Great responses, again, for both of my stories. Good to see so many people reading the both of them!
Here's the next chapter of Primal: A Zootopia Fanfiction. Hope you enjoy it!
"How often does she do this?" Doctor Zdanskyi respectfully inquired as he leaned over Chief Bogo's shoulder to stare at the computer screen on the police chief's desk.
"Every morning," Chief Bogo flatly responded as he studied the live feed of Cell One of the headquarter's Savage Mammal Containment Units. "And she says that shes not going to take any more weekends off until he's fully recovered."
"It's certainly good to see that she's so dedicated to helping her friend," Zdanskyi commented after a short moment of silence, "Have any officers become suspicious of her whereabouts in the mornings? She's been in there for a half hour already."
"No," The Chief answered, shaking his head. "Not yet, anyways. She's in there before the day shift officers arrive but after the night shift officers leave."
"Ahhh," Zdanskyi said, straightening himself and nodding. "That's smart, but she must be awake for at least eighteen hours a day. If she ever slips up and is caught going in there-"
"Then she can say that she's inspecting the cells," Chief Bogo sternly interrupted. "Nothing unexpected will happen with Officer Hopps. I have a plan for every possible problem that may come out of this situation."
Zdanskyi nodded, bringing up his wooden clipboard from his side and studying it for a moment.
"Well whatever she's doing seems to be helping Officer Wilde physically," The tiger commented, turning the page to look at a series of charts and tables. "His weight has stabilized and seems to be steadily increasing, which is great considering that he almost starved to death at Arctic One. His movements are also significantly less stiff than when I first monitored him, and his arctic coat seems to be beginning to shed."
Zdanskyi turned another page on his clipboard and studied it for a moment before he gave a heavy sigh.
"But I'm still worried about his heart," He continued, looking up to stare at the back of Chief Bogo's head as a cautious expression made it's way onto his face. "I trust that you read over the report about Trunklin?"
Chief Bogo grunted and gave a small nod.
"Yes, after Officer Hopps retrieved it from the archives. I would never want you to violate your contract with the city, Zdanskyi," The buffalo answered, still staring at the two officers on his laptop's screen.
"Good," Zdanskyi said, his cautious gaze fading as he looked back down at his clipboard. "Then as you know, Trunklin died when he was fifty-nine of heart complications. Now that would seem quite young to us evolved mammals, but the scientific community believes that fifty-nine was a very old age for Trunklin. The theory that me and my colleagues, whom I can assure you know nothing of Mr. Wilde, have been researching since Mr. Wilde's 'rediscovery' is that a primal mammal has the lifespan of it's un-evolved counterpart."
Chief Bogo finally turned away from the computer screen and stared at Zdanskyi, a tough and demanding expression making it's way onto his face.
"And you think this will happen to Wilde?" He asked as he frowned and raised an eyebrow in suspicious curiosity.
"It's a possibility," Zdanskyi answered, unimtimidated by the Chief. "When Trunklin became primal he was 30, so if he had received the 'proper' treatment for his primal mindset then he would've had around thirty years to recover until his un-evolved body began to threaten his life. The problem with Mr. Wilde is that he's 36 years old while the natural lifespan of an un-evolved fox is, at most, 7 years."
"So what you're saying is that Officer Wilde could drop dead at any moment?" Chief Bogo asked, his voice almost outraged, but Zdanskyi shook his head.
"Not at all, Bogo," He answered. "It's only a theory; Officer Wilde may not be affected by his age. I'm just saying that we need to watch him very closely."
"That's already a given," Chief Bogo sullenly grunted, turning back to the computer screen. In the time he was looking at Zdanskyi, Officer Hopps had slid off of the metallic chair on her side of the cell and wandered up to kneel just in front the glass separating her from her partner. Chief Bogo watched her place one of her paws against the thick surface, and a frown-and-smile combination made its way onto his face when he saw her mouth something along the lines of 'Love you' to the primal fox who had hidden himself underneath the cot across from her.
"Well," The chief exhaled as he slammed the laptop screen shut and turned to Zdanskyi with an annoyed smile. "In other news, it appears that Officer Hopps has developed feelings for Officer Wilde."
