Chapter 2: Of Fish And Fearsome Dreams
Green. Green all around. Judy awoke in a field of heather, surrounded by a myriad of different trees on all sides. Some she recognised—such as Oak or Birch trees—but most she had never seen in her life. The forest seemed oddly mismatched, like patchwork. She looked up and saw the sky as grey and could hear distant thunder as it began to drizzle lightly, the clouds laden heavy with water.
It felt tangible, yet it felt distant. Judy felt everything so vividly—as if she were really there.
'Where am I?' she thought to herself, perplexed, rain droplets streaking down her cheeks and back.
The wind was slowly picking up, the smell of grass and fresh rain all about her, the earthly scent of the forest she was amidst… the unshakable feeling of being watched…
Being watched?
At that moment, she noticed that she was fully nude on all fours, half hid amongst the tall grass as she held herself low to the ground, her ears alert, pulse racing.
She had no idea how she had gotten here nor where 'here' was to begin with. She felt like watching a movie at the cinema but able to sway it to her will ever so slightly: like sitting in the passenger seat of a car, being able to intrude on the driver's actions.
She contemplated whether she was dreaming, yet it felt so real, it couldn't be…
Parted from her train of thought abruptly by the sound of a twig cracking, she whirled around to face the direction she had heard the noise emanating from and tried to call out, yet no voice erupted from her vocal cords.
As the rain started to increase, so did her panic; she was positively soaked at this point.
'Where am I? What's going on? Where is Nick? Why am I not at home?' Questions flew throughout her head wildly, bouncing at every corner of her noggin.
Judy felt herself wanting to run away from the noise, but—through an incredible amount of effort—she managed to step slowly but surely toward the noise, wanting to know who or what was stalking her; she was no coward.
'It's just a dream!' she intended to calm herself, reaping little benefit.
The doe tried calling out again, failing as miserably as before.
Slowly, surely, a hulking shape came into view, a long, russet-coloured muzzle all she could see at the moment, and she froze in an instant. The form was still advancing methodically, apparently uncaring of being seen.
As it was now only a few metres away from her, she could clearly make it out.
It was much bigger than her, had russet fur with a lighter pigmentation on its underbelly, and a sizable, bushy tail at its rear. Furthermore, it hung low to the ground, mirroring the rest of its posture: a predator, a fox.
'Hold on, that smell… it looks like… Nick? No, that can't be… can it?' she thought to herself, watching the scene in front of her play out, feeling distant yet close.
'Why am I dreaming of Nick and… cheese and crackers… he is naked!'
Judy didn't have long to dwell on the fact as Nick stalked ever closer. He briefly stopped a metre in front of her, sitting on all four paws, his nostrils flaring, catching her scent. She sat paralysed in front of him, her heart jumping out of the cage that was her chest.
Just as she opted to cry out again, run away, or do anything other than stand around like some dumb bunny, he set into motion once more, now slowly circling her, menacingly baring his teeth, coming ever closer with each revolution.
Her brain was overwhelmed with fear as she continued to stay in place.
She tried to reach him once more.
'Nick! Nick! It's me, Judy! Where are we? What are you—' she screamed frantically.
Judy didn't produce any noise and was cut off at exactly that moment as Nick abruptly lunged towards her and put his muzzle around her jugular. He laid her prone and began to apply pressure to it while growling deeply into her shuddering frame.
To her surprise, she didn't die; she didn't even bleed; the feeling of his maw around her throat was… indescribable.
But what truly shocked her was the sky she was now looking at: it flashed from grey to a blanket of bright white, back to cloudy grey, and back to white; it looked like some kind of simulation flickering on and off, collapsing in on itself as it lost power.
Only a moment later, the sky solidified into a white ceiling, the heather she lay amongst now stone.
The bunny could see artificial ferns and grass all around her—now clothed, in a pit. In the pit: the pit in the natural history museum where they took down Dawn Bellwether all those months ago.
Nick's fangs were on her throat as they had been then, yet it hurt neither time: it was bliss.
He continued to increase his pressure on her, his maw piercing her skin; she felt her hot life essence rushing out of her body and slowly pooling around her prone frame. She felt his claws now digging in at her sides as well, puncturing her skin further; the pain she felt at that was immense, but it was dwarfed by her other emotions: she felt alive, she felt powerful, she felt like she was in heaven—she was enraptured.
