"Thanks for joining us for another episode of Star Gossip!" The black and white stallion on the screen introduced himself enthusiastically. "I'm your host horse, Horace Horsecall!"
"And I'm his cow co-host, Clara Cattlebelle!" The co-host, a black and white cow, also gestured.
"We have a doozy of a show for you tonight folks," Horace grinned sincerely. "For all you people in Zootopia out there especially!"
"You all might remember Judy Hopps, the young upstart who became the first bunny officer in the ZPD and ended up saving Zootopia from a dire threat!" Clara said, and a somewhat unflattering picture of Judy showed up onscreen.
"Well, we have some amateur video tonight to show you!" Horace pointed at the screen.
A small clip was shown of Judy and Nick walking down the street on the sidewalk, talking and laughing with each other. The music of the program was drowning out anything they were saying. Mostly, they were shown holding hands, and the shaky cellphone camera seemed to greedily zoom in on this fact.
"Woah, hold the phone, Horace!" Clara looked shocked. "Is that Nick Wilde?"
"None other, Clara!" Horace smile was broad. "The first fox on the ZPD!"
"And they're together?" Clara had a shocked look. "Isn't this the same Judy Hopps that came out with those statements that predators could go savage at any time!?"
"One and the same!" Horace gave an ingratiating grin as he leaned in. "I know if I made those kind of statements, I sure wouldn't want to be caught in public with a fox boy-toy!"
"We've got a lot more coming for you after the break-" The image of Clara and Horace froze on screen as a remote paused it.
"Okay enough of this," Stu said grimly, dropping his hand carrying said remote.
"Whoa, Judy and a fox?" One kit asked.
"Ew! That's gross!"
"What? You're crazy! That's Nick, right? He's so handsome!"
"I wonder if he has a car..."
"Kits! Go to bed, all of you," Stu said with a gentle force in his voice. There were some "aww"s of protest, but eventually everyone got up and left when it was clear that the TV show was over, at least since Stu deemed it so. Stu rubbed his temples. Bonnie, who was sitting next to him, gave him a concerned look, her hands in her own lap.
"Stu, what's wrong?" Bonnie prodded.
"It's disgusting, that's what's wrong!" Stu grit his teeth, looking at the cow and horse onscreen.
"Oh, Stu!" Bonnie gave him a stern, reproving look.
"No, Bonnie, it is, it's completely wrong," Stu stood up. "After all Judy's done. After everything she's worked for. This...!?" He gestured in futility at the screen.
"Stu, I'm not going to have you call our daughter's life choices disgusting," Bonnie frowned. "It's just a fox."
"Oh, what? No," Stu shook his head. "I mean, this exploitative show on her! They're completely violating her privacy!"
"Oh, huh," Bonnie gave a little smirk as Stu sat down recklessly next to her. "Didn't quite expect you to react like that."
Stu turned his head to Bonnie. "Did you know Nick was together with that fox?"
"I had my suspicions," Bonnie said in a bit of a wavering, knowing voice, wiggling her head back and forth a little, "Judy talks about him an awful lot on the phone. I'm surprised you're okay with it, is all."
Stu backed up the television program with his remote and looked at Judy walking down the street with Nick again. "Bon, how could I be mad at that? She looks so happy. Looks like Nick is just the type of guy she wants." Stu gave a trembling, proud sigh.
"Okay, okay," Bonnie pat his chest. "Let's not start up the waterworks."
"Sorry, the ol' chest just feeling a bit tight there. It's just awful that we had to learn this way," Stu grumbled, his hands sinking down between his knees. "I'm sure Judy would have told us, eventually. Maybe she was just working up the courage."
"Might have taken awhile," Bonnie gave a wry smirk. "Don't you still have that fox taser kicking around somewhere?"
"Oh, come on, that's just a branding for speciesist bunnies like I used to be," Stu gave a shrug. "You know it could work on something like a wolf, too." Bonnie shook her head. "What? It's for protection!" Stu took out his phone. "I wonder if Judy knows about this. We should give her our support."
"Of course," Bonnie nodded. "Get her on MuzzleTime."
It took a few rings, but Judy answered. "Mom? Dad?" Stu winced a bit reflexively. The large whites of her eyes looked a bit pinkish. Her ears were drooped back. Bonnie thought she could make out wet streaks on Judy's cheeks.
"Jude!" Stu exclaimed.
"Bunbun! Are you all right?" Bonnie asked in concern.
"Oh sure, doing just great!" Judy gave a clearly forced smile.
"Oh really?" Bonnie was unconvinced. "If that's the case, perk your ears up."
Judy squinted her eyes, holding the same forced smile. "...Are they perking?" They were not.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Bonnie twisted her mouth into a frown.
"Oh I don't know, mom," Judy hiccuped. "Have you somehow missed all the internet articles, gossip segments, and everything about me that everyone on the ZPD keeps making sure I'm aware of via texting or whatever? Has everybunny there missed it and somehow not told you?"