"I can imagine so," Zdanskyi replied, looking up from his clipboard with an unsurprised expression. "They've been separated for years, thinking that they would never see each other again. It's only natural for them to desire each other. I've seen many friendships develop into something more once the pair realize how much they really mean to one another - but I will say that I've never seen any cross specie lines."
"Yes, but a romance between a rabbit and a fox who's dead in the eyes of the world is not what we need," Chief Bogo explained, slowly pushing out of his office chair. "It's going to be difficult enough settling Officer Wilde back in the ZPD when the whole city thinks he's gone. A relationship with Officer Hopps would only further jeopardize the situation."
"But we don't know that Officer Wilde has the same feelings for her, and we also don't know if he wishes to return to the ZPD," Zdanskyi reassured, and Chief Bogo smiled.
"You're right," He commented, putting his arm around Zdanskyi's shoulders in a show of respect as he began to guide him out his office's door and into the deserted hallway just outside. "We don't know how Officer Wilde feels about his partner. We don't even know if he can feel - he hasn't made any mental improvement since he arrived. But I know for certain that he will want to rejoin the ZPD after his recovery. Time will ultimately tell what will happen, though, and once he returns he can make the decision whether he wants Officer Hopps to be his partner or his partner."
"If he returns," Zdanskyi politely but forcefully corrected. "You should know never to put too much faith in a hope, Chief."
"Of course, Doctor," Chief Bogo said with a small smile as he moved his eyes to look down at the tiger's clipboard. "I trust that all else is in order, then?"
Zdanskyi looked down at his clipboard and shook the Chief's arm off him as the two neared the elevator.
"It appears so," He eventually answered as they reached their destination. Chief Bogo pressed the down button for his feline counterpart and the doors opened immediately. Zdanskyi stepped through to stand in the middle of the elevator's wide interior, one of his paws reaching out to press the ground floor button while the other held his clipboard behind his back.
"Have a great day, Chief Bogo," He said in farewell. "I'll be back this time next week for Officer Wilde's next check-up, but if any developments occur in the time I'm gone contact me immediately."
"Of course, Doctor," Chief Bogo responded, raising a hoof to send a polite wave of farewell to the tiger as the elevator doors closed. As soon as the gentle humming of the elevator's descent began, the chief sighed and turned back to walk down the still deserted hallway, both of his hoofs tightly curled around one another as they hung behind his back. When he reached his office he shut the door behind him and fell back into his huge office chair with a grunt. It took him a moment to find a comfortable position, but he eventually settled on just leaning back into the chair's wooden frame. His eyes stared at his closed laptop for a moment before one of his hoofs moved to open up the screen again, and a small smile came onto his face as he stared at the two mammals still in the security feed.
"What am I going to do with you two?" He humorously grumbled as he slowly shook his head back and forth.
No matter what he did, Nick couldn't get the mammal sitting on the other side of the glass out of his thoughts. Only a few days prior his partner would have only been a visitor to the mysterious and abandoned parts of his mind which housed the mammals he loved, but now that his feelings for her were no longer suppressed it seemed like she would never leave them. It had been so long since someone had visited those lonely places. Love was, for the moment and much to his surprise, causing him much more harm than good. The forgotten feeling's sudden resurgence was quickly killing him. Not literally, of course, but sometimes figuratively can be just as intense as the real deal.
Nowadays whenever Judy was with him he couldn't be anything except an awkward wreck. He was still getting used to the fact that he and Carrots were actually in love with one another. Just think about it! He, Nicholas P. Wilde, a snarky hustler-gone-cop with more than one dark page in his book loved and was loved by Judy Hopps, a hardworking country rabbit with an unnatural talent of beating the heck out of criminals thirty times her size. No one in Zootopia could've ever predicted that the both of them would eventually develop romantic feelings for each another - except for Clawhauser, although the overweight cheetah had simply had an amazing amount of luck when it came to his near-constant fantasizing about him and Judy ending up together. He'd probably be ecstatic if he ever found out...
