Carrot Farmers – Chapter 3
Written by Midnightopheliac
Judy had spent the last two weeks keeping an eye on the fox as he worked the fields. Once Judy had shown him the correct way to harvest carrots he'd fallen into a rhythm, and now he could clear hundreds of plants a day. He was the most productive mammal on the farm, and Judy felt a strange swell of pride at how well Nick had adapted to country life. Her father still kept Judy's siblings away from him, and the closer her mom got to her due date the more angsty her father became about having a predator on their land. While Judy had initially been allowed to leave Nick alone during the day as he worked the land, that was no longer the case. She was on Nick-sitting duty all day, every day, to placate her father.
"I know you can't stay away, Carrots, but I don't think I need protecting from the produce." The teasing was a new thing between them, but Nick felt more comfortable around the rabbit cop now. He'd even given her the nickname after knowing her a few days when he'd caught her sneaking a carrot from his basket to munch on for lunch. Watching the beautiful bunny nibble on a carrot he'd harvested had given the tod pause. Nick hardly knew her, yet his heart had clenched seeing her eat something he'd pulled from the earth with his own two paws. The fox had forced the feeling away, locking it down. It was inappropriate, not least because she was the daughter of his boss.
"Har har." Judy rolled her eyes, lounging in the bed of the truck they'd taken out to one of the fields. After her breakfast she'd headed out to the barn, taking Nick some food before they'd headed out to one of the many fields. Judy had helped the tod for a while, plucking carrots side by side, but her paws and knees had started to hurt from all of the physical work. She'd left farm work behind when she'd decided to become an officer, and her body was built more for chasing down perps than kneeling in the dirt picking carrots.
A comfortable silence fell over the pair as Nick continued to work diligently. He'd always been a hard worker, but there was more at stake now. Nick needed to keep Stu happy so that he'd be able to keep living in his barn and receive food, and not end up shipped back to the city. The tod knew he was lucky to have made it out of Zootopia and to not have a collar around his neck, to have found sanctuary on the Hopps Family Farm. Nick still prayed every day that his mom had made it out of the city, that she'd found somewhere safe too. News was slowly filtering out to Bunnyburrow about the events in the city. Many of the predators were running away, and some of them had even made it to rabbit district. Nick had recognized a few of the faces and had vouched for a couple of them, prompting other farms in the area to hire them and offer them food and lodgings in return for work, knowing how much help Nick had been to the Hopps family. The district and its residents still held a general distrust towards predators, but Nick could tell that Judy was slowly warming to him. It enabled the fox to drop his mask a little, to joke some more, and to not be as frightened.
Tipping her head sideways, Judy watched the fox as he dug up the produce, muscular arms flexing, clawed paws wrapped tightly around the tools. The dirt clung to his clothes and fur, and Judy's gaze traveled over his body as she subconsciously licked her lips. He was still a little thin, but the doe could see the silent power in him. His fluffy tail sat in the dirt behind him, the tip flicking lazily while he worked. The doe felt a flash of heat course through her, breath catching. "You can't be attracted to him, can you? He's a fox for cripes sake, Judy! Sneaky, sly, untrustworthy…strong, funny, handsome..." Judy gasped quietly, forcing herself to look back up at the sky as she swallowed, trying to push away her thoughts. "No! You're not attracted to him. You just haven't been on a date with a nice buck for a while, that's all."
The feeling of being watched made the tod a little uneasy. He was used to mammals keeping their eye on him, used to them surveying him and making a judgment about him because of his species, but the weight of Judy's gaze was stifling. Plucking the last carrot of the row out of the ground, Nick brushed the dirt off of it and added it to his basket, filling in the hole the carrot had come from afterward. With the row plucked clean, Nick stood, bones creaking from having been knelt in the dirt for so long. Reaching down he scooped up the basket of carrots, lugging it over to the truck and sliding in onto the bed next to Judy. "All done with this row, Fluff," he declared, trying his hardest not to enjoy the sight of the gray bunny stretched out, the heat forcing her to wear a pair of shorts and a matching tank top.
Judy snorted, the sound unladylike. The fox had a strange sense of humor. When he'd first called her Carrots the bunny hadn't been sure whether to be offended or not, but the more he used it, and the more Judy realized it was used with fondness rather than maliciousness, the more it grew on her. She was yet to come up with a suitable nickname in return for the tod. "Fluff? That's a new one. If anyone should be called Fluff, though, it's you. I mean have you seen your tail?"
