A/N: Minor editing revisions on 07/10/2020. No plot changes from the original posting just trying clean it up a bit. Sorry about any of the updated story dings.
Distilled Dreams
Part One: Fermentation
Chapter Three
-Nick Age 9-
Mr. Howlstine carefully gathered several folders from the passenger seat of his car before stepping out onto the sidewalk in front of Wilde and Son's Suit-opia. Spying a water buffalo in a meter-maid outfit working his way up the other side of the street he dropped a few extra coins in his own meter. He had arrived back in Zootopia two days ago after his tour of the countryside as he started to think of his latest assignment from Mr. Big. An eventful trip all in all with Bunnyburrow being his last stop. In addition to finding a few places that may work for the Wilde's he had also been able to secure several properties for Family operations that would free up property in the city for more profitable ventures. He was about to open and walk through the door when he noticing a new sign in the window. Wilde and Son's would like to thank you for your many years of patronage. We will be closing this location and moving to a new store outside of the city in the near future. We are sorry but we will be unable to take any full custom orders at this time. Thank you for understanding. 'They certainly are not wasting anytime,' Mr. Howlstine though to himself chuckling. He wished all of the mammals he worked with thought so far ahead and didn't save everything until the last minute.
Johnathan Wilde started talking before looking up when the bell over the door rang. "Good evening sir. I am sorry to say we will be closing in a quarter of hour but how may I help you? Oh...Mr. Howlstine my apologies I didn't recognize you right away."
"Think nothing of it Mr. Wilde," Mr. Howlstine waved off the apology. "I should have called before coming over. I have finished my reports on the properties that I believe you and Mrs. Wilde would be interested as well as the sales offer for this shop." He raised the files in his paw. "If I am not interrupting anything I was hoping to go over them with the two of you. Some of the properties could be a bit time sensitive."
"Of course. Of course," Johnathan said moving around the counter to the door. He quickly flipped the sign handing there from open to close. "Dinner should be ready soon if you care to join me and the family."
"That is a kind offer but I wouldn't want to impose." Mr. Howlstine replied concerned he was interrupting after all,
"Nonsense we are still trying to work our way though the food Gran-mama sent with us." Johnathan lead Mr. Howlstine to an inner door of the shop that connected with their living area, "We do not want to waste any by letting it go bad. Though you maybe in a bit of a fight with Nicky if you try and take any of those blueberry cannolis. He has become rather attached to them. "Vivian my love! Set a place for one more! Mr. Howlstine is here and I invited him to join us for dinner!"
"I wouldn't dream of taking one of those from him. I've been more partial to the strawberry ones myself," Mr. Howlstine replied moving though the small but well kept home hearing Mrs. Wilde call back that she would have a place ready soon. Smelling the aroma of dinner his stomach let out a treacherous growl and he was suddenly grateful of the extra coins he had put in the meter.
Mr. Howlstine let out a content sigh as Johnathan, with Nick's help, cleared the plates and started to wash them. He had offered to help but Vivian had insisted that as a guest it wouldn't be right to let him help. Instead he found himself with a cup of tea in one paw and a cannoli in the other sitting across from Vivian.
"So Mr. Howlstine," Vivian started sipping from her own tea cup, "Unless it was merely a home cooked meal you where looking for what brings you by?"
"Ah yes," Mr. Howlstine said regretfully setting down the cannoli. Picking up the files from a side table where they would be out of the way of dinner he placed them in front of him. "As I mentioned to Mr. Wilde in the shop I have finished with looking into properties that suit the requirements you gave me earlier this week."
Johnathan and Nick rejoined Vivian and Mr. Howlstine at the table drying their paws. Johnathan spoke handing one of the precious blueberry cannolis to Nick, "Please we have had dinner together. Call me Johnathan and my mate Vivian."
"Then I must insist that you call me Howard," Howard grinned seeing the young todd restraining himself to slowly eating the treat trying to make it last. "However to business," he said sliding the first file over to Vivian and Johnathan, "Before we start looking at the properties I found this the the offer Mr. Big has made to take ownership of this property. He made a very generous offer as you can see. He is very interested in keeping this location part of the Family. The home and shop have been very well maintained over the years adding to the value. Also although not in a central prime location there are many shops that would do very well here. I believe Mr. Big has a young otter couple on the payroll that are looking for a space to open a floral shop that would do well here."
Vivian and Johnathan stared at the offer. It was more then they would have expected. More they the city valued the property to tax them on by a fair margin. "That is certainty more then a fair offer," Vivian said nervous about accepting it. Mr. Big may have been the one to make the offer but part of her felt that it would be taking advantage of the situation to accept. "You do not think it is too much?"
"As I said Vivian Mr. Big wants to keep this location in Family hands. While you owned it outright it was still a Family run business. He is willing to pay a premium to keep it so," Howard replied. He could count on one paw the number of mammals who wouldn't have already jumped to sign the offer and take the money. Vivian and Johnathan talked quietly together. Howard heard them mutter about if it would be an insult to Mr. Big's kindness to take less. He cleared his throat and pulled out a pen, "As both Mr. Big real-estate broker and your own I would advise that you take the offer as it stands. You would not get a better one on the open market." Slowly Johnathan took the pen and signed. Vivian adder her own signature below his.
"Excellent," Howard said taking the signed offer paperwork back and sliding a card from the Lemming Brothers Bank with an account number on it to them. "The funds had already been deposited into this account in anticipation of your acceptance. If one of the properties I have for you meets your expectations the appropriate funds to buy and renovate it will be removed from that account. Anything left over is of course yours to do with as you please. Now onto the properties." He opened three folders and laid a few papers out of each of them. "To summarize I believe there three best fit the requirements and wished you gave me. As you can see the funds you just received will be enough to buy and renovate these properties to be more comfortable for yourselves. The first is in Foxburg. Overall a fair match. The highest concentration of Fox families to overall population and the den on the market wouldn't need any modifications besides fresh paint. However there are a number of specialty shops already in the area so your tailor shop Johnathan may not do as well as it has done here and the hilly areas is ill suited for a number of crops so it would reduce what you could make without importing Vivian."