Nick focused his eyes on the vision in front of him and gave an awkward and toothy smile as Judy interrupted his string of thoughts with a loud laugh.
"So then I said!" She managed to stutter out between her intense laughing. "-I said, 'Sir, I may be just a dumb rabbit, but at least I'm not some naked bison!'"
Nick awkwardly snickered at the story's punchline, having been too consumed with his thoughts to have bothered listening to the long and complicated tale of Judy arresting some corrupt politician shortly after his departure to Arctic One.
"Naked, huh?" He awkwardly repeated, his mouth getting ahead of his mind. "That's exactly how I want to see y-"
Nick quickly cut off his crude statement before he could take it any further, his eyes widening at what he had already said. He groaned in discomfort as he quickly snapped his eyes shut and brought his paws up from his sides to forcefully massage his forehead. He just had to go and say something even more stupid, didn't he? That's all he ever did. Go and make a situation even more awkward than it already was.
Nick gave an empty, embarrassed huff as his arms fell back to his sides and his eyes opened up to stare at the vision again. His plate was already full enough. The very last thing he needed was a glass of sexual tension on the side.
"Maybe It's a good thing Cottontail can't hear me," He mumbled as he watched Judy continue her hard laughs, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Anything would be better than being trapped in his own mind. Even being a nervous wreck in front of the mammal he loved. She'd probably find it funny, seeing the restless and anxious Nick Wilde instead of her typically calm partner!
Wait. Nick thought, his eyes widening in realization as his paws fell into his ragged officer's uniform's pockets. She's my partner...
Maybe he had been over-complicating his feelings for her these past few days. He was acting like he was talking to the Judy Hopps he didn't love - the officer he left behind in Zootopia when he 'died' and the mammal who was no more than a friend. Maybe to end his awkwardness all he needed to do was to 'let it go', as the chief had always said. Let the old Nick Wilde drift into obscurity and usher in the new one who was in love with a certain bunny.
"Hm!" Nick warmly whispered, a pleased grin coming onto his face as he slowly shook his head back and forth. "Nick, you dumb, dumb fox..."
Finally, once Judy's hysterical laughing degraded into a series of erratic giggles, Nick straightened himself and sent the rabbit in the vision a devious smile.
"There's no easy way to put this, sweetheart," Nick suggestively teased, not feeling embarrassed or awkward like before. "But once I'm out of this cell, I'm definitely seeing you naked."
Nick ignored the fact that his partner couldn't hear him and instead focused on her smiling face as her string of giggles thinned out and she came to stare at his Primal Self.
"That's the only case you missed while you were on your trip," She commented as she crossed her legs and clutched her paws together. "After that, the Chief put me on desk duty for the rest of the month because of my 'insubordination'. But that bison needed to be put in prison - we can't have criminals in our government, can we now?"
"Well..." Nick answered, shrugging and motioning to himself. "Technically I'm paid by the city, aren't I?"
"I only spent a week on desk duty, though," Judy continued as her head tilted downward to stare at the ground and her smile shrunk, oblivious that her partner had answered her rhetorical question. "When the city found out about your death it was like time stopped. The chief gave me a two-month paid leave so I could recover, and the entire department flooded me with flowers and condolences. It was like I was getting married or something; but just a whole lot more depressing."
Judy loudly exhaled and looked back up at Nick, her eyes full of suppressed memories but her smile back at it's full extent.
"But let's not dwell on that," She said, shifting in her chair. "Have I ever told you about the time I went onto your phone?"
"No..." Nick cautiously answered, his face becoming hot. He wasn't sure how comfortable he was with his partner browsing through his phone like it was no big deal. There were some very dirty pictures of him on there. She needed to be careful if she wanted to keep her innocence intact.
"I don't think I have," Judy answered as she pulled a familiar phone out of her pocket and swiped and touched it with both her paws for several seconds.
"Sooo." She eventually said, her paws becoming still as they gripped her phone and a mirthful smile coming onto her face. "I had just left work and was walking back to my apartment when I decided to check Furbook. But when I unlocked what I thought was my phone, it turns out that somefox had left his ... private ... tabs open."
