"Mom, this stuff smells funny…" Zinnia complained.
"Hush!" Bonnie replied firmly. "You have to eat, right? Well, Nick does, too. And, he has a more specialized diet than we rabbits have."
The smile on Nick's muzzle was soft and wry while he listened to the matriarch admonish her kit. He had been requisitioned for cooking lessons after Marcy ended up falling asleep on top of his head. Vera had whisked her away for a proper bed and as soon as the todd was about to sneak away to explore more of the warren, Bonnie has hooked him under the arm to guide him into the kitchen. She could apparently cook meat and fish for predators, but she wanted the cooking team to learn exactly how he liked his fish cooked specifically. The bonus was that lunch would be done for him once he cooked it.
"You ladies don't have to help me cook this... I'll eat anything that you make for me—" Nick spoke up.
"You hush, too! Or, I'll smack your tail with my spatula." Bonnie said, tone even sharper.
Instinctively, Nick's tail curled around to his opposite side from the matriarch. There was a titter of giggles from her children that had seen the covert display of movement. The todd wisely kept his maw closed while dashing salt and pepper against the salmon filet. The matriarch was keeping an eye on what he was doing while also presiding over a pot of mashed potatoes. She had purposefully forced him to make more than a single serving so that he had something for a late night snack if it was needed. Otherwise, it would be good enough for the next day's lunch.
"What's wrong, Slick? Is mom scaring you?" Judy laughed from behind them.
Nick turned in time to see Bonnie's spatula crack off his partner's backside, eliciting a sharp yelp from Judy. His eyebrows shot up in a manner, which would silently convey that Judy probably should not antagonize her mother even as his eyes were diverting away from the younger doe. Immediately, the spatula fwopped against his upper arm painfully.
"You're on dinner duty tonight, young lady." Bonnie commented resolutely, speaking to Judy and then to Nick. "And, if I catch you in this kitchen during daylight hours, I'll chase you around the warren with this utensil. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" The response from the duo was immediate and loud. Nick's ears fell back as his head lowered to focus on his task. Judy was on her own. The does from the lunch crew were all smothering their laughter behind the trio.
"I don't know how the Department lets you two get away with being as skinny as you are." Bonnie continued.
"Bonnie, I'm perfectly proportioned for a red fox of my height and age." Nick mumbled, hoping that he would not be whacked again.
"And, I disagree, Nicholas." Bonnie replied.
"If he gains any more weight, it's all going to go to his butt." Judy chimed in from behind them.
"Zinny, darling, watch these potatoes for a minute." The matriarch passed off the wooden spoon before turning to roll up her sleeves.
Nick slide as far away from the matriarch while still retaining the ability to prod at the salmon filets: trying to keep his eyebrows from flying off his head all the while. The young Hopps daughter took her mother's place while they listened to Bonnie chase Judy around the kitchen tables. The other daughters were laughing and instigating the "whoopin'", as they referred to it as, further.
"How many times I've I told you to be respectful, Judith? Come here!" Bonnie shouted.
"Nick! Help!" Judy called out, her voice sounding as if she was vaulting over the lower furniture pieces as she would do in training. "I was only joking!"
"And, get my butt whooped, too? Hell no! You paved your own street… You drive on it!" Nick hollered over his shoulder, trying not to grin all the while.
Eventually, Bonnie chased Judy out of the kitchen and the lunch crew got back to work on feeding those who were hungry for lunchtime. It was amazing to Nick how organized the whole family was for times like this. Nick eventually shot a gaze over at the short Hopps doe, probably just pushing eighteen, as she took the mashed potatoes off the heat to dish out a portion onto his plate.
"Sorry about that, Mister Wilde. My family can be a little… crazy." The doe explained with a smile.
"If there was ever a family who was more deserving of the surname 'Wilde', it would be yours." Nick agreed with a laugh. "Bonnie could have left the pred foods to me, though. Sorry about that."
"You don't need to apologize, Mister Wilde. We don't usually have predators over with such frequency. And, it only smells funny to me. If mom tries to make me eat any, though, I'm going to revolt." Zinnia said with her own laugh.
"I only need a pawful of these meals because of how long we're staying for the holidays. I don't want it to be all the time. Though, your mother might lay down some corporal punishment if she has other ideas and I argue." Nick said worriedly.
"That's probably true. But, why would you only need a 'few' meals?" Zinnia inquired.
"Well, bunnies have marginally better hearing than foxes. But, our eyesight is far better overall: in all lighting conditions. The fish is for the Omega-Three uptake to keep my eyes healthy. It's especially useful when the department does work at night. Your sister can close her eyes and focus on listening while I tune out the sounds and watch the areas for us." Nick explained simply, picking up the pan to push one of the salmon filets onto the plate that Zinnia was kindly holding out.
"So, this is a regular thing." She stated.
"Two or three times a week unless my palate desires more." Nick confirmed simply. "If my body craves it, I've always taken that as a sign that it's necessary to keeping up proper bodily functions. It used to be all that I ate for a while."
"This was all you ate?" The doe asked in surprise.
"Back when I roamed the streets, I caught fish. I had to keep me and my friend fed." Nick chuckled, thinking back to the days when Finnick was always a potential skipping stone during their fishing trips.
"That's right. Mother did mention that it had sounded like you had been homeless for a spell." Zinnia mentioned, more reminding herself than anything. "I'm sorry about that, Mister Wilde."
