Nick Wilde stood in the men's locker room of Savannah Central's police department, only dressed in his blue boxers with a pair of faded jeans in his paws. Two days prior, his mind weighed heavy with doubts about himself and his relationship with Judy Hopps. Slipping his slender legs into his pants, Nick felt anything but discouraged today. The only negative thought poking at his mind was that things in his life were going suspiciously well, and that life might be winding up to throw him a curveball to knock it all out of place. He tried not to dwell on the idea though; spending so much of the past year with Judy influenced his outlook on life for the better. Buttoning his pants snug around his waist and zipping the fly up, Nick reaffirmed the possibility that he'd entered a new phase of his life, one that held more promise than spending every day hustling the citizens of Zootopia.

After pulling his red polo shirt over his head and arms, Nick stepped toward the exit. Along the way, he saw Officer Delgato rounding the corner. The two exchanged a familiar fist-bump as they passed one another, Delgato sitting down to change out of his uniform for the evening as well.

Outside, he surveyed the large, relatively quiet, space of the ZPD's main hall. The scene was typical for the evening, when most officers traded shifts for the rays of the evening sun leaked through the enormous windows and onto the white ceramic floor, giving a soft orange glow to the entire room. Nick's eyes focused on the dispatch area at the center of the room, commandeered by Clawhauser, munching on a slice of pizza in his paw. The cheetah babbled on to the rabbit standing several feet below the top of the desk. Judy had already dressed out of her uniform and into her casual wear: a gray shirt with the shoulders of her black sports bra poking out of the neck, and dark form-fitting yoga pants enveloping her lower body. Judy's attention seemed divided between the cheetah's conversation, and typing away at the phone in her paws.

"So I said 'Girl, you are too good for him, you best leave his tail on the curb and look anywhere but back'," Clawhauser proclaimed with sass, before chomping on the slice of pizza in his grasp, "Oh, hey Nick," he said, clocking the fox's presence. "You and Judy have plans tonight?"

"No, not really," Nick replied with nonchalance, "Why, what's up?"

"Well, I wondered if you guys wanted to join us at the Pride Lands for a few drinks," Clawhauser explained. Judy's head turned up from her cellphone, a hint of dismay in her expression, "I don't get off for another hour, but Delgato and the others are heading over there right now."

Nick's face lit up at the suggestion. He realized he hadn't joined their excursions for a few months, since he and Judy had started dating. He was more than happy to spend all that time with Judy instead, but he resolved it would make a good point for them to return to their bigger social circle. Aside from alleviating suspicions of their absence, it would be nice to catch up with their friends again.

"What do you say Carrots?" Nick asked Judy, still looking between he and the cheetah with her phone in her paws, "You wanna go tear it up with the wild bunch?"

"That sounds like fun, Clawhauser, but…" Judy trailed off, putting her phone in her black drawstring backpack , "Me and Nick are going to Bug-Burga."

Nick cocked his head to the side, his face twisting in confusion. "We are?" he asked.

"Yeah! Remember Nick, you've been wanting to go for a long time?"

Judy stared forward at Nick with a plastered smile and bright, insisting eyes. Had Nick not grown closer to Judy than anyone else in the past year, he might not have recognized the intent behind her facade. Familiarity told him that she knew they'd never made such plans, but she needed him to play along for the moment.

"Uh, oh, yeah!" Nick said, shaking his head and putting his palm to his temple, "Can't believe I forgot; I've been hankering for a Bug-Burga for a while." Clawhauser responded with an extravagant gasp, catching Nick by surprise.

"Oh, sorry," the cheetah said, regaining his composure, "It's just that it's not often that you see prey animals go with predators to places like Bug-Burga, unless they're really really close." Clawhauser's brow lowered as his eyes darted back and forth between the fox and the rabbit. "Are you guys dating?"

Nick felt the fur on the back of his neck stand up. Nobody in the ZPD knew of he and Judy's relationship. They both knew that the majority of Zootopia still frowned upon the idea of interspecies relationships, thus they took great care to hide it from their coworkers. Even though Clawhauser had no real proof, Nick still felt twinge of fear in his gut that his accusations had unknowingly hit him close to home. Nick was just about to respond, before Judy interjected.

"Gosh darn it Clawhauser, you're one astute detective," Judy remarked, "I was gonna propose to Nick at his favorite restaurant. Even talked to the staff ahead of time to have the ring hidden in his order of fries."

"I knew it!" Clawhauser screamed, standing up from his chair and pointing to her in a fit of hysteria. After his exclamation, Nick noticed a sudden drop in volume of the surrounding area. He turned his head left and right, seeing that the entirety of the ZPD had stopped in their tracks, their eyes locked on the three animals near the dispatch chatter and commotion of the room came to a halt,except for a small cough from one of the many animals staring at them.

"Wait… are you being serious, or funny?" Clawhauser asked Judy.

