Trust Issues

Nick walks up to the home of one of his closest friends. Sandy lived in what basically amounted to a giant oak tree. He was too big to enter but from what he could see, it was cozy and comfortable. The inside looked no different than any paw built house.

Nick cups his paws around his muzzle and calls out to the inhabitant "Sandy!"

A reply in the form of an acorn hits him on the top of his head. "Up here!" Nick turns his eyes toward the voice in the canopy of the tree. He finds a Squirrel waving to him on one of the many branches.

He waits as she descends to the ground.

"So what's got you in a tizzy?"

"Can we talk about this in private?"

"We can use the garage, but you're carrying me there."

He couches down and uses his arm as a ramp to allow Sandy to climb to his shoulder.

Sandy starts up a conversation as they head to their destination "I seen ya in the papers."

"I've been in the papers a lot recently, you have to be more specific."

"The one where you and the Bunny busted the mayor."

"Which one?"

"Both."

"Funny enough, that ties into why I'm here."

They reached a detached two bay garage and Nick waits for Sandy to open it up. It's a large structure that seems ill suited for a mammal of Sandy's size, and fitted more for mammals like Bison or Moose. When it opens up, he sees many different vehicles and machinery. He sees robots, a helicopter, a submarine, and even a half built rocket. There is a little office the size is a birdhouse next to the door that they just walked in through.

The door closes automatically behind them. Sandy jumped from his shoulder to a walkway that came up to his chest. It travelled all around the room with a catwalk connecting the front and back walls between the two bays.

"Do you know what happened after?"

"Yup, it was all over the news. I don't think that there is anyone who doesn't know."

"The reason I'm here is because the antidote didn't work."

Sandy made a show of looking at Nick from head to toe "Seems to work just fine to me."

"For now. But I went savage yesterday."

"If you went savage, how come it isn't all over the news?"

"Because I didn't attack anyone, I stayed hidden as I moved around."

"Wether or not you went savage, why come to me? I'm an Engineer, not a Veterinarian."

"You are one of the smartest mammals in the world, I'm sure you know some of the best Veterinarians. Someone who can keep it on the down low. You go to those smart mammal conventions enough."

"Dumbass! The only mammals who go to the conventions I go to are other engineers."

"You didn't deny knowing someone though."

"No I don't know anyone."

"Maybe a friend of a friend?"

"Nope."

"How 'bout-"

"No matter how many time you ask, the answer is still no. Why can you just go to the hospital where they treated you the first time?"

"If they fucked up the first time, why would I go them a second? And plus, they'll have to make public knowledge and I don't want it to become an issue until after it's dealt with, if at all."

"Why? It's not like it's something to to be ashamed of."

"Because my girlfriend is a cop and if everyone thinks that she can revert back to savagery at any given moment, how will she be able to continue working as a cop? She has gone through hell and back to be a cop and if she finds out that she can't be one anymore because no one feels safe around her, it will devastate her."

"You have a girlfriend?"

"I thought you said you read the news?"

"I read news, not gossip. I have better things to do with my time."

"Fair enough. So yes I do have a girlfriend, she is actually the Bunny cop from the same article."

"Really? I didn't know you had a thing for buck teeth. Should I be worried?"

"I just said I have a girlfriend, and we're getting off topic."

"Fine, but you gotta tell me about her later."

"If you want me to talk all day then I'll be happy to accommodate you."

Sandy snorts "I didn't peg you as one of those types."

"You say I talk too much, so what makes you think that changed? And we're getting off topic again."

Sandy waved nonchalantly "Fine. You have to remember that a mammal's body is a complex organism. There are so many things that it does simultaneously, and healing that complex organism is a complex process. There are plenty of procedures that require multiple surgeries, but that doesn't mean that each one failed. It just means that the damage done to you was greater than they originally thought."

"But an antidote isn't like surgery, it was supposed to get rid of the Night Howler's poison."

"But the damage is already done, your mind probably just needs time to heal. You should just go to the ones who treated you the first time, they already have all the information they need."

"So this entire trip was a waste of time?"

"You calling me a waste of time?! I oughta beat the savage outa you."

"You know what I meant."

Sandy just smiles "Still doesn't change the fact that I want to smash your muzzle in almost every time we hang out."

"What can I say? It's a gift."

A chime from Sandy's phone interrupts the two.

She checks the caller ID and her eyes widen. "I need to take this. It'll be awhile so you should just go."

"Geez, I travel all this way just to get kicked out?"

"If you wanted to be babied, you shoulda gone to your ma's" Sandy is about to answer when she stops and says "I still want to hear about your girl later." And she disappeared into the office.

"Guess I'll show myself out then."

Judy walked into the precinct less enthusiastically than normal. Her mind more preoccupied with her situation with Nick still running through her head. She checked the time and saw that she had about twenty minutes until she clocks in.

She had been worried after he ditched her while she showered, and it was something that she didn't know how to deal with.

She just hoped that this was not going to be the norm from now on.

She sees Ben tapping away at his phone and decided to talk to him for a bit.

"Hi Ben." She jumped onto a chair by the desk so that he didn't have to lean over to look at her.

"Hey Judy, how ya doin'?" His nose twitches and his smile grows "Actually, I think I have a pretty good idea."

Her were blushing bright red, but she didn't drop them "Is it that noticeable?"

"Yep."

There is an instinctual satisfaction in knowing that everyone else knows that she was claimed.

