We're back with the latest chapter! Hope everyone is doing great :) Enjoy!
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
Baked in a pie.
- Nursery rhyme.
"You do realize that it's been like two weeks since you've been holding on to that," Nick commented, shifting the crate up in his paws to show it to Judy.
The rabbit paused in the middle of her task – balancing on top of a small step-ladder to hammer a couple of nails into the wall, the pictures she had been planning to hang on the walls stacked neatly on the oval dining table. After some negotiation with her new house mate (as in, Nicholas P Wilde) she had had to cast aside the modern art options she had selected (apparently the geometrical shapes gave Nick a headache, kind of like 'after downing a very cold slurpie way too fast') as well as the couple of portrait reproductions of famous historical figures she had fancied, like Benjamin Wolf ("really? A wolf?") and Vincent Van Gopher ("he looks like he's judging us or something Carrots"). In view of these complications, Judy had had to opt for some landscape views as the least objectionable painting choices for their common living area.
She didn't mind this so much in the end, as she had selected some views of the countryside that reminded her very much of BunnyBurrow and home. This way, she almost felt like she had her family with her at her new home (though not like they were really there with their endless chatter and tips and advice, which was even better actually). Well, thanks to the paintings, and to the umpteen photos of her parents and numerous siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents that she had put up on a bulletin board in her new bedroom as well. She felt really quite happy at the thought that the faces of her family members would be the last thing she would see upon retiring to bed and the first thing she'd see upon awakening every morning.
'Would see' because the two animals were still not officially moved in – Judy was waiting for her two weeks' notice to be up at her old flat and Nick seemed to have decided that he'd wait till she was settled in before doing likewise – perhaps because the prospect of having someone to take the cooking and cleaning duties on was more appealing than managing everything on his own. Be that as it may, she two animals still spent most evenings in their new penthouse now, up high on the top of the building they'd christened 'Zootopia' (thanks to FruFru), getting their lodgings ready for when they'd move in for good. The weather had not been accommodating for weeding the garden as Judy had planned to do – it had rained every evening for the last three or four days – there were plenty of things to be got through inside though, so the two animals worked away cheerfully. Or Judy worked away, and Nick lent a paw from time to time when prompted. Thus Zootopia was bustling with activity day in and day out.
"Zootopia," Judy repeated in bemusement, her eyes on the window in the ceiling which as wet from the pitter-patter of raindrops. "What a name. Makes you think of," she gesticulated with the hammer vaguely. "Some kind of new type of community – or society. Animals all living together under one roof – mammals of every specie coming together. "
"You'd need more than a fox and a rabbit to fill the quota then," Nick said, smiling. "Like three rabbits and two foxes living with-"
"With a pig," Judy countered, deadpan.
"And a lion," Nick shot back, equally mock-serious.
Judy spluttered at that. "What an idyllic picture it would be at dinner," she said gravely.
"I guess so," Nick chuckled. "But, coming back to the affair at paw, before you get completely lost in your random existential musings, we were talking about this," he held the crate up again.
"Which one is that?" Judy asked, giving it a fleeting look, before returning to her hammering. "Is that the one in which my Mom and Dad sent all my old books in?"
"No," Nick replied patiently. "This is, as it happens, the box containing the chocolate you were supposed to return to Mister Harry-the-notorious-Hare-and-future-spouse – stop threatening me with that hammer Carrots, you know you throw like a bunny – that you still haven't returned to him although it's been days since you should have."
Judy stared at Nick from on top of her step ladder furiously, at least half of her fury justified by the fact that the fox was of course very right and that, being fair, she couldn't very much accuse him of anything.
"I don't want to go see him," she mumbled finally, a bit lamely, passing the hammer from one paw to the other and scuffing her toe against the trouser leg of her overalls.
Nick raised his eyebrows at her, the box still clasped in his paws.
"What's this Carrots? A little teasing gets to you now?"
"It's not that," Judy replied, looking at Nick earnestly. "I don't mind your jokes – well, not in a reasonable amount anyway. It's my parents… they were so bent on my meeting this guy, you heard them the other day. Heaven knows what they've told him about me. I just feel like I'd really rather avoid crossing paths with the animal altogether. Cause no matter how it goes, even if I'm in and out in five minutes just to leave the chocolate figurines, you can bet my parents will know I've been to see him, and they'll be on my back more than ever about him," she shuddered at the thought. "And they'll just harp on about it, the same old story, telling me it was time I settled down or something," she grimaced at the idea.
"I feel your pain," Nick told her, setting the cardboard down. "This box isn't going to walk itself to Mister Harry's on its own though."
"I realize that," Judy returned, her ears drooping dejectedly. She knew full well that she wasn't capable of holding onto the box much longer, not when she knew she had to return it to its rightful owner. She was hardly going to ship the cardboard over to the hare's shop either – this seemed incredibly rude as the animal appeared to have become her parents' pal. At the idea of coming over to deliver it in person, her mind balked. Faced with these many impossible decisions, her brain found a new hopeful possibility.
Judy adapted a winsome, pleading tine. "Which is why I wanted to ask you – if you don't mind – maybe you could-"
"Carrots, stop it with the doleful eyes," Nick raised his paws in a gesture of protest hurriedly. "And no way. I am not getting involved in this, you go see this hare yourself now like a good rabbit and daughter. Don't go dumping this on your poor partner."
"No one is talking about dumping," Judy said carefully. She knew full well how one negotiated something with Nick. "I am just asking for a small exchange. If you did this, I could, I don't know… take your turn with filing the reports and paperwork for the next two weeks say."
Nick froze, contemplating her. Judy fought to hide her triumphant smile. She could see that her proposition had had the desired effect; Nick hated paperwork of any kind and he understood full well that his letting Judy take over his for a while meant that everything would be done perfectly and Bogo would be off his back. Judy saw the fox's ears twitch as he considered this tempting offer.
