Chapter Eight

Brown Bottle Flu

Sunlight crept in through the thin curtains of the second story window and into the apartment of the rabbit, Judy Hopps. From the bottom of the deep well, she dragged herself into consciousness and cracked her crusted eyes open. The blazing light shot through the window, nearly blinding her, and she let out a soft moan at how unusually bright the sun was that day.

Turning over with her eyes tightly shut, she rubbed her paws in a soothing motion across the throbbing sides of her head as she tried to leave this uncomfortably bright world and return to the darker one she had been occupying moments before.

Lifting her head — that alone took effort — she raised the edge of her pillow with a paw and placed her head on the bare mattress, laying the pillow atop her head. Here, between the underside of her pillow and the mattress, it was cold and dark. It was quite blissful for the rabbit in her current state and she closed her eyes again, readily returning to a state of sleep in the darkness her pillow offered. The throbbing of her head abated as sleep's cool and soothing embrace took her. Her breaths became shallower and her heartbeat lowered before she, at last, fell from this world into sweet slumber.

Until that came to a crashing failure as this beeping noise began slowly building up into her ears, the unceasing beeps of her alarm ripped through the restful peace and smashed into her mind, just like a hammer pounds upon an anvil. Moaning much louder this time, almost wailing in fact, the rabbit clutched her ears over her head in an effort to drown out the sharp tone, feeling as though her head was about to split open.

Work was calling…

Moving as little as possible, she reached out a stiff arm and silenced the sinful device. Just five more minutes. Or five more years preferably.

Settling back a second time, she reveled in the newfound silence the room had to offer. She would get up soon, go to work. But for now… she would just wait a while. Sighing airily as she settled back down, the drift of swirling exhaustion was making her almost feel like—

From without, someone pounded heavily upon the door, it wasn't that loud but to Judy, the effect was as though the scalp of her head was being removed, and then her bare brain was being flogged by a car driving at seventy miles an hour. Or in simpler words: It was painful.

Is everything conspiring to make me suffer? Her mind huffed before she called out, "Who is it?" At least, that's what she tried to call — but her actual reply was really just a muffled, "Gerwhoganan?"

The red fox waiting patiently outside was unable to hear the call of his partner, let alone understand it, and so, after a moment, he raised his paw back up to the door and, again, lightly tapped his knuckles upon it. This was the second time he had tapped lightly upon the door and also the second time it was received as a loud pounding noise by the hungover bunny within.

Groaning, Judy tried to call out again but choked on the dry, foul taste of her mouth. She decided the quicker she did this the quicker it would be over, so she hauled herself from beneath the sheets of her bed and placed her feet down upon the wooden floor. Almost falling, she steadied herself on her cabinet and found a full glass of water which she picked up — not wondering how it came to be there — and gulped down half the contents. She coughed twice more, than spoke, "Who is it?" This time her voice did not fail her but was still raspy, cracked and weak.

"It's me, Nick." Despite the pain her head was giving her, she smiled at this as she looked about for something to cover herself with, but soon realized that she was still wearing her cloths from yesterday, minus her coat, gloves, and so on. At length, she managed to cross the small room, which was swaying from side to side, and leaned against the doorframe for some moments, breathing deeply before taking up her key and — after several unproductive attempts to put it in the keyhole — unlocked the door and pulled it open.

Judy gazed at the handsome fox before her. As always, he was meticulously well-groomed; every hair was in its place, brushed smooth and soft; his ZPD uniform was clean and his tie neat — but his tie was undone slightly, his collar a little askew and his shirt tucked imperfectly into his trousers — giving Nick the wonderful lop-sided charm that she loved so much.

Nick gazed at the... rabbit before him. Dressed in yesterday's creased cloths with her fur ruffled and matted, her head lowered, as though her neck was afraid of the weight, in the expression of exhaustion. Honestly, Nick wouldn't have been surprised if she just collapsed right there and a part of himself prepared to catch her, before she fell, if needed. Her ears were low and her eyes baggy, her mouth sagged open and her eyes were dull, slowly blinking up at him as though still not used to the light — she was still adorable — in a shabby state, but adorable.

His eyes shifted back upwards to look the rabbit in the eyes before speaking, "May I, come in?"

She blinked once, then shook herself slightly before replying, "Of course."

Well, so much for 'my rabbit metabolism will clear it all up by morning'. She's not drunk anymore, but she's definitely hungover.