Howard paused to take a sip of tea and a bite from the cannoli while Vivian and Johnathan looked though the other papers in the file about the den, the shop he had found and details about the community. When they started to look to the next folder he continued, "The second option is in the north Meadowlands. It is the furthers of the three from Zootopia. Primarily wolf, sheep, and goat population although there are several established fox families in the area. Much better crop variety as well as several meat farms but the population density is poor. Again the tailor shop would likely do worse business then here. The home is wolf sized and would need most of the fixtures renovated to be comfortable to use but is already big enough that there would be no structural changes." Johnathan looked heartbroken and spent little time looking though the extra pages since both of these options made his shop a liability to their families future.
"The last one is I believe the best option despite it having the lowest fox to population ratio. It has the highest population density and wonderful farm land suited to a wide variety of crops. The closed to Zootopia at a little over two hundred miles away. The home has sat vacant for sometime and the sellers are motivated to sell to someone outside of the area. Apparently there was family rivalry issues in the far past and they don't want their land being adsorbed by the locals. It would need some major renovation work but since the price is so low you could build from scratch instead of renovating if you wished."
"It sounds almost too good to be true," Johnathan said reaching for the papers to take a closer look.
"Where is it?" Vivian asked leaning in to look at the papers.
"Well...the mammals I spoke with when I was looking around did not react negatively when I hinted at my clients being foxes and spoke well of one of the two fox families...the kit of the other is a bit of a trouble maker apparently..." Howard rambled a bit.
" Bunnyburrow?!" Vivian and Johnathan shouted together.
"Bunnies?" Nick said speaking up for the first time. "Their ears look soft and cute. I wonder if one of them will let me pet them?"
-Judy Age 8-
Audrey Thumperson stripped off the waitress uniform for the little diner her parents owned in town. She had been working there since she was tall enough and strong enough to wait tables and she had to make money somehow since commissions where pretty much non existent. She smelled like steamed and grilled carrots. She was tired of smelling like carrots. She had thought that being a Realtor would be exciting when she first started when she turned eighteen and make her enough money to get out of the country. All the families around there should be plenty of listings she had thought. After five years she realized how naive she was. Really she realized that in the first year but refused to give up. Nearly all the property that changed hands here where inheritances and families splitting off a piece of land for some of their kits. If the bunnies who took it over couldn't handle it it was more often then not reabsorbed into the main family lands or given to the next oldest kit down on the list. No need for listing it on the market. Even when an entire family left they usually sold to their neighbors with little more then a handshake and a check.
The Proudfeet land was the only farm listed on the market and she had that listing since the first week she started. The Proudfeet clan refused to sell to any of the neighbors and the other bunny families. She never asked for the full story and really didn't care as long as she still had the listing. What ever had happened happened several decades ago but the Proudfeet lived up to their name and refused to let it go. Even as the family slowly dwindling in numbers shunning they other families. Finally there where too few of them to support the farm lands and one night a few days after she had first gotten her red blazer from the real-estate company she worked for they up and moved. Since the Thumperson family moved in in the last decade and wasn't part of whatever had happened they trusted her enough sell the land for them though with the two rather strict conditions. No selling to the local families and no leporid families at all.
Staring at the answering machines new messages display was no help. The harsh red zero felt like it was burned into her eyes. It had been two days since she had taken the wolf Mr. Howlstine around the town and she hadn't had a single call since. She had been excited when he first called. No one in the last year had called asking about the land. When he had showed up in the nice car and slick suit she had nearly cheered. Finally she thought she would be able to sell it and prove to her parents she could do something other then carry plates around for a living. Then she just had to stop at the Hopps. It had taken half an hour to get away from Judy and her questions. Mr. Howlstine had been silent as he drove her back to her little cottage. He had said he would call after talking with his clients if they where interested or not.
"AHHHHH," she screamed in frustration removing the rest of her clothes and grabbing a towel. A nice hot bath would be a welcome distraction. She settled in the hot water thinking. He was just being nice she thought there is no way any sane mammal would want to move next to over two hundred kits when just one asked so many questions.
Her ears twitched as her phone rang. She would let the machine get it she told herself trying to relax back into the hot water. It was late and she was in the bath. "Thank you for calling Audrey Thumperson Real-estate services. I am not able to take your call at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone!" It was the same outgoing message as she had recorded when she first got that red blazer all those years ago. She didn't have the heart to change it. She wouldn't be able to summon the enthusiasm to make another like it now. "Ms. Thumperson this is Mr. Howlstine. I am sorry for the delay and the late hour of this call," she recognized the voice without him saying his name, "I have just finished meeting with my clients." Here it comes she thought the thanks but no thanks message. "If the properties you showed me are still on the market they wish to make an offer.."
"Huh," she said blinking and sitting up. She jumped out of the bath and ran to the phone so fast she was surprised her fur was still wet when she got there. "Ah Mr. Howlstine. Sorry I wasn't able to get to the phone before now. Yes the properties are still on the market.."
Stu Hopps was not having a good week. Bonnie had told him about the wolf looking at the property next door with Ms. Thumperson. A wolf family with their big teeth and claws would be bad enough but that the wolf was working for a fox family?! A fox family!
Stu had not slept well that first night. The only reason he was able to get any sleep was when Bonnie had said the wolf had practically fled after several minutes of withstanding a rapid barrage of bunny-kit questions from Judy. When dawn broke and bags under his eyes he had felt a little better. Others had come to look at the old Proudfoot place and it had remained vacant and fallow for all those years. If whatever the other had found that kept it on the market didn't scare the wolf off seeing what just one bunny-kit could do and knowing there where another two hundred a stones throw away would certainly scare them off.
He has slept like a baby the second night and had completely put it out of his mind until the third day. The day one of his oldest sons came home with his ears drooping down his back. He was sweet on Audrey and spent far too much time at the diner she worked at in Stu's opinion. Bonnie was the one who was finally able to get what was troubling their son out in the open about how happy she had been at work. She had practically been dancing while she worked as she kept saying this was going to be her last few shifts of hauling cooked carrots. She had sold a shop in town and the Proudfeet place and was going to be on the first train to Zootopia once she handed the keys over. Stu had fainted. A family of foxes where moving in next door.