Before she could do or feel anything more, the world around her flickered again: she was back in the field of heather, then back in the museum, then back again in the heather—all the while, Nick kept his jaws clasped firmly around her throat, closing his maw ever further. Looming above her with a savage expression in his eyes, Nick's pupils were dilated, blood pooling evermore around her as he widened her wounds, goring her.
Her world flickered one last time as both her pleasure and her pain crescendoed to unbelievable heights.
Opening her eyes in the same position she lay prone in mere moments earlier, Judy saw a white ceiling, but this time she was not lying on the ground; instead, she lay on an all too familiar green couch in Nick's apartment.
After having checked herself all over frantically—to her surprise—she was utterly unharmed and still in bliss, though she felt considerable phantom pain around her throat and sides.
She rubbed her eyes and slapped herself to make sure she was awake, which, well enough, she was as she lay there. Judy was drenched in sweat, her heart beating faster than she believed possible, yet she felt several conflicting emotions: sadness, torment and terror; but also excitement, joy; and even… arousal and… lust? Impossible.
Sure enough, her panties were soaking wet, mirroring the rest of her body, clinging tightly to it.
Unable to cope with the situation at paw any other way, Judy's barely functioning consciousness deemed it best to get away to shower immediately.
Quickly grabbing one of her spare changes of clothes that she always kept at Nick's place, she rushed towards the bathroom, hoping that, for once, she got lucky and Nick wouldn't be awake. In her rush, she managed to quickly look towards the clock on the wall, which read '5:30 AM', turned her head back again, and opened the bathroom door hastily. After closing it behind her much the same—locking it in the process—Judy slumped against the backside of it and slid down onto the ground, panting heavily.
Trying to interpret her dream and calm her breathing, she sat there for quite some time, taking comfort in the solid wood that braced her back.
She dreamed of Nick: not unreasonable, she thought to herself. They spent so much time together, yet these continuous dreams were… something else entirely. She may have dreamed of him now and again, sometimes romantic, sometimes melancholic—but these dreams… Ever since he had enrolled at the ZPA had they been like this, and they only got worse. It was as if her body tried to tell her something—or even multiple things—but was conflicted itself.
The emotional range she had experienced that night couldn't range further if she tried: there had been everything from utter depression, hopelessness, and resignation; to a deep, primal fear; to sheer excitement and happiness, to anger at herself for freezing up and for not being able to intervene further; all the way back towards unconceivable arousal at the predator in front of her.
She pondered for several minutes—had an hour gone by? It didn't matter. Slowly but surely, she made up her mind.
'So I like him, I love him, yet I fear him. Do I love him because I fear him? No, I love him unconditionally; I love him despite fearing him,' she decided.
'He is so hot when he growls,' another part of her mind interjected.
'He ravaged me, and I… enjoyed it? What is wrong with me? What does that even mean?' She remembered that the meaning of dreams is seldomly straightforward; she may be right with her pain–pleasure conclusion, but there might be more to it.
'Well, you clearly like his jaws,' yet another voice said.
The voice was right; it reminded her of the pit incident—his jaws around her throat made her go wild in more ways than one, although she was embarrassed at the thought of admitting that to Nick.
So the dreams clearly indicated pleasure, she concluded; but there was undeniable pain there, too; therefore, possibly, her primal instincts—the ones that weren't related to mating—warned her of the predator at the same time. One question remained, though: why were her dreams getting worse?
Judy couldn't deny the voice, however much she wanted to deny everything at that moment. She wanted nothing more than to just go back to their easy, simple friendship, where she knew exactly where they stood and what to do and where she felt comfortable.
She finalised that these feelings won't go away and that she was in a deeper relationship with him now. She had to work through them and wouldn't run away with her tail between her legs; she wasn't that kind of mammal.
Maybe she should talk to Nick about that night eventually.
A stray thought peeked around the corners of her mind. 'What if he also dreams of me? How does he dream of me? Does it matter to him that I am prey?' Surely it does—she deduced—remembering his demeanour yesterday: his almost kit-like terror at witnessing her recoil from him.
