Sequel to Chapter 117
Though it was quite an assorted group of four mammals walking together down the street, no one gave them a second look. The streets of Savanna Central were often a menagerie of species, and the four went beneath notice by just about everyone.
Of course, a closer look would have revealed that the fox and bunny were none other than Judy and Nick, the famous pair of mammals that had saved Zootopia quite some time ago.
A blue-eyed gray squirrel was melodramatically draped over the fox's shoulder, and he sighed loudly.
"Something the matter, Larry?" Judy looked up at the squirrel, while the raccoon to her left quickly flit her eyes over to the other three before continuing to look at her phone.
"I am so hungry," Larry complained.
A bright, devious smile drew itself across Nick's face.
"Hi So Hungry, I'm Dad," Nick said proudly.
"Aaaugh..." Larry groaned, and his stomach followed suit. His eyes squinted shut in played-up pain. Judy tried not to laugh, and it came out as a stifled "pft".
"Really, Dad?" The raccoon narrowed one of her brown eyes skeptically from behind her glasses.
"What? Oh come on, Rachel," Nick swiveled his head over to the raccoon, who was very slightly taller than the bunny and a little wider. He held out and shrugged his free arm. "That's a classic dad joke."
"Didn't know you'd go after the lowest-hanging fruit..." Rachel rolled her eyes back to her phone.
"Sheesh, everyone's a critic!" Nick chuckled.
"Raised by a couple of sass-masters like us, I think Larry and Rachel have a bit higher standards for humor," Judy said with a proud wiggle of her head, her eyes closed. Her steps became almost jaunty.
"Too bad you can't eat sarcasm," Larry muttered. "Else I'd never be hungry."
"See, that was a good one," Rachel smirked, though her eyes didn't leave her phone.
"Okay, okay!" Nick laughed again, trying to keep his squirrel-bearing shoulder still. "We're headed to dinner right now."
The desperate jingle of a door-chime burst suddenly from behind the quartet.
"Officer Wilde...?"
The whole family slowly turned toward the feminine voice. A rather unusual vision stood before them. She was a slightly-short skunk with teal eyes. She wore a checkered halter top and a black and white striped band on one wrist, long black pants, and a ring belt and hip chain. The white parts of her fur, her stripes, underbelly, and shock of white hair on top of her head, were all vibrantly dyed with swirls and tips of electric blue and vivid pink colors. A small bit of teal lipstick adorned her lower lip and matched her eyes, which sat behind electric blue-framed glasses. The finishing touches were a pair of earrings, one blue and one pink.
"Whoa," Larry breathed out, and the whole family was momentarily taken aback at being accosted by such a colorful-looking skunk.
"I uh..." the skunk gave a small, guilty smile, looking suddenly pensive. "I'm sure you don't remember me, but-"
"Chloe, right?" Nick held up a finger to interrupt her. He looked upward briefly in recollection. "No, I'm sure that was it... Chloe."
The skunk's mouth froze in a stunned "o" shape, and immediately her eyes started to mist up. She let out a choked laugh, taking off her glasses and wiping her eyes.
"Yh-yeah, that's me," Chloe affirmed, nodding rapidly. "Chloe Plouffe."
"You know her?" Rachel looked curiously at her father.
"We've arrested her before," Judy gave an inquisitive, though not unwelcome look. "The skunk from the temple... that was wow... ten years ago?"
"Something like that..." Chloe sobbed with an uneasy nod.
"Whoa, she's...!?" Rachel flinched, looking at Judy with wider, concerned eyes.
"No no, she's okay, she's okay," Nick held a paw up in caution. "You are okay, right, Chloe?"
"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine," Chloe smiled lightly, wracked by one last sob, which turned to a cheerful chuckle. "It's so great to see you again, Officer Wilde..."
"You, specifically?" Judy turned a curious stare at Nick.
"Well, it is Detective Wilde-Hopps now, but that's besides the point," Nick said. "I may have given her some advice when I was checking up on her community service." He gave her a playful, brief point with the swipe of a finger. "You know, I almost didn't recognize you with the glasses."
