AN: Shorter chapters then the main story of Distilled Dreams to help fill in the AU around the OCs that will be reoccurring. Much like some side quests while they add to the main story they are not necessary to the main plot so feel free to skip them if you wish. I hope you enjoy.

Distilled Dreams: Side Stories

A Bandit to Steal a Bunny's Heart

Chapter Six

Aubrey brushed the road dust from her clothes with one paw while keeping hold of the bag with an off the menu dinner her father had made for the two of them. She had passed several groups of mammals who where working on the renovation under Rocky on their way back into town while she headed to the Warren turned Den. The locals had given her a few odd looks with many of the younger bucks recognizing her and waved enthusiastically at her even without her diner uniform while she walked. Thankfully while still a bit sore if she moved too quick after a few hours on her feet at the diner it had faded enough that the had been able to walk around normally.

"You lost miss?" A brown stag deer in a hard hat asked as she looked between the few trailers that had been parked around nearby the main entrance to the soon to be Den.

"Umm...I was looking for Rocky," Aubrey held up the bag she had, "I brought his dinner but he didn't say there would be more then one trailer here." They all looked the same to her as she looked between them again.

The stag pointed to the one set separate from the other with a bulletin board stuck to the side holding several official looking pieces of paper. "The fore-mammal trailer is that one with the permits posted on the side." The stag squinted and tilted his head causing his impressive set of antlers to nearly tangle in a bush. "You look familiar..."

Aubrey smiled slightly. She remembered seeing this stag trying to keep his antlers from tangling in some of the decorations in her families diner. "I think I've filled up your coffee cup a time or two this morning."

Mike snapped his hoof finally remembering where he had seen this particular bunny. Rocky had already been at the diner before anyone else from the crew had turned up for breakfast. Mike had seen Rocky give her a discreet kiss when he thought no one was looking before leaving for the job site. "That's right. I am a team leader here under Rocky. Michael Branchson but I prefer Mike," he held out his hoof to shake Aubrey's paw. "I didn't know the diner had a delivery option." He said with a sly smile at Aubrey's slight blush.

"Umm...it doesn't but I was on my way over and though he might be hungry," Aubrey muttered looking down trying to hide her ears. "I am going to be moving to Zootopia and Rocky offered to help me figure out where I wanted to look for a place. He said he had better maps then the atlas I had."

Mike chuckled looking over at his bosses trailer, "I've known Rocky for a few years now. He is a good fore-mammal but always a bit cold towards mammals when he first meets them. Cannot really blame him for that. Raccoon's have it tough in the city so he has to be on guard a lot of the time. He has been in a pretty good mood today. A lot better of a mood then he was in when this project got dumped on him and he was scrambling to put a crew together." He looked down eyeing the bunny. "I get the feeling something he found here has been good for him. Something he has been missing since before he and I got to know each other as friends." He did not give Aubrey a chance to reply as he turned and waved over his shoulder. "Well I've kept you long enough. Don't want to get between Rocky and his dinner. If I do I'll find myself having to do a manual sewer inspection tomorrow."

With a tilt of her head Aubrey watched Mike duck into a trailer and returned without his hard hat. He waved again as he walked down the road and around a bend disappearing from sight behind overgrown bushes and trees. Shaking her head Aubrey walked to the door of the set aside trailer and knocked. "Mike if that's you again you will be cleaning out the sewer pipes by hoof for the next three projects!" Rocky's shout cared though the door.

Aubrey opened the door with a chuckle. "And if it's me?" Her eyes darted around the dim interior trying to find Rocky. There was small desk across from the door with a hard hat and safety vest hanging from the chair back. A row of locking cabinets took up the wall to her left and to the right a breakfast bar marked the boarder of the kitchenette. Two doors, one open and one closed, connected to the kitchen. If this trailer was like any other that Aubrey had seen there would be a small bathroom and bedroom there. A slight glint from the open doorway reflected off his Rocky's eyes bringing Aubrey's attention to him and the fact he was wrapped in only a towel.