"Nick, we should probably get going before traffic builds up," Judy advised, ignoring the cheetah.

"Oh come on!" Clawhauser pleaded as the pair walked away, "I won't judge, I promise! I just gotta know!" With the two of them gone, the dispatch officer slumped back in his chair with an annoyed groan. Nick and Judy remained silent, only exchanging confident stares at one another until they reached Nick's Furrari in the parking lot.

"Pretty impressive, Carrots," Nick complimented as he unlocked the car doors, "That is probably the most convincing bluff I've ever seen you pull off."

"What can I say? I learned from the best," she fired back with a grin.

"Flattery will get you everywhere." The two lowered themselves into the seats of the car, before Nick revved up the engine. "Though I gotta say, I'm still pondering over how I forgot about wanting a Bug Burga so bad. I hope I'm not getting alzheimer's." Judy heaved an sigh in response.

"Okay, I know, I kind of sprung that on you out of nowhere," Judy admitted, "I just wanted to do something nice for you, so I thought I'd treat you to dinner."

"What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. Doesn't always have to be an occasion to do something thoughtful, you know?"

"Aw, that is nice of you," Nick replied, "Though to be fair, Clawhauser does kind of have a point. Places like Bug Burga are pretty much pred-only. They don't refuse prey or anything, there's just not much of a reason for them to go there. You might get some odd stares if you go in with me."

Judy gave a dismissive shrug. "I got some stares when I first joined the ZPD. I still do now and then." Judy turned to face Nick with a warm smile. "I'll put up with it for you."

Nick felt his heart swell for a moment as he looked at the rabbit next to him. "I'm touched, Judy. Thanks," he said with sincerity. He leaned across the glove compartment at the center and held her chin with his paw, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. Judy relaxed her face, melting into his embrace with her head leaning back just a bit. "Alright, let's get going." After relinquishing her face, he pulled out of the parking lot of the ZPD. Merging onto the interstate, Nick reached his paw to the center console, pressing the round volume button in and turning the radio on. The last few notes of the previous song faded out, before a series of electronic whirrs and swipes took their place.

"Classic — CLASSIC — Classic jams," a smooth and raspy voice announced over the noise, "ZTTP Ninety-Nine Point Nine; here's another blast from the past, to get you through after-work traffic." The song began with an uptempo reggae guitar, making Nick's ears fly up as he recognized the tune. While he felt a rush of excitement at its familiarity,a slight feeling of disappointment accompanied it as well.

"Oh, no," Nick groaned, leaning his head back but keeping his eyes on the road, "When did this song get old enough for the classic channel?"

"This song sounds so familiar…" Judy uttered, her eyes drifting upwards as she listened to the track.

Someday

When my life has passed me by

I'll lay around and wonder why you were always there for me

"You were probably four when this song came out, youngster," Nick teased, his shoulders moving from side to side in step with the music, "I remember when these guys first came out; I would always have this song on in my room."

"Really?" Judy asked, lifting an eyebrow and flashing a smirk, "Didn't peg you for a boy band type."

"What? Boyband? These guys aren't a boyband, they're metal."

Just close your eyes and I'll take you there

This place is warm without a care

We'll take a swim in the deep blue sea

I go to leave as you reach for me

Judy curled her mouth inward as she listened to the lyrics, her eyes fixed on Nick with an unconvinced stare.

"... It's funk-metal," he uttered in a meek tone, "Yes that's a real genre, don't give me that look."

"Whatever," Judy said with a soft chuckle, letting Nick enjoy singing the song from his youth. A short car ride later and soon after the song ended, Nick pulled off of the highway and across a few roads until they reached a small establishment in front of some taller buildings. A large red sign reading "Bug Burga" stood at the very top, the dimly lit letters above a picture of a burger patty nestled between two sesame buns. The exterior had a rustic and worn appearance, its white paint peeling and chipped in various places. From the looks of it, the size of the diner was not much bigger than a trailer truck.

"Oh my god," Judy uttered as she observed the diner, "It looks old as dirt."

"Sure does," Nick replied casually, "That's the thing about diners though; it's the ones that look scary on the outside that have the best food in town."

"Yeah, okay, you got a point. That's how most of the places in Bunnyborough look. I guess it's just been so long since I moved here, I forgot what that looked like." Nick kept his focus on Judy as she looked over the establishment. Her ears clung to the back of her head, and her paws gripped her yoga pants. Nick knew better than to assume just the appearance was the main cause of her nerves.

"Judy, you don't have to do this if it makes you uncomfortable," he reminded her, "It won't hurt my feelings."

Judy turned to look at him, putting a smile on to try and hide her worry. She realized that Nick wasn't buying her facade though. Her little nostrils flaring a bit, she lifted her paws up to her face and rubbed her cheeks.

"I'll be okay, Nick," she assured him, and herself, "I want to do this, even if it's a little scary."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Judy nodded, "Let's do it."

