Chapter 33 : The Dreams
Gideon is trying his hardest not to let his smile split his face in half. But he can't. He's so damn proud.
Judy will be there soon, and he can barely contain his excitement.
His phone chimes and he sees her text. "Be there in 5."
"I'll be out the front." He says to his first employee.
"Sure boss." The vixen smiles.
"And don't call me boss. S'just Gideon here."
"Whatever you say, boss."
She sends him a playful smile and he rolls his eyes. He was pretty surprised when Hester applied for a job at his place, especially when she was the first to do so. He's a bit ashamed to have chosen her over others that might have been more qualified for the job, simply to help out a fellow fox. But he needs someone to help him with the numbers, and he knows she can.
And if she ends up leaving, he'll find someone else. As Judy always says, bunnies are pretty good at multiplying.
"Gideon!"
He hears the doe's voice coming from down the street and waves at her. "Hey!"
She runs to him and hugs him, the two of them being very careful about it only looking like a friend's hug. It is, but there have been slip ups before, and they don't want them to be public.
"How is it going?"
"Well, my parents were acting pretty weird when I mentioned you but wouldn't say anything." She states. "Do you think dad knows that we… You know?" She asks in a lower tone.
"Maybe? But it wasn't about that anyway."
"Oh? About what then?"
She sees him point up at the sign above the front window, and emits a hight pitched squeal as she sees it. "Gideon Grey's Real Good Baked Stuff"
"Oh my gosh! You did it, you really did it!"
"You went over the paperwork for me." He chuckles, tapping her forehead with his palm.
"Yes, but it was months ago! I totally forgot with college and everything." She says apologetically.
"Heh, at least I got to surprise you."
"Do you make carrot cake?"
"In Bunnyburrow, I'd better be." He grins, before opening the door for her.
The doe's smile falters as she sees Hester behind the counter.
"Hello and welcome to Gideon Grey's Real Good Baked Stuff." The vixen greets.
Judy's gaze go from Gideon to the vixen and she squints her eyes, but says nothing.
"I'll take that client, Hester."
"Of course boss." She smiles, leaving him space to access the baked goods. Judy goes to stand in front of the counter and taking out her purse.
"It's free for ya." Gideon informs, but she shakes her head.
"I want to pay."
"Jud-"
"I'll accept a gift next time, but this time I want to pay."
Nodding, he wraps the slide of carrot cake and hands it to her. She quickly unwraps it and bites into it. "Oh gosh, I missed your baking."
"I missed you too."
"I'll be in the kitchen." Announces Hester with an impish smile, making sure that they know how obvious they were.
"Sooo..." Judy starts, after having finished the slice. "Hester?"
"She applied."
"Okay…? You know she had crush on you in highschool, right?"
The tod nods. "I figured that out. Just felt like she was the right fit."
"What if she tries something?"
The tod blushes. He doesn't really know the vixen yet even if they briefly talked during highschool, but she's been fun to work with up to now. Obviously he can't say that to the doe because she'd interpret it the wrong way. So he just shrugs, hoping to make it look like he doesn't care.
"She's my employee, that'd be unprofessional." He brushes off "Anyway, how's this semester treatin ya?"
"Stressful. It's almost over, but I'm so tense all the time."
"Only a bit more than a year and a half before the diploma." He smiles.
"You're so lucky to be done with all that. Say, do you want to grab a bite tonight?"
"Y-yeah. Sure. We could invite Sharla, Bobby and Travis."
"Bobby and Sharla are spending the week-end at Uni."
"Then…"
"It could just be us, you know, together."
The tod swallows and nods. There's nothing bad about it. They might not be really dating anymore, but they didn't really break up either, so…
"I'll be here tonight, then." The doe states.
"Shure. See ya then."
- 1 -
"Sooo… Hester?" The doe asks, her head resting on his chest.
"Yeah."
"Wasn't she majoring in management or something?"
The tod shrugs, making her head move up and down. "Yeah, somethin' like that."
"How did she… I mean, I thought you'd need someone that knew their way around a bakery."
"Nah. At least, she don't need any skill that can't be easily picked up. I wanted someone to hold the counter, and help me wid' the numbers, and she can do that, so…"
"And it's not… Awkward?"
"Not at all. She's real fun to work wid'. At least I know there won't be another Catherine situation."
"You shouldn't avoid working with bunnies just because of her."
Shaking his head, the tod waves a dismissive paw. "It ain't like 'dat. Ya know I'm workin' wid yer parents. At least wid' her I don't have to worry about hidin' the fangs or the claws."
