Hey everyone!
I'm proud to present to you the latest chapter, and 2nd 'bonus chapter' of When Instinct Falls, Lecherous Merriment! :)
Just to clarify, this takes place before Nick and Judy went undercover in Jack Savage's building. Heck, it takes place even before the two of them took their spring-break vacation to Bunny-Burrow all the way back in chapter seven! The events in this chapter fit somewhere in the time slot between chapter 6 and chapter 7 respectively, which in total, stands as roughly one month. It's nearly the start of spring at this point in time, as a point of fact! :)
Now, this isn't the longest chapter, and it certainly didn't come very quickly, and I apologize for that. I had some other things in the way, topped off by a little bit of shameless laziness, but that's no situation for you lot to worry about, now is it? :P
In all seriousness, despite the rather short chapter this time around, do keep in mind that this chapter, unlike the other bonus chapters, is not really designed to advance the plot or continue the story, but to fill in the gaps and provide some sweet entertainment. You can skip over it, if you want to continue the main plot. For those that read this one though, I still hope that you all will find some enjoyment out of this new, and nearly one hundred percent fluff chapter!
Update: Though, due to some recent happenings, I wound up deleting the explicit scene in this particular chapter. The rest of this chapter is still intact. I apologize for the inconvenience, but the rest of the chapter, including the funny dialogue and moments, are still intact.
"Life may not be the party that we hoped for, but we should still dance." - Jeanne C. Stein
9:35 P.M
Springtime.
It was a time of colorful verdure and blooming blossoms, of sunny skies and watery cloudbursts, of runny noses and respiratory congestion... All at the same time...
Yet all pretenses aside, the capricious season of spring also brought with it a completely new feeling for most mammals to behold.
Love was quite literally in the air, as mammals of all shapes, sizes, and species begun to broadcast their reproductive pheromones, some in hopes of attracting a mate, others simply to woo and seduce their current partners. Mating season was personified by the intoxicating smell of bodily chemicals, and the unquenchable desire to mate.
But no mammal knew this feeling more than the rabbits of Bunny-Burrow, who were subjected to it nearly all year-round. It was just another part of their culture, and stood as one that was accepted as the norm back in the seemingly never-ending fields and hills of the Tri-Burrow County. However, in the actual city of Zootopia itself, it wasn't uncommon for jokes over such a topic to be tossed around Judy's likeness, who tried her best to politely avoid them in their entirety.
Despite it all, the young bunny simply couldn't escape her own body, especially since spring was a time where rabbits were even more susceptible to their own biological desires.
Judy found herself being extra careful around her own partner, who she was near-certain had already begun to detect her encroaching pheromones. Sure, she had mated with him twice before at this point, but it was still a subject that she tried hard to avoid, and a feeling that she attempted to hide: Judy didn't want to be stereotyped or categorized as just another heated bunny during 'that time of year', so she kept her feelings to herself as best she could.
Time dragged on, and her desires only continued to peak with each passing day. It certainly didn't help that almost every time she looked up at the fox's handsome face, he would wiggle his eye-brows, or administer a single, sly wink in her direction. Judy wanted to tell him so badly, but even still, kept it to herself: As Nick himself might say, she didn't want him, or anyone else, to see that springtime was getting to her.
She would have taken the opportunity to bed down with Nick in a heart-beat, so as the days passed by, she started to fear that her own work would be affected if she didn't.
Eventually, it had gotten to the point where she would do everything within her own power to refrain from thinking about her desires and her lecherous feelings. So, when the fox had brought up the topic of Clawhauser's birthday celebration, which would be held at Gazelle's latest concert, Judy gladly accepted the invitation. She was more than willing for another distraction at this point, and she didn't turn down the opportunity when it presented itself. Besides, she loved Gazelle and her music! It would be fun!
Later, the bunny found out that not only would Clawhauser's birthday party celebration be held at a Gazelle concert, but that all of the party guests, which included Nick, Judy, Bogo, and a number of others from Precinct One, would be granted full access to the back-stage area after the concert was finished, where they would be able to chat with Gazelle and her performers, all while being given a VIP tour of the mechanics behind the concert stage.
The date soon arrived, and with its arrival, the group of mammals, accompanied by hundreds of other guests, all flocked to the Sahara-Square, where they planned to gather at the very base of the Palm Hotel, where the concert would be held. The whole event was apparently sponsored by the hotel itself, which probably hoped to gain some extra foot-traffic, on top of the prospect of more people booking rooms for the night.