"Alrighty," Nick concluded, turning the keys and switching his engine off. The two exited the car and walked to the front door. It was subtle, but Nick could still sense a bit of tension as she walked beside him. It felt a little strange to see Judy in such a state. She'd faced prejudice for most of her life, even moreso when she'd joined the ZPD as its first rabbit officer, and met those hurdles with an unyielding will of confidence and determination. After overcoming such difficult trials, why was she so afraid of a pred-only burger joint? Nick resolved not to pester her about it anymore; she'd made her decision, and he didn't want to keep agitating her like he was her dad. He decided he'd keep an eye on her and escort her out if her nerves got out of paw.

The two walked into the front entrance, seeing a number of predators sitting on the side of the area in wait for a table. The sound of the door opening caught the attention of a badger, a ferret and a bear, all turning their heads to see the newcomers. Nick saw their eyes widen in surprise as they looked beside him, bewildered at the appearance of a bunny in such a place. Judy kept her eyes to the ceiling, trying her best not to make eye contact with anyone around her. Their eyes darted back and forth between she and Nick, the gears in their minds working to connect the dots. Nick shot them an unamused glare, prompting them to shrug and return to their phones in their palms. Nick heard approaching footsteps, and turned to see an athletic female bobcat stepping toward the front podium before looking at the new arrivals.

"Hi there, table —" the bobcat paused as her own eyes fell on Judy, her face reflecting the same expression the waiting guests had flashed them. She shook her head and regained the professional smile she'd previously worn. "Table for two?"

"Yeah," Nick replied, "Do you know how long the wait is?"

"Actually, we're meeting someone here," Judy replied, cutting the host off. Nick's head performed a quick double take as he looked at Judy with confusion. Before he or the bobcat could utter a response, Judy grabbed Nick by the wrist and lead him forward, pulling her phone out and looking through her text messages. The fox's confusion rose even more as he noticed that Judy had no trouble speaking to the host of the joint she'd seemed so afraid of a moment ago.

"Uh, Judy?" Nick asked, doing his best to keep his patience, "Who are we meeting here?"

"Let's see, they said they were under — oh, I see them."

Nick looked up from the rabbit and gazed forward. At the very back corner of the restaurant, in one of the round booths, he saw an arm raised and waving at them. The arm belonged to a body of snow-white fur, dressed in a green t-shirt. It took Nick a moment, but he recognized the goofy grin on the mammal's face. It was the same wolf he'd seen on his laptop, bare naked and getting pummeled from behind by his brown partner; the two wolves Nick had watched while stroking a shameful climax out of his own rigid cock. The same brown wolf sat next to him, dressed in a black shirt and waving with a more reserved smile.

Nick's chest grew tight with fear at the sight of them. His eyes jumped to the side, and saw Judy standing on her tip-toes, waving back to them with joy. She took a step forward, but Nick tugged back and turned her toward him.

"Okay, I've been lead on long enough," Nick said to her, his voice a touch stern as he glared at her, "What's going on here?"

Judy winced through her teeth with discomfort. She heaved a relenting sigh before uttering a response.

"After you and I had that little session of ours the other night, and you went to sleep..." Judy explained, careful to remain discreet in case anyone around them overheard, "I went online and looked Gary and his partner up. Had to dig through a few newspaper articles to find their names, but I gave them a call when I found their numbers, and said I knew someone who might want to join in on their fun, if they were up for it." Judy turned her head to look over her shoulder toward the pair of wolves. Knowing she and Nick would need a moment to themselves, she held her paw up to Gary from across the room."Turns out they are up for it. They said they'd love meet and talk it out beforehand."

Nick's face remained rigid as the weight of what she'd told him sank in. Judy Hopps, Zootopia's little cinnamon roll, had made plans behind Nick's back to fix him up with two gay wolves so he could participate in their homoerotic shenanigans. Was this really the same rabbit who'd moved from bible-thumping Bunnyburrow a year ago? Just the idea of such a thing felt unreal to him.

"And you didn't want to bring this up with me before, because…?" Nick asked, his brow narrowed.

"I wanted to surprise you!" Judy replied with a grin. Her smile relented somewhat, seeing that Nick's unconvinced expression. "Also, because I was worried you'd say no." Hearing her response helped Nick piece things together, as he suddenly realized why she'd been so nervous to walk into the establishment a few minutes ago.

"Yeah. I probably would have said no. I'm positive I would have."

"I'm sorry." Judy said, disappointment seeping from her face. The look on her face stung Nick's heart. She wasn't trying to guilt trip him; she really had wanted to do surprise him in a good way with what she'd planned, and felt remorseful that she'd messed up. Even if she'd been off the mark, Nick couldn't in good conscious hold it against her.

