We're back as promised in time for April the fourth! :) Hope everyone had a great week-end :) The clouds are gathering heavily over the headds of our poor friends in this chapter, plus we get to see glimpses of more familiar characters.
*The chapter has not yet been re-read by my dear friend and Beta, so huge sorries for any minor spelling or other errors; they will be corrected shortly.
And onwards, to the chapter!
**Update - now re-read by my great friend and Beta, all errors corrected :)
"I could drive," Nick suggested, his voice humble.
Judy kept her eyes glued on the road.
"Not a chance," she shot back curtly, signaling left.
"As you wish," the fox returned mildly, settling himself more comfortably in the passenger's seat, as the police car roared down the country road. "I merely thought – after all of the – excitement – you've had to endure this morning –"
"I thought I'd warned you quite clearly," Judy took a deep, steadying breath. "That we were not to discuss this morning's events. Ever. Again."
"That you did, Officer Hopps," Nick replied, in a voice of mock gravity. "Yet you could hardly say that I was discussing it. I was merely making a friendly suggestion, offering to take over the steering wheel, that you may take a moment to gather your shattered emotions—"
Judy snorted derisively.
"I'm hardly the rabbit in distress kind of maiden, thank you very much. I'll live,' she looked sideways at him, as she slowed down at a red traffic light. "How can you keep eating? After the enormous breakfast you've just scarfed down?" she asked incredulously.
Nick looked up in vague surprise, the enormous complimentary basket of berries Mr and Mrs Hopps had given them that morning balanced precariously on his knees. He shrugged and took another handful of blueberries from it, then poured the ripe shiny berries from one paw into the other before popping the whole lot in his mouth.
"These are too good," he said happily, once he'd managed to swallow them. "A teensy fruit snack hardly counts anyway. You should have some," he proffered her a pawful. "You've eaten nothing at all since you got up, what with your jaded antagonized spirits."
"Watching you stuff your face would put anyone off their appetite," Judy muttered, as she turned her attention back to the road.
She heard rather than saw her friend chuckle.
"Come come now young lady," Nick was saying heartily, " No need to act coy in front of your friends. I have well perceived the real reason for this sudden wistfulness – but fear not, your faithful kind parents have obviously found the means to end this tragic pining of yours, what with the young har-"
"I actually don't think foxes are dumb, per say," Judy retorted, cutting across Nick's monologue. "But it's their defective short-term memory that's to blame for making animals believe it. Here I told you something simple not five minutes ago – and you've already forgotten that you'd promised not to mention –"
"Promise?" Nick sat straight in his seat, the basket of fruit sliding down, forgotten. "I do recall your placing the taboo on the subject – I hardly remember myself promising anything though. I'd never have been quite so – shortsighted – as to set a promise on anything unless I really meant it. You know me too little, dear partner."
"What are you babbling about?" Judy asked wearily, glancing at Nick's reflection in the rear-view mirror. She only caught a quick glimpse of the fox's eyes that were dancing with mirth.
"I know when I've promised something, which is incredibly rare," Nick replied. "Trust me, if you ever hear me use that word – you'll know I'm serious for once."
Judy pondered his words for a moment dubiously, her gaze still straight ahead. She wondered briefly whether Nick actually meant to share some deeper thought with her via this cryptic message – then promptly dismissed the idea, quite certain that it was nothing more than a ruse for another one of his endless punch lines. So she said simply:
"I'll remember that, promise – forgive the pun. Now, have you got the box of chocolate figurines handy or did you squash them under all the fruit my parents gave us? We're nearly at Gideon's shop, you know."
"Now why," Nick asked innocently, extracting the cardboard from where he had stashed it on the back seat and substituting the berry basket in its place, "Must we even stop at Gideon's? Seeing as how we know whom the chocolates belong to, I say it would have been a great deal more intelligent to skip the middle fox, so to speak, and go ahead and return them directly to Mister Har-"
"The weasel stole the candies from Gideon. We are returning them to his shop, where they belong, to the best of our knowledge. What he does or does not do with them henceforth is none of our concern. And if you mention 'Harry the Hare' again, you will be walking back to Zootropolis," she pressed on the brakes a tad violently as Gideon's pie shop came into view ahead. "I'll leave you a handful of blueberries though, to sustain you on your hike back to the ZPD. And a carrot or two."
