A/N: If you would like to follow for more constant updates and / or to keep in touch, you can find me at TheUnknownOne_3 on Twitter.
December 23nd, 2020
This was not the way Nick thought he would be spending the last couple of days prior to Christmas.
The todd had ended up waking not long after four in the morning. He had made a trip to the infirmary before being intercepted by Stu on the way back. Unfortunately, Nick was sitting at one of the larger meeting tables within the common room as the clock ticked past 6:30. He was flanked by the Hopps parents, Robby was sitting along the end of the right side, and the todd was sorely wishing that he would have been able to take a shower before this.
He was in the hot-seat and he was not enjoying it.
Because, across the table, the three mayors from the Tri-Burrow Council leadership, the Bunnyburrow sheriff and a Zootopia Highway Patrolmammal, and three personnel from the FPMA were all patiently waiting for coffee to be served.
By Bonnie's own orders, nothing would be spoken of until they had their drinks. The wink that she gave Nick made it clear that it was more for his benefit. But, that only made him wonder how bad he looked in his current state of relaxed attire. And, his new bandages itched something fierce.
The good part was that the majority of the mammals looked rather impatient because they were being forced to wait. The Americans, not so much, as they were probably getting paid for some serious time considering that they were "deployed" abroad. The locals, on the other paw, knew that they had been screwed by letting the Hopps's choose the meeting time. The ZHP wolf was probably on the back end of his night's shift, though. He looked rough. Not that any of them were going to dare cross Bonnie Hopps.
Two of the younger Hopps does arrived minutes later and offered everybody their drinks before beating a hasty retreat away from a battle that looked like was going to take place at the table. The whole of the bunnies, that were awake and in the room, were also giving them a very width berth.
Nick took the time to drink a solid portion of his coffee as he surveyed who he wanted to deal with first. He got the gist that Bonnie was going to allow him to speak when he was ready.
"What's got you out this far, Silva?" Nick inquired, looking at the ZHP officer.
"Bogo called Cline and asked for an outside mediator: seeing as the ZHP doesn't have jurisdiction. I asked for the overtime." The wolf explained groggily.
"Be careful driving back when this is done." Nick directed, nodding with the understanding of what his purpose was.
"Low and slow, baby. Low and slow." Silva chuckled.
Nick attention turned to the other large-framed mammals within the room. A male cougar, a doe elk, and a sizeable black bear. All of them were standing behind the full table due to their large sizes. They were not going to fit in the chairs. Even if they took all of their gear off. They were armed just as the local officers were, but it was clear that they had rifles or carbines stowed away by the look of their retention buckles on their body armor kits. Large, colored American flag patches were worn right on the front, where the ZPD's officers would have their body cams.
"I have only heard a little about who you all were with. Can you introduce yourselves?" Nick asked.
"We're with the FPMA's Expeditionary Response Teams – the Thirty-Second, to be precise. I'm Tyler Jones, Officer Wilde." The cougar said evenly. "These are my teammates. Mira Fields and that's Daniel Graves. They call me Kid and we call him Stump."
"And, the lady?" Nick wondered aloud.
"Mira's fine, Officer Wilde." The doe said firmly.
"And, I assume that you, like the sheriff, want to fill in some blanks on your reports."
"That's correct." Jones said.
"I'd like to leave that for last, if you have the time to wait." Nick explained.
"That's fine with us." The cougar nodded, leaning back against the wall and folding his arms patiently. They were in no rush by the look of things.
All I want to do is go back to bed and curl up around Judy, the todd thought to himself.
"Alright…" Nick sighed tiredly. "I understand that you three are with the Council, that you're the mayors of the three major towns. I understand that it's Don Watts, Jeremiah Scott and Patrick Dunn? Is that correct?"
"Yes, Mister Wilde. I'm Mayor Watts of Bunnyburrow. Scott is from Deerbrooke and Dunn is from Jonesboro, respectively." The brown and white rabbit buck introduced his group.
"I understand why you're here, Sir. But, not how this is relevant to Mister Scott and Mister Dunn. Can one of you elaborate?" The todd asked bluntly.
"All of our counties suffered casualties from this hawk, Mister Wilde. So, we are all here as ambassadors, of sorts, for our respective populaces." Watts explained.
"My apologies for coming off as forward and rude, gentlemammals. I wasn't aware that the BOP had that much of a range within the area," Nick said sincerely. "I'm sorry for your losses."
The three bucks, Jeremiah Scott being the only non-rabbit – a whitetail deer, nodded in both understanding and forgiveness as Nick's body relaxed against the backrest. They had an ask, but Nick was damned if he was going to verbally push for them to elaborate on the issue. He had a vague idea of what was going to come his way as far as that went and he did not want a thing to do with some of those ideas. The todd merely let the look on his face grow their anxiety on speaking of the request or requests.
Don Watts finally sat up, leaning his elbows on the table, before taking those reigns. "Mister Wilde… In light of the circumstances behind what happened and the video proof of what you did – on behalf of the mammals, not only in the Tri-Counties but also the Greater Zootopian Territory, we wish to hold a ceremony for you." The rabbit explained.
Nick smiled kindly. "I politely decline, Mister Watts." He said.
