Bonus Chapter - Better Mornings, Mostly...
Written by Zanrok
Edited by Cimar
Artwork by Mr. Punctual
AN: Surprise! We're breaking the rules and posting a sixth chapter in this one. Hope you enjoy! :D
Judy snuggled into the warm embrace of her bed as she started to awake. Something was different. She couldn't tell what it was as he mind slowly started stirring, which in and of itself was unusual. Usually, she had no trouble waking up, but this morning instead of popping awake it felt like her mind was slowly rising through molasses. Think, warm, comfortable molasses, through which all she heard was a slow, steady, soothing, tha-thump… tha-thump… tha-thump…
Judy smiled and snuggled closer to the sound. It was so pleasant, to be able to listen to just that one peaceful sound instead of… of…
Where was all the noise? Judy suddenly thought with confusion as what was different slammed into her like the concussive blast from the train crash.
Judy sat bolt upright in bed blinking owlishly.
The noise was gone.
Well… not gone exactly, Judy thought concentrating. She could still pick up all the random noises around her, even Mrs. Dharma Armadillo down on the first floor giving a new tenant her usually cheerful welcome…
"-Complimentary delousing once a month. And, don't lose your key!"
Judy frowned though. As soon as she stopped concentrating the noise seemed to… disappear… to fade behind that soothing tha-thump… tha-thump… tha-thump…
Then another realization hit Judy. A wonderful, awesome, truly amazing realization as she grabbed her ears.
They didn't hurt! Her ears didn'thurt! Her head didn't hurt! The painful jabbing misery from all those loud noises was gone. Carrot Cake! That nearly constant mild ever persistent headache that had started up she didn't know how long ago was gone! She felt… felt great. She couldn't remember the last time she'd woken up feeling this good, feeling like a brand new bunny. Like she could take on every problem in the city! Carrot sticks and cabbage balls, she felt so good that even if Bogo told her right then and there that she had parking duty it couldn't have dented how wonderful she felt. She'd have ticketed every mis-parked car in the city, then gone back and asked him what else there was to do.
She felt alive again!
Judy bounced and let out a whoop of joy.
There was the sound of grumpy stirring in the room next to her and a crabby voice muttering.
"Ughhhh… why does that bunny have to get up sooo early?"
"It's not that early…" replied an equally crabby voice
"Shut up, it is early, we only got to sleep and hour ago…"
"You shut up, we could have gotten to sleep sooner if we hadn't spent so much time zoogling for dating step skipping…"
"You shut up. And its hopping not skipping, we agreed on that."
"You shut up. I don't care what its called, its-"
Judy snickered.
"Serves you two right for all the times you've kept me up!" she laughed, and stuck out her tongue at the wall, not even caring that Bucky and Pronk couldn't see it. "You should've remembered to never go up against a cute little bunny!" she said sarcastically while grinning madly. She felt truly absolutely giddy and wonderful this morning and with a giggle finished calling over, "Because the bunny always gets the last laugh!"
There were two simultaneous, grumpily annoyed, "Shut up!"s, from the other room and some grumpy mutterings including, 'just a harmless little bunny, my right horn' and 'never go just for a flesh wound' that had Judy flopping back onto her bed in a giggling mess.
She was giggling so much the bed was creaking under her shaking body. Judy closed her eyes and tried to get ahold of herself, but she just felt sooo good that it was hard to.
Finally, she rolled onto her side, her giggles petering out though the bed still seemed to shift somewhat. Judy opened her eyes only to look into the face of her fox plushy.
It was a foxy face… a very handsome foxy face... expect it wasn't her plushy's foxy face with its glass bead eyes.
No, the russet furred face almost touching her nose looked back at her with half lidded sleepy eyes the color of new grass and clear emeralds and Judy's breath caught. A sleep drunk smile of pure undiluted contentedness was playing across the long muzzle and Judy could hear a soft thwumping sound accompanying the slow steady tha-thump… tha-thump… of the fox's heart as his tail moved slowly in a happy manner as it thumped the bed a few times.
Still seeming more asleep than awake, Nick's eyelids drooped and his head shimmed forward, his nose brushing against her cheek before he stopped taking in a long breath that fluttered her fur as he let out a contented, rumbly sigh.
Judy squeaked, a sudden blush raging across her cheeks and promptly fell off the bed.
"Owwwwww…"
Judy groaned, rubbing at her sore tail only to stop when Nick, still sprawled on his side in a sinfully lazy looking manner, shifted and stuck his head out over the bed to look down at her. He blinked once, twice, and then his sleep clouded eyes seemed to gain a measure of awareness as the almost dopily happy sleep smile quirked up into something more roguishly happy as his tail thumped a few more times and those eyes seemed to pin her in place.
Judy tried to say something but Nick's smile grew as he watched her and her stumbling start towards putting sounds together into words fell apart.
She tried again but this time Nick spoke right before she did in a lazily happy, hustler-ishly confident and dramatic manner like he was Heath Hedger right out of Casanova.
"Marry me Carrots."
Judy froze, her mouth gaping and nose twitching while a warm heat seemed to bubble inside and caused her to flush. She couldn't have heard him right. But she was sure he had; she could hear his every movement, his tail's slow happy thumps, the absolutely steady confident beat of his heart, the low rumble as he breathed…
Then Nick smirked and snickered and Judy practically exploded.
"WWWWWHHAT?! Did you just?! Nick! What kind of joke is that!?" Judy shouted, blushing furiously and feeling more flustered than she ever had in her life. He'd been sooo carrot picking smooth and calm and serious asking that. She should have been able to pick up any hint of joking in his voice or the beat of his heart or… or… anything!
Nick just smirked as she continued to berate him. Then as she petered out, shifted, standing on all fours on her bed and stretched. His forepaws moved forward as his head dipped down as he closed his eyes for a second while his boxer clad rear popped up, tail wagging a few times.