On the fourth day Stu had gone into town to a small shop tucked out of sight behind a couple of other building. He came out was a small arsenal of Maximum Strength Fox-Away Replant, Highest Voltage Fox-Tasers, Mega-Decibel Fox-Horn, and Ultra-Shrill Fox-Whistle. Bonnie had caught him handing them out some the older kits. Her reaction was...unpleasant...Stu shuttered remembering...
"Now remember if you see the fox go ahead and..." Stu said showing how the Fox-taser worked.
"STUART BARTHOLOMEW HOPPS! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN GIVING THE CHILDREN AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN TELLING THEM!?" Bonnie could be hear thought the entire warren when she needed to and right now she was mad enough to need to.
"Now Bon-Bon..."
"DON'T YOU BON-BON ME!" Bonnie yells marching up to him. The kits manage to slip away as she focuses solely on Stu. Instinctively they wanting to be as far away from the enraged matron of their warren. She shoved the probes of the Fox-taser one of the kits had taken to her after getting it from Stu into his arm. She pressed the button and watched the volts arc into him. She let go of the button after a few seconds and Stu fell to the ground. "That was the lowest setting. I had to change it down from the maximum," Bonnie had stopped yelling but the heat in her voice could melt steel. "You told your kits...OUR KITS...to use these things on other mammals."
"Just those pelts..." Stu tried to defend himself. Bonnie pulled a second fox-taser she had gotten from a different kit on her way to find Stu from her pocked and zapped him again.
"That is still not the maximum setting and again I had to adjust it OFF the maximum," she stated. "We don't know anything about them except they will be our neighbors. Our neighbors who you are trying to convince our family to drive off before they even set foot on the land they just bought. What if they have a little kit of their own? Would you want one of our children to be zapped by this thing?!" She throws the taser against the ground.
"They're foxes! They''ll attack us!" Stu says desperately trying to scoot away. The two shocks had his legs shaking uncontrollably.
Bonnie rolled up a sleeve and brushed back the fur of her arm showing a deep divot of a scar. "The Grey family and the Hood family have been living here for my entire life. The only mammal who has ever attacked me was my brother Terry when he ate a Midnicampum Holicithia bulb." She let her fur fall back into place and rolled her sleeve back down. She leaned over and picked up the fox-taer one of the kits Stu had been showing how to use had dropped. "I am assuming this one IS still set at the maximum." Stu flinched as she placed it probe side down in his lap. "If I find one of these tomorrow or a can of Fox-Spray, or a Fox-Horn, OR the Fox-Whistles outside of the garbage can I will test each one to see how well they work on you." She let go of the taser without turning it on. "You will be sleeping on the couch for the next week Stuart and are cut off for the month. So help me if you try anything in that time I'll be spending the next couple of heat cycles with a vibrator and you will be spending them camping outside in the fields."
He didn't sleep that night. He had been busy very carefully collecting every anti fox product he could find. Even going so far to removes the ones he had tucked away over the past few years. He did not want to see if Bonnie was bluffing or serous about testing any of the anti-fox products on him after the two jolts he already got.
Today as Stu worked in the east fields he saw several trucks drive down the road and take the turn off for the old Proudfoot warren a little after dawn. The those trucks carried a fair amount of building supplies and equipment. Throughout the day he noticed groups of rabbits and sheep with tool bags or paw tools heading the same way. Curiosity got the better of him as he followed one of the groups down the turn off.
"...Careful now! We have a tight enough deadline without you guys busting down a support column and bringing this mess of tunnels down on us!" The raccoon fore-mammal was not all together too happy with his latest construction project. Just a few days ago he had been told to gather a crew and get his tail down to Bunnyburrow for a high priority project. He had thought his bosses had been pulling his tail when they said there was a high priority project in Bunnyburrow. He thought they where crazy when he learned it was a warren to den conversion with some extra outbuilding and specialized cellars thrown in. He knew they where insane when he was given two weeks to go from this abandoned hole in the earth to a turn key finished home. He knew they where serious when he saw who had signed the bottom of the orders with his own eyes.
If this project had any positive points it was that local labor was plentiful and cheap. The number of unskilled labor rabbits who wanted a change of pace from their own fields shocked the raccoon a bit. He had set them loose on clearing the buildings and brush back from the main and secondary build sites. They where not much good for anything else but they where happy for the bit of money they where earning. The skilled labor local families though that normally worked construction jobs expanding warrens and building new ones in the area hired on as a unit and where well worth it. He was tempted to see if any of those would be willing to come back to the city with him. Those families knew what they where doing and worked so well together it was like having double the amount of workers. He found himself yelling at the crew he brought with him rather then the locals. "AHHH! Mike pull your crew out of the warren and let the locals handle it!" He listened to the grumble coming from the crew leader for moment before cutting him off, "They are use to this type of building you ain't! If this was above ground you would still be in there working! Move to the outbuildings you will be able to do more there!"
The fore-mammal looked down at his clipboard running through jobs assigned and pending. He looked up at a timid cough to see an older chubby bunny in overalls and a baseball cap. "I got enough unskilled labor for the day try again tomorrow earlier in the day," he said turning a few pages on his clipboard and scribbling a few notes.
"Ah no I am not looking for work. My names Stu Hopps I own the farm next door." Stu said gesturing off into the direction of his farm.
"I checked with the Community Development folks yesterday when I first got into town and checked this place out. Sorry about the noise but we didn't start before we are allowed to by the local regulations and will stop before the construction cut off time for work that exceed the max decibel level at the time listed in the same regulations. The building permits are in order and filed with the Bunnyburrow Records Office if you want to see them there or they are posted on the side of the the construction trailer over there. The surveyors found the boarder markets from the last survey two years ago, that you requested if memory serves, and signed off that they are still in the right place. That's also on file with the records department and posted." The raccoon barely glanced up covering what he found was always the most common questions with neighbor looky-loos. "Any questions I didn't cover?"
"Ah...well..." Stu was a bit stumped. He asked the only question he could think of, "Are the new owners in?"