That must've been their grand strategy: To tire out the huge masses of the concert's crowd, making them stay late into the night and not want to go back home, and instead spend the rest of the coming night in the Palm Hotel itself, which as a matter of fact, had suspiciously just upped its already considerably expensive room prices.
At the very least, that was Nick's theory: Ever the pessimist, he always was.
With their VIP passes hung proudly upon their necks, Nick and Judy, along with all of their friends, followed the flow of the crowds into the heart of the concert stadium, which was near identical to the one that they all had partied in some three years back, after the conclusion of the Night-Howler case.
Eyeing the scenery, both Nick and Judy found themselves squinting at the onslaught of bright and colorful lights, of which flashed across their vision in red, blue, green, white, and virtually every color of the entire spectrum itself. Prismatic lasers, beamed around in synchronized harmony, and gigantic screens broad-casted colorful and dancing shapes.
In the very center of the concert stadium, a circular stage rose up from a pristine pool of water, which itself spouted jets of mist and vapor that splashed and danced rhythmically, but still without music to accompany it. The concert stage was colorful and clean, purple-tinted in the miasma of bright flashing lights that filled the air and flowed across the ground in prismatic harmony.
The concert had yet to even start, but Judy already had begun to feel her heart racing within her chest, blissful excitement overtaking her mind and body.
"Let's get closer, slick! I wanna be able to see Gazelle!" The bunny stated, pulling Nick along by his paw.
Smirking to himself, Nick silently obliged, and followed his mate through the thick of the crowd, which consisted of all sorts of mammals, ranging in size, shape, color, and species. Elephants and giraffes stood near the back, while the more smaller-sized mammals positioned themselves closer to the stage, so as to be able to see and hear better.
After finding a suitable spot, the two mammals soon recomposed themselves properly and waited patiently for the concert to begin.
"It was really nice of Clawhauser to invite us here!" Judy started. "This is so cool!"
The fox nodded his head in agreement, all the while eyeing his mate up and down. Judy wore a white, skin-tight tank top, which itself was beneath an unbuttoned plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up neatly to her elbows. Her legs were wrapped in a slightly torn-up pair of denim shorts, which extended down to about mid-thigh before roughly being cut off. Her cute, fluffy little tail poked through the fabric, wiggling delicately and causing Nick to smile in response.
Looking down at his own clothes, he snickered: Nothing special. Just his usual attire, consisting of his boring green floral shirt, a pair of beige-colored khakis, and one striped purple tie.
He wasn't one for very diverse or unique outfits...
Smiling down at the bunny below him, the fox took to his own verbal response to the likes of her previous statement.
"Well, I reckon that it's only gonna get better from here on out, whiskers... After the concert ends, we still have the backstage party, now don't we?"
The fox patted the bunny on the shoulder and smiled coyly down at her from his height. Smiling warmly right back at him, Judy voiced her thoughts out loud;
"So what's the deal with these, huh?" She questioned, fingering the plastic card around her neck. "What happens next, exactly?"
"Ever the dumb bunny, aren't you?" Nick retorted teasingly, earning himself an elbow to the sternum.
"Oh shut it, scruffy! Just answer the question, will ya?"
"Alrighty then... So, once Gazelle finishes the concert and quits singing, we meet up with Clawhauser and the others near the entrance, and from there, the staff will take us on a tour of the backstage, which is actually right beneath our feet! We'll also get to meet Gazelle up close and personally, and I heard that there's gonna be some drinks too."
"Nice! Sounds like fun!" The bunny exclaimed excitedly.
"Sure does, fluff... I guess that we still have to wait for the concert itself to start though, so best-"
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" A female-sounding voice boomed across the stadium, interrupting the fox mid-sentence.
"I HOPE YOU'RE ALL READY TO GET DOWN!"
Upon closer examination, Nick realized that the voice filling his ears was none other than Gazelle herself, who must've been speaking through some microphone, somewhere. Eyeing the colorful stage in the middle of the massive auditorium, the fox watched as the famous singer appeared from the very middle of the stage itself, no doubt risen up by some small platform or elevator that connected to the center of the stage from the mechanics beneath their very feet.
From six other spots on the stage, Gazelle's back-up dancers rose from the surface of the platform, partially obscured in a cloud of white and purple-colored mist.