"Can't just- marry- ask- to- sweet crackers- cheese..." Judy's tongue seemed to trip over itself as her eyes glued themselves to the stretching, mostly unclothed fox on her bed with his fluffy sleep mussed fur. Judy swallowed hard as another hot blush rolled through her, this one far less flustered and far more primal.
Nick finished smirking and flopped back down on the bed, his head on his paws, nose dangling just over the edge of the bed as he watched her with that carrots be darned smug grin of his that should have sent her running, but seemed to lure her in like a fish on a line.
Judy gawked, and for a moment wondered if she was still dreaming. Not only did she feel a thousand… scratch that, a million times better today, but the bedraggled weary sick friend of hers from yesterday had apparently been replaced with something right out of her fantasies about him. He didn't just look better, back to his normal hustler charming self, he looked… good… good enough to eat.
Right, bunny thinking carnivorous thoughts… I've been dreaming about Nick far far too much… Judy berated herself. Got to stop doing that… after this dream is over...
"Fox got your tongue Carrots?" Nick asked smoothly and Judy's hopes that this was just one of her fantasies disappeared as all her attention focused back on him.
"I- I- I- I- You- You can't just ask me to marry you like that!" Judy spluttered and he smirked.
Her ear twitched with a bit of peak at just how much that smirk made her want to tackle him and kiss that smirk away. It simply wasn't fair that he could do that with just a smirk! Judy gathered that little bit of anger and used it to beat down all her other feelings as she leveled her paw at him. "You promised no funny business last night!"
"Yep-p," Nick said, popping the the end of the word. "I sure did. No funny business at all last night, but now its morning and I didn't promise anything about this morning…" His voice gained a rumbly note as he finished with a half lidded stare at her and that did interesting things to the butterflies in her stomach.
Judy heard Nick inhale through his nose as he continued to smirk at her, his tail still wagging playfully behind him and she remembered that he could probably tell exactly how flustered she was.
Was he toying with her? Was this just another one of his little games to rile her up?! Judy thought furiously as she blushed. She usually enjoyed their little back and forth games but this was touching on some of her deepest, most closely held feelings. Feelings that scared her because she wasn't exactly sure how to handle them.
With a bit of rising irritation to join her flustered embarrassment, she narrowed her eyes at the too smug fox lounging in her bed like he owned it.
"What game are you playing at Nick?!" She asked accusingly and glared. Glaring wasn't one of her strong suits but she gave it the good old Hopps try.
Considering how the glare bounced off Nick like he was a trampoline and she a rambunctious kit too hyped up on the four main food groups of candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup, she thought she might need to go ask Bogo to teach her how to properly glare at some point.
"Moi??" Nick asked with a theatrical gesture of his paw pointing at himself. "Why on earth do you think I'm playing any-"
"Spare me the innocent act Nick!" Judy snapped, giving the glare another try just to see if it might work with repeated strikes.
Nick shrugged nonchalantly as the glare bounced with no effect.
"Ah, well… you caught me Judy," Nick said and smiled winsomely. "You see, it was all part of this hustle, I had this whole hilariously devious plan to surprise you, then when you were distracted I was going to-"
"Carrot Fertilizer!" Judy snapped cutting him off again and crossing her arms. She'd been focusing all her very acute hearing on him, his voice, his heart beat, his breathing, and as smooth as his silver tongue was, for once she was able to hear right past all that charm of his tell exactly how truthful he was being. Not just her usual intuition on how much was truth and how much was artful deception. She could tell by all the little shifts she heard. The slight pause in his breathing and wording, the telltale little skip and slight quickening of his heart beat, how his tail jerked ever so slightly. She heard all of it.
This time it was Judy's turn to grin at Nick as she caught him off guard.
"Don't think you can pull one over on me Nick! I can tell you're selling me water and calling it moonshine!" Judy waggled her ears as if to say, 'I'm onto you!'
Nick's expression didn't so much as falter but she heard him swallow nervously before he continued.
"You wouldn't believe that I'm trying to marry you for your money then would you?" He said, giving her his best hustler grin.
Judy snorted.
"Try again Slick," she said, arms still crossed as she heard his heart rate pick up a bit more.
"Okay, okay, Fluff!" Nick said raising his arms like he was surrendering, then he smirked at her. "I want to marry you for your little broom closet of an apartment," he said in a teasing tone of voice that would usually set her off berating him for one two many bad camel jokes. (which was to say any camel jokes)
This time though, she didn't. She'd been listening carefully to him, and while he wasn't exactly being truthful, there had been more than a little truth to what he'd been saying.
Nick looked a little off balance by her lack of a response and she let the fox stew for a few more seconds before speaking.
"You know, you told me a while back that you've got to be careful with hustlers because they always lie. Even when it sounds like their being completely truthful they're not, and that the best can even pull one over on you by lying with the truth." Nick's heartbeat picked up more than a little now and Judy knew she was onto something. She looked right at Nick, "Why are my ears telling me that your snarky little joke about wanting my apartment isn't so much of a joke?"
"You might want to get your ears checked again Fluff," Nick said, a distinctive note of nervousness in his voice that she easily pick up on. "I think the doc was right to be worried yesterday that their might be something wrong with them, I mean why on earth would I want to live in a shoebox like this? Even my cheap basement apartment has more room than here!"
"Uh-huh," Judy said and threw one of his own smirks right back at him, "and why is your heartbeat suddenly so high Nick?"
Nick's hustler mask cracked and his paw went to his chest as if to check to make sure she didn't have a stethoscope pressed against it.
"How did- You can't hear my heartbeat!" Nick spluttered his eyes widening a bit.
Judy just smirked again and started tapping her foot on the floor in time to the rhythm of his heart
Tha-thump, tha-thump, tha-thump, tha-tha-thump,tha-thump,tha-thump,
Nick's eyes got a little wider as the tempo of his heart increased and Judy's foot kept pace.