Quirking an eyebrow, the tod stopped brushing his paws clear of dirt. His tail swished, and he stole a quick glance at it. It wasn't that fluffy, in his opinion. Turning back to the bunny, Nick leaned against the side of the truck, paws resting on the edge of the bed as he looked down at Judy sprawled out, looking up at the sky. "You've been checking out my tail?" he teased, able to hide the light thump his tail made against the ground.
Eyes widening, Judy scrambled to sit up, facing the fox. "What? No, I didn't say that!" Judy protested. It was dangerous for the tod to start thinking that she was attracted to him and that she'd been checking him out. He was an employee of her family, a predator, and a refugee. She couldn't get involved.
Judy's reaction and response amused the tod, and he didn't bother hiding his smirk or the way his eyes twinkled with mirth. "It's okay Carrots, I know I'm irresistible." Nick continued to tease, lifting a paw to brush over his face and head dramatically. Judy was too easy to wind up.
"Imperious, more like," Judy shot back, one of her small paws reaching out to give Nick's shoulder a light shove. It was the first bit of physical contact between them, the doe having kept her paws to herself until that point. She knew she wouldn't catch cooties from the fox, but the thought of him touching her in return, of those long, sharp claws catching her skin, made her shudder. His species was built for hurting her, and though he hadn't given her any reason to fear him over the past two weeks, she was still on her guard.
Faking hurt, Nick staggered back as if he'd been shot. "Assault, Sheriff, assault!" He called out, paw rising to his shoulder as if he were holding a wound. The corners of his lips tugged up into a playful smile, oddly at ease with the Sheriff. Though Nick held no ill will towards cops, he'd always been cautious of them in the city. Profiling was a genuine danger, and as a fox, Nick was targeted with being the worst.
"No one can hear you scream out here," Judy laughed, enjoying the overly dramatic antics of the red fox. During his first few days on the farm, he'd been highly reserved, skittish and guarded, but Judy could see him opening up to her more, showing his true personality, and the doe liked what she was seeing. At first, Judy had painted him as trouble and a thief. Though the doubts still lingered in the back of her mind, she was starting to understand that he wasn't a bad mammal, that he was happy to put in the work asked of him and grateful for the safety he received in return.
"Come on, we'll head back for some lunch," Judy offered, bringing her laughter under control. Working the fields in the blazing midday sunshine was never a good idea, and Nick looked in need of a rest.
"What're you gonna bring me to eat today?" Nick inquired as Judy jumped from the bed, circling the vehicle to slide into the driver's seat as Nick took the passenger space beside her.
"We're heading back to the warren so that you can pick for yourself." Judy had made up her mind. At first, the doe had been okay with forcing Nick to live in the barn, but having grown closer to the predator, she could see now how cruel his arrangements were. He was still a mammal, still had feelings and thoughts, and forcing him to sleep on a pile of hay in the stuffy barn, to hose himself down instead of enjoying a hot shower, and have to do his business around the back of the building was appalling. Nick had taken it all with grace, had happily accepted what he'd been given, but to Judy, it wasn't enough. He deserved somewhere comfy and cool to sleep, somewhere with actual plumbing to take care of his needs. Her parents would protest, but Judy would fight in the tod's corner. She took an oath when she became an officer.
The news that they were heading to the warren put Nick on edge. Living in the warren hadn't been part of his deal, and the last thing the fox wanted to do was upset his boss. Stu had been more than kind to him, and Nick didn't want to look ungrateful. Opening his maw to complain, the hard glint in Judy's eyes had him shutting it quickly. He knew that look. He wouldn't win if they argued. Instead, Nick kept quiet, slumping in the seat and watching the countryside as it rolled past them. Folding his arms, Nick pulled them tight to his chest, his brows furrowed, and lips pressed together in nervousness.
They rode in silence, and Judy was first out of the vehicle when they arrived at the back porch of the Hopps warren. Nick lingered, staying in the truck for another few seconds until Judy beckoned him out. "It's alright; I'm not going to let them hurt you." The doe reassured the tod as he climbed out of the car, the agitated swishing of his tail hard to miss.
