Raspberries Challenge #4: Bambi
Twitterpated
Spring was always such a lovely time in Zootopia. The sun was shining bright with life, the flowers were blooming, and everywhere throughout the city young couples were singing a chippery little spring song!
Let's sing a gay little spring song,
This is the season to sing
So I'd like to suggest
That we all do our best
And warble a song about spring,
Spring, spring, spring
Let's get together and sing,
Yes, all over Zootopia couples of all shapes and sizes were getting into the spring spirit. Young couples to be exact - whether they be of the same gender, same species or mixed species, everyone was showing love toward their significant other in one way or another.
Let's sing a gay little spring song
Just like the bird on the wing
Things always seem right
When you're chipper and bright
So let's get together and sing
Sing, sing, sing
Let's sing a song about spring,
Spring's influence resonated everywhere throughout the city, but most evidently at the park. Couples at the park were expressing their love for each other in their own unique ways.
There were two pigs snuggling snouts. A couple of elephants walked along the concrete path, holding trunks. And a teenage racoon gave a teenage vixen a flower. She gave him a peck on the cheek and the young raccoon sighed.
Let's twitter and tweet,
A young male wildebeest literally tweeted his girlfriend a kissy face emoji with a heart. His girlfriend, who sat on the opposite side of the bench received his tweet and sent him a kissy face emoji as well. They looked back over to one another with a loving gaze.
Practically everyone was falling victim to spring's influence...
Like the birdies in May
Get into the mood
And be merry today
Forget all your troubles and warble away,
That is...everyone except Bogo, the middle aged water buffalo that served as the Chief of Police in the city's Precinct 1. It was his day off and the tired old water buffalo napped at one of the park benches. He thought to get away from all the lovey dovey attitudes going on around his neighborhood and assumed the park would be the perfect quiet place to get away from it all - boy was he wrong.
He took one last snore before sputtering awake. "Wha-? Who-Who's ther-" Bogo looked around to realize that spring truly was everywhere! Nowhere was safe, not even his usual quiet spot in the park. "Oh what now?" he groaned, annoyed with it all.
Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do
Oh!
Let's sing a gay little spring song
Music's a wonderful thing
He looked around. There were chippery and merry young couples all around him. It was like a plague! "Hey! Hey!" yelled the grumpy water buffalo, "Stop that racket! Scat! Shoo! Shoo!" His angry shouts fell on deaf ears as everyone continued to sing and act lovey dovey toward one another.
Come on and rejoice,
At the top of your voice
Oh, let's sing a song about spring
Spring, Spring, spring
"I'll show them." He cleared his throat with a very polite, "Ahem," spoke as gently as he could, "Excuse me, but could you all just please be a little more...QUIET!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. That finally got a reaction as all the young couples at the park immediately flinched and grew quiet, greatly intimidated by the buffalo.
"There," he huffed triumphantly, "That's more like it." He resumed his nap. Only to be awakened from it two seconds later when everyone resumed their singing again.
Let's get together and sing
Let's sing a gay little spring song
This is the season to sing,
Ah, ah, ah
Bogo sputtered awake again. He covered his ears, while simultaneously gripping his head in frustration, "Oh, what's the use?" He got up and left. Opting to seek out a quieter section of the park to continue his nap.
He moved to a quieter, less occupied area and found a lone bench. The grumpy buffalo plopped himself down, "Same thing every spring," he grumbled annoyedly. "Let's sing a little song about spring," he mocked, " Love's sweet song," he cupped his hooves and batted his eyes. "Bleh! Pain in the tail is what it is." Bogo crossed his arms in a huff and yawned. With his eyes growing heavy, he resumed his nap and snored for about five seconds when-
"Flowers sir?"
"Aah! Wha-?!" Bogo awoke in a shock, waking up to the sight of flowers pressed against his face. He looked down to the mammal holding the bouquet of flowers - it was a somewhat familiar looking red fox with emerald eyes dressed in a green Pawaiian shirt, brown khakis, and a red and blue tie. "What is this?"
"Flowers! It is spring! Care to buy some for your sweetheart? This pretty little number right here is going at half the price you'd pay for it at the store."
"Swee-? Look fox, I'm not interested in buying flowers!" Bogo shoved the flowers away from his face.
The red fox held on tightly to his flowers, ensuring that they didn't fall from his grasp. "Boy, I'll bet the ladies just go crazy for you with that irresistible charm-" The fox said, before taking a good look at the buffalo. "Bogo?"