"Oh, you mean, besides all this?" Chloe gave a choked chuckle, then twirled around to show them the extent of her fur-dye. She wiggled her glasses before putting them back on. "Yeah, skunks can get pretty near-sighted. I thought about getting laser surgery, but... eh. Glasses are just another form of expression, huh?" Chloe tried smiling at Rachel, who offered a conciliatory shrug and nod.
"You and your bleeding heart, Nick," Judy smiled proudly, though her brow was furrowed. She shoved him lightly and Larry instinctively dug his paws in harder to his ride. "What'd you tell her?"
"Oh, y'know," Nick bat the air nonchalantly. "The standard 'don't give up', 'make your dreams come true' junk."
Chloe laughed brightly. "Well? It worked!" She proudly turned around and gestured grandiosely with both hands at the building she'd come out of.
"'A Splash of Color fur salon'," Judy read, tilting her head. "Huh!"
"So you did make it!" Nick smiled. "Good for you."
"Yeah, as it happened the key was in my own family!" Chloe grinned. "I just had to get a bit closer with my big brother. He wanted to be an entrepreneur, but didn't have a good handle on what kind of shop, so... I proposed this! So he owns the place and does all the boring paperwork, and I'm the chief fur artist." Chloe beamed with pride.
"That's really cool, Chloe!" Judy smiled. "All because of what this little fox here said?"
"Just paying it forward, honey," Nick smirked. "As I recall, some little bunny I know pulled me out of my darkest moment..." He gave her a fond look with his eyes half-closed, which Judy returned. "Then I married her, for her trouble."
"That's wonderful!" Chloe clasped her paws close to face. "And so are these...?"
"Son," Larry held up a paw before dropping it back down.
"I'm the daughter," Rachel smiled, putting her phone away. She suddenly looked enthused. "Mom, can I get my fur done here?"
"Uh, we'll talk about it," Judy grinned nervously, to Rachel's instant look of discouragement. "That doesn't mean no...!"
"Speaking of getting fur done," Chloe's face slowly scrunched with mischief. "I seem to remember a promise you made me, Officer Detective Wilde-Hopps."
"Oh, do you?" Nick's grin grew uneasy and he took half a step back.
"Yeah! If I remember right..." Chloe's grin grew toothy, "you said you'd let me dye your fur if I made it in the fur-dyeing biz."
"Now, wait just a minute," Nick's brow fell and he held up a cautionary paw. "...I don't think it quite went that way; I don't remember agreeing to that."
"Nick!" Judy looked shocked, then immediately mischievous. "You can't back out on a promise, especially not in front of the kids!"
"Yeah, what a bad example for us!" Rachel agreed with a huge grin.
"I mean, uh, heh...!" Nick chuckled nervously. "I would definitely love to keep that promise, but my poor son here." He grabbed Larry and held him out at both arms length. "He's just about half-starved! We really need to get to dinner, just look at this poor, weak, hungry squirrel's face."
"You should totally dye my Dad's fur," Larry grinned smugly as he dangled there.
"Larry!" Nick winced, retracting him and staring at him. "Your line was 'oh yes, I am so hungry! Please let us go eat dinner'!"
"Here's an idea," Judy smirked. "We can leave you here and go out to eat. We'll bring you back something."
"How charitable," Nick grumbled. "All right, here." Nick handed Larry off to Rachel.
"Hey, 'big' brother," Rachel smiled, holding the squirrel aloft.
"I'm pretty tall for a squirrel," Larry protested. "And I can walk, you know."
"Good, because you're much bigger to me than you are to Dad," Rachel set him down, then looked over to Chloe. "So, are you gonna make my Dad look amazing?"
"I promise not to make a disaster of him," Chloe smiled, opening the door. "C'mon, you!"
"Well, here goes," Nick shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. "No good deed goes unpunished and all that."
"You'll be fine, you big baby," Judy leered at him. "C'mon kids, lets eat." Judy walked off with the raccoon and squirrel, leaving Nick to his fate with the skunk.
"It's a cozy little place," Nick looked around, the scent of fur dye strong in the air.
"Mhm!" Chloe nodded, setting up a station and washing her paws. "A little too small for bigger jobs, but we do custom work outside. Dyed a giraffe once! That was fun. And a little scary."
