Nick shot into the air like a bullet; a terrified, fleeing-for-its-undead-life bullet. Of all the vampire powers he was supposed to get, the only one that had come in fully for him was flight. It still burned a massive amount of his power and he was starving by the time he landed most of the time, but when it came to flight, he was at least as capable as the rest of his family. He also had a tiny little ace in the hole. One of the few benefits to being a changed vamp instead of a born one was that parts of his body were slower to accept the Dark Blessing. For example, the endocrine system. He still had Adrenalin. Nick was superbly grateful for this mortal carryover as his wings carried him above his attacker and into the cover of the trees.

Sadly, the little strength Nick had left and would run out quickly. He had just enough to escape the Beast's initial charge and craft the shadows to conceal him long enough to find a tree to hide in. Once that was done, he was spent. Shaky paws gripped the bark of the old oak tree as his labored breathing slowed. Nick was sure he had given the Were the slip until he opened his eyes and saw the same glowing amaranthine stare boring through him from the ground. Before he could even attempt to do anything, the Beast snarled and with a roar charged away from the trunk, full tilt.

For a moment Nick was completely bewildered. From all he had learned, Weres would never cease a hunt once they began one and he was certainly being hunted. His confusion lasted until he saw the massive lycanthrope launch itself at a tree nearby, rebound off a branch and come barreling back towards his tree at a distressing speed. To his added dismay, the grey-furred meteor dipped its shoulder into a graceful turn, mid-air. Now, its feet were headed straight for him. Almost.

The split heartbeat of hope the fox experienced quickly expired as he realized he was wrong. Judging the trajectory, the Were would miss him completely. He had assumed the stupid monster had misjudged their attack and he would be spared. That lasted until the massive hind paws impacted the trunk of the tree Nick was cowering in. He managed to say "Sweet Jellied Crickets…" as his branch disappeared from under him. Then, his mouth was full of moss and heavy forest loam as he found himself slapping into the mossy forest floor in an undignified heap.

Nick spit out his mouthful of worm food and flopped onto his back, staying exactly where he was. He groaned with his eyes closed and waited for the end. He was toast. No power, starving, weak and now knocked out of his tree. He felt more like an overripe fig than a supposed apex predator of the supernatural sort. Any second he'd be turned into a fine red mist all over the forest floor. There were many self-recriminations that made their way through his head, but one puzzle drowned out the undercurrent of whining, and that was how on Gaia's green earth he was alive to have the complaints in the first place. As soon as he hit the ground he'd expected limbs to be forcibly removed, yet here he was several seconds later, entirely intact.

Pitiful, but intact.

He cracked an eye and glared irately at his attacker. The monster wasn't attacking. It was shaking. Specifically, staring at him and quivering. Nick did not get the sense that it was in any way afraid of him. It appeared to be more conflicted. That was very strange on the heels of the gracefully executed hunt it had just executed. His regard for her hunting skills was not enough to quell his resignation.

"Oh, come on, you dumb bunny. Just eat me already."

A weird double voice answered, "I am not a dumb bunny!"

Nick blinked. Weres weren't supposed to be able to speak. He fainted.

Meanwhile, Judy was furious and completely confused. The hunt had been a success, but not because of her and her Beast working together. If she'd had her way, the rebound from the tree would have caught him in the chest, crushing his bones and he would already be in pieces. Instead, Beast had redirected the force of the attack to merely stun their quarry. Now, he was grounded and immobile. Perfect for a quick dismemberment. She still had time to get done her patrol and get an hour or two of rest before she had to get to her classes. She'd be a little groggy, but that was a small price to pay and easily remedied by with coffee.

Beast loved coffee even more than she did, but the repeated offers and promises did nothing to spur Her to finish their job. Judy wasn't in charge, so all she could do was try to convince Her to kill it, but nothing worked. Instead, Beast stood there resting on her haunches, fighting her and sniffing at the vampire.

She saw him move. It was barely enough to lift his head and crack an eye. He muttered Oh, come on, you dumb bunny. Just eat me already."

On reflex Judy blurted "I am not a dumb bunny!", before slapping her paws