"No," the raccoon replied looking straight at Stu, "They should be here right about the time we finish in two weeks. So unless you have any official business here this is private property and an active construction site. For your own safety please remove yourself from it." The raccoon walked away. He hated looky-loos and had too tight of a scheduled to care about being nice. He scribbled a note on his clip board to send the Hopps family a carrot cake or something when this was done as an apology. The big boss would be upset if he antagonized the neighbors to the new owners. Not as upset as if he didn't meet his deadline though he sighed. He really didn't like this project.
Stu took the rude raccoon's advice and went to the records office. He could not believe the copies at the construction site where real. It had taken him two month to get an approval to expand his warren the last time he had put in a request and all of these ones posted where filed, approved, and recorded on the same day.
The tired looking goat manning the records desk blinked slowly when Stu requested to see the original permits stating his concern over their legitimacy. "Ah yeah those," the goat said taking a swig from a coffee cup despite the late hour. "Come with me." They crossed though several rooms filled floor to ceiling with locked file cabinets each one meticulously labeled. Stu saw most cabinets where labeled with a singe warren name and date ranges. The records of the ever growing, shrinking, and splitting nature of the warrens of Bunnyburrow. Finally in a room with more empty cabinets then full ones the goat unlocked one and pulled out a file. "Here they are for the old Proudfeet place. It was handled personalty by Community Head-chairmammal Jack "Savage" O'Hare. Signed, stamped, and sealed." The goat brandished the papers and gestured at the signatures when he added in the Head-chair mammal's very unofficial nickname of Savage.
"Don't you mean the Proudfoot place?" Stu asked thinking he had an flimsy chance at throwing a wrench in the constructions time table.
"Look pal," the goat said taking the folder back and locking it back up, "The sale of that place means the end of active record keeping for the Proudfeet Warren and the start of the Wilde Den records. I just got finished last night gathering all the Proudfeet documents so we can ship them to the deep archive. I had to read that name a few hundred thousand times it seems. It. Was. Proudfeet. Maybe that's why they hated you all so much they refused to sell out to any local." The goat mumbled leading Stu out of the filed records and out of his fur.
-Nick Age 9-
Nick stretched his little body as far as it could go to look out the train window from his mothers lap. Living in the part of Zootopia he had he was far too use to seeing concrete, asphalt, and steel reaching as far as he could see not the gently rolling hills, seemingly endless fields of crops, neat rows of orchards, and grassland flashing that by broken by the occasional stand of trees swaying lightly in the wind.
"Attention passengers the next stop at Bunnyburrow train station will be in fifteen minutes." The intercom said breaking Nick's attention from the view. "Please return to your seats and re-secure any loose belonging. We will began breaking in five minutes."
"Come on Nicky. The view will still be there but you need to be back in your seat now," Vivian said guiding her son back into the seat between her and her mate Johnathan.
Nick squirmed a little getting settled. It had been a long train ride. Johnathan set his paw on his son's shoulder settling him a bit, "Now son I don't think anyone here would want to see your impression of a tumbleweed if you are still up when we start slowing down."
"Yes dad," Nick said his ears flicking down a bit realizing how he was misbehaving.
"I know it was a long time sitting son," Vivian said ruffling the fur on his head, "You did good and we will be able to stretch our legs soon."
The train jerked noticeably and a screech of metal on metal began to build in the air as the train began to slow. The intercom buzzed again, "Attention passengers. We have begun breaking for the Bunnyburrow stop. Please remain seated until we come to a full stop and the conductors open the cars to the platform. We will be at the stop for three hours as we transfer freight and passengers. If you are continuing on to a later stop please feel free to debark and stench your legs. Re-boarding will start an hour before departure but please try to be back no later then half an hour before departure. Thank you for traveling on the Trans-Continental Railways."
The train came to a stop and the conductor opened there cars doors. Nick, Vivian, and Johnathan stood. Nick practically bouncing in place wanting to be off the train. They gathered the few suitcases holding the few belonging they would need while the rest was either being trucked up or had already been delivered waiting in boxes. "Hold onto my paw Nicky," Vivian said stepping off the train, "We don't know our way around town yet so lets stick together for now."
"Yes mama," Nick said tail wagging and head turning in every direction taking in the sights. Vivian smiled down at her kit gripping her paw. While several passengers on the train and mammals around the platform shifted nervously away from the family of foxes and a few with glares when they clutched their belonging closer to them most mammals didn't give them a second glance.
Johnathan looked around the edge of the platform as they moved away from the train. "My love?" Johnathan asked, "Who did Mr. Big say was going to meet us here again? It was a raccoon and bunny right?"
"Yes honey," Vivian said scanning the crowd as well while keeping half an eye on Nick doing his best to look in three directions at once. "The raccoon was the fore-mammal doing the renovations and the bunny was the Realtor." Vivian spied a rabbit in a red blazer standing next to a raccoon talking excitedly. "Ah! They are over there." The Wildes slowly made their way over to where they where waiting.
The raccoon was facing them and gestured to the rabbit he was talking with. "Right on time Mr. and Mrs. Wilde. Gotta love how predictable the trains are." The raccoon said holding out his paw. "We where never formally introduced. Names Rocky Rodgers. Just Rocky is fine."
Johnathan quickly held out his own paw to give Rocky's a shake. "Feel free to call me Johnathan then Rocky. This is my mate Vivian and our little boy is Nicholas when he is in trouble and Nick when hes not." Johnathan joked with a wink and a laugh when Nick's head snapped to attention at his full name.
"Hello I am Audrey Thumperson," said Audrey holding out her paw as well Vivian beating her mate to shake it first. "It is nice to meet you officially. Mr. Howlstine and I worked together on the sale of your new home."
"Not much left of the old one when we where finished," Rocky said offering to help with the luggage. "I have one of the construction vans here still so lets store your luggage before the tour and the last of the paperwork."
"Thank you Rocky," Vivian said, "I hope it wasn't too much trouble."
They walked to the van to load the luggage. Already in the back was a small duffle bag and a rolling suitcase with a large carrot shaped tag on it. Johnathan raised his brows at Rocky. "Ah Audrey...er...I mean Ms. Thumperson was traveling into the city once business here is concluded so I offered her a ride back with me." Rocky said eyes not meeting Johnathan's.