"There's no need to apologize for that. That was my own decision. And, yeah… I could think about where I might be today if I hadn't made that decision. But, who would have helped your sister out when it had mattered the most for her career? Would anybody else have been willing to be as big of a pain-in-the-ass, but then been willing to lend a paw, after the fact? You just have to remember that every decision you make is a trade-off against some other aspect of a future life that you cannot even begin to fathom. There were things that I could have done between that decision and now, to make it better for myself and for others," Nick continued deeply, carrying his plate over to the table while the teenager followed suit. "But, the decisions that I made in those, smaller instances, were just as incomprehensible in their future effects. They are just things that need to be shouldered on your own."
"Or, not… You don't have to do it alone." Zinnia said.
"Well, back then, it would have been alone. Now? It's not. Not for me personally. Judy's always there for the things that I don't want to walk through alone. Since I've been here, a lot of your family has been amazing enough to help out despite the fact that I'm still a stranger…" Nick agreed, taking a seat so that he could begin to eat.
"All that you've done for Judy has gone a long way for my parents and older siblings. You've carried a heavy load and we all see that, Mister Wilde." The doe said with a sniff. "Your food still smells weird, though."
Nick chuckled, cutting off a bite of fish with his fork. "Yeah. I know. Thank you for helping me out with cooking. I'll make sure to clean up after I eat." He said.
"With the exception of your plate, it'll all be done before you finish." Zinnia teased him, pointing at the group of does who were relentlessly cooking and cleaning behind them.
"Then, the least I can do is clean the plate, huh?" Nick said, knowing it was futile to bother trying to dissuade the Hopps' does from their work.
"If the group at the washing station will even allow you to do so." The doe said with a laugh.
"Oh, come on!" Nick groused. "I have to do something around here…"
What caught the todd's attention was the fact that the doe laid her paw on top of his and it was a little startling to him. Nick looked down to find that Zinnia was looking up at him with determined eyes. The todd had been so distracted that he had missed the fact that he had already cleaned his plate of the portions. He had been far hungrier than he had initially realized. Zinnia's opposite forepaw was on the plate.
"My parents want you to relax. That's why you're here. They're not even going to put Judy to any hard work right now. That's what you have to do, alright?" She said firmly.
"I can't even wash my own clothes, though…" Nick continued to grumble.
"Mister Wilde, we have all seen how stressful it is at the Department. We don't understand the depth of it, mind you, but my parents don't want either of you leaving this warren more tired and stressed than how you came in. Even if it was harvest season, they would accept some help, but they would not allow either of you to work as hard as the rest of us. We all want you two to be able to sleep or relax, be lazy or goof-off, or whatever… Y'know?" Zinnia explained further. "Now, would you like another serving?"
Nick blinked once in his mental turmoil. "No… I don't want to get too full for dinner." He replied quietly.
"Then, go rest or act like a kit for a while!" The doe exclaimed, jumping out of her own seat happily so that she could whisk the plate away without another word.
The thoughts that were streaming through Nick's head were like that of a torrenting waterfall. Before Nick knew it, he found himself on the move through the warren at a more than leisurely pace. Down the stairwell, back to J-Hall and in through the open door that was Judy's kithood bedroom. He found what he was looking for immediately. The guitar that he had laid aside the night before found its way into his room and onto the bed so that Nick could withdraw the instrument.
Kumiho, the sound of Judy's voice resonated throughout Nick's skull immediately.
At some point, all of his luggage had been brought into his room and the todd smiled fondly at the bag that he had carefully hidden Judy's present in. It was going to be an early Christmas gift, but that was alright. He just hoped that she loved it.
Taking the sling of the guitar over his shoulder, Nick hustled out of the bedrooms as his smile grew a little wider on his muzzle. He was not even worried about the fact that fangs were showing. It just did not seem to matter anymore if any of the Hopps' family saw such a display. The todd had not encountered one bunny who was openly uncomfortable let alone hostile because of the fact that he was a red fox. Granted, Nick had not run into the family's Pawpaw – Bonnie's father, yet…
Pushing that thought aside, Nick moved with a vigor that had not been felt in quite a long time. Upstairs, through the Main Hill, sneaking past the kits as he went until he made it into the snow-laden courtyard. The abrupt temperature change forced him across the yard at a faster pace. A mere t-shirt was not going to cut it against the cold weather that gripped the outside. Nick was headed straight to the West Hill so that he could see if the music room was available for use.
Normally, the todd would have paid more attention to the outside world. It was probably beautiful. But, there was something that he needed to do now. Nick needed to be able to play his guitar and relax a bit. Even if it sounded worse than usual. It would be something that was fun and off-the-cuff. What he did notice was the ominous netting that was tightly layered over the top of the courtyard. The whole project had been completed shortly after they left Bunnyburrow during the duo's first trip and it was a bit of a sad necessity. The kits were going to miss out on their entire outdoor wintertime experience, at this rate.
Across the pathway, he could see several of the does moving around within the nursery through the windows of the East Hill. They were busying themselves with taking care of the newly-born kits from various mothers. Before opening the door to the West Hill, Nick turned to look back up at the net. Sad. But, necessary. Something inside the todd's chest began to gently roil. Before anybody saw it, he was through the door and it was shut to the unforgiving outside world.