"I'm really glad things worked out for you, Chloe," Nick grinned. "If only because it means I didn't have to arrest you again."
"Pff," Chloe smirked. "I see that heart of gold beneath that snark. Probably goes for your whole family too, huh?"
Nick nodded. "Judy's the jelly to my peanut butter. Larry was always a good kit, he just went through some tough times before he landed in our laps. Rachel was a bit more work. Her foster parents were crooks, perpetuating the whole 'raccoons as thieves' stereotype, and she needed a lot of personal attention because she got little from her first family. I think she's turning out fine though; she's as sarcastic as any of us."
"A common corrupting element that binds you all together, huh?" Chloe giggled, drying her paws.
"Speaking of corrupting elements, how long is this stuff going to stay in my fur?" Nick wondered, staring at all of the different colorful products on display.
"Oh, don't worry about it!" Chloe said, indicating a chair for him. "You gotta live in the moment. When I'm through with you, you'll be a masterpiece!"
"Yeah..." Nick plopped himself down in the chair after guiding his tail through, "kinda what I'm afraid of."
"Jeez, where's the fire, you two?" Judy laughed as Rachel and Larry hurriedly scurried to the salon, followed close behind by their mother carrying a take out box.
"The fire is to see what Dad looks like!" Larry quipped, scurrying up and onto Rachel's back.
"Hey!" Rachel wiggled at her brother's incursion as she was steps from the door.
"Need a better vantage point!" Larry explained. He pointed excitedly at the door. "Go, go! Can you see him?"
Rachel pushed her way through the door and into the shop.
"Well, I'm through with him, no charge for this one," Chloe greeted the three and smiled, indicating Nick with her hand.
Rachel and Larry's jaw's dropped. Larry started to laugh.
"Uh huh, get it all out..." Nick half-smiled as if challenging the three. "I happen to think it looks pretty becoming." Nick showed off his new look, which included a lot of triangular fuchsia stripes sitting on his orange-red fur.
"Wow, that's... different," Judy remarked, before stifling a laugh into her paw.
"Oh my God, awesome," Rachel blurted, taking her phone out and snapping a few pictures, which Nick graciously posed for. "You look like one of those Shadowfoxes from the fantasy novels!"
"Thank you, my dear," Nick bowed. "And thank you, Chloe, for the experience."
"Any time!" Chloe insisted, holding her paws together. "Thank you so much for arresting me, both of you!"
Judy burst into a full on laugh. "Wow, this is too much!"
"When the chief sees this, he's either going to die laughing or kill me, and I don't know which is more merciful," Nick quipped.
"I guess you 'rose' to the occasion, huh Dad?" Larry smirked, causing Rachel to double over and laugh.
"Seriously?" Nick squinted his eyes, picking up the squirrel and sitting him on his shoulder. "You're laughing at a pun? That's beneath both of you. Especially because this isn't rose, it's fuchsia."
"Whoa, sorry...!" Larry held his paws up defensively before securing himself to his fox shoulder ride.
"It's about time we get home, everyone," Judy let some residual laughing trail off into a warm sigh. "Your father still has a dinner with his name on it." Judy displayed the take out box which, indeed, had "NICK" written on it. "See?"
Chloe gave them a final fond wave as the four departed.
"Can I go back sometime and get my fur done, please?" Rachel begged hopefully, clasping her hands. "I'll be good. Ooh, what should I get, something like a soft purple maybe? Like all over!?"
"I could see that," Nick smirked with a nod, and Larry added his own nod to agree with him.
"Hey, I said we'll talk about it, Missy," Judy shook a finger.
"Well, we are talking now, aren't we?" Rachel blinked hopefully.
"These kits, Nick, I swear." Judy rolled her eyes with a warm huff.
"Sharp as tacks," Nick affectionately knocked Larry on the head with the back of his finger, then wiggled the finger as if the squirrel was sharp enough to hurt him with a slurping "agh!".
Larry did laugh at that, and Rachel failed to stifle a chuckle a well.
Judy grinned at her newly striped husband and shook her head, rolling her eyes as the four returned home.