She stepped aside and Nick slipped in. He heard the door shut behind him as he crossed the room towards the half-glass of water, which was still on the cabinet — glad that there was still water in it so he wouldn't have to go to the bathroom for more — and he reached into a pocket and pulled out a box. He sat down on the side of Judy's bed and placed the box from his pocket on the table, keeping his actions silent for Judy's sake, as he heard her walking back towards him. A smile set upon his muzzle at what happened next.

Judy, quite exhausted from crossing the room twice, shifted back onto the bed and sat just behind Nick before resting her weight against her fox. Too hungover to really care what he might think, she leaned fully into him with a paw resting on his shoulder and her head resting on his other one, while her eyes closed, huffing heavily into his side.

Smiling at the intimate familiarity she must feel to be comfortable to do such a thing, he raised one paw, from fiddling with the small box, and gently stroked the soft fur on her cheek. She released a small hmm at his soothing touch before he spoke, keeping his words soft for obvious reasons, "This your first time?"

"First time what?"

"Your first hangover."

"I... I'm not hungover." He rolled his eyes and tutted silently at her indignant reply, then stopped rubbing her cheek, moved his paw before her face, and clicked his fingers once. The unhappy groan she released, at the sharp sound the act had caused, a sound which would be of no comment to most 'non-hungover' mammals, was proof enough for both of them, and she huffed again before sheltering from the light of the world by pushing her head into Nick's soft-brushed neck.

As much as Nick would have liked to have sat there all day, feeling the warmth of Judy's body against his and the tickle of her breath against his neck, he knew that the one of the few things Judy hated more than being late was not turning up at all, therefor she would surely be insistent upon the point of going to work, despite her many ailments. And while she was in no fit state to work like this, Bogo would not allow an officer to have the day off because they were hungover. Although, if Nick took Judy in, not only would Bogo see how bad Judy was and probably send her home, but Judy herself would see how bad she was and agree she was in no fit state to work... rather than sit at home, blaming Nick all day, if he were to let her stay.

So, to keep up good relations with Bogo — and to satisfy Judy's sense of promptitude — Nick carried on with his original plan, despite the fact it went against everything he wanted. Opening the small cardboard box, he moved the half-glass of water closer. The sound the glass made, as it dragged along the imitation of wood, startled Judy into opening her eyes and looking up. Over his shoulder, she saw him take out a packet of pills from the box and pop two out of the metallic foil that covered them. After popping them out into his paw, he dropped them into what was left of the glass of water and they immediately started to fizz.

Picking up the glass, Nick swirled it several times before raising it towards Judy's head. "Gulp it all down," he said and she took it, "it won't clear everything, but it'll help."

"Thanks," she replied before tipping it back. She swallowed several mouthfuls of the rather repugnant-tasting liquid, then swallowed the two pills with her last mouthful. Moving off him and setting her empty glass upon the counter, Judy pretended to choke on the pills a little, mimicking a spluttering sound.

Nick fell for the act easily and shifted around to place his paw delicately upon her back, rubbing his warm, firm-padded paw across her in a way which was as soothing as Judy hoped it would be. Nick didn't stop rubbing her back even after she had stopped pretending to be choking. She didn't mind his touch in the slightest as his paw continued rubbing up, then down the length of her spine with its own accompanying tingle of pleasure.

A few seconds later she gave in absolutely. She slid sideways, from sitting upright, to lying against Nick's chest: almost in his lap. The fox stared in surprise for a couple of seconds, but then wrapped his arms around her in a tender hug as Judy huffed heavily before closing her eyes, the throbbing in her head somehow soothed by his touch. Nick breathed slowly, relaxed considerably by his embrace with Judy, feeling her chest slowly rise and fall with every breath through the arms he had wrapped around her moment's prior to which he, slowly, lowered his muzzle to rest on her head, between her ears with his eyes closed likewise.

"Nick..." she began at length.

"Yes, Hopps," he replied, opening his emeralds, his voice a low whisper against her ear.

"Was it you who got me the water?" she asked, waving a loose limb towards the now-empty glass.

"Yea. I hope you don't mind: I had to go through your pockets for the key."

"I… didn't get it for you?"

"No, well... you were asleep at the time, so you couldn't have."

She opened her eyes and looked up. Nick raised his muzzle to see her properly. "You carried me up here?"

"Hah," he chuckled, keeping his voice low, "I didn't have much choice. Even if you were awake, you had too much to drink, so you'd have needed carrying anyway."

