Distilled Dreams
Part One: Fermentation
Chapter Seven
-Judy Age 15 & Nick Age 15-
The light was dim and flickering with the few candles silently burning away as soft gray paws pressed down on Nick's chest. He could feel her slight weight settled on his lap. Slowly she lowered herself until every inch of him was enveloped in her warm, wet center. He ran his paws though the fur on her hips marveling at its softness. The soft fur parted as his blunted claws traced the contours of her hard muscles under smooth skin. With a soft moan from her and a rumbling purr from him she began to move. It was a slow, steady pace she set. It was not the frantic rutting of heat or mating season but the slow gentle love making of two mammals wanting nothing more then to spend as much time together joined together as they could.
Nick let his paws wonder as the slow pace they had been enjoying started to speed up as their combined scents filled the room. Sweat and arousal filled the air and the two breathed deeply from the intoxicating mix. Carefully he bent at the waist and ran his paws over the small of her back. One paw wandering up so he could pull her towards his chest and the other wondered down to run his blunted claws though the fur around her tail. He actions drew out a long low moan. "Please Niiick," she said eyes closed as she leaned into the cream colored fur of his chest, "I cannot take it anymore!" Amethyst eyes snapped open and locked onto his emerald ones. "Take me! Knot me...please!"
With a quick sudden jerking motion upward Nick woke to a dark, cold, and empty room save for himself and moonlight. His dream clung to him. He panted while his mind tried to separate dreams from reality. A soft puff of fog accompanied every breath as he uncurled from his normal sleeping position. Fall had already passed and winter had taken a firm hold. Nick could see the soft swirls of snow against the silver moonlight though his partially open window.
"Where in the seven Hells did that dream come from?!" Nick asked the empty room as soon as his breathing came under control. "I know its mating season but...Judy..." Nick ran his paws though the thick winter coat around his head and neck in an attempt to drive away the last traces of sleep, and that dream, from his mind then dropped them into his lap. He felt fake fur against his paws and looked down. Sometime during the night the wind must have knocked down the stuffed rabbit plush Judy had given him all those years ago from the shelf above his bed and he had curled around it while he slept. He took a careful sniff of the plush and smiled slightly.
Judy had developed the habit over the years of marking that plush every time she saw it and it still smelled like her even through his own musk. "Okay one mystery solved. Mating season hormones plus Judy's scent equals..." Nick hesitated in finishing that sentence. Odd dreams, pleasant dreams, sexy dreams any one could be used to describe what had happened. Which one was the right answer though? "Dreams." He settled on the easiest answer that left the question unanswered.
He glanced over at the dull red numbers on his alarm clock and let out a soft whine. Three in the morning. Too close to his normal time of waking at four to try and go back to sleep. "Okay I'll just get my run in a little early today and then a long hot shower before breakfast," Nick said trying to stand and noticing a problem. His dream had a lingering effect he hadn't noticed at first. His fox-hood stood at full attention and his knot was slightly swollen. With a sigh he pulled his boxers off. He was going to have to wash them anyway so they would do to catch the mess he was about to make so he could do his morning run.
Judy watched though half lidded eyes at the dark black paws resting on her thighs keeping them open while the russet fur of his muzzle and the cream fur of his chin and chest flashed in and out of view between her legs. She shuttered as that long smooth tongue of his explored her indiscriminately. From one moment to the next she never knew where that tongue would fall. It would lap eagerly at her clit one moment only to be deep inside of her the next. Her protest at certain spots of the probing appendage melted quickly at the jolts of pleasure when it flicked further down a time or two.
With a deep moan she started to buck her hips forcing his muzzle and tongue to press harder against her. She did not know how long she was lost in the pleasure of it but she knew that he was keeping up with her while drawing that extra little bit out of her. Slumping back on her back she felt claws gently glide though her fur. "No wonder we use to eat bunnies," he said giving playful little nips and kisses as he slowly worked his way up her stomach and her neck to whisper into her ear, "They taste wonderful." A quick nip of the base of her ear sent Judy shuttering as his body loomed over her. "Ready for the whole thing Carrots?" She could barely nod while biting her lip to hold in a moan.
In a quick forward jerking motion of her hips Judy could still feel the phantom press of Nick's fox-hood against her lower lips as she woke. "Noooo," Judy moaned. She wasn't sure if the protest was for Nick being in her dreams or the dream ending. "Stupid heat! Why can't I use suppressors like my sisters!" The first time she had tried to take them after her first heat cycle two years ago she ended up sick in bed for a week. Trying a different formulation had similar effects but with the added bonus of being unable to go more then a quick sprint away from a bathroom.
After that disastrous result she, her doctor, and her parents had decided it wasn't worth trying any others and she would just have to be more diligent about taking care of the built up hormones on her own. That lead to her mother showing her a hidden corner of the warren's storerooms where she could find toys to help her with that chore a bit earlier then Bonnie normally showed her daughters. Judy eyed the nightstand drawer that she kept them in debating. It felt like the heat pooling between her legs was getting ready to set her blood to boil. "If I use them now I'll need a quick shower before my run," she muttered reaching to the drawer but hesitating. Judy remembered her father announcing over dinner last night that more snow was on the forecast. "Yeah I should wait. A run with damp fur and I'll be a rabbit flavored popsicle before finishing the loop. Maybe the run will help burn a bit of my hormones off and give me an excuse to spend a little extra time in a hot shower before school."