"Faced with such unseemly threats, I must falter and desist my kind admonitions," Nick stated solemnly, unfastening his seat-belt with a smart click.
"You had better," Judy warned, hopping out of the car. "And hear me when I tell you this," she blocked Nick's way, placing herself squarely between him and the short gravel path that led to the bright tidy shop. "Any allusions in front of Gideon, and you are taking that hike back home. Kapish?"
Nick's mouth twisted into a strange half-smile, as he hauled the bulky crate of chocolates out of the car and onto his right shoulder.
"You can rest assured, Carrots – I will behave in front of your parents' worthy business partner."
Judy thumped her foot on the ground in a kind of final warning before turning on her heel and leading the way down to the cheerful glass-paned door bearing the bright words 'Gideon Grey's Pies and Pastry'.
'If it isn't Judy Hopps!" was how the aforementioned owner greeted the two friends. He straightened up from his task of neatly piling plum tarts onto the counter top display tray, smiling good-naturedly and wiping his greasy paws on his apron. His assistant, a young wiry raccoon who was lurking around in the back rolling out pie crust, paused and turned his head curiously to stare at the newcomers in turn.
"Take over here for a sec, would you Jasper," Gideon addressed him, before lifting the counter top up and making his way towards Judy and Nick.
"Gideon!" Judy clasped his paw in friendly greeting. "How have you been? My Mom and Dad tell me business is kicking?"
Gideon grinned easily.
"Depends on what you mean by that Judes. If you mean it's close to kicking us right out at times I suppose – we do what we can though, we get by all in all."
"That's great," Judy said warmly, beaming kindly at the fox who had been her onetime childhood foe. "Oh Gideon – I'd like to introduce my partner Nick – we've been working together at the ZPD these past few months now-"
Gideon grinned again, this time extending his paw in Nick's direction. "Not like you'd need to introduce him, Judes. You'd been all over the news a while back now Officer Wilde – and then all over them again, first fox on the force and all. Made us red-furred folks quite chuffed that day."
Judy darted a quick anxious look at Nick. He had been uncommonly quiet since they'd entered the shop – and his being quiet was hardly ever a good sign as far as her experience held. Her partner was gazing at Gideon in a slow, deliberate, appraising sort of way. He'd not set the box down and now, instead of doing so, he merely hitched it up a bit more before extending his other paw to shake Gideon's.
"Indeed," was all he said in reply to Gideon's speech, and he shook the other fox's paw once in a jerky little perfunctory gesture.
"We're here on a minor case actually," Judy put in hurriedly, judging that it was best to get the whole thing over and done with before it went any which way. "We intercepted this box of chocolates from a thief yesterday – from what I could gather, it belongs to you."
"Blimey, a box of ch-" Gideon started, before being cut off as Nick dumped the crate of his shoulder into the other fox's paws with lightning speed. Gideon staggered for a second, all but dropping the cardboard from sheer unexpectedness, before steadying himself with a slight huff, Nick surveying him dispassionately.
"Need a paw?" the latter asked solicitously, watching Gideon's slight struggle, hands in his pockets, as Judy tried to stamp on his foot discreetly to vent her frustration.
"Ah, it's alright," Gideon replied, banging the box on the counter heavily. "We're always hauling all the trays of pies and all the fruit crates around here anyway."
"And what pies," Nick observed, his tone perfectly flat, as he watched Jasper carefully print 'VANILA BLUEBERY PUDING' on a little card. Judy coughed warningly in her partner's general direction before turning back to Gideon, who was bending over the box.
'I all but thought we'd not see these again," the pastry chef was saying, as he riffled through the box's contents. "Geez Judes, this sure is a relief! It was that weasel I'd seen the other week then? Scoundrel was hanging around while I was unloading the truck – I only noticed one of the boxes was missing when I'd brought them all in to count them."
"Well, no need for worry now," Judy said, clapping her paws together. "All's well that ends well, like they say."
To her surprise, Gideon was frowning though, and rubbing his nose with his right paw thoughtfully.
"That's just the dickens of it Judy. That's one of the boxes I was just supposed to keep in storage for Harry. You'll have heard of Harry?"
"Yes, we've heard of him," Judy babbled as quickly as she could, hearing Nick draw a breath at her side to reply. Her partner held his tongue, but she felt they were on shaky ground in this discussion.
