12. Adorning the Christmas Trees

==Nick==

With a big sigh, I dropped myself onto the green metal bench. This wasn't the first one I had planted my behind on. It wasn't going to be the last either. Throughout the shopping mall there were occasional benches and as it was a normal workday - except for me and Judy - it wasn't very crowded, leaving most of them free for me to rest on.

The mall was four stories high, each of the upper floors having a section missing from the east entrance, all the way to the center. It accentuated the building's high, glass roof, also making the hall very bright. Billboards decorated the edges of each floor, sometimes reaching from the ceiling down to the first floor. They made the most use of the light as their fierce colorations literally made them scream out their messages to those who saw them. Upon entry, the customer was almost instantly informed of the bestsellers and reductions every store offered in their attempts to surpass the competition. The end of the hall, the middle point of the mall, also where I happened to be right now, was the place where you could buy drinks, salads, ice-cream and so on. Judy and Fru Fru had called in a short break to get some to refreshments. Meanwhile, I had sought refuge on this bench. I laid my head in my neck, stretching myself out. I noted the bronze sculpture of an elephant in a gymnastics outfit with a tutu and a ribbon staring down on me. It was surrounded by flower beds and fenced by metal benches, one of which I sat upon. I was glad that I didn't have to face the thing. It was hideous. Perhaps that was why the benches were positioned with their backs to it, I thought with a smirk.

My grin faded as I let out another sigh. Up until today I had had no idea that it was possible to long for police paperwork. Shopping with two women was far more exhausting than rumor had it. Thus far, we had scoured every square inch of the mall without buying a single thing! 'Skimming' they had told me it had been, 'to get an overall picture of what was sold, where and at what price'. I reckoned the next phase would be to fit every one. My feet were already sore and weary. Not that it had been a physical exertion, just from the slow shambling past the windows. That, and the abrupt stops they made when a collection caught their attention. That unnecessarily slow and irregular movement was strangely tiring. To think that we had yet to begin the real shopping...

Don't get me wrong, I loved spending time with Judy, and Fru Fru wasn't unkind either, but why did this have to take so long? I mean, c'mon. How worked up could you get about clothing? Why not choose something nice and comfy and buy it? These women had a complete reasoning behind every fiber. 'That color was too much spring, and that pattern was too gaudy, and that tan was more for rhinos.' I understood now why Judy had scheduled our whole afternoon for this. We'd been here for over an hour and hadn't bought anything. At this rate, we wouldn't even be finished for the gala tonight. I spotted my two jailers return from buying our drinks. I cogitated escaping through the small sink underneath me.

"You ready to go?" Judy pitched delighted, handing me a soda.

At least someone was having fun. How had climbing stairs at the hospital worn her out, but not this? Fru Fru sat on Judy's shoulder, enjoying her tiny shake to the fullest.

"Sure." I lied, rising to my feet.

I put the straw in my mouth in the hope of avoiding making comments I might later regret.

"Good. Fru Fru and I have seen a lot of great stuff. Also for you."

"For me?" I demanded.

"Yes. Remember I told you we'd be buying you some new clothes?"

"You were serious about that?"

She tilted her head, her ears bending sideways like grass in the wind.

"Eh, yeah. Gosh Nick, having ten sets of the exact same outfit is ridiculous, even for male standards."

"I don't have ten!" I defended.

She shot me an amused glare.

"Seven maybe," I mumbled, quickly boosting my volume afterwards "That doesn't matter. The real question is, what's wrong with the outfit?"

Her friend joined her in piercing me with their typical raised eyebrow look. God, I hated that look. How could something so passive as a mere expression be so utterly discomforting. Without struggling any further, I gave in and the matter was closed in silence and we went on our second stroll past the endless windows. I was glad to find that we went inside one of the shops this time. There it turned out that my joy was short-lived.

"What's your size Nick?"

With the hope that not answering would lead to a quick escape I kept quiet.

"Nick!" Judy repeated in a scolding tone.

"CS." I replied reluctantly.

"Canine Small. I figured as much!" Fru Fru uttered, enthusiastically jumping between the shelves, consulting the labels.

Judy collected all things Fru Fru pointed out as improvements to my current outfit and were properly sized. Apart from being called a troglodyte in fashion, I was also deemed incapable of making suitable combination as it was laid out to me which shirt had to be matched with which trousers. After a couple of minutes I was sent to the fitting room with a pile of garments. I didn't protest anymore; I had given in to that being pointless. In the hour that followed, I felt like a doll being dressed by a kid. Stepping out of the small chamber, I was first received by a wry look, then Judy correcting the edges, sleeves or whatever wasn't hanging the way it should, and finally a critical review. More than often, my own opinion wasn't even asked for, which was kind of silly as it was going to be my wardrobe that we were selecting.