Nick felt his eyes grow huge, his tail and ears become limp, and his cheeks flushing with red as embarrassment flooded every inch of him.
"I expected you to watch that kind of stuff," Judy humorously acknowledged, shrugging with one of her paws held out to her side. "I mean, who doesn't? But I thought you'd at least have the decency to hide it when you gave your phone to me!"
"Heh!" Nick awkwardly chuckled, a nervous smile coming onto his face. He gave a large, awkward shrug and both his paws raised out in front of him.
"What can I say, Carrots?" He stiffly asked, his nervous smile remaining on his face for a few seconds too long.
"Anyways..." Judy continued, looking down at the phone again as her raised paw lowered. "That embarrassing experience kept me away from your phone until you returned. That's when I felt comfortable enough to go on it again. But you just have a knack for making me feel uncomfortable. This is the sight I was greeted with the second time I went onto your phone."
Judy turned the phone toward the glass and Nick cautiously peered closer to the vision. At the sight of the image on his phone's screen Nick became more embarrassed than he thought physically possible.
"Care to explain, Nicholas?" Judy inquired with a devious smile and a raised eyebrow.
"I- I-" Nick clumsily stuttered out as he quickly looked away from his partner. He didn't feel like he could see her right now. Even he was embarrassed by the image of him in an overly tight and tiny swimsuit. Why had he left that exposing image on his phone so anyone who picked it up could see it? Why'd he have to be such an idiot!
"Come on, Nick. Why's this on your phone?" Judy curiously but slyly asked, leaning forward in her chair. Nick's eyes hesitantly darted back to the vision, his voice still gone and his mind still panicked. But as he continued to stare at the crafty bunny on the other side of the glass, a smile formed on his face and he gave an empty huff of laughter. He couldn't stay embarrassed forever, and his partner's desire to pry into everything he owned was just one of the many parts of her character he loved.
He opened his mouth to speak and mouthed the words 'sly bunny' to Judy, but no sound came from him and his ears became strained, as if his sense of hearing was being transferred to somewhere else. It felt like his whole head was becoming numb. He could still see the vision and surrounding darkness, feel the cold, almost metallic touch of the black beneath his feet and smell the overwhelming scent of him which had built up over the years, but his other senses weren't working correctly. Something was definitely off...
"Sslyy Buunyy-" A crackly voice copied a moment after he had mouthed the same words. Judy's eyes widened at the familiar voice and her mouth became agape as her extended arm with the phone in it's paw slowly lowered toward the floor. Nick copied her expression exactly. That wasn't his voice talking. Yet at the same time it was. It was the voice which hadn't uttered a word for over two years. His true voice - not the voice he heard while he talked to himself in his head, but the, real, bonafide thing.
"What did you just say?" Judy asked shocked, the phone in her paw falling to the floor. Unlike before, Nick heard her voice crystal clear. It no longer sounded like it was being repeated through the vision but instead coming through his own ears.
"Ssly bunnyy-" Nick repeated a little less scratchy, equally shocked at his sudden leap in progress as his partner was. He continued to stand in the darkness, stunned, even as his partner flew off her chair and onto the concrete floor. A huge, relieved smile began to form on her face and she pressed both her paws up against the glass.
"Sweet cheese and crackers!" She excitedly whispered, her voice growing louder and happier as she continued to talk. "You're talking, Nick! You're actually speaking! This is so important! Your first real progress!"
Judy tilted her head as she leaned closer to the glass to stare into Nick's Primal Self's sullen eyes, and when her gaze connected with Nick's through the vision Nick began to feel the shock ebb from him and be replaced with an overwhelming feeling of excitement and happiness.
"Can you understand me, Nick?" Judy eagerly asked, and Nick sent the rabbit a large, toothy smile.
"I'll never understand you, Fluff," He sarcastically mouthed, but all his Primal Self did was let loose a deep growl.
"Nevvr Unndersstan, Fluff-" The beast managed to respond without a grin just like Nick had hoped it wouldn't do. Regardless, Judy's smile widened at the answer.
"For turnip's sake, Nick!" She excitedly said, turning around to quickly scramble for the cell phone she had let fall onto the concrete floor. "Chief needs to hear this!"