"Well, this is some of the one-of-a-kind stuff Harry's been working on," Gideon was holding up a little chocolate bear and peering at it. "He's been getting all his stuff moved, he's heading to town, see. Going to move to Zootropolis and make it in the big city and all." Gideon placed the bear figurine back into the box carefully before turning to face the two friends. "He had some of these on his paws though, they took him ages, and they're all unique and he'd been saving them for some big event and all. So I said he could store them at my place until he got his warehouse ready out there in the city."
"So you can put this cardboard with the rest and just give him the lot later, right?" Judy asked, confused.
"That's the thing," Gideon's whiskers and ears drooped a little. "He was here only last night, to collect the rest. It's rotten luck that we got this one back just now, it missed him by a day." He turned towards his assistant ruefully. "Hey Jasper – when d'you think we'll get a breather and manage to go and give him back this last box, huh? We ain't got no time on our paws as it is.. and what if he needs them for the opening of his new shop or summat? Darn…"
The raccoon ceased mixing the frosting he had been working on and wrinkled his brow obediently in furious thought. The young animal had obviously not been hired for his brains though, as the obvious solution was apparently taking an uncharacteristically long time to present itself to him. To Judy's sinking spirits this solution came only too readily, unfortunately.
"Gideon," she braced herself for what had to be said. "Look, Nick and I live in Zootropolis, we're headed back there now as it is. We'll be glad to drop off-"
"You may consider these precious sweets as good as delivered to the very doorstep of your fine business partner," Nick interrupted, already pulling the crate back off the counter excitedly. "I give you my word that I will personally escort officer Hopps on her quest to return these to their rightful owner."
"You guys serious?" Gideon turned his head incredulously from the crestfallen (but bravely attempting to smile) Judy to the immensely uplifted Nick and his face cleared. "Now that's real fine of you two – I hate to burden you with this-"
"No burden," Nick replied readily, in a silky courteous voice. "Trust me. It's a pleasure."
Judy rolled her eyes. Gideon took the reply at face value though – subtlety had never been his strong suit. He thumped the counter with his fist cheerily before turning to Jasper.
"You pack a couple of those rhubarb turnovers we've just pulled out of the oven for our guests then Jasper," he ordered. "They sure are helping us out."
"For Officer Hopps only, will you," Nick interjected hastily, the crate balanced on his shoulder once again. "I've already been treated to any number of berries and fruit by Mr and Mrs Hopps this morning, I thank you."
Gideon looked at him in good-natured bemusement.
"Pies not your thing, eh?" he asked, as Jasper brought the steaming turnovers out. "Like fruit better when it's raw than when it's cooked?"
"I do," Nick murmured politely," prefer the real thing, yes."
Judy still felt slightly numb, as they turned onto the highway on their way back. She wondered dazedly whether it was written in the stars that sometimes the day just wouldn't go your way from the very start. The trip to Bunnyburrow seemed to have gone entirely differently from what she could have pictured when setting out the previous evening. To cap it off, the brilliant sunshine that had woken her that morning was presently obliterated by heavy lead-colored clouds that had somehow appeared while they had been at the pie shop and now hung heavily on the horizon. She sniffed in annoyance as a small pitter patter of rain started a steady beat on the windshield. The very weather, it seemed, was out to blot her mood further.
A mood that was not improved by Nick's quiet whistling by her side – the fox had not said much since they took the road back to Zootropolis after leaving Gideon's, but he was obviously far from feeling down – a fact that only served to irritate Judy further. His cheerful silence was a better shield than any quips – she could hardly argue with whatever he wasn't saying and thus blow some steam off. Even if he 'wasn't saying' things very eloquently.
"Can you cut it out with the whistling," she grumbled at length, for want of a better rebuke.
"Why bother?" Nick returned carelessly. "You can hardly hear me over the elements."
This was entirely true, they were driving under the darkest rainclouds now, the curtain of falling water was becoming thicker and thicker, and so consequently was the rattle of raindrops on the moving vehicle. Judy slowed down out of precaution, cursing her luck under her breath. How much time had they wasted on this trip exactly? And how many reports did she have that were awaiting her attention back at the ZPD? And how precisely was she going to get all of them done and out of the way if they finally arrived back at the office closer to noon than to 9 am?
She breathed out heavily, before casting around for something positive to focus on as the car crept along its slippery way at snail's pace.