The lights dimmed down before focusing on the stage, where the famous pop-star and her accomplices began their routine, starting with Gazelle's unquestionably most famous song, Try Everything. Both Nick and Judy knew the song plenty well, especially the latter, who adored it with every fiber in her entire being. Judy personally believed that the song itself was the perfect musical personification of all of life's little joys, and thus, it easily grew to be her most favorite song, even despite the slew of other pop-songs just like it.
Nick himself didn't think much of it: For the longest time, he saw the song as somewhat ironic, in a sense, since there was a time when such an idea was nigh-impossible.
Though, ever since he met Judy, his cynical side has slowly been melting away. Now, though he still saw the song as a bit of an overrated push-over, he had actually grown to enjoy it for more than just the reverberating chords that it produced, but for the true meaning behind the lyrics, and what they meant in modern day Zootopia as a whole.
The beats were invigorating, the lights were rejuvenating, and the kick of the crowd alone was nearly enough to make anyone jump up and dance... Such was the power of music.
Nick didn't consider himself much of a dancer, really. Despite the heated buzz of the music and the rippling masses of the crowd, the fox simply took to watching the center of the colorful stage, and listening to the rhythmic beats, his paws stuffed firmly into his pockets. All the while, his right foot tapped up and down to the beat of the music, which thrummed against his ear-drums and caused his fur to stand on end.
Meanwhile, Judy was bouncing up and down excitedly, her arms tucked in and held close to her sides. Her eyes were closed, and her ears were perked up to the sky, no doubt taking in all of the sounds and noises that they could possibly detect. After a short while dancing to herself, the female bunny noticed that Nick was just standing there, listening to the music, but far from fully enjoying it.
Maneuvering herself closer to the fox, Judy swung her waist-line in his general direction and administered a satisfying hip-check to his pelvis, knocking him slightly off balance and causing him to smirk as he rolled his eyes and began to swish his arms around to the beat of the music. Pleased with herself, Judy smiled and inched even closer to the fox, dancing right beside him for the entirety of the song's remaining chords and lyrics.
The female bunny was personally hoping deep down that her mate would get the message: That she was feeling rather affectionate that evening.
Try Everything continued until it's very end, from which a new song sprung up from the waning music. A number of Gazelle's other hit songs, including Hips Don't Lie, Waka Waka, Dare, and Can't Remember to Forget You all played throughout the remainder of the concert, which dragged on for roughly another hour and a half before, at last, coming to an end.
Quickly exiting the stadium in an effort to beat the crowds to the stadium's entrance, the bunny and fox met up Clawhauser and Bogo, along with a number of other off-duty officers, before making their way to the back of the stadium, where they followed through a set of doors and met up with their guide, who happened to be one of the tigers that was dancing alongside Gazelle herself on the stage back during the concert.
Following the black and orange striped cat down the length of the hall-way, the group of mammals descended multiple stair-cases before entering a sprawling network of large, concrete-lined rooms that expanded beneath the property of the concert-stadium. Their guide showed them around the backstage, which was draped with fuzzy-red curtains, and lain over with all sorts of props, decorations, and other confusing-looking mechanisms that must've been the elevation chambers that led up to the middle of the concert stage.
The pack of mammals was led to a cozy-looking recreational section near the back of the hypogeum, which itself was filled with multi-colored couches and decorated with posters of famous singers and song-writers, including Gazelle herself. But aside from the printed posters, the actual pop-star herself was lounging in the room with a number of her back-up dancers.
Chuckling to himself, Nick watched Clawhauser as he tensed up and squealed loudly, all the while quickly pacing over in the direction of the famous singer. The fox could tell that Bogo was trying really hard not to appear completely thrilled at the presence of Gazelle herself, whom was now practically rubbing elbows with Clawhauser, who had squeezed himself right next to her on the couch, and had already begun to ask her personal questions before she had even gotten the chance to introduce herself to her guests.
After idly chatting with the singer for some thirty minutes, Nick and Judy stood up so as to walk around and stretch their legs, which had begun to grow restless from the consistent amount of sitting. Trudging in no particular direction for some time, the fox eventually started to lead the bunny in the direction of the snack and beverage table, which was piled high with all kinds of food, ranging from fruit, junk-food, vegetables, and even some chocolate-dipped crickets and meal-worms.