"So you want to explain that remark about my your secret desire to live in a 'shoebox'?" Judy asked, now almost enjoying herself as Nick squirmed.
And squirmed some more.
Tha-thump,tha-thump,tha-thump,tha-thump, Judy's foot kept tapping and to Nick's heartbeat and he finally broke.
"Carrots, I- okay look, my nose has been driving me crazy for… I don't know how long, since sometime after the train crash. It's been far more sensitive than usual, to the point it's driving me out of my mind! There's a lot of scents out there, too many and not a lot of them are good scents either!" He grimaced, looking at her almost pleadingly, "I know it's a bit weird, but… but... I wasn't joking around yesterday when I said I like your scent." Judy's eyebrows went up as she saw a visible blush creep up along the insides of Nick's ears
"You," Judy said slowly, as if checking to make sure she'd heard him right, "A fox, like how bunnies smell?"
"No!" Nick said quickly before muttering. "Just you."
Judy's ears told her that he wasn't lying, not even equivocating in the least and they heated up a bit at the thought of what that might imply.
Nick squirmed on the bed and continued on quickly. "When I'm around you Carrots, when I can smell you, all the other smells just seem to… I don't know… they're just not as bad, they don't bother me as much. Heck, Carrots, my nose has been giving me so much trouble I've been having problems sleeping, but last night-"
Last night… Judy thought back to waking up feeling rested. Sleeping next to Nick, with the sound of his heartbeat to listen to, had been the best sleep she'd had since… since… well the train crash when all her trouble with her ears had started.
"Judy, sleeping with you last night was the best night I've had in forever."
Judy's ears flamed as heat suffused her body, mostly from the other way a part of her mind was deciding to parse that phrase. She heard the slight shift in Nick's breathing as his inhale of breath turned into a half sniff of the air. And Judy flushed more as she heard the jump of Nick's heart beat.
"Ehem, let me rephrase that," Nick said with a cough and his voice gaining back a measure of that swarmy, charming, hustler roguishness that Judy thought should be outlawed for the effect it had on her. "Sleeping in bed with you last night gave me the best nights rest I've ever had." He smirked at her unrepentantly. "I woke up this morning feeling better than I have in months. My nose isn't irritating me and my stomach is back to normal. I feel so rested I'm not even grumpy about having to wake up." He grinned at her, blasting her with his most charming smile, even going so far as to puff out his ruff as he lounged back on her bed. "So yep," he added flippantly, giving her an almost theatrically seductive, smoldering glance. "I'd marry you in a heartbeat and move into a shoebox of an apartment like this if it meant I could get a good night's sleep like that every day."
Judy wasn't exactly sure just how much of that was Nick being Nick, and how much of that was true because she'd been a bit distracted by the display of foxy hunkishness. Maybe 25/75 she thought as she tried to refocus. There'd certainly been a good chunk of truth mixed in with all that hustler misdirection to go along with that huge slice of bunny melting foxish charm.
"Nick," Judy said raising a paw and rubbing her face, partly out of irritation and partly to try and scrub the distracting image of a certain sexy fox from her eyes. "Why didn't you just come out and tell me that to begin with instead of saying 'Marry Me'?" Judy huffed then muttered, not quite looking at Nick, "If rooming together helps you with your nose and sleeping issues, than you could have just asked. It's not like I mind that much since I find it a bit comforting." She blushed, adding in a hurried mutter, "Having you around makes the apartment sound more like home did, and helps me sleep better too."
Lie. Judy fought back her blush as she ran a paw over her ear. Nick wasn't the only one that could lie with the truth.
Nick let out an amused snort even as his tail thumped the bed in a happy manner.
"Well Carrots, I didn't really think asking if I could move in with you to alleviate my nasal issues would work. Asking you to marry me seemed like a much better way to hustle you into getting what I wanted, plus..." he added with a wink at her, "It was just more fun too."
"Unbelievable!" Judy growled as she threw her paws up. "Really?! Because you thought it was more fun?!" Judy asked accusingly and glared at Nick's self satisfied smug expression.
"Yep-p" he said popping the the end of the word again in a manner that made her ear twitch. He grinned and raised a paw up in a calming motion.
"Also, to be fair, Fluff, when I asked that, I was still half asleep and waking up to the sight of the cutest, best smelling bunny in the world and feeling particularly good. Given the circumstances, how could I possibly let an opportunity to tweak your nose a bit pass by?"
Judy's other ear twitched in irritation even as his 'cute' remark made her blush all over again.
Nick watched her reaction, smirk still in place then looked away and in a low almost shy voice added, "Plus I like you, and my nose tells me you like me too."
Judy froze stock still then let out a almost shrill squeal.
"You do know?! I- But- You can tell I like you?!" Judy spluttered accusingly, and Nick glanced at her before blushing enough that she could see it through his fur. He nodded before quickly glancing away again.
"He knows. O M Goodness He knows!" Judy said in a shrill panic to herself before pointing her paw back at Nick. "You know, and you never said any- You know I have a crush on you and you just come out and say 'Marry me'?! You haven't even asked me out, Nick! Did you miss something in Dating 101 you dumb fox! You have to ask a girl out before you can go proposing to them!"
Nick looked back at her, a sort of tentative smirk on his muzzle.
"Well, we kind of technically have 'slept' together," Nick said with air quotes, "and that class said that the only respectable thing to do after sleeping with female who's single is to offer to marry them."
Judy stared at Nick for a second before facepalming and muttering again.
"Unbelievable. Just unbelievable." She shot Nick a glare, mimicking his snarky smugness. "Any respectable mammal would have at least take someone out to dinner before 'sleeping' with them!" She even air quoted as she glared and then rolled her eyes.
