A/N: Nick/Judy are lifeguards and need to learn how to be them effectively. I'm sure they won't have to practice mouth to mouth though...
Chapter 1
Written by Anillio (Aninat131)
Edited by Cimar
Artwork by MykeGreyWolf on DA
"…Nick?"
"Hmm."
"What happened to that bag of corn chips that I packed?" Judy's voice floated over to the red fox's ears, causing them to perk up a little. Said red fox was lying back on a deck chair, hands behind his head. Judy's question didn't even make him flinch. Without even turning his head, he patted his tummy, a fitting smirk accompanying the action.
"Oh come on! We haven't even been here for fifteen minutes!" Judy huffed, giving him a scowl. She wasn't sure if his eyes were even open to see it, with his trademark shades covering them.
"Relax, Carrots. We'll just pick up more from the Snack Shack later. Don't be so uptight, will ya? We're supposed to be on vacation here."
"Ugh, I guess…" Judy mumbled. A warm breeze blew through the busy beach, flapping the edges of the picnic mat Judy had just set out. Judy's eyes roamed around the sandy expanse, eventually settling on a large sign prominently sticking out of a sand mound: WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY BEACH
Tranquility, huh? Judy mused to herself as a pair of zebra kids zoomed past, screaming wildly. It seemed a little less than tranquil with so many mammals around.
"It feels like forever since we've had a nice family holiday like this." Nick sighed blissfully.
"Agreed. It was nice of Bogo to give us some time off. I think I've been working too hard."
"Do my ears deceive me? Did a certain workaholic bunny actually admit to working too hard?" Nick gasped in mock horror.
"I was honestly fine until parenthood came along…not that I would give it up for anything, though." She finished softly, glancing over a feet away, where Ridley and Ella were busy with either making a sand mountain, or burying someone. Judy wasn't sure which it was.
"Heh, of course." Nick nodded approvingly. "Just give me another ten minutes, and then I'll bring the kids to the water. Give you a little break."
"Thanks, Sweetie. Ridley is quite okay with the water, but just keep a closer eye on Ella. And make sure they don't go out too far."
"Got it."
Judy went back to laying out the rest of their lunch on the picnic mat. Within a couple of minutes, everything she needed was laid out neatly across the striped mat.
"Did you know?" Nick suddenly spoke up. Judy turned. Nick's shades were lifted slightly above his eyes. "This beach used to be called 'Death-from-Behind Beach."
"Wait, what?"
"No kidding. It was in that pamphlet at the tourist counter. By the way, duck."
"Duck?"
As she finished, there was a loud thwack, causing Judy to stumble forward. A large Frisbee did a flip over her head, landing and burying itself in the sand before her.
"Sorry!" A high pitched squeak came from a short distance away. It belonged to a small wolf, who sported a sheepish grin on his face. Rubbing her head with a hand, Judy returned a slightly forced smile, before tossing the Frisbee back.
"I'm starting to think they should have kept the old name," Nick said, chuckling. Judy couldn't help but chuckle as well. She was about to make a witty remark, but she found her thoughts trailing off as her right ear suddenly twitched. Her nose instinctively began to twitch along with her ear.
"Did you hear that?"
"The screaming? Yeah, I've been hearing it for the last twenty minutes."
"No, not that. It's…" she gazed towards the water, squinting her eyes a little in the bright sunlight. There were mammals in the water, but slightly beyond that…
"Nick! I think there's a kid drowning!"
The red fox immediately bolted upright. "What? Where? Is it—"
"No, it's not Ridley or Ella. No time to explain. I have to get him out of there!" Judy started sprinting towards the water.
"Carrots, wait!" Nick yelled, jumping off his deck chair. He reached out and grabbed her arm, just as a loud whistle went off.
"Nick, what are you doing?!" Judy exclaimed, turning her head while still tugging against his hand.
"Look, there's a lifeguard already on the way. Let him do his job."