"This one is a keeper!" Judy called out when I appeared in yellow polo shirt.

I couldn't help myself any longer. I feigned an expression of honest inquisitiveness and asked as innocent as I could:

"Me? Or the thing I'm wearing?"

Her cheeks bloomed red so fast it was hard not to laugh.

"I-errr…ahem..."

Fru Fru giggled at Judy's lack of words as well.

"Both of course!" She cheered, saving her.

After that, nothing much happened and we left the shop carrying two bags of brand news outfits. No, wait. I left the shop carrying two bags. They're your clothes, you carry 'm. Although I didn't argue with this statement, the foresight that I'd be carrying their newly bought stuff as well in an hour, did nestle itself in my mind.

The next shop we encountered was for the ladies. Well, for Judy to be more precise. Fru Fru wasn't here to buy. She was here to bestow upon us her gift of fashion insight. Once she discovered the racks of clothing, the entire process reinitiated: fishing out the right size and determine the best pieces by trial and error. I found myself a chair, only to be asked to hold on to a couple of things seconds later, forcing me to stand up. I wondered whether this move had been the intention. After being given the first coat, more soon followed as Fru Fru wanted Judy to fit every possible outfit the store had in her size. That was a part I didn't mind so much. Having a reason to quietly stare at Judy, whilst presenting herself in various outfits, made up for a lot of the earlier agitation. In a few instances, Fru Fru solicited for my view as well. Those moments were less pleasant. I had to overcome my adoration for Judy and come up with an empirical observation. That was already quite hard – Judy looked great in everything – where it not for the fact that no matter what I said, it was never the appropriate description. Modern? Wrong. It was retro. Colorful? Wrong again. It was autumn-somber. Nice? Wrong! It was terrible. And then there were the times that I thought to know what the right term was, only to find myself rephrased by the Big's daughter again.

"This I know! That is a dress! Right?" I asked cynically.

It was obvious that it was, though my cynicism was overlooked entirely. In fact, I was proven wrong again as became clear that it wasn't a dress after all.

"Actually, this is a caftan. A dress is more of a wider term. It could indicate all sorts of dresses. There are sheath dresses, shift dresses, maxi dresses, wrap dresses, trapeze dresses, slip dresses, shirt dresses, bustle dresses, jumper dresses..."

My head spun as she kept naming them by heart. I had no idea so many different names and styles existed, and if I had, I'd never have imagined anyone would be capable to distinguish between them. Luckily, Judy's appearance in her own clothing terminated the flow of gown-species that dazed my mind.

"And?"

Judy looked over the coat rack which had formerly been me.

"The green shirt was okay and the purple sheath dress was pretty." She concluded.

"Yeah! That was totally adorable! Excellent choices, hon." Her friend agreed.

Fru Fru snapped her fingers at me. I glared back; I was not one of her butlers for crying out loud! Judy looked at me quizzically, laced with curiosity as to what my reaction would be to this act. Angry, yet willing to keep the peace, I picked the complementary pieces from the wardrobe that I was carrying around and handed them to my lagomorph friend.

"We'll pay for these." The shrew said. "Would you mind hanging those back?"

Before I could protest, she already thanked me and preceded Judy to the cash desk. The latter give me a wanly smile, then quickly tagged along. I groaned and began returning the clothes that weren't approved. At first I figured Fru Fru to be nice. Sadly, over the course of our shopping adventure, she had gotten bossy and curt, and I was getting fed up with it. The little tyrant was more like her father than she knew. Then, things got only worse for me.

As I hung one of the dresses - I'd keep calling them that, no matter if Fru Fru disapproved or not - back near the exit, I heard a hoarse laughter. I looked up annoyed. I was not exactly in the mood to tolerate being made fun of. When I saw who it was, my anger slipped into self-pity. Why, of all animals, was he the one to see me in a store for women's apparel...

"Out to buy a new dress, Nick?" Finnick laughed, pointing at the beige cloth on the hanger.

"It's not a dress, it's a caftan." I retorted.

He wasn't insulted by me proving his lack of knowledge however, especially since it regarded the field of women's clothing. It made him laugh only harder. I frowned as I returned another piece to its original position.