"Well then, I accept," Nick said smugly. "Do you want to pick me up tonight, or shall I pick you up? How does eight sound? I know this awesome little place right next to little rodentia, Mr. Big always highly recommends it. Claimed it had the best pasta in all of Zootopia."
"What?" Judy said blindsided and this time Nick rolled his eyes.
"I thought you said that any respectable mammal would take someone to dinner before sleeping with them?" Nick repeated with a smirk.
"But- well Yes, but we're not sleeping together Nick!" Judy stammered and Nick's grin widened.
"But you said that I could sleep over here tonight."
Judy blushed and sputtered, "I said you could ask!"
Nick beamed at her with a too charming smile, "And may I?"
"I-, yes," Judy swallowed and hurried on, "but that's only for sleeping! Sleeping as in 'no funny business' sleeping, not sleeping sleeping!"
Nick smiled like he'd won the lottery.
"Well then, since I'll be sleeping with you at your place, even if its not sleeping sleeping, I think you need to take me out to dinner." Then Nick added with a mockingly stern glare and a shake of his paw, "You wouldn't want mammals to think you're a unrespectable sort now would you?"
"I- Thats- That makes no-" Judy spluttered as Nick smirked like the fox who'd raided the hen house and gotten away with it too. "Aghhh! Fine you stupid fox!" Judy said throwing up her arms and making strangling motions.
Nick only snickered at her and the stretched out across her bed, his tail wagging behind him.
"Well Carrots, since that's settled, I'm going to grab a little more beauty sleep. I got a hot date tonight and I need to look my best."
"You know that's my bed, right?" Judy asked, still flushed and irate (and a bit giddy too).
He smirked at her and then scooted over on her bed, making an offering gesture. "Care to join me?"
Judy sternly crossed her arms and glared (still ineffectually), trying to come up with reasons she shouldn't crawl back into bed with Nick.
She had to get up and get ready for work… well no, actually she didn't…
She needed to go work out… but the doc said she wasn't supposed to be doing anything strenuous while she recovered…
If her dad was here, he'd be freaking out about a fox in her bed and warning her… but even her father had admitted that he might be a bit prejudiced against predators...
"You know…" Nick said with a lazy yawn. "The doc said that we're supposed to be resting, and I'm not sure if I can get any rest if you're not here too…"
Judy bit her lip then, defeated, let out a long sullen "Fineeeeee." She wasn't sure if she was irritated that Nick had successfully hustled her into napping with him while she felt like she should be up and doing something, or because she really, really, wanted him to succeed in hustling her into being lazy and lounging around with him.
"But no funny business!" Judy warned before slipping back under the sheets into the bed. She had to admit that while it felt odd not to be starting on her day, that it did feel nice to taking a morning off. And maybe, just maybe, she really enjoyed listening to Nick's heartbeat and breathing too and wanted to listen to it just a little longer.
"I promise, Carrots, no funny business," Nick said in a overly smug manner. She rolled over to escape that too charming smirk so close to her.
"Don't get smug Nick, this is only because it's a medical necessity," Judy said adamantly though she felt like she was trying to convince herself.
"Right, Medical necessity…" Nick murmured.
Judy meeped as Nick's muzzle brushed up against her neck as he scooted closer.
"Nick! I thought you said no funny business!" Judy squeaked out as the fox snuggled up behind her, his arm and tail wrapping around her in a warm embrace until he was so curled about her that calling it spooning would have been a severe understatement.
"Mmmm…" Nick murmured into her neck, taking in a long, slow breath through his nose. "Pretty sure my doctor's note says that I need daily doses of cuddling…"
"You don't have a doctor's note!" Judy squeaked. It was about the best protest she could make because the rest of her mind was too preoccupied with enjoying the feeling of Nick holding her to give any resistance.
"Mmmm… I'm sure I can get a doctor's note saying so," Nick murmured into her fur and any remaining resistance Judy had crumbled and fell away.
"The fact that you're not lying in the least about being able to procure a doctor's note like that, Nick, is troubling," Judy muttered in defeat and snuggled back into him just the tiniest bit.
It was just cuddling after all. Cuddling was fine. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her cuddling with a strong, warm fox. A strong, warm, male fox… that she was crushing hard on…
Judy's mind contemplated that while Nick snickered into her fur, in a manner she was already finding addictively pleasant.
Fine, so even if it wasn't exactly okay to be cuddling with Nick like this, he was taking her out to dinner tonight, wasn't he? That had to make this okay, Judy justified to herself as she felt began relaxing into Nick's embrace. She'd been too tired yesterday to enjoy it and she was too comfortable at the moment to keep worrying about it.
"You really can tell when I'm lying can't you?" Nick asked in a lazily drowsy manner and Judy poked him.
"Yes I can, and don't go changing the subject, Slick."
Nick wiggled for a second from being poked, but settled with another snicker. "Would you be mad if I said that my backup plan yesterday was to show you a doctor's note saying I needed to stay over here?"
Judy's ear quirked up in interest. "And how on earth did you manage that?"
"Well…" Nick said slowly. "I know this hustler, a guy by the name of Nicholas Wilde that has a certificate of Veterinarian Medicine…"
Now both of Judy's ears were up as she rolled over to stare at Nick in shock, because she couldn't believe her ears.
"Are you telling me that you're actually a doctor?!"
Nick snickered again.
"Well, if you consider someone with a cheap online certificate from a thoroughly unreputable source a 'doctor', then yes." Judy's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion and she was about to ask why when he answered the question before she could ask it.
"Just part of an old scam that Finnick and I planned once upon a time. Had this whole big idea about starting this underground predator amusement park, was going to call it 'Wilde Times', but the idea fell through." Nick shrugged then smiled at Judy. "Though I'm kind of happy it did. Who knows if I would have run into this cute little backwoods bunny trying to make it as a big city cop if it hadn't?"