"It's not that," Nick murmured, following behind Judy as she took the steps up the porch and entered through the back door. The room that met him was a huge kitchen, the walls lined with cupboards, fridges, and ovens. In the middle of the room was the largest island counter the tod had ever seen, and sat at a pair of stools at the counter was Stu and an older doe, flicking through a recipe book as she cradled her stomach. "Pregnant. Great. I'm sharing a room with a pregnant prey mammal." Nick braced himself for being chased out, for being hurt. The instincts of prey animals were amplified when they were with kits, and unfortunately, his species would deem him as a threat. Forcing himself to remain as small as possible, Nick pulled his tail close to his body, keeping his paws at his sides as he stood behind Judy, letting her shield him.
"Hey mom, dad," Judy greeted her parents with a smile, though the friendly grin fell the moment her parents looked up.
"What the heck is he doing in here, Judith?" Stu was up and out of his seat the moment he spotted the fox behind his daughter, instincts driving him to shield Bonnie from the potential threat as he moved around his wife, blocking her from Nick's view.
Frowning at her dad's actions and the harshness of his tone, Judy gestured to the large clock hanging above the row of fridges. "It's lunchtime."
"You can take his food out to the barn." Though Nick had been working hard and hadn't caused the buck any problems, and Stu had been contemplating giving him access to the bathrooms to take care of his needs, he didn't want the predator in his warren with his wife so close to giving birth. His instincts screamed at him to protect her. Stu felt a rush of annoyance towards his daughter for her blatantly disobeying him and bringing the fox into their home.
Frustrated with her father, Judy figured she'd bite the bullet and voice her concerns. "I want Nick to stay here. It's unfair for him to be out there, sleeping on hay, showering with the hose, and doing his business out back." The doe understood her fathers need to keep her mom safe, to protect her younger siblings, but Judy had a gut feeling about the fox behind her. Though her father was polite to Nick and knew that as far as criminal history went, he was a good mammal, Judy knew he was still apprehensive given the vulnerability of their family at present.
Having been silently watching and listening to the conversation, Nick finally found his tongue. He didn't want to cause any problems, was more than content with what Stu had already offered him. Pushing his luck wasn't wise. Gently reaching out, the tod brushed a clawed paw against Judy's shoulder, sensing her growing anger. Tail flicking out to brush against the does ankles Nick tried to soothe her. "It's okay, Carrots. I'm grateful for the barn, honestly," he whispered, emerald eyes finding violet as Judy turned to look at him.
"No. It's not okay, Nick. You deserve better than thatm" Judy disagreed, shaking her head. The light brush of his tail against her ankles was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Switching her gaze back to her parents, Judy offered a compromise, feeling the light weight of Nick's paw still against her shoulder. "He can stay with me in my room so that I can keep an eye on him." She hated insinuating that Nick was trouble, knew in her gut that he wasn't, but Judy figured it would placate her parents. "I took an oath to serve and protect all mammals."
"Our kindness has protected Nicholas from the collars in the city, Judy," Stu argued. The deal he'd struck with the fox had benefitted both of them, and Stu wasn't in a hurry to change the terms of it anytime soon. Once the harvest season was over, Nick would be sent back to the city. There would be little work for him then, and he wouldn't be allowed a free ride. Every mammal on the Hopps Family Farm pulled his or her own weight.
"You're right, but we aren't protecting his fundamental rights as a citizen," Judy counter argued. It wasn't right, in her mind, for them to force Nick to live in such squalid conditions in exchange for working himself to exhaustion every day. They might have well of just gotten a collar for him by this point as it would have been just as degrading as doing his business behind the barn.
Having remained silent, letting her husband deal with Judy and Nick, Bonnie decided it was time to step in before her husband and daughter started shouting at one another. Gently pushing her husband aside so she could look at the fox her husband had been hiding in the barn, Bonnie appraised him. She'd heard a lot about him from Judy, and though his species made her uneasy, she figured it wouldn't hurt to give him the benefit of the doubt, to offer him somewhere proper to sleep, eat, and bathe. The way he stayed behind Judy, slouched down and pulled in to be as small as possible, all pointed to the tod being uncomfortable and nervous. Bonnie disliked seeing any mammal feel anxious around her family.