There was nothing but quick work to done in the winding of his way through the West Hill: until he made it to the music room. That, though, was a moniker that was a little short-sighted. The room was rather large and even had two more adjacent rooms attached to the back side of it. The central room was like that of a miniaturized orchestra pit or amphitheater, if one wished to conceptualize something that small. The other two rooms were mocked up as a proper recording studio. All the bells and whistles. It must have taken Bonnie and Stu many years of hard work to build into things like this for their family.
It was the nerves of previous life experience that made him check his gait slightly. He was allowed to be there, but that did not stop the internal apprehension regarding possible being caught in a place that, maybe, not everyone would approve of him being in. Steeling himself, Nick stepped into the booth and shut the door behind him. Nobody was inside the dimly lit room.
The room was a little small considering the number of instruments and audio devices that surrounded the outer rim of the room itself. It was not spacious. However, it was comfy enough for the todd to be able to plug the audio jack into his guitar. Once Nick knew that the entire sound system was appropriately tuned, as best as could be assumed due to the obscure nature of the locale, he put in his usual pair of internal earplugs before letting rip on the strings. The todd chuckled when nobody within the sound-booth jumped out of their fur. Confident that nobody was hiding behind the scenes, Nick adjusted the microphone stand and turned it on.
All that was left was the wide grin on Nick's muzzle as he began to pick himself into a rhythm with one of the plectrums that had been placed under the strings of the headstock. The start of the song held a decently paced, heavy tone that sent a shock throughout his body. It was felt all the way to the tip of the todd's tail: extracting an involuntary growl of happiness from his throat as he closed his eyes. He needed to focus on remembering the lyrics.
It feels good to play again…
Nick took a final breath and turned loose with his voice.
"Out of Asgard's Gates!" The todd snarled into the microphone with an adorned grin that would have spooked any mammal that had seen it.
...
"That girl… I swear…" Bonnie whispered while presiding over the kitchen, scowling at Judy as her daughter washed some of the dishes.
"From what I hear, Judy has gotten her sassy nature from Mister Wilde." Zinnia said with a laugh, having been relieved by the dinner crew already.
Ignoring a direct response, Bonnie pressed on. "I apologize for missing the rest of that meal, Zin. How was it?" The matriarch asked while taking a look around.
"I don't even think he noticed what he had cooked, Mom. He was too busy fussing about doing the dishes and the laundry." The young doe explained.
Zinnia's mother gave off a concerned hum without saying a word. Of course, Bonnie would be trying to sort through a rolodex of reasons. However, it was not an equation that was difficult to understand.
"Mom… It's his routine. He's had to have done these chores, for himself, for at least a decade if all the other stories about him are true. And, also, I think he doesn't want to be able to be considered a burden or pain in the Family's eyes." Zinnia explained wisely. "We're probably the nicest prey that Mister Wilde has ever met, and it has to be mind-boggling for him if you take into account how many of us there are."
The young doe did not need to look over at her mother to know that she was being stared at now. It was a clear feeling that let Zinnia know. Bonnie wrapped an arm around her daughter as if she was trying to figure out what exactly was being explained. So, the young doe continued.
"Mister Wilde is still trying to process things here, Mom. Process us, I guess would be a better explanation. I don't think that he's ever been thanked, by another prey mammal, for any kindness shown to them. He's probably one of the best foxes out there; that has had the worst of treatments from everybody within the city of Zootopia… Let alone just the prey mammals. I know you've heard it, too. How he downplays his role in helping Judy during that first case. Telling us that 'anybody else would have done better by her' in the same situation. He doesn't believe in that statement, but you can tell how much he hopes it would have been true… You and I both know that it would not have been the case if it had been any other mammal, though."
It was only after a moment that Zinnia took the opportunity to look up at her mother: finally able to see how droopy her ears were and how sad that her eyes looked. This time, the daughter allowed her mother time to think everything through and reply on her own. It took several minutes, but that was fine.
"So, what happened?" Bonnie finally inquired. "Judy's been looking for him for a while already."
"I explained exactly what you wished for their trip to be for them, and… I don't know, mom… Please forgive me for my bluntness… But, you are always so 'gruff' with your kits. Mister Wilde doesn't need that kind of sentiment. The threat of being back-pawed upside the head will likely only make the todd withdraw from all of us: despite the fact that we would give him anything off of our backs to see that he was taken care of, at this point. I told him to relax and to act as if he were a kit, if that was necessary. To recuperate..." Zinnia said, sighing a bit in wonder if she would be punished for the honesty. "He ended up wandering off, but I saw him heading towards the courtyard. Mister Wilde had his guitar with him, so I assume that he went to the East Hill to play a bit."
Zinnia was one of the youngest Hopps' to be born from Stewart and Bonnie's kit-rearing efforts. And, now, the young doe was looking her mother in the eyes while waiting for a final judgement to be passed on her words. Zinnia's ears were on end to emphasize the firmness of her own statements. It did not seem as if there was anything to worry about, though. Her mother was thoroughly churning through all of her own thoughts as her outward appearance retained a neutral state.
"He wanted to do the dishes?" Bonnie asked with a roll of her eyes.
"Mom… He wanted to do all of the dishes." Zinnia giggled with a nod. "Judy would have thought that he looked adorable if I had made him wear an apron."
The daughter felt her mother wrap a paw around her opposite shoulder and pull her into a hug again. Bonnie was laughing quietly as she gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead.
"Be nice to them both as usual, Zin. That's all I ask." Her mother requested.