Judy blushed and muttered about bunnies and 'cute' to which Nick only grinned. His tail curled a little bit closer around her.
"So Judy," Nick asked looking at her curiously after her muttering had died down. "Whats up with this lie detector ability you seem to be able to pull on me now? If you can tell when I'm trying to be slick, how did I manage to hustle you when we first met?"
"Well…" Judy shuffled uncomfortable for a second. "I've always been pretty good at hearing when people weren't being truthful, though I have to admit that you," she poked him again and grinned as he squirmed a little, only to pull her closer, "Had to be the smoothest talker I'd ever met. The thing is, well…" Judy paused, her grin fading. She'd been wondering and worrying about her ears for a while now, and the whole topic made her uncomfortable because she really didn't understand what was going on with them. Nick though, seemed to sense her trepidation at opening up and she could feel his arms hold her just a bit tighter in a protective embrace that made the trepidation fade back.
"Nick," Judy looked up into his eyes. "Ever since the train crash, my hearings been off. Not damaged exactly, actually more like the opposite. Right afterwards I thought it was just part of the shock from it since everything seemed to be too loud, but… well, I've always had good hearing, even for a bunny." Judy waggled her ears for a second. "But ever since then, my ears have been even more sensitive than they usually are. That's ah… why I've been able to sort of tell when even you're trying to pull one over on me now…" Judy glanced at Nick and was relieved to see that he seemed to be taking her explanation well.
"In fact," Judy continued, "They've been so sensitive, well... I think that's why I've been getting headaches… not necessarily from the workload I've been under, like I told you before when you suggested I get those headphones. It's just been that way ever since the crash."
Nick frowned for a second and Judy winced thinking he might be upset over her own half lie, but then his paw carefully touching her ear, examining it.
"But it's better now?" he asked, eyes intent as if looking for any sign of pain.
Judy blushed, then blushed even more and buried her face in his chest mumbling, "It helps when I'm near you, when I can listen to your voice or your heartbeat."
His heart gave a slight, startled lurch and beat just a bit faster, even as his arm still around her tightened ever so slightly, holding her against him.
There was a quiet moment, then she heard Nick smirk.
"Welp, that decides it. I'm just going to have to stick really close to you for now on, Carrots." He sighed theatrically, "Nothing else for it I guess. Looks like I'll just have to bear this heavy burden, this trial, for the sake of my- offt!" he even managing to make his sudden exhale sound over exaggerated as Judy whacked his chest, though he chuckled happily as she cuddled back against him, laying her ears right over his heart.
"Sounds similar to what happened to my nose to tell you the truth, Fluff," Nick said after a few more moments and placed his nose between her ears, breathing in for a long moment. Their was a warm sensation there and slight sound, and Judy blushed into Nick's chest, pretty sure that he'd just kissed her lightly between the ears.
"Don't worry fluff, I'm sure we can figure out how to handle all this, and you know your enhanced super bunny ears and ability to hear lies and all that might come in handy, what with us being cops and all. I can think of a half dozen ways right of the top of my head."
"And don't forget about your nose," Judy interrupted, looking up and tapping his nose lightly. "You I.D.'ed those perps yesterday before we ever got close to them, and I bet you got some other tricks up your sleeve."
"Well, maybe," Nick said, smiling at her and then curled around her as tightly as he could in a fluffy sort of fox ball. "My nose is telling me right now that you like cuddling with me, so I'm going to take full advantage of that," Nick said in a low rumbly voice, and since Judy couldn't come up with any good response, she decided not to say anything at all and just snuggled back, enjoying the feeling of Nick holding her and the strong beat of his heart so close to hers.
Judy was right on the verge of slipping back to sleep to the steady tha-thumping of his heart when Nick shifted slightly, his muzzle snuggling up at the crook of her neck and shoulder as he murmured softly.
"You know I love you, right?"
Judy's ears snapped up, and she was suddenly very, very awake. She'd been listening to his heart beat, with her ear right there against his chest when he'd said that. She'd been able to hear just how true it was, not a slightest trace of hesitation or embellishment.
It made a warm happy sensation build in her stomach as a hot flush swept her body and she was hyper alert for a second, listening to everything and nothing as what Nick had just said repeated in her mind.
He loved her. Really trully loved her.
Nick. loved. her.
Judy could hear Bucky and Pronk as they shifted in a light sleep in the next room, the traffic and pedestrians outside and even the complaints of a cabby as he drove away, muttering about stingy backwood's bunnies giving him tickets and miserly tips. Heard her landlady arguing on the phone with the delouser on the first floor and the conversation of two mammals in the hallway worrying about their sick daughter. But none of it mattered to her because her full and undivided attention was on the fox holding her in his russet arms. The fox who was blushing as bright as his fur and was trying to look anywhere but at her. The fox that loved her.
Judy reached up and with a careful paw on his nose and muzzle, turned his face to meet hers.
She looked right into his green eyes and listened to the frightened beat of his heart and then, before her nerves failed her, kissed him softly.
"Yes," Judy said, pulling away from the kiss after a second, blushing furiously and not caring. "Yes, I know that." She leaned in to kiss him again, then asked, "You know I love you too?"
Nick didn't respond. Well, not verbally at least. His kiss was all the answer she needed. It was the most perfect kiss Judy could ever imagine, right up until the knocking on her door.
"Judy? Judy dear! Are you home? Are you okay? We got a call yesterday from the precinct doctor about you being put on sick leave and we couldn't reach you on your phone!"
Her mother's worried voice came through the door with another loud knock that had Judy tearing her lips away from Nick's with a startled half choked squeak of terror.
"Jude? Jude! Are you alright in there?!" Her father asked and knocked on the door even harder having apparently heard her. "Bonnie, where is that emergency room key she sent us? She sounds like she's in there to sick to move! I knew she'd run into trouble moving to the big city all by herself!"