The grumpy buffalo's eyes widened. "How do you know my name?"
"You really don't recognize me?" the fox scoffed casually, "And here I thought I made more of an impact given how angry you used to get whenever I played in your yard."
Bogo's jaw dropped, "Wilde? Nick Wilde?!" the buffalo exclaimed in surprise.
"The one and only!" Nick stated casually.
"My, my you haven't changed a bit! ...What a shame," he muttered at the end.
"Ha! Glad to see you haven't lost your sense of humor there Buffalo Butt."
"Shut your mouth Wilde!" Bogo rebuked in a huff.
Nick gave him a cocky smile, missing this type of banter from his old next door neighbor.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Bogo inquired curiously, "I thought you moved away ever since your mother…"
Nick's ears fell back in sadness. Bogo's words reminding him of the day he lost his mother years ago when he was a nine year old kit. She had been taken from him when a vengeful criminal stalked and followed them on their way home from school. He could still remember the terror in his mother's eyes when they reached a fenced alleyway. She had managed to create a hole for him to crawl through and once she was sure he was on the other side, she had told him to run to the neighbor's home and call his father. Nick initially refused until his mother promised him that she would meet him there. Nick trusted her and fled. The last thing he remembered was seeing her running back out the opposite end of the alleyway, luring their stalker away from him - and desperately shouting to him to run and not look back.
After that, he could only very vaguely recall hearing a single loud piercing sound...then silence…
His mother never arrived to Bogo's home as she promised she would.
Bogo called Nick's father, Jonathan Wilde, who was the highly respected Chief of Police of Zootopia's precinct one at the time. His father arrived some hours later to pick the boy up from Bogo's home and told Nick the sad, terrible news that his mother couldn't be with him anymore.
Given his father's position, Nick hardly ever saw him during his first few years of life as he was always busy 'protecting the city from bad mammals' - as his mother would put it. Heavy responsibility was hardly the only thing his father had to worry about however, as his position also brought forth many risks - particularly the risk of crime lords and other criminals vowing revenge on the chief reynard for putting them away behind bars.
After his mother was killed, Chief Wilde had spend countless hours, days, weeks, and months to capture his wife's murderer, but he was ultimately unsuccessful. Though he never openly expressed his grief, Nick could still see the hurt in his father's eyes whenever he would ask him about his mother's killer. The last time he had asked, Nick was ten years old and the only answer his father had given him was that he had asked for a transfer to a different precinct in another district.
Nearly twenty years had passed since then and Nick decided to finally come back to Zootopia. For what purpose he had no idea, he simply felt the need to come back to his old childhood home.
Bogo noticed the fox's sudden silence and felt a wave of guilt for having reminded him of such a tragic memory. "I-I'm sorry," Bogo said apologetically, "I probably shouldn't have said anything."
"No, it's alright." Nick replied, forcing a sympathetic smile as silence fell on them both.
Bogo cleared his throat, hoping to clear the depressing awkwardness in the air. "Well, in any case... it's good to see you again." Bogo smiled sincerely.
Nick returned an appreciative smile, then returned to his usual cocky bravado. "Come on, don't go getting soft on me buffalo butt. Being friendly doesn't suit you."
"And there he is again," Bogo said annoyed.
Nick chuckled, "It's good to see you too my literal old friend."
Bogo huffed, once again annoyed.
"Hello there Nick!" a striped gray hare called out from behind the two. He wore a black suit and tie. Very formal looking and had piercing icy blue eyes. "Remember me?" he asked with a large welcoming smile.
"Stripes!" Nick called out happily, immediately recognizing his old childhood friend.
"Right-O!" the hare replied with a chuckle.
Bogo peeked behind Nick, also recognizing the striped hare. "Young Jack Savage, is that really you?"
"Ah, I see you're here as well Commissioner Bogo. It's an honor to see you once again sir," replied the hare politely.
"Nice to see you too Savage. At least it's nice to know you grew up to be polite, unlike some mammals," Bogo huffed, glaring at Nick, who simply shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well I suppose I owe that to my mother. She was always quick to remind me of my father's teachings," Jack turned to Nick, "How have you been Nick? I haven't seen you since we were children."
"Eh, I just moved to a different city with my dad, got bored of it so I decided to come back. Start my own life back home," Nick replied casually.