"At least we're visiting the penthouse tonight," she exclaimed, suddenly remembering. Her ears perked up a bit at the thought. "Imagine Nick! We'll finally get to see the place – the rooms – oh, the view from the top-"
"There won't be much of a view if this downpour holds out," Nick pointed out, but she could hear from his voice that he was smiling and that he was as pleased as she was. "We'll have maybe a ten-foot viewing range – we'll be able to appreciate getting soaked before the rain hits the ground at that altitude, that's something-"
"Oh Nick, the storm will never last all day, you know it won't – this kind of weather never does," Judy retorted, her mind dancing happily at the prospect of the visit. "It could all clear up nicely and we'll see if we actually do see all the way to Rainforest like the ad said! Now, what I absolutely need to see is what appliances they have in that kitchen of theirs – not that it matters, because if their stove is dodgy, I can always get the one my parents had bought for my sister Lizzy – she never needed it in the end, as she didn't move burrows like she'd planned at first, she actually-"
"You're babbling Carrots," Nick chuckled. "Wait until we sign the deal before getting all worked up."
"We will sign it," Judy shot at him, confident. "Maybe even tonight! It's one of those things Nick – it's meant to be! When you want something badly enough, you know, when you give it your all-"
Nick's phone buzzed signaling an incoming message.
"Please continue with your happy-rabbit-go-lucky speech," the fox said, pulling his phone out. "I wasn't listening anyway, so I'll go ahead and get this."
"Why are you always so –" Judy started in exasperation, before being silenced by a sharp intake of breath from her partner. She threw a quick glance at him, chancing to take her eyes off the downpour outside for a moment – the fox had undoubtedly reacted to whatever the message he had received was, for he was staring at the screen of his phone intently, eyebrows knit.
"Nick?" Judy tried. "What's up?"
"Well," he replied, after a minute pause. "The snapshot I took of you this morning is not generating as many likes as we might have hoped."
Judy counted to three, a technique that often worked miracles when dealing with her friend.
"And the truth, Mister Wilde?"
"The truth is…" Nick was pocketing his phone stonily. "That you need not be in a hurry to recuperate your sister's stove."
"What?" This time Judy did turn her head to face him, taking the risk of diverting her attention from the wheel.
"Or is it your parents' stove then, technically? Considering your sister was never in possession of it in the end?" Nick remarked, his tone indicating that he was only half paying attention to his own joke.
"Wilde, just tell me what's going on, will you?" Judy demanded, her sense of foreboding increasing slowly.
"Strictly nothing is up, least of all us on that blasted penthouse tonight," Nick said drily. "That was the owner, if you must know – chap was writing to say he's had to postpone our meeting."
Judy digested this information.
"Postpone?" she echoed finally. "That's not so bad, is it? I mean, maybe he had to change his plans for the day or –"
"He's moving it to three months from today," Nick added.
"What? Why on earth?" Judy demanded, startled.
"Because he doesn't want to turn us down outright. That could be interpreted as discrimination. So instead, he'll put the whole thing off and off again until we get the message," Nick said, a touch of sarcasm in his voice.
"But – you think it's because-" Judy felt slightly stunned.
"Because of the obvious? Rabbit and fox showing up as house buddies? " Nick gave a little laugh that held no real amusement. "I don't think that Carrots, I know it – the animal was all too happy with our showing interest up till now – it's my sending our paperwork over last night that suddenly made him change his mind. He checked our names out – than figured out who the animals behind the names were – granted, that's easy thanks to our little hustle with fame a while back – and whoopsie, Mister Owner suddenly feels his schedule is a trifle too crowded to allow for his meeting us this evening as previously arranged. He sends his heartfelt regrets though – along with his blessing and riddance."
Nick was tapping his fingers on the dashboard in a kind of angry accompanying soundtrack as he finished speaking.
Neither of the car occupants spoke as they arrived finally and laboriously to the city entrance, the rain thinning slightly, the great overbearing clouds still hanging low like so much dirty soggy huge balls of cotton wool.
Judy felt a bit numb as she maneuvered the car through the shiny gate, passing under the bright sign that glistened in the rain announcing proudly that they were back in the city where 'anyone could be anything'.
"We'll keep looking Carrots. We'll find something else," she heard Nick say. "Cheer up. Here, have some of Mister Pudgy Grey's dodgy turnover thingies. You've not eaten a thing all day."