The two does quietly watched as Judy was steadily asking around the kitchen if any of her siblings had seen where Nick had gotten off to. The amethyst-accented doe did not seem to be searching for him with an emergency-driven urgency. It was clear that it was more out of concern that he did not seem to be within the Main Hill. Bonnie was quick to pick up on that.
"You're sure that your father didn't help him leave the warren?" Her mother asked.
"I'm sure. Mister Wilde didn't have anything on him that would have indicated that he was leaving in such a fashion." Zinnia replied quietly.
"Do you think you can stomach teaching Judy how to cook some more fish then?" Bonnie requested, keeping her voice low and her eyes forward. "We need to distract her and that todd needs some time to himself, I think."
"Will you make chocolate chip cookies later?" Zinnia asked with a wry grin on her lips.
Judy had turned around to find the mother and daughter sitting across the room from the main thoroughfare and both of them knew immediately that they were the next targets for a line of questioning.
"The one daughter whom I thought would never bride me…" Bonnie muttered in a mock dryness.
"I simply have an innocent weakness." Zinnia quietly fired back with a wide grin.
"Hey, guys!" Judy said quickly once she had reached the pair. "Have either of you seen Nick recently?"
Before Bonnie could even open her mouth to speak, Zinnia was on it. "I think he got kitnapped by some of the brothers that had wished to show him around some more. Anyway! We need help with some of the cooking for Mister Wilde. He had explained that protein and other things were extremely important for his diet, so you're going to help me cook for him!" The younger doe said loudly, standing up to hook her sister by the arm to be whisked away towards the stoves.
Bonnie's younger daughter shot a wink over her shoulder while dragging the older doe away from the table. It was a simple signal that let the matriarch know that Zinnia had a handle on the situation at paw.
"You're sure that he's alright?!" Judy's voice was in a slightly higher pitch than usual.
"Yes. We are sure." Bonnie spoke up finally. "I imagine that he's been brought to the General's office for some sort of special meeting."
It was at that point that Zinnia could barely hold back fits of giggles while the young doe began pulling out all of the necessary ingredients for the todd's breakfast.
Meanwhile, Judy was trying to control her embarrassed nature while thinking back to the conversation she had with her sisters.
The Night Prior…
"Yes, Judy. So, come on. Tell us more about this kind-hearted todd who has managed to steal your heart." Vera had agreed rather politely with Julianna.
Judy immediately attempted to clamp down on the embarrassment that was welling up within herself. She had always been able to play off the scent or visuals of interest with Nick. Or, he had seemingly not noticed at all. But, of course, with family… That was another story altogether. Mammals, who had known her far longer and in a whole different time of her life, were a far greater challenge to deal with.
"There's nothing else to say." The doe said, feigning any further topic-related acknowledgement. Her ears had fallen back against her head while trying to remain resolute.
Vera was the one that broke through the whole façade by placing her paw on Judy's shoulder. Probably one of the sweetest and most caring of her sisters, Vera could see through into any siblings' secrets despite their best efforts.
"Aside from the fact that Paw-paw hasn't met him yet, there isn't a Hopps in the whole warren that doesn't like Mister Wilde. And, that means that there isn't a single one of us that is judging you for grasping at such feelings for him." The mother explained sweetly.
Judy could feel all of their eyes on her. The feeling of the situation was weird to her: it was not exactly suffocating, but it was not exactly liberating either. For the grey-furred, amethyst-eyed doe, intrigue or interest had always been held in extreme reserve. This was not of the norm of rabbits, but it was the way that Judy had always felt needed to be done so that she could achieve her lifelong dream. It was one of the only times in her life where she felt cornered by anybody: even though the does were her family.
"What do you all want to know…?" Judy asked tentatively, her voice not coming up much higher than a hushed whisper.
The whole table began to chitter and coo at the realization that they would be able to hear more about the situation at paw. The sisters were all certainly excited.
"We want to know what drew you to him, Jude." Joy explained.
"I mean, he's amazing and kind and sweet and caring!" Judy finally spat out a rapid-fire explanation out of sheer exasperation.
Julianna chuffed, while bumping her sisters with an elbow. "I don't think that she realizes that she's not the only doe of the Hopps clan to chase or be enamored with a pred." She commented with a notable twang.
Judy's head snapped over towards the three does that were sitting with her. There was no hiding the fact that she could not believe the words that she had heard come out of her younger littermate's muzzle.
"What?" She asked loudly.
Sound was kept to a minimum as each of her sisters simply smiled while nodding their heads.
"I guess I better let the cat out of the bag by stating that I would have been included there." Vera began, giggling softly. "But, I mean… There's Amber, Em, Courtney, Victoria…"
"Kayla!" Kathleen said loudly.
"And, you!" Joy said while pointing at her sister.
Kathleen shrugged with a guilty smile. "The Jones' boy still has his barbs and that's a rush to feel." She admitted, speaking about a local bobcat lavaciously.
Vera brushed her paw over her muzzle with a stifled laugh. "Blessed Serendipity… Let's not traumatize our sister, ladies…"
Traumatizing was exactly the word to describe Judy's resulting feelings. Surprise coursed through her body in a manner that was deeper than the Mariana Trench. None of these admittances were expected from her siblings.
"Hell, it's not even just some of the does. I hear that Bailey is still tryin' to figure things out with that platinum fox from down the road." Kathleen offered.
"True…" Vera and Joy agreed simultaneously.