True enough, a bulky brown bear was already rushing towards the water, blowing his whistle to clear the way. A group of beachgoers collectively turned their heads as he took a big leap into the water. A few seconds later, he came back out, carrying a coughing leopard cub in his hands. Once the crowd was convinced that the show was over, they went back to doing what they were previously doing as if nothing had happened.
"See? Everything's alright, Carrots. No need to get so worked up. Also, you're a cop, not a lifeguard, y'know," Nick said, finally letting go of her arm.
"I guess…" she mumbled, hesitating for a moment, before finally giving in and walking back behind the red fox.
"No matter the job, you'll always be the same, eh, Carrots? Helping people, making the world a better place…" Nick chuckled, glancing back at her over his shoulder.
"It's a hard habit to break," Judy admitted sheepishly. "My body kinda moves by itself when it comes to things like this."
"Surprising absolutely no one." Nick paused for a moment, his hand rubbing his chin. "That made me wonder though."
"Wonder what?"
"What it would've been like if you decided to become a lifeguard, instead of a cop," Nick replied.
"A lifeguard?"
"Yeah. It's pretty much as difficult as being a cop, right? I mean, you never see bunny lifeguards outside of the kiddy pools. If there was ever a bunny that wanted to be a full-fledged lifeguard on the busiest beaches, it would probably have been you."
"Heh, yeah, I guess it would." Judy scratched her cheek, feeling a little warm. "What about you? Ever considered being a lifeguard if you weren't so good at hustling?"
"Nah, not really. When I'm here, I'd like to be able to lie back and not worry about people drowning on my watch. But there would be one reason why I'd become a lifeguard."
"What's that?"
"I'd get to flirt with my fellow co-workers." Nick grinned, giving his bunny a wink. Judy playfully pushed him.
"As if I'd let you do that on the job."
"Oh? I'm pretty sure you already do. And do you honestly think you would be able to resist me…without a shirt on?"
"As if! I'd bury you in the sand first," Judy said, huffing.
"Well, there's no point sitting here thinking about it, when we have an easy way to settle this…"
"Oh no, we are not going to the PIXAR machine now. We just got here!"
"Alright, alright. But how about we put that on the list once we get back?"
"Hmph, fine." Judy nodded, just as another Frisbee thwacked her in the back of her head.
"Sorry!" a voice squeaked out.
"…Yeah, they definitely need to change that name back."
The holiday definitely seemed shorter than it actually was. Before they knew it, it was already over, and the pair found themselves back at work, and back to their usual routine. The idea they had on the beach went forgotten, until a particularly wet Tuesday afternoon, when the two found themselves stepping through the doors to Fitwick's arcade.
"You picked a good day to play this particular one out," Judy commented, grabbing the helmet with her hands. It was starting to become muscle memory at this point.
"I was worried that you'd forget about this one. Hope you're up for an additional extension to our little beach getaway." Nick replied, doing likewise.
"Just make sure you didn't set it to some tsunami simulator nightmare or something…"
"Hmm, nope, it's fine. It's currently set to 'Jaws simulator'."
"Nick!"
"Kidding, kidding. Alright, Carrots, see you on the other side."
The helmet was already on, but Nick could imagine Judy nodding in approval. Lying back in the pod, he began to drift off…
"…Nick."
"Yes, Carrots?"
"Shouldn't you be, I don't know…somewhere else?"
"Where else would I be?" Nick asked, smirking. "We're supposed to be on duty together. Partners, remember?"
Judy lowered her binoculars, glancing over at him with a roll of her eyes.
"We agreed that we need to take turns patrolling the beach. We can't just stay up here in the tower the whole day. It's our first day on the job, and Bogo already has a bad impression of us. Don't make it worse…"
"What makes you think he has a bad impression of us?" Nick asked innocently.
"Hmm…maybe it's the fact that when he was briefing us, you were busy eyeing some other vixens on the beach?"