"Three weeks," he said finally. "You take over my reports for three weeks Carrots, then I'll do it."
Judy pretended to deliberate for a couple of seconds.
"Deal," she said finally, holding a paw out to shake Nick's, while secretly rejoicing inside. Really, she had been prepared to go up to a month – Nick was really getting soft in his hustle negotiating, she thought in bemusement as they shook on the deal.
It was one of those days. That's what Nick Wilde was thinking as he strolled along Sahara Square that Saturday morning. Ok, it wasn't morning per say – the clock had already struck noon. Still, that counted as morning on the week-end as far as the fox was concerned. He already had to struggle out of bed at an ungodly hour every blessed day of the week to get to work. True, sometimes he gave into temptation and hit the snooze button one too many times on a Monday morning. This had resulted in his being late at roll call once or twice – ok, maybe more than twice – and had undoubtedly made Chief Buffallohead burst a blood vessel or two and give Nick detention or what not. Nick rather felt that once they were officially housemates with Judy, his morning lie-ins would be the stuff of history though; the rabbit would definitely make sure he came into work bright and early all week through. That was one thing, it had to be endured.
But weekends, weekends were sacred. He'd keep sleeping in on the week-ends, if it was the last thing he did, it was one of life's few constant joys after all.
"For me at least, if not for every animal," Nick rectified mentally, after spotting a family of polar bears preparing to cross the street a few paces in front of him. The father polar bear, his arms full of packages and shopping bags, was trying to maneuver a stroller along somehow. A baby's mournful wail was emitting from the stroller, and the bedraggled father was attempting at the same time to hush the infant, keep a hold on his many purchases, and address his two elder children, a boy and a girl, who were lagging behind to peer through the windows of a candy shop.
"I am telling you for the last time children – hush now, Baby – if you don't get over here this minute," the father was growling testily.
Nick shuddered at the scene, wrinkling his nose. Yup, here was an example of an animal who had probably forgotten what a nice long Saturday morning snooze felt like. Why animals went through this kind of privation and personal strain for the merit of having cubs was beyond Nick. And would always be, no matter how chagrined his mother chose to become consequently, he thought complacently. Careless, free Saturday morning lie-ins! That was the life.
And, had he known what this day held in store for him, he'd have stayed in bed all day, Nick thought wryly. Because so far, the day was certainly turning out to be one of those days. You know, when someone says that in a tone that makes you realize the word 'those' is in italics, it always means that one of 'those' days is nothing nice. It's the kind of day when things will most decidedly not go your way morning till night.
This had been the case for Nick up till now, since the moment he had gotten up – true, not much before noon. So the day was technically far from old for him. But already, the barista had messed up his morning coffee when he and Judy had met up for a late breakfast in a café close from Zootopia (as in, their future home, Zootopia the building). And Nick had realized it a mite too late, so there was no going back, given he'd already paid. He was stuck drinking the revolting cappuccino (why did anyone bother naming a drink 'coffee' if it contained more milk than anything else anyway?) Then it was impossible to have a decent conversation at the café anyway, because the tables surrounding his and Judy's seemed to be flooded with families with small kids. Seriously, where did all the parents hide them away during winter, Nick wondered. It was like the arrival of spring had been a signal, 'bring your children out to public places so that they can bother adult animals no end!' It had been literally impossible for Nick to hear what Judy was all but shouting in his ear, thanks to three elephant children arguing at the next table about who got a last remaining scoop of peanut-butter-flavored sundae.
Once the elephants had finally finished their meal and left the diner, Judy was able to talk to Nick properly. Only it turned out that what she had to tell him had to do with the request she had made during the week. It was the damned box of chocolates again; Judy was asking Nick if he would finally take it over to Harry-the-Hare's shop that same day.
"Why the hurry?" Nick had grumbled, his mood already dampened by the cappuccino. "Or do you rabbits suffer from a two hundred a minute heartbeat rate increase for every task left unfinished?"
"The hurry, as you say," Judy had replied coolly, "Is that, as you might have noticed, I have already started fulfilling my part of our bargain."
"Bargain?" Nick had asked innocently, pretending to be very interested in his coffee spoon. He had hoped this wouldn't come up quite so quickly, he had noticed Judy was already fulfilling her end of the deal.
"I filed all the paperwork at the end of the week," the rabbit had said, pointing her smoothie straw at Nick accusingly. "And you know it. So you be a good fox and go drop those chocolates off at the hare's so we can finally close this annoying chapter! Or so help me swiss cheese spread—"
"Alright, alright, don't get your ears tied in a knot," Nick had mumbled, sensing his defeat.
And that was how he found himself down in Sahara Square, with the accursed crate of chocolate figurines under his arm, looking left and right to make sure he was in the good street. He was not only in the good street, as it transpired, but the candy shop the polar bear cubs had been peering into turned out to be just the place he was heading to, Nick realized with a small start.
'Harry Henderson, chocolatier' was emblazoned in fancy letters on top of the entrance to the classy-looking sweet shop. The windows were arranged with careful precision, showing off the owner's skill in sculpted chocolate creations. A palm tree made entirely in dark chocolate was overlooking what appeared to be an entire small reproduction of Zootropolis' main skyline sights. It was little wonder the children had been attracted by the display.
A small drop landing with a tiny plip on the tip of Nick's nose made him look up. Sure enough, the storm clouds that had haunted them all week were still present, hanging low over the city and threatening to pour forth their contents at any second. It was time to go into the chocolate store, introduce himself, return the box and depart.
And still he hesitated on the pavement, his gaze on the shop. At length, Nick saw a young pig appear on the other side of the store's window and start tweaking the display critically, readjusting the small buildings made in praline and cocoa. Nick watched the pig expectantly, and sure enough, another animal popped up behind the pig's shoulder within ten seconds.