Johnathan chucked seeing the bit of red in Rocky's ears, "That is kind of you to offer. It's a long drive back. Lot of time to talk and get to know one another." Rocky just coughed shutting the back doors when the last bag was loaded.
"Umm...yeah...it will be nice having some company for the trip back. Anyway...we should stop by the Community Building first speak to the Head-chairmammal O'Hare and Sheriff Blackwoole. He wanted to speak with you before we show you the town, your shop, and your new den." Rocky noticed the suspicious and defensive posture that Johnathan and Vivian took and explained, "O'Hare was the one who was able to rush the permits for the renovation work as a Favor to out big boss. Sheriff Blackwoole has the permits for you Vivian. Something about an old law on the books requiring the Sheriff to be the one to physically hand out permits having to do with making alcohol commercially." Rocky stressed the word favor and explained about the sheriff before the older foxes relaxed. "would you rather drive or walk?"
"Walk if you don't mind," Vivian said, "We have been sitting for a while and Nicky has some energy to burn off."
The walk to the community government building in the center of town did not take long. Audrey pointed out some of the more interesting building in town as they walked around. When she talked about the old fashion ice cream and soda jerk shop Nick's attention was firmly fixed on her. With puppy dog eyes of pleading Nick looked at his mother and father. The group had to make a quick stop on their way to meet with O'Hare and Blackwoole.
"Hey Bethany!" Audrey greeted the receptionist when they reached the government building. Nick was slowly sipping on an over sized blueberry ice cream float he held in both paws. "Sorry we are a bit late is your Grandpa free? We have the Wildes here to meet with him."
The white furred hare doe with a few stripes of black fur randomly streaking it behind the desk looked at the little fox kit holding the cup with a look of joy on his face while sipping it and smiled. "Aww isn't he a cutie-pie. I can see you already showed them the most important shop in town Audrey. Yeah not much on the schedule today so he is free. I'll radio the Sheriff in too he shouldn't be too long haven't heard any calls about a kit getting stuck in a tree or anything." Bethany O'Hare grabbed a radio from under the desk and put out the call to the sheriffs office before leading them though the building. Audrey and Rocky chose to wait in the lobby so the Wildes could talk in private. She knocked at a set of double doors and opened them when a gruff voice called out.
"Grandpa the Wildes are here to see you," Bethany said.
"Ah good let them in," the gruff voice said. Bethany waved them in and moved to shut the doors, "Oh Bethany page when you see the Sheriff coming and remind him to knock." Bethany closed the door telling her grandfather that she would. The old hare buck with more streaks of gray fur running though his black and white fur hopped off his chair and came around the desk to greet the Wildes. "Jack 'Savage' O'Hare at your service. Feel free to call me Jack. When I got a call from Mr. Big asking for my help I was a bit shocked. I was enjoying my semi-retirement from Family matters. Not much to do out this way for the Family besides making sure the shipment get from the farms to the train. But that's all on the light branch of the Family so it doesn't really need much of my time anyway."
"Thank you for the help with getting us settled here. 'Savage' is a bit of an odd nickname if you don't mind me asking," Vivian said after shaking his paw.
"Ah well I had a bit of a rough youth and spent some time with the darker branches of the Family early on," Jack said with a bit of a grimace. "Gotten use to the name over the years."
"Oh I see sorry if I brought up any unpleasant memories," Vivian said dropping the topic, "So you wanted to talk with us?"
Jack gestured to a couple of chairs in front of the desk before stopping in front of Nick still happily sipping on his drink. "Come on little one lets get you somewhere when you can enjoy that without worrying about dropping it. I think you will look good sitting at the big desk." Jack lead Nick around and adjusted the seat so Nick could still sip from his float as it rested on the desk. Jack, Johnathan, and Vivian shared a laugh at the little kit happily digging some ice cream out of the float seated at the important looking desk. Jack walked over to an globe and opened it to show a few bottles full of amber liquor. "Can I tempt you? It must have been a stressful trip."
"Please though a small one," said Johnathan as Vivian just nodded accepting the same, "Still a lot to do today."
Jack poured three tumblers two less so then the third he kept for himself. Leaning against the desk after taking a small sip Jack started talking, "So Mr. Big filled me in on why you folks decided to get away from the city so no need to tell me that story. There are the usual assortment of fu...err jerks..." Jack censored himself glancing back at Nick, "In town that may grumble a bit. It will be more that you are outsiders rather then being foxes or predators that should die down after a while. But there a few of those in the farther flung warrens and closer in who aren't going to look past the red fur and teeth. They keep to themselves and don't come into town much but if they start causing trouble just let me know and Ill do what I can to keep them under control. A few bad apples always seem to crop on on the old family trees."
He took another sip as Vivian and Johnathan took a moment to do the same when the intercom buzzed announcing the Sheriff was on his way up. "You are probably wondering about the Sheriff. Yes Ms. Blackwoole who has been helping in all this is his older brothers first born daughter but he is not in the Family himself. He is aware some of what his brother and niece are doing is on the gray side of things but nothing specific. It would be best if it stayed that way. Sorry but to get his help to speed things up I had to talk about why you decided to move. That whole Blackwoole family is pretty anti-specist luckily." A knock sounded at the door. "Enter," Jack said taking another sip from his glass.
A slightly pudgy black-wooled ram in a set of tan Sheriff's gear entered opened the door. He stopped when he was Nick sitting at the desk a smile spreading across his face before looking at Jack, "Well Jack I didn't know you lost the last election. That young todd looks better behind that desk then your old mug ever did. Probably will take better publicity photos too."
"Respect your elders and your bosses," Jack said with a stern face before breaking into a chuckle, "Sheriff Dwayne Blackwoole meet Vivian, Johnathan, and since he has the desk your new boss Nicholas Wilde."