"And how goes it?" Jack inquired curiously.
"Well, I just got back yesterday, but I recently got in touch with Finnick and we're going into business together."
"Business?" Bogo echoed surprised, "You mean you're not going into police work like your father?"
"Nah," Nick brushed off the suggestion with a wave of his paw, "I'm not really cut out for the cop life like him. Not with all the trouble it brought him."
"I'm surprised as well," added Jack, "You always seemed so adamant about growing up to be just like him when we were children. To be a 'Great Chief of Police' as you would put it."
"Yeah, well...things change." Nick brushed it off, attempting to hide the fact that his reluctance stemmed from his mother's incident. " Besides," he grinned coolly, "With my smooth talking skills, I think my skills are best put into business."
Jack noticed the flowers in his paw, "Are you planning to become a florist?"
"Until Spring ends, you betcha!"
Bogo raised a curious brow, "Why only until Spring?"
"Because," Nick replied confidently, "Finnick tells me flower sales tend to go up during this time of year here in Zootopia. So we're gonna strike while the iron is hot."
Jack scratched his chin pensively, "Yes, I see. That's actually rather smart. Do you think I can enter into this business venture with you? Father actually wanted me to take over his farming industry, but I told him I wanted to venture out into the city to try my luck with my own business and this sounds like an excellent starting point."
"Sure," Nick agreed, "We could use someone with some math and flower skills. Although just so you know, we plan on shifting to selling pawpsicles once summer rolls by."
"That's fine. The more experiences the better. Though I must ask who is your supplier for the flowers? Must we look into forming a connection with botanists or farms?"
"No need," Nick answered without a care in the world, "Our supplier is right over there." Nick pointed to a flower patch on the park's grass.
Jack looked on at the patch, confused, "But that's just a barren patch?"
"Exactly!" Nick replied.
"Wilde, for your mother and father's sake, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you just confess to stealing those flowers straight from the park's flower patches," Bogo stated with his usual gruffness.
"Well if you know a better place to pick wildflowers then by all means let me know," Nick replied with a cheeky grin.
Bogo face-palmed a hoof on his face, "How are you your father's son, I'll never know."
"Hey fellas!" called a gruff, heavy voice from behind them. It was a small fennec fox with a black and red bowler shirt and black shorts. He pulled a red wagon full of flower bouquets.
"Finnick!" Nick called out happily to him, excited to see his best friend after so many years. "You…" Nick paused, taking a good look at him. He snickered lightly, holding back his desire to laugh, "Looks like you haven't changed a bit there buddy!"
"I'll say," Bogo said equally shocked at his short height.
"Ha,ha. Funny. Like I don't know you're talkin' about my height." Finnick gruffed annoyedly.
"Sorry about that buddy," Nick offered him a friendly paw, "Good to see you again old pal."
"Yeah, yeah," Finnick shook his paw. "So we ready to do this Nick? We're burnin' daylight ."
"Sure. By the way, Jack here says he wants to join us."
"You?" Finnick scoffed, "I thought your dad had a business plan for you?"
"He did, but I don't want any part of it," answered the hare, "I'd rather venture into business with you two."
"Alright then," Finnick gave in, "You deal with the money, Nick and me 'ill work the crowd." He handed Jack the black cash box.
"You boys never change," Bogo muttered. The three younger mammals turned to face him, "You've been doing this since you were kits. Don't any of you remember? Nick and Finnick here would come up with troublesome schemes...normally involving my lawn in some way...and then poor Jack would somehow end up getting dragged into them."
"Hey it's not our fault Jack is a literal dumb bunny," Nick said casually.
"True, it's not my fault I'm a-hey!" Jack frowned while Nick simply gave him a cheeky grin.
Out of nowhere, a young interspecies couple consisting of a tigress and a panda sauntered in front of the four mammals - waltzing with a weightless grace.
The four stared at them dumbfoundedly, but more so the three younger mammals. "Huh, what's up with them?" Finnick asked confused once the couple passed them by.
"Why are they behaving that way?" Jack added, just as equally confused.
Bogo chuckled, "Don't you know?" Bogo leaned closer, as if to whisper to them, "They're twitterpated."
"Twtitterpated?" the three young mammals echoed.
"Yes, nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the Springtime," Bogo continued, shifting his gaze left and right as if fearful of others listening in to their conversation. "For example," Bogo stood, walking in place. "You're walking along, minding your own business. You look neither to the left, nor to the right. Then all of a sudden...you run smack into a pretty face." Bogo jumped, letting out a scream to scare the three.
