"He's the surprise?" Judy repeated Stu's words out loudly.
The bunny cop stared at the guest, bewildered. Was this fox from the farms? No, his clothes were speaking the opposite. They were clean and freshly ironed to be of a farmer's. Even Gideon Grey, the pastry chef of Bunny Burrows had clothes, which were weathered from working under the relentless sun. If he was from the city however, just what sort of connection does he have with her parents? She wondered.
"Well, that is just one part of the surprise!" Stu noted. Judy could see the stranger fox letting out a soft, uncertain laugh from her father's witty comment. From where she was standing, she could tell that the new fox was easily in his teens.
She tilted her head in question. "What's the other part then?"
"Oh, that will be for dinner - right Bonnie?"
Bonnie could not help herself but hide her giggle behind her paw. "Yes Stu, it's quite a shocker." She then gestured towards the guest. "Judy, meet Richard. Richard, this is my daughter, Judy. Beside her is her partner, Nick."
[Richard's Perspective]
As soon as Bonnie started the introductions, seconds appeared to tick like minutes. Knowing myself as quite the introvert, I was not ideal at sparking conversations or meeting new people. This phenomenon always triggers the moment I had to socialize with others who I do not recognize. However, I did not have the excuse this round - I knew both of them quite well; Just that I had never expected to come face to face with characters from an animated film. I had to say something... dragging the silence any much longer would make me give the impression that I was socially awkward. Giving up on pondering for words to speak, I managed to pull off a rigid wave with my paw and what I felt like was a weak but forced smile.
"Nice to meet you guys, I guess," I greeted, my tongue almost caught in the process. My nervousness was getting the good of me. Damn it Richard - get a hold of yourself!
"Hi there!" Judy was instantly up in my face, holding my paw with hers in a firm handshake - or paw-shake - whatever you call that in a mammal populated universe, which caught me off guard. I get that she is energetic and all but, I totally did not expect her actions to be instantaneous.
"Carrots, I think you are scaring him," Nick said, smirking as he walked towards us in his typical casual strides. As he approached, I could tell that I was about an inch shorter. Damn, just how much have I shrunk from my former size? He studied me from top to bottom before extending a paw forwards. "Nick, Nick Wilde."
I accepted his paw with my own. "Richard, Richard Hunt," I spoke.
Judy scoffed playfully as she observed Nick. "Nobody ever gets afraid of me, dumb fox."
"Hah, maybe it's because you are just that cute of a bunny," Nick kidded.
"Don't call me cute, just go and take a seat, will you?" Judy replied nonchalantly.
Nick's smirk widened from her statement. "All right, you're the boss." He then proceeded to take a seat on one of the couches; grabbing the remote as he sat down and started browsing through the channels.
Judy turned to face me. "Let's have a seat, shall we? Do not mind Nick, he's always this snarky," she exclaimed in his direction. Nick simply waved it off with a paw. We sat down right beside the Fox; each of us to his left and right. I remembered not to plop down on my tail like previously. It is weird to have to care for something extra all of a sudden.
"Is your tail injured or what? You seem to be gazing at it for quite some time, Buddy," Nick told me. He must have noticed me being distracted by it.
"I thought I saw a dried leaf attached to it, must have been my imagination," I played it cool.
Nick raised an eyebrow as he eyed me doubtfully, but shrugged it off casually. "I have been wondering. There are not many of us foxes, yet I have never seen you before; Are you new to the city?" he asked, curious.
"You could say so…" I trailed off, trying to avoid the question. Nick nodded slightly – not certain if he had actually believed in it or was contemplating my answer.
Bonnie joined us at the table, Stu following up from behind. He must have finished the paperwork. I was relieved that they joined the conversation, just before the bunny and fox pair could bombard me with series of invasive questions. I would have never known the appropriate explanations for them if they did ask me; right now, I was still in the midst of figuring out my identity in this world.
"Dinner is served! Sorry Nick, I could get you only blueberries," Bonnie apologized.
"No problem, Mrs. Hopps. Berries are fine with me," Nick replied as he scooped a paw full of blueberries and skilfully popped them into his mouth one by one. "They never fail to impress my taste buds."
Stu gestured to Judy and me. "Help yourselves with the food!" he piped excitedly.
Judy looked at me for a second, switching her glance back at Nick.
"What?" Nick asked, taking another serving of berries.
"Mind sharing? I mean, you two are foxes… so vegetables…?" Judy hinted at him.
"Oh. Sorry about that, you want some?" Nick offered me, pushing the bowl of berries towards me, which was already half empty. He sure does like his blueberries, doesn't he? I thought. Considering the fact that I was able to eat vegetables without concern of being a predator, I decided to let Nick have the remainders instead.
"It's fine. I can munch on something else," I declined politely, pushing the bowl back to him.