It didn't matter now; she should get on with her shower, lest Nick awoke and started to worry about her. That was the last thing she needed right now.
Having thoroughly rinsed herself, she stepped out of the shower, feeling the cold air of the bathroom opted for her to quickly dry off with a towel. Afterwards, she put her clothes on, consisting of a plain, white t-shirt with comfortable deep crimson leggings.
Now standing in the main room of his apartment once again, she studied the clock: it read '6:32 AM'. 'Was I really an hour in there?'
She heard the floor reverberate with heavy footsteps; 'Nick,' she thought, he must have just woken up. Moments later, the door to his bedroom opened and—sure enough—there he was, in all of his russet-coloured glory. The fox looked slightly dishevelled from a rough night of sleep, his face drooping with a tired gaze. Then, his emerald green found her violet eyes.
"Morning Carrots, sleep we—" He abruptly stopped talking, sniffing the air. "You smell really good: did you shower already?" He could smell the perfume on her—sure—but he also sensed that sickeningly sweet aroma lingering in the room that emanated from her on occasion while they worked together. She hadn't just come out of the shower at all those times; he was at a loss as to exactly what it was.
Blushing slightly, she was happy he wouldn't question her and potentially pry out her dreams before she was ready to talk about them to him. "Yeah, just now—actually. Come on, I'll make you some coffee."
"That would be lovely, Fluff," he replied, yawning as she turned his back towards him and walked into the small kitchen to prepare his coffee.
Nick could barely be considered a mammal before his cup of coffee; being nocturnal didn't really help him there, either. In fact, it was unusual for him to be awake this early on a day when he didn't need to work; normally, he slept up until 10 AM, at the least.
They promptly sat down, both holding a cup of coffee in paw, Judy having brewed herself a special kind of coffee blend without caffeine, tailor-made for bunnies, as it was too dangerous for their already racing idle heartbeat to consume more than a trickle of.
Trying to start a conversation, she brought up his shoddy appearance. "So Slick, looks like you didn't sleep too well, now did you?" she inquired casually, a smirk etched into her muzzle.
"You could say that," he replied simply.
Suddenly feeling very hungry after her recent nightmare that Nick was thankfully oblivious to and not wanting to discuss the subject of sleep any further, she decided to change the topic.
"So, uh, Slick, do you have any food in your fridge?"
"Depends. Food that I can eat, or food that you can eat?" A wide, mischievous smirk formed on his muzzle. "How about I make us some fish? Would you like that?" he continued after some time, obviously expecting her to revolt.
"Uh…" She paused; she hadn't ever eaten fish. What, as a prey mammal, it didn't exactly come naturally, nor would she like it if it tasted anything like it smelled, the few times she came to witness the odour of raw fish.
She was still reeling from her conflicting emotions, yet here was Nick already presenting another hardship so casually that she had dreaded ever since contemplating their relationship: their diet.
Sure, Nick was an omnivore, but as a predator, she was certain he liked to indulge in meat and fish, although he had never eaten such foods in front of her. That was sure to change now, she thought. Now trying to be themselves in any and every regard, she was sure he would consume predatory dishes with her watching.
She would never admit it, she is too stoic for that, but the thought of it alone made her rather uncomfortable. The thought of a living, breathing being slaughtered, gutted and sliced into little square slices for consumption made her want to vomit. At least it beat the thought of him sinking his jaws into a living mammal, just as he did with her in her dream, her brain oh so helpfully reminded her, and eating the corpse raw, like the savages did millions of years ago… She needed to quickly stop that train of thought.
Now he was asking her if she would like fish? That's ridiculous! But what was she thinking? Such a scenario was sure to come up when living with a predator. Not wanting to show weakness as she did yesterday, she replied in the only way she saw fit.
"Sure, bring it on," she said. But, unfortunately, it came out much too timid for her liking.
His smirk widened as his maw stood agape ever so slightly before he abruptly replaced it all with a tight-mouthed line. "Are you sure?" His tone was still mischievous but laced with slight concern—he just wanted to tease her. He knew that, thanks to evolution, even prey mammals could digest meat in small quantities without falling ill; yet, the experience would have to be quite unpleasant, if not disturbing, he imagined. Naturally, therefore, he expected her to— no, he had desperately needed her to decline, really. "I was only kidding, Carrots," he tried to reassure her.
