The Date

From her seat, Judy sees two Gray Foxes, vixen and a todd, who sets Nick on edge.

"Well after you refuse to meet with us, we decided to see what was more important than family." The todd speaks, and Judy focuses on his appearance.

He was tall, taller than Nick who is a whole head shorter. Which was weird because Red Foxes were the largest of the Fox species. His coat is off white, almost silver, and he has pale blue eyes. He dons a white short sleeve button up, tan cargo shorts, and yellow sneakers.

"You're the only one that I'm actually related to."

The vixen speaks up "That doesn't change that we all care for each other."

"You people only care about yourselves." Nick barks out. His tail is really flared now, and it twitches in agitation. "The only reason I still tolerate talking to Kris is that he is still blood."

"What about Kylie? Or Clive? Don't you care about them?"

"Yeah well, Clive was the only one talked has to me or Mom since." Nick snaps his teeth at the taller Fox, who she assumes is Kris.

"I apologize, however-"

"NO! You don't get to justify yourself! I waited for any one of you to reach out to us, no one did. Instead you all disappear from out lives. After all this time, I don't want to see any of you."

Nick gets in the car and drives off.

As he drives, Judy sends concerned glances toward him. His mood is significantly dampened.

"Who were they?"

His ears fold back. "That was my cousin and his Mate, Kristofferson and Agnes Silverfox."

Most of the ride was quiet, at some point Nick had turned on the radio. When Nick pulls into a parking space, Judy looks around her as they get out.

"This area has no residential areas. Instead, it's dedicated to businesses like restaurants, grocery stores, outdoor malls and whatever." Nick gestures around.

There were stores that were for all sizes, and each level of a building got smaller and smaller, which are proportional to what species it caters to. Big mammals like elephants and hippos are on ground level, while rodents are at the top. There is a vast system of bridges and walkways that connect both side to the street. There are stores for what seems like anything.

Nick watches Judy with a smile, it's like she is a tourist. But give him enough time, and she'll know the city just as much as any native Zootopian.

They spend the day exploring the stores and just enjoying each other's company. The bad mood that Nick was in had long since disappeared. Judys' optimism and cheer is really infectious.

It's refreshing to see the world through the rose tinted glasses that he had long since removed. Honestly, she was like a kit in a candy store. And he loved that she can experience that, he never could since he grew up around it.

"Excuse me?" Nick and Judy turn around to see a Mink sow and a Sand Cat tom approach them.

Judy responds first "Can we help you?"

"No, you already helped us. You two gave us the courage to go public with our relationship."

Nick knows what they are talking about, but it seems that Judy doesn't "We did?"

They look at each other like Judy just said that the sun was green. "Don't you know?"

Judy tilts her head "Know what?"

The mink pulls out her phone "You two are an inspiration for all inter relationships." She shows Judy an article that has their picture.

Judys' ears turn red. She skims the article, and her ears turn red from embarrassment, to red from anger.

How dare they? To say things like that just because she isn't dating another Rabbit is just horrible. She looks at Nick who struck up a conversation with the tom.

"Listen we have to go, but just know, that you are bringing an important topic to light. It's been too long for this to be going on like this, things can't stay like this. And you are spearheading the charge for change. Just remember that no matter how hard things get, you two have supporters. And most importantly, you have each other." The mink waves the cat over and they leave with a goodbye.

As Nick and Judy continue their date, Judy hugs his arm and leans against him.

After their adventure through the shopping area of downtown, it's around four pm. They bought enough snacks throughout the day to ward off their hunger, but they need actual food at some point.

They decided on a smokehouse that caters to both pred and prey.

Judy looks around at the cabin styled restaurant. The warm, soft lights keep the place lit, but dim enough for nocturnal, crepuscular, and diurnal mammals to all be comfortable.

The smells are mouthwatering. There wasn't many others seeing as is not the dinner rush yet, so the duo didn't need to wait before getting a booth.

Nick and Judy are currently questioning each other as they wait for their food.

"So is it true that Rabbit teeth never stop growing?"

"Yep, and not just Rabbits but most rodents too. We have to use wooden dowels called chew rods about twice a week to keep them short, if not we can cut up the inside of our mouths pretty badly. If they get too long, then a dentist will trim them to length. However that is rather uncomfortable, and could be painful if not done correctly."

"So does that mean you never get cavities?"

Judy pouts "You can't skip my turn."

"How bout this? You get to ask two questions in a row."

She makes a show of pondering his suggestion "Fine. We can get cavities, it actually hurts a lot when we do and have to grind them down. That is actually how most rabbit kits learn that brushing our teeth is still necessary. They don't grind their teeth after getting cavities and end up needing them trimmed."

She thinks for a moment "So what was with the reaction to me marking your shirt?"

Nick pauses for a moment "I need to know what marking means to a Rabbit before I can answer that."

"Hey! You already asked two questions."

"Then you get to ask three. But in order to answer your question, I really do need to know what it meant to you."

"Well when Bunnies mark each other, the context matters. Parents can do it to their kits anytime, family members can mark each other but usually only littermates do because it'll take too much time to mark every member of the family. If it's between non family then that usually means that those mammals are courting."