Judy was alight with embarrassment, feeling her ears heat up regardless of the fact that she did not seem to be alone in pursuits of a predator. Or, even just a simple like of one, as some of them might have. It was far more embarrassing now than it had originally been.
So, Judith Laverne Hopps decided to cut in. "I mean… We've both been through a lot, but he's been through so much more than any of us can imagine. And, despite all of that… Nick's just so caring about the whole city. He knows everybody that we run into, at some length or another, and he's so sweet on the kits that we see in our day-to-day patrols. Their parents don't always trust him because he's a fox, but because Nick knows them, he can tell if they're good mammals or not and that sways his judgement on playing with their kits…" Judy explained quickly, feeling her whole body heat up even more all the while.
"That explains why he's so good around here." Vera mentioned matter-of-factly.
Joy and Kathleen hummed their agreement as they pointedly stared at the eldest of the J-litter.
Judy shuddered a bit in her seat. "He doesn't have anyone else anymore. And, I can tell that Nick's trying so hard to fit in here. I mean, I can see that he can tell that he's welcome, but he's still so reserved!" She said, feeling her eyes well up with tears at the fact.
"And, you don't know how to move forward." Joy finalized politely.
"There's so many different rules for foxes." Judy lamented quietly.
"Never thought I'd see the day when a doe could not let a potential partner know what was on their mind…" Kathleen said with a sigh, eliciting a smack on the arm from Joy.
"What do you mean, Judy?" Vera asked softly, obviously pleased with Joy's discipline.
"A friend told me that it's a vixen who approaches a todd for courtship." Judy finalized.
"Oh, honey…" Kathleen said with a grand smile. "He'd say yes to you in a heartbeat. But, let's help you have a little fun with wooing him some more, huh?"
All of the does except Judy were smiling and nodding enthusiastically. The poor, amethyst-eyed doe was star-struck by the unfolding plot.
...
"I don't feel like it's over! I'm still on fire! Why ya gotta be sooOOO…!"
The guitar was wailing through an intimate string of sadness under the digits of Nick Wilde. He was enthralled with how deep he could take the guitar solo, despite the desperately quiet intake of oxygen, that he had his eyes firmly shut while he body snapped with each twang of the strings.
He was completely in the zone. The todd had selected the song in politely chastise Karma for all of the Hell that she had put him through during the current winter. It would have been considered as some sort of dancing practice if there had been any instructors, or interested parties near to him, while he swayed heavily to the song that had been taught to the todd by Randy Phillips. Gasps of air were caught at random intervals as he belted out the lyrics to the country tune and his paws tore through the picking and plucking of the strings in a fashion that was more reminiscent of a rock song being played.
By the time Nick had made it through his fifth song, he was thoroughly and truly overheated. Even after taking a break and unbuttoning a couple of buttons on his shirt, it was starting to get a little out-of-paw. Fortunately, the todd found a cooler, full of water, set aside within the room. The rumble in his throat was ever-present despite how harsh the water went down. The desire to play his pelt off had been satisfied. His thermal winter layer of fur was toasting him out now. Tossing the empty bottle into the trash can landed him a sweet three-points, Nick then turned to the volume controls on all of the outputs and shut it off. Guitar and microphone sounds were immediately muted.
The todd was practically heaving for air despite the feeling of elation. Just as he was about to sling his guitar, the todd looked up and everything ground to a halt. Through the glass window into the audio booth, there were a pawful of teenaged kits peering at him expectantly with looks of awe written on their small muzzles. Seven teenagers were all piled up behind the glass. Most of their manners of dress were that of gothic stylizations. Lots of heavy makeup. Piercings. Long, dyed headfur and ear-tips. Many dark, band-oriented t-shirts. Some of them looked rather young considering how many piercings they had in their ears, no less. The todd frowned a little as he turned towards the door, not missing the fact that all of kits made a scramble trying to get to their own door in the process. As soon as Nick opened the door, he ducked across the hall into another room that had multiple exits as quietly as he could muster while listening to the teens shout out to search for him: for whatever reason.
Quick and quiet hindpaws brought him through the back way, hitting a stairwell so that he could slide down the bannister railing and disappear into the underground, roundabout way of heading through the entirety of the warren. It was even harder now to catch his breath seeing as Nick was slyly evading capture. He had not expected to have an audience, but it really should not have surprised him as much as it had.
I wonder what they wanted…
There was no denying the fact that Nick had not been in the mood to converse with anybody within the warren. He had been there to get out of his head. He had played a couple of Amon Amarth titles due the fact that life was weighing heavy on his mind. Songs that were oriented around his heritage. None of the goth group seemed to have minded. In fact, they all had seemed to be interested in hearing more: at least, if one considered the looks that had been written all of their faces. It simply was not the time for any conversations on that.
Eventually, Nick made his way around to the Main Hill, remembering all of the underground schematics that Stu had showed him, and dropped the guitar off within his room before heading upwards to the Main Hall. If there had been anything that was menacing within the Hopps Warren, it was only due to the fact that the hall was enormous for being something as simple as a family meeting area. Fortunately, these days, nobody was really paying all that much attention to the fact that the todd had suddenly wandered into the communal area. Looks were had, but as soon as it was recognized that it was Judy's partner, they continued on with their conversations or tasks.
It took several minutes to make it across the entire way of the room, but there were a pawful of more private, lowered booths that surrounded more private hearths. They were entirely empty, so it was nothing for the todd to plop himself down into one of the small-frame seats. Of course, he did not quite fit in them, in a discrete manner, but he was far enough away to know that it would take a determined party to want to come over for companionship.