"Since when?"
"WILDE! Have you been listening to a word I've been saying?!" Bogo roared.
"Hmm? Oh, of course, chief. Loud and clear."
"Then tell me, what did I say?"
"Uhh…" Nick stalled. His eyes darted to the left, as a pair of skimpily dressed vixens walked by.
"Something about bikini babes?"
"…Yeah, probably since then." Judy groaned.
"His reaction was pretty good, though. I never saw a cape buffalo go so red with embarrassment before," Nick chuckled.
"I'm pretty sure that was anger, not embarrassment. C'mon, Nick, you know the full-timers are automatically going to have a bad impression of us because we're teenagers. They probably think we're just here to make a quick buck."
"But I am here to make a quick buck."
Judy gave him a look. "Nick, please. Please don't mess this up for us. You know how hard we worked to get here."
"Alright, alright. Just relax, Carrots. I'll do my rounds now, okay? See you in an hour."
"Thank you."
With that, Nick got off his deck chair, climbing down the ladder before jumping off two rungs before the bottom. He landed with a soft thud on the sand, taking a moment to breathe in and look around.
Darn. I was hoping she would say something.
Nick crossed his arms, rubbing his chin with a hand. A horde of kids ran past him, laughing wildly. A beach ball soon flew over his head, barely missing him. He wasn't concerned. He knew he was supposed to be monitoring the beachgoers, but his mind wasn't really there right then. His mind was somewhere else…
Carrots.
He never thought it would have come to this. Him? Falling for a bunny? It sounded ridiculous. And yet, that was the truth that he could no longer deny. It was just pure coincidence that he'd met her during a public lifeguard training course. Nick wasn't particularly fond of water himself, but he didn't hate it, and he needed some spare cash, now that the summer holidays had started. That was where he'd met the little bunny, who was only a year younger than him. At first, he was one of the many that laughed at her. It was to be expected, of course. The only thing more ridiculous than a bunny becoming a lifeguard was a bunny becoming a cop or something.
But soon, he found himself laughing with her.
For some reason, he found himself close to her during lifeguard training. He got to see, up close and personal, what made this little bunny tick. No matter how many times she failed, she got back up and tried again. Her stubbornness was almost admirable, Nick thought. But surely after failing a few more times, she would pack up and leave with her tail between her legs.
It didn't happen. She started to get better and better at everything. Swimming, rescuing, diving…she got good enough that during an underwater rescue exercise, she actually managed to free her allocated dummy victim long before Nick even managed to untangle the ropes holding his own dummy down. And what's more, she actually came back to help him with his own dummy—all under the radar, of course. Nick knew he would've failed that particular test otherwise. She surpassed everyone's expectations, and then some. Nobody dared to laugh at her after that.
Nick found himself following her. At the table where she normally sat alone during lunch, Nick found himself walking over to her one day and asking "Is this seat taken?"
The surprised look on her face told Nick all he needed to know. And that was how it all began. Sitting at the rickety table in the cafeteria, Nick asked her a question.
"Why did you help me back then, during the test?"
He still remembered the way she shrugged, and sheepishly said "You looked like you needed help. And this is one of the few tests I'm actually good at…"
Nick couldn't help but chuckle. His curiosity was certainly piqued. He began asking more questions, interested to know what exactly motivated the little bunny. Apparently, this had been her dream ever since she was small, when a lifeguard saved her from drowning in a pool. She was moved by that incident, and she wanted to be just like her, saving people and really making a difference to them. And even though her parents and friends actively opposed her choice, she still pushed on, determined to prove them wrong. She wanted to prove all of them wrong. She wanted to show the world that a bunny could be a real lifeguard.
And Nick believed her.
For the rest of their time in lifeguard training, the two found themselves growing closer and closer. It started with having lunch together, and then training together, and eventually even spending time after training hours, whether it was just a quick dinner or a short movie. Judy soon wanted to know more about him too, asking him why he wanted to be a lifeguard.
