"When you learn to accept instead of expect, you'll have fewer disappointments." - Unknown
*BONUS QUOTE*
"How can this garbage you gave me be the soup of the day when it was made yesterday, you twat?" - Gordon Ramsey
Several days passed as the fox and rabbit grew accustomed to their new routine. Wake up, realize again they weren't in their real home, a quick quip from Nick about it, followed by a flurry of activity while they prepared for the day, though in the end, each day was the same.
Parking Duty, time and time again.
"You have to give it to Urzo, he sure is imaginative in his assignments for us, Carrots."
Leave it to the fox of all mammals to demonstrate his potency with sarcasm.
"I absolutely never would have guessed that he'd give us parking duty again, of all things, I mean, what are the odds of that?"
"I just wished he would trust us with something more useful than just parking duty." Judy grumbled lowly. "Isn't there anything else that happens in this district?"
"Careful what you wish for, whiskers..." Nick chided good-heartedly. "You just might get that wish."
The next few hours dolled on without any major incident. They caught a hare pick-pocketing a purse from a young doe who Judy chased down, helped an elderly raccoon cross the street who had escaped from the nearby assisted living facility, and held an impromptu lecture to two foxes about appropriate displays of affection when the two officers had found the vulpines chinning each other in the middle of the road. It wasn't a boring day, but it wasn't one that would be written down in their journals as exciting either.
It was then, after they had left the two vulpines with a verbal warning, that Nick spotted a rather beautiful brick building, its facade covered in paintings of the forest, while trees grew throughout the outside patio area. As they passed, Nick made a mental note of the name of the place as he turned his gaze towards Judy.
"You know Carrots, I think we should mix things up tonight."
The rabbit glanced at him, slowing to a halt at a stop light before giving him her full attention. "What do you mean?"
"I think…" he began, motioning with his paw for her to go when the light changed, "that we should do something different tonight. Let's go out to eat instead of dining in, what do you say?"
"Nick," Judy stated in a voice that she used when she was about to scold her husband. "Did we not just get a pay cut?"
"A temporary pay cut." Nick replied in correction
"Alright, a temporary cut. That still means that we need to temporarily cut our expenses as well."
It was time for Nick to pull out his saved ace.
"Have you forgotten what day it is today?"
Nick grinned as he watched Judy's ears shoot straight up. "Sweet cheese and crackers!" she swore. "Don't tell me it's our anniversary!"
"Don't worry, I'll forgive you," Nick replied, patting Judy's shoulder. "But only after you agree to go out for dinner with me tonight."
Judy couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "Sly fox."
"Forgetful bunny, aren't you?"
8:30 P.M
Nick parked their vehicle, quickly running around to the passenger side to open it for his bunny bride.
"Such a gentleman," Judy teased as she accepted his offered paw and slid out of the car with practiced ease. Together the two walked paw in paw towards the restaurant, making idle chat as they neared the front doors.
Judy heard the revving of the car's engine before Nick did. Her ears swiveled towards the sound a moment before her head followed.
"Nick!"
The fox turned at her shout, years spent living on the streets readying him for what he saw, his mind acting fast as he grabbed Judy and bolted behind a nearby newspaper stand. The car sped past them, a slight 'thuthump' sounding from its wheels at it hit the pothole at full speed, sending a wave of grimy water up and over the newspaper bin, the metal can saving them from the worst of the spray while Nick's suit jacket saved Judy herself entirely from getting doused.
"Nice suit, fox! Did ya steal it?" The white-tailed deer shouted from within the car as it sped off.
"Ooo!" Judy huffed angrily, straightening to her full height as she looked as if she were about to sprint after the driver.
"Judy…"
His voice halted her advance. Her shoulders relaxed as her frustration left her body at his subtle tone.
"We're here to have a nice dinner to relax, of which I don't recall chasing after a car, of which I know you'd probably catch, a part of that plan."
Judy sighed, giving the car one last look before she went back to her fox's side. "At least I got his license plate number," she stated with a smile. "I'll be watching for him on our next parking duty shift."
"Sly bunny," Nick replied, offering her his arm. "Shall we?"
Judy took the arm in her own and together they stepped over the biggest puddles on the sidewalk and made it to the entrance of the restaurant.
"Woodhollow?" Judy asked, looking up at the name of where they'd be eating dinner.
"Saw it on our patrol earlier today and thought it would be a good place to relax and unwind."
Judy marveled at the building, which was quite impressive by itself. The brick facade on the outside was covered in detailed murals of forest scenes, while a small stream of water bubbled out of a pipe in the wall where the pictured stream ended, allowing the water to flow into a mammal-made creek following the curved outside wall of the buildings. Shrubs and mossy rocks lined the stream as it tricked around the building and towards the outside eating area where mammals dined and laughed.