"Is that your parents?!" Nick whispered in a barely controlled frightened squeak of his own.
"Oh no! Oh no! I forgot that they're listed on my emergency contact form!" Judy whispered, feeling just about ready to panic.
There was the sound of her mother rooting around in her purse and Judy looked at Nick in terror, only for her eyes to go even wider than they already were.
"Nick! Your clothes!" Judy managed to squeak rather than shout as she stared at Nick's russet and cream fur. Any other time she would have enjoyed the sight of him in nothing but his boxers, heck, she'd dreamed about it, but this was turning into something more like a nightmare.
"I- oh crap!" Nick managed to throw his paws over his muzzle and muffle the curse before he whipped his head around her small apartment looking for them and Judy remembered where they were.
"Oh cucumber salads..., I left them in the dryer last night," Judy moaned into her paws, while Nick's eyes widened.
"Carrots, what do we do?!" he said in a panic whisper, then frantically turned to the only window in the room and tried opening it. The old window slid up a third of the way and then jammed with a squeal.
"What do you think you're doing Nick?!" Judy whisper/shouted as Nick tried again only, further jamming the window.
"What does it look like?!" Nick replied looking a little wild around the eyes. "Your father the Carrot farmer is at the door and I'm in bed with you nearly naked! I'm doing what anyone does in this situation!"
"We're five stories up Nick! You can't escape out the window!" Judy hissed back as her mother shouted through the door.
"Judy? What was that sound? Are you alright in there? Hold on, we're coming, just one- Got it! Here's the key Stu!"
Judy looked back at Nick and the window reevaluating. Five stories… maybe? … but the window was jammed to low for either of them to escape.
There was the sound of a key going into the doorknob and Judy panicked, giving one last quick look around the tiny room.
"Under the bed Nick!" she whispered, only barely managing to keep her voice from being a shriek.
Both she and Nick scrambled off the bed. But Nick, or her, she wasn't exactly sure who, got tangled up in the sheets and they tumbled to the floor in a heap and an audible thump, a few of her stuffed bunny dolls on the edge of her bed flopping to the floor around them.
"Judy! What was that?! Are you- Oh…" Judy looked up from her spot lying on Nick's belly and gulped as she saw her mother raise both paws to cover her mouth while her father stared, jaw looking like it was about to drop off.
Nick's head tilted back so that he was looking at her parents upside down and gave a faltering grin and little upside down wave.
"Um… Well ah… Hello! Mrs. and Mr. Hopps! Its… um… so nice to see you all again! Did I thank you two for coming to the graduation ceremony?"
Judy's father was showing signs of breaking out of his frozen posture as his eyes focused on Nick.
"Ummm… right, I did… umm… " Stu's paw clenched reflexively like it was trying to find his pitchfork and Nick quickly squeaked out, "Umm, Sir, this isn't what it looks like!"
Stu's paw made a few more spasmodic grasping motions and Nick looked up to where Judy was on top of him, only for his face to freeze and his paw to shoot past her and pull on his boxers from where they'd slid down during their tumble from the bed.
Judy let out a startled meep.
"Really it's not!" She added, desperately, sitting up and pulling on the hem of her oversized nightshirt she was wearing over her underwear to make sure she was covered. Then blush harder than she ever had in her life as Nick's frantic tugging pulled his boxers back up, brushing the fabric against her tail and back up over the spot she was sitting on.
"You!" Her father finally managed to gasp out, pointing his shaking paw at Nick and even without his pitchfork looked like the definition of an angry farmer. "You Red devil! How dare you deflower my daughter!"
"DAD!" Judy let out a mortified embarrassed shout. "First, I'm old enough to make my own decisions! And second, WE WEREN'T!"
There was a banging on the wall next to them and Bucky's voice came through.
"Hey keep it down! Mammals are trying to sleep!"
"Right, stop shouting! They weren't doing anything!" Pronk added to Judy's relief.
Which lasted right till Bucky's voice came back.
"Well not this morning anyway, last night was a different matter."
"I swear, I thought they would break her bed they way it was squeaking!"
"Pretty sure they did break the bed."
"No they didn't!"
"Yes they did!"
Oh shut up and go back to sleep! You have no idea what you're saying!"
"You shut up! We both heard them going at it like-"
Judy's father started spluttering furiously, his face going red and Judy flopped forward, burying her face in Nick's ruff as she moaned, clutching her ears as if hoping that might drown out her neighbors embellished recounting of everything they'd 'heard' last night.
But it didn't, nor did it stop her from hearing her mother's astonished "Oh My!".
Judy usually found waking up from the PIXAR Machine was like slowly waking up after a nice nap on a day off, she usually found the feeling fairly enjoyable, usually...
"GAHHHH!"
Judy sat bolt upright, ears on end, looking around wildly before scrambling to yank off the visor over her eyes in a half panic. She felt slightly dazed, almost oddly disconnected, sort of like someone had just woken her up from a happy dream suddenly turned nightmarish with a shout and a splash of cold cold water. Except it wasn't a shout, it was a knocking sound, a repetitive knocking sound… like someone knocking on her door...
"Nick!" she shouted, her heart jumping into her throat with the mortifying fear only getting caught by a parent can inspire. Judy turned to her side grabbing for her fox, knowing he was next to her in the bed... or was it a chair?
She couldn't recall at the second and it was unimportant. What was important was getting away before they were caught and Bucky and Pronk tattled on them. Not that they'd been doing anything… had they? They hadn't, cuddling wasn't… She'd only wanted to… they'd just pretended to... something about a joke or prank?
A wave of half recalled dreamish memories flashed through her mind.