"It's okay, Judy," Nick dismissed, "You were just trying to do something nice for us. This is just… the real thing's something I don't feel good about. It's a fun fantasy, but I don't think I can actually do it." Nick turned to leave, but Judy shot a paw out and grabbed his in an instant.

"Nick, wait," she pleaded, "I called them up and told them who I was. They know I'm the one who got Lionheart arrested, along with everyone who worked for him at the asylum. They spent half a year in jail because of me. Even with that in mind, they still wanted to meet us here. I don't feel good about setting them up here and then bailing before we've even met."

Nick kept his eyes on the floor, away from the surrounding predators. He hadn't put such things into perspective until now. He never would have thought that some ex-convicts would be willing to meet the officer who'd put them in jail. The fact that they'd agreed to such a thing without quarrel said quite a bit about their characters already.

"Alright," Nick yielded, turning back around, "I'm not making any promises to do anything after this, but I guess we at least owe them dinner." His compliance brought a warm smile to Judy's face, before she rushed in and hugged him around the waist.

"Thank you, Nick. That's all I can ask for." With their affairs in order, the two meandered past a group of meerkats eating at a miniature table atop the standard table, and toward the booth at the back of the restaurant. Once they were close enough to attract the attention of Gary and his partner. Nick took a deep breath, collecting his composure before speaking with them. "Hey guys, sorry to keep you waiting."

"Hey, no prob!" Gary replied with delight, extending a paw and lowering it to Judy's level, "Me and Larry just got here a few minutes ago ourselves."

"Ah, so you're Larry?" Judy asked as she shook Gary's paw.

"That'd be me," the brown wolf stated, his voice low and just a touch raspy. Judy released Gary's paw, reaching for Larry's as he reached over Gary's lap. "Gotta tell ya; you are one brave rabbit for coming to a place like this."

"Yeah, got some confused glares at the front entrance. I get a lot of those when animals see me in uniform, I'm used to it."

"Speaking of uniform, I'm guessing that makes you Officer Wilde?" Larry asked, he and Gary's eyes on the fox next to Judy.

"I'm off duty. Call me Nick," he greeted, shaking both their paws uneasily. He and Judy took their seats in the rounded booth; Judy nudged Nick to sit next to Larry, while she sat next to him on the end of the group. "So, just to get some awkwardness out of the way: no hard feelings about us getting you arrested, right?"

"Nah," Larry replied, Gary shaking his head in dismissive fashion, "We were breaking the law. We knew it after we signed up for the job, and we knew the consequences of what would happen if we were found out. It's all good."

"Besides, we kind of owe it to you guys for getting us locked up," Gary added, "We might have missed out on something wonderful if it weren't for that."

Nick tilted his head in confusion. "Care to enlighten us?" he asked.

"Sure. Little bit of history on our part," Larry began, taking a sip from his drink on the table, "Me and Gary here have known each other since kindergarten. Always played together, found out we lived a few doors down from each other on Elk Street, and pretty much spent every other day at each other's house. We've been pretty inseparable for about…" Larry tilted his head back, doing some mental counting, "Thirty years now; yikes."

"Oh god, I can't believe it's been that long," Gary laughed, "Anyway, me and Larry grew up without a whole lot. We didn't have enough to go to college, so we've pretty much had to work since high school. After a number of minimum wage jobs and no respect, we found an ad for a job on Preyslist. The job description was really vague, but it didn't require any experience and paid pretty high. They hired us on the spot, put us in position outside the building and told us the less questions we asked, the better."

"That should have been a red flag for us; and it kind of was," Larry commented, "We were desperate though, so we stuck with the job. We worked there for about two weeks, and that's when you guys busted us."

"Still can't figure out how you two got by us though," Gary puzzled.

"Yeah, me neither," Larry concurred.

Lifting an eyebrow, Nick and Judy turned to face one another, Judy mirroring his expression, before she turned to face the wolves. "Do you guys remember a howl started out of nowhere that night?"

"Hey, yeah, that did happen," Gary replied, "How'd you know?"

"... That was me," Judy answered. The two wolves puzzled at her response, until their eyes widened and their heads turned to face one another.

"That explains it!" they both exclaimed in unison, an impressed smile forming on their faces. Judy wore a polite grin, while Nick turned away, discreetly smacking his palm against the side of his face. He couldn't believe that two wolves that he'd masturbated to were such dum-dum's on multiple occasions.

"Man, you've got a good howl," Gary said to Judy, "Right, so after you busted Lionheart and everyone involved, we get sentenced to seven months; a little less than Lionheart's, since we didn't know what we were guarding. By the grace of God, me and Larry got assigned to the same cell."

"Gary and I have always been close," Larry noted, "But we kept a respectable distance from each other; something we felt obligated to do as guys. Staying in the same cell together though, we grew a lot closer. I guess that's inevitable if you're sleeping near one another." As Nick listened to them , his ears instinctively tuned out noise of dishes clattering and other guests chatting over their meals, focusing solely on the two wolves in front of him.