"Er, no, we haven't exactly missed the, ah... news," Bonnie said with a hint of guiltiness.
Judy shot a surprised look over the two of them. "I notice you're not... yelling."
"Why would we yell, sweetheart?" Bonnie said tenderly. "You look happy with him."
"That's right, Bunkin," Stu nodded. "All we want is for you to be happy."
"And safe," Bonnie quickly added.
"Safe is good too, yes," Stu nodded rapidly.
"Thanks guys, that really helps," Judy smiled genuinely and slowly, wiping a few forming tears away from her eyes. "But... still... ugh. Why is my life under such scrutiny? Why does anyone care that I love Nick...?"
"Maybe it's only because you're the most fascinating, interesting bunny in the whole wide city of Zootopia, maybe the world!" Stu said jovially, pointing at the screen.
"Thanks dad, but somehow I don't think that's it," Judy rolled her eyes, but she was smiling softly.
"Well, I think he's onto something, Judy," Bonnie said. "You and Nick both have given those Zootopians so much to think about and talk about. You're proving that city's tired mantra more than anyone else!"
"Anyone can be anything," Judy said dryly. "Including the center of all inter-species relationship gossip. Ugh. You should see the looks I got today on the street."
"...Hm, Judy?" Stu considered something. "Could you give us Nick's number?"
"Why, have you figured out some way to tase him through the phone?" Judy smirked.
"No no, nothing like that," Stu chuckled. "I'd just like to tell him I support him too. Just so we're all clear on that. Never talked to the guy yet, but..."
"Aw, okay, that's really sweet," Judy had a very nice smile on. "I'll text it to you two. Well, thanks... goodnight, and I love you both."
"Love you too, Bunbun," Bonnie waved and smiled warmly.
"Love you, Jude!" Stu agreed, and ended the call. He quickly called the number that was texted to him.
"You're MuzzleTiming him, too?" Bonnie peeked over.
"What better time to meet him than now?" Stu asked cheerfully.
The phone finally picked up, and Nick was on the other end, rubbing his eyes with one hand and looking absolutely tired. He was only wearing his sleep shorts.
"Nnngh... h'lo?" Nick greeted groggily.
"Oh, goodness, he's half naked!" Bonnie gave a prolonged sort of embarrassed giggle with her hand over her mouth.
"Now I guess we know where Judy got her attraction to foxes from," Stu joked.
These words instantly sobered Nick up and he grabbed his phone with both hands. "Wait, who is this...? Are you two Judy's parents!?"
"Yup! I'm Stu!" He waved.
"And I'm Bonnie," she said.
"What are you calling at this time of night for?" Nick checked the clock. It was only around 8:30 PM.
"Early to bed, early to rise, eh? Admirable!" Stu gave the screen a point. "We just wanted to say we're totally okay with you and Judy!"
"What...?" Nick blinked rapidly, rubbing his head from the headache that was forming.
"Being a couple, that is," Bonnie added.
"What!?" Nick was fully awake now. "She told you? She told me she was terrified of telling you!"
"Oh, we know," Stu chuckled apologetically. "But it's all over the news."
"Oh God," Nick groaned. "How bad is it?"
"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone in the country knows?" Bonnie said in a tiny voice.
"Oh God," Nick shut his eyes. "I'm going to be in for it tomorrow. From whom, I'm not sure. Probably Chief Bogo."
"Now you listen here," Stu said. "Only gonna say this once. You keep making my daughter as happy as she looked on that shaky video we saw on TV tonight."
"Heh, I'll do my best, sir," Nick flashed a sort of guilty grin.
"Do you think we should tell him about...?" Bonnie looked to Stu for confirmation.
"Oh, that's right," Stu nodded. "Ah, Nick, I think Judy could use your company tonight."
"Huh? Really?" Nick adjusted the phone to look at them better.
"Yes, she's rather upset about this whole thing suddenly being in the public eye," Bonnie said with a tilt of her head.
Nick immediately got up and started to put a shirt on. His voice was hurried. "Say no more. Well, actually you can keep talking if you want- no, I should hang up so I can get dressed."
"Great to meet you, Nick!" Stu said.
"Drop on by sometime soon with Judy, okay?"
"Yes sir, yes ma'am," Nick nodded. "Gotta run. Bye." The phone shut off.
Bonnie smiled warmly. "What a good fox."
"Yeah, I would have been mad if he went back to sleep," Stu nodded in agreement. Bonnie looked back to the television screen where it was still paused on Judy looking like she was having the time of her life, even though it was only a simple conversation with Nick. She hummed happily.
"So, you want to see if there's any more in this schlocky news story about our daughter?" Bonnie gave a sly grin.
"What? No!" Stu's brow furrowed as he raised the remote to turn it off. "...Okay, maybe a little."