"I thought you might like this place."
Judy looked up at Nick with a warm smile, though he could tell she was worried about something.
"Nick... This place is nice and all but, can we really afford it?"
The fox paused, turned towards his bunny and smiled as he placed a paw cupping her cheek. "Anything is worth it for you on our anniversary."
Judy couldn't help but smile and lean into his paw, placing her own paw upon his. "Yes, but we also have to afford the day after our anniversary too, Nick." She chided.
Laughing, Nick brought out his phone and showed it to Judy.
"Don't you worry your pretty little cottontail about it. I checked the prices on Yelp and this is actually cheaper than the takeout we've been ordering." He claimed, smiling wide.
Her smile said all he needed to hear as he led them inside, holding the door open for her. Both of their mouths nearly dropped open as the door closed behind them. If they had thought the outside of this place had been spectacular, then the inside was fit for a king.
The murals continued along the walls of the inside, but that wasn't what caught their eye. The building itself was built around a massive oak that filled the center of the building, the bar curving its way around the trunk of the giant of a tree. The roof of the building was high enough to where several of the lower branches of the tree could be seen, and from those branches hung lanterns and strings of lights that graced their way to and fro across the roof of the building.
Their gazing at the marvel before them was only interrupted by a slight 'ahem' from in front of them. Their eyes again drew down to a server standing at a podium in front of them.
"Can I help you?" He asked in an almost bored tone of voice.
"Wilde, party of two," Nick stated, holding up two fingers as he leaned on the podium. The deer merely glanced at the fox's elbow, before sighing and looking down at his list.
Briefly eyeing their new waiter up and down, both the fox and the bunny could tell that he was some kind of musk deer, with his short yet sharp fangs giving it away. Excluding the bone-white incisors, the deer himself was smaller than the average white-tail deer, and his snout was somewhat stouter and thicker, even. Other than that, he bared the same deer-ish look that one would expect from someone of his species, what with the thin arms, near-constantly swiveling ears, and light beige colored fur coating his tiny body.
"Nice suit, fox! Did ya steal it?" The white-tailed deer shouted from within the car.
Briefly eyeing their new waiter up and down, both the fox and the bunny could tell that he was some kind of musk deer, with his short yet sharp fangs giving it away. Excluding the bone-white incisors, the deer himself was smaller than the average white-tail deer, and his snout was somewhat stouter and thicker, even. Other than that, he bared the same deer-ish look that one would expect from someone of his species, what with the thin arms, near-constantly swiveling ears, and light beige colored fur coating his tiny body.
The deer, whom was roughly the same size as Nick himself, waggled one of his hoofs in a gesture for the lapin and vulpine to follow him towards their assigned table, which of no real surprise, was located in the section of the restaurant that was sized towards smaller mammals such as themselves. Nick and Judy's waiter led them to a cozy looking table that seemed to lay in the exact center of all the others around it, as if the two of them were to be acknowledged silently as the guests of honor throughout the entire room.
The waiter proceeded to pull out Judy's chair first before doing the same with Nick's, and from there, the couple seated themselves directly across from one another. The musk deer himself then pulled the two tiny black books from under his arm and laid them down in front of his guests. Two small little menus; One just for Judy, and one just for Nick.
"My name is Piers, and I will be your waiter here tonight." The musk deer claimed with a toothy smile. "Let's start off with some drinks, shall we? What can I get the two of you?"
He then pulled out a previously-hidden slip of paper and a stubby pencil out from under his right arm, holding the minuscule writing utensil between two of his hoofed fingers.
"Do you have any alcoholic drinks?" Judy questioned curiously. "Something not too heavy?"
The musk deer straightened his pose out formally and replied;
"Why, yes we do. We have a fine variety of imported wines. Would you care for a Chardonnay, or Pinot Noir? Our Zinfandel is quite nice as well."
Judy shrugged sheepishly, and Piers drew in a deep breath, clearly a tad bit irritated that she was rather unfamiliar with her alcoholic beverages.
"Pinot Noir is a dark red wine savored for its rather bold sense of flavor, while Zinfandel comes in red and blush colors and bears a wide variety of fruit-like tastes."
"Hmm... What about the other one? The shard whatever? What's that like?" The female lapin asked.
"Chardonnay is a white wine with nutty and sometimes tropical flavors." Piers replied flatly.
Judy stared down at her unopened menu, her face furrowed with concentration. After a short pause, she looked up at Piers and replied, "I'll have the Pinot Noir."
"Perfect." The musk deer muttered. "Would you like to try the Gevery-Chambertin variety, or the Nuits-Saint Georges?"
"I'll try, uh... The first one." She replied back, her tone clearly telling her confusion over the identification of the two different alcoholic drinks.