"Thanks," Judy replied absently, her thoughts whirling around. "So that's it then. No penthouse."
"Looks like it," Nick squirmed in his seat in annoyance. "Not this one anyway. One never knows, we might stumble on an even better one next time. One that has little turrets and a drawbridge."
"And banners flying?" Judy asked, smiling faintly, as they followed the street that led to the ZPD.
"Definitely banners." Nick agreed. "We'll have a carrot banner on your side and a popsicle one on my end. Then, every time you're in some fury or other, you can hang the carrot banner upside down, signaling distress. I'll know I'm to steer clear of your end of the castle that way."
"So it's a castle, is it?" Judy pulled up on the ZPD parking lot and let the engine die. "And what happens when we get kicked out of the castle too? We'll still be a fox and rabbit after all, even if we are in some palace."
"We don't have to get kicked out next time. We could get lucky," Nick suggested.
"Or unlucky," Judy's ears were drooping. "I really wanted to live in that penthouse."
"I know," Nick replied simply. He seemed at a loss for something to add, so he rubbed his brow with his right paw instead, and started unwrapping the turnover he had just offered Judy. Judy watched the pie Nick was carefully pulling out of the neat paper package Gideon had prepared. She felt like she was balanced for a second – a tiny fraction even – between two possibilities. Caution and good sense were pushing her towards the option Nick seemed to have already vouched for – but her stubbornness and all of those years of fighting for what she believed in were insisting in her taking the opposite course.
She might have chosen to keep her lips buttoned shut perhaps. But the events of the morning – her annoyance, humiliation and exasperation – tilted the scales. She looked down at the turnover Nick was holding out, and made up her mind in a flash.
"No," she stated flatly.
"Give him a chance – it doesn't look like much, but it could be tasty," Nick shrugged.
"I. Wasn't. Talking. About. The. Pie." Judy said evenly, measuring each word. Nick surveyed her in surprise;
"Oh? "
Judy had turned in the driver's seat of the now stationary police car and was facing Nick, although her eyes were still gazing downwards, effectively still watching the rhubarb turnover.
"I won't… I mean, I don't want-" Judy rubbed her forehead, gathering her thoughts.
"Deep breaths Carrots, you're stuttering. And we have to go into the office.. about twenty minutes ago."
"It isn't fair that we're getting refused our – our chance even – of even being admitted to meeting the owner,"- Judy had finally lifted her gaze to look at Nick and he could see that her eyes were flashing from held-back anger.
"Fair is something you won't find a lot in this city Carrots. I thought you'd gotten that," Nick said lightly, raising his eyebrows.
"I know. I know," Judy was breathing heavily and her foot was tapping an irritated beat out on the floor. "But I'm done just lying down and accepting these things."
"Sometimes you have to," the fox shrugged in a semi-resigned way. "What do you want to do anyway? He's the owner of the penthouse, he didn't even refuse us outright – he's just pushing the meeting further away as he has every right to do—"
"If he won't listen to us," Judy thumped her foot decisively – "Perhaps we can let someone talk to him who would be better at persuading him."
"Whom do you have in mind officer?" Nick questioned half incredulous, half amused.
The rabbit sat straight and eyed him coolly, with the air of one whose mind is made up.
"I think it has been too long," Judy replied cryptically, "Since I visited my goddaughter."
Nick stared at her, his eyebrows going even further up.
"You can't be serious Carrots."
"Why not?" Judy was pulling her phone out of her pocket. "I'm sick and tired of this Nick – every single time, animals just not even bothering to give you the time of day because you don't fit into their tiny rigid conventions. He just assumes we're freaks – or frauds – because we're a fox and rabbit who are friends and who want to rent, or buy a house together – so he doesn't even bother seeing us. We could keep searching for another place – but who's to say that next time the next owner isn't going to treat us the same – and the next one after that—"
"So your solution is to threaten the owner of this penthouse using the connections and status of your friendly mafia boss the shrew," Nick supplied.
Judy scowled at him.
"My solution," she retorted, " Is to ask Mister Big for some help and advice – and if him backing us up will persuade Mister home-owner to meet us at least, then that will be a tiny step in favor of justice-"
"Incredible," Nick was watching her, shaking his head slightly, "What you are willing to do when your principles are attacked Carrots."
"Well, I'm taking the responsibility for whatever happens," Judy said decisively, scrolling through her phone's contacts list in search of the good number.