"Larry's always the one to look out for me. He's only a year older than me, but it always felt like he'd been around the block more than I had, so I always ended up leaning on him when I needed to. You have to see a lot of crap you don't wanna see in prison, and it takes its toll on you. I needed someone to rely on at the end of the day, and Larry was there to support me."

"Larry put a brave face on during the day like he always does, but I knew by the look in his eyes that it was weighing down on him. Heck, it was rough on me too. I felt so relieved knowing my best buddy was here right next to me every day. The longer we were there, the more drawn we felt toward one another. It felt a little weird at first; we considered ourselves straight as arrows our whole life." An amused snort escaped Gary's snout, which prompted Larry to roll his eyes and smirk in humor. "I put my reservations aside and let him in, just so we could have someone to hold and feel safe in that joint. Time passed, and our feelings for each other grew, until…" Larry lifted his paws toward Nick and Judy, shrugging his shoulders. It took Nick a few seconds, but his mind worked to paint itself an image of the two wolves surrendering to their desires for one another in a frenzy of passion.

"Aw, that's sweet," Judy gushed, holding her paw to her chest. Nick felt surprised that he found it sweet too, though a little undignified. Love sprouting in a prison cell? It sounded more like the two just needed a hole to nut in, and used the closest thing they could find. Though from how he'd seen them interact in the video he favored, and how they carried themselves at the moment, Nick entertained that perhaps their feelings ran more than fur-deep.

Come to think of it, the lack of elegance made their story less scripted and cliche, and more down-to-Earth. The more he thought of it, the more he enjoyed the image of both of these large wolves dressed in orange jump suits, laying in the same prison bed together. Gary, the submissive one, his head snuggled against Larry's chest, clinging onto him for emotional support. The two would then kiss, and let their passion take hold of their movements. After feeling their tension build, Gary would turn onto his belly and raise his backside to the one he loved. Larry would slide his pants down, getting an eyeful of Gary's toned, white backside.

"Alright, what are we hungry for tonight?" a chipper female voice said, snapping Nick out of his daydream. He saw a small coyote as big as himself standing with a pen and notebook in her paws. The feelings his daydream still lingered in the form of a tent in his pants underneath the cover of the table. Though out of sight, Nick still felt uneasy that everyone around him might know of his excitement standing tall and rigid under his pants.

"Two cicada burgers for us, medium-rare" Larry said, the coyote scribbling the order down, "And a basket of cricket chips." Once she'd finished writing, the coyote turned to face Nick.

"Uh, spider burger, well done." he said.

"And, for you ma'am?" she asked, facing Judy. The rabbit lifted her bottom lip up in a pleading smile.

"You guys don't have any vegan options, do you?"

"Um… salad?" the waitress said in a remorseful fashion. Across the table from them, Gary and Larry burst into a fit of laughter. Larry pounded the table, before the two of them held their mouths to keep their volume down. Even Nick cracked a smile at that response, even more so when he turned to see Judy with a chagrined smirk on her face.

"Not sure what I expected," she replied, folding up her menu and passing it along the table, "Raspberry vinaigrette dressing sounds good."

"Alright, we'll have those right out for you guys," the coyote assured them before departing.

With the waitress gone, Gary resumed where Larry had left off. "So, after me and Larry reached the end of our sentence, we had to get our lives back on track. We figured if we both had to start over, we might as well do it together. We decided to find an apartment for both of us to live in, each got a job. Larry works at Targoat behind the scenes, helps out with the deliveries and stocking every morning. I work at PredEx, so I get to drive all over the city delivering packages. It's not a lot of money, but it's enough to get by. We've been making ends meet for each other for the past few months now, and I think we've done pretty well for ourselves," he concluded, holding his paw over Larry's. The two wolves exchanged a look of fondness out of the corner of their eyes toward one another, before Gary leaned over and kissed his partner on the cheek. While Nick admired their history together, he felt a twinge of jealousy. He envied the fact that the same-sex couple could kiss each other out in the open without fear, while he and Judy had to take pains to keep their relationship hidden from the public. Nonetheless, Nick forced himself to smile. Despite his jealousy, he still admired the couple's success with one another.

Larry looked over Nick and Judy to the empty booth behind them, to ensure they were still alone. "Alright, let's get right down to it, Officer — well, Judy," he began, leaning his elbows on the table and lurching forward, "You said a friend of yours wanted to join me and Larry for some fun after hours?"

Nick's face burned at the suggestion. He kept his eyes away from the two wolves, not wanting to project his uneasiness through his eyes. He noticed Judy leaning forward as well before she spoke.

"Mhm," she replied, "He's a big fan of your video on ; watched it more than a few times, and from what he tells me, he's thoroughly enjoyed it." Nick felt his insides twist as she put suggestive emphasis on the word thoroughly.