He could read her; he knew she was trying to put on a brave face, and he easily saw through it. What with his street experience, he could discern even the intentions of strangers accurately. Judy, on the other hand, was far from a stranger. Her eyes betrayed her, and her face tightened a smidgen upon his tease.
He could see the relief painted across her muzzle at his latest words, indicating he had been right.
"It's fine; I'll just make us a salad." He paused. "It's just that, well, this kinda situation will come up," he started earnestly. "I do like blueberries and a good salad," he couldn't help but mention his beloved blueberries. "But I do eat meat, Judy." He finished, leaving an unspoken question in the room.
"Yes, Nick. Please. Just… it's fine," she smiled at him with a hint of reluctance still present in her voice. She needed to at least be able to watch him eat meat without bolting.
Knowing he couldn't sway her further, he sighed. "How about this: I'll make that salad for us and prepare myself the salmon that I have left over, and you just tell me if it gets too much for you."
"Alright," she replied plainly.
Nick finished his remaining coffee in a single, big gulp and set off to work while Judy remained standing at the kitchen counter with her cup half-full.
She watched attentively as he pulled out a whole head of salad and several fresh vegetables from his fridge. He quickly went about washing the salad, dicing the vegetables and preparing a simple oil and vinegar dressing for the meal by mixing both and adding salt and pepper. He finished by sprinkling in some walnuts for protein. In less than 10 minutes, his cooking had commenced. Before them stood a large bowl of nutritious salad adorned with nuts and carrots, bell peppers, onions and several other diced, healthy veggies, ready to be eaten.
"Wow, Nick! That looks delicious," she exclaimed once he was finished. She was pleasantly surprised by his cooking aptitude when she had first learned he could cook, yet it never ceased to amaze her how easy he made it seem: his knife was an extension of his arm, a blur in the air as he sliced and diced with a confidence that came from having done that same task to exhaustion. She loves salads, especially if they are made with high-quality ingredients, as he had just done.
"Thank you, Carrots. You can prepare yourself a bowl if you like. I'll just fix myself the leftover fish and join you on the couch." He went about and got himself his leftover lemon salmon, adding a bit of bread he had still left in his pantry for good measure. It wasn't very intricate, but the fish and the bread needed to be eaten before they went bad, and he didn't really have a lot else at home; he would need to go to the supermarket soon. At last, he also prepared himself a small bowl of salad to go along with his meal, pulled out a fork and a knife from his drawer and got over to Judy.
Now seated on the couch, she could smell the salmon the moment he pulled it out of the freezer. While he might have found it delicious, his mouth salivating in anticipation, for her, the pungent smell was… wrong. Her instincts, the small voice that was currently in the back of her head, was spelling doom, for the smell of dead mammals implied a predator being nearby, which—in this case—couldn't be more accurate.
It wasn't quite as bad as raw fish, as the salmon was properly cooked and heavily seasoned and therefore smelled much less vile to her, yet her instinctual reaction remained, and it only got worse as he slowly walked towards the couch.
Judy was quick to put on some unremarkable TV-Show to distract herself as he got comfortable beside her. She looked over toward him, eyeing his plate. His salad bowl now stood on the small coffee table between them and the TV, with his plate resting on his lap.
She felt the voices in her head crying out, but with a conscious effort, she silenced them and began talking to the tod.
"So, that's salmon, huh?" she asked timidly, having already eaten several forkfuls of salad; it tasted delicious, as she had initially suspected. The crunchy salad leaves full of moisture, combined with the walnuts, the diverse taste of the dressing, and the flavourful vegetables, served to create a simple but heavily enjoyable breakfast.
"Yeah, never eaten fish? It's really good; you should try it sometime," he blurted without thinking, still somewhat sleepy. "Oh, sorry. Of course, you wouldn't have.
They continued to sit in silence for some time, both enjoying their respective meal and watching the television idly.