Jack jumped into Finnick's arms, scared by the buffalo's sudden scream and terrifying tale. "Get off" growled Finnick, dropping Jack on his tail.
Bogo jittered his knees, continuing with his terrifying description of love, "You begin to get weak in the knees. Your heads in a whirl! And then you feel light as a feather," Bogo cups his hoofs and bats his eyes, leaping ever so weightlessly into the air, "And before you know it, you're walking on air. And then you know what? You're knocked for a loop!" Bogo punched himself on the cheek, spinning in place. "And you completely lose your head!"
"Gosh! That's awful!" Jack gasped fearfully.
"Dang," added Finnick.
"Terrible," Nick said.
"And that's not all," Bogo said, stalking slowly towards them, hiding his face behind his hooves, "It can happen to anybody. So you better be careful. It could happen to you!" He pointed at Nick, "And you!" He pointed at Jack, "And…" Bogo stopped, hesitating with Finnick. Would any girl really be interested in a small, child-looking fox like him? Well, he is an adult regardless of his size and face...Bogo reasoned.
"Yes, it could even happen to you!" Bogo said, pointing at Finnick. Finnick merely frowned in annoyance, knowing why Bogo would doubt any female could ever fall in love with him.
"Well, it's not going to happen to me," Jack stated after growing terrified of how enslaving love sounds.
"Me neither," Nick stated as well, equally terrified of love's hold.
"Me neither. There's no way I'm lettin' some filly control my life," Finnick stated in agreement.
"There you have it," Nick replied with his cool, confident bravado, "So if you don't mind, we have a business to run." Nick gave a confident wink and a two finger salute to the buffalo, leading his two friends with his head held high. His two business associates followed suit, walking away with their backs straight and chins up.
The three poised mammals walked through the park, keeping their prideful strides in tact and pulling their wagon of bouquets.
Not too far ahead of them, a beautiful Gazelle sat beside a flower bush covered with white flowers. With a flower in her hooves, she picked at the petals in a "he loves me, he loves me not" manner, until she was left with only one petal, causing her to sigh with a smile - surely ending at "he loves me".
The gazelle's ear flickered, hearing the footsteps of approaching mammals. She glanced back to catch sight of Nick, Jack, and Finnick approaching in her direction. The gazelle smiled wide when she saw the three young males, but more so when her eyes landed on Finnick.
She blushed at the sight of him, for as tall as she was, there was always something about short males that immediately called to her. Perhaps it was because they tended to have this weird combination of handsome, yet a plushie adorableness to them - and the fennec in her sights, certainly had both those qualities - along with an air of confidence to him.
Eager to meet him, the gazelle plucked another flower from the flower bush and placed it in her tuft of blonde hair and then hid behind one of the taller flower bushes.
The three males rolled by. First Nick, then Jack, and last but not least Finnick who immediately stopped in his tracks the second his large ears heard a flirtatious giggle emanate from the bush. He turned to face it and spotted what looked like feminine light brown colored eyes peeking at him from between the flowers. Finnick's own light brown eyes widened. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. Was he seeing things? Or did this flower bush have eyes?!
Finnick looked back at the flowers only to spot the source of the eyes peeking her head out from the flowers. He took a few steps back when he came face to face with the mystery gazelle's pretty face. "U-Uh...hey," he stuttered nervously with a brief smile and looked back at his friends who were still marching, unaware that he had broken off from their group. Finnick tried to walk away and regroup back with the guys when the gazelle giggled again.
Her giggle, it was like a pan flute to mice to him. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her again. Only now she had finally stepped out from behind the flowers and he managed a full view of her. She was tall, much taller than him and she had a very curvy physique. Finnick's jaw dropped at the sight of her and his mouth felt fry. She wore tight blue jeans and a white t-shirt that accentuated her lovely figure.
The gazelle sauntered over to him, moving her hips side to side. "Hi I'm Gazelle. What's your name cutie?"
"Fu-Fennec…"
Gazelle giggled, noticing the tiny fox's nervousness. "That's a strange name."
"I mean, I'm a fennec fox!" Finnick immediately shook his head, only now noticing that he messed up on his own name. "Sorry, let me start over," He took a breath, realizing he's been acting like a moron. Seriously what's wrong with him?! A girl is flirting with him! He's gotta put those smooth moves to work! He stuffed his paws into his pockets and cleared his throat to start over, "Hey, how ya doin' girl? The name's Finnick."