Nick waved while tying to scoop a chunk of ice cream out of the float into his mouth. Dwayne tipped his cap to Nick in salute before shaking the other foxes paws, "Good to meet you all. If you need anything or if anyone stirs up trouble just give my office a call." He handed Vivian a folder with an over exaggerated flourish. "The permits and business license to own and operate a distillery and/or brewery with intent to sell fished products both in and out of the Greater Tri-Burrow area. Apparently some overtly ambitious clerk with too much time on their hoofs and a fascination of the older laws found something in a dusty old law book when O'Hare here requested the forms." Dwayne said moving to lean against the other side of the desk as Jack. The sight of those two flanking the desk while Nick was cross eyed tying to lick off a glob of ice cream that had landed on his nose caused Vivian to giggle. The other adults glanced between her and Nick before laughing too. "Let me help you with that sir," Dwayne said pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to Nick to wipe his nose. "Anyway apparently after that prohibition period ended nearly a century ago the old town council had to rewrite a few laws. One of the slipped in that the local Sheriff had veto power over the permits when they where being issued and had to personally hand them over as a show of approval. So here I am officially and in full compliance with a law older then all of us in this room approving the opening and running of your business Mrs. Vivian Wilde." Sheriff Blackwoole said in a very official sounding voice. "Well it was good to meet you all. Once you are settled and if he is feeling up to it I have a daughter, Sharla, around Nicks age that wouldn't mind having a new friend to play with." Tipping his cap he left the office to get back to his day.
Jack took a file off the corner of his desk and handed it to Johnathan. "This one didn't require anything so formal or fancy as calling in the local Sheriff from his very busy day of doughnuts and napping with his radar gun sticking out his window in front welcome to town billboard." Jack managed to slip the joke in about the sheriffs normal duties before the door fully shut. "The business licenses and permits for your tailor shop. Since you where stopping by anyway I figured I would save you a trip to the records office to pick them up. My card is in there. Give me a call when you are settled and able to take custom orders. It has been far too long since I have had a proper fitted suit."
Nick finished his float as the adults chatted about the town, the other stores, and some of the people in town. Jack glanced at the clock, "Well I've taken up enough of your time. Rocky and Audrey are probably tired of listening to Bethany talk about her kits by now. Go see your shop and the town or head out to your den. Town will be here if you need to rest. I imagine it has been a stressful month between what happened and the move. I'll take care of that float cup so you don't have to carry it around." Johnathan and Vivian thanked Jack and took Nick with them to meet back up with Rocky and Audrey. Jack refilled his tumbler with a fingers worth of whiskey after tossing the float cup in the trash. Nick looked like a good kid and his parents where working hard and taking a bit of a risk to give him a better life here. He drained his tumbler and gave it a quick wash with the other two. He hoped it worked out well for them.
Audrey and Rocky took them on a quick tour of Johnathan's shop. He took a moment to hang his permits in the empty frames and poke around the boxes making sure everything that had already been shipped had arrived. The truck with a fresh shipment of fabrics and supplies wasn't due for a couple of weeks. Enough time for him to finish getting the shop set up before opening. The crew Rocky had sent to do the remodel of the shop had done well and had most of the bigger items set up. All he needed to do was set up the mannequins and displays in the store front and tweak the workshops layout to suit him a little better.
The tour around town did not take long having already gone though part of it on the way to meet with O'Hare. Audrey pointed out the fairgrounds where booth and carnival ride where already being set up for the local Carrot Days Festival. Before too long they found themselves back in the van and heading to their new home. The drive wasn't too long and would be a pleasant walk as long as the weather wasn't too bad. They took the turn off and drove down the driveway. A little grove of trees surrounded the former warren giving them some privacy, a wind break, and shade.
"Well welcome to your new home," Rocky said as Audrey handed the Wildes a set of keys. "It was a short time table but we got it done just under the wire." Rocky lead them on a tour showing off all the features they had modified explaining how they had to collapse two floors into one to enlarge the rooms to be tall enough. There was far more here than the foxes had been expecting. Larger bedrooms than any of the foxes where use to and a particularly nice master bath with a tub big enough for two excited Vivian and Johnathan. The kitchen was still rabbit styled but adjusted to be more comfortable for the larger foxes to use. Vivian though it looked more like a large resort kitchen then a home kitchen. The deep pantry, large fridge, and freezers where going to be nice change of pace from the small fridge/freezer combo and too few cabinets they use to have.
Going down a level they where shown empty guest rooms in a general size that would work well for most medium to small species. A couple of larger and smaller rooms where also there. Further down had been converted to storage mostly with a few empty rooms tucked here and there in case they had a need for a room with a specific purpose later. Vivian was surprised to see several areas set up to store and age spirits and wine in the lowest level. Nick was the first to find the tunnel that Rocky took them down hidden behind a large false cask. A freight elevator took them into the outbuilding that had been converted for Vivian that felt cavernous with how empty it was. One wall was taken up by the water filters that Rocky said would turn the already good well water into the purest water he had ever tasted. For now only two fermentation tanks and a small copper pot still occupied the space along with the usual cleaning, measuring, and preparation supplies and equipment but there was space for more tanks and larger stills later on if all went well. A small comfortable office completed the outbuilding.
The tour wrapped up as Rocky checked his watch. "Well its time to be heading back to Zootopia for us," Rocky handed a card over to Johnathan with his contact information on it. "If anything breaks or isn't working out for you give me a call. There is a bit of food in the kitchen its pretty basic but it should keep you for a few days. Oh one more thing," he pulled a set of car keys from his pocket and handed them to Vivian, "Mr. Big had it delivered with the building supplies as a home warming gift. Its used but one of my guys whose a bit of a grease monkey took a look at it and said it was in good shape. Probably went though one of his auto garages before coming out here." They crossed though the garage to get back outside to the van passing a small truck big enough for the three of the Wildes to rid in together.
Vivian, Johnathan, and Nick waved goodbye and went back inside of their new home. They all helped with making and cleaning up after a simple but filling dinner before going to the master bedroom to quickly unpack enough so they could get some sleep and spending their first night in Bunnyburrow wrapped around each other. The full unpacking could wait until tomorrow.
-Judy Age 8 & Nick Age 9-
Nick was helping Vivian and Johnathan move boxes from room to room. They had first put a room together for Nick before moving to set up the living room just off the entry way. Vivian kept brushing her tail against Johnathan as they worked. His eyes lingered on her every time she bent over to move something. She caught him looking a few times and gave him a playful swish of her tail and a wink. Since what happened to Nick one or the other has always been with him. The times he had fallen asleep alone he had woken to nightmares and sought the comfort of his parents. The stress of the move also weighed heavy on the mated pair of foxes.