"Are you sure about that? You are losing some good quality tasting stuff here, you know," Nick urged me, but popping another few of those berries into his mouth as he did.
"What are you going to eat then? I mean, the other dishes are not for predators," Judy questioned in confusion. I could hear Stu concealing his laughter, down to a slight snicker. I smiled slightly – He may be a father of over two hundred rabbit kits, but he sure reacts differently from a typical matured… mammal, when he was filled with eagerness. I guess Nick does have a valid point when he claimed that bunnies were very emotional.
"Heh," was all I could answer as I shrugged and grabbed a boiled carrot from the dinner plate. I had completely forgotten the fact that it was freshly cooked. Luckily, the time that we took conversing and getting to know each other gave time for the dishes to cool down; so I did not end up scalding my paw. Previously was a raw carrot. This time however, it was a cooked one. It should be rather intriguing to try out an animal's cooking for once.
Nevertheless, before I began wolfing down the vegetable I had in paw, I could not resist the urge to examine the looks on both Nick and Judy's faces. Judy was seriously muddled, staring at me like as though I was a complete idiot attempting a ridiculous daredevil act. Nick was equally as abashed as his partner was, eyebrow raised high up as his jaw hung open. I could have sworn that I heard either Stu or Bonnie snapping pictures of their faces in relish. Satisfied with my share of reactions collected from mind-blowing the pair, I then proceeded on with the identical process as I did to Judy's parents. I finished the carrot faster than before. Cooking it had definitely increased its flavour by tenfold. Bonnie surely deserves a Michelin star, I deduced as I dabbed my mouth clean with a disposable napkin right after consuming the delicious orange vegetable. I was no Gordon Ramsey, but I do know if I really liked a dish.
"I am guessing that is the other surprise," Nick muttered in shock.
"How did – how did you… what?" Judy stuttered, trying to process what she had observed.
Stu could not resist his amusement any longer. He burst into a laughing fit, guffawing so comically, almost choking on his breath. His bubbly hysterics were so contagious – Bonnie and I started chuckling at him.
"Oh boy - hah! The looks on their faces! I just… can't even!" Stu exclaimed as he snorted, lying on the ground as he wiped a tear from his eye. He had both arms wrapped around his chest, clutching onto his phone in a tight embrace; not wanting to lose it. At one point in time, he was on the verge of flinging his phone from laughter as he was recording Nick and Judy; that he stopped himself from flailing his arms wildly before falling to the floor. Stu raised the phone above his head and began tapping away. "I am going to post this everywhere! It is priceless!"
Judy immediately recovered from her daze as soon as she heard what her Dad said. "No, no! No, Dad! Do not share that video!" She shouted pleadingly.
"Why the heck not? We are a family Judy, they must see this!" Stu remarked.
"It is embarrassing!" Judy begged. She faced her partner. "Nick! Help me persuade him!"
Nick smirked. "Actually, I do not mind that at all; I have many embarrassing photos because of your "evil-doings" already. A few measly photos wouldn't kill you," he said perceptively. "Just let it go."
"And… sent!" Stu exclaimed. Judy pulled her ears in frustration before slamming her head flat onto the tabletop.
It took quite a while to settle ourselves back to our seats. Judy had given up on coaxing Stu to delete the post in Ewechat – the equivalent of Wechat in the human world when I saw the application on Stu's phone. I sighed mentally – Disney's animal puns are out of this world. Speaking of her, I constantly noticed her checking her phone every ten to twenty seconds or so when the rest were busy eating and tapping away madly; probably to reply an explanation in a form of an excuse to every single one of her relatives. Part of me pitied her, especially when she would be done for once her younger siblings wake up and watches the video; by then she would have to hide her head in a paper bag. However, the other part of me felt that it was okay for such events to happen - it bonds with the family healthily and good humour was invaluable.
"So, let me get this straight. You do not find vegetables revolting?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, It tastes good," I responded, chewing on a piece of lettuce. Judy was too busy with her phone that she did not catch on about our conversation.
"You are one abnormal fox I must admit," Nick commented, spinning the empty bowl on the table with a claw. He had finished the blueberries. "I had met with foxes half my size, double my bulk, and one that is an albino; but you are the first ever fox and predator to ever eat prey food without barfing it back out."
"I guess it's in my genes," I answered back.
"But are you able to eat what predators snack on?" Nick asked again. "Like, vice versa."
"What do you eat then?" I inquired, interested to know of what carnivores eat in a world where prey were no longer food choices. Additionally, I was not planning to go for a full vegetarian diet anyway.
"You seriously don't know?" Nick exclaimed incredulously. "We eat insects as an alternative. There are fishes, but those suckers are hard to come by – they are supremely expensive on the Fishtown market in Tundra town as they are rare to find in the ocean."
Insects - I guess I really am indeed going full vegetarian.