Quickly Judy stripped off her night shirt and damp panties only to replace them with a fresh pair and a set of running sweatpants and hoodie. Glancing over at her clock while she slipped on a pair of cold weather pad protectors over her feet she noticed it was just a bit before three. She would have plenty of time to run the eight mile loop around her families property then the two mile loop around Nick's family property before needing to get ready for the last day of school before the midwinter break. Quietly heading to her door and slipping outside she did not notice the fox plush she had been cuddling with while sleeping or the damp spot adding her own own scent to the scent Nick kept rubbing into the plush when he saw it.
The predawn chill winter air burned Nick's lungs as he ran but he couldn't even feel the chill of the air against his skin. His winter coat had come in early and thick this year and even stripped down to just a pair of running shorts for modesty his daily run could overheat him if he wasn't careful to pace himself. Well for other mammals modesty. It had taken a couple of years and one extremely hot summer for Nick to finally grow comfortable enough while over at the Hood's Den to join them in a naturalist life style while he was there doing his school work with Meadow and spending time with her. He had been young enough when he joined them that he didn't feel awkward being in just his fur around Robin, Marian, and Meadow until his first mating season struck.
That had been an embarrassing day for him after getting a whiff of Meadow's pheromones while they had been sitting at the kitchen table working on their classwork. Marian had walked in sniffing the air curiously that late fall day while they worked and looked at her daughter then to Nick. By the time Marian had realized the new smell was her daughters mating pheromones his fox-hood was fully out of its sheath and he had been started to sub-vocalize his desire. Marian had managed to get Meadow to leave the room before she noticed too and instinct took over for the young todd and vixen.
When Nick tried to stand and follow Meadow Marian had shoved him back into his chair as generally as she could while still being firm before darting to a drawer. He had heard the snap of a glass vial breaking before a strong scent assaulted his nose. The Scent-Breaker Capsule was all he could smell and cleared the pheromones from his nose along with every other scent for the next ten minutes. The lack of pheromones and the extremely uncomfortable feeling in his nose from the Capsule had his fox-hood quickly returned to its sheath. Marian took him home once he was dressed and decent again for a quick talk with Vivian. It was spring before either of the elder vixens where comfortable sending their kits over to visit again. Nick had started carrying a few of those Scent-breaker Capsules with him ever since that day not liking how quickly he had lost control of himself once he could think again.
Nick shook his head to clear the memories and looked down at the hard packed trail he ran on loosing himself in other thoughts as he put one paw in front of the other. Six long years of Judy and him running this path, along with a double paw-full of Judy's siblings during the nicer times of the year weather-wise, had packed the dirt enough that only a long and heavy rain storm could turn the rock like dirt into mud. The path was an oddly proportioned figure eight that ran along the eight mile perimeter of the Hopps' farm land just inside the field fence that marked the property lines and the two mile perimeter of the Wilde's land. He always chuckled a bit when he passed though the now carefully tended blackberry bramble that divided the Wilde and Hopps land. The path that connected the two running loops passed right though where Judy had first pulled him over the property line to play. Not even a gate existed to block the path Judy and Nick had forged.
While the running loop on the Hopps side was mostly flat the shorter loop on the Wildes' side held something special. Over the years he and Judy had built an obstacle course that mimicked as closely as it could the one that was described in the police academy physical requirements manual. As young kits it had been little more then stacked boxes and a pair of monkey bars that Johnathan had helped him put together. Now though with some bribed help from the older Hopps children over the last summer and some time with a small backhoe the course was as complete as they could make it unless they could find a way to make an ice wall or the scorching sand storm sections. Still a near vertical log wall and a long sand pit where good practice.
Scenting the air as he crossed back over to his families lands after running the loop on the Hopps side he caught the familiar scent of a certain bunny. The blackberry vines and trees kept the scent that he had been getting teasing hints of while running from breaking up too much as it had in the open air. Finally he was able to say with absolute certainty who else was running this morning. It was rare that anyone else ran this early with the poor light of predawn. The dozens of solar powered path lights that he and Judy had managed to buy by pooling their money together that lit the obstacles and path with a dim glow was just strong enough for a particularly brave, or crazy, rabbit to run the course in the predawn light or dusk light safely. He had only seen one other rabbit this morning running the other way on the Hopps loop. After taking a deep breath of the scent he grinned as he dropped to all fours and increased his pace to catch up to the owner of this particular scent. He hadn't expected Judy to be out this early. Between her school, her soccer and track practices and matches, and the chores she still had at home and his school work, working for his mother, and his chores they had not been able to spend as much time together in the last year as he would have liked. He was going to take advantage of every second of time he could get with her that he could.