The fox knew that the newcomer was Harry-the-hare at once, would have known it even if both the owner of the store and his assistant were hares. For Harry had the unmistakable look of the supervisor; his uniform, while identical to the pig's with its crisp white shirt and blue trousers, was nevertheless somehow much neater, and altogether Harry gave the impression of calm authority, poise and efficiency. Nick's initial reaction upon laying eyes on the hare was one of detached surprise.
Nicholas Wilde was a worldly fox, he was in the habit of quickly assessing animals and situations. He had expected Harry to be a notch higher on the scale than Gideon the fox; seeing their products was enough to judge the level of the manufacturers. So the well-groomed appearance of the hare did not astonish Nick. There was something else, however, that somehow put him a bit on his guard, and made him frown a bit.
For one thing, the hare's appearance was unexpected. He looked to Nick every inch the – well, the rabbit, bluntly speaking. In height he barely exceeded Judy, the shape of his eyes and head resembled hers, the difference being that his eyes were a pale cold shade of blue and that the tips of his ears bore faint dark stripe marks. Nick tried to remember whether these marks were a hare's distinctive point, tried and failed. He had met few hares, or none. Finnick had played poker with a hare on a couple of occasions down in a small bar in Tundra, but that was a long time ago now.
The hare seemed to sense someone looking at him, and he raised his head from the candy display and looked outside. Nick snapped out of his small reverie and hurriedly advanced to the shop door, the crate safely under his arm.
As he entered the shop, the young pig was springing to welcome him in, a cordial smile on his lips. The animal was checked in his steps however by the intervention of the hare.
"It's alright Percy," Harry said in a clipped dry sort of tone. "I'll show our customer around. You carry on with the window arrangements."
The pig turned back to the display accordingly, after flashing Nick another professional smile.
Nick found himself thus face to face with the shop's owner. At this close range he noticed that the hare had black markings not only on the tips of his ears but on his cheeks as well. The sight made the fox wonder once again whether this was natural or some kind of tattoo left over from an exciting youth. 'Youth', because he guessed the hare to be closer to himself than to Judy in age. Which was, all things considered, unsurprising – Harry had after all had time to establish a name for himself and build a business of his own.
All this was flashing through Nick's mind as the hare approached him and said, after a quick stiff nod.
"Welcome to our establishment Sir. What may I do for you today? Would you like to have a look around – see our latest fabrications perhaps?" with this the hare gesticulated towards the far end of the shop, where a glass covered display counter was gleaming, showing off yet more chocolate.
"Thanks," Nick said, depositing the crate lightly on the ground. "I do like sweets of any kind. I'm not here to browse though, not today. Mister Henderson – name's Wilde. Nick Wilde," he extended his paw for a shake.
The hare's eyebrows sprang up, and he clasped Nick's paw formally, though with a touch more openness than before.
"Mister Wilde!" he replied. "Why yes, I should have realized – I had thought your face looked familiar! Yes yes, the first fox officer on the force? Partnered with Officer Hopps, Stuart and Bonnie's daughter? Come, they had mentioned you several times of course, when I had the pleasure of visiting with them last time. Mister Wilde, upon my soul! You must call me Harry. What a delight this is! Do come over to the back please, if you've a minute to spare – Percy will mind the front for a bit."
With this ending remark, the hare was beckoning Nick over into the rooms at the back of the shop, normally prohibited for customers. And it was lucky really that the fox had the couple of extra seconds to himself, while he murmured something polite back at Harry, collected the box again and followed the chocolate chef. Lucky, because ever since the hare had opened his mouth to acknowledge his recognition of Nick, the latter had sensed something to be awfully off. It was just that Nick had too much experience in dealing with animals, too many days of successful hustling behind his bushy red tail. Even if it was one of those days, Nick's reflexes and intuition were working full blast, as always.
The hare had already known whom the fox was , as soon as he'd first laid eyes on him. That Nick knew to be fact. It was something in the stance of surprise upon Harry's exclamations, something in the slightly exaggerated gestures, and something in the way the hare's ice-tinted eyes had stayed completely impassive. In this instance at least, the hare had not been truthful. And if you knew for a fact that someone had already lied to you once, it was prudent (as Nick had proven to himself time and time again) to remain on your guard.
So it was automatically sliding into the old persona he had been in his 'businessman' days that Nick replied,
"How kind of you to extend me such a warm welcome on a first acquaintance Sir, purely based on the introduction Mister and Mrs Hopps made on my behalf. Really, this is too kind of you."
"Think nothing of it! And do call me Harry, please."
"Then you'll call me Nick, Harry!" the fox returned, placing the box on the floor again, once they were inside the back room. "And I'm here to return something of yours, Harry, as it happens."
"Yes, I thought that looked like one of my crates," the hare was saying thoughtfully. "May I?" he went to open the crate and peer inside.
"That would be one of the boxes you'd left behind at a Gideon Grey's for safekeeping, you see. Only it seems that that fox was not cut out for the job – so, long story short, a weasel stole it from under his nose, Officer Hopps and myself recuperated it while on duty, Officer Hopps' parents were able to direct us as to the rightful owner and ta-dah! Here I am," Nick finished with a flourish.
"Yes," Harry agreed after an infinitesimal pause. "Here you are."
The implication was unmistakable. Nick chose to ignore it however, shooting a quick look around the room for some conversation starting point, while Harry bent over the open box, riffling through its contents.
"This where you experiment then?" Nick asked, eyeing the many pots and boxes of cocoa powder and batter, along with the rolling pins and cutting shapes and baking sheets.
"Yes," Harry said briefly, looking over his shoulder at the counter littered with ingredients, as well as the stoves behind it. "Yes Nicholas. Designing chocolate is my job, but also my passion. I find it endlessly amusing to come up with new concepts with which to wow my clientele."
"That one of those new concepts?" Nick asked with a wink, pointing at the animal figurines back in the box.
"Yes it is, and do keep it quiet for now, as a favor, would you?" Harry pleaded. "It's a special order that's to be unveiled at one popular singer's next concert tour. The world of commerce, you know," he heaved a mock sigh, getting up to his feet, his inspection of the cart finished.