She turned back to the glass once she had the cell phone, and Nick watched the vision intently as she swiped the phone open and began to tap on the screen. After a few silent moments, Judy exasperated in annoyance and let both her paws holding the phone drop to the floor.
"Are you kidding me? It's dead!" Judy regretfully exclaimed, the light in her eyes dying down for a moment. But within a second they were just as alive as they were before, and she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small but familiar, orange object.
The Carrot pen! Nick humorously thought, his eyes lighting up as he stared at it. I completely forgot about that. I'll be damned if it still works after what it's been through.
"Rule number forty-six of the ZPD handbook: 'If needed, always carry a secondary device to record conversations with'," Judy eagerly recited as she pressed a button on the carrot pen.
"Can you still speak, Nick?" She asked, her voice still filled with excitement and passion but lacking the emotion which it held before. It sounded just like it did when she was interrogating criminals! Nick watched the vision shift as his Primal Self backed further underneath the cot and felt the skin underneath his fur chill as his Primal Self pressed up against the concrete wall.
"You betcha, Carrots," He mouthed in response, trying to make his voice sound just as joyful as it did in his head.
"Yezs," Was all his Primal Self said, and Nick could only feel a little disappointed at his apparent restricted communication with the outside world. But nothing could damper his spirits right now. He was finally talking to his partner!
"How are you feeling, Nick?" Judy inquired, and Nick responded with a shrug and an innocent expression.
"Better than I've been in years," He truthfully mouthed.
"Betderr," His Primal Self rasped out, his voice still scratchy yet definitely clearer.
"What's it like?" Judy asked, but shook her head when she realized how vague the question was. "Let me rephrase that. How does it feel being primal?"
"Different than what you'd expect," Nick answered, pausing for a moment as he stroked his chin with his paw and a devious smile came onto his face.
"Although having your body being controlled by a mammal that wants to kill anything that moves is definitely a downside," He sarcastically pointed out as he pointed at his partner.
"Diffrrent. Dowwnsidez," His Primal Self answered, and Judy gave a curt nod.
"Your answers are quite short," She noted, leaning a little closer to the glass while a hopeful but worried expression made its way onto her face. "Can you try saying something longer?"
Nick stood in silence for a moment, trying to think of a snarky comment to respond with. In the end he settled on an old phrase which he knew would stir his partner's interests and emotions.
"It's called a hustle, sweetheart," He responded, his eyes suddenly clouded with memories.
"It'sz called a husstle, Sweetheaart," His Primal Self repeated, his voice not flat like before but instead holding a twinge of the happiness which Nick had put in his own voice. Judy smiled at his Primal Self and pressed her free paw against the glass while her other paw pressed a button on the carrot pen, stopping the recording.
"Dumb fox," She lovingly said, a twinge of worry still present in her voice. "That's not what I wanted to hear."
Nick sent Judy a smile filled with as much love as he could draw out of his scrawny body and pressed his paw up against the vision, right on top of her paw.
"Love you, Carrots," He affectionately remarked.
"Love, Carrrotsz," His Primal self repeated with a little affection in his voice. The worry fled from Judy's eyes at the words and her smile grew exponentially.
"Love you too, Nick," She finished, her eyes still locked with his through the vision. Nick stared into her amethysts, admiring their truly stunning beauty, and his thoughts were once again solely focused on her - not that they hadn't been before. He was finally beginning to recover after spending so much time away from life. He could speak again, which meant that his Primal Self was beginning to lose the battle for his body! Who knew what would come tomorrow! Nick sent Judy a final, loving smile.
The countdown to his freedom - and to Carrots, for that matter - had begun.
Goodbye.
Primal: A Zootopia Fanfiction Chapter 11 - October 31
A Fox in Shining Armor: A Zootopian Fanfiction Chapter 2 - October 31
Fourty Thousand: A Zootopia Fanfiction Prologue - TBA
Guilt, that Monster: A Zootopia Short Story - TBA
Dire Situations: A Zootopia Short Story - TBA
This chapter was last edited September 21, 2016