He ran the bypass trails for most of the obstacles rather then slow down and go though them so he could catch up with Judy. Nick caught up with her just as she managed to get over the last obstacle, the log wall, and start running again for the final stretch. "On your left!" he shouted passing her on all fours before throwing himself into a roll to get back on his hind legs without loosing too much speed.
"Cheater! You skipped the obstacles!" Judy shouted at his back while she started to run faster. Nick slowed his pace until Judy was next to him keeping pace. The passed the marker they had set up and slowed their pace. When they passed a second marker they slowed to a normal walking pace to finish cooling down. They got to a small glade of soft grass covered by a gazebo near the Wilde's Den and stopped. Nick flopped down on his stomach with an exaggerated groan panting for breath. "You know you should stretch before the cold cools you down too much," Judy said breathing heavily herself while starting to stretch. "You already did the Hopps loop?"
"Yeah," Nick said getting back to his feet and started to stretch while his muscles where still warm. "You?"
"Yes and this was my second loop around the course. I wanted to do a couple of loops around the course before getting a shower at home before school today. I had to skip the course yesterday." Judy glanced over her shoulder in the dawn light and blushed hard enough for her ears to burn. She hadn't noticed during the run how little Nick was wearing. She watched him out of the corner of her eye in her loose pair of sweatpants and a hoodie to ward against the chill. His body was lean and although his thick winter coat hid it she knew his frame was packed with dense muscle under his soft fur. "Can you help me with my leg stretches?" Judy asked thankful for the dim light that hid her blush trying not to think about her dream this morning.
"No problem but then you are going to have to help me in return," Nick said while gently putting his paws on her legs to help her stretch out her thigh muscles. Judy had to bite her lip to stop from moaning when Nick ran his paw firmly up and down her thigh muscles keeping it warm while he stretched it. He switched to her other leg and repeated the same rubbing motion. He let go of her legs and Judy pulled them in until her paws touched and she grabbed her ankles. "You ready for this one Carrots?" Nick asked getting into position behind her.
"Ye...yes," Judy panted out before she felt his paws on her knees. 'He had to say nearly the exact same thing he had said in her dreams,' she thought to herself. Slowly he pressed her legs down. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket as Nick wrapped around her to help with the stretch and keep the chill of winter off of her. She breathed deeply as her muscles stretched and smelled his musk and scent.
"Are you still going to be coming over after school lets out for break today and be staying over until after the solstice?" Nick asked his tail giving a couple of excited wags. While they could sneak in a few days here and there most of the year winter, without the extra farm related chores, was the most time the two could spend together at once.
"Yes Slick," Judy said taking slow deep breaths to keep herself calm while her hormones swirled out of control. The heavy fox musk clinging to Nick she smelled with every breath wasn't helping calm her after her dream. "All packed and ready to come over. I even have your birthday present all ready to go. Seriously though I thought foxes where suppose to mate in the winter not be born during it."
"Hey just because the urge to mate is stronger then doesn't mean foxes cannot indulge at any other time of year," Nick said chucking. It was a playful argument they had every year since he had thrown her a birthday party and she had decided to return the favor on his next one by helping Vivian and Johnathan throw it. "You using a new shampoo or something?" Nick asked sniffing the air as he held the stretch before nuzzling his nose into the fur around her neck and breathing deeply. "Smells good," he said with a slight rumbling purr. His eyes snapped open as he forced himself to cut his purring. The scent reminded him of his dream though he could not think of why.
"I don't think so..." Judy stuttered shivering slightly at what Nick was doing rather then the cold ground sapping her body heat. "But I might have grabbed one of my sisters bottles by mistake last night." Nick released the stretch and positioned himself so Judy could help him stretch. It had taken some time to find the right stretches she could help Nick with due to their size difference. She had to use nearly all of her body weight to help while he just needed a paw or two to hold her in place.
Running her paw under his fur she massaged his thigh muscles like he had done for her. She felt a heat build in her while she ran her paws over the contours of his muscles. Her blush reached a new level as she realized what Nick was smelling on her. Her pheromones. "Oh sweet cheese and crackers," she gasped dropping Nick's leg and backing away a step.
"Huh?" Nick questioned blinking. Judy's paw had felt good rubbing his thigh and he drifted off a bit. "Whats wrong?"
"I just remembered..." Judy said backing away a few more steps, "...there's something I need to do before school...I go to go! Don't forget to take a shower...your musk is strong today."
"Okay..." Nick started to say but Judy had taken off at top speed cutting as straight a path as she could in the direction of the Hopps Warren. "...see you tonight...that was weird," Nick said rubbing the back of his head and sniffing the air. His and Judy's scents mingled thickly together under the gazebo roof. He smelled his own fur and sure enough her scent was on him too from when they had helped each other stretch. He started walking home when a new problem presented itself. Presented itself in the form of a growing bulge in his shorts. "Seriously!?" he growled at the growing problem and continued the uncomfortable walk home as his fox-hood throbbed. "What the hell? It's never this bad this fast unless I catch a whiff of vixen pheromones," he muttered to himself going though a side door of the Den and heading for his bathroom.