"Hey, no problem," Nick said easily.
"You're too good to go to all this trouble just to return my merchandise," Harry was saying, heading back to the counter. "May I offer you a hot chocolate as a token of gratitude at least?"
"You don't have to ask me twice," Nick said cheerfully, watching the hare measure out the cocoa powder into two mugs.
"Lovely," the hare was saying briskly, after putting a copper pot with milk on the stove. "I make my own blend, this one has a touch of allspice, you'll give me your opinion. I've not put it on the shelves yet. Now, dessert spoons, where is all the blasted cutlery when one needs it – oh here, you'll find this amusing."
Nick was handed his mug along with a dessert spoon, the latter (to his surprise) putting him in mind of the pawsicles he used to sell before, in shape if not in color. The small spoon was indeed shaped as a hare (or rabbit?) paw, delicate in its miniscule silver design.
"So you design spoons as well as chocolate?" Nick asked.
Harry laughed lightly.
"Just to go with this line of hot cocoa. It's quite funny, isn't it? I just took the print off my own paw and had it reduced and voilà! The form to mold the dessert spoons was ready. One has to amuse oneself somehow – I thought, if these prove popular, I'd make a whole series with different paws, not just a hare's."
"Not just a hare's," Nick repeated quietly, turning the spoon over in his paws, his hot chocolate untouched. Then he looked straight into the other animal's eyes. "Only this is really the shape of a rabbit's paw, you know," he added courteously. "Not a hare's."
Harry was silent for a small heartbeat. Then he proceeded to mix his drink, clinking his own spoon against the cup noisily, shrugging.
"Would you really be the expert on that, Nicholas?" he asked carelessly. "Have you known many hares?"
"No, just one," Nick answered, the memory of Finnick's poker partner resurfacing again. "I used to watch him play cards with a – a friend of mine, when I was still a very young cub. Learned everything I know about cards from watching the two animals back then. I used to follow the hare's every move when he put the cards down, you see, I was so taken with the game. I'd hardly remember the hare's face now, but I do remember what his paws looked like very well. And no way was his thumb that much shorter than his other fingers. That's really a rabbit for you," he held the teaspoon up.
Harry had almost instinctively stashed his own paws under the counter at that remark. In silence the two animals faced each other, the large clock ticking away on the wall as from somewhere on the other side of the door, out in the front part of the shop, Percy's voice drifted back to them with a muffled 'Will that be all for you today Ma'am?"
Harry eyed Nick coldly, as if appraising him. Finally, placing his paws back on the counter, all the warmth gone from his eyes, he said,
"You're some kind of crook, aren't you? You seem curiously used to fish for information."
"I used to be a hustler," Nick replied, shrugging nonchalantly. "What can you do?"
"Bogo accepts anyone in his precinct now I see," Harry was muttering, drumming his paw on the countertop in mild annoyance, no longer hiding his rabbitness.
Nick could have felt triumphant at that point, but what he felt was rather a hint of vague alarm. The hare – or rabbit, as indeed, it transpired, here was a rabbit, who had pretended to be a hare – had understood immediately that he had been caught out. This was not an easy opponent, Nick judged inwardly. No animal that realized himself defeated and abandoned a useless cover-up was harmless. If anything, his lucidity rendered him dangerous. Nick sprang into an experimental line of attack.
"So if we can speak openly now, Sir – what's your name then? You won't still tell me it's Harry Henderson?"
The rabbit straightened, unperturbed, his shirt as crisp as ever.
"Allow me to introduce myself – again – Nicholas. My name is Savage, Jack Savage," for the second time that afternoon, he inclined his head formally.
"Pleased to meet you, I'm sure," Nick said sarcastically, wondering if this name was another alias. "Why the false identity? Who are you working for? And what do you want with Hopps?"
"So many questions," Jack gave a little grin. "You're quite the expert on sniffing things out though it would seem fox, why don't you take a shot at answering them yourself?"
"I could," Nick returned. "And I'd say that you do know a thing or two about chocolate, which is why this is such a great cover up. I'd also say that you had Grey keep your chocolate on purpose, and maybe even hired the weasel to steal a crate on purpose, arranging things in such a way that it would somehow circle back to Hopps' family. Meeting up with her parents and hatching a plan about how they could introduce her to you, the whole house-hunting in the big city scheme. I take it Mister and Mrs Hopps have no idea about your sham?"
"No," Jack replied complacently. He took a sip of hot chocolate and glanced at the offending dessert spoon ruefully. "And no one would have, had I been just a tad more careful."
"I knew you were a fake since I first saw you twenty minutes ago," Nick said pleasantly. "I really did. The teaspoon was just a shred of proof."
"How lovely of you to come and poke your long orange muzzle into my affairs," Jack replied testily, his paws clutching the mug quite tightly. "I take back what I said about Bogo's choices I guess."
"I'll tell him," Nick laughed briefly. "He'll be flattered. Quite the softie, out chief. So who's yours? Who do you work for?"
"Your questions fall on deaf ears from this point hence I'm afraid," Jack said supremely, downing the remainder of his drink.
The corners of Nick's lips twitched.
"Deaf but very long," he agreed gravely. Jack shot him an outraged look. Nick had to smile inwardly – so all rabbits were sensitive to the 'long ears' remarks, and not just Carrots.
"Why don't you prowl away, retired fox hustler," Jack Savage said coolly, turning to a box of sugar and starting to measure some out indifferently. "You've delivered what you came here to deliver."
"I did – me, and not Hopps. That's your problem, isn't it?" Nick prompted. "You were trying to get to her? Now whatever for, hmm?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not," Jack's eyes were fixed on the measuring cup he was using for the brown sugar. "I seem to have hit dead ends in every aspect for now though. A fox comes to return my missing box instead, and even Officer Hopps' parents seem to be unable to tell me her exact address last I checked – something about her being in the middle of moving houses. You wouldn't be somehow aware of her new place of residence now, would you fox?"