Bouncing on a bed and laughing at her neighbors with glee, warm arms around her, Nick nuzzling her neck, his breath ruffling her fur, the sound of his heart, a wonderful kiss… the quick flash of vague-ish images mixed and coalesced, memories of foxily devilish kisses that made the heat wave they'd been enduring pale compared to the heat he'd stoked within her, memories of rolling around in the sheets of their bed, of rhythmic and frantic motions, of fur on fur and heated passion that would have had any of those old Bunnyburrow biddies scandalized and exclaiming 'Oh My!' before they ran off to gossip to all their neighbors about that Hopps girl who hadn't just been making some outlandish joke when she'd said she 'Loved'that fox of hers.
Nick was stirring next to her, his tail puffed out like a bristle brush beside him while he scrambled to take his visor off. Judy would have helped, but she was momentarily frozen in confusion as she tried to sort out past memories from the present and reality from the imagined, too caught up by the sudden flood of fictitious recollections and real memories mixed together in her jolted awake mind that had a new heat, far hotter than the city's record temperatures from a few days ago, flaring within her.
The buzzing, knocking noise came again, followed by a startled yelp from next to her.
"I won't fit under the bed!" Nick yelled, finally getting the visor off, head frantically swiveling back and forth before his bright emerald and very very panicked eyes locked on hers. "Judy! Where'd my clothes go?! Your dad is going to skin my tail and mount it over his fireplace! I'm too young to die! I just finally managed to tell you I love you! If Bucky… and… Pronk… tell…" Nick trailed off, his ears splaying as a comical look of confusion crossed over his usually oh so smooth and smug features.
At any other time the look on his face would have had her rolling on the floor laughing, and some part of her mind made a mental note to remind Nick of how he looked right now at some later date just so she could, but currently all her thoughts were focused on those three words he'd said.
I love you...
Even panicked, Nick had somehow managed to be melodramatic, but below all that she could tell just how absolutely ernest those words had been, like they'd been pulled out from the deepest part of his heart.
I love you...
Momentarily confused or not, Judy was sure of two things, One this was real, not some dream or imagining and two, and that her fox did love her with all his heart.
Really, that wasn't a revelation for her. Judy knew Nick loved her. She loved him too, and he'd told her, showed her, plenty of times. No, she knew that already. And yet, hearing those words again did nothing to stop the heat suffusing her body from flaring. It was a completely illogical reaction, something base and totally emotional, and Judy's normal mental control jumped in like a crossing guard waving a stop sign, yelling at her not to do anything rash.
Usually, Judy would avoid overt displays of PDA, would have heeded that part of her mind shouting about the rule book and telling her to think before she jumped. But it seemed that the heat wave that had rolled through Zootopia had damaged more than their home's AC because Judy had found that her self control had apparently frayed a bit under the assault of that cabbage-wilting heat and she'd been having an increasingly hard time reigning in her emotions lately. Especially when those emotions involved a certain fox she loved.
"We're at Fitwick's…" Nick muttered, eyes still wide and ears splayed. He made a visible effort to reassert his usual suave nonchalance, though the inside of his ears were still tinged pink with embarrassment. He glanced at her with a look that was simultaneously chagrined and charming and tinged with what she could only describe as wicked amusement as he continued, "That… that… was all just part of -mhhpt!"
He didn't make it any further than that, not that Judy had really been paying attention, what with the way that look he had given her had made the blood pound in her ears and drowned out the buzzing knocking noise as it came again. What ever bit of frayed self restraint had been holding her back snapped before the sudden surge of emotions, like a twig caught in a flash flood as Judy pulled Nick forward by his tie to kiss him desperately.
Judy had no idea where the sudden blinding need to kiss Nick came from, only that in that moment she had too, needed to, feel his lips on hers and his arms around her, to know that he was hers. It was a completely irrational, unreasonable, and she didn't care at that moment, not with how Nick's surprised reaction to her sudden hard kiss was to kiss her back and pulled her closer.
In fact nothing else besides that kiss seemed really important.
"Wow," Nick murmured when the kiss finally ended. "Where did that come from?" he asked, eyes a bit wide though not from panic this time.
"I…" Judy started to reply as she caught her own breath, then had to pause and think for a moment. Where had that come from? She looked up at Nick, now from within the circle of his arms and flushed deeply as the desire to kiss him again washed over her, and then inexplicably she teared up and hugged him, half from a need to still feel him hold her and half to hide her suddenly watery eyes while she tried to pull herself together
"I… you know I love you, right?" She said pressing her face into his ruff.
Nick was silent for a moment, but then his paw gently touched her under the chin and tilted her head up so that she could see him.
"Of course I do." Nick said and leaned down to lightly peck her lips before smiling roguishly, "Though I must admit, I didn't know you'd ever want to make out in an arcade." He stole another kiss as she blushed furiously.
"Nick!" Judy squealed, blushing more as he kissed her again and tried not to fall too deeply into it, with little success.
The buzzing sound of her phone in her back pocket as it knocked against the chair though, was far more successful at pulling her back to the present. A shot of pure adrenaline rushed through her, snapping her ears up, as the sound momentarily made her think of her parents rapidly knocking on her apartment door.
"Carrot Sticks!" Judy muttered, flustered by the hazy recollections as she fished her phone out and worked to control her raging blush and racing heart. They were at Fitwick's, Judy reminded herself sternly; that hazy, horribly embarrassing episode wasn't real. They were just at the arcade and Nick certainly had his clothes on this time and her parents weren't here.
Nick snickered at her fluster state and stole another kiss, a quick deep kiss, that had her cheeks burning and her paw fumbling her phone.
"Nick! Phone! Can't you at least wait until afterwards?!" Judy stammered, as she tried not to drop her phone or lean back and kiss that smirk right off his face.
"You started it," Nick replied evilly, his tail wagging as he leaned in to whisper quietly in her ear, "Though I wouldn't mind taking this home if you want to, making out in arcades is for teenagers and I think we both want something a bit more than a teen rating would allow."
The burning heat in Judy's cheeks traveled up her ears and down to her stomach were it exploded.