Judy ran as quick as she could back home cursing herself for making such a stupid mistake. She should have taken care of herself when she woke up rather wait. Now it felt like the blood in her veins was slowly coming to a boil. The feeling of Nick's paws on her, his scent and warmth surrounding her, and seeing so much of his fur laid bare. He could have held her in place so easily while he devoured her right there in the gazebo. "No! No! No! Stupid bunny!" Judy muttered to herself shaking her head trying to clear the mental image from her mind, "That's just my hormones talking!"
Running into the Warren she passed the early risers of her family without so much as a wave and headed straight to her room to grab her shower bag, a toy from her drawer, and her school clothes. It was still early enough that she was able to quickly find an open shower stall and turn the water on a setting so cold it was just warm enough to be just on the safe side of not becoming ice. She had to bite on wash cloth to keep anyone else from noticing what she was doing as she quickly pawed herself and used the toy until her blood no longer felt like it was boiling and her legs trembled in more then just cold. Panting and shivering she turned the water temperature up and quickly washed her fur thoroughly trying to get rid of the scent of what she had just done.
Leaving the shower stall only for one of her sisters to quickly take her place in it she headed to the row of lockers she had left her clothes in while wrapping her towel around herself. The communal doe showers of the Hopps Warren wouldn't look out of place in any gym with its long row of shower stalls along one wall and toilet stalls with built in sinks along another. The clusters of lockers took up the space in between. She sprayed herself with a few spritzes of Scent-Mask spray to mask the pheromones she would likely be giving off for the next couple of days. It would be extremely stupid of her to walk around school smelling like a doe in heat or the nearly as obvious total lack of scent so she sprayed a bit of lavender perfume on too. She smiled at the little bottle she clutched. It had been a gift from Nick on her last birthday. She hadn't realized until she opened it that he must have remembered her saying how much she liked it when the lavender patches where in bloom one night as he walked her home. He had just joked that what good was access to highly distilled alcohol if he couldn't make anything with it when she asked where he had bought it.
"Someone is going all out today," Beth said rubbing her fur with her towel but otherwise was bare eyeing the bottle Judy had finished using then spying the edge of the toy Judy had hid in her shower bag as she walked up. "Cycle acting up or did you see Nick out running today and got all worked up?" Beth asked with a teasing grin. She had been one of the few other rabbits to keep running even in bad weather and had seen Nick running this morning in little more then underwear. Beth also knew the books Nick and Judy took from the library included many of partner fitness stretching routines when they had started running together and more then a few tawdry romance books with scantly clad mammals on the cover in the last year for the both of them.
"Cycle. I had an...intense dream and was hoping a run would help burn some of it off," Judy said glancing at her older sister then quickly looked away. For constantly using a communal shower seeing another mammal in their bare fur shouldn't have been an issue for Judy and hadn't been for much of her life. She was firmly blaming that new quirk on Meadow and Nick. She shuttered at the memory from summer couple of years ago.
School had let out early for Judy on one of the days Nick was over at the Hoods and she had had the brilliant plan of heading over to see if they wanted any help with their school work. Them both already being a grade or two ahead of her from working ahead didn't even cross Judy's mind as being an issue nor was that her biggest issue of the day. Nick had never told her that he had joined the Hoods in being au naturale and walking though a clump of bushes to find four naked foxes sunning themselves together on their stomachs in a loose circle in the swaying grass had been a shock. She had been glad at the time that it was Nick laying across from where she had emerged from the bushes so she had seen nothing more then a lot more of his fur then she was use to. Unfortunately though she had had an unobstructed view of under Meadow's tail. Marian and Robin propping themselves up on their sides with their elbow to better see who had stumbled across them didn't help matters either.
Gathering up her courage she had visited the Wildes Den the next time Meadow was over to apologize. Judy had not liked the coy smirk on Meadows face after she had apologized when Nick wasn't looking nor did she like the whispered comments Meadow kept making about how much of her both Nick and Judy had seen and it had been a shame Judy hadn't had a chance to see as much of Nick as she had. Judy had turned a much colder to Meadow that day and used every opportunity she could to tie up Nick's free time with her instead of Meadow.
"Sure," Beth said with a smirk breaking Judy out of her memories. "It was the run you where hoping would burn some of that off. Not a swashbuckling shirtless fox pirate capturing a helpless noble bunny doe on a raid of her families coastal manor," Beth whispered bringing up the last tawdry book Judy had taken from the library. "Didn't Nick dress as a pirate last Halloween?" Beth asked with a wide knowing grin.
Judy's ears burned crimson and she accidentally squeezed the trigger down on her bottle of perfume blasting herself with an extra heavy coat of lavender. "Beth! Look at what you made me do! Nick spent a lot of time making this for me! Smelling like I was rolling around naked in a lavender patch is not what I wanted to smell like today! There isn't time for another shower..." Judy trailed off looked around to see long lines of her sisters waiting for their turn with the showers. They all had a hopeful look in their eyes that there would be some hot water left for the stragglers and late sleepers.