Judy intently watched the first time Nick lifted a piece of fish toward his muzzle. She witnessed his jaw open, the fish being quickly parted by his incisors and then further sliced by his other teeth. The display was mesmerising, and she felt an instinctual fear rising; she kept it at bay. After some more bites, she found that she didn't care as much anymore and averted her attention to the television again, although not really watching; she was reflecting on today's happenings.
She couldn't help but think about the salmon on his plate again; how would it taste?
She knew there was some prey that partook in eating meat on occasion, but they were few and far between, generally seen as 'defective' by predators and prey alike; the idea of consuming other dead creatures didn't come to prey naturally. The bunny remembered recent studies showing that most prey could now digest meat without much issue.
But both the prey animals' own adversity against such a thing, as well as the all but guaranteed hatred against 'carnivorous prey' from others made this course of action often undesirable, as far as she knew.
Yet the nutritional benefits couldn't be denied either. Meat and fish were very dense in protein, often low in fat, and rich in vitamins and other nutrients.
Now being together with a predator, she couldn't avert her eyes from the fact she was curious about its taste; he ate it all the time, after all. Or so she thought; this was the first time she actually witnessed him eating any meat, after all. His care for her had had him restrain himself from giving in to his urges in her presence. As a predator, the copious proteins that meat provided were invaluable.
"What… what does it taste like?" she asked him, genuinely curious.
"What it tastes like?" He repeated, placing another forkful of fish into his maw, chewing slower than before, savouring the taste before answering.
"Well, I don't know how to describe it to a herbivore. Honestly… you've never eaten any meat or fish to compare it with. It's, well… meaty. It feels unlike any vegetable I know of, and it tastes rather flavourful, now that, of course, depends on the preparation of the dish…." He trailed off. "I don't know—the taste is very unique. It tastes like fish, distinctly different from how other meat tastes in general. It's pungent, but in a good way… at least for me.
"Mhh, I guess that makes sense… kinda," she mumbled, still mulling over what he said, trying to imagine how it would taste to her.
At this point, Nick felt the urge to tease her, to egg her on to try some of the fish, but with this relationship being so meaningful to him, he resisted—even though it hurt the unreasonable part of him he likes to fall back on. But much to his surprise, Judy was about to ask precisely that.
"May… uh... may I try some?" Her tone was rather timid, but she decided she had to go a step forward after stumbling a step back earlier that day.
"Really?" he said, questioningly and very much surprised, if not even doubtful, facing Judy, almost toppling over the plate he ate from in his lap in the process. "You know you ne— "
She cut him off. "Nick, I know," she stated, blunt as ever, a hint of determination in her eyes.
Slowly, reluctantly he cut off a piece of salmon, put it on his fork and handed it to her. "By all means…, " he said, still wide-eyed, his fur bristling at this sudden development. While he had considered this a possibility, he hadn't really expected it to actually happen.
She took the fork from him and carefully placed it in front of her nose, taking in the scent of the lemon salmon.
Among the scents, she easily recognised the lemon, garlic and some kind of herb—or a mixture of herbs. as well. 'Rather pleasant,' she thought to herself at that moment.
But now she noticed the smell of the fish, the salmon. 'Disgusting' was the first word that came to her mind, immediately ruining any positive sway she had towards the dish from having smelled its other ingredients before somehow.
Her ears fell limp, and she raised her eyebrows before scrunching her face in revulsion. It smelled… unique to her, just as Nick had exclaimed seconds before. But instead of a kind of pleasant pungent smell, it was very much the vile kind of pungent in her opinion; she dreaded having to eat any of it.
Seemingly catching on to what she was thinking at that moment, Nick moved his paw slowly to take the fork out of her own. "Carrots, it's alright. Next time for sure," he soothed her, genuinely concerned. He already regretted his tease; he just couldn't stop himself sometimes.
Just as he lightly grabbed the fork, Judy's brain short-circuited. Not wanting to disappoint Nick and—more importantly—herself, she grabbed the fork tightly, yanked it out of his paw easily, and placed the salmon into her mouth before shutting her muzzle abruptly, handing the fork rather violently back towards Nick.