The three mayors were taken aback immediately and, those who could see him, watched as Officer Silva's mouth was upturned even behind his balled paw: covering the humored look with a poorly attempted cough.
"Excuse me?" Watts asked. His tone was not angry. The even and kind response had not been anticipated, and subsequently, it was not misheard.
"Gentlemammals…" Nick began carefully organizing a professional response in his mind. "You want to have me brought onto a stage where you can commend me with a key to the Burrows, or a medal for distinguished service or valor, or maybe even throw a ticker-tape parade. But, let me make this clear… There will be no such fanfare…"
"Why not?" Watts inquired measuredly.
None of them were pleased: not by the look of things.
"Because I was doing my job, Sir." Nick response was polite but firm. "You may feel as if that means there will be an unpaid debt, though. I have an issue that you can take care of, to that end."
"And, what's that, Mister Wilde?" Silva asked, interjecting to see to it that the todd got what he wanted. It looked as if the ZHP officer was thoroughly impressed with the answer that came from the other officer. The wolf made no effort to hide that.
"Mayor Watts and Sheriff…" Nick tailed off, looking at the rotund brown buck that was sitting next to his superior.
"Sheriff Harrison, Officer Wilde." The buck said with a tipping of his ear.
"Pleasure to meet you, Sheriff." The todd gave a curt nod in return. "Mayor Watts and Sheriff Harrison are currently deciding if they will pursue charges against several of the Hopps for reckless endangerment, as it was explained to me. I want every single charge against every single Hopps, who is being investigated, dropped. Immediately."
"Mister Wilde!" Watts spoke up promptly and Harrison laughed himself upright against the table silently.
"Mayor… Was this event not unprecedented?" Nick cut the buck off.
Watts began to sputter, much to Stewart and Silva's amusement. "It was!" He said incredulously.
"And, I understand that the height of my fall was rather substantial. Am I correct?" Nick asked patiently.
"It was…" Watts admitted quietly.
"You don't remember it, Mister Wilde?" Daniel Graves growled from the back, sending everybody else's fur on end as they seemed to have forgotten the larger mammals were there.
"I do not, Mister Graves." Nick admitted, still not taking his eyes off of Watts.
"Do you think that's because of your enhancements or because of the impacts?" Mira Fields asked suddenly.
"I do not know. Doctor Thomas Hopps suggested it was because of the fall." The todd answered politely.
"We could play him the video to show him, if he doesn't remember." Jeremiah Scott suggested.
The table immediately turned its attentions to a slowly rising Bonnie Hopps. All of them missed the fact that Nick's hackles were rising from the suggestion: especially the matriarch. She was already in her full defensive posture.
"You will not play that video inside these halls. Am I understood?" Bonnie growled, not withholding her anger about the idea as she stared each and every one of the foreign mammals down to gather their individual nods of understanding.
Nick had not seen the video of what had happened yet and seeing Bonnie in such a state made it clear just how bad it had been for her: and, possibly how bad it might be for him to see it. His enhanced hindbrain seemed to be able to recall it, but it withheld the information from the main consciousness and that made the todd's skin itch in a way that he had not felt before. Very much unlike when he shed his winter coat. Once Bonnie was appeased, she sat down and Silva cleared his throat loudly.
"Back to the original subject…" He said carefully. "I think Mister Wilde is implying that the Hopps' very likely saved his life by keeping the hawk relatively close to the ground. Any higher up and the subsequent fall probably would have snapped his neck or lower spine. And, for the record… You look pretty damned good for the fall you did take, Wilde."
Nick's smile was forced. "Thank you, Silva. And, yes. That's about the summing-up of it, Mayor Watts." The todd agreed.
Sheriff Harrison leaned over to privately converse with Mayor Watts, much to the annoyance of both of the Hopps parents and Officer Silva, and after a couple of minutes even Nick had had enough.
"Gentlemammals…" Nick said to get their attention. "This is not a request. Not only did their actions save my life, but those same actions were just as instrumental as mine were in taking that bastard down."
"Nick!" Robby spoke up loudly.
The todd's head snapped over to his friend so that a firm glare could be shot his way. He had to look past the buck's parents and did not miss the fact that they too were shooting him the same "shut the hell up" glares at the young buck. The two bucks-in-charge remained silent for a moment. Nick could feel his pupils constricting from the annoyance of the newfound issue.
"There is one line-of-inquiry that I'd like to make…" Harrison said gruffly.
"Go ahead." Nick nodded.
"The BOP's corpse was missing one of the feet. I suspect that it was a trophy for the talons." The Sheriff explained.
Nick closed his eyes for a split second in disbelief. He knew nothing about it and did not believe that Robby did either. But, there was no way that it happened after the Sheriff's Department took the corpse for the immediately investigation.
"Is this true?" Nick asked, directing the question to Tyler Jones. He knew they would have ended up with it in the end.
Jones pursed his lips and gave a single nod in his silent reply. It was not a gesture that made his feelings clear about the issue.
"We don't know anything about that, but we will look into it." Bonnie offered to the group.
Nick looked around. "Is that fair?" The todd asked.
Harrison looked over at Watts with a cocked brow. He seemed the most annoyed by the incident, but he waited quietly for the subtle nod from his boss on the other issue.
