This is a scene canon to my other major work, Zootopia: Partners
The front door to a cozy little Tundratown home opened.
"Guess who's back from filming?" asked Crystal, an exuberant snow leopard. She held out both of her arms wide.
"Crystal...!" exclaimed Karen Skippel, her arctic hare mate, with some degree of yearning in her voice. She leaped off of the couch and went over to hug her. Crystal lifted her off the ground and hugged her close, nuzzling her a bit. "Missed you."
"Missed you too, Skippy," Crystal began to hug her slightly more firmly, then started to put her down. Before letting her go, however, she began to notice some anomalies. "Wait, what's wrong? You're wearing one of my shirts?"
"Uh, yeah, all mine are in the wash, so-," Karen's voice was unconvincing. Crystal looked at the arctic hare's paws.
"Karen! Your claws have been nibbled almost all the way to the end!" Crystal stared at Karen in concern. Then, Crystal's eyes caught something on the couch Karen had come from. "Is that... is that the Book of the Lamb?" Crystal's attention turned back to Karen. "What's going on, Karen? I thought the last book I'd see you with is a religious text."
Karen sighed and released herself from Crystal's grasp and wandered over to the couch, shutting the book. "Sorry Crystal, it's just a bit of homework I've been doing..."
"What sort of 'homework'?" Crystal fought the urge to put her arms on her hips as if she was some sort of suspicious mother. "I know you usually only wear one of my shirts when you need some sort of extra feeling of comfort when I'm away..."
"It's just, there's a criminal that's leaving a different scripture from the Book of the Lamb at all of their crime scenes..." Karen shrugged her shoulders. "I've been seeing if there's any sort of pattern, especially predictive, or if they correlate with the victims in any way-"
"Victims?" Crystal blinked. She gasped tersely. "Skippy sugar, you aren't investigating a serial killer again are you!?"
Karen bit her lip. "It's not technically my investigation, I just volunteered to help."
"Why, for heaven's sake!?" Crystal rushed over and sat next to Karen. "You know how stressed out you get about that stuff! Why would you bring something like that home with you?"
"It's just..." Karen sighed shakily. "Cause there's a serial killer loose, you know? Serial criminals, they have particular, obsessive behaviors. It's almost like a game to them, like they want to prove they're smarter than you..." Karen frowned. "I have obsessive behaviors too. If anyone's gonna catch a break into this case, it'd probably be me."
"But..." Crystal felt pained, brushing her hand over Karen's head. "You get nightmares about that type of stuff..."
"I only just started researching into the matter today," Karen said carefully, eyes looking past Crystal, trying to center her feelings. "I knew you'd be coming home today, so I thought I could tuh-take it." Her breaths started coming quicker; she began to hyperventilate.
"Oh, Karen, shh..." Crystal drew her close. "It's okay. Your kitty is here now." If the snow leopard was honest, it was very hard to start purring when she knew Karen was distraught. After all, purring most naturally came from contented cats. However, Crystal was a fairly accomplished actress, and by focusing on happier memories she had, usually involving catching her little lapine love doing something unusually adorable, she was able to purr almost on command. She began to do this.
Karen almost instantly started to relax. Thankfully for her, purring had never lost its effectiveness on her mood. She would describe it as a "perfect" sound, the rhythmic rumbling serving as the ideal white noise for all of her thoughts to bounce against and dissipate, as though they were insects drawn to a bug zapper. To Karen, Crystal's purring was an aural panacea.
Crystal leaned forward, sprawling out along her couch, and nudged her head into Karen's midsection in a very feline manner. Karen reacted smoothly, petting the snow leopard's head and ears, craving this kind of contact from her love.
"I'm just so-" Karen started.
"Shh..." Crystal suggested, moving her paws up underneath Karen's borrowed shirt and starting to knead at Karen's chest and stomach fur. Karen sighed and slumped backwards, feeling her thoughts melt away again. She probably would have said: "I'm just so worried about something", but she was beginning to forget about what. About the serial killer? Crystal probably would have just showed her claws and told the bunny that she would protect her. But her thoughts started fading again, replaced with only the soft feelings Crystal was inflicting upon her.
The paw kneading, purring, and repeated nuzzling occurred for quite awhile, until Karen looked fairly zoned out, eyes unfocused.
"Hm hm, there we go," Crystal smirked. "I missed you too."
"Mm..." Karen's eyes focused again, but she sighed, feeling utterly relaxed.
"Now that you're more goop than arctic hare, let me just say something," Crystal said, her voice gentle but serious. "Please don't bite off more than you can chew at the ZPD, especially when I'm not around. I know you're the Chief Technical Officer and everything, but just try to pace yourself, okay? I don't want my bunny to burn herself out."
"Okay," Karen nodded, feeling indeed too much like mush to argue. She leaned in for a hug and a soft smooch, which were easily reciprocated by the grayish-furred feline.
The two engaged in a few other activities before turning in for the night. It had been a fairly long time since the two had last seen each other, after all.
That night, Karen was cuddled up with Crystal for bed. This was a bit of a rare treat for Karen, as the two had separate beds. Karen was a bit of a wild sleeper, and it wasn't conducive to a good night of sleep for them to sleep next to each other. Crystal, though, had nowhere to be on the next day and figured Karen could use a bit of extra comfort. Ruminating on this, Crystal thought about how she would be all things, if it was possible, for Karen's comfort.
The snow leopard often squelched her own fears or worries to put on a brave, confident face for Karen. She thought about this seriously as she pet Karen's back. The white lapine's perfectly measured breaths told Crystal that Karen was probably already asleep. Crystal knew that if she let Karen get wise to the fact that she was also worried, Karen's own worry would redouble, like a feedback loop of anxiety.
Luckily for the both of them, Crystal was an actress.
Crystal's own thoughts finally faded as she absorbed the comfort of her smaller love tucked in close to her. She found herself purring lightly a few times before sleep claimed her.
An indeterminate amount of time later, Crystal abruptly awoke to find her face in an uncomfortable angle, and a bunny foot firmly implanted in her jaw.
How does she do that? Crystal thought to herself, looking at Karen's utterly improbable sleeping position. The lapine still seemed fast asleep, though. Crystal sighed warmly, kissed the foot, and tried to go back to sleep again.
It wasn't as hard as she thought it would be.