The todd completely ignored the elevated temperature, burning off of the rounded booth's fireplace, so that he could pop a couple of buttons on his shirt again. A subsequent breath was taken in an effort to cool off while a paw reached into his pocket to withdraw a carefully folded piece of paper. The todd's claws were withdrawn to a painful maximum to ensure that he did not rip it while in the process of unfolding it.
Flourishing colors from Marcy's drawing splashed out in front of Nick's eyes in an even more grandiose fashion than the first time he had seen it. He ended up laying the artwork down, on the lowered tabletop in front of him, while spreading it out with careful paws. His paws came up together underneath his chin while he stared out at the beautiful drawing. To Nick, there were no errors made in the work: despite what other critics might say. The connotations of the emotional state of the kit as she had drawn it began to bring tears to his eyes. It was exacerbating his already overheated state, no less.
"Nick." A voice sounded from nearby.
"Yeah?" He said quietly. He could tell by the doe's tone exactly who it was.
"I haven't seen it yet. Can I take a look?" Judy requested. The careful politeness of her request was like a perfume on the air.
"Yeah." Nick confirmed.
The todd felt her presence move around the booth until the doe could take the picture up in her own paws while he continued to stare down at the empty tabletop that it had been laying upon. Nick's paws alternated into a pattern of covering his snout while an opposite paw brushed the sweat away from his forehead and ears repeatedly.
"Wow." Judy whispered off to his left side.
"Yeah." Nick said for a third time, his voice coming out more broken than he had intended it to. "I'm going to put it up on the fridge."
"You don't want to put it up in our cubicle?" The doe asked politely.
"No." Nick replied, more firmly now despite still sounding choked up. "That's something to keep safe. I need to keep that safe."
The todd finally managed to look over at Judy, already well aware of the fact that she was watching him intently, and he felt as the pools of tears began running down his fur. The doe sat up a little straighter in response to the openness that was been shown to her. It was clear that she had not anticipated such an emotional display from him.
"Nick. She will draw you a million more of these." She said, pushing happiness into her voice with a comforting smile.
"Sweetheart…" Nick said quietly, feeling more moisture draining out of his eyes as his tone was dragged over an accenting of gravel. "Anything that your family does, or makes for me, is sacred to me. And, I implore you – if anything happens to me – please, make sure that these mementos are buried with me."
Nick could see the wave wash over Judy immediately. Her ears fell away as soon as his paw gently grasped her right shoulder and even before her eyes could begin to water, Judy's lower lip began to quiver with the opening of her muzzle. The tears that welled up in her own eyes were quicker and of far more volume than his own, at that point. Judy's pupils were darting across his features, the mystery seemed to unfold into a proper presentation, while all of his serious nature was poured into the swirling frame-of-reference. Her family was all the family he had now, and he was desperately hoping that the Hopps Family would accept him in such a way.
"OK…" Judy voice hitched high, looking back down at the drawing before carefully folding it up to hand it back to the todd. "OK, Nick."
He took the piece of paper and quickly tucked it away into his front pocket on the button-down shirt that shrouded his torso. Once his muzzle was wiped down, Nick smiled a little and took Judy's paw into his. The todd got to his hindpaws and he tugged a little to raise the doe to her own. A whip of his snout, angled towards the halls beyond finally brought Judy out of the seat.
The smallness of her fluffy paw squeezed a little on his digits as he heard her rush along to keep up with the todd, following him around all of the tables and chairs within the dining hall. Nick came around the first corner with such vigor that he spun them around so that he could come up behind Judy, bringing both paws to her waist and lifting her up and over his head to rest her on his shoulders. Nick was laughing by the time he took off through the hallway in a dead sprint. Meanwhile, Judy had her arms wrapped around his head: giggling the entire way down the staircase to J-Hall.
A click of the Judy's door was a sound that neither of them missed, though it distracted the doe long enough that Nick could unceremoniously dump her off of his shoulders and onto her bed. She was laughing outright, by then. When Nick looked back, he found her form laid out on the bed while her eyes were on him expectantly.
"Give me a second, Fluff." The todd said.
Without waiting for a reply, Nick ducked into his room and quickly found his duffle. With a roll of his wrist, he wiped away any residue of his tears before carefully unpacking the clothes that were laid over-top of the a green-papered gift. It had a pretty set of red ribbons hooking under each side of the box within. It was removed and the todd came back up to his paws to carry it out into Judy's room.
There was no helping the slight grin that curled up on his lips when the doe's eyes went into a state of surprise. The wideness of them allowed for Nick to see every little bit of the amethyst that was held within the orbs. Once he had made it across the room, the todd sat down on the edge of the bed and laid the present between the two mammals with caring paws.
"I know it's early, but I wanted you to have it now." Nick explained quietly, pushing the present towards Judy a bit while she was making a hurried effort to sit up in a more appropriate fashion.
"We weren't supposed to do presents, Slick." The doe whispered, still staring at the gift.
That made Nick chuckle. "C'mon now… You are as mischievous as I am these days. Something told me that you were going to break the rules… so, I made sure to get something for you, too." He said, feeling his tail curl up into his lap.
Judy rolled her legs underneath her so that she could scoot closer to the package on her knees.
"It's something of a more personal thank-you." Nick explained, watching as she brushed her paws over the red bow on the center-stage of the present. "Go ahead."