"Alright. All of the charges will be dropped against the members of the Hopps family that were involved in discharging their firearms." Harrison said finally.
"Thank you." Nick said, directly a set of nods towards the two members of Bunnyburrow leadership.
"Anything else that you would ask of us, Mister Wilde?" Watts said, obviously hoping that there would be more for him to do for the "Hero of the Tri-Burrows".
That's no doubt the headline, Nick thought to himself in annoyance.
"Yes. Please, get the media out of here. If there is one thing that I will do, it's file harassment charges against members of the news agencies. I do not want them interfering with the Hopps family. If I decide that I want to do interviews, I will address it myself. Not the other way around. While I'm here, I want to be able to go into town and take in the beauty of it without issue. I understand there may be several civilians who will want to chat. That's a different deal entirely."
Officer Silva was not even trying to hide his amusement now. He was openly chuckling.
Harrison nodded. "They will be dispersed, Mister and Missus Hopps. And, we will warn them against approaching you in town, Officer Wilde."
"Thank you." Nick echoed Bonnie at the same time.
"Anything else?" Watts asked, sounding more hopeful to get the Council's way.
"No, Sir. That about sums of the concerns of mine. Thank you for respecting my wishes, gentlemammals." Nick said.
The three Councilmembers all stood up from their seats which caused Nick to stand as well while offering a paw across the table: shaking all of theirs as it seemed that all of their issues were taken care of.
"Thank you for the coffee, Missus Hopps. That concludes our end of today's inquires." Watts said, sounding a little wounded. "We'll see ourselves out."
"You're all very welcome, Mister Mayors. And, thank you all." The matriarch said.
The rest of the group watched as the three mayors left the room and headed for their vehicles. They would, no doubt, converse a little outside before going their separate ways. The three larger-framed mammals stepped forward and did their best to lean against the relatively high-backed, for rabbits at least, chairs so that the next points on the docket could be tended to.
"I'm thinking that this will be a short finale based on what you already explained, Mister Wilde." Jones began after everyone's attention was back on the table. "How much do you remember?"
"Only snippets after the first clash. Nothing really to go off of, I would think." Nick admitted.
"We understand that you were one of the mammals involved in the Nighthowler incident. Do you believe that some of the reason is because of the enhancements you received?" Graves asked.
"Possibly. The loss of memory is not something that's usual. But, I also haven't been stressed to that extent before." Nick explained.
"Well, then…" Jones said, visually contemplating how to move forward. "How did you feel before that first impact?"
"A lot of anger and concern. I didn't know if I would make it out there in time after the initial surprise." The todd said truthfully.
"What about when the initial word came down about what was going on?" Mira Fields asked.
"That part is a blank. I did not comprehend what I was doing until I was about halfway to the tree line." Nick said, waving a paw to emphasize a racking of his brain. "I just remember a lot of the Hopps' yelling at me."
"I can imagine." Mira replied quietly.
"Well, about all we can do now is try to gather as much video footage as we can from the family. If that would be possible, Mister and Missus Hopps?" Jones asked.
"If you can give me twenty-four hours, I'll put out a notice to get it uploaded to a file on the family server and get it all downloaded to a drive for you, Mister Jones. Anything we can do to help such an agency as yours going forward." Bonnie offered politely.
"You mean, a couple more days of getting paid to sit around? You won't hear us complain." Graves chuckled. "And, maybe some more of that delicious coffee?"
Bonnie smiled and nodded kindly. "I think that can be arranged, Mister Graves." The matriarch agreed openly.
"Not much for the report, but I guess there's nothing that can be done about that." Sheriff Harrison said aloud.
"I apologize, Sir. I just shifted into gear and did what I needed to do. I wish I could help you more with that." Nick said sheepishly.
"There's enough footage to fill the report and keep the Council happy." Harrison said, standing up from the table now.
"We'd like to thank you all for the time, Mister and Missus Hopps, and to you Mister Wilde. If I think of anything, I have your number and I'll just make any further inquiries by phone – after the holidays have been concluded." Jones said, standing up to his full height.
"You're more than welcome to. Thank you, guys." Nick said, unseating himself to shake all of their paws.
"We'll be out in the barn if you need us, Missus Hopps. Thank you again." Jones said before leading his team out of the warren. The sheriff tipped his wide-brimmed hat before following them out. Officer Silva stood, gave a quiet stretch, and disappeared with a wave and without a word further. The meeting was adjourned.
Bonnie stepped away from the table and brought Nick's crutches over for him to rest on as he was on his hindpaws. Once they were firmly under arms, Bonnie reached up and brought Nick's head down to give him a kiss on the top of it.
"Thank you for taking care of this, Nick. I want you to go rest now, alright?" She asked firmly.
"It had to be done. I knew that." He sighed in response. "I'll go get some more sleep, if that's alright."
"Go on. I'll have some food waiting when you feel up to it." Bonnie said with a sweet smile before turning to take care of her morning mandates.
Nick made sure to check over his shoulder to see how Robby was fairing. The younger buck had been wrangled by his father and was being led towards Stewart's office. The todd decided to take his time and work his way down the stairs of the Main Hill until he found J-Hall's shower room. It quite a bit of time due to the fact that he spent more time trying not to lose his balance on the steps than checking out the artwork and photos like he usually did.