"Sorry Judy," Beth said covering her mouth to hide her smile. "At least that much will keep the anyone from noticing your lack of scent or any stray pheromones. By the time you go over to Nick's place after school enough of that will have evaporated so you will smell like you just walked though a lavender patch."
Judy took one last look at the lines of does waiting for a free shower stall before sighing and started to slip into her clothes. " I guess you're right Beth. Come on lets get breakfast before there's nothing but plain oatmeal left."
Nick was still brushing out his tail when he sat down at the table late for breakfast after having to take a very long shower to try and get a certain gray furred bunny out of his mind. Vivian set a plate full of scrambled eggs and turkey sausage she had been keeping warm for him down in front of him. "You're late...and no grooming at the breakfast table Nicky," Vivian said for what seemed like the hundredth time she had had to tell him that in the last couple of years.
"Sorry mom," Nick said setting the brush down carefully far away from his plate before digging into breakfast with gusto. His runs had a way of building up his appetite. "Where's dad? I thought he already close up the shop for the solstice?" Nick asked once half of his plateful of food had disappeared in a pawful of moments.
Vivian glanced over the rim of her coffee cup before answering. "He needed to go in to finish a few last minute orders for Mr. Big. He could have told you himself if you didn't take so long getting clean. You where in there for more then an hour Nicky...you couldn't have possibly gotten that dirty from your run." Vivian watched Nick's ears pull back tight against his skull as he looked down at his plate.
"Mom..." Nick said quietly looking up, "Would it be alright if I took suppressors this winter?"
Vivian carefully set her coffee mug down and looked at her son surprised at the sudden change in the topic. It wasn't something he had asked for often in the last few years preferring to keep from becoming too dependent on the hormone suppressors to keep his mating instincts under control. "Oh sweetie...is it that bad this year?"
Nick nodded and sighed pushing his half eaten plate back and rested his elbows on the table and his head in his paws. "I woke up from a vivid dream this morning mom and then when I was helping Judy stretch after stumbling across each other running this morning it felt like something was trying to take over." Nick rubbed the fur on his head aggressively with his paws. "I scented her mom without thinking...she smelled so good right then..."
"Nicholas Piberius Wilde..." Vivian started to say.
"I didn't do anything mom! She smelled different and I needed to know why! I thought she was wearing a new perfume or started using a different type of fur wash but couldn't place it! She took off to get ready for school after I did that!" Nick said dropping his paws to the table with enough force to rattle his plate and glaring at Vivian.
"Watch your tone with me boy! You would not be asking for a dose of suppressors if you thought it was just a different brand of fur wash Nicholas!" Vivian snapped back with a slight growl, "Even when you got a nose full of Meadow's pheromones earlier this year you snapped a Scent-Breaker vial rather then take a dose and you know that vixen goes out or her way to make sure your get a nose full when she is in heat!"
"Sorry mom..." Nick sighed looking down knowing he shouldn't have snapped at her like that, "But this is what I am talking about. I feel...wound too tight right now. I just want to spend time with Judy without having to worry about my hormones going crazy mom and me doing something stupid. Please..."
Vivian looked over her son and sighed. His tail was bristling and twitching erratically as he fought to control himself. It was the look in his eyes though that convinced her that a dose of suppressors would be the right choice. His eyes where pleading with just a glimmer of a primal hunger. Leaving the table she headed to the master bathroom and the medicine cabinet it contained. While the suppressors where not particularly dangerous taking too many too often could stunt the growth of a kit or make them dependent on them to control the urge to mate. When Nick had been prescribed them she had kept them safely tucked away. Nick had finished his breakfast and had washed his plate by the time Vivian returned with the amber bottle in paw. Nick looked at his mother in confusion as she handed him the entire bottle. The few time he had had to asked his mother for the suppressors she usually just brought back enough for the dose.
"Ummm...thanks?" Nick said looking at the bottle in his paw in confusion before opening it and popping one of the pills in his mouth and swallowing it down. Vivian shook her head when he tried to hand it back.
"Keep it Nicky," Vivian said returning to the table to gather he coffee cup and refilling it. "You're old enough now to know when you need them without having to ask me first. I trust you around a still and enough beer to get a rabbit frat house drunk so I should be trusting you with this too." Vivian sighed and took a long drink of her coffee grimacing. She had forgotten to add in extra cream and sugar with the fresh coffee. "Just be careful with them please sweetie."
"Thanks mom I will," Nick said tucking the bottle into his pocket. "So whats on the to-do list today?" Nick asked trying to change the subject and put the whole outburst behind him as they started to walk out to the barns that held the brewing and distilling equipment. He had been working nearly full time for the last year helping his mother with the brewery and distillery. It had expanded much in the last six years and grown past the point of being able to be ran by just Vivian with the occasional helping paw after the second year.