She chuckled slightly in return. "Sooo, look... I can't remember anything from last night beyond my— I think… third glass of-of..." she lowered her head again, rubbing her aching eyes with her paw. "Of whatever it was I was drinking last night."

"Huh. Well, we didn't leave until you'd finished your fifth. Do you remember anything past that?"

"Ermmm. No."

"Nothing... on the porch?"

"Nooo?"

"Nothing... at the red light we pulled up at on that small road, just across from the pub?"

"Why, what happo—"

"Nothing. Just, you can't remember, right?"

"No," she said pointedly, "I doubt it anyway, it's hard to know what you've forgotten if you don't remember it." She sat up at this, Nick allowed her up as soon as he felt her tugging against his arms and sat up after she stood.

Judy decided she felt better than she did previously and, while the light was still somewhat painful, the dizziness had reduced and she felt a lot more alert. "Okay," Judy said as she unzipped her jacket, removed it and threw it over Nick's face and eyes, before walking over to her wardrobe, facing away from the fox and slipping out of her shirt. "You know the drill."

Not understanding the rabbit, Nick took her jacket away from his face to see what she meant... and for a beautiful, amazing, heart-pounding second: Nick had full view of Judy's bare back — naked to the room — her blueish-grey fur glowed silver, and her sharp shoulders and trim waist were a very satisfying sight indeed. As soon as he had processed what he was looking at — which, admittedly, took longer than it should have — Nick turned away. He didn't see anything 'sensitive', just her back, but it was still enough to set his heart thumping in his ears, blushing hard and resisting the urge to pant as to reduce the flush of heat which was rolling through him.

Judy was completely unaware of this, as she pulled on her blue ZPD-issue shirt and did the buttons up.

It was even less helpful to Nick when he realized — in his haste to turn his back for the sake of his partner's privacy — that his paw had slipped down, into the sheets of the bed where he was now able to feel the warm patch on the mattress Judy had left from her night's sleep.

Judy asleep, he decided, was probably the cutest thing imaginable. Honestly, he hopped he would be able to see it first-pawed someday, close up.

…

Dressed fully, Judy padded across the room towards the fox who was sitting on her bed — paw, for some reason, tucked beneath the sheets — staring concentratedly at the wall. He appeared to be in thought for he did not hear her cross to him, so she tugged him once by his tie. He turned to see her smiling face. "Feeling better?" was his question after a moment's delay.

"Yep," she replied, "much better." She passed him and threw open the curtains... something she immediately regretted as the golden light flooded in, making her physically stumble away from the window as her paws dragged her ears over her eyes in a bid to block out the incoming onslaught of light. Nick threw the curtains shut again. He crossed over to the rabbit, took his aviator sunglasses from a pocket and handed them to her.

"Thanks…" she said as she took the glasses from him.

"Well, you seem less vague and hazy, but you're definitely not well. I hope Bogo gives us somewhere dark and quiet to work."

"I hope so too... and thanks for the water, and carrying me up here, and everything, Nick."

"Don't worry, Hopps. You know I enjoy catering to the needs of a dumb bunny like yourself." She grinned at his affectionate insult — for affectionate it was despite the fact it was an insult at core — and spoke with just a little trepidation in her voice, her paws clasped behind her back, rocking on her feet.

"And, I got you a Christmas present!"

The fox grinned, tussling her ears. "Aww, thanks, Hopps! I got you one too, but it's too big to carry from my place to here, so it's still round mine."

"Don't worry, that's okay. You didn't have to get me anything anyway." She handed him his gift. It was small, flat and rectangular. About three inches across and only a couple of inches high and quite thin. It wasn't paper thin, about three millimeters, and it was — for its size — quite heavy. Investigating a little more, he found it to be partly flimsy — not flexible — but it did bend and return to its original shape easily. "We better get to roll-call though," Judy broke the immersion, "so... open it later, okay?"

"Okay, Hopps, and thank you." With that, Judy reopened the door and stepped out. After Nick followed, she shut the door and locked it. Together they left the building. When they reached the front door of the apartment block, where the light of the sun, which was painful to the hungover bunny, became a problem. Judy waited until she knew Nick was watching, and she then opened his black polarized sunglasses with a stylish flick of the wrist before putting them on. Just as he had done not one day before. "Come on, Slick," Nick mocked, grinning in recondition of her action, "or you might make us late again."

With that they set off, instantly engrossed in a conversation revolving around the point of, naturally, the fact that they weren't late and exactly whose fault it was that they nearly were.

…

Author's notes:

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Grooms decision thus chosen blind.

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