"Well, why don't you tell us about him? Tall, short, muscular, skinny? What's his personality like?" Nick tapped his claw against the table in frustration. He didn't know why they were patronizing him in such a way; of course they knew he was the one Judy told them about. Who else could it have been?

"He's just a bit taller than me. Somewhat of a lean build, but he's buffed up a bit over the past year." As Judy listed the details of her "friend", Nick noticed her eyes move to face him for a fraction of a second, before facing the wolves again, "He's kind of a laid back type, knows how to unwind at the end of a hard day. Really funny, always knows how to make me laugh. He's also very compassionate; once he's decided you're trustworthy, he's loyal to the end. He's one of the most important mammals in my life."

Nick allowed himself to feel touched for a moment, hearing Judy's description of him. Had they not been in public, he would have leaned over and kissed her. Despite his affection, annoyance still plagued his mind from their guise of leaving his name out of their discussion. Were they doing it just to agitate him? He dismissed the thought, knowing Judy wouldn't go that far to tease him. Maybe they just wanted to spare Nick's feelings in hopes of making him think his secret remained safe?

"Wow, sounds like you two are close," Gary said in response to Judy's description, "You guys wouldn't happen to be — ?"

"Alright, cut the crap," Nick interrupted, prompting all three animals at the table stare at him, "It's me. It's obviously me. Judy told you ahead of time that I'm embarrassed of this, so you're all pretending it's not me to spare my feelings, but I know you both know it's me."

The wolves stared back at Nick with their eyes opened wide in wonder. Nick looked to Judy, who kept her eyes up to the ceiling, avoiding his gaze. Something about this felt off to Nick.

"... You guys know it's me, right?" he asked, a touch desperate for affirmation. Gary and Larry shook their heads in the negative. "Seriously?"

"Judy just told me it was a friend of hers; never mentioned your name," Gary replied.

"Tell you the truth, I expected her to say it was another wolf," Larry chimed in.

"... Oh," Nick muttered. The situation had felt awkward before, but it had suddenly escalated without warning. He'd just blown the cover which he hadn't known Judy was trying to maintain. He could see the rabbit out of the corner of his eye, rubbing the side of her head with her right paw.

"Are you guys, like, an item or something?" Larry asked. The feeling in Nick's stomach escalated from uneasiness to actual fear. Next to him, Judy mimicked his petrified gaze, afraid that even the slightest movement might give them away. Nobody except he and Judy knew of their relationship so far, not even Clawhauser, despite his suspicion. As much as he hated keeping it a secret, he realized the risk of too many people knowing the truth, and how much trouble it could put them in, especially with the ZPD.

"I mean if you are, that's cool with us," Larry continued. Nick felt a load of tension melt from his chest, as he and Judy leaned their heads back and let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, we've been dating for about three months now," Judy admitted, glancing at Nick with a gentle smile, "We've kept it a secret though, just to avoid any conflicts with those who might not approve," Judy brought a paw up over her mouth, and lowered her voice, "Like a certain chief of police."

"I hear ya," Larry replied, "Zootopia's progressed quite a bit over the decades, but it's not done yet. Mammals need to get over themselves about deciding who can date who."

"No kidding," Gary chuckled, "I never understand why some get so bothered by interspecies couples."

"It's because they're insecure. They've been taught all their lives to demonize those who think differently, that some kind of 'furious holy vengeance' will smite us with their divine judgment if we go against the natural order. These are also the same mammals who think we're committing some great sin by using smartphones and listening to rock and roll. It's ridiculous."

"Amen," Nick replied with a smirk. He and Judy looked to one another, exchanging pleased glances before staring forward again, "Boy, I gotta tell ya, it feels really good getting something like this out to someone."

"Hey, it's kind of funny if you think about it," Gary noted, drawing everyone's attention, "All of us ended up together because of the same incident."

"Yeah, you got a point there," Larry agreed, "If you guys hadn't busted Lionheart, me and Gary might not have opened up to each other."

"And if Judy hadn't forced me to work with her in the first place, we wouldn't have gotten you guys in jail, and wound up together ourselves." Nick concurred.

"Everything worked out for the best!" Gary cheered, drawing a chuckle from everyone at the table. Underneath the surface, Nick felt Judy's paw give his thigh a loving squeeze. Despite his expectations, Nick finally appreciated that Judy had dragged him out here to meet them. He still wasn't sure about what would happen afterwards, but he at least enjoyed their company.

"Look guys, I just want to make something clear," Nick began, "When I found your video, and others like it, I just kind of figured it was gonna be a thing I enjoyed in private. I'm still not really sure if I'm up for taking it further than that. Nothing personal, alright?"

"That's fine," Gary assured him, "I mean, you just met us. It makes sense you'd need time to sniff us out."