Things came to a head though when Vivian was balancing on a step stool to place nick-knacks on top some built in shelves and the stool wobbled. Johnathan being the dutiful mate, not because he was enjoying seeing her stretched on her tiptoes with her curving hips and swishing tail at eye level, rushed over to steady her paws on her hips to keep her steady. Vivian blushed at the rush of heat though her at the rubbing motion of her mate's paws on her hips. Her tail wrapped around his neck and pulled him a little closer. Johnathan inhaled deeply scenting his mate and could tell what his paws where doing to her.
Johnathan cleared his throat, "Nicky my boy I think you have been cooped up inside enough for today. Why don't we get you some snacks together and you can explore outside until..."Johnathan caught the hungry look in his mates eyes and the slight subvocal purr of desire and swallowed his own purr beginning to answer hers, "at least dinner but back before dusk."
"You sure dad?" Nick asked careful not to sound too eager they hadn't done too much work yet and it was early in the day but he was eager to explore.
Johnathan yipped slightly as Vivian stepped off the stool "accidentally" brushing her full length against him as his paws that had been on her hips where suddenly moving past her ribs and rested on her chest. Her tail trailing alone his waist as she heading for the kitchen. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Your father and I can have some alone time to take care of a few hard things that need seeing to it will probably be a long, hot,and sweaty session of...work...but will be well worth it in the end." Vivian said with a smirk at Johnathan trying very hard to act nonchalant as his tail flicked playfully. It didn't take her long to put together a little backpack with enough snacks to see Nick though dinner and see him out the door. "Just knock when you get back Nicky and we'll let you back in. We don't want to be surprised in the middle of anything by the door swinging open." Vivian and Johnathan took a few moments to look at each other as their purring subvocals built and intertwined with each others.
"So what did you have in mind my love? To the bedroom?" Johnathan asked coming closer to his mate and returning his paws to her hips as his thumbs rubbed small circles. He smelled a rush of his mates scent as she stopped holding back.
"No," she sighed reaching up to run her hands over her mates chest before undoing the buttons on his shirt, "To far. Here and now. We will have plenty of time for the bedroom later but I need you now!" She buried her nose in the fur of her mates chest and inhaled deeply scenting him. His musk filled her nose as his hands moved to remove her clothes.
"You read my mind my love," Johnathan growled lightly nipping her bear shoulder with his teeth as her shirt hit the floor.
Judy and the rest of her litter mates where playing in the fields close to the boarder overgrown with blackberries. Living on a farm came with a lot of chores but each litter had a few days a week free to just be kits. Really the only time it was all paws on deck was harvest time when all but the youngest would be in the fields from dawn to dusk bringing in the crops.
"Hey whats that," Jill called stopping in the middle of chasing Jake, "I saw something in the blackberries."
"Probably just the wind," Jake said coming to a stop a few yards. No reason to run if he wasn't being chased and he was far enough away of Jill was trying to trick him.
"No I thought I saw a flash of red," Jill said raising a paw to shade her eyes while her ears twitched trying to listen more closely.
"Maybe those foxes mom and day where talking about already moved in," Judy said hopping closer to the tangle of blackberry bramble.
"Judy is it safe if they did? Dad kept saying to stay away from them," Jewel said wringing her paws.
"Yeah but mom put a stop to that," Justin said miming jabbing something with his paw, "ZAPP!"
Judy tuned out her siblings to listen to the bramble as she got closer. She was close enough now that a few more steps would put her into the bramble patch. "Hello? Is anyone in there?" She called out. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a flash of red. She turned to it seeing a fox kit half hidden behind a thick clump of bramble. He was a red fox like the Grey family but much thinner then Gideon and his fur, despite a few snags from the vines, was smoother and a deeper more vibrant color. "Hi I'm Judy." she said holding out her paw. "Whats your name?"
"N-nick," the fox answered. Judy was surprised with how timid he sounded.
"Hi Nick!" Judy put a bit extra enthusiasm into her voice. "Do you want to play with us? We are playing tag! You can be it if you want."
"Are you sure it would be okay?" Nick asked coming a bit farther out from where he was hiding.
"Yep it will be fun!" Judy said carefully making her way though the bramble to take Nicks paw in hers.
Bonnie and Stu where walking though the fields with a cart full of water and snacks for the kits working and playing. "Lets see," Bonnie said looking though a list, "All that's left is the J litter. They are playing today in the east fields."
"I though we weren't going to have anyone play on that side of the farm since it's so close to the boarder," Stu said carefully. He was at least back in the same bed as Bonnie at night and she hadn't found any anti-fox products so as long as he kept his paws to himself for a couple more weeks he would have served out his punishment for trying to turn the warren against the new fox neighbors.
"Stuart," Bonnie's voice cooled, "The east fields are in the rest rotation and the boarder land has always been soft grass that's perfect for the little ones to burn off some energy. Now behave and stop reminding me why I'm not not letting you burn of some energy." Bonnie marched away with a little extra wiggle to her hips leaving Stu to haul the cart alone as he followed along trying not to watch.
They crested a small hill and saw the litter running around like crazy as a red fox chased after them. Stu paused for a moment before taking off yelling at the top of his lungs, "KITS! RUN! THAT FOX IS CHASING YOU! YOU DAMN FILTHY PELT GET AWAY FROM MY KITS!" The children froze in the middle of their running while Stu ran to close the distance. One of the young rabbits hugged the fox while the litter clustered around them. The fox had his tail tucked close to his body trying his best to hide behind the young rabbit.
-SMACK- Stu fell on his face as something hit the back of his head. "You just bought yourself a month sleeping in the fields and at least one cycle." Bonnie said walking past him. "Make sure to pick up plenty of batteries in town the next time you are there. I should be going into my cycle in the next few weeks." She picked up the apple she had thrown at him and tossed it back into the cart. It was a little bruised from Stu's hard head but someone would eat it or it would wind up being ground down for applesauce.