The cold blue eyes were staring sharply at Nick.
"Who, me?" Nick asked innocently, mentally crossing his fingers. "Just a retired popsicle hustler, like I said. Can't help you out, Captain Bucktooth Undercover. But hang in there now, will you?" he saluted the rabbit briefly, beginning to edge towards the exit.
"I'll do just that Officer Sly Whiskers," Jack replied, obviously struggling to keep his tone even. "You will show yourself out, I take it. Let Miss Hopps know that I'll get hold of her eventually."
"Ta ta!" Nick said, raising a paw in farewell. "Take care, Fluff."
"Good Day Wilde," came the steely reply, followed by the 'clink' of the sugar box being set down on the counter in a final sort of way.
"You're kidding," Judy gasped, gobsmacked. She had frozen in midaction, the spoon of fruit jelly she had been in the process of bringing to her lips frozen in midair. The young rabbit was sitting in Zootopia's penthouse, aka her future full-time home, decked out in one of her favorite comfy pastel blue tee-shirts and some slacks, enjoying her late afternoon snack on the couch Nick had gotten them.
Nick was sitting on the opposite end of the couch, dipping almond-flavored cookies into his coffee. The two animals had met back at the penthouse after Nick's small expedition and Judy's jogging session, so that Nick could give Judy the lowdown on what had happened. Judy was understandably amazed at finding out just how the interview at the chocolate shop had gone.
"Jack Savage," she repeated, wrinkling her brow. "Doesn't ring a bell."
"It could be another fake name," Nick reminded her, taking a noisy slurp of coffee.
"What is he then? Some sort of a spy?" she asked incredulously.
"A double agent," Nick shrugged. "Who knows. Could be working for some secret service, or criminal lord or… anything."
"What could he want with me?" Judy mused.
"Anything. Buy you into their schemes – you're a cop and a bunny, maybe they thought a rabbit would help another rabbit over duty. Or maybe the rabbit thing is just a coincidence and he wanted to get to you specifically because of one of the cases you'd worked on."
"And he went through my parents to try and find me?" Judy clenched her fists. "The jerk! Of course Mom and Dad would fall for his theatrics, they'd trust anyone, especially a rabbit, or hare, or whoever he was parading to be. Well, any animal that looks like them anyway."
"You should be on your guard Carrots," Nick said seriously, setting his coffee mug down on the floor. (They did not have a coffee table as of yet). "You should – do you mind? It's the week-end after all, and I'm done meeting undercover chocolate chefs," this last remark had to do with the fact that the fox was untying his necktie and pulling it off.
"Go ahead," Judy allowed, hiding a smile. She wondered if it was the effect of their approaching co-habitation; Nick certainly would not have asked her permission to pull his tie off previously. Not that she recalled.
The fox removed his tie, slung it over the back of the couch, undid the topmost button of his shirt collar and reached for the steaming mug again.
"Better," he said in satisfaction, after taking a long sip. "Feels more like a Saturday now. Where was I? Yes, you should watch out Carrots. This Savage, he'll track you down in the end. He'll pop up sometime when you least expect it, mark my words."
"I can look after myself," Judy straightened in her seat proudly, holding her chin up. "Let him try and come at me!"
It was Nick's turn to bite back his grin. There was nothing in the world that looked less threatening than Judy at that moment, in her cotton tee-shirt and with the bowl of bright jelly in her lap.
"Right," he said, shaking his head a bit. "That's great Carrots. Remember you're only safe at the ZPD though."
"At work? Why?" Judy raised an eyebrow.
"Think about it Carrots," Nick extended his paw. "That would have been the easiest place to find you! Day in and day out, all he had to do was drop in at the headquarters. But no, he chooses to try and hunt you down through some super complicated scheme involving your parents, or your childhood schoolmate. He's avoiding the ZPD."
"Why would he do that?" Judy asked, as she nodded slowly, agreeing with Nick's explanations.
"My guess would be he's worried about running into someone else at our headquarters," Nick said thoughtfully. "Could be Bogo. He seemed to know the chief. Mentioned him a couple of times."
"I see," Judy said. She looked down into her jelly without really seeing it, lost in her thoughts. "Yes, I see."
"He might go through your parents again too," Nick added. "You never know."
"And I just gave them our new address," Judy added with a groan. "They wanted to send some more of my stuff over. And they were really excited to know where I would be living now."
"Still under the impression that you'd be living there alone?" Nick asked with a wink.
"Still," Judy slumped on the couch. "Thank whipped cream my parents have no knowledge of the practical side of living in the big city and don't realize I'd never afford a penthouse on my own. They are under the impression I pulled everything off all by myself."
Nick was just opening his mouth to ask whether it was wise to keep things that way, when this lively discussion was interrupted by the ringing of Judy's mobile phone. The rabbit cast a quick glance on the screen and raised her eyebrows a bit at the image that had popped up – it was her parents.
"Speak of the devil. Why would they be calling at that time?.." she muttered, before punching the 'answer' button.
"Hey Jude – Jude the dude," her father called cheerily, waving a paw, while her mother beamed in the background.
"How are you doing honey?" Bonnie asked fondly.
"Um, good," Judy replied, while Nick sipped his coffee as quietly as he could, stretched out on the couch.
"Are you at home then? Is that the famous sitting room we can see behind your back?" her mother probed.
"Yup," Judy answered brightly, wondering how discreetly she could give Nick a sign to sneak away if her parents requested a virtual tour of the premises.
"We'd love to see the rest of it," her mother was saying, sure enough. "And you see Sweety, what with your getting your own place and all-"
"Do you want me to move my phone around so you can see-" Judy started saying, shooting a glance at Nick. The fox understood her meaning perfectly and stood up, heading for the front door to allow her some space.