The taller todd fell back onto an elbow while watching the scene unfold before him. Judy's ears were perked at such an alert posture that they were nearly brushing against one another while her eyes were staring down at the gift. Another light brush of her paw over the bow was heard this time, and it made Nick's heart swell with pride. It was as if this was Judy's first Christmas present ever given to her in her life.
Two fuzzy digits clasped onto the end of the ribbon, at last. Nick could hear the sound of the ribbon unfurling from the box. A single piece of tape held all of the ends of the wrapping paper neatly together below that. It had been hidden away dutifully. The next sound was that of the doe's dull claws hooking the adhesive away from the paper, causing bits of the color to rip away from the original locations on the corners. Once the wrapping paper ends were spread out and away from the package, all that was left was the removal of the simple brown cardboard lid that hid away the gift from prying eyes.
Judy's eyes shifted from the box to Nick's as she was consideration if this was alright or not. It caused his ears to splay out nervously, waiting to catch her eye again so that he could give her a tender nod. The cover came off of the box slowly as the todd took a deep breath.
Within the thin cardboard was a sleeveless navy blue dress, form fitted down just above the hips before it would ruffle out around the wearer's legs. It was made to be semi-conservative and due to the wide shoulder straps and it would be perfect for the ZPD events that they sometimes had to attend. Underneath it, and unseen to the doe presently, was a light jacket that was proportionality measured to cover the torso, but still merge with the line of the flow the bottom of the dress above the hips. But, sitting on top of the dress itself is something even more special than that.
Starkly contrasted against the darkness of the dress was a glittering, golden chain – hung out of the neck of the dress and draped haphazardly due to carrying it around so much – which led down to an appropriately sized scroll charm. Along the front of the scroll were simple line etches to emphasize the idea of written word on it. Nick watched as Judy's paw reached out to curl up underneath it tenderly.
"In my culture, Old World culture prior to Karma, the scroll – or a list of your life's dreams – is one of the symbols for the goddess Gefjon. Today, they would refer to those lands as Greater Scandinavia: which Vulpsland is the greatest territory controller within. Her name translates to 'giver' as she is the goddess of growth and prosperity through ploughing and fertility, and subsequently the good fortunate that comes with those things. Not exactly like Serendipity, but not all that far off either." Nick explained, gentling pawing the necklace up before looking at the doe. "May I?"
Once the clasp of the necklace was undone, he waited politely for Judy to give her confirmation so that it could be laid on her shoulders and around her neck. The poor doe was so thunderstruck by the gift that she simply kept blinking up at the todd's muzzle absentmindedly. It looked as if she was trying to focus entirely on clearing her vision while he remained patient. When Judy finally gave the nod of approval, Nick leaned up on his knees to commit.
"Through your raising and overall background, she is the Norse goddess that is reflected the best. The foxes, as I do, tend to look towards Karma more often due to our New World raisings. However, I do not forget my origins as easily as others." Nick continued quietly.
Once the necklace was securely fastened, Nick withdrew enough so that he could fluff out the doe's low ears so that they weren't caught within the back of the loop. Judy was too busy looked down at the charm in absolute embarrassment. The todd took his seat again and cross his legs so that he could comfortably watch her while he continued to explain.
"Serendipity is the goddess of fortunate luck or wonderful happenstance, for you. And, I entirely agree with that context when referencing our first meeting. I wanted to gift you something from my culture that had a similar connotation, and that is what is in this necklace." Nick finalized. "The explanation of the dress is a simpler affair... I've never seen you on one, so I thought that you deserved to have something extravagant to choose from in the future."
The perception of value is something that is dependent on several factors; though, the two most common of them are who the receiving party is and how they consider the values of items therein, at the end of the day. In business, the metaphorical schematic would also include the seller / giver's considerations, but this was not the case. Nick was witnessing the giftee, Judy Hopps, as she struggled to process all of the information, on top of, the gifts that laid before her in the cardboard box. The todd could see every phrase of rebuttals that could touch her tongue even though none of them could find their way to her mouth presently.
"They are yours to have even if you never wear them, Judith. I'm gifting them to you because you deserve them." The todd said.
"Nick!" Judy said smally, looking up at him as she ran her paws over the dress. "This is too much. I mean, of course, I'll wear it, but it's too much!"
The todd reached up to touch the doe's cheek with his left paw. Emerald met Amethyst in an emotional clash of the sightlines. The refutation of her deserving nature only steeled his resolve.
"You're the only mammal, in my lifetime, that's done such a grand job of striving towards and diversifying personal endeavors. You're the only one who deserves this, and so much more." He said deeply.
"Should I try it on now?" Judy inquired tentatively.
Nick chuckled. "Try it on when you have more than enough privacy to enjoy it for yourself. It's for you, after all." He re-explained.
Once the doe's paws withdrew from the box, Nick carefully took up the cover and replaced it over the box. Without saying anything else, he took the box over to her desk before balling up the wrapping and hitting another three-pointer in the nearby trash can.
"Aren't you getting hungry? It's going to be dinnertime soon." Judy mentioned.
"Not until later. I need to take some time to relax." The todd replied, taking a seat back on the bed again.
"You're going to skip dinner, aren't you?" The doe accused with a laugh.
"I think so." He confirmed. "I'll whip something up for us, if you'd like."
Judy looked contemplative. "We should just hang out and play hooky, then."
"That sounds like a wonderful plan." He agreed.
