Chapter 31 : Distance

"And the campus is so big! It's like another Podunk next to Podunk."

"Never thought it was so big." The fox answers.

"I had to come here to visit before, but I hadn't realised how big it was. It's pretty recent too! Anyway, what's new on your end?"

"Heh… Same old. Bakin' stuff. Takin' care of Hailey. You know… My life isn't really exciting."

"Is that your boyfriend?" Comes a female voice.

"Who's that?" Asks the tod.

Turning her phone, Judy shows the screen to her roommate. "Felicia, meet Gideon. Gideon, this is Felicia, my roommate."

"Hiya!" Smiles the feline. "Nice to meet you."

"Uh… Hey. Same." Greets the fox.

Judy turns the phone back toward herself. "Really, though? Nothing new?"

"Erh… Oh yeah, we're coming down the last installment for the house next month."

"Wha- That's fantastic news!"

"Heh, yeah. Tha's one less thing to worry about. Mom'll be able to stop doin' overtime and rest a bit. She deserves it after all the shit I- she went through."

"And you, won't you be able to work less?" The doe asks.

"Yeah and no. Now that I'm a full time employee, it's just me'n Mr Leapers."

"He won't hire someone else?"

"He says it ain't necessary, and I agree. We're managin' just fine."

"And how is he doing?"

"Good for an old buck, I guess."

The doe lets escape a yawn.

"Sorry, long day."

Silence follows her sentence as Gideon's eyes unfocus.

"Gideon?"

"S-sorry, I wos just thinkin'."

"About?"

"Nuthin'… Nuthin' important anyway."

That smiles he wears, she knows it conceals something weighing on his mind, but she also know he'll only talk in his own time.

"Alright. I think I'm gonna turn in, I'm getting tired too."

"G'night then. Love ya."

"Love you too." The doe smiles before tapping the red icon on her phone.

Willa is folding the last of the clothes she pulled from the washing line. Her house smells of baked pears and cinnamon, the windows are wide open and the late afternoon light paints the living room in orange light.

Putting the pair of trousers on a stack she walks toward the noise of her back garden, high pitched squealing and laughing, to see Gideon lightly throwing a ball over Hailey's head, that she manages to catch as she falls back.

"Hey, good catch. Ya'll make a good goalkeeper."

"Yeah!" She answers, getting up and throwing him the ball back, or rather, throwing it back three feet to his right.

"Gotta work on that aim, though." He chuckles.

"Higher!" She says.

"Yer too small. Ya barely managed to catch the last one."

"I'm not too small!" She rebukes.

"Arright. Try catchin' this one." The ball doesn't go much higher than the previous one, but it's enough for her to miss and fall flat on her back. "Ya okay?" He asks as she rolls back on her feet.

"You cheated."

"You said higher."

"Well, you send it too high!"

"Or maybe yer just too short." He grins, squatting down in front of her and booping her nose. The small vixen leaps up to grab his arm, fake-chewing on it while making snarling noise. "Oh no, I'm bein' attacked by a piranha!"

"I' a 'ark!"

"Didn't know they made pocket versions." He laughs, grabbing her byt the scruff of the neck and putting her on her shoulders.

The older vixen giggles as she watches her children play. It hits her then, that it's the first time she could just stop and watch. And feel. She discreetly wipes a tear as Gideon turns around and set his sister on the ground.

"Ma'? Ya okay?"

"Yes. I am. I'm just really happy."

The tod nods as his gaze gets lost in the distance.

"And you?"

"I'm happy too..." His eyes snag themselves onto the shape of a cloud, that looks like it has a pair of bunny ears.

And Willa can see something bothers her son, but she doesn't ask. He's an adult now, he'll talk to her if he needs to.

"So, whatcha gonna do?"

Gideon sips on his beer, sitting in his mother's house's garden. They'd go to the reservoir, but he knows that new kids have elected it as their hanging out place.

He feels a bit jealous about it, having that thing taken from him, but he understands that others can use it as a retreat away from home. He hopes they don't have the same problems he did.

"I dunno, Travis. I really dunno."

"Ya miss her."

"Of course I miss her… It's just..."

The tod exhales. It's really hard to explain.

"I'm buildin' a life here. Something real, you know? Somethin' I can be proud of. I want to share it wid' her, have kits, be a good father..."

"And what? Do that. Be that."

"Ya think tha's what she wants?"

"Ain't it sumthin' you should talk about wid' her?"

The tod emits a sad chuckle. "I can't."

"Why?"

"'Cause she's Judy Hopps. What if I tell her I want to marry her, and that I want her to stay, and I want to have kits?"

Travis shrugs. He doesn't know. Shouldn't be what he's supposed to do though? If he loves her, he should marry her, and buy a house and do all that stuff.

"Ya seem like ya have an answer fer that." The mustelid says.

"Yeah… We talked about it… I didn't ask directly, but you know, things here and there. She told me her parents settled. "hard' whatever that means. And that ain't what she wanna do. So let's say I ask her to marry me, stay here wid' me and all that stuff, and she says yes, waddya think will happen?"

"Well, ya'll get married, I guess. Probably adopt or sumthin' like 'dat. And get a house."

"And her dream of bein' a cop?"

Travis shrugs again. "I guess that ain't really compatible. What if you went wid' her? I mean, to Zootopia?"

"I… I can't."

"You know yer mom and Hailey ain't yer responsibility right?"

"Mr Leapers is gonna sell me the bakery." The tod blurts.

The weasel stares at him wide eyed. "He… Holy shit!"

"Yeah..."

"The old bigot? Really?"

"Yup."

"He ain't gonna reap you off?"

"I dunno. Don't think so. Plus it's not quite done yet, so you know… But we've been talkin' about it."

"Oh. Oh wow. And you're gonna do it?"

"If he's serious yeah. I want to."

His friend scratches his head and the fox keeps sipping on his beer. Yeah, it's a complicated situation, and he doesn't really know what to do.

"If you had to choose between her and the bakery, what'd you choose?"

"Travis, they both are once in a lifetime thing. I can't choose."

"I guess… And her, between you and bein' a cop, what would she choose?"

"I… Think she might choose me."

"Then here ya-"

"And she'd regret her whole life not havin' gone fer her dream."

The weasel falls mute and finishes his drink. He wants what's best for Gideon, but this is truly a shit situation. He reaches inside the cooler, taking two others and slides one to the tod who uncaps it.

"Fer how long were ya thinkin' on it before ya asked me?"

"Since I saw her bedroom. T'was at her fifteen's birthday, it was covered in ZPD posters. Still is. The first thing she did when installing herself in the UNI dorm is to put one up."

"Fifteenth..." Travis counts on his fingers. "Shit, dude, y'all've been together fer more'n three years. And that's been in yer head for this long?"

"Yup. Still don't know what to do."

"Well, I guess you do what's best with the shit paw you've been given." Travis sighs before taking the first swig from his new drink.