"Charmed to meet you Finnick," Gazelle extended her hoof down to him. The flower perched in her hair falling to the ground as she crouched down, "Oops!"
"Don't worry I got it," Finnick immediately ducked down to grab the flower like a gentlemammal, "There ya g-" The second he lifted his head up to offer the flower back to her, she also happened to look up to him, causing both their lips to meet in a kiss.
The second he felt Gazelle's lips on his mouth, Finnick's golden fur immediately grew redder than a red fox's and his body stiffened as did his upright tail. Finnick fell back like a slab of concrete, landing first on his back, then head, then face and belly first. He peeked up at her. She smiled.
In the distance, Nick and Jack continued onward. "So how much farther till we reach this sweet spot Finn? Finn?" Nick turned back only to realize that Finnick was no longer with them. Jack crashed into the red fox not noticing that he had stopped in his tracks. The hare turned back to look where Nick's attention was and saw that Finnick was casually walking away with a tall pretty gazelle beside him.
Finnick glanced back and realized that his friends were glaring at him from a distance. Not knowing what to say, Finnick simply shrugged and chuckled as if saying 'c'est la vie!' Finnick placed a paw on Gazelle's calf and continued on his way with her.
Jack huffed offended, "Twitterpated."
"I'll say," Nick scoffed, equally upset at their friend. Nick went over to grab their abandoned wagon with the bouquets. "Great, this was all Finn's idea and he's the one to abandon ship. Talk about not letting some 'filly' control his life."
"Fear not, Nick old boy. I still know where most mammals tend to gather during this time of the year. Do you still remember the 'the watering hole' fountain where we used to play during the summer?"
"You mean the one we used to collect wish coins from to buy ourselves some pawpsicles? How could I forget!"
Jack frowned, "You know mother was quite angry with me when she realized I was doing that."
"Eh, so was mine, but you gotta admit it was worth it. Now come on we got flowers to sell," Nick said as he slapped Jack on the back, ushering him forward. The two mammals continued on their way, Nick at the forefront pulling the wagon of bouquets and Jack following close behind him.
Ahead of them in the nearby distance, sat a pale-yellow furred vixen with sapphire colored eyes underneath a tree. She wore beige colored khaki overalls and a striped black and white elbow length top. The vixen sat eating yogurt covered strawberries and reading a romance novel titled, The Business Mammal and the Inventor, a novel about a male business rabbit who gave a young struggling inventor her first big break. She didn't know what she loved better - the scientific innovations the female protagonist would conjure up or the depiction of the gentle, yet strong no nonsense attitude of the male rabbit who served as the head of the company and was the only one kind enough to give the protagonist's inventions a chance.
The vixen sighed, bringing the book to her chest. She had just finished reading the best part where the male rabbit shared a kiss with the leading lady, thanking her for his company's success. Though she was a vixen and therefore the natural enemy of rabbits and other lapins, she couldn't help but feel deeply attracted to the male rabbit and the novel. Plus the writer's descriptions of him - gentle, adorably naive in a certain way, soft, cuddly, yet strong, proper, brave, classy, a bit uptight and conservative but in a good way - it had her curious about perhaps crossing the line and dating outside her species. If only she could find someone like him...with those tall ears…
Just then, the vixen heard the sound of approaching footsteps. She turned to see a somewhat scruffy - yet to be fair - handsome looking male fox and right behind him she saw just what she was looking for! Behind the fox was a gorgeous male hare in a black business suit! The vixen's jaw immediately dropped, "Oh!" she let out a dreamy gasp. She just had to get his attention!
The vixen hid behind the tree trunk and waited for the fox to pass. Once the hare was about to pass her by too, she immediately let out an attention grabbing "Ahem."
It worked! The striped hare immediately froze in his tracks. He turned to see the beautiful vixen curling her long fluffy tail in a coquettish manner. Jack's cheeks burned red and his eyes bulged at the sight of her. The vixen hid her face behind her tail, then moved it to bat her eyes at him.
Jack felt his gaped mouth grow dry. Strange. He had spend most of his life around foxes both in his neighborhood and even at school and he had always been fine around them. So why was it then that this vixen had such a hold on him?