He left the crutches leaded up against the locker so that he could access a spare change of clothes and his phone. He quickly tapped out a text to Robby to inform him where he would be and to meet up if he survived the interrogation from his father. Once that was done, he set the phone away and closed the locker up. There were a lot of rabbits in the various baths around the center of the room, many of whom took note of the todd as he ambled over to the line of sinks that were set against the back wall. Nick studiously ignored their stares as he removed his shirt to begin removing the bandages which were pressed against his back, neck, and shoulders. Of course, he could not reach all of them, but the minimal adhesive properties of the medical gauze would melt quickly under a warm spray of the shower. His thigh, on the other paw, was tightly bound in gauze and that would hold up until he could make it down to the infirmary for his daily checkup.
He slipped away, into one of the mirrored shower units – which he was always thoroughly amused by considering the connotations of they could be used for, before removing himself from the rest of his clothes.
Nick did his best to not pay attention to any of his wounds until he was soaked in the hot water that came from the showerhead. The ache in his neck was terrible and it was only once it had dissipated that he began to look into the mirroring sightlines to see how he was healing. The todd sighed softly when he spotted the carefully shaved squares surrounding the scabbed gouges in his hide. The whole areas were heavily bruised, though. Some patches of skin were as far damaged as bluish-purple. None of them were bleeding, fortunately, and there were only two of the patches that the todd had not been able to reach. A quiet adjustment allowed for them to slip away under the fore of the spray.
All in all, it looked like he was doing pretty well. It was a little odd that he was already healed to the extent that he was, but he was not about to complain. The stark white wrap around his hind leg stuck out like a sore thumb, of course.
A bottle of fur shampoo materialized in his paw as he finally took note that his eyes still held constricted pupils. As calm as the todd fox tried to stay, they were becoming somewhat of an issue. The visual gave away some kind of conflicted emotional state. Presently, Nick was stressed. So, he carefully began to scrub himself down in an effort to alleviate the feeling.
His eyes closed. But, his mind was running at a million-miles per hour. He could practically hear the air whistling through his ears as he thought about how he was really only halfway complete with the things that needed to be taken care of. Bunnyburrow, and by extension the Tri-Counties, had been sated. Unfortunately, there would be a far larger whirlwind of business to address when he made it back to Zootopia. And, he was very likely going to be riding a desk until his leg was completely healed. By Bogo's orders, no less.
The Horned Hardass… The other option would be Park Patrol. I wouldn't be able to keep up with any criminals on the streets. Or Fluff…
The mental imagery of her fluffy cottontail hauling butt away from him brought a gentle smile to his muzzle. Of course, he never liked being left in the dust and would loathe not being sidelined from his friend.
But, what's that old saying? 'I hate to see her go, but I love watching her leave.'
The shower was eventually turned off so that Nick could begin to dry himself off with the towel as best as he could. Once his clothes were gathered and the towel wrapped, he headed out to one of the fur-dryers to finish off the remaining water in his undercoat. After sorting everything out, he dressed and stowed his bathroom case before dropping his dirty laundry into the conveyer chute that would take it upstairs. Nick chuckled, wishing that he could fit in the chute so that it would expedite his arrival. In the end, the todd ended up taking the elevator up as opposed to fighting a literal up-stair battle.
It took a little longer to go through the interior of the Hill's infrastructure so that he could reach the infirmary, but it was better than stepping outside and possibly shocking any portion of his body that happened to still be wet. It was blustering and snowy outside even as the sun was trying to claw its way over the tops of the far-off forests that were out past the farmland. The growl of his stomach followed him through the door and he silently hoped that there would be chicken for breakfast. The protein intake would help with healing faster.
Thomas and Veronica were at their usual posts: taking care of litters of kits and tending to the soon-to-be mothers who were in for checkups. The young doe gave him a happy wave, which was answered in kind, as the todd sat down on one of the nearby examination tables. The room was spotless compared to how he remembered leaving it. There was a portion of his mind that wanted to go see some of the newborns, but his tired weight kept him in his seat. Most mothers, regardless of their species, were very particular about who was allowed to be within a certain proximity to their little ones due to the risk of scent contamination. With less litters dying and considering the fact that it was not the days of the primitive mammal, parental imprinting tended to run its course over a longer period of time.
Nick had not encountered a hostile Hopps doe thus far and he certainly did not want to earn any such anger by being too close to the wrong litter.
"Good morning, Mister Wilde." Veronica hopped over with a gentle smile.
"Good morning, Veronica." Nick responded in kind. "You know you can call me Nick, right?"
"I'm aware." The doe replied with a giggle. "How are you feeling today?"
Nick sighed. Some of the Hopps were way too polite, but that was from their raisings. "I'm sore in the shoulders and legs, but I'm no longer bleeding. I could just use some new bandages because I had to shower… Unless you two deem it necessary to give me another full exam." He explained.
"Thomas wants one done tomorrow before the festivities. So, I'll get you patched up." The doe said cheerfully. "Shirt off."
Nick did as he was told, though it was more of a struggle to complete the task this time around. He heard Veronica hop up on the exam table to assist with lifting the lift t-shirt off of his shoulders so that it could be placed in his lap. All of her stuff had diligently been placed near enough that she could access them. The first thing that the doe did was tenderly press against some of the spots, removing the two pads that the todd could not reach as she went, before ripping open the adhesive gauze pads from their packaging.
