Chapter 2

Written by Anheledir

Edited by Cimar

Artwork by Koraru-san on DeviantArt (and Chloe and Eliot belong to her too.)

"Thank you, that's really flattering," Judy said with a polite smile that was quickly giving away that the reverse was true. She was leaning against the dark blue painted palings that were surrounding the Meadowland High School, the fur on her head and ears still a bit dampish from a quick shower after she had led her class in some artistic gymnastics and wrapped the lesson up with a basketball match. While waiting for Chloe, she was checking her phone and answering a few messages of her siblings.

Jessica: "I had a dream Mom set you up with this total babe that was probably thirty, and you ditched him, so I started dating him! 3"
Judy: "Ooookay, thanks for acting as a stand-in then :D"

Evelin: "You know what?"
Judy: "What?"
Evelin: "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! 3 Just thought I'd tell you cause you're the best smartass big sister an awesome little sister could ask for!"
Judy: "LOL Love you, too, Eve! 3 :-*"

Sascha: "I passed the driving test for scooters YIPEE."
Judy: "Congratulations! I'm proud of you *hugs him* :-)"

Clara: "HEY JUJU! Are you coming home next week for the Carrots Fair? We prepared new T-Shirts for our litter, you still got S-Size? Answer ASAP, Ralph wants to send the order today, so they are shipped in time!"
Judy: "You betcha! Someone has to watch out for you ;-) I'll take one size larger this time, the last one shrank quite a bit from washing! Thanks and lots of love to our litter-siblings! 3"

Mom: "Hey, Ju! How are you, my dear? I hope my little package with some fresh vegetables and fruits already arrived. Those ready-to-eat meals you told us about are inedible for sure! Give us a call this weekend? Love, Mom & Dad."
Judy: "Hi Mom, thank you! Yes, they arrived yesterday. I will try to cook your great scalloped potatoes this evening for our Movie-Night. I bet, Nick is going delirious again about the blueberries you packaged. I never witnessed a fox or any other adult mammal being so giddy with excitement for some food *giggle* Will call you on Sunday! Love you! :-*"

Jenny: "SWEET CARROTS AND CABBAGES! JOHN FINALLY ASKED ME OUT FOR THE PARTY AT THE CARROT FAIR! YEEESSSSSS! 3 3 3 3"
Judy: "It's about time, that Hare had a mad crush on you since Junior High! I'm SO HAPPY for you sis! 3 :-*"
Jenny: "You are coming, too, aren't you?! His brother is also a CUTIE and asked about YOU a FEW TIMES ALREADY! Let's make it a DOUBLE-DATE, what do you think? ;)))"

Judy was reading that last SMS and snickered quietly. Maybe she could ask Nick this evening if he would be in the mood to visit the Carrots Fair with her together? Not as her boyfriend, of course, but as her 'Bunny's Best Friend' as the doe had named him once.

Maybe we could still pretend that it is some kind of date, though…

Or, you could actually ask him out and make it one?

Please don't start that again. I just assumed it would be more fun with Nick attending, too. Maybe I can even avoid being hit on by every second male rabbit on the fair this way, too.

You mean, nobody would dare with that slick grinning, handsome fox at your side, putting his strong arms protectively over your shoulders and…

Ohhh, shush!

Over her thoughts, the unwittingly grinning rabbit didn't notice until the very last moment that a slightly larger hare with dark stripes on his ears and head was approaching her. She put her phone into her pocket and turned to him; her facial expression being friendly but uninterested. Neither his way too large ears nor that self-pleased grin appealed to her, and even less his shameless tries to kiss her hand as a greeting. There was absolutely nothing even slightly attractive to her.

"Excuse me," he spoke with self-assurance as if he was sure he could seduce everyone just with the sound of his voice. "Do you have a pencil you can let me borrow?"

Judy's uninterested look turned to a quizzical expression. "What? Eh… No, sorry."

"Too bad, I wanted to erase your past and write our future with it." The hare answered with a smug wink, stroking her arm. "My name is Savage. Jack Savage, and you are…?"