"Aubrey!" Rocky said tucking the towel a little tighter around himself before crossing the distance and trying to pull her into a hug. "You're early!"

"No! No! NO!" Aubrey playfully shouted using the bag she was carrying as a impromptu shield to hold him and his still wet fur back from wrapping around her, "I am covered in road dust and your fur is wet!"

Rocky chuckled dropping his arms and staking a step back, "Sorry. I figured I would have enough time to get a quick shower in but Mike kept popping in and out."

"I saw him on my way here," Aubrey said thinking back to the stag and what he had said, "He pointed out the trailer. You didn't say there was more then one."

Rocky grimaced slightly. "Sorry. I've been around construction so long I just figured you would recognize the fore-mammal trailer from the break and equipment ones. You're lucky there wasn't more. If we hadn't gotten the rooms at the motel the crew would have been camped out here with me." Rocky went to the other door and opened it. It was a small bedroom as Aubrey thought. "Give me a moment to dry and dress...unless you want to join me my Honey Bun?" Rocky asked with a grin and a playful wink.

Aubrey laughed, "There will be time for that later my Cuddle 'Coon. I've only just started walking normally after last night." She held up the bag she carried, "I brought dinner so I'll dish it up and you finish getting dry and dressed." She was setting the last dish down across from each other at the breakfast bar when she felt arms circle her waist and pull her into a hug. She leaned into the hug pressing herself firmly against Rocky as he nuzzled into her neck.

"You're too good for me Honey Bun," Rocky whispered into her ear.

"You got that the other way around Cuddle 'Coon," Aubrey whispered back. They stood quietly in each others arms for a moment before their stomachs reminded them of the food in front of them. "So food and talk? You said you knew of a place I may like."

"Yes," Rocky said reluctantly letting his bunny go, "Food and talk." Quickly they divided up the food on the plates she had brought with her. After a few quick, silent bites to take the worst edge off his hunger Rocky cleared his throat. "Well the place I thought of that you might like...if you wanted...you could always stay...with me..." Aubrey's fork paused midway between her plate and her mouth to stare at Rocky squirming and looking down at his plate. He took her stare and silence as a negative and continued. "It a three bedroom three story brownstone so you could have your own room...until you find a place you like if you don't want to stay with me."

Slowly Aubrey lowered her fork and continued to stair at Rocky. They may not have been together long but she could tell he was nervous. His nervousness triggered a seed of doubt in her mind, "Do you want me in another room?"

"No..." Rocky said taking a deep breath and looking up, "No I don't. This...us...I don't know much about rabbits so I don't know if me offering to have you move in with me so soon is...okay I guess." He rubbed his paws though the fur on his head in nervous frustration with how little he knew about rabbit culture and his worry about messing things up with one false step.

Aubrey slowly stood and walked around the breakfast bar. Rocky's eyes followed her as she hopped up into his lap and pulled her plate next to his. Slowly she began eating again. After she had taken a few bites Rocky started to eat again. "So how big is our bed? Will we need to get a bigger one for the two of us?" Aubrey asked spearing a piece of roasted broccoli and eating it.

"Our bed?" Rocky asked pausing in his eating again looking down between her ears at the bunny in his lap.

"Yes our bed," Aubrey said looking up seeing her ears frame his face. She reached up and rested a paw on his cheek and smiled. "I would love to move in with you Cuddle 'Coon but if you think I am going to be sleeping a cold bed all alone now that I have you you really do have a few things to learn about rabbits. I don't know much about raccoon's either so maybe we can teach each other. Some one on one lessons." Her smile slid to mischievous by the end.

Setting his fork down Rocky circled his arms around Aubrey and pulled her into him again. "I love you Honey Bun," Rocky said kissing the space between Aubrey's ears.

"I love you too Cuddle 'Coon."

Rocky loosely gripped the steering wheel of his construction van and tapped his claws against the hard plastic as he drove back to Zootopia. Things had going well with the project coming together on time and under-budget surprisingly enough. The Wildes had seemed happy with their new home and businesses from what he had seen on the tour he and Aubrey had given them. He wished them the best but hoped he wouldn't need to make the drive back out to Bunnyburrow too often. The only thing he would have missed about that town was sitting in the passenger seat next to him.