"How's your thigh, Mister Wilde?" Veronica asked, putting on the usual amount of healing ointment on the pad prior to spreading it over a wound as carefully as she could possibly do so.
"Sorer than yesterday. But, I know why." Nick said quietly, feeling the cool gel spread over the first gash. Due to how fresh the wounds were: each press would feel like bare ice against his skin.
"Mister Wilde, I have an unrelated question for you." The doe said.
It was a little odd. More aptly, her tone sounded a little different than usual.
"Sure. What's up?"
"I don't mean to startle you or anything," Veronica mentioned first. "But, do you know that you have a mark on you? I'm pretty sure it's from Marcy."
If the todd had been walking down the hall, he probably would have tripped. His hindbrain immediately booted up his olfactory senses to their maximum to begin sniffing the air.
"What? Where?" He asked suddenly.
Veronica gentle tapped her paw on his left shoulder in a silent answer. His head immediately came around to tentatively sniff at the spot as best as he could. Sure enough, there was a far heavier scent of the little doe that not enough the shampoo was able to cover. When his head turned back towards his front, it was hung a little while his ears pinned back in embarrassment. He could feel his skin heating up from the connotation of love that had been shown by the kit.
"She adores you." Veronica said in a happy, singy-songy tone. The poor todd could feel how excited she was. "And, you two are adorable together. That's a real solid chinning."
The fact was that Marcy would get away with anything on his watch: if she had really wanted to get into a moderate amount of trouble. The todd adored his little friend so much and now he was in real trouble. He could already hear her calling him 'Uncle Nick' when she got old enough to start verbally expressing herself.
"Uncle Nick, can I have a cookie?"
"One more bedtime story, Uncle Nick."
"Puh-leeeease, Uncle Nick? Pick me up and let me sit on your shoulders!"
Oh, yes. Nicholas Wilde was doomed and there was not a single shred of him that was bothered by the fact. The muscles in his neck were already feeling sore from all the rides he would end up doling out as she got bigger.
"Oh, she's got you hook, line, and sinker." Veronica giggled. "C'mon, turn longways and drop trou so I can rewrap your leg."
Nick, entirely distracted from the teasing that the nurse was giving him, did as he was told so that the wet wrappings could be removed and replaced. He was hoping that Veronica would soon become too distracted to bother with picking at him. She had other ideas, of course.
"Soooo…" The doe wondered. "Are you going to chin her back?"
"What?!" Nick yelped a little in surprise. The unbinding of the gauze was also slightly painful.
"So, Mister Wilde… When a bunny kit gives you a chinning, they mean that they love you lots and lots." Veronica explained in a babying tone. "That little baby bunny is hoping that you love her lots and lots. Enough so to reciprocate the scent marking."
"It's not exactly like chinning when foxes do it." Nick explained, feeling extremely hot now. "We use the long-side of our lower jaw to rub against loved ones."
"She's going to sit there like a little princess with a huge smile on her face. Oh, Serendipity!" Veronica said with joy, trying not to spazz out as she dried his fur off around the talon wounds before working on the fresh gauze.
"That's enough, Ver. There's no need to further embarrass Mister Wilde. His body needs to stay focused on healing; if that leg is ever going to get back to one-hundred percent." Tom's voice sounded off as the buck walked over.
"But—"
"No, buts, Veronica. And, we don't make fun of other mammals for their affections: passed on to another or received. Especially not the one mammal here who isn't a rabbit and is likely very confused by the revelation." The doctor said sharply.
"Alright, Tom." Veronica said quietly, looking down to focus on her work while contemplating what she had said.
Tom was a hefty buck by right and made no amends about reaching up to center Nick's muzzle in front of his own. The buck brought a penlight up to the todd's eyeline, setting it to a lower brightness before checking the dilation patterns of the green-eyed fox.
"How're ya doing this morning, Nick?" The buck inquired quietly.
"Pretty sore, Doc. How are you doing?" Nick said strongly, trying to regain his composure.
"Not too bad. Busy, though. Three litters birthed in the last week and three more on the way." Thomas explained, changing out his instrument to look in Nick's ears. "The blood's receding from around your eyes. Any problems with your sight?"
"No." Nick shook his head once the doctor released his left ear.
"I'm concerned about a bit of blood in this ear, Nick. How's your hearing been?" The buck said, jotting down some notes.
"No more Tinnitus than usual, I think."
"I heard you took a bit of a tumble last night." Tom said matter-of-factly. "I need you to take it easy. Otherwise, I'm going to give you that work you've been wanting so badly and assign you to the feeding team. Your red-furred ass needs to be seated more than it needs to be carried around."
"Well…" Nick started awkwardly. "I hear there's a dance tomorrow."
"You better know how to slow dance, then. Otherwise, you'll be laid up in this room for the remainder of your time in the warren this holiday season." Tom threatened him seriously.
"That's a poor Christmas present." Nick mumbled in annoyance.
"I'll put your ass in a wheelchair myself. Don't test me." The buck grinned wickedly. "How's your leg?"