"Well, we would have adored it if you did obviously," Bonnie Hopps replied. "But my dear – we have a confession to make. Well, what with one thing and another – our curiosity kind of got the better of us – we really wanted to see your hew home – our little girl, living it up in the city –"
Judy had a sudden awful qualm of premonition. Hardly realizing why, she caught Nick by the back of his shirt to stop him exiting the penthouse. The fox and the rabbit listened in silence as Judy's father intervened again.
"We couldn't help it Jude – we had to see your place for ourselves!" he boomed jovially.
A chill touched Judy's heart at his words.
"That's so nice of you guys," she said, her voice a bit shrill. "I'd love it if you came over – the place is hardly set up yet though – my stuff is all over the place – but I am sure that in a week or two, if you want to come to town –"
"Judy!" her mother trilled. "We don't care if the house is a bit messy – we're your parents – "
"So we basically hopped on the train and here we are!" Stu finished happily.
Judy felt her stomach churn with nerves.
"You're here? At the station? In Zootropolis?" she croaked.
"Nope," her mother giggled. "Or, not anymore, to be accurate – we're downstairs! Your place! The building looks marvelous Honey."
"You're outside?" Judy gasped, aghast.
"We're at the top floor actually," her mother corrected her. "Someone was coming in outside when we arrived with the cab, and they kindly let us in the building. A tiny shrew! The last floor the lift opens on is hardly the penthouse though – and we're a bit muddled here dear, which way is the roof after we've gotten off the lift? Would you mind coming down to - "
"Bonnie look – I think I've got it!" Stuart's voice exclaimed in the background suddenly. "It's this little flight of stairs here – come see-"
"Oh, how clumsy of us," Bonnie laughed. "Why couldn't we find it sooner? We'd have made it all the way to your front door and sprung a proper surprise on you – well well, here we come Judy."
It was no joke – Judy's excellent hearing picked up her parents' voices outside and their steps as they marched up, seconds away from actually emerging on the roof and making it to the penthouse door. Trapped, Judy automatically dropped the now unnecessary phone call and stared at Nick, transfixed. Her expression was mirrored in her friend's face. He opened his mouth – but Judy shook her head urgently – Bonnie and Stuart could be heard approaching outside, chattering away – and their hearing was as amazing as Judy's. The pair of young animals stood, frozen in the most comical manner, their eyes locked on each other in shock, as outside a sharp knock resounded on the door.
"Here we are Judy!" Bonnie's clear voice called.
Nick seemed to come to at the sound – his gaze took the whole room in in one sweeping urgent glance. He fidgeted where he stood, his footfalls mercifully muffled by the rug, undecided.
"I'll – I'll be there in a moment Mom!" Judy called back shakily. "I'll just – I was putting something away – I'll be right there –"
Nick had reached a decision it seemed – perhaps the only one possible, as he was forced to stay on the rug – leaving it would mean Bonnie and Stuart could hear his feet race across the smart hardwood floor. So, the fox opted for the couch – in one fluid movement he dove under it. Judy stared after him for a second – the fox's right paw stuck out briefly from under the couch, gave her a thumbs-up sign, and vanished again, pulling the throw lower down to obscure all visibility.
"At least he doesn't lose his head in a crisis," Judy thought numbly, turning on her heel and heading for the door.
Judy's vague plan, if indeed she had any, had been to pull her parents outside the back door and into the garden, hoping Nick could somehow take the cue and escape through the front door. This scheme failed miserably however – Stuart and Bonnie had seen many a garden and they were much more interested in inspecting the inside of the penthouse and their daughter's new living conditions.
After some fifteen minutes of this, Judy found herself seated between the pair of them, all three nursing cups of herbal green tea, and hoping fervently that Nick was not being squashed too violently underneath.
Judy's father was praising his daughter's new living quarters heartily.
"Very classy setting Jude," he was saying. "Very swank. A mite high maybe – but superb, no doubt about it."
"Thanks Dad," Judy replied, her heart hammering. She had all but spilt her hot tea all over herself as she'd realized Nick's tie was still flung over the couch. As carefully and casually as she could, she reached back to push it away. This was very hard to do as both her parents had their eyes fixed on her.
"You must have some friends over when you're all settled in!" Bonnie exclaimed, casting her eyes around merrily and taking a sip from her cup. "Look at this place! There's definitely room."
"You sure are ready to receive, as they say," Stu agreed, chuckling. ""Your mother is absolutely right. Take your shrew friend now, the one whose kid is your godchild - or old Mister Wilde."
"That's right, Nicholas!" Bonnie bounced up and down on the couch. (Judy winced, figuring Nick's midriff to be somewhere at that exact spot.) "Has he had a chance to set foot in here yet?"
"Well," Judy said after a pause, inching the tie away with a careful paw behind her back. "In a manner of speaking... I mean-"
Her father interrupted her again mercifully.
"There's even space to have friends come and spend the night! I see there are two bedrooms? Yours and a guest one then?"
"Well," Judy tried. Her voice seemed to be abandoning her. She cleared her throat and tried again. "There are two, but I mean.. no, what I want to say..." she trailed off helplessly, inwardly torn between a mad desire to laugh and to wail.
Her parents were hardly paying attention.
"We made you a little care package anyway, as well as bringing some of your things over," her father was saying, pulling a canvas back up on his knees and starting to go over its contents.
"That's right! And I packed some snacks Honey," Bonnie added happily. "We can only stay the one night I'm afraid, your auntie Em and Uncle Ralph agreed to watch the kids, but you know they have plenty of their own. But I did pack quite a bit of food, you'll see, blueberries, carrot cake, a rhubarb pie-"
"Rhubarb pie is the best!" Stu cut in approvingly. "Your mother has gotten her recipe down pat, I'm telling you! You should take a leaf out of her book Judy - heaven knows you'll be hopping off and starting a family of your own one of these days, and you know that no one goes through snacks faster than a horde of hungry little bun-buns-"
"Dad," Judy mumbled, mortified and perfectly conscious of the fox ears listening under the sofa.