A couple of full time workers and more part timers and seasonal workers during the apple harvests now filled their workforce. From one pot still and two fermentation tanks it had grown into twelve fermentation tanks just in the first barn that was now solely dedicated to making spirits that had to be aged. The other two barns that had been built up over the years had brought the total number of tanks to four dozen and held two column stills for making the nearly continuous flow of nonaged spirit and beer shipment into the city. Their flavored vodka line had made them a tidy profit while the whiskey was aging. The Hopps' famous sweet carrot they grew became even more popular when Vivian had started to infuse it into the vodka she sold to the local bars in the Tri-Burrow area and the Burrows District in Zootopia.
"Not much to do today Nicky," Vivian shrugged opening the side door and flinching in the cold and quickly heading to the barn wishing she had taken the tunnel from the aging rooms to the barns. Her winter coat had not come in as thick as her sons having spent for less time in the cold. Vivian didn't continue talking until they where safely out of the cold and in the little office she had. "Ah that's better," she said turning up the thermostat and was rewarded with a blast of warm air from the vent. "Now as I was saying there isn't much to do today since we have given everyone the holiday season off to be with their families starting today. We got lucky this year and the last of the tanks where emptied and cleaned before the end of the shift yesterday. Once they are back after the solstice it will be time for the yearly deep deep clean and inspections." Vivian picked up a clipboard that held the records of the tanks that had finished fermenting and where in storage tanks now. Thankfully none of them needed to go though one of the stills just into kegs then to storage room off the loading dock until the next shipment was ready to go after the holidays. "We have six tanks worth of various beers in storage tanks to be put into kegs, labeled, and logged. That should keep you busy for the day until Judy is out of school and Johnathan gets home. I'll be in here trying to get though all of this." Vivian waves to the small piles of paperwork in her in-box and scattered about the office that she needed to go though.
"Okay mom you stay in the nice and warm office while I play around with enough beer to drown an elephant in all by my lonesome," Nick said with a chuckle.
Judy sighed as she dug around in her backpack trying to decide on what books she could safely leave in her locker at school over the winter break. With a second sigh she just packed them all back into her backpack. With homework and some assignments to do in every class anyway and Nick being so close to getting his diploma early he didn't have any of the same books as her anymore she would need them all. Hooking her backpack back over her shoulders she took out the duffel bag she had shoved in there this morning that held the clothes and toiletries she would need over the next couple of weeks at Nicks.
"Hey Judy!"
Judy tensed and closed her locker. "Hey...ummm...Bucky right? How's it going?" She asked the white furred buck with a few black stripes on his ears who leaned against the lockers near her.
"That's me alright," he said with an easy smile. "It's going pretty good now that school is out for a few weeks," Bucky said looking down at the duffel bag in Judy's paws. "Whats that? I didn't think you played any winter sports but I caught all of your soccer games this season. If it wasn't for you we wouldn't have won the regional championships!" He smiled as his eyes traveled up and down her body quickly. "You looked great out there by the way."
"Thanks Bucky but it was really the entire team that deserve the praise for how well we did," Judy said pulling the strap of her duffle bag over her head and settling it on her shoulder. "And no I don't play any winter sports this is just some clothes and stuff. I am staying with a friend over winter break and didn't want to have to go all the way home to pick it up. Even if it is just next door with winter and all the snow..." Judy trailed off using her paws like bowls of an old scale weighing her options.
"Oh?" Buck said pushing off the lockers as Judy started to walk away. "Don't you live next to a fox family?"
Judy hid her frowned as Bucky kept pace with her. It wasn't that she didn't like him it was just over the last year he always seemed to be nearby. He also had the habit of constantly complementing her and trying to get her to agree to a date. "Yeah. They celebrate the solstice a bit differently then my family does since they are foxes and they invited me over like they have the last few years to celebrate with them plus it is his birthday over the holiday."
"Oh," Bucky said as his ear twitched slightly. "I think I remember seeing them at a couple of your games...Flick or something like that and his sister Glade?" He asks waving his hand in what could be seen as dismissal of the their names as being of any importance.
Judy winced at the memory of Nick and Meadow standing side by side cheering her on at the finals. True their families that could make it where there too but the sight of Nick and Meadow pressed up together by the crowd while jumping up and down in celebration was irritating. When Meadow had hugged him and pressed a kiss to his cheek she had to restrain herself from kicking the ball at her head. "It's Nick not Flick. Nick Wilde" Judy said knowing she had corrected Bucky on his name before, "It's also Meadow not Glade and her family name is Hood. They live a few farms north of us."
"Oh," Bucky said rubbing his head, "I guess since I've always seen them together and they looked so close I just assumed they where family. That makes some of the rumors I've heard about them less...weird."
Judy glanced over and slowed her walk, "What rumors?"
"I...don't really like to spread them..." Bucky stopped walking and Judy stopped too turning fully to look at him, "But I've heard the two of them have been see...frolicking I guess you could say...in the woods...in there bare fur without clothes...quite often too."
Judy huffed in annoyance and started walking again. Briskly walking away. "You shouldn't spread such...vulgar rumors about people especially if you cannot even get their names right! I know Nick isn't like that!" That rumor struck a little to close to home to Judy's worries to completely shrug off.