"Niiick!" Judy said a half irate, half pleading tone as her paw not holding her phone clutched at him. She was just about to continue, probably to berate him and then drag him out of the arcade and back home as quickly as she could, when her worst nightmare turned into reality.
"Oh, my! I didn't mean to interrupt anything dear!" Her mother's voice came through her phone.
Nick's smirk and waving tail froze as they both looked down at her phone, with the now open muzzletime call displaying on the screen.
"MOM! I- ah- I wasn't expecting-" Judy stammered incoherently and felt like she might just die right there and then from embarrassment. She was blushing so hard that she should have just burst into flames.
"Oh, that's my fault honey, I thought you would be free right now, but you seem a bit busy..." Bonnie said waving at the screen in an apologetic manner, and even through the small phone screen Judy could see her mother's fur tinged with a slight blush as she started to ramble. "I'll just let you two get back to each other, I remember when Stu and I were that young too, could never keep our paws off each other! Seemed like we could go till we passed out from exhaustion,"
"Or till you got hungry!" her father's voice called in from somewhere off the screen in a teasing voice, and her mother's blush became visibly more apparent as her head turned and she huffed back.
"And whose fault was that, Stu? Hum? You never had to deal with all those food cravings-"
"And mood swings, don't forget the mood swings!" Stu shouted back over with a laugh that had her mother's cheeks a rosy red as she muttered about 'Farmers'.
"MOM!" Judy managed to squeak out in horror, now for all new reasons.
"Right, Right, sorry dear." Her mother said turning back to the phone screen and giving her a smile and to Judy's undying embarrassment, a wink, "I'll leave you two be now! Make sure to call us later, It's been to long since we last got to talk to you our Nick-"
"We Muzzletimed yesterday!" Judy said her voice high, embarrassed and exasperated.
"As I said, too long!" her mother added as if that should have been obvious, "You two take care now and don't have too much fun! Oh, and make sure that fox of yours eats some veggies too. The things I've hear about all those unhealthy city fast food cricket burgers-"
Judy's stomach gave a hungry rumble at that, though thankfully her mother apparently hadn't heard it and continued.
"-even a predator needs veggies for a healthy diet-"
"Right. Will do. Call you all later. Bye!" Judy cut in hastily before her mother's rambling goodbye picked up to much headway and closed the call.
There was a moment of silence and then Judy flopped forward and thumped her head against Nick.
"Just kill me now," she muttered and thumped his chest again. "I'm scared for life, just put me out of my misery."
"Oh, don't be melodramatic," Nick said and kissed her between the ears, "That's my job." he snickered and Judy thumped him with her paw instead of her head.
"Hey, it could have been worse," Nick said soothingly taking her paw in his and intertwining their fingers.
"How could that have possibly been worse?!" Judy huffed darkly even as she curled into the comfort Nick was offering her.
"I could have been in my boxers!" Nick snickered quietly and tapped her nose.
Judy scowled, but her nose twitched at the touch…
Nick grinning fit to burst now leaned down and whispered, "You know, everyone really should listen to their parents. We better head home if we're gonna have any fun, but not too much fun now!" he said and kissed her nose.
Judy tried scowling more, though the way her tail twitched at his kiss was counter productive to her attempt to stay sullen and wallow after what had to be the most embarrassing phone call of her life.
"Well then," Judy shout back in a last ditch effort. "If we're going to listen to my parents then you are going to be stuck eating vegetables tonight!"
A look of pure horror crossed Nick's face and he clutched his heart gasping out in fear, "You wouldn't! Not… Not… Veggies!"
His performance was too much for Judy and she collapsed against him giggling.
Nick made a pleased rumbling sound as one of his paws ran over her back while she giggled. He gave another overly dramatic sigh before saying, "Fineeee… Just for you, I'll make sure to eat plenty of vegetables tonight," and then his tone turned smug and he added, "I rather do like Carrots."
"NICK!" Judy spluttered irately, sitting up only to flush deeply at the huge grin her very hungry fox was sporting.
She wasn't quite sure what she would have said next since that look was causing her brain to misfire and her body to heat up, but her stomach took care of the problem for her by rumbling rather loudly in a demand for food.
Nick snickered and Judy blushed.
"Uh… Nick…" Judy's stomach rumbled again, and such continued on embarrassedly, "Before we go home, um… could we, eh… get some…"
"Carrot smoothies? Cabbage pies?" The fox waggled his eyebrows. "A certain handsome..."
"...cricket burgers?" Judy said suddenly, thinking of her handsome fox's favorite bit of junk food.
Nick blinked, caught off guard by her request.
"Uh… okay? Are you sure?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"I, guess?" Judy replied with a shrug. She generally wasn't a fan of fast food, but just the thought of the greasy cricket burger made her stomach rumble loudly again like a tiger on the prowl. She really wanted one of those burgers right now.
"Umm…" Nick said scratching his head and looking at her.
"NOW Nick!" Judy said as her stomach sounded off an accompanying angry 'FEED ME!' sound.
Forget one burger, she wanted two. Then they could go home and she'd have a generous helping of handsome fox for dessert.
"Okay, okay, don't know what ruffled your fluff, Fluff." Nick said holding up his paws in surrender, then smiled and placed a paw behind her to rub her neck. The touch elicited a completely involuntary coo from her as she melted into the touch. "I can get my lovely bunny a…" Nick chuckled lightly, "cricket burger…" He leaned in close, his muzzle resting next to her's, his breath sending a pleasant shiver through her that had her heartbeat racing. "And we won't ever tell your parents about it." He let out a happy rumbly laugh and kissed her.
"It'll be our little secret."
-FIN
AN: Give it up for Zanrok! This was such a fun story to watch and help develop, as he did such a wonderful job with it. So please check his other stories out here on FF. Also head over to Mr-Punctual on DA to check out more of his fantastic artwork!