Licking his lips greedily, Nick instantly began to consume handfuls of the sweetened insect parts as soon as he got within an arm's-reach of the table and its contents. Meanwhile, Judy took to the vegetables and fruits, which she slathered in various sauces and other dips for added flavor. After eating their fill, Nick found himself pointing to the opposing table, which was adorned with all kinds of expensive and diverse looking drinks, including wine, beer, sprites, and other unnameable liquid substances to enjoy.
Behind the counter, a comparatively large male horse manned the bar, and waved at the pair of mammals as they quickly approached the table.
"C'mon, carrots!" The fox coaxed. "A lil' bit of alcohol won't hurt, will it?"
"Famous last words..." Judy mumbled, following Nick towards the beverage table.
Stepping up to the counter, the female bunny casually selected a single glass of water, to which Nick audibly scoffed at.
"You can't be serious, cotton-tail... That's all that you're gonna have? You're not gonna be adventurous and try some of these awesome drinks?"
Nick held up his selected beverage, which was a colorful mixture of blue-ice, and green-colored juice, topped off with a secondary layer of vodka to add a little bit of kick to it.
"I'm not much of a drinker, Nick, you know that..." Judy replied, rubbing at the back of her neck. "I'm also a light-weight, and I don't wanna be a burden to you..."
"Oh, don't be like that, whiskers... You're not a burden... Especially not to me! Besides, it's Clawhauser's birthday, so just celebrate a little bit! Have some fun!"
"I don't know, slick... I wouldn't want to get tipsy, or anything like that..." The bunny mumbled lowly.
"You'll be fine, carrots, I promise. There's nothin' wrong with treatin' yourself every once and a while, is there? You don't get drinks like this very often... Enjoy them!"
The fox handed her a tall glass of some orange colored liquid, which was topped with shavings of ice and a few sparse little green leaves. Holding the chilled glass between her paws, Judy moistened her lips and sniffed the drink before shrugging and voicing her thoughts out loud.
"I guess you're right on that one... Cheers!" She admitted, smiling to herself and clicking glasses with Nick. "Bottoms up."
Judy then brought the enticing and sweet-smelling beverage to her lips, and without any further hesitation began to drink.
3:02 P.M
It has been said that one's true self, is without form.
That in the end, it is nothing more than your very own mind that determines who you are as a living being.
So what happens when the mind is addled by the effects of some outside force? Does drunkenness make you who you really are?
Judy wouldn't say so herself, but in that moment, it certainly made her who she wanted to be.
After the concert had ended and the crowds had flocked back home, Clawhauser had gladly given both Nick and Judy a ride back home to their apartment. Dropping the two of them off and bidding them both goodbye, the fox took to the complicated task of assisting the bunny up the first flight of stairs. Due to his coaxing, and no doubt to also prove herself as adventurous and brave, Judy had downed three full, mid-sized glasses of alcohol, which was three more than she should have: Her light-weight body was very susceptible to the likes of alcohol, and it was only a matter of time before she began to show symptoms of fluid intoxication and drunkenness.
Slurred words, tipsy balance, clumsy footing, and glazed-over eyes: Judy had the whole package.
Worried for her health and well-being, Nick carefully assisted her in the simple task of walking up the flight of stairs, and making their way to their apartment. It took some time, but eventually the bunny and the fox managed to make it back to their room. Upon closing the door shut behind him, Nick briefly let go of Judy so that he could lock the door. After hearing the click of the lock sliding shut, Nick detected another noise: A heavier thump as a soft object fell to the ground. A slurred female voice garbled aloud;
"Ow.. S-stupid gravity... Ugh..."
Turning around Nick sighed at the sight of Judy sprawled out across the ground, no doubt having lost her balance and fallen over due to her apparent dizziness.
"Up you go, carrots." Nick muttered, helping her steadily to her feet. "I shouldn't have let you drink... I'm so sorry..."
"It's alright, s-slick... Not your f-fault..." The bunny grumbled, rubbing at her fuzzy head.
"Do you need me to carry you, fluff? You seem to be a little bit dizzy, there." The fox offered.
"Yes please..." Judy murmured softly, going limp into Nick's arms as she did.
Hey everyone!
I hope that you all enjoyed this latest chapter of mine! I know I certainly did!
Also, before I bid you all adieu, I'd just like to show thanks for you all one last time. I really appreciate everything that we've been through, and it's been an amazing adventure every step of the way, from chapter five to fifty. Thank you all for everything we've done together, and for what we will do in the future.
'Till next time...
Peace!
PS: The coming dozen chapters or so are some of my favorites in the whole story. Do please keep on reading! :)