"That reminds me, you never told me about him."

"Well for starters, he's a smart ass."

Ben snorts in amusement.

She goes on to describe Nick and tells Ben about how they met and how infuriating he was at the time. She told him that he was bullied when he was young and how he had to take care of his mother from a young age.

Been couldn't help but put his two cents in every once in a while.

But one of those comments stood out "Those types are the hardest to date."

"What do you mean?"

"Well first you need to understand something first, and that is what it means to be Mated. When two mammals become Mates, what is something that you can expect them to do?"

"Move in together."

"And you know why? It's because when they pool their resources together, they are more stable and they rely on each other and take care of one another."

"That's how it's supposed to be."

"Yeah, but Nick isn't going to be like that, or at least not at first."

"What do you mean?" Judy tilts her head in confusion.

"From what you told me, Nick never had anyone to lean on. He always has to do things by himself and he had to do it alone. And when the going gets tough, he more than likely won't rely on anyone when he needs help. Not even you."

"You make it seem as if our relationship is doomed to fail."

"No, not at all. I'm telling you from experience, my ex was the same way, he always bottled up his feelings and never talked about what was bothering him. What you need to do is to establish yourself as his safe haven, someone he can go to without a second thought if you want your relationship to work."

"And how do I do that?" There is no way that Judy will let her relationship fall apart without a fight.

"Well whatever you do, don't make it seem like you're trying to pry, if you do, then he's more likely to try and hide it better."

"Hopps!"

Both Judy and Ben jump from their seats. They turn to the source of the voice and sees the Chief looking down at them from the ledge of the second floor.

"Shouldn't you be heading out now?"

Judy looks at the clock and gasps. It's been twenty minutes since her shift started. She doesn't say goodbye to Ben as she rushes off.

The rest of her morning goes smoothly. Writing tickets, verbal abuse from mammals who owns the cars that get ticketed, a few comments about her relationship with Nick.

All in all it goes swimmingly.

The one thing that lingers on her mind is about what Ben said, and it has been bothering her.

She thinks back to all her interactions with Nick. Most of their conversations are either mundane or focused on her. Other than the time in the Rainforest District, he never gave her information about himself without something else bringing it up and making it unavoidable like with what happened with Mr. Big, Agnes and Kris, or with his Mom.

She knew small things like what type of music he liked (even then he was a bit vague). But she didn't know things like what are his most precious memories? what are his fears? Does he have any hobbies? What does he do for fun? Does he have any pet peeves?

*ping*

Judy checks the message.

It was Nick.

'Lunch?'

'Sure, where do you wanna meet?'

'Spring & Prairie. When do u hav break?'

Looking at the map on her phone she sees that it wasn't too far away, only about four miles away. She can make it in about ten minutes depending on traffic.

'I can take my break in 30 minutes.'

'Ok. I'll c u then'

'Where are we eating?'

'It's a surprise'

Judy smiles. They will make it work, it takes time to build trust. And they just started their relationship.

She heads toward her destination while working the meters and makes it to her destination in twenty five, and she used her radio to notify Ben that she is starting her lunch break.

She looks around to see if she can figure out where they are going. There is a line of cafés and restaurants in her side of the street, and on the other side of the is a fairly large park with a lot of greenery, a small mammal built lake (or was a big pond?) with geese and ducks, a dirt trail circling the pond with benches facing the water. Many of the restaurants have outdoor seating areas that were fairly packed.

She decides to text Nick 'I'm here, are you nearby?"

'I'm driving up now'

And sure enough, she sees him pull up and park in front of the park.

As she waits for the crosswalk light, she watches him get something from the back seat of his car but she can't see from where she is. She sees his head pop back up and he closes the door. She already crossed the street and was walking toward him when she sees what he grabbed, and was pleasantly surprised that he had a picnic basket. He waits by the beginning of the trail and when she gets close he grabs her with his free paw by her waist and pulls her against his side.

He leans down and kisses her cheek "Sorry about this morning, turned out to be a false alarm. Now c'mon, there's this one spot up ahead where we can get a great view of the lake."

He smiles as she grins a dopey smile and her ears flush.

She lets him guide her to their destination "So is this an apology? 'Cuz if so, then it's a good one."

"Partly, but it's also too nice of a day to not do something like this."

She looks around at the other mammals around and sees some feeding the wildlife, others jogging, and even some fishing.

"Are they even allowed do that?" She points at the latter.

"Mammals can fish, but only catch and release. There's some Rangers who wander around keeping an eye on them in case if any get tempted to try anything, and if you have a bucket or ice chest with fishing poles then they'll check them."

"Do you fish?" If she wants him to open up more, it's best to start on small things and work her way up to bigger things.

"I've fished only a couple of times, but never here."

"Do you do Catch and Release? Or do you fish for food."

"If I fish, then I'm going to eat it. Anyway, the spot's right there." He points to a portion of the shore that is covered in grass and outcrops a little and is surrounded in three sides by water, and a tree close by provides shade.

He pulls a blanket out of the basket and lays it out for them. "I didn't have much time to make food, so what I did was get different ingredients for sandwiches and I got a bunch of fruits for the side."

Indeed, the inside of that basket is a treasure trove containing strawberries, blueberries, apples, grapes, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, a jar of pickles, bread, cheese, various condiments, some plastic utensils and disposable plates.

"This all looks great."

It's simple but romantic, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

End Note

Feel free to point out any mistakes and typos.