"Very well, ma'am." The waiter acknowledged with a rather polite nod.
He then used the too-short pencil to deftly write down Judy's particular choice of drink.
Meanwhile, Nick was thinking over the last few times that his mate obtained alcoholic beverages, including that one time where he was forced to undergo a rather peculiar drunken mating session with her because of her previous drinking. He would normally object to having Judy consume alcohol of any form, but tonight was their anniversary, after all, and if she wanted to indulge herself, why should he stop her? Nodding his head silently in contempt, the fox then leaned back in his chair as he awaited the waiter.
After jotting down her ordered beverage, the waiter then planted his gaze onto the male fox and asked aloud, "And for you, sir?"
Nick flashed a quick glance at Judy before answering, "I'll have the same as her. Thank you very much."
"You are most welcome. Your drinks will be out shortly, but for now, I'll give you some time to order..."
With that, Piers weaved his way through the tables and slipped past a polished swinging door situated at the back of the room, disappearing into the depths of the kitchen.
"Gosh, I still can't believe that we're actually eating out an one of Zootopia's finest restaurants! It's so exciting, isn't it?" Judy found herself piping out with glee.
"You got that right, fluff-butt. It is pretty hard to believe, but don't get your hopes up too high: We wouldn't want the fall from grace once you see the check to be too painful."
"Gees, I hope not."
After allowing the auditory moment to fade, the pair of mammals then picked up their two respective menus and began to browse through them casually. Not much interested either of them on the appetizer section; They both knew to save as much space as possible in their stomachs for the real food, of which was labeled as some of Zootopia's best.
Admittedly more than just once, Judy's violet-colored eyes strayed to the dessert section, but she continuously pulled them back so as to keep her mind on the main courses.
Meanwhile, Nick found his own pupils glued to the soup section and being unable to pull away, finally decided on a dish composed of fish meat, beans, a few insects, and spices.
His choice now made, Nick folded the menu and scooted it to the edge of the table, away from where he now rapidly drummed his many clawed fingers. He watched Judy's large, perked ears rock side to side as her head slowly swiveled back and forth across her menu, her twin eyes locked firmly onto the little black book as her mind deduced her choices.
After a full minute of simply watching the besotting dance of his wife's floppy ears, the fox blinked several times and cleared his throat quietly in an effort to earn her attention.
"I've already decided what I want, honey. What about you, hm?"
Judy froze and peered at him past the top of her little black book.
"I don't know whether to go with the Salted Greens or the Mango-and-Spice soup..." She muttered as she lowered the menu to the table and asked. "What do you think?"
"Carrots, asking a predator about a choice between two vegetarian dishes is like asking Chief Bogo whether he wants to go to a Gazelle concert: The answer might surprise you."
Judy sighed heavily and used her paws to fold the menu shut, though not without a slight smile tugging at the very corners of her lips.
"I guess I'll have the Salted Greens, then. What did you decide on, huh, handsome?"
Nick shifted his weight in his seat and replied easily, "A spicy soup of fish meat and beans. Tuna, to be specific. One of my favorite, actually. Oh, and there's also some bugs, too."
"That sounds pretty delicious, save for the bug parts." Judy claimed. "Only a predator like you could enjoy something as disgusting as that."
"Right you are, fluff-butt."
Nick momentarily lost himself in the delicate glow of her purple eyes, but a steadily approaching shape to the side of them made him lose his focus and be jarred back to reality.
Judy detected his abrupt shift of expression and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. The wine's on its way."
Judy affected a rather humorous gaze that lasted for a few moments, causing Nick to do the same, before she turned around and eyed their waiter as he approached the table.
Piers wheeled a small mammal-sized cart made of aluminum and deep mahogany wood up beside the larger table where the fox and the bunny calmly sat, the metal itself polished enough to show a distorted reflection of the room around it. A dark red bottle lay half-buried in an ice bath, and next to the silvery tub stood a pair of shot glasses.
The deer sat the two decorated glasses down next to Nick and Judy before moving on to the important phase of the ritual; The light plunk of the small, yet ornate wine bottle on the table as he the waiter set it down carefully, followed by the sound of his steady voice, of which quickly garnered the attention of the two mammals sitting quietly beside him.
"A choice bottle of Gevery-Chambertin Pinot Noir, just as you ordered. A most luxurious selection, if I do say so myself." He claimed with a cocked eyebrow and two shining fangs.
"It certainly looks like it." The fox added as he watched the musk-deer plunge one of his two fangs into the thick of the cork.
Piers used his aptly-shaped incisors to remove the cork with a satisfying pop – No doubt formed that way from removing countless corks over the length of his time as waiter. A rising column of bubbles threatened to spill down over the lip of the bottle, but Piers expertly filled the shot glasses just before that happened, and then set them on the table.