"Ok, but that doesn't answer what I asked. I asked what it meant to you."

Judy blushes "I read that Foxes find scent important and to let them mark you and your clothes."

Nick snorts "You adorable nerd, did you do research on Foxes?" Judy swats his arm

"I wonder what you would look like with glasses." When he licks his lips and stares at her, her ears turn red. At some point her ears would permanently look like Nick's fur if she keeps blushing.

"Of course I did research on Fox relationships, I want this to work. Don't you?"

His eyes soften, they look at her with a tenderness that melts her heart. And then he speaks "Of course, but I don't need to do research."

"And why's that?"

"Because I have a girlfriend who knows all things Bunny, so why would I go anywhere else to learn about Bunnies?" He leans in to give her a small kiss.

He pulls away after brief contact and continued answering her question "Ok so it's a bit different for Foxes. Foxes mark family at anytime, not just parents, because our sense of smell helps us to find each other easily. Kinda like how Wolves at the ZPD track with a belonging that has the owners scent. However if a Fox does it to a Mate, then it's a declaration of commitment. It's kinda like the step before one takes after deciding that there is no one else, usually a proposal happens not long after."

Judys' blush was now atomic. Why didn't the blogs that mentioned the scent marking say anything about the meaning of it? All they said that it's important.

"You there Fluff?"

What was she doing? Oh yeah, questions. She still has two more, what should she use it for?

"Ok so, have you ever dated outside of your species before?"

"Yep."

Judy stays quiet.

"I'm not going to say anything else. Don't kiss and tell and all that. What about you?"

Judy shakes her head, her ears following the motion "I haven't."

The food arrive, Judy had gotten a salad with apple slices, roasted walnuts and cranberries. Nick got a maple smoked turkey burger with fries. They eat in a comfortable silence. One that comes with just enjoying each other's presence.

Nick pays after they finish. "Let's go to the Galleria, I want to show you the fountain show."

Judy tilts her head "What's that?"

"I don't know what it's actually called, but there is a giant water fountain that has those jets that shoot up water. It has lights in the water that changes color and is synced up to the radio, so it's shoots water and lights up to whatever station is playing."

Her eyes were wide with wonder and excitement "That sounds amazing!"

"It is, I used to come here with Mom and Dad all the time. They even let bands set up and play with the fountains in sync with them."

"Have you seen any bands play?"

"Plenty, but all of them are local bands. So you wouldn't recognize any of them, I don't even think some of them are still around."

When they get to the shopping center, it's like nothing just has seen before. It has stores surrounding an open space that has a large fountain that is wider than most Pawlypic sized pools, though only has about a foot of water. Further off there are more paths to take and all of them are pedestrians only. There is stores of a kinds. Book stores, electronic stores, department stores, you name it, they probably have it. There are sections of grass where mammals can sit on the available lawn chairs, and surrounding that there is a brick road that travels along the storefronts and continues down around a corner. Judy even notices tracks for a tram that follow the road into the. There are restaurants on the top floor that have balcony seating overviewing the entire courtyard, and there kiosks for food and snacks to go. As it was evening, the lamps and string lights have turned on.

Nick watches Judy as she marvels at the spectacular view. Her eyes shine and her smile wide. He buys ice cream from the kiosk next to them.

He gestures toward the bench off the sidewalk as he hand her a cone.

"It's going to be nine soon, so the fountain should start up soon."

Nick watches the fountain, and the longer he stare, the more silent he becomes.

"The last time I was here, was the last time I saw Kris."

"What happened between you and your cousin?"

All amusement drained from his demeanor, instead taking a somewhat downtrodden expression "That is quite the change in topic."

"It's fine if you don't want to answer."

Nick is quiet. He questions if he should. "It's not just Kris, it's all of them. They disappeared after Mom was paralyzed. All because they got themselves in trouble and couldn't show their muzzles anywhere near Zootopia. We called them family, and they called us family. They always spout out how family are supposed to take care of each other. Instead they leave Mom alone with a twelve year old and no job and no support."

"And what did they get themselves into?"

"They tried to rob Boggis, Bunce, and Bean."

Judy snickers "What kind of names are those?"

"The kind of names that belong to some of the most wealthy mammals in the world."

Judys' smile falters "C'mon, Kristofferson seemed like he couldn't hurt a mouse."

"Actually, you'd be surprised. He has a black belt in karate and has been into MMA for many years, he even won a couple of regional tournaments. I never got into it, despite Mom trying to get me interested for the longest time. Anyway, he didn't actually take part of whatever they did. But they thought he did so he left with them."

"So they evaded police and then what?"

"After Boggis, Bunce, and Bean went to the police, they started using their own means to chase after them. They each own large shares in a private security company, but they're more like mercenaries. They were trying to kill them."

Judy gasped. But now that Nick started to let it out, he couldn't close the floodgates. He needed to get this off his chest and Judy was the one who opened those gates.

"We didn't know the length that they would go to correct their embarrassment. Not until we received a package from them." Nick was crying. Not noticeable except for the darkening of the fur by his eyes.

"What was in it?" Judy couldn't help but ask.

"It was Dad's tail."

End Note

I vaguely based the last place on the Glendale Galleria.