Nick remained quiet while Bonnie observed him, knowing he was mostly hidden behind Judy. The tod felt conflicted. Part of him liked the idea of finally getting to finally sleep in an actual house and have access to proper plumbing, but on the other paw Nick knew he was fortunate to have what he already did, and he didn't want to anger Stu. The city still wasn't safe, and the thought of being forced back there, forced into wearing a collar and subjected to abuse and electric shocks, filled the fox with an endless amount of fear.
Having made up her mind, Bonnie turned her attention to her husband. She could understand his apprehension, his need to protect her, but Judy seemed to trust the fox, and as sheriff of the district and her daughter, Bonnie trusted her judgment. "Judy makes a valid point, Stu. She's had nothing but good things to say about Nicholas. It wouldn't hurt to let the boy stay in the warren."
Sighing, Stu pinched the bridge of his nose. The buck had a feeling he was fighting a losing battle. Nick had been instrumental on the farm, and deep down the buck had felt a little sorry for keeping him out in the barn. However, his family came before anything else. Licking his lips, he dropped his paw back to his side. "Fine, he can stay inside," he conceded.
Hearing that he would be allowed to stay inside the warren, where it was cooler and more comfortable, Nick couldn't stop his broad grin. "Thank you, Sir. I promise I won't cause you any bother."
Stu sat back down on the bar stool with a thud, sighing. "First sign of trouble, and you're back in that barn, understood?" He gave Nick an ultimatum, hoping the threat would be enough to keep the tod in line.
Nodding, Nick knew he'd agree to anything if it meant he'd get to stay in the warren. He'd never expected Judy to argue his corner, and he had been content with what he'd been given, but the fox couldn't deny his excitement at the prospect of bedding down somewhere safer. "Yes, Sir."
Smiling, Judy couldn't believe that she'd won the argument and that Nick would get to stay in the warren. Figuring they needed to get out of the kitchen before her father changed his mind, Judy grabbed Nick's wrist, dragging him from the room and further into the warren, through multiple twists and turns until they eventually entered her bedroom. She'd have to go and find a spare mattress for him soon, along with some sheets.
Nick took in the room, Judy's scent strong and heady in his nostrils. The walls were painted yellow while her furniture was white, a little loved and worn looking, but sturdy. A bed, nightstand, desk, chair, dresser, and floor length mirror were all she had. Judy's bed sheets kept with the yellow of her walls, little daisies embroidered on the quilt cover. A soft cream rug had been placed on the floor beside her bed, which was pushed up against the far wall. There was little on her desk save for a few notebooks, a pen, and her sheriff's badge. On top of her dresser were some photo frames, filled with pictures of her family. Shelves had been put up on the walls, lined with trinkets and some rabbit teddies, a few trophies and books too. "I promise I won't steal anything." Nick fell back on humor, uncertainty filling him. The tod knew he owed her. Judy had helped him out of the barn, had bettered his situation.
Guilt coursed through the small bunny as her shoulders slumped. Leaning against her desk, Judy's gaze dropped to the floor as her ears drooped. "I should never have accused you of doing such a thing, I'm sorry."
Shrugging, Nick took a slow stroll around the room, getting more of a feel for the does personality. "I don't blame you, Fluff, most mammals think the worst." It was a sad fact of life for the fox. The stereotypes of his species were hard to shake, no matter how much Nick tried to prove to others that he wasn't sneaky, or sly, or untrustworthy.
"I don't think the worst about you, Nick." Judy protested, gaze lifting to find the tod walking around her room. He looked a little anxious. Judy figured this was a lot of change for Nick, and that he was under a lot of pressure to be on his best behavior.
"Mhm," Nick hummed, coming to a stop at the shelf next to her desk, emerald eyes observing all of her awards - spelling bee, bunny scouts, judo, and a few more. Nick couldn't remember ever receiving an award as a kit.
Not liking Nick's tone, Judy reached out for him, her small paw wrapping around his wrist once again as she captured his attention. Now she'd broken the touch barrier with him, the doe no longer felt so afraid of his paws, of his sharp claws. Once Nick met her gaze, she spoke. "I mean it. You're a good mammal, Nick."
Judy's touch and her soft gaze made Nick relax, and he felt at ease offering her a smile that showed just a hint of sharp teeth. "Thanks, Carrots."
AN: Getting enough fluff? Good! Again, many, many, thanks to Midnightopheliac for writing this story. So please let her know and check out the story on her page and thank her for it. :)