The deep red liquid rested gracefully in each of the tiny containers, topped by a thin froth. The enticing aroma of the chilled wine flowed out and saturated the air around Nick and Judy's nose, and the two of them couldn't resist taking a deep sniff. The alcoholic bite of the wine was strong, but a rich, ancient smell lingered calmly in its wafting wake.
"If it smells this luscious, then I can't wait to taste it." Judy stated softly, yet with an undertone of excitement.
"I'm sure that you will very much enjoy it, ma'am." Their waiter piped up. "Have you decided on a meal, as of yet?"
"Yes, actually! I'll have the Salted Greens."
Piers whipped out his order-taking supplies and scribbled down Judy's request in rather elegant looking cursive. He then turned to Nick without taking his gaze from his sheet.
"And what will you be having tonight, sir?"
"I'll take the spicy meat and bean soup, please. Thanks."
After jotting down the male's order, the waiter nodded sincerely and stated out loud;
"Very well, then. We are running slightly behind tonight, due to the amount of customers, so I do apologize duly in advance if your respective orders are somewhat delayed."
"No worries! Thanks again, Piers. You've been a very fine waiter so far." Judy responded warmly.
"And you both have been most exquisite guests, I would say. Do enjoy your drinks."
Once Piers had stowed his order sheet and pencil away, he bowed politely to the pair of mammals sitting in front of him before heading off towards the gleaming door once more.
Nick balanced himself carefully on his seat – Which possessed a carved opening for his bushy red tail – And gripped the surprisingly cold glass with his right paw.
Judy imitated him, and once the two crystal vessels were a few inches above the table, Judy declared with vigor in a voice that was admittedly a bit louder than she expected;
"A toast to the end of the beginning of a long and terrorizing new job, yet not without its fair share of enjoyment, I might add."
The fox smirked before chuckling aloud and raising his glass into the air, holding it just inches away from his wife's as he imitated her previous statement;
"A toast to a long and torturous temporary exile... May it only be as half as bad as Bogo intends it to!"
They both snickered as they brought the crystal containers together, creating a sharp clink, and then quickly downed the dose of wine that they carried. As they swallowed the colorful substance, a sudden rush of bold flavor drowned amongst their tongues and pounded against their throats, causing them both to shake their heads and shiver in their skin after setting the glasses down upon the tabletop with a slight and unison clink.
"Woo, that was some real energetic wine!" Nick exclaimed. "That deer really wasn't lying to us, that's for sure."
"No kidding... I probably shouldn't have too much, though... You know how I tend to get when I'm a bit tipsy... Hehe..." Judy muttered with a slight blush.
"Oh, believe me carrots, I know." The fox stated with a slight wiggle of his brow.
While the two mammals waited for their gourmet food to arrive, they both passed the time by engaging in idle chat, occasionally accompanied by a rare sip from their shot glasses, which they refilled themselves whenever they needed to. Their converging ranged from minor quips and jokes about the weather, to a full-blown discussion on their hopes for the remaining few weeks of their little temporary exile from Precinct One.
"I'd really like to explore The Painted Labyrinth sometime before we leave..." Judy mused. "It seems like a pretty cool place, don'cha think?"
"Yeah, it wouldn't hurt. That's that underground cave system, right?" The fox questioned with a raised russet brow.
"Yep!"
"Does sound neat, I admit, though what I'm more interested in is why a cute little bunny like you would want to venture into a spooky underground cave system like that!"
The rabbit narrowed her eyes in disapproval, before picking up a nearby knife and rather casually twirling it around in her fingers.
"Yeah, and I'm wondering how a fox pelt rug would feel beneath my feet..." She mused, doing her best menacing impression for the sake of the joke.
"Woah, little dark there, don't ya think, whiskers?" Nick quipped with a nervous grin. "Okay, okay, fine, I'll go easy on the 'c-word' that you just can't get enough of."
"That's what I thought." The bunny replied easily, promptly setting the blade down upon the surface of the table.
As the two awaited the inevitable arrival of their respective meals, they both continued upon a multitude of various conversations, including a rant from Judy herself over Chief Urzo's attitude towards her, a serious discussion about the political upheaval caused by Ratsputin's death, and even a quick game of 'I Spy' with things around the restaurant.
Neither Nick nor Judy had the means to gauge the current time, save for their mobile devices, both of which were safely out of commission from their conversation, but as they eventually exhausted over their sixth random discussion, of which centered around the chances of running into a vacationing actor, they knew that their food was long overdue.
Unsure about how exactly to signal his waiter in a place festooned with pomp and luxury such as this, he merely searched visually until he found Piers, and then raised one of his russet colored paws into the air in the hopes of getting his attention. In under ten seconds, the musk deer was once again rooted at their table-side, ready to assist them.