Judy bites back on the comment that he doesn't need to do so with her either, and turns her back to him, recoiling so that he can properly spoon her.
- 2 -
Gideon is staring at the ceiling. He feels like he's been doing that a lot lately.
Judy is at his side, sleeping soundly, her head on his chest again, and his paw is slowly stroking her back.
When they had the discussion a few months back, after how it concluded, he thought things wouldn't change much right away… At least not too drastically.
But they did. Her visits spaced out, she spent more time focusing on her studies. It cemented his thinking that she was holding herself back for him.
But they're still together… Kind of. Casually at meast. And he likes it, truly, he does, but it's weird. It's weird to see they're growing more apart than he thought they would.
He turns his head and stares at her sleeping face. She's so cute. And he likes her so much. He still loves her, he's aware of that. But he also knows It's not as acute as before. It doesn't truly ache, especially not when she's there with him.
It feels like stolen moments, things they won't be able to keep. Maybe it's wrong of him, but he can't renounce to her. He's not ready. And he'll keep looking forward to seeing her like this.
There are four plates on the coffee table in front of Gideon's TV. Three of them are mostly empty of their content. The fourth is almost full.
Judy has been trying to eat, she really has.
But she's too stressed out.
Sharla is sitting next to her and trying her best to be supportive of her friend, intermittently scratching her back.
"It'll go fine, you'll see." Says Bobby, trying to be reassuring.
"But what if it doesn't?" The doe answers, trying really hard not to pull on her ears.
"Then they're stupid." States Gideon.
"Yeah, complete dumdums." Confirms the cougar.
"Politicians have rarely proven to make sensible choices." Adds Sharla as the three other gaze swivel toward her. "I- I mean, I'm sure this time they'll make the right choice, though!" She finishes, realising she wasn't being reassuring at all.
Gideon grabs the remote and turns the sound up a bit as the news keep playing.
"...Other news, Mayor Lionheart wishes to deliver the news about the MII by himself. Mr Mayor, do you hear us?"
The screen switches to show a lion sitting in his officer, facing the screen. He seems to be listening in on something offscreen before his eyes focus on the camera in front of him.
"Yes, Mrs Growley. I can hear you fine. Hello citizens of Zootopia, and of the world, it would seem. After long deliberation on the part of the city council, and more than a little amount of work on mine, I have the pleasure to announce that the Mammal Inclusion Initiative has been…"
The single second seems to span for an excruciating eternity to Judy.
"Approved! The ZPA, ZFA and ZMA are from this day on accepting each and every application sent by any species of mammal. Keep in mind, though, that the minimal requirements have not been lowered, so as to guarantee the quality of the service provided by our police forces, firefighters and army."
"YES!" Judy has sprung from the fox's bed, touching the ceiling with both her ears, before being caught by her boyfriend on her way down. "I can apply for the academy! I'm gonna be a cop!"
Coming from any other bunny, it would sound presumptuous, but none of her friend are doubting the truth of her words.
They get into a group hug as Judy can't contain the couple of tears that escape her.
"I got- Got sumthin' fer the occasion!" Gideon utters, before disappears out of the door, and coming back with a bottle of sparkling wine he pulled from his fridge, as well as a few glasses. He pops the bottle open and serves his friends.
They all take a sip, and Sharla quickly walks to the bag she had brought with her. "I have something too." She says, taking out some papers and handing them to the bunny.
It's a completely filled ZPA application.
The doe grins. "Thank you, but I thought I'd do that on- Wait a minute!"
Reading it, she realises the name on it is "Jude the Dude.", made with her father's writing, and is filled to the brim with really bad puns, in which her mother participated as well. She can see it's not mocking, in fact, it's really endearing. At the end it's signed "Your terrified parents that both believe in you."
"They… Really did that?" She reacts "Oh my gosh, Sharla, how did you get them to-"
"Judy, they might be scared for you, but they're still in your corner, you know?"
"Y-yeah." The doe feels a bit ashamed that she thought her parents wouldn't support her dream that much.
She goes over it again, finding some new comments she had missed the first time while her friends read it over her shoulder.
Bobby glances at Gideon, and sees that only his face his smiling. There's a shadow behind his eyes, and the feline discreetly pats his friend's shoulder. A little part inside the tod hoped the MII would be repelled, because he knew it'd mean they'd be together for longer. But this… It's better for her. She'll be happier being a cop. They nod at each other and return to cheering for the doe.