"Thank you Stu," her mother was saying at the same time. "I do think that rhubarb pie came out fine this time, though I do say so myself - I've been adding just a pinch of cloves, you see, Sweety, and I found that it really makes quite the difference-"
"You're making me hungry Bon," Stu chuckled. "Say, what if we have a bite right now with the tea?"
"I'll get a plate and knife Dad," Judy started, grateful to get away, if even for a second. A moment later she was sinking back into her seat though, remembering that she'd leave the tie she'd successfully blocked with her back exposed if she did get up. "Um, that is, actually," she stammered lamely.
"You stay where you are Jude," Stuart said briskly, hopping off the couch. "Your father'll get everything in a jiffy!"
"It is nicefor us to do something for you for a change Judy dear," Bonnie added, stroking Judy's ears fondly. "We see you so rarely since you moved to the city, it's not often we get to-"
"Bonnie," Stuart said suddenly, in a curious, hushed tone that made Judy whip around to stare at him in alarm. "Don't move."
"What on earth is it Stu?" Mrs Hopps asked in surprise, having clocked his expression as well.
Instead of replying, Stuart had quietly picked up the canvas 'care bag' they'd brought over and was slowly reaching inside, his eyes transfixed on the bottom of the couch.
Judy looked. Her heart seemed to altogether miss a couple of beats at what she saw.
Somehow, perhaps because he had had to move around down under the couch, what with the three bunnies squashed onto it, Nick had managed to be careless. Only a bit, but it was enough, horrifyingly enough. The very tip of his reddish brown fox tale was poking out from under the throw.
The cover was blown, there was absolutely nothing to be done. Judy realized this, and sprang up to save the situation before it got any worse. As if that could happen.
It could.
As Judy was opening her mouth and starting to say 'I can explain Da-' something happened that made it entirely impossible for her to finish her phrase, as chaos and havoc took over the scene.
You see, it turned out that Stuart Hopps had providentially brought a fox taser over in the care bag.
"I can't apologize enough, Mister Wilde dear," Bonnie was saying in distress some ten minutes later.
"I don't blame you Mrs Hopps," Nick replied, wincing as he nursed his poor scorched tail.
"It's all my fault," Stuart was crestfallen. The two parents hovered over Nick uncertainly as he sat on the couch, looking over his wound.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that either," the fox replied, giving Judy a very pointed look.
"Try putting some ice on it Nick," she offered humbly, holding a pack out with shaking paws.
"Keep that ice Carrots," Nick grumbled, his eyes very obviously adding 'and you can put it up your-'
"I have some healing lotion," Bonnie was pulling a mini first-aid kit out of her purse. "This should help."
"That's amazing Ma'am," Nick accepted the cream and squirted a bit on the burn mark experimentally. "So you brought it along to help the animals you tased?" His eyes were dancing; the lotion obviously helped calm the sting, and his good humor seemed to be returning rapidly.
"Just the habit of a mother with very many children Mister Wilde," Bonnie tittered. "You never know when one of them or the other will get a burn, a cut, a bruise-"
"We've seen it all," Stu agreed. "Well, the fox under the couch is new," he added fairly. "Not that I mean anything when I say 'fox'," he continued hurriedly, addressing Nick. "And I am hardly used to the big city's diversity. So you'll have to excuse me; when I saw your tale poking out, I just naturally assumed that some thug had gotten in and was waiting to spring on us all when we'd gotten our guard down."
"It was rather unusual, hiding under the couch," Bonnie agreed cautiously. "Why would you do that Mister Wilde?"
"Why indeed?" Nick agreed, casting Judy another look.
Mr and Mrs Hopps seemed to take this as a cue that the answer to this ludicrous situation lay with their daughter, and they turned simultaneously to look at Judy.
Judy gulped, cornered.
"Mom... Dad," she started tentatively. He parents looked back at her, their faces puzzled. Judy tried to gather her wits. As she opened her mouth again, a noise like a whoopie-cushion came from Nick. She glared at him.
"Don't mind me," the fox said, squeezing the lotion tube again to produce the offending sound, his eyes gleaming. "Just carry on Carrots."
Judy gave him a cold look, mustering what dignity she had left.
"Perhaps you'd wait outside so I can have a moment with my parents Nicholas?" she asked, crossing her arms defiantly.
The fox shrugged.
"Whatever you like Carrots," he replied lightly, up on his feet like a flash, heading towards the back door. Half way there, he turned back to the group of rabbits, as Mrs Hopps had started to rise and speak as well.
"You were saying Ma'am?" He said politely.
"I was..." Bonnie faltered. "I was just going to show you where the back door was Mister WIlde. Judy had just given us the tour of the penthouse you see. But I can see that... is unnecessary. I can see that you... that you..." she gulped and finished in the sudden hush that had fallen. "I can see that you know your way around very well."
Nick stood frozen for a moment in his tracks, as the realization of his blunder hit him. With a quick semi-apologetic glance at Judy he said hurriedly,
"Yeah, look at that! It seems like I do. Oh well. Later then," and he beat a quick retreat out into the garden, fleeing the scene of the fiasco.
Judy dared a look at her parents. She wished she hadn't. As the full implication of Nick's familiarity with the premises hit her parents, their faces changed slowly.
Bonnie was looking at Judy with an expression of utter horrified disbelief, her eyes wide, her paws held up to cover her mouth. As for Stuart, his expression was nothing short of shock, his eyes glassy, his mouth agape.
For a full ten seconds no one spoke. Then very slowly, her mother put her paws down.
"Judy... honey," Bonnie said slowly. She glanced at her husband for support, but Stu seemed incapable of speech at that moment. "Does... does Mister Wilde live here too?"
"Well.. technically no," Judy replied, with a feeble smile and a shaky attempt at bravado. "And neither do I. Not officially. We haven't moved out of our old places. But soon enough... yeah, we're supposed to both move in here," she gave a short laugh tinged with a shrill note of despair.