"Apologies Miss Wilde." He taunted on, "I was just wondering if, hehehe, if you were aware that the lipstick is on discount over there."

"Shut up, Finnick."

He barked again with laughter and took off his shades to wipe the tears from his eyes. As I hung back the last two dresses, he managed to regain his breath.

"Okay, okay. I'm good now."

"You sure? You don't look fine." I remarked.

He cleared his throat, then resumed talking whilst polishing his sunglasses with the bottom edge of the navy-blue shirt he was wearing.

"So, Miss Wilde. If you're not here for a new dress, then why you're here?"

"Nick? Who are you..." Judy caught sight of the fennec fox. "Oh hey!"

Visibly amused by the answer to his question, he looked from me to Judy and back to me. I read thoughts on his face I didn't like.

"Hi." He said eventually.

"What were you guys talking about?"

"Well, we were-"

"We talked about which dress would fit best with Nick's eyes." Finnick broke in deadpanned.

The girls both chuckled behind their paws as my short friend continued with suggesting different colors that might match my fur color. I felt a rage building, though I wasn't sure if it was due to the jokes or the sniggering. I'd be killing someone shortly, I was sure of it. Fortunately, it never came to that point.

"Hey! I got an idea. What if Fru Fru and I are going to find me something and you and Finnick find you something."

"Yeah! Women amongst each other!" Fru Fru cheered.

At last! My ticket out of here!

"Sounds like a great idea!"

"Wait, wha-"

"I'll see you for dinner then?" I interrupted my friend, addressing Judy.

"Okay. See ya!"

As they wandered off, I heaved a contented sigh, also since I didn't have to carry their stuff after all. When they were out of hearing distance, Finnick stomped me hard against my thigh.

"What the hell Nick." He snarled. "If you think I'm gonna hold your hand whilst buying clothes-"

"Relax. You don't have to do anything. I just needed to escape."

"Yeah, right." He huffed. "And why's that?"

"Because it is a living hell to shop with those two!"

"With those two? Or with the mouse?"

A trepidation crept up on me.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked cautiously.

"You think I didn't notice what's been goin' on?"

"I have no idea what you mean." I responded, evading his glare.

"Nick. Man. I don't mind if you wanna date the bunny, just don't try to lie to me, okay?"

I swallowed the wrong way and started coughing to push the fluid out of my lungs again. We halted and he watched me struggle. He smirked satisfied.

"No, Nicky. You can't hide nothing from me, you should know that."

I was so dumbstruck by his knowledge of my feelings, that I didn't even bother to deny. Then again, as said before, we were like brothers and we could pinpoint the other's moves and thoughts quite accurately.

"For how long?"

He shrugged.

"Does it matter? The question is, what's this mouse doing on your date?"

I explained to him the chain of events that led us to the shopping mall. He nodded.

"Big's daughter? God Nick, think of the ransom money we could get!"

I granted him a warning glare.

"Relax. I'm kiddin'." He punched my thigh, softer than before, "Anyway. That party sounds like a good opportunity to strengthen your bond with Miss Fuzz."

"Yeah, we… wait. What? No! Finnick. We're gonna be there for work, okay?"

He a brow emerged from underneath the sunglasses he had put back on a few minutes ago. Why was everybody doing that to me lately.

"Nick, my friend, it's a gala! Women love galas. And Judy is a woman. So, what does that mean?"

"But she's never attended one before."

"Even better! You'll be able to blow her mind with that romance an all."

I mulled it over and concluded his reasoning to be correct. The air at a gala was undoubtedly romantic and if Judy and I went there as companions, I'd have a solid reason to keep her by my side during the entire evening. I wonder if Big still held up to the tradition of the midnight dance. Hopefully. Then he'd oblige the couples to dance together. That would include me and Judy. My heart made a jump for joy by the thought.

"The question is, what will you wear?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well. Knowing Mr. Big, he'll invite wealthy guests. That means Fru Fru will now be dressing Judy just as wealthy. And that means…" he removed his shades and peered over the names of the shops until his sight crossed the proper one "… you need something nice and shiny too."

I bent my knees to follow his index finger and found the shop he was referring to was Bearberry.

"Does it have to be that one?" I asked in despair, thinking of my wallet.

He slapped me on the back.

"Positive."

"Oh boy…"

==Judy==

"Turn around…mhm… Now spin."