Bonnie walked up to the litter surrounding the fox and knelt down. The litter pulled back allowing their mother through but the one bunny still hugged the fox. Bonnie saw the determined amethyst eyes of Judy looking back at her before looking to the tear filled emerald ones of the fox. "Hello little one. Sorry about my husband. He has been a bit of a hot head recently. Hopefully he will have learned his lesson soon. I don't think we've meet unless you are the Grey boy and you've managed to keep yourself out of you mama's pies."
"Nick ma'am," Nick sniffed loudly wiping an arm across his eyes, "Nick Wilde. I just moved next door. I...I...I just was playing ma'am. I...I..I'll just go home if you will let me." Nick shrunk back trying to get even smaller and hide better behind Judy.
"We where just playing tag mom," Judy said, "We saw Nick watching us play from the blackberry bramble. He was exploring his new home when he saw us playing and I invited him to play. We let Nick be it at first and he tagged Jake pretty quick. Who got Jill after a bit. Who managed to just get me after I tripped and I went and tagged Nick when he came to check if I was alright and he was it again. Why is dad being a meanie?"
Bonnie sighed looking back at the slightly dazed Stu. "I wish I knew Judy. Nick was it? How about you and I talk to your parents about what happened and see if they are alright with you playing over here." Bonnie looked at Judy still clinging to Nick and gave her best motherly reassuring smile, "Judy can come too since it seems like she is stuck to you." Judy let Nick out of her arms but kept one paw held in his paw. Bonnie held out her paw to Nick. "You'll have to be our guide Nick. I trust you to take Judy and I through the bramble safely."
The odd trio hiked for a while with Nick carefully guiding their way. She had introduced herself along the way. He took guiding them safely very seriously taking them around a few hidden dips and bushes in the way. Bonnie's ears twitched as they arrived at the front door and raiser her paw to knock. She lowered her paw and took a step back looking down at Nick. One of her ears seemed to stay fixed on the door as a bit of red slowly filled into it. "Nick sweetie did your parents say why they sent you out to explore?"
"Umm..." Nick said thinking letting go of her paw and tapping the end of his muzzle, "They said they needed some alone time to take care of something."
"Oh I see," Bonnie said as her ear facing the door twitched hearing a moan that must have been loud since warrens...well den in this case where usually pretty good about blocking sound from traveling very far.
"Yeah I guess I've been pretty under-paw this last month," Nick said head and tail drooping a bit, "I've been having nightmares since...well for a while...when I sleep alone. And one of them always seems to be around when I am awake. They said I should explore until at least dinner but to be back by dusk."
Bonnie's ears burned scarlet as she heard a series of yips and 'Oh yes! Right there! Don't stop!' carry though the door. Between that and Nick saying his parents hadn't been alone together for a while she had a fairly certain idea what was going on on the other side of those doors. Bonnie was too distracted to notice Judy's ears where fixed on the door too her head tilted in confusion. "Well I suppose we shouldn't disturb them. How about you and Judy explore our fields too and Ill bring you back around dinner time. If they aren't still...busy or too tired I would like to extend an invitation to have them over and give them a proper welcome to the neighborhood dinner and introduce them to the family once you are settled."
"Okay Mrs. Hopps," Nick said in confusion, "But if we are already here why not ask them now?"
"Umm..." Bonnie thought taking his paw back up and leaving in the direction of the Hopps farm. "Well they said they wanted some alone time so I don't want to interrupt that." They walked in silence for a while.
"Nick?" Judy asked, "Why do foxes yip?" Bonnie almost froze in shock realizing Judy must have heard some of what was happening even if she didn't realize what it was exactly.
"Huh," Nick said tilting his head a bit, "A guess for a few different things. Like when someone did something behind you and it surprises you." Bonnie's ears grew red again with the mental imagery. "Or if someone pulls on my tail hard enough I would yip." Her ears grew a darker red and felt warm. "Or if I was getting my bottom smacked for doing something bad." Bonnie felt like she would need to dunk her ears in cold water. How was she going to be able to look his parents in the eyes with those images in her head now?
A/N: Alright so this one ended up longer then the last and I couldn't bring myself to spitting it into two chapters. That being said I guess there will be no 'normal' length of any of these chapters. Also again I cannot say how often I will be updating. Time to just sit down and type can be rare or abundant for me depending on the week.
I try and get what I can in editing sweeps but I am bound to miss things. Words that are 'close enough' that I am pretty much automatically replacing it with the correct one I meant to use as I read though it seems to be my biggest problem. Well above clicking the wrong word in the spell check sweep. Proper grammar is falling into that same 'close enough' category I am afraid. It was never my strongest subject and it has been a time since I've needed to use it for more then short messages. I'll likely try and take the time to revisit my previous chapters and run a few more editing sweeps before I add too many more chapters in.
Onto a bit of Q&A
There is a little blurb about prohibition in this chapter and that it ended nearly a century before 'current events.' I am basing this on USA history and the prohibition era in the 1920's that helped give rise to the power and money that organized crime held for decades after that. While alcohol is no longer outlawed in Zootopia different areas may have different rules regarding it like no consumption outdoors or no advertising it. I am twisting canon here a bit since I figure it wasn't shown in the moving to keep it more family friendly.
I have read quite a bit over the years. Fanfic and published works both. While I cannot recall everything I read elements of those stories may link up in my head as a 'new' idea. Staring Nick and Judy off as children that either meet or grow up together is not a new idea but how that idea unfolds is different here then what I can recall reading. This story will get darker as they age and those rose colored glasses of childhood break beyond repair.
Not exactly a question but something that caught my eye though a couple of reviews/comments. Yes I plan to have Judy and Nick grow close for the next few (or many depending on how I feel things are progressing to the next major plot point and the end of part one) chapters as we explore key moments of their time together as children. In building my little slice of an AU world I am leaving bread crumbs left, right, and center. Even the name I chose for this story 'distilled dreams' and the name of the first story arc 'fermentation' are bread crumbs in a way. I won't say more on that right now but its something to think about.
I am fading to black for anything explicit for the moment. Later I may decide to publish a separate story that contains the dirty details on its own and add in notes to this story letting people know where to find the light switch to those fade to black parts if they wanted to read them.
As before thanks for reading and hopefully you are enjoying it.