Bucky hopped after Judy trying to catch up waving his paws trying to diffuse the situation. "Hey I said I don't like to spread them and you asked what I've heard others whisper about."
"I guess you're right that I did," Judy said slowing down slightly and rubbing her face with her paw, "Sorry Bucky for overreacting right there but I don't like hearing about what is whispered behind my friends backs. It's been a long day."
Bucky chuckled slightly in relief. "Don't worry about it. At least we have a few days off now. Speaking of...I got a couple of passes for the ice rink at the winter carnival from my grandpa. Since he is the head-chairmammal they are pretty nice passes. A full two hours of time on the ice and they even include the ice skate rental."
'And there's the attempt to get a date,' Judy thought suppressing a sigh. She wondered if he would ever give up. "Its a kind offer Bucky but I'll be busy during the break between all the homework the teachers decided to give us and helping out at the Wildes. I should really be heading out before they start to worry I got lost in the snow." Judy gave a couple of chuckles as they walked though the school's doors to a fresh layer of snow that had been falling steadily throughout the day. Her path home would take her by the ill-kept trailers that most of the non-rabbit student body had their classes in. She could see the distinctive black wool of her friend Sharla, the tall form of Bobby the cougar, and even the red fur of Gideon.
Bucky's ears twitched as he watched where Judy was walking but he kept a sad smile on his face as he shivered slightly in the cold. "Hey no worries. Maybe some other time." He turned and walked away towards a cluster of bucks waiting in the opposite direction of the Hopps Warren and Wilde Den. Scowling as he walked away from Judy one of his ears turned towards her fading voice and the other turned to his laughing friends. They already knew by how he walked that he had been rejected once again by the uppity doe. "Jude the Prude strikes you down again huh Bucky!" One of them shouts as soon as he came close enough that Judy would have no chance of overhearing.
"I don't want to hear it," Bucky growled as the group turned and followed him.
"I don't get it B," one of his other friends shook his head paws deep in his pockets, "How many time does Jude the Prude have to turn you down before you are going to give her up as a lost cause? Hell she has turned down every buck that has tried."
"She isn't a lost cause!" Bucky snapped.
"Come on B...you've popped a dozen does just this year why does this one matter to you so much?" another of his friends asked. "Hell you could use those tickets you got from your grandpa to find one or two more at the festival."
"She said keeps saying no to me," Bucky growled ignoring his friends, "Her excuse is always that she is spending time with that damn pelt!"
"Probably for the best that she keeps saying no," at Bucky's glare the buck who spoke held up his paws and took a step back from the group. "Hear me out! With as much time as she spends with that fox of hers he has probably already popped her and had his fun a few times over. You try and go in there she is going to be as loose as an elephants gym sock!" A few chuckles broke out among the group.
"I'll just have to show her what a real buck is like then," Bucky said grinning still largely ignoring his friends.
"She keeps saying no so how are you going to change her mind especially with that pelt sniffing around her tail all the time?"
Bucky's grin deepened, "There's more then one way to skin a pelt. I just have to get her to see him how I see that filthy pelt..."
"Judy!" Sharla said running up to envelop Judy in a warm woolly hug. "It feels like I haven't seen you in ages!"
"Hey Judy," Bobby said waving a paw as Judy returned Sharla's hug shivering slightly before he returned to rubbing some heat into his arms.
"Judy...it's good to see ya," Gideon said nodding. Besides Sharla he was the only one who didn't seem to be feeling the cold thanks to his extra thick winter fur and extra padding that clung to his frame since kit-hood. It had taken a few years of Gideon holding true to his new path after the fight between him and Nick for others to start giving him a chance. He wasn't particularly close friends with the group but they got along well. Even Nick could be counted as Gideon's friend after Gideon had swallowed his pride and had asked Nick to tutor him one winter when the three fox families had gathered together for the five year clan gathering over the solstice. Gideon's more rustic accent had largely fallen away since he started to get more help with his school work then the teachers could bother to give.
"Hey everyone," Judy said extracting herself from the hug, "How was everyone's day?"
"Cold," Bobby said, "The heater in out trailer went out two days ago and they don't think it will be fixed until after the break."
"That's not right," Judy said frowning, "They should bring out portable heaters or something at the very least or move the classes to the gym. It's heated at least."
Gideon shrugged. "We're use to it Judy. AC went out last summer and there are leaks in some of the roofs too."
Sharla nodded along, "They aren't in great shape it's true. They fix one thing and pretty soon something else breaks and it takes them a while to come up with the money or will to fix it."
"It still isn't right..." Judy said as the group started to walk away together.
Gideon glanced back at the group of bucks as they turned the corner, "Say Judy what did that buck want with you?"
Judy's ears fell as she glanced back seeing the last of the group of bucks disappear around the corner. "He was trying to get me to go on a date with him...again. I wish he would just take the hint like the others."
"I never liked him," Bobby said tucking his paws into his armpits, "He smells weird."
"He smells weird? I've never noticed," Sharla asked tilting her head in confusion. "Is it like he wears some weird cologne or something?"