But perhaps it was that. He had spent so much time around them that there were times he felt like he was one of them. Not to mention, there were times when he felt attraction towards some of his vixen classmates in the past. What with their long fluffy tails and their cunning natures and this vixen was no exception. She was the absolute most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
The female fox coquettishly made her way toward him, humming a light little tune, "La, la, la, la-la, la". Once right in front of him, she batted her eyes once more to him, "Hello," she said in a sultry voice, "I'm Skye and you are?"
Jack couldn't say anything. He merely took a deep gulp and felt his bulging eyes pulse as his ears twisted into one another. He was like a deer in headlights. Skye giggled at his shyness, "I don't know if you can tell, but I really like stripes on a mammal. I think they make you look...cute."
That made Jack finally react, "O-Oh? Thank you, although you really shouldn't call a bunny cu-" As he spoke Skye slowly moved her muzzle toward his and placed a soft kiss on his lips, causing the shocked hare to immediately thump his foot to the ground in excitement.
Skye pulled back realizing his foot has yet to stop thumping. She pressed a finger to his nose, causing the hare to stop thumping his foot.
With an love dazed expression on his face, Jack continued with his previous statement, "But you may call me cute if you like," he fell forward on his belly during his elated haze, while Skye cupped her paws together and wagged her tail happily.
In the distance, Nick reached the fountain. He turned back to talk to Jack only to realize the hare was no longer with him. Nick's ears perked in surprise. Where could he have gone? He looked further back and saw Jack curled up on a vixen's tail.
Jack had a goofy smile on his face all the while Skye played with one of his ears. She flicked at it with her paw while once again singing, "La-la, la, la. La, la,laaaaa…" She held onto that last note, flicking his ear even faster. The sensation to his sensitive ears and the excitement of it all caused his foot to thump again.
Nick frowned and shook his head, "Traitor," he grumped under his breath. Great, now he was all alone on his business venture. Though it was Spring, it was still a fairly warm day so Nick decided to pull his wagon to a nearby water fountain to drink some water before setting up camp to sell.
He started to drink when he suddenly heard a feminine voice speak to him, "Hello Nick." Nick spit the water back down in shock. He looked up and saw a drop dead gorgeous gray rabbit with the most beautiful yet somehow familiar amethyst colored eyes he had ever seen. Nick gulped and his jaw slacked as the smooth talking fox felt his brain shut off at the mere sight of the pretty rabbit. The mystery bunny giggled, "Don't you remember me, Slick? I'm Judy."
Judy?! Nick thought, at last feeling his brain function once more. It was no wonder he recognized her! How could he ever forget her? The two met as children when his mother used to work at the neighborhood bakery shop. He remembered that Mr. and Mrs. Hopps used to come all the way from Bunny Burrow to deliver fruits to the bakery. And every time they came they would always bring their little spitfire five year old daughter Judy along with them. Ugh, how much she would annoy him back then. Especially when she gave him his first kiss - the one he had never asked for! I mean he was only eight at the time. Yuck!
Regardless of that kiss however, he'd always look forward to seeing her every chance he got! He never wanted to admit it, especially not to her, but he actually really liked that kiss.
And now, years later...he was finally meeting her again…
"Carrots…" Nick quietly uttered the nickname he had given her as he took in the sight of her full grown curvy figure that was well complemented by her pink flannel shirt and blue jeans. This wasn't the cute little dumb bunny he remembered. No, this was that same little bunny but now blossomed into a beautiful young lady.
Judy giggled at his stunned behavior and took a few steps forward, causing the nervous fox to take a few steps back. "I'm glad to hear you remember me, slick Nick."
"H-How could I not remember a pretty-I-I mean dumb bunny like yo-ahh!" Nick fell back, tripping on his wagon of bouquets.
Judy gasped as the fox was covered in flowers and petals. Nick looked up at her, severely embarrassed by what just happened. Who was he kidding...anybody could see through his 'sly, uncaring' ruse. He was smitten by the bunny and she was forcing him to display a vulnerable side that no one had ever seen before.
An air of awkwardness lie between them, until Judy snickered a light-hearted giggle. Despite his embarrassment, Nick found himself also snickering a chuckle. In an attempt to play it cool, Nick grabbed one of the bouquets that was still in tact and offered it to the bunny, "For you Carrots."
Judy's eyes widened and she smiled. She took the bouquet in her paws and smelled them. She blushed, "Thank you Nick. They're beautiful."