The gray doe quickly shot out of the bed and went over to the computer desk so that she could rustle around in the drawers. When she turned around, Judy's paws had a bottle of wine and two glasses.
"I know you don't drink, but I was hoping that you'd have a glass with me." She said shyly.
"I wouldn't dare pass on a drink with a beautiful doe such as yourself." Nick said, smoothing out the fur on the back of his paw.
The blush on Judy's ears were prominent enough while she poured out measured amounts of wine into the glasses: not enough of a blush to match the red that was being considered. Both of their smiles were tender as they considered their own paws long enough for Nick to be passed one of the glasses. She took a seat next to him again and took a sip.
"I've never asked… I didn't want to seem rude." She said. "But, why don't you drink, Slick?"
"Because I've never seen intoxicants do anything beneficial for mammals..." He replied. "And, in a previous life, it only helped me waste a lot of time. I didn't realize until much later how much lower I had sunk prior to each night of glasses."
"When you lost your friends from the SDF?"
"Yeah… Yeah." Nick muttered, taking a sip of his own. "I received a call one night from one of my friend's mothers. She was hysterical... And, she tells me that my friend died in combat while he was trying to drag his wounded buddies out of an ambush. They call it a kill-box in the service. So, I go down to the regional headquarters and I meet with the commanding officer of the whole base. I tell him to re-route the notifications to me: that way, I can make a more personal notifications to the families of my other friends. It went smoothly enough, considering how much I was drinking after each notification – if there was a notification to even make, until I lost a childhood friend. I received another call for that one. But, it wasn't from the base commander... There had been a fuck-up and they had called the family instead of me. I went so far beyond what I thought I could that even Finnick backed out for a spell. I was obliterated by the time I showed up to give my immediate condolences to his sister... It took awhile after that to get right... Once I did, I swore off alcohol for the most part."
There was no need to even take a look in her direction. The todd could feel the doe's body stiffen throughout the story. Even Nick sat a little more stock-straight comparatively. He knew what was coming next.
"Before you do: there's no need to apologize for asking. Every story has a history to it." Nick cut Judy off before she could speak. "You're the first one that I'll have had a serious drink with in a long time."
"What about that late night with Robby?" Judy asked.
"A sip of beer does not constitute a 'drink', Carrots." Nick replied with a chuckle. "Not compared to this."
Now… Judy's ears were certainly closer to the color of the wine. It caused Nick to hide his kind-hearted smile behind the rim of the glass: taking a bit of a deeper drink. Despite the heavy tang of alcohol, there was the taste of blueberries mixed with raspberries. It was quite delicious, to say the least.
"Hey." Nick said, draining the glass after the fact with a slow and considerate look towards the doe.
"Yeah?" Judy said, looking up suddenly.
"Merry Christmas, Judy." Nick said.
The todd slowly reached out, brushing his claws against the underside of her chin and cheek so that he could lean in. A gentle 'O' was formed on his own lips and he placed them against the gray bunny's lips with the softest of passion. Nick's eyes, of course, were closed the entire time that he leaned against that one critical point on her body. His ears were pinned back, expecting a slap across the muzzle, for the entire twenty-seconds of the kiss. Nothing came, so he eventually and respectfully withdrew from Judy's more intimate of spaces. When he opened his eyes, he found that the poor doe seemed to be malfunctioning from the maneuver.
One ear was had a rigor-mortis of sorts while the other was bouncing up and down in an attempt to figure out whether to drape the back of her head or not. Both of those amazingly deep purple eyes were locked on him and the eyebrows were almost far enough up to look like little compliments to the ears. That vibrant pink nose was hammering like a Richter Scale needle: side-to-side. And, Judy's lips had not altered their own, smaller, 'O' in the response to the kiss. It almost looked as if she was petrified. Nick did not miss a single alteration of fur as it stood on end to reveal the redness of the skin beneath and, eventually, Judy coughed out her breath.
"What was that for?" She asked in such a tiny whisper.
"Well," Nick said softly, not able to keep a slight smug grin off of his lips. "You stole my first kiss, so I thought I'd pay you back for that."
There had never been a moment prior where Nick had seen Judy become as flushed as she was at that point of time. Any other time, that brilliance of color would have been attributed to being fury, if he was being honest. Fortunately, this was not one of those times.
"I—" She spoke up urgently.
"You wanted to ask me more about my past…" He said slyly. "So, go ahead."
It took Judy Hopps quite a few minutes to gather herself enough to make any such considerations about asking Nick more about his past. The chatter in the warren was that Nick would be even more forthright about the things that he had experienced, though she was not entirely sure why that was. In Zootopia, he was always more guarded than was necessary with the doe. She had always chocked it up to his withdrawing from the past.
Nick had not totally diverted her attention away from the kiss, but he knew that the little doe's mind would be churning with all of the questions, regarding his history, that she had always wanted to ask. Questions that had nagged at her were filled in over the following hours without any sort of withholding. The red fox shared one more glass of wine with Judy before he had eventually laid along his side to gather more energy, in case she had even more questions during the lateness of the hour.
Once she was comfortably laid out against his frame, Nick brushed a paw along her ears and down her back to the sound of a pleasant chur. That sound grew louder well after the spoken word had ceased. Nick already knew the drill and he let his frame stretch out enough to plant a deep kiss on the top of the doe's head. The feeling of her body snuggling back against him brought the whole of his body around the doe, as if it was a part of one of the other late night's requests, so that Nick could rest himself.