"Not interested," the bunny answered, still smiling composedly and removing his paw from her arm.

"Oh, you should give me a fair chance, Miss… may I call you Ariel? Cause we mermaid for each other!" Jack turned the wattage of his smile even a few shades higher.

"Er… that's a compelling offer, but no, thanks," Judy said with an even cooler but still polite smile that was quickly giving away that the reverse was true. "Now, if you'll excuse me, …"

"Hey, at least give me the chance to invite you to dinner! I'll eat your peach if you try my zucchini, what do you say?"

The hare had started getting really obnoxious, and Judy considered going back to the school building. I have to remember to get a new bottle of scent mask when shopping for some dinner ingredients later. As an unbound bunny that little sanitary article helped her most of the time to avoid the pushy behavior of any unbound male rabbits or even hares. At home in Bunnyburrow, it was all the worse because everybody knew nevertheless that she had no mate, yet. But nobody seems to understand or even care that this was a conscious decision by her. And the only male she was maybe interested in, would never consider her as his mate, so just staying single for the moment seems to be the best option.

At least until I can get over him. Judy thought with a muted sigh.

Aha! So you are finally admitting, that you are totally in lo…

Shut up! I did nothing like that! Just a little rhapsody, nothing more!

Yeah, sure. By the way, that 'charming' hare is touching you again.

Wait, what?!

Being lost in her own thoughts, she nearly forgot about that latest encounter with an overeager hare, who was now not only leaning against the palings beside her but also had somehow managed to put his arm around her shoulders. Judy shuddered, that was ultimately stretching a point. She grabbed Jack's paw that was embracing her, and with a twirl of her own body, she managed not only to uncouple from him but now also holding his wrist in a painful judo hold.

"Eeeks! That hurts! Let me go for cabbage's sake!" the once so greasy, eloquent hare shrieked with pain.

"I. Said. I'm. Not. Interested. You finally got that?" she pushed his paw a little more until her unwanted admirer finally nodded eagerly. With a huff, she released her grip on him, pounding angrily with her feet on the ground. With arms crossed she finally said, with a slightly menacing voice: "Now run you dull boy and don't forget I'm not interested!"

Jack winced and leapt away in a hurry. That, he thought, didn't work out a quarter as good as I had imagined. And yet, even when his right paw was hurting now, he was still grinning and feeling somewhat dizzy from that pleasant scent and those gorgeous purple eyes…

Nick had a free period and was taking a break until his last class for today would start, and he would have to explain to some bored mammals how governments worked and what rights and duties they had as citizens of a community like Zootopia. Well, at least theoretically. The reality was less distinct and everyone – including the government – was sounding the legal gray area of the law to take advantage of a situation.

Speaking of gray areas, a snickering voice in his head was turning to look in the direction of the side entrance. A lovely small area of gray fur was leaning against the blue palings and using her phone. The red fox wagged his tail quickly instinctively and already wanted to offer his friend some company. But after a few steps, he noticed another rabbit approaching Judy. Nick's tail paused immediately, and he froze in place when that rabbit started a conversation with her. He got an uneasy feeling he couldn't explain to himself but watching his best friend talking with a male rabbit didn't sit well with him.

You should be delighted for her that she is finally meeting some nice rabbit! After all, she is still single, and you know well enough that this isn't characteristic of their species. It's likely not as easy as on the countryside to meet some suitable mates in the city for her. You are her best friend and should be happy for her!

Oh, you know exactly why this is bothering us. This male fuzz is just looking like he wants to have any bunny, but decided to court for our bunny! Another voice was answering the first one in his head, and Nick started to snarl quietly.

Our bunny?

Oh, shut up! You know what I mean!

Well, I know for sure what you are talking about. Do you?

While the last voice was still snickering in his head, he saw, how that rabbit was leaning beside Judy and slowly put his arm around her shoulder; but his friend didn't seem to care in the least. The Fox sensed an unknown sharp pain in his chest and forced himself to look the other way. All he really wanted was Judy to be happy. She was his best friend and her happy smile when they were together was always giving him wings. With a drooping tail, he headed back to the school building and to his classroom.