He glanced over to the passenger seat and the more cynical side of his brain couldn't help but think things where going too well. The sunlight coming thought the window seemed to make his beautiful bunny Aubrey's dark black fur shimmer with hidden color like an opal. She sat there looking out the window in comfortable silence Bunnyburrow having long since vanished over the horizon a few hours ago. The week prior has passed in a blissful haze for him after the two of them had spent their first night together and their talk about her moving in with him the day after. The only time that had been a bit awkward for him was meeting her family right after spending the night satisfying a bunny in heat. Thankfully her family hardly seemed to bat an eye at the raccoon and bunny pairing. The cooler her parents had given them as they said their goodbyes on their way out of town was proof of that. It had been filled to the brim with food for the road and a few meals that they wouldn't have to worry about making as the two of them settled in together.

"Are we there yet?" Aubrey said looking away from the window. She opened the cooler and pulled out a bag of raw vegetable to snack on. "Scat..." Aubrey said looking over at Rocky hoping he hadn't heard.

"I told you it was a long drive," Rocky grinned. He had just won their bet and was going to enjoy collecting on it later. Aubrey had insisted she wasn't going to say that. "But yeah we are almost there. You should start to see a few of the mega-burrows of the Burrows District soon."

"Mega-Burrows?" Aubrey asked tilting her head.

Rocky pointed with one paw quickly, "See that hill over there?"

"Yeah?" Aubrey said squinting at the large mound. The hill was nearly a perfect dome covered in grass and the light kept glinting off...windows? Looking to the side she saw a few more hills in a row that all had the strange glint of sun off glass. "Oh...those aren't hills are they." It took a few more minutes of driving before Aubrey was able to see just how big the artificial hill created to house the mega-burrows actually where.

"Got it in one Honey Bun. Each of those hills have more square-footage inside and underground then half of the skyscrapers in down town," Rocky said with a grin. "Once we pass though the Burrow District I am going to swing to Mammal Mountain and cut though Nocturnal District to get home to Savannah Central."

"You really hate the Rain-forest District don't you," Aubrey said remembering the map that they had studied together before she had all but dragged him to her bed. Going though Nocturnal District would add quite a few miles to their journey to avoid the straighter route though the Rain-forest District she thought.

"I'll take you there one day and let you see why I hate it for yourself," Rocky said making a turn and the large snow capped mountain filled the windshield. Aubrey stared in wonder at the green forested sides of the soaring peak changing to bare gray stone and a cap of bright fresh snow and ice at the summit. "It's a shorter distance as the crow flies to go though the Rain-forest District but once you start trying to navigate that labyrinth..." Rocky shuttered, "It's easier to drive around it."

"Okay," Aubrey said taking in the breathtaking view of Mammal Mountain as they came closer to it. The van slowed approaching a tunnel entrance cut into the side of the mountain and a checkpoint.

"Evening sir," a mountain lion greeted them when they reached the booth and its boom gate. The mountain lion looked over at Aubrey then gave Rocky a quick glance up and down before holding out a paw. "Sorry about this but despite you being a raccoon I have to ask to see your license with the Nocturnal Driver Endorsement."

Rocky had already fished his license out while they had waited their turn to enter the tunnel and handed it over as soon as it was asked for. "No worries. Rules are rules and all of that."

The mountain lion's eyes widened in surprise after checking the picture against Rocky and he turned the card over to see the endorsements on the back. In a neat double row was a line of symbols and stamps. He saw the small purple bat one that he needed to see that certified the driver could operate in nocturnal conditions safely without aid. "Damn!" The mountain lion said handing the card back to Rocky, "You must get around to need all those endorsements. I cannot remember the last time I was so many on one license. Blizzard and sand storm certified too."

Rocky patted the outside of his door drawing the mountain lions attention to the logo there. "A fore-mammal isn't much good for Big Construction if he cannot get around in all the districts."

"That's true," the mountain lion chuckled and raised the boom gate, "Go on in. Remember headlights are only permitted along the main streets but running lights should remain on at all times."