"Do you need anything, sir?" He questioned politely.
"Yeah, uh, do you think that you could check up on our food? You see, it's been some time since we ordered, so..." The fox trailed off, hoping that he would get the message.
Thankfully, the musk deer seemed to understand Nick's request, and nodded in acknowledgement before calmly stating out loud;
"Of course, good sir. I do so apologize for the wait. I'll be back in a moment's notice."
After a quick and respectful sort of bow, the musk deer then journeyed back towards the kitchen end of the restaurant with a certain haste evident in his swaying steps.
Nick frowned and laid his arms out onto the table in disappointment. He drummed his clawed fingertips irritably against the tabletop before steeling his resolve and speaking.
"I'm sorry for the wait, whiskers. If I would have known-" He began glumly, but was promptly cut off by his lapin dinnermate.
"Don't worry, Nick. I'm just fine, really. Don't forget that we're not the only ones in here, though." She claimed, gesturing to the large crowd of mammals around them.
Nick gazed around quickly before turning back to his mate, but his expression was still a bit tight with negativity.
"Still, they all didn't get here at the same time that we did." He muttered. "This wait is really unnerving..."
While Nick was steaming on the other side of the table, Judy kept her gaze locked on the silver door. Roughly another minute after he had left them, Piers himself stepped out from the kitchen and ambled over to the pair of mammals, his two hoofed hands clasped together almost anxiously and his back-bone straightened out as he approached them.
"It should be out in another ten minutes or so." He claimed upon arriving at the side of the table. "Here are your napkins. Once again, I deeply apologize for the wait."
"Don't worry about it, Piers." The rabbit stated. "This place is so attractive, and must pull in quite a few customers, huh? You seem filled pretty much to the max, right now."
"You are a keen observer, ma'am. That is part of the reason why we are backed up, actually."
"And what's the other?" Nick questioned with an undertone of annoyance laced beneath his very words.
"One of our cooks happened to cut himself with a particularly stubborn piece of cutlery." The musk-deer claimed.
"Aw, that's too bad! I hope he's alright." Judy added with a paw placed sympathetically upon her chest. "Thanks for the napkins, though. We'll call you again if we need you."
"Of course, ma'am..." Piers concluded before backing away and heading off towards a family of muskrats whom were calling for his attention from the other side of the room.
"Yeah, right..." The fox mumbled beneath his breath. "Stubborn cutlery my ass."
"What was that?" Judy found herself asking, despite hearing every word of it in reality, due to her rather sensitive ears.
Nick perked up somewhat, but then turned away before replying lowly, "Nothing... You probably heard someone else."
The bunny sighed and relaxed back in her chair after drinking another swig of the Pinot Noir.
After another burning twelve minute wait, Piers promptly reappeared with another gleaming cart, this time carrying two decently-sized bowls paired the appropriate silverware. The musk deer then wrapped a smooth cloth around his hands so that he could pick up the steaming bowls with ease, and serve the two mammals their long-awaited dinner.
"Salted Greens for you, ma'am..." He said as he placed the bowl in front of Judy. "And the Vegetable Soup for you, sir." He added after handing Nick his order.
"Ooo, this looks good!" Judy exclaimed with a wide smile. "Thanks!"
Although the rabbit nearly jumped up and down in her seat with glee, her vulpine counterpart stared his meal down with a suspicious look of disappointment.
"Did you say vegetable soup?" He asked flatly, still staring at the green-ish broth. "I didn't order a vegetable soup."
The waiter pursed his lips in consideration, briefly examining the bowl before swallowing hard and picking it back up again, all the while spouting;
"My, I am so very sorry, sir! I believe your order must have been mixed up with someone else's... If you will, I'll be right back! So sorry!"
Piers dashed off, soup in hand, back to kitchen, vanishing behind the shifting metal doors and out of sight. Nick irritably tapped his clawed fingertips against the tabletop while he waited, all the while trying not to eye Judy's own meal hungrily as his was finalized. In another minute's time, Piers bursted out from the doors once more, and promptly speed-walked over to another part of the restaurant, briefly converging with a raccoon family before swapping one of their sides with Nick's, and approaching the fox's table at last.
"My apologies, good sir." Piers muttered quickly as he placed the new bowl down onto the table, directly in front of Nick, who looked down upon it with satisfaction.
"This looks more like it... Thanks." He stated.
"Enjoy your meals..." The musk deer finalized politely before departing back towards the nearby kitchen door.
Once Piers was a fair distance away from their table, Nick himself whispered to his mate in an irritated tone, "It's about time!"
Judy grabbed her fork and held it just above her food while saying, "Please calm down, Nick. For me?"
Nick relaxed visibly, his muscles unlocking and his body slumping slightly.
"I'm sorry, carrots. It's just... I expected more from this place..."