Nick felt his heart beat wildly in his chest at the mere sight of her gentle smile. He felt himself blush as he chuckled nervously. Then without warning, Judy moved her muzzle close to his cheek. Nick gasped quietly and closed his eyes as he felt the bunny place a soft kiss on his cheek.
Nick's eyes immediately popped open as he felt his head spin in a heavenly daze. The corners of his mouth rose in a goofy grin. The red fox sighed, his eyes practically rolling to the back of his head. Bogo was right. The second he felt that bunny kiss him, he felt light as a feather! And he could swear he was literally in heaven, with nothing but clouds surrounding him as far as the eye could see! And there hopping amongst the clouds and enticing him to follow, was a beautiful bunny shaped angel named Judy Hopps.
"Nick…" He heard her heavenly voice echo. "Remember when we used to play cops and robbers? Think you can catch me now?" She said, batting her purple eyes at him.
Nick smiled and without a word, sat up from the ground and made chase for the giggling bunny. It was a classic scene - a fox chasing a rabbit. Or rather a predator chasing his prey. But in this case it wasn't for food, but to woo over the prey in question to be his mate.
Nick chased after her through the heavenly clouds he had conjured up in his mind. The two of them leaping weightlessly, practically dancing amongst the soft clouds. Judy giggled and gleefully hid behind a bush shaped cloud. Nick chuckled and peeked through the cloud with a playuful grin, "Oh, Carro-"
He was cut off, as his nose butted against another male fox's. His heavenly daze was over and was brought crashing down into the real world.
"Nick? Nick Wilde?!" said the other fox, somehow recognizing Nick. Nick stared at him in shock and confusion. A brown cat popped his head out from the bush behind the intruding male fox. "Why look who it is Giddy! It's good old Nick Wilde!" the taller fox chortled and grabbed Nick in a noogie, "You old rascal! Thought you could get away from us could you?"
"Remind me how I know you?" Nick groaned, struggling to break himself free from the taller red fox.
"Why, don't you remember me?" the fox elbows his associate as Nick breaks free from his grasp, "He doesn't remember us Giddy. It's us! Your old pals Honest John and Gideon."
Nick's eyes widened as he massaged his neck, "Honest John?" Memories immediately flooded the fox's mind. He knew the so called 'honest' fox since they were both kits. The other fox was a couple years older than him and he would see him around the neighborhood a few times. Honest John was a bully to Nick growing up and he would constantly tease the younger fox for wanting to grow up to be a cop like his father - more so because Honest John was constantly getting in trouble with the law and was always quick to remind Nick of their lot in life as no good, sly foxes.
"Ha,ha,ha good to see you remember me old friend!" laughed Honest John with a slap to Nick's back. "So tell me, is your old fox still failing at being a fox? Or did he finally decide to quit the force?"
Before Nick could answer, Judy called to him, "Nick?" Judy resurfaced from a nearby grove of trees. "Nick," she looked beside him and immediately frowned at the sight of Honest John. She too remembered the older fox and of how he would torture poor Nick with his demeaning words.
Honest John's eyes widened and he whistled while his feline associate adjusted his raggedy top hot, wanting to look presentable in the presence of a lady. "Do my eyes deceive me or is that little Judy Hopps all grown up?"
"Hello 'Honest' John," Judy said apathetically with her ears pushed back.
"Well, well! So I see you remember me," Honest John adjusted his cheap suit's collar and shoved Nick back on his tail. Judy's jaw dropped and she glared at him as he swaggered over to her, "I guess I must've made quite the impression on you, didn't I?"
"Oh, like you wouldn't imagine…" Judy practically hissed under her breath.
Honest John scanned his eyes over her and smirked flirtingly, "My, my. You really have grown haven't you? Say," he wrapped an arm over her small shoulders and shoved the bouquet of flowers Nick had previously given to her from her paws, "Given that it is Spring and l'amour is in the air," Honest John made a rose pop up in his gloved paw via a sleight of hand trick. He offered it to Judy, "What do you say we take a little stroll in the park? Hmm? If you'd like I can even get Giddy here to pull us on a nice romantic carriage. Isn't that right Giddy?"
His feline associate nodded in agreement.
Nick glared at the taller fox in jealousy. His fear were put to rest however when Judy said, "Sorry 'Honest' John." She pulled away from his arm and dropped the rose he gave her, instead picking up the bouquet Nick had given her. "But Nick and I already had plans for this evening. Isn't that right Nick?" She looked over her shoulder to him.