With pleasure, I made the requested moves. It was entertaining, whirling on your axis with a ball gown, the fabric waving around you. It gave an enjoyable feeling that I couldn't quite put it to words, though I liked it every time. Fru Fru sat on one of the tables and judged with great expertise. I didn't know how it was that her comments always seemed to be spot on, but they were. I was glad I had brought her along. Regardless of that I had lied to Nick about this being my first gala, there were so many possibilities here to choose from, that I couldn't decide what would be the proper one. Once I had told her this, she had rubbed her paws and had been exalted with this challenge. So here I was, awaiting the revisions of my tiny friend on this teal gown.

"And?" I questioned.

"U-hunh." She hummed, thinking it over.

I stared into the mirror and saw myself. The folds of turquoise followed my movements gracefully, always ceasing their movement a second after my own. Although I found it beautiful, it was a bit on the long side in my opinion and I had to mind my feet repeatedly to not step onto the lower edges.

"In truth, hon, I think it's too bright. You'll catch a lot of eyes this way, though I'm not sure that's what you want. The evening doesn't revolve around you. No offense."

"None taken."

I mused about her comments. It was indeed quite flashy.

"You're right. Not this one."

I retreated into the fitting room to change. Inside I had made two racks; one with the things I had already tried on, another with the ones I hadn't yet. My own clothes were draped across the small stool standing in the corner. As I wriggled myself out of this dress and slipped into the next, Fru Fru noticed our parallel, non-apparel related, conversation.

"So why did you tell him that you've never been to a gala?"

"I don't know."

The downside of having told her, was that she kept going on about it.

"Isn't it nice to go on a date with him?"

"A date?" I let out.

The term had been echoing in my head ever since Nick had signed us up for Big's party. I thought it had been figments of my own imagination. A spin-off of the dreams Nick's eyes stirred up in me, as they had done at Pizza, Pasta e Più.

"Yes, a date. Going to a gala, together with such a handsome fox. How can you not see it that way?"

I pulled aside the curtain and emerged from the chamber in a Kelly-green, laced dress.

"Ugh. Why did we even consider that one! Take it off! Take it off!" She cried out disgusted, fluttering her hands.

"You think Nick's handsome?"

Her face recovered and she looked at me intrigued.

"Well yeah. Just because I'm married, doesn't mean I don't recognize a good-looking mammal."

"Fair enough." I agreed with a smile.

"Wouldn't you say he's handsome?" She asked.

I thought of Nick's physiognomy, summoning his entire stature in my mind. I tried to compare him to other mammals I knew, although I didn't quite know who to compare him to. Honestly, I found Nick highly attractive. Maybe more than I should. He was my best friend and it felt so weird to think of him as my crush rather than my colleague.

"I guess." I answered vaguely.

"Oh Judy. Don't need to plan dumb with me. A rugged predator like him, no need to be ashamed!"

I looked at her doubtful. It was very tempting to share my deepest secret with her. Then she roared to impersonate a predator, holding out her paws like claws. It was kind of cute due to her small size and high-pitched voice. She finished with a wink and suddenly, she made me think of Nick. I blushed as result of it and fumbled restlessly with the price tag of my dress.

"Please don't tell him." I asked slightly afraid.

"Relax dear, I won't say anything to anyone." She pledged.

"Thank you."

"On the condition that you free yourself from the clutches of that repulsive green thing!"

I laughed and returned to the fitting room for another swap.

"But now that we've confirmed that it's a date, we need something glamorous. Something with panache. Something mind-dazzling."

As she babbled on over the requirements for my corporeal adornment, I got drawn to a small patch of cloth sticking out from underneath my pile of unworn items. For unknown reasons, my gut told me I needed to try that one. I put it on and opened the curtains. Fru Fru was looking at her phone, for as yet unaware of me. In two swift paces, I stood in front of the mirror. Not only was it a perfect fit, it was absolutely –

"Gorgeous…"

I turned to see Fru Fru's little eyes sparkle at the sight of my dress.

"It's absolutely gorgeous!" She said dreamily. "With that, he won't be able to keep his eyes off of you."

"You think?" I blushed shyly, glancing back at my image in the mirror.

"Honey, I'll bet you my husband on it!"

Hey fans.

Currently I'm also working on an important thesis as well, so that may affect my update speed as I'm not inclined to spend both work and spare time typing on my laptop. I'll try not to postpone the next chapter for too long though, I'm sure (and I hope) most of you are looking forward to Big's gala. As am I. Anyway, see you in the next chapter!

K.R.,

J. Caesar