If she is going to be happy, I'll be as well – an inner voicetried to assure him, but with little success.

Liar.

If I'm lying to myself, it's my privilege to do so! Better listen to that Civics lesson I'm going to lecture in half an hour, too! Maybe you can still learn something.

But you are still aware that I'm you, and you are still arguing with yourself, right?

Nick groaned but decided to ignore that snickering voice in his head for now.

Judy was still fuming with arms crossed, her foot pounding madly on the ground, gazing after that shameless hare.

"You should try to settle down, or the earthquake early warning system of the Zootopia Emergency Management Agency will be issuing a city-wide alert." Chloe stood a few meters apart from the gray bunny and chuckled.

The doe turned around and stopped the pounding when she saw the broad smile on her friend's face, relaxing her posture eventually. Judy breathed deeply and made a quick leap in the thylacine's direction.

"Sorry, Chloe," she shrugged with a small grin, "But I had to clarify my stance to a jerk. You're ready to go?"

"Sure, hon. Let's go, I have a craving for some cake!" the tasmanian tiger answered and linked the right arm with Judy's. "And tell me more about that jerk that got your blood up!"

The both females made a short walk over to Snarlbucks while the gray bunny was reporting about her awkward encounter. After getting some café au lait and a piece of pumpkin-cake for Chloe together with a hot chocolate and a carrot-muffin for Judy, they took a seat on some armchairs near the window. The thylacine twitched slightly with her nose and started to snicker quietly while her friend was finishing the story.

"To be honest, your scent is somewhat more apparent since this morning, but I guess that's just because of PE and the shower."

"Sweet cheese and crackers," Judy blushed, and she started to twitch her ears. "I'm so sorry! Forgot to get a new bottle of scent-mask," she muttered, pulling her ears in front of her blushing face.

Chloe laughed cordially. "Don't worry, it's still subtle, but you cannot fool a canine's nose." She smiled while tapping against her snout with a wink. The doe giggled still somewhat embarrassed, but eventually both started to eat their dessert. "While we're on it," the sand-colored thylacine continued their conversation after the first two bites; she decided, that it would be best to get straight to the point. "We've been friends for more than half a year now, and you seem to be single all that time. Actually, as far as I know from all our conversations, you never even tried to meet someone. I really don't mean to pry, but you don't have to teach Zoology and Animal Science to know, that this is quite unusual for such an adorable doe like you. Unless of course, you're already in love with someone, maybe at work?"

Judy's nose had started to twitch rapidly as she nearly dropped her muffin, blushing even harder than before. "Chloe! Y-you cannot just …" she blurted, but fell silent immediately hearing the high-pitched sound of her own voice. The gray bunny's ears fell down to the side of her face, staring at the plate on the table and her thoughts dashing through her mind: She cannot know it. That was just a lucky guess! I never said anything to anyone! Oh, roaring radishes, what if anybody else noticed, too? What if she can somehow guess with whom I'm actually in l… Wait, what?! No, that's not even true, I'm not … Or am I? Sweet cheese and crackers!

Chloe had a hard time not chuckling audibly.

She has no idea how cute she looks when she is embarrassed! Like she was actually caught with her paws in the cookie jar. Oh, and that pulling the ears in front of her face as if she could hide behind them, how gorgeous! But why is she even so embarrassed, never thought she could be so tight-laced? Maybe…

"Judy? Everything okay?" Chloe asked with a soft smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot." The rabbit shook her head slightly, letting her paws down and Chloe could see those big purple eyes, having this somewhat sad and desperate look of one who was crossed in love. The thylacine stretched out a paw and put it in a reassuring gesture onto the smaller gray one. "Does the fact that he is a predator make you uncomfortable?"

"What?! No! Not at all!" Judy straightened herself at once with an aghast look. She only realized that her friend had not mentioned any name when she saw the sly grin on Chloe's snout. For carrot's sake, that was a hustle! And this satisfied smirk! Well, not as sweet as Nick's, but … Argh, no, stop thinking about him now!