"Yeah, that's what I mean. Thanks for understanding," Nick replied. After a few seconds of silence, Nick scratched the back of his neck, searching for another topic, "So, uh, you guys said you grew up on Elk Street?" Nick asked, facing them more directly.

"Sure did," Larry answered, "Just watching television and listening to music; our parents couldn't really afford any gaming systems the kids in school all had."

"Same here. What'd you guys listen to?"

"All sorts of stuff. Mostly rock, but also enjoyed some pop songs." Larry replied.

"Pop gets a bad rap, but the past decades had some pretty good stuff. Like Sugar Neigh," Gary added.

Nick gasped at Larry's mention of the band name. "You guys liked Sugar Neigh?"

"Oh yeah. They're pretty underrated."

"Insultingly underrated. I loved Someday when I was younger."

"That was pretty good. You know what my favorite song is though?" Gary asked, before sitting more upright, "All the things that I used to say," he sang, pointing at Larry.

"All the words that got in the way," Larry fired back.

"All the things that I used to know, have gone out the window," Nick joined in, all three of them finishing together. "Man, such good times." Nick looked over to his left, seeing a rather condescending smile on Judy's face. "What?" he asked.

"I'm just reflecting on the fact that I'm dating the world's biggest dum-dum," Judy told him.

"Hey, he's a dum-dum with good taste," Larry defended playfully.

"If you say so. I didn't really get into music until I was nine. I think the first album I ever bought was Vanessa Snarlton."

"Ewww," Nick and Larry both uttered in disgust.

"Hey, that's not fair," Gary interjected, "A Thousand Mews is kind of a nice song,"

"Yeah, if you're a woman," Larry said.

"How dare you call me a woman," Judy retorted with mock offense.

"I assure you that wasn't my intention, sir," Larry replied. All four of them broke out into a booming laughter, while their waitress made her way back to the table, their entrees balanced on her arms.

Half an hour passed, and the booth at the back corner of Bug Burga was empty, the waitress cleaning off the dishes and pocketing the tip left behind. A tiny scuffle had ensued over who would pay for dinner. Judy put up a good fight, but Larry wouldn't have it. He'd insisted on paying the bill, to show the two officers they bore no ill-will toward them for their imprisonment.

Outside the restaurant, the group waltzed toward the parking lot. In coincidental fashion, the wolf couple had parked near Nick and Judy. Just a few spaces from the red Furarri sat a black Buck Sedan, a bit of wear and tear on the paint and some scratches on the bumper, obviously used. Looking up at Gary and Larry now that they were all standing made Nick realize the true height of the wolves; his own head barely reached their chests.

"Well guys, thanks for dinner," Nick said, reaching up to shake Larry's paw, "Really nice chatting with you, lot of fun."

"Same here," Larry replied, shaking Judy's paw next, "Stay in touch with us if you want to catch a movie, or whatever else."

"Don't be strangers!" Gary said, releasing Nick's paw.

"We won't. You guys are fun to hang out with." Judy said while holding Gary's paw.

"Alright then. See you around," Larry waved, before turning toward their car.

As Nick watched the wolves stroll away, he reflected on how smooth things had gone despite his initial worry at the start. Gary and Larry had turned out completely different from what he'd expected. He'd been surprised enough to see a gay porn video from two wolves who he'd only seen as hired muscles for Lionheart. The evening at Bug Burga had shown him that despite their work history and online presence, they were just two normal guys who happened to be in a loving relationship. He felt a bit of admiration for the pair, and hoped that he would in fact see them again.

A small tap on his elbow snapped Nick from his thoughts, and he turned to see Judy looking up at him.

"Something on your mind?" Judy asked, her eyes looking from Nick, and toward the wolves unlocking their car. Nick looked between them and Judy, his face twisting in thought. He knew what she hinted at. Truth be told, she was right. A part of him felt annoyed that she knew him so well.

"Hey, guys?" Nick called, she and Judy sprinting up to them before they could get in their car, "Really quick, just wanted to ask a question or two."

"Shoot," Larry replied.

Nick looked over his shoulder, to make sure nobody else was in earshot, "I'm not trying to criticize, I'm just asking because I'm curious. You guys are tight with each other, so I'm just wondering: why did you guys put up a video of yourselves for others to see? And why are you interested in letting, uh, 'other animals' join in?"

"Fair question," Gary answered, "This might be a kink we developed back in the slammer. When me and Larry went at it in our cells, we did our best to keep quiet, but we knew the other inmates could hear something. After we got out, we still kept having sex and enjoying it, but we realized we missed the rush of knowing others were listening to us."

"Me and Gary watched a lot of porn even before we started dating, and that didn't stop afterwards," Larry continued, We found the Wolfgang site, and decided maybe we could recapture that same rush if we recorded ourselves for other mammals to watch."

"And it worked for the most part," Gary added, "A few days after we uploaded the video, we started noticing the views and the comments piling up. Knowing so many of them got off on watching us kind of made things exciting."