"Nick, I promise, I'm fine. I really am. Don't let these things get to you, right? Like Piers said, let's just enjoy the meal, shall we?"
"Alrighty, fluff-butt." Relented Nick before adding, "For you. I just hope that this food is worth the wait."
Nodding in content, Judy then turned her attention down towards her meal before skewering a tiny slab of carrot and popping it into her toothy mouth, all the while reveling in the sweet watery taste before swallowing and diving in for yet another. Meanwhile, Nick himself buried the tines of his fork into a juice-coated chunk of meat, bringing it to his waiting maw before munching on it delightedly and promptly following it up with a firm side of steamed grasshopper, the body of which crunched lout loud between his teeth.
"Isn't this... Food... Delicious?" Judy asked in between rather hearty chews.
Normally, she would have upheld more decent manners, but the Pinot Noir from earlier had cast a slight hex over her overall judgment.
"You got that right. I guess it's safe to say that the longer the wait is, the better the end product, eh?"
"That's a good point, slick." Judy claimed before swallowing another mouthful of food. "Keep that in mind the next time we have a long waiting time at a restaurant."
Nick and Judy resumed their intake of the gourmet nourishment, but something went wrong.
As the fox swallowed his fourth bite, a hot sensation crawled from his stomach and all the way up his throat before resting on his tongue. The spices of the food had broken through the numbing effect of the wine and were now beginning to unleash their flaming hot fury upon the sensitive nerve endings buried within the thick of his tongue.
"Are you okay there, Nick? Is something wrong?"
Indeed, his eyes had widened and started to water slightly. He cleared his throat audibly and swallowed a quick sip of wine to combat the fiery flavor raging within his mouth. Admittedly, he knew what he was getting in to when he explicitly ordered a food item with added spices, but he honestly hadn't expected it to be quite this hot. The fox himself didn't exactly consider large quantities of spice to be his favorite thing, though he did love a good tang to his meal. This, however, was a bit more than he had expected from it.
"Hoo, this is pretty hot. I'm fine though, don't worry. I can take it." He panted, moistening his lips. "I guess it earns its name, huh?"
From across the table, his wife just nodded and acknowledged his previous statement with a slight grunt, since her mouth was currently full of salad parts and other greens.
Nick then treated himself to another sip of wine, and from there, the two tiny mammals silently indulged themselves in the luxury of their respective meals. Occasionally, one of them would clear their throats and bring up a minor topic for conversation that would quickly simmer down to silence once more. Eventually, however, they both finally finished their dishes, and were properly satisfied, yet still craving for more. The fox took it upon himself to ask his beloved partner as to her own desires for another round of ordering.
"I think we should have dessert, wouldn't you agree? If the fine food and drink is anything to go by, the dessert must be absolutely heavenly."
"Sounds like a pretty good prediction to me, slick. Still, why don't we let our food settle first before piling some sugar on top of it, huh?"
"Whatever works." The fox claimed. "I'm in no rush... Not anymore, at least." He chuckled.
Nick and Judy then dissolved the recent silence that had accompanied their twin meals with a drawn-out and lively sort of chat, keeping the topics more relevant to their future.
"So, what do you think the new boss'll put us up to these next few weeks, huh? More exciting ticket work, perhaps?" The fox quipped coyly.
"Gosh, I hope not... But I know better... Of course there'll be more of that. I honestly just hope that we get the chance to do some more exciting stuff, at least." Judy replied.
"Like what?"
"Well, not necessarily anything huge, like undercover, or taking down crime syndicates, for example... But just something with more meat than parking duty, so to speak."
"Ah, I see... Understandable."
The mammals laid off the wine while conversing, for half of the bottle had been emptied so far, and the haze dulling their minds was very much detectable. Their faces were locked in somewhat dreamy expressions, their usually firm and steady twin voices were now slightly slurred, and their current movements were lacking in complete control.
They spent a good thirty minutes quietly flirting and chatting with one another, and as if to close said chat off, filled both of their glasses and prepared to drink one last shot of wine each. Judy paused and waited for Nick to empty his glass before moving her own towards her lips. As the fox leaned back, his bushy tail lowered to the floor, with the fur sprawled out somewhat. His tail casually swished from side to side, delicately grazing against the tiled floor beneath their feet with each and every back and forth movement.
An approaching waitress, a female otter, no doubt somewhat bored with the monotony of her delivery routine, wasn't paying attention, and effectively wheeled the food-topped cart directly over the fox's russet tail, causing the vulpine to grit his jaw in pain and for his emerald-colored eyed to widen in sudden surprise as a painful jolt shot up his tail.
"Ouch!" He hissed before craning his neck around to the otter at fault. "Hey, my tail is a part of me, you know!"