"Judy!" he cried out, fearing the worst. He didn't want a repeat of yesterday's panic attack; they needed to ease into it. And what does she do? She violently shoves salmon into her muzzle! He blamed himself once more, failing once again to stop his over-eager go-getter bunny from taking things too far and potentially bringing the house of cards that is their fragile relationship tumbling down. But what is done is done, he winced instinctively as he watched her intently, worried beyond belief. He wanted to kick himself for even so much as suggesting eating the fish in her presence; he should have known.
As she placed the salmon hastily into her maw, she immediately regretted her course of action. If she disliked the smell, she hated the taste. She didn't dare bite down, but she dared even less to open her eyes to see Nick's most certainly worried expression, nor did she spit it out, back down and admit defeat. So she remained sitting like this for a couple more seconds, anxiousness building.
At last, she decided that if she wasn't going to spit it out, she might as well try it in earnest.
Biting down on the modestly sized rectangle of salmon made her revulse and gag automatically. The taste of it before might have been vile but bearable, but it was nothing compared to biting down on it. The taste was stomach-clenching and vomit-inducing; she stopped after she had chewn on it once, trying desperately to cope with the, for her, unnatural flavour overtaking her taste buds.
'Is this what predators eat?' she asked herself in utter disgust.
The consistency was unlike anything she had known; the meat yielded beneath her teeth effortlessly, yet not at all at the same time. She couldn't quite describe it to herself. The smell she had perceived earlier practically exploded in her mouth tenfold in the form of its unadulterated taste.
'Unique taste indeed, Nick!' she mocked.
It tasted very much pungent, in a bad way. She was suddenly acutely aware that this was once a living being that she now held the dead flesh of between her jaws. Her instincts flared up again as she violently gagged and spasmed on the couch, her salad bowl long since on the coffee table next to Nick's.
Nick witnessed the harrowing display before him, calling out to her.
"Judy!" he cried. "Spit it out! I am so sorry! You don't need to prove an—"
She cut him off by sandwiching his muzzle vertically in between her paws and clamping it shut, releasing it as soon as he got the memo. Even now, his fur felt so warm and lovable; if she weren't in this situation, she'd just keep her paws there and ruffle his fur.
Where was she? Oh, right.
'Don't vomit, don't spit it out! Don't vomit, don't spit it out!' was her mantra at that moment; through sheer determination and willpower, she forced her instincts back down into the deep, dark corner of her mind where they belonged and managed to regain her composure after quite some time.
She was now leaning back into the couch, sweating as if she had just run a marathon with the appropriate heart rate to boot, a shimmer formed in her eyes, yet she felt far from sad; she mostly felt disgusted but also invigorated and proud that she had come this far. She was looking at Nick's mortified expression.
"It's fine, Nick," she mumbled, mouth still filled with salmon; she shuddered at the sudden intake of flavour.
Nick knew this was a lost cause: once Judy had set her mind to anything, one might as well be talking to a pile of bricks.
He finally regained some control over his body and immediately put his plate down on the coffee table and scooted up next to her to comfort her, embracing her as she continued to nibble away at the salmon. Instinctively he wrapped his bushy russet-coloured tail around her as he placed his muzzle in between her ears on top of her head.
Judy was surprised at the sudden affection, to put it lightly, and she froze once more in response despite herself as he encompassed her lithe frame fully with his much broader chest and large paws, his heavy muzzle resting atop her. He felt so… soft and… gentle.
But, what surprised her even more, was her automatic reaction after her instincts had calmed down: she embraced him tighter and nuzzled the scruff of his neck while she rested her head on top of one of his shoulders.
Then she began sniffing his neck as well—as if it were the most natural thing in the world. His scruffy neck positively reeked of his foxy musk; she couldn't place the smell, but what she could make out for certain was her reaction to it. At first, she froze up like a statue, remaining like that for a solid minute or so before she relaxed back into his embrace and felt herself slowly turning into liquid in his paws.
That wasn't how a bunny was supposed to feel around a fox—her instincts made that clear to her every time. But once she had overwhelmed that part of her, the sensation of Nick all around felt as if nature had intended it all this time.
'For him… for us!' she thought as she continued to chew on the salmon at last. She still tasted it and felt its horrid texture but managed to drown it out somewhat with her other feelings: the feelings Nick was providing her with. The feel of her loving tod against her fur.