"Yes, of course you are. I'll come with you then," Nick offered.
Judy was already punching the 'dial' button.
"You really don't need to," she said hurriedly, " When I say I'll take responsibility for whatever results this interview with Mister Big produces—"
"Oh, it's not to take part in the responsibility, as you call it," Nick replied cheerfully,
"It's for the coffee."
Judy goggled at him, uncomprehending.
"Yes, the coffee," Nick grinned at her. "The cups are unnervingly tiny – but quality over quantity as they say Carrots, and the Bigs serve up the best macchiato I've ever tasted."
Judy looked at him for a couple of seconds before smiling hesitantly.
"Ok. You can come for the coffee then Nick," She agreed.
Which was how the two friends found themselves heading over to Little Rodentia at the end of the afternoon, after each having quickly dashed back to their place for a change of clothes (a necessity in Nick's case as he was still on toilet cleaning duty during the afternoons, and in both their cases anyhow as they could hardly drop by the Bigs' place in their police uniforms).
Technically, where they were headed was hardly the Bigs' place – rather, it was the Grandes' household.
Mrs FruFru Grande – née Miss FruFru Big – daughter of famous crime lord Mr Big and mother to Judy's tiny godchild – seemed very pleased at the prospect of seeing her two big friends again – she had squealed excitedly when Judy had asked about coming over on the phone.
"Why Judy honey," she had trilled in her tiny high-pitched voice, " that would be super! It's been ages, simply ages – and I do have a lot on my paws with little JuJu you know, but I do confess I get a trifle lonesome being cooped up at home sometimes – do come, of course, this very evening – I'll have Cooky prepare some refreshments, I do hope you like gingerbread-"
"Thanks FruFru," Judy had replied warmly, giggling internally at the idea of trying to eat a shrew-sized gingerbread cookie. "Is there any chance Mr Big would pass by your place too? Cause I actually had something I wanted to discuss—"
"You'll be so proud of our little JuJu – she is just growing up so fast! Growing up in leaps and strides and hops as her Daddy says—"
"FruFru…" It had taken Judy several attempts before she'd managed to confirm that Mr Big would indeed be expected to stop by the Grande's house also and that she, Judy, would stand every chance of getting an opportunity to talk with him.
"And then," the bunny said, as she related the conversation to Nick while they followed the street that led to Rodentia in the soft rays of the setting sun, "I will ask him for help. If he says no – well, I will at least have tried."
Nick had his hands in his pockets and was listening to Judy as he walked by her side, the carrier bag containing the life-sized mouse dollhouse Judy had gotten for her young namesake as a gift dangling from his wrist. The fox stepped over a puddle before speaking.
"Ever notice how it's all bright and clear and sunny after a huge storm Carrots? Funny thing the weather. Never goes how you expect it."
"Meaning?" Judy asked, cocking an eyebrow at him and hopping over the puddle herself.
"Meaning," Nick returned, gravely, as he put out a paw to steady Judy's landing, "that you should be exceptionally careful when requesting Mr Big to help you Carrots, for his methods might be very different from anything you can imagine."
"I'll keep that in mind," Judy said grimly, before marching towards Rodentia with the air of a boxer entering the ring.
Nick stood still a moment, watching her advancement and shaking his head, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Well, let's go then," he said finally, more to himself than to Judy, as she had already advanced several paces ahead. He then passed the carrier bag from one paw to the other, kicked a small pebble out of the way and headed after the bunny, his pace rather more leisurely than her determined stride.
. And what is going to happen now? Is it wise to ask Mr Big for help? He did help at the end of the film with the weasel - but is it ever wise to enlist a mafia chief's aid for a real estate project? Also, what on earth is going to happen with Harry and his chocolates? Was the weasel stealing them randomly, or for some important scheme like when he was stealing the bulbs in the film?
And of course, what of our two friends, our dear Nick and Judy - what of all their conversations, their closeness, their growing faith in each other - as ever faced with the fact that one is a fox and the other a rabbit, in a world where a potential residence viewing is refused on the grounds that even the two of them being *friends* seems improbable to the owner?
Nick X Judy - will it ever happen? Well, as the title of our fic says, 'if it ever happens'... keep reading on April the 18th :) Thanks and leave your thoughts if you feel like it as usual, anything you liked or didn't like :) Ta!