"It's… it's been throbbing since I took that knee yesterday." Nick admitted fully, thinking of how much of Bonnie's streak was in Thomas.
"You understand that your chief will end up referring to me for all of your medical information until you find a new doctor in Zootopia, right?" Tom asked as he began to exam Veronica's work on his thigh.
Nick gave a slight nod of understanding. The gravity of his medical situation was starting to really hit home and it was making him want to withdraw from all the prying eyes in the warren. Tom was making it clear that he was concerned that the wounds would not be superficial if the todd did not take care of himself.
"One step out-of-line at the party and I'm going to bench you, Nick." Tom said, finally standing up to give the todd a onceover again. "You and Judy have a lot more to do for Zootopia. I'm asking you not to knock yourself out now."
"I understand, Tom. Thanks." Nick said quietly.
"Good. You're free to go. Don't worry about coming in tomorrow unless you have an issue. You're checkup is complete." Tom explained, turning away to walk back over to one of the mothers. Not before Nick caught him muttering to himself. "Though, I think a lot of us would thoroughly enjoy watching Judy push you around in a wheelchair for a bit."
"I heard that!" Nick belted out with a chuckle, drawing his pants back up around his hips.
Tom made no effort to respond and Veronica still looked a little downtrodden from her verbal lashing, but she gave a hopeful smile that he had not offended the todd before waving and hopping away to help her older brother with the ongoing pregnancies. Nick hoped that she caught his understanding smile as he waved back.
On the way out of the infirmary, Nick took his phone out and found that Robby had texted him while he was being looked over. The two texted back and forth for a moment before agreeing to meet down in R-Hall. Nick carefully made his way back through to the main hill and went down to J-Hall first. It was late enough in the morning that Judy was probably already up-and-about. It would give him time to make his Christmas Eve preparations in secret. Of course, it would have been easier if he was not hobbling around on crutches. That would have made sneaking around easier and far quicker.
Once at the door to Judy's room, he studiously knocked on the door to make sure he did not just barge in on her if she had been dressing. With no sounding-off from the purple-eyed, gray doe, Nick slipped into the room and over to his own. Once inside, he went over to his suitcase to withdraw the properly wrapped package that he had picked up from Fedorov previously. He tucked it under his arm, between his body and a crutch before beginning his trek further down into the warren via the elevator.
Fortunately, his nose worked well enough to deduce the proper way to go once he was down in R-Hall. He rapt a paw against the door to Robby's room and waited for his friend to answer. The door was open after a moment and the buck ushered him in silently before shutting it behind them.
"How'd it go?" Robby asked once they had sat down at a table near to the bed.
"I'm in trouble for being more banged up than I was yesterday morning." Nick said, trying to chuckle at the thought. "You?"
"Well, we quickly figured out where the missing item was and who took it." Robby muttered. "And, why."
"Why?" Nick asked. Though, it was not needed.
"It was exactly as they said. My brother, whom I hope you won't ask me to identify, thought that you might want a trophy from the fight." Robby said sheepishly.
Nick sighed and rubbed at the top of his muzzle in an effort to his temper in check.
"I can see why the thought would have occurred. So, what's going to be done with it? Because I don't want it." Nick explained.
"Nobody really knows what the penalties would be for this kind of thing. I think Pops wants to categorically deny knowledge of its existence within the warren. I'm not sure what he'll decide to do with it yet." Robby said, drawing a concerned breath as he sat back in his chair.
Nick sucked in a breath through his fangs as he contemplated the ramifications of letting another government's agency know that they had a piece of a Bird-of-Prey. He did not know what the American government would do in that regard and he also had no idea about the rules for the Zootopian government. There could be huge ramifications and fines from the latter. And, certainly jailtime from the former. That is, if Zootopia extradited the accused: which was not likely. But, certainly not something to risk. Of course, that meant lying to the authorities…
"Whatever happens to it, I probably shouldn't know about it going forward." Nick said wearily.
"That's what Pop's said. But, he wanted you to have a bit of an explanation for why we were all technically sitting in a boiling pot." Robby agreed readily.
"I appreciate that." Nick said with a heavy nod.
"So, what's up? You seemed to have something on your mind." Robby inquired, trying to bring some levity back into the room. "What's that?"
Nick smiled softly and began to unwrap the bundle that was resting on the table.
"I wanted to ask if we could keep this hear until tomorrow. And, I might need a bit of help getting into it, if you don't mind helping me out." Nick explained, unfolding the heavy wrapping to reveal a neatly folded suit with all of the accoutrements.
Robby's eyes went wide as Nick stood from the table, favoring his good leg, to take hold of the hangars and allow the pieces to unfurl to their regular form. He seemed awestruck by the fact that the todd had gone all out. He had already seen pictures of Judy's dress, but the buck was completely astounded by the level of care his friend was showing by dressing up to this level.
"Duuuude!" Robby finally managed, whistling a bit. "Are you going to make a move?"
Nick laughed softly. "I told you. I can't make a move. I can only entice." The todd said.
"I'm totally going to get that pressed tonight for you." Robby drawled. "And, hell yes, I'll help you out, partner!"