The Tasmanian beauty squeezed Judy's paw softly. It was nothing more than an assuring gesture, but the doe slumped down as sudden as she had straightened up just moments before.

"What's eating you, Ju?" Chloe asked, but the bunny just shrugged her shoulders. "We are friends, did you actually believe I'm so unmindful to not recognize it? Your feelings for him are quite evident, which leads me to the question why you haven't told him yet. Please don't say you haven't noticed how important you are to him."

"We are just best friends, Chloe, and get along swimmingly. I don't want to lose this. I … I can't."

"What makes you believe you would lose him?" she snickered.

"Oh, come on. Life isn't some cartoon musical where you sing a little song and your insipid dreams magically come true!" Judy said in a huff. "And if it did, I'm not even a great singer…"

Chloe looked somewhat confused: "What has your singing voice got to do with …," she hesitated when she saw Judy's soft roguish smile. "Oh, you!", she snickered. "Nice comeback, I hadn't planned on that."

Judy's smile widened a bit more; she sighed eventually and leaned back in her armchair, sipping on her hot chocolate.

"Just promise me, that you won't tell him anything, okay? He will break my heart early enough."

"Don't worry, my dear. But you really should not be afraid to fall in love."

"Oh, Chloe, it is not that I fear to fall in love." Judy smiled a bit shyly. "I am in love with many things: I love nature, I love my family with all their craziness, I love my friends, I love sunsets, I love my job, I really love a lot of things! What I do fear, however, is falling so deeply in love with someone and investing my life into theirs only to discover that they do not feel the same about me." The doe sighed and took another sip from her hot chocolate. "That is like you're dying while your whole body is still alive. Maybe you are still breathing, but you're more or less a lifeless shell without a soul. And no matter how hard you try, you're never recovering from that completely. That's what I'm afraid of."

The thylacine watched her friend for a minute in silence.

So that's the crux of the matter.

Somehow even comprehensible, given the promiscuousness of unmated Lagomorpha. She probably had some bad experiences with an early love. And is now afraid of being rejected again.

But Nick isn't a rabbit and playing by other rules. Canidae mate for life and are quite selective regarding their courting. And that fox's behavior is definitely more than just being playful with his best friend, she just doesn't know how to interpret it.

Well, good on her that we can actually take some remedial action then.

"I get your point of view on this, Ju." Chloe started pondering. "And with species like hares, pikas or rabbits that would be a valid objection to a certain degree. But don't forget that foxes are members of the family of Canidae."

Judy sighed, her ears drooping again. "How could I ever forget about this, Chloe. It's making everything even more complicated. We've been friends for such a long time, and I never considered that there might be more than just friendship. But in the meantime, this dumb fox somehow managed to sneak into my heart like no one ever did before. Our ancestors were natural enemies, for carrot's sake, I should be satisfied with being chums with him. Those feelings are going to break everything!"

"You said it's not making you feel uncomfortable with Nick being a predator?" the canine cocked her head slightly.

"Sweet cheese and crackers, certainly not! But Nick… He would just sneer at me with this enchanting smile and wouldn't stop mocking me about it. And that would break my heart for sure. So I just have to try to get over it."

"Well, I query whether he would actually sneer or even mock you about your feelings."

Judy snorted, "Ha! Yeah, because that would be so out of character for him, right?"

"You forget, that his behavior is that of a Canidae, and they…" Chloe wanted to explain, but the gray Doe interrupted her.

"Apropos Canidae," she nodded her head to the shop window. A gray wolf with a big mischievous smirk was heading to their Snarlbucks. When he saw that his two friends noticed him, he waved with both paws while crossing the street. "Your wooer seems to be churning, I fear he has something planned for you," Judy snickered and winked at her friend. "But don't tell him anything we talked about, no matter how much he ogles at you, okay? You know those male mammals, he would disclose it to Nick without hesitation!"

Chloe blushed; that whimsically smile of that gray wolf was attracting her looks like a magnet. For a moment she nearly forgot what she wanted to say to Judy, but now they had not enough time anyway for an extensive explanation.