He was her rock, her anchor that kept her grounded. And so, slowly but surely, she bit the piece of fish into ever smaller pieces until she finally swallowed it, her body shuddering uncontrollably as it fell down her throat and into her stomach. She was sobbing against his fur by the end of it, and Nick noticed; how could he not?
One of his paws remained on her upper back while his other one now gently brushed the fur on her head backward and continued, tenderly caressing all the way down her ears.
As her chewing ceased, Nick couldn't help but feel proud of her: she went completely out of her nature for him. He made a mental note to do anything she wanted of him to return the favour; he could barely comprehend the experience she must have undergone in his embrace.
"Shhhhh... It's okay, Judy," he soothed as he continued his loving ministrations on her head and long ears. "I love you, thank you." He paused for some time before reluctantly adding, "Please, Judy. Don't scare me like that again." He put more pressure onto her back with his paw, pushing her stronger into his chest than before.
She looked up and opened her eyes, having had them still closed tightly from the salmon, and saw him smiling at her. She couldn't help but smile back, easing her vice-like grip on him; he reduced his in turn. Now she lifted her paws and replaced them on his neck, hugging him affectionately.
"I am proud of you. Thank you, Judy. But you really didn't need to. You don't need to do anything to please me; you already did more than enough for me."
"I know, Nick," she stated simply. "But I wanted to do it for us; I couldn't think straight anymore, and I just… did it. I just thought that with you being a predator, the least I could do is try some of the things you eat. And then I was too stubborn to back down and just kept going. Thank you for being there for me, Nick."
He sighed, "Always, Fluff, always."
He couldn't resist any longer: she looked so cute. Although he disapproved of her rushing their relationship once again, he adored her for doing so, it's just another testament to how badly she wanted to be with him, and so he placed a chaste kiss on the top of her head.
Startled by the sudden affection, her mind began spinning in circles again.
'Finally, I have an excuse to kiss him back!' she thought deviously.
'Although you would prefer to kiss him on his muzzle,' a voice in her head said suddenly.
'Duh, I would,' she retorted, not bothering to hide the fact from herself any longer.
She promptly removed herself from his loose embrace and tilted her head upward, put one paw on either side of his muzzle and kissed him affectionately on one cheek. Afterwards, she quickly embraced his chest, using all the strength she had—which was a considerable amount for one her size—the action causing Nick to wince from the pressure. As it turns out, training to be a police officer one's whole life made Judy's body into a coiled spring of muscles and determination.
He was ecstatic at the sudden return of his caring gesture, his day taking a turn for the better yet again: not only had Judy made great strides to understand and even partially adopt some of his eating habits, but she also returned his affections today in full!
There was one thing that still bothered him about today, though. Judy had been very quick to distract from the topic of sleep; perhaps he should ask her what she had dreamt that night. It was clear to him that something was abuzz.
After their sentimental exchange had finished, Judy decided she had had enough fish for the day and had emptied her salad bowl, with Nick having done the same in addition to eating the few remaining pieces of salmon and bread.
The day went on peacefully as neither of them had much planned for their weekend; they were content to just respite from their taxing workload, sitting on the couch all day long, curled into each other as they continued mindlessly watching whatever happened to be on TV at the time.
Yet as night fell upon them, they grew increasingly tired, and an all too familiar problem stood before them.
It's an inside joke between them that, at this point, Judy spent more time at Nick's than at her own apartment, yet neither wanted to broach the topic of moving in together as they had still been denying their feelings for each other up until recently. So the common course of action would be that Judy came home with Nick, they would eat dinner together, and conclude the night by sleeping separately—Judy on the couch and Nick in his bed.
Of course, there had been attempts issued from both parties, teasingly trying to sleep in the same bed, yet both knew it was only a tease.
Now though, the idea didn't seem so far off anymore to either of them. Judy was almost at the point of asking earnestly if she were allowed to sleep with him for the first time that Friday evening but ultimately decided against it; she didn't want to rush things and be at fault once more. That had happened too often already, she was convinced.
As the evening wore on, Judy fell asleep. Losing control of her body, she slumped over and fell into Nick's lap, leading her to wake up instantly, startled.