"Why?" her mother asked. Judy thought she'd never seen her mother's eyes so wide open.
"Yes why?" Mr Hopps added, suddenly coming back to life. "Geez Jude! Why on earth would you - well, I mean.." he shot a quick furtive look in the direction of the back door and finished in an audible whisper. "with a predator? Move in?"
"Nick's my best friend," Judy mumbled rebelliously, irritation slowly stirring inside her.
"We know that dear," her mother had switched to whispering too. "But Judy, he is of course your friend and a very kind animal; he is however a - well.. fox,"
"A predator," her father repeated, as if that sufficed as explanation in itself. "And why Jude-"
"Why?" Judy echoed stupidly, looking from her father to her mother.
And then, backed by her old hatred of prejudice, inspiration struck at this crucial moment. Bluff like there's no tomorrow Carrots, she told herself, and stood straighter.
"Why, to be the better protected from other predators of course," she said as nonchalantly as she could.
Her parents were silenced at that, digesting her words.
"Zootropolis is crawling with them," Judy continued lightly, picking her cup of herbal tea up again. "And I figured, hey, what better way of staying safe than bunking with one of them I can actually trust," she nodded, sipping her drink. "I know Nick's my pal and on my side, and having a fox around will make other predators give my house a wide berth."
"I see," Bonnie said after a pause, rubbing her nose. "Yes I see."
"There are a lot of predators around," Stuart added slowly. "Remember the driver of the cab we took earlier today Bon?"
"Oh, a grizzly," Mrs Hopps shuddered. "So huge! Terrifying!"
"Foxes are small as far as predators go," Stuart was saying, nodding his head.
"And you can trust Nicholas dear, I'm sure of that," Bonnie added. "Remember how he helped you out during the Night Howlers' case."
"Not to mention what a good partner he's been since, helping you out on the job and all," Stu agreed gruffly. "What I really don't get Jude is why he was under the couch?"
"Oh," Judy had subsided against the wall in relief at how well the tide seemed to be turning. "You know. We weren't expecting you, and I hadn't gotten the chance to explain things properly yet... it was just one of those things."
"I'll say," Bonnie shot an embarrassed look in the general direction of the garden. "You'll have to apologize on our behalf again Judy. Won't you? Poor Nicholas must blame us for what happened."
"He blames me Mom, no worries," Judy reassured her, smiling.
"Quite the shock it was," Stuart shook his head.
"We'd better go Stu," Bonnie, was picking her handbag up. "Let Judy smooth things over. We're staying the night down at a hotel dear; I'm quite excited to see a bit of the city evening life I confess. Do join us for supper or at least breakfast tomorrow, if you can spare yourself."
"I'll do both, gladly," Judy reassured her fervently, feeling like she had the best parents in the world after all.
"Bring old Mister Wilde too," Stuart cocked his head back on his way out. "Least we can do after what the poor chap just went through."
"Thanks Dad. Thanks Mom. I love you," Judy mumbled, waving her paw after her parents.
"I can't believe you wriggled your way out of that one Carrots. I thought you were a goner," Nick commented, downing a large share of rhubarb pie. "This is amazing by the way. Your mother was right about the cloves."
"I can't believe it either," Judy agreed. "I did what you'd taught me. Bluffing!"
"Only way to hustle," Nick grinned at her widely.
"Only way," Judy agreed. "Except that I think it would still not have gone down that well if it had only been my feeble excuse."
"Meaning?" Nick was cutting another share of pie.
"Meaning I really think they trust you," Judy looked at him curiously. "It proves how good your hustling skills are I guess. Just kidding now; I honestly feel like you've won them over."
"My incredible charm and noble character," Nick agreed solemnly.
"Something like that," Judy laughed. "They've warmed to you. Mister Wilde, favorite of the rabbits."
"Not of every rabbit," Nick commented, referring to the morning's encounter he'd had. "But perhaps the Hopps' family's at least," he winked at her.
"Yeah perhaps," Judy stretched, before glancing at all the pie Nick was devouring; "They've invited you to come and have dinner with us. So stop spoiling the upcoming meal with all that cake, kay?"
"They have?" Nick looked at her in surprise, a bite of pie suspended in midair on his fork.
"Yeah. Look, I meant it, they like you," Judy reiterated, exasperated;
"Well," Nick seemed at a bit of a loss for words. He twirled his fork in the air unnecessarily. "That's me. Everyone's favorite supper companion! At the table, under the couch."
"Har har."
"Let's go then Carrots," the fox was getting up hastily, brushing crumbs off his trousers.
"We've loads of time," Judy replied in surprise. "Supper won't be in ages."
"I'd better go get a clean shirt though, and that means dropping by casa Wilde," Nick pointed out;
"For my parents?" Judy felt oddly touched. "Don't feel like you have to Nick. You didn't make much of an effort for Mister Harry-slash-Jack this morning."
"That's because it's a rabbit who detests Nicholas Piberius Wilde," the fox told her gravely. "So he has very poor taste. Your parents on the other hand, deserve the best presentation there is."
"If you say so," Judy smiled faintly. "Their faces though! I thought I'd sink through the ground. I'm glad it's all over!"
"You can relive the moment any time you choose to Miss," Nick told her brightly, jostling his phone under her nose.
Judy saw to her amazement and mild exasperation that the fox had somehow had the time, not to mention the presence of mind, to snap a photo of her parents' shocked expressions, despite his scorched tail.
"I'll get it framed for you Carrots," Nick told Judy, his voice sounding incredibly satisfied as he gazed at the photo.
As usual, sketch up at irina-bourry dot deviantart dot com and irina-bourry dot tumblr dot com, a Judy sketch for you guys this time :)
And now, to hopefully get a bit of a discussion going on - who among you guys had already heard of Jack Savage and was aware that this character was not a figment of our imagination nor an OC?
Have a great week everyone, we'll be back June 13th with more :)