Nick laughed a bit more as the buck began to rifle through all of the pieces and begin hanging them up on the door of his nearby dresser. He was actually surprised to see how excited this made Robby. The todd was far beyond being surprised by most of the Hopps' knowledge that he was in love with Judith Laverne Hopps. He had not really confirmed it with most, so it was all deduction. If they asked, he could not tell a lie. That was not how it worked for Nick in the warren. On the other paw…
"Y'know," Nick began. "We've never really talked about me liking your sister."
"You love her with all your heart?" Robby drawled, not turning away from his work on Nick's clothing.
"I do."
"Well, you've more than proved your dedication over the years. I told you already that we've heard everything." The buck reaffirmed before taking a pause. "Plus, anyway. Most of the bucks around here and in the city are rampant douchebags due to the conservative nature of their raisings. Even me, I want to be able to provide enough for my family so that my future wife doesn't have to work. I don't want her to be a baby machine, like the others do, but I would like for her to be able to focus on taking care of a passel of kits without worry. And, you. Well, you're from an entirely different background. I think that you excite my sister's senses in all the ways that the local bucks never could… And, you're good to her. That's what matters to me. Hell, you don't need my blessing. But, if you're concerned that I'm concerned, I can tell you that I'm not."
When Robby finally turned around to look at Nick, the todd noticed that the buck was grinning from ear-to-ear. It seemed as if Robby was now his biggest fan on winning the heart of the doe that he ached so badly for.
"Alright. Everything's taken care of. Now, you go catch some air while I get all this taken care of. I'll probably have to fight Riley for the right to dewrinkle your suit." Robby said, slapping Nick on the shoulder jovially. Both of them winced at the buck's forgetfulness.
Nick limped away on his crutches before hearing an entertained pour of laughter bounce off of the walls.
"Heh heh! Catch some air… Get it?" Robby called out to him rudely.
"I should've asked your dad to help me." Nick hollered back before closing the door behind him. He was grinning despite himself.
For Nick, it was well past time to go upstairs and find out what was for breakfast. He hoped that breakfast was still on, anyway. It had to be pushing its way up on 10-o'clock in the morning. The speed of the elevator brought his thoughts back around to the beginning of the day. Marcy had disappeared by way of her mother, he had deduced, and how both he and Judy were curled into one another's embrace under a light sheet within the bed. It did not even pester him that his body was roiling with a soft purr as he scented the top of her head with his nose. The doe felt so delicate to hold and it made his blood churn in his veins at how gorgeous she was. If it could have ever been possible for Judy Hopps to be bad for him, he would not have taken the time to give a single hoot. Nicholas Wilde was all hers.
And, to start a family with her?
The thoughts tumbled again, back to what Marcy had done while he had been asleep. He had not been able to get the scent of her chinning out of his nose since Veronica had told him. As soon as the elevator doors opened again – Nick hoped that this was the last time he'd have to get in the thing for a couple of hours – the todd's nose immediately began searching for the other darling that was close to his heart nowadays.
As he had done before, Nick ended up following the Marcy's scent until he found her being fed by Vera in the kitchens. The two immediately spotted one another, upon his entry, and Marcy immediately pointed for her mother to look up at the newcomer. The kit was exceptionally happy to see him and her mother gave him the cheekiest, knowing smile that she could muster. It took a minute to work his way around the preparation tables and dodge some of the smoothly running Hopps workers as they glided around the area. But, he wound his way to their table and sat down across the table from the two does. Nick propped his head up on his paws to while presenting a sly grin of his own
Vera popped the bottle out of the kit's muzzle and set it on the bench before picking her up under the arms and setting her on the tabletop: pushing her closer to Nick until she was halfway between the two adults. Marcy received a gentle pat on the bottom in indication that it was all her now. The little doe's ears fell back against her head as her paws began to fiddle with the hem of her little pink skirt. It was clear that a tidal wave of shy energy washed over the kit and Nick nearly reached down to clutch at the portion of his shirt that was over his heart. She was killing him with adorable sweetness.
Nick remained as suave as he could while using his right paw to reach across his chest and tap on his left shoulder in silent inquiry. Poor Marcy turned about as pink as the little outfit that she was dressed in for the day, tilting her head down towards her forepaws as she gave him a little nod.
"Oh, you're killing me…" Nick whispered, feeling like his heart was going to explode from how adorable she was.
Nick slowly reached out to her and used his paws to slide her over to his side of the table carefully. The two short, rounded, brown ears shot straight up in the air as Nick leaned in close to her nose with his own. Over the kit's head, the todd could see her mother holding her camera while looking like she was going to explode: biting on her knuckle to keep quiet while not being able to hide the biggest smile that he had ever seen.
With a tilt of his head, Nick drug a claw down the side of his lower jaw, on the left and then on the right, so that Marcy could sniff at the method of how foxes marked others. Once it looked like she had the concept down, he pointed from himself to the little doe for permission. If it had to have been described by the todd fox, Marcy went from rose to watermelon on the color palette for pinks in a split second.
As soon as her daughter gave another shy nod, Vera lost her composure. "D'aaawwwwww!" She said softly.