The waitress froze at the sound of the outburst and abandoned her cart, walking steadily towards the source.
"I am incredibly sorry, sir! I-It's been a very long day! I know that's not an excuse, but-but please forgive me..."
The soup incident was nothing compared to this.
Still, she wasn't much better off than he was. The female bunny pursed her lips in disappointment, and gave the waitress a hard stink-eye to express her frustration.
Now this isn't good. Here I was thinking that all of the waiters here were as skilled and careful as Piers! It seems this one has some homework to do... She thought to herself.
After listening to a few more hasty apologies, Nick himself shooed the waiter away before slumping back in his chair with an audible sigh. Judy couldn't help but notice that his long and bushy tail, of which was still twitching rather irritably from the previous incident, was now curled up against the legs of his chair, hidden beneath the seat and nearly out of sight, or at the very least, now out of the way of any oncoming food carts and clumsy waiters.
A few of the nearby customers were murmuring about the waitress' folly, and the complete necessity of Nick and Judy's reactions. Others were whispering that they themselves would have simply fled the place if the same had happened to them. Those varying snippets of simple conversation were pressing heavily on Judy's mind at the current moment.
Judy crossed her arms upon her chest and then promptly asked her mate with a serious tone;
"Do you want to just leave already, Nick? That waitress should have been paying attention... Talk about incompetent..."
Although Nick himself had been the one whom was irritated earlier, he himself was surprisingly calm despite having his very own tail just run over by a food cart.
"I would gladly leave with you, it's just that... Well, I was thinking that maybe we could still salvage the night and enjoy the remaining hours that we have left, no? Now, I know you're not too pleased with this place, and believe me, so am I, but we can still have our dessert and then leave, right? A little sugar to sweeten the sourness of our evening..."
Judy huffed audibly and replied, "Fine. But after dessert, we are out of here. Mixing up our orders was one thing, but running over that gorgeous tail of yours? That's another."
Nick nodded strongly in return.
"No kidding." He muttered in agreement. "But right now, all we can do is keep on livin', eh? No sense in spending it moping, wouldn't you agree?"
"Yeah, you're right. You have a good point, as always." The bunny stated.
"Well, I do go by sly fox for a reason, you know."
The rabbit simply rolled her eyes in response before changing the subject once more;
"How about we get Piers's attention now and order our dessert?"
"I'll take care of that." Nick reassured her. "I just hope that he doesn't slip up and direct yet another disaster in our direction."
Judy sat back in her chair while Nick raised one of his arms and waved down the nearby waiter.
"Does it still hurt?" Asked Judy softly as she waited calmly, one of her fingers waggling in the direction of Nick's tail, which was still curled up beneath the table.
"Only slightly. It's nothing, really." The fox claimed in easy and swift response. "Don't worry about it."
Judy raised her brow, somewhat unconvinced at his previous statement, but unwilling to argue his answer nonetheless.
With his appendage still raised, Nick looked around at the seemingly perfect restaurant.
What could be next? He remarked mentally.
An airborne plate of food that just happens to fly in their direction? Explosion in the kitchen that caves the roof in? Ivar and Captain Unicorn showing up and wrecking the place?
As outlandish and improbable as these occurrences seemed, he would put nothing past the hand of fate itself, which had already once intervened, unfortunately for the two of them. The fox himself could only hope that nothing else would tarnish their already stained evening. Instead, he focused intently on his mate as they both waited for dessert.
"So..." Judy started, breaking the rather uneasy silence. "Do you have anything planned for us after this, ah, lovely dinner?"
"It's a surprise, fluff-face."
Judy pressed him further.
"What kind of surprise?" She asked playfully.
"You'll just have to wait and see, honey."
Judy smiled, even though she knew she was going nowhere with her staunch mate.
"Ya sure you don't want to just tell me right now?" She pressed.
"Nah, I'm sure you can wait." The fox retorted.
After their short eternity of waiting for their attendant to appear, Piers finally showed up beside them.
"Sorry sir, ma'am, some of our guests' orders were mixed up. Now, how may I assist you both tonight?"
"We'd like to order some dessert." Judy claimed calmly. "What do you have here?"
"Very well, then. We have Chocolate Lace Cheesecake, Carrot Cake, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Brownie Delight, and many others. Uh, would you like me to bring you a menu?"
Nick piped up from his side of the table;
"No, that's fine. No menu needed. I'll just have the cheesecake. Uh, without the chocolate."
The musk deer promptly whipped out his secretive paper slip and pencil and quickly copied down Nick's reply, including his request for a subtraction of the added chocolate.
"And for you, ma'am?" He asked upon jotting down the fox's order.
"I'll have the carrot-cake." Judy replied easily, as if she had said the statement at least a million times in the past.