"No it's more like he smells like more then one rabbit sometimes," Gideon says his nose twitching as the wind blew across Judy and to him.
"So like he was spending time with his family and they marked him?" Sharla asked.
"No it doesn't smell like a family member. Most family have a similar scent but the ones I've smelled on him is pretty different," said Bobby tucking his coat tighter around himself.
"Oh here take my scarf already," Sharla said unwrapping what at first glance just looked like a thicker puff of her wool around her neck and handing it up to Bobby.
He quickly wrapped the length of black wool scarf around his face and breathed in deeply enjoying the leftover heat warming him before a look of concern overtook his face. "Sharla...is this your own wool?" Sharla nodded sheepishly. Many sheep used their own wool to make thing but they rarely let anyone other then family or very close friends use what they made. Reluctantly Bobby unwrapped it and handed it back. "Thank you Sharla but I cannot take it."
"Just keep it for now," Sharla said not taking it back. "You're cold and I have enough wool left to keep me warm." Bobby carefully wrapped the scarf back around his neck but kept it from wrapping around his nose this time. "So...you where saying the scent is different then his families. His friends than?"
"Not unless he is really close with his friends," Bobby mutters, "Really really close. Intimately close if you get what I am saying."
"Oh," Sharla said glancing around trying to find a way to change the subject before noticing the duffel bag Judy carried. "Judy are you staying over at Nick's again this winter? I am heading to my Aunt Rosette's place in Zootopia tomorrow."
"Yeah I am! Ever since Nick started working more formally with his mom we haven't had much time to spend together so we figured we would take advantage of what time we could get," Judy said perking up at the change in conversation before looking around, "What is everyone else doing?"
"Solstice celebration with the family," Gideon said grinning, "My dad will be there this year too! Ever since he started driving for Mrs. Wilde making deliveries and picking up supplies he has been doing less long hauls and is home more often. Mrs. Wilde even gave everyone a solstice bonus on top of the paid break since they are doing so well."
"Hey that's great Gideon," Bobby said with a genuine smile. "My family is heading inland in a few days. Family reunion type of thing. Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts, and a entire pride of cousins." He glanced around as the reached the sidewalk at the edge of the school grounds. "Well I better head home. You all take care and have a great break!"
"Bye!" Sharla waved before looking off in the other direction, "I better get home too. I still have to pack. Bye Judy! Bye Gideon!" With a quick hug to Judy Sharla quickly walked away hoofs tucked into the wool puffs on her opposite arms.
"You heading home too Gideon?" Judy asked as she turned to see him still standing there rubbing his paws together nervously.
"Umm...can I walk with you a bit Judy?" Gideon asked looking around and not seeing anyone.
"I guess so but isn't it out on your way?" Judy said as they started to walk together.
They walked in silence for a time before Gideon spoke up again, "Judy I owe the Wildes a lot ever since Nick beat some sense into me. Between Mrs. Wilde hiring my dad, Mr. Wilde helping us by making us good clothes cheap, and Nick helping me with schooling...there isn't much I can do to repay them for all of that." He took a deep breath before continuing, "You don't smell like anything today Judy. Well like lavender but your normal scent is gone..."
"You can smell that..." Judy asked her ears drooping.
"Yeah...sorry I didn't mean to but I caught a whiff when the wind shifted. It's odd and stands out," Gideon said rubbing the back of his head. "It's like when you have a cold and nothing tastes quite right but you know what it should taste like you know?
"Ummm...I guess," Judy said, "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"It's a fox thing. When things don't smell right we try to figure out why. Especially when it's someone we are close to," Gideon said with a sigh. "Nick will notice when he sees you...and he will want to know why." Judy stopped and turned to look right at Gideon trying to puzzle out Gideon's meaning. "You smell like him sometimes and he smells like you sometimes," Gideon said shifting his feet in the snow. "I just figured the two of you where...close."
"We're friends Gideon," Judy said as she stroked one of her ears that fell over her shoulder. "Just friends. Rabbits like to cuddle sometimes..."
Gideon held up his paws. There where limits to what he wanted to know. "Okay...okay if you say so Judy. I was just trying to give you an outsiders point of view. An outsider foxes point of view. Just keep it in mind on the walk home. Later Judy..." Gideon left before Judy could respond.
A/N: Well that feels like a good place to wrap this chapter up. A bit of time skip recap, a bit of plot advancement, and two mostly hopeless teens mixed into one. We are approaching the end run for part one now with that time skip. Three to maybe five chapters left until part two.
I know it has been a while since I've updated the main story but you know how it goes with life. Two steps forward and three steps back before you side step a flaming catapult rock. Oh look...archers on the hill over there...and they are all pointing arrows at me...wonderful. All joking aside between a massive heatwave followed by wildfires and a couple of lungs full of smoke from previously mentioned fires during COVID my motivation and free time took a nose dive. On the plus side I have finally replaced my crappy decade old laptop so I can type in a much more comfortable fashion then at my desktop as I have been doing until now.
I am still self editing so my apologies in advance for any errors that may (read as highly probable) pop up.
As always thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