"Just a quick suggestion… From a Canid to a Lagomorpha, if you like. You are going to see Nick this evening for your movie night, right?" – Judy was sitting in the direction of the entrance and watched Eliot entering the shop. With an urging look, she put her finger in front of her lips but nodded quickly. "Well, I would suggest leaving your scent mask off for today. I bet he will appreciate it!" Chloe winked at her.

Judy wanted to ask her, what that was supposed to achieve short of maybe some discomfort for Nick's sensible scent. But Eliot had arrived at their table by then, and she just shrugged with a sigh, drinking the last sip of her hot chocolate.

"Hey Eliot!" the doe chattered cheerfully. "Are you stalking your inamorata again?"

Chloe's fur around her cheeks blushed even more, but her tail was wagging slowly. "Shush! He just casually came around, he isn't stalking us! I'm right, aren't I?" she looked a bit sheepishly to Eliot who was still smirking and wagging his tail.

"Actually, Judy is right," Eliot said with a purring voice that made the thylacine blush even more.

Wait, did he just admit that he was stalking me?

He called us his inamorata!

Technically that was Judy - Oh, I will pay you back for putting that knife into me, you cheeky little scamper!

…and he confirmed it!

But stalking us is a bit extreme nevertheless!

We are quite often at Snarlbucks after work, you cannot call that lucky guess stalking.

But…

Apropos of nothing, all that talking about being in love made you think of him all the while.

That's not true! At least not all the while…

No need to fool yourself, just try to relax now. At least he eventually plucked up some courage, judging by this mischievous smirk. There is not much left to get out of this now, anyway.

*internal nervous squeaking*

"Eh… you actually followed… us?" Chloe was nearly stammering, fidgeting with her paws some napkin.

"No," he beamed at her, bopping her muzzle with his finger which made her squint and quietly squeak. "I followed you!"

"Oh…," She blinked nervously and turned to Judy seeking for help. But the gray bunny wasn't sitting in her armchair anymore but ready to set off.

"I think you two want to have some time to yourself, and I need to go shopping nevertheless." The Doe winked over to them. The Tasmanian Tiger returned the look somewhat indignantly while Eliot turned around and grinned with a broad smile.

"Thanks, but that wouldn't be necessary. Actually, I want everybody to know, that I'm crazy about that beautiful thylacine!" the gray wolf's voice was charged with emotions, and his words made Chloe gasp for air. Eliot turned around immediately again, his tail now wagging sweepingly. "You heard that right, I was a fool to keep this to myself for so long! And I'm not only talking about every beautiful single stripe on your perfect fur, but I love just about everything about you, Chloe Marie Dapperclaw! And from now on I will follow you everywhere you go until you either say that you also love me, or that I should drop dead!"

Chloe was in an emotional conflict. Yes, she really liked him, but why must he finally confess to her in public? By now they were attracting the attention of every single mammal in the café. Even Judy was grinning with a bold smirk as if she wanted to rub all that well-intentioned advice now back into her face.

"Well…" Eliot was still standing in front of her with that sweet, silly smile. "You didn't reject me, yet." His tail wagged even faster now. "I will kiss you now if you don't raise an objection, pumpkin!" he winked and slowly leaned forward.

We should stop him! Right now! A slightly panicked voice in Chloe's head squeaked.

Are you silly? We should seize him by the collar and drag him towards...

Wow, keep it down! Maybe we have the hots for him, but we aren't that desperate, are we?!

Take another deep look into those eyes and say that again…

But we are still in public, he cannot walk up to us and just expect t… The voices in Chloe's head ran dry the very moment Eliot's snout met her's – emotions sparking and flashing through her whole body like a dazzling and hot lightning.

Judy watched them for a short moment, then walked off snickering. "About time!" she muttered to herself, leaving the shop with a grin. At least Chloe's great love became real! With a longing sigh, she took a look at her phone. If she wanted to go shopping and make that Blueberry Cream Cake for Nick, she had to hurry now.

AN: Oh boy...anyone care to wager what might happen next? :D