Nick smiled. That sly bunny, he thought. She always was quick at thinking on her feet. Nick stood back up with a confident grin. "That's right!"
"Nick?!" Honest John said with a bad taste in his mouth. "You may have grown Judy, but your taste sure hasn't. Honestly, a pretty farm girl like you going for a disgraced cop's con artist son."
Nick gulped. How did he know that he wasn't living an honest life?! Was he spying on him and Finnick when they were picking the wildflowers from the park?
Judy crossed her arms defensively, "For your information, I'm not a farm girl anymore. I've come back to the city to become a cop myself."
"What?" Nick gasped quietly underneath his breath. Honest John meanwhile just laughed.
"What? You're joking right? A bunny cop?!" he guffawed, "I'm sorry to laugh at you my dear, but that it the most ridiculous thing I ever heard! Hahahaha!" Gideon joined him in silent laughter.
Judy scoffed offended, "It's not funny! A bunny can be a cop! Just look at Nick's father, many mammals didn't believe a fox could ever be a cop yet he proved you and everybody else wrong!"
"Right! Next thing you're going to tell me is Nick there also came back to the city to become a cop too! Hahahahaha!" He and Gideon continued to laugh boisterously.
Judy turned to Nick for an answer, here eyes hopeful. Staring deep into her caring amethyst eyes and glancing back at Honest John and his incessant laughing, Nick took a deep determined breath. "So what if I did?" he asked the fox with his chest puffed out.
"Ha!-Huh?" Honest John and Gideon seized their laughter as Judy smiled wide with happy, cupped paws toward Nick.
"I...uh…" Nick glanced at the happy bunny. He smiled, decided. "I did. I'm going to become a cop just like my old fox and before you know it, I'm gonna be Chief of Police. That is, if a certain bunny doesn't beat me to it." He gave Judy a wink, causing her to blush.
"You? Chief of Police? Don't make me laugh. Judy, you can't possibly believe a sly fox like him could ever make an honest living when he's off picking wildflowers from the park's flower patches."
Nick's ears fell back in humiliation while Judy stood defensively for him. "That's not true!"
"Oh no?" Honest John took the bouquet from her paws and unwrapped it, "Then why do your flowers still have roots and bits of dirt on them? Not to mention if you look around the park, you'll find some bald flower patches. Care to add some input on a possible explanation to that Wilde?"
Nick's face flushed in embarrassment as Judy turned to face him with a disappointed look on her face. "I…" Nick was at a loss for words. How could he lose her like this? Over a stupid con that he didn't even manage to execute. Nick glanced up at Honest John who smirked victoriously at him. The older fox's cocky face incited a furious fire in Nick.
No...he won't lose Judy like this. Not because of him! Nick took the disappointed bunny's paw in his and gazed into her eyes with sincere regret. "I'm sorry Judy. Honest John is right. I did take those flowers from the park and I was planning on selling them to others." Judy's gaze dropped in disappointment once more. "But...but then you came along and I managed to give them a better purpose. I promise I won't ever do something like this again. And I promise you that I will become a cop and do what I can to make right by you and this city." Nick gave her a sincere smile and she returned his smile. Her faith in him growing again.
Judy pressed against Nick's chest and stood on the tips of her toes to rub her head affectionately underneath at the crook of his neck. "I forgive you, you dumb fox." She smiled up at him with a boop to his nose. Nick smiled in relief and he reached down to give Judy a soft kiss on her cheek.
Honest John's jaw dropped, "What?! You're going to forgive him just like that?!"
"He at least had the courage and true honesty to tell me the truth and apologize for what he did. When have you ever done anything to live up to your name? Dishonest John."
Nick chuckled, "Good one, Carrots."
Honest John growled in anger.
"Sorry Johnny boy, but the lovely Judy and I have a date to get back to. So see ya around, old pal." Nick gave him a two finger salute.
Honest John huffed and turned around, "Come Giddy. Let's get out of this dump!" The brown feline immediately rushed to the rejected fox's side. Both of them leaving the park in utter humiliation.
Nick offered an arm to his new bunny girlfriend, "Officer Hopps." Judy took his arm.
"Why thank you, Officer Wilde." The two left together, arm in arm as the sun set on the horizon making way for a romantic evening in their wake.