"Thanks," Rocky said driving though and switching off his headlights. He wouldn't need them and he wasn't planning on using the main streets and their extra heavy traffic. "Sorry but its about to get really dark Honey Bun," Rocky said to Aubrey as the tunnel curved down and the sunlight faded away. Rocky didn't speed and did his best to tell Aubrey when he was about to make a turn or had to break. He kept looking over to see how Aubrey was doing in the dark. Her nose was twitching and her ears where on a constant swivel. "Doing alright Honey Bun?"

"Ye...yeah," she stammered, "I figured out it isn't so bad if I just close my eyes."

"We are nearly out and heading up the tunnel now so there is light again," Rocky said taking his paw from the wheel to pat her leg.

"I don't know how you can drive in that," Aubrey said as they left the tunnel. She looked over at Rocky, "I didn't even know you needed a special endorsement to drive in that."

Rocky nodded stopping at a traffic light and waited for it to change. "With all of the different districts and all the different climates the city needed a way to keep traffic accidents down. Most mammals cannot go from crossing the desert in Sahara Square to driving on the icy roads of Tundratown safely. Most cars themselves cannot do that. They are pretty easy to get once you learn how to drive in those conditions." The light turned green and Rocky slowly pulled forward. "You wouldn't be able to get the Nocturnal Driver Endorsement though."

"Not sure I want to drive down there too often," Aubrey shuttered. "I don't really like the pitch black you cannot see your paw in front of your face dark there."

"I know they do tours down there with infrared goggles for mammals without good night vision. You can get an endorsement that shows you can use them and if you had a pair the mountain lion would have let you drive though." Rocky easily navigated the turns and lights with a ease that spoke to how well he knew the area. "There's a similar check point at Tundratown but they also check to make sure you have tires for the snow and the nicer ones also make sure you are dressed right for the cold."

Aubrey scratched her ear thinking it over watching the houses and corner stores pass by. "Makes sense I guess. I'll look into that when I head over to the DMV tomorrow."

Rocky pulled to a stop and parked in front of row of brownstones. "Here we are. Home sweet home." He looked over at Aubrey as he popped his seat belt. "Oh that reminds me. Don't go to the main DMV building in downtown go to the one in Canal District."

They got out of the van and Rocky stacked the few small boxes of belongings Aubrey had bought with her after they had handed the keys off to the Wildes on a paw-dolly along with their bags. "Okay but why?" Aubrey asked taking out a ring of keys Rocky had had copied while they where still in Bunnyburrow and unlocked the door.

"Sloths," Rocky said maneuvering the paw-dolly though the door. "The entire staff of the main DMV is sloths. Canal District is staffed by otters and beavers mostly. You will spend less time getting to Canal District and back then waiting to have your picture taken by sloths."

A clink of glass and running water caused Rocky and Aubrey to stop talking. "What was that?" Aubrey asked.

"I don't know," Rocky whispered. His eyes narrowed as he stalked down the hallway. He could hear the light footfalls behind him and spared only a glance to find Aubrey following him her ears moving around alert. He peaked into the kitchen and relaxed for a moment before tensing completely.

"It's about time you got home Rocky," a female voice called from the sink, "I've been waiting for you for half the day."

"What are you doing here?!" Rocky gulped walking stiffly into the kitchen. Aubrey hung back in confusion looking around the door to see Rocky hugging an older raccoon with a bit of gray streaking the black rings on her tail and the fur making up the mask around her eyes.

"Is that anyway to say hello to you mother after you've missed that last two family dinners," Rocky's mother said hugging him tightly. Letting him go she spotted Aubrey partially hidden by the wall. She looked between her son and the doe. "Now who are you dear. Rocky, are you going to introduce me to..." she took a quick sniff of the air around her son and frowned. She walked up to Aubrey and sniffed the air again. Her frown deepened and she turned back to her son and placed her balled up paws on her hips. "Rocky Lawson Rodgers! You have been gone for only a couple of weeks so why do I smell your scents all over each other!"