"I'm wondering if we would have had more or less views if Gary had edited out the bloopers"

"I did though! I spent half an hour cutting some parts out!"

"You didn't save your work."

"... Whoops."

Nick and Judy chuckled at the couple's interaction. "Okay, fair enough," the fox responded, "But wouldn't that mean you just want an audience, instead of a third wheel?"

"You'd think that wouldn't you?" Larry responded, "We'd never considered that before, until Gary got Judy's text."

"That kind of threw me for a loop when I first got it," Gary chimed in, "I kept it to myself for a while wondering how to tell Larry about it. When I told him, we just kind of sat there thinking it over. The more we thought about it, the more we realized it sounded like a neat idea."

"Alright, but why me?" Nick asked, "I mean, I'm nothing like you guys are, I'm almost half your size. Wouldn't you be into somebody more — I dunno — more masculine?"

Larry shook his head. "Not necessarily. Variety's the spice of life, and we've never latched onto one body type above all others. Yeah we like masculine, but we also like petite as well."

Nick's eyebrow lifted as he looked over himself, even turning to look at his own hindquarters. "Are you saying I'm petite?"

"I just mean compared to bigger canines, that's all. It's not a bad thing; you kind of have that slim swimmer's body thing going on." Larry turned his attention to Judy briefly, "I mean, you of all animals can appreciate that, right?"

"Definitely. I adore Nick's petite little body," she teased, drawing a sneaky paw down the middle of his back. Nick felt his fur stand up, both from Judy's touch, and from anticipating the next step to come.

"So, other question. Let's just say, hypothetically that… I were interested in partaking in, uh, stuff." Nick rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, his eyes averting from their burly chests which were level with his face, "How would we go about that?"

Gary and Larry exchanged triumphant smiles toward one another, each of them with an eyebrow raised with interest.

"Well, hypothetically, we'd have to look at our schedules and find a point where we both have the evening off," Larry said, squatting to Nick's level and staring him in the eye, "You also might want to have the next day off. Depending on how the night goes, you might not be able to move or sit down in the morning; hypothetically of course," he added, noticing Nick's blushing face and slumped ears.

"Right, uh, okay," Nick said, rubbing his cheeks as Judy giggled to herself, "We-we'll be in touch."

"Oh, one thing really quick," Gary said, ushering Nick to come closer to him. The white wolf leaned down and cupped his paw over Nick's ear, before whispering something into him. While absent of any malicious intent, the wolf whispered something to Nick that made his whole body clench in repulsion.

"Ew!" Nick muttered back in disgust, "Seriously?"

"Sorry bud; comes with the territory."

"Alright alright," Nick relented, his body shivering just a bit. Judy looked at him, her head tilted in confusion. "You don't want to know." he advised her.

"Well then, if there's nothing else, we'll be off," Larry waved again, walking toward the driver's side of their Buck Sedan. They pulled out of their space and drove out toward the highway, as Nick and Judy slipped into his Furarri.

"Well, look at you, Mr. Swinger," Judy teased as she buckled her seatbelt, "Changed your mind pretty quick, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah," Nick replied, turning the key and starting the ignition, "They seem pretty cool, and if you're okay with this — you are still okay with it, right?"

"I'm the one who put this all in motion."

"Right. We'll, if you're alright with it, I might as well take you and them up on the offer."

"Well said, Mr. Wilde. I'm glad you're trying something new."

Nick's thoughts wandered a bit as he pulled out of the parking lot and toward the freeway. "Tell me, this whole thing you've put together; was it just a show of goodwill to help satisfy a fantasy of mine?

"Yeah!" Judy assured him in earnest. A quick glance from Nick showed that he felt a bit of doubt in his mind, making Judy's ears drop in response. "Also, maybe a small part of me wants to watch you get nailed by a wolf; or two at once."

"Just a small part?"

"Okay, a big part," Judy admitted.

"Oh, Carrots," Nick muttered with a smile, "I don't know what's weirder; my fetish of wanting to sleep with male wolves, or your fetish of pimping me out to them." A loud snort escaped Judy's nose and throat, followed by a series of contracted squeals.

"Oh my God, Nick!" her eyes shut tight as she laughed, "I can't believe you'd say that!"

"I know what I'm getting you for your birthday now: a cane."

"Shut! Up!"

"And a purple hat!"

"Done with you!"

Nick's cheeks began to hurt from smiling so much, taking delight in Judy's laughter. A small part of him was still nervous about what he'd agreed to with Gary and Larry, but a strong sense of humor between he and his girlfriend eased his mind a considerable amount. The two of them had busted open a city-wide conspiracy together, and come out with only a scratched leg on Judy's part. Sleeping with two wolves paled in comparison to such an ordeal. As Judy's laughter died down, he tried to look at the coming event with excitement rather than dread.