He hasn't shown you yet?"
Judy shook her head. "Not yet. It's on our to-do list."
A wide grin spread across Finn's face and he leaned back in his chair while crossing his paws behind his head. "Then I'm not going to spoil all the surprises Nick has in store for you."
Judy pouted and Finnick just laughed. Still leaning back with his paws behind his head, the small fox glanced up at the station's ceiling far overhead. He was thinking about all of Nick's toys and the fun they used to have with them. About half the toys in Nick's garage were technically his as Honey always bought him one of whatever she bought Nick. When he wasn't working and Nick wasn't in school, then they could usually be found together. It didn't take Finn long to start seeing Nick as a younger brother. And whenever Honey dragged Nick on one of her crazy adventures, Nick usually dragged him along for the ride. They had so much fun together back then.
With eyes widening as he remembered one of their yearly adventures, Finnick suddenly bolted upright and stared at Cottontail which made her pout turn to a look of curiosity as she perked her long ears forward. "Hey!" Finn exclaimed while pointing a clawed finger at her. "If Nick's back home and has the jeep out, do you think you could convince him to enter one of the jeep rallies this year?"
Judy tilted her head in question and her ear cocked slightly to the side again. "Jeep rally?"
WingedKatt here. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Finnick and Judy will continue their conversation in the next chapter and Judy will learn so much more about her fox's life leading up to him becoming the uncaring, jaded hustler she met. So stay tuned.
Chapter 39: Favors, Gravity, and Therapy will post on Wednesday. If you have any thoughts or questions I'd love to hear them.
Just an FYI: Ch40 will be the last chapter I'll be double posting. Due to my new job, I'm not able to finish writing my new chapters as quickly as I was before and I'm eating too far into my backlog. So starting with ch41, I'll only post once a week so that I don't run out of chapters and you have wait forever for new chapters to be posted.