Nick rolled his eyes before reaching up to hold the little bunny still. He swiped the edge of his jaw up and down, against the side of Marcy's head, before repeating the action on the opposite side. Once he released her, Nick laid his head down on the table to watch the bunny kit with a kind smile adorned on his lips. Marcy, to her credit, was doing an amazing job of keeping her composure despite it being clear that she was trying not to cry. Trying to make it look like she was sniffing at the new scent instead of sniffling to keep from bawling like the day before. Vera was snapping off as many pictures as she could of her little baby's interaction with her first friend. Nick scooted his head a little closer so that his nose was nearer to Marcy. Once she was done wiping her eyes, Nick watched as her tiny paws hugged each side of his snout. Then, she vigorously began marking the top of his snout with her chin while hugging him.
"I love you, too, Marcy. Lots and lots." Nick said quietly.
Nick could not help but roll his eyes again as he looked back to see Vera and a couple of the other mothers, who had been feeding their kits, as they fanned themselves with their paws. Vera stopped long enough to push the two bottles across the tabletop so that Nick could feed his biggest fan on the whole planet. Marcy, completely distracted by the fact that Nick was there now, crawled over the top of his brow so that she could take her spot on top of his head like normal. The todd picked up the first, half-full bottle and offered it to the kit before rolling his forearms underneath his chin.
For the next hour, Nick was brought some food and "suffered" through the excited kit's swapping between feeding herself and chinning random spots all over the top of his head. Vera, in the background, cooing and taking pictures all the while. She had no doubt sent some of the media to Judy and posted other bits on the family's Furbook group. The todd got the feeling that, after seeing some of the photos, the Room of Spontaneity would see quite a bit of use over the course of the rest of the day. Vera would have her needs tended to, but Nick had already known that she was positively pregnant against for a little while now. He just hoped that Derek would not come around and thank him for being the catalyst of her raging hormones. The todd would absolutely go find himself a tractor to work on for a couple of days out of that sheer embarrassment.
Nick felt a tap on the top of his head and then saw the first empty bottle wiggle down in front of his line-of-sight.
"Cshssk! I'm out of ammunition!" Nick mimed being on one of his work radios, taking the little bottle and scooping up the other to pass it to Marcy. "Reloading! Tshssk!"
That brought a chorus of giggles to the table and was quickly punctuated by two loud gasps. Vera had leapt up towards Nick right at the moment he felt something bounce off his head. On the second impact, the todd felt a sticky wetness pour into his fur as the bottle fell into his paw again. Sans the little pink nipple.
"Uhhh… Apparently we've had a magazine malfunction, Command." He said with a chuckle.
Apparently, Marcy had grabbed the nipple and it had come off. Subsequently, the whole table was riled into a loud chorus of laughter at the fact that the milk was all over the top of his head and beginning to drip down between his eyes. Marcy was up top grumbling about her mistake as Vera shot around the table with a clothe to help Nick clean up.
The todd wrangled Marcy in his paws while he let the doe soak up the milk and dry him off. He noticed several Hopps entering the kitchen from the door that he had come through earlier. Judy was among them and Nick decided that it was probably time to actually finish the food that he had been brought. So, he nestled Marcy against his chest and pulled the plate in front of the two of them as Vera was finishing her cleanup. After having a kit, he guessed it was usual to be somewhat rough during the cleaning of her kit. His fur must have been a sight to see.
"You're going to be a little sticky, Nick. You'll have to wash up later." Vera said, clearly unhappy about not being able to do a spotless job of it. Judy had taken a seat next to him as she watched the proceedings. His friend had seemingly figured out what happened and was giggling from the sidelines.
"If it had been anywhere else, he could have just licked it up." A sister popped in from down the table.
"It would probably taste odd to him, Amylee." Vera mentioned.
"Considering that it's the all-natural stuff, I doubt it, Ver'." The sister said with a cheeky grin, squeezing her breasts together. It brought more laughter to the table at his expense.
Nick blushed and tickled the kit a little, redirecting his eyes to the plate. "And, on that note, it's time to finish my breakfast. You want to help me, sweetheart?" He asked Marcy.
"I don't know why he'd need to clean up. It smells like he's already taken a bath in Marcy." Judy sassed loud enough for the whole table to hear.
Nick shook his head before forking some of his eggs into his mouth. He knew they could all tell that he was blushing and was more than happy to ignore their jabs while intermittently poking pieces of egg with his claw to offer it to Marcy: who very happily decided that she would have plenty of considering how good the breakfast was.
Around the table, everyone's interest eventually fell back to their tasks for the day. Nick was happy enough to just listen in to Judy and Vera as the mother shared all of the pictures with his partner. Apparently, Vera had taken a video of the markings which nearly sent Judy off like a bottle rocket. At least, she sounded like one from how happy it made her.
Eventually, Marcy made it clear that she was full so Nick placed her back on top of his head. He felt her little paws ruffling through his fur before she laid down and curled up to sleep a little. Two grabby paws eventually hooked onto his left ear and folded it over so that she could nibble on the tip as if it were a pacifier. It was obviously naptime and Nick did not mind. His plate was removed and that allowed for him to rest his head on his forearms again so that he could close his own eyes.
The air of the warren seemed happier to Nick now that the hawk was no longer a threat. That happiness and the feeling of safeness in all of the Hopps made him feel comfortable enough to be willing to take a nap within the kitchen: still listening to Judy and Vera, as well as Marcy's sleepy churrs.