"I thought it would be a good way to pick up some girls." Nick had smirked.
He'd expected an awkward look or at the very least, a raised eyebrow. But Judy returned the grin at him, playfully elbowing him.
They had been near inseparable ever since. And as time went on, Nick realised that what he wanted had changed. The bikini babes he'd been itching to meet and impress…they were no longer his goal. He wanted someone else. He wanted Judy.
But of course, he'd been too chicken to actually confess it to her, especially with the way that she actually egged him on to go and impress the vixens on the beach. From the way she said it, there was no way that Judy was even remotely interested in him. That kinda stung a little.
Hmm…maybe if I can't get her to be interested in me, I could always get her to give me a kiss, at the very least.
The thought made Nick stop in his tracks. He had instinctively pushed it away, but something inside him was urging him to just entertain the idea, even for a little bit.
A kiss, huh? That might actually work out…
But how was he supposed to even come close to getting her to give him a kiss?
"How about CPR? I could pretend to drown, so that she'll have to give me mouth-to-mouth," Nick found himself saying.
"That's crazy," a voice in his head fired back. "First of all, you ARE a lifeguard. How would you drowning be believable in any way?"
"Hmm…that's true."
"Also, she'd probably break your ribs during the chest compressions."
Nick winced, before sighing. It sounded less and less like a good idea the more he thought about it. And yet, it was the best idea he had that didn't involve soul-crushing rejection.
Not soul-crushing, but rib-crushing…
"Hmm?" Something caught Nick's attention in the corner of his eye. He turned his head towards the sea, where a bear cub sat on the edge of the water. The cub's back was turned to the beach, and he didn't seem to be moving. He was quite far away from everyone else, and nobody seemed to be paying him any mind. There didn't seem to be any bear families in the immediately vicinity either, much less looking for one.
Nick shrugged, and made a beeline towards the kid. As he got closer, he was relieved to see that the kid wasn't in shock or anything dangerous. He was just sulking, oddly enough. He didn't look much older than seven years old. Nick stopped in his tracks for a moment, wondering how he was going to approach this. He settled for slowly sitting down to the side of the cub.
"Hey there, sport. What are ya doing here all by yourself? Where's your family?"
The kid turned, startled to see the red fox suddenly talking to him.
"Oh…my family's on the beach."
"Well, the beach is that way. And it's pretty dangerous to be so close to the water like this by yourself. Why aren't you with them?"
"I don't like sand," the kid mumbled.
"Hmm? Why not?"
"It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere."
"Uh…okay?" Nick said, blinking. He scratched his head. Why come to the beach if you hate sand of all things?
"I wanted to go to Disneyworld, but my brothers all wanted to come here. And because I'm the youngest, they don't listen to me." The boy huffed, as if reading Nick's mind.
Ah, there it is.
Nick placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling softly.
"Yeah, big brothers are jerks, aren't they? Is that why you're out here by yourself?"
"Uh huh." The boy said, nodding. "At least here the water can wash away this stupid sand. Also, maybe if I get stung by a jellyfish then mom will panic and we won't ever come back here again."
Nick immediately opened his mouth to say something, but then decided against it. He let the kid's words hang for a while, before speaking again.
"Yeah, well, sorry to disappoint you, kid. But right now it isn't jellyfish season, so we don't expect jellyfish to be showing up here in the water. They were telling all the lifeguards this morning about it."
"Aww…"
Something was coming to Nick. A lightbulb suddenly lit up in his head. And the very thought of it made his heart flutter. It was crazy, and Nick knew it.
"Hey kid, do you like ice-cream?"
That seemed to have caught his attention. He looked at Nick with wide eyes, nodding quickly.
"How about I take you to the Snack Shack and get you an ice-cream for being such a big help?"
"Really?!" the kid stood up now. "How come?"
"Because you just gave me a really good idea."