"Perfect." Piers claimed with a smile. "The wait for the desserts should not be that long. For the moment, though, would you like me to remove your bowls and utensils?"
"Go right ahead, sir." The bunny merrily conceded.
Nodding in acknowledgement, the musk deer then bent down and began plucking the couple's dinnerware off of their tabletop, stacking each plate before clattering the shiny silverware directly atop of them. As soon as he had vanished – With the bowls and silverware stacked precariously between his arms – Nick turned to his wife and asked aloud;
"Have you ever tried cheesecake before, whiskers?"
"Oh come on, Nick..." Teased Judy. "Of course I have!"
"Ah, but I've heard that the cheesecake here is quite literally to die for. At least, that's what Clawhauser said in the review he left on the restaurant's website..."
From beneath the table, the fox raised up his left arm and showed Judy his phone, of which displayed a tiny webpage dotted with pictures of the restaurant and its food.
"I'll hold you to that, handsome." The bunny stated as she concluded reading Clawhauser's apparent review. "You do know that means I'll be stealing some of yours, right?"
Nick found himself chuckling in response to his mate's previous statement.
"Yeah, yeah, I kinda expected it. Besides, I don't mind, as long as you don't take too much, of course. You do already have your own dessert, after all."
Someone beside them cleared their throat somewhat audibly, effectively earning the attention of the two bantering mammals. They both turned their heads to see their musk deer waiter standing beside them once more, his hoofed hands clasped together in an almost anxious sort of fashion. Nick was amazed that he didn't notice the waiter earlier.
"Hey, Piers. Uh, back so soon?" Nick mumbled a tad bit sheepishly.
"I have some bad news." The waiter claimed sadly.
"Oh really?" Grumbled Nick. "What is it now?"
The waiter frowned and replied sullenly, "It seems that we are all out of Chocolate Lace Cheesecake. We do have plenty of the other choices, though, if you are interested."
"I've lost my appetite." The fox muttered flatly.
"Oh... Okay then, well, the carrot-cake is still in high quantity, so your order will be arriving soon enough, ma'am. I deeply apologize for the inconvenience." The musk deer said.
Once again, Piers bowed in a gesture of respect and apology before turning tail and returning to the kitchen.
Nick sighed for what he felt must've been the millionth time that night.
9:47 P.M
"What's so funny, huh carrots?" Nick grumbled.
Judy continued giggling, "Because, you dumb fox; You planned all of this out just to make me happy, yet you forget that the only thing that I really need to be happy is you."
She leaned over and traced his cheek with her fingers before placing a kiss upon it.
"Oh, I make you happy, huh?" Nick replied, his mouth widening into a coyish smirk.
Judy nodded, "Mhm." She muttered in acknowledgment.
Nick pulled Judy closer to his side, all the while allowing his bushy tail to wrap around her legs.
"Well, I can think of a few things that this fox can do to make you even happier tonight. I still haven't forgotten about that aforementioned surprise of yours. Interested?"
The rabbit rolled her eyes before playfully elbowing him in the very center of his sternum.
"Sultry little fox, now aren't you?" Judy quipped as she leaned into his grasp.
"You know it, sweetheart."
Upon concluding his previous comment, the fox gave a reassuring squeeze to his wife's shoulder, content with the current atmosphere and mood, though not without a slight spring of excitement in his steps as he led his beloved wife back to their new and temporary home, intent on settling in for the evening, yet accompanied by high hopes for tomorrow.
Hey Everyone!
Okay, for starters, I just want to apologize for the recent string of rather hectic story updates. As you would know from the last author's note(s), I was trying to revise and edit some of my older chapters, and I accidentally screwed some things up. I wasn't thinking, and things got out of hand. I'm so sorry for any shred of confusion that has arisen from this incident, and I certainly hope that you can forgive me for my mistakes. Regardless, things should be back to normal now.
Anyhow, that being said, I certainly do hope that you enjoyed what this latest chapter of ours had to offer, of course! I know that it took a bit longer than usual to be released, of which I apologize for, but I do still hope that you lot found enjoyment from it nevertheless. Alongside that, if you haven't already, do feel free to favorite/follow this story of ours: Each and every single one only helps me realize the motivation needed to continue this story. I appreciate that very fact.
Reviews are also greatly appreciated, of course, and since the chapters got shifted around a bit due to my screw-up with the updates and whatnot, I would be most grateful if more reviews were received so that I could chart out the layout of this little problem of ours. Hard to explain, but I'm sure you get the flat idea.
Regardless, I do thank you all for your time and consideration! That's all I have to say for now, so do stay tuned for the next chapter, comin' your way soon!
'Till next time...
Peace!
PS: Yes, I'd say the events in this particular chapter take place about two-three days after the events of the last story chapter.
PPS: A special thanks to my friend Cimar for helping me out with his particular chapter.