"Tired already, Carrots?" he smirked, noting that it was close to midnight now. He couldn't help but let a slight flush creep onto his cheeks, unwillingly mirrored by Judy as they gazed at each other.
Judy laughed nervously before yawning. "I think I am overdue for some sleep." Her eyes struggled to keep open.
"Wanna follow me into my den, bunny?" he couldn't help but continue, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Your wha—" she paused. Her flush increased severely as she slowly understood what he had been implying. "Uhh…" she hesitated.
'It's only a tease, Judy,' she thought to herself. 'He couldn't be serious, could he? No.'
'Although you are more than friends now,' a small voice perked up.
Pushing the voice out of her mind, she answered, at last, all the while Nick's smug widened. "I'm too tired for your games, Slick. Go on, shoo!" She started forming dismissive hand gestures towards him.
"Oh Judy, you are gonna be the death of me!" he kidded, holding one paw to his forehead in mock defeat.
Both went contentedly about getting ready for bed: they brushed their teeth together in the bathroom, Judy inadvertently staring as he cleaned his canines with great proficiency.
Noticing her behaviour, he went down to one knee and pointed his muzzle upwards, maw open wide as to hand Judy a better look at his gaping jaws.
Instinctively a startled 'eep' escaped her muzzle, and she shuddered before averting her gaze quickly and returning to her own brushing, Nick quickly following suit. Fortunately, she was able to keep herself in check this time.
"Nick!" They laughed it off.
He found it hilarious to startle or embarrass her in good nature. Although he didn't like showing her his teeth, it would further familiarise her with them; furthermore, she all but demanded it, so he had no choice.
After thoroughly brushing their teeth and cleaning themselves and the living room, they headed their separate ways and promptly fell asleep; Nick took a bit longer, as he is a nocturnal mammal and henceforth never fully accustomed to a diurnal schedule most employments in Zootopia required.
Judy was frightened, not wanting a repeat of her nightmare, but she knew it would come again; it wasn't the first time she had had that dream. They grew increasingly violent yet were… oddly pleasurable each and every time. They increased in… urgency? She couldn't put a digit on it, yet one thing was for certain: she didn't want to experience it again.
She was in that field of green again, a patchwork of different trees all around. This time the dream differed. The sky was still grey, as it had always been, yet it didn't rain. As Judy turned about and made sense of her surroundings she cursed.
'Not AGAIN, are you KIDDING ME?!'
She felt as if she were really there, sitting amongst the grass underneath the tree canopies, but she felt distant simultaneously as if she were staring at a reflection in the water.
Suddenly and without warning, Nick's feral shape materialised before her eyes. He sat there, almost as startled as she was; they glanced at each other for some time, dilated green meeting confused violet.
He tilted his head, sniffing the air, all the while observing her closely. Then, he started to circle her, as he had done so often before.
She grew restless; she knew what would surely follow, as it did every time before. But, looking at him, she noticed what she could only describe as hesitance in each of his steps as he grew closer with every circling. She was still scared but no longer frozen; It helped that he, for some reason, wasn't baring his fangs at her as he had always done before.
Abruptly he stopped in front of her; he didn't lunge, or bite, or claw.
Moments later, he plopped down onto the ground, lying there in the heather, and continued to watch her attentively with both of his front paws in front of his body, outstretched and parallel to each other. He seemed to be… studying her? She couldn't quite tell.
They gazed into each other's eyes, emotionless. Then, after what felt like both an eternity and half a second, the scene shattered, and she stared open-eyed at the ceiling of Nick's apartment.
She wasn't sweating, she wasn't panting, nor did she feel the familiar hot sensation in her loins. No, she felt totally and utterly confused with an unfamiliar, inexplicable contentness akin to the feeling of a warm blanket being wrapped around her.
'What in carrots sake is going on?' she thought to herself. The dream had always been the same: hearing a noise, identifying that it was coming from a feral Nick, Nick circling her, lunging at her, and mauling her increasingly violently from time to time. But this… this was something entirely new.
It seemed to her as if it had been a stalemate between the two four-legged creatures, both unsure of their next move, ultimately resigning.
She thought about it some more but ultimately couldn't solve the puzzle that was the meaning of her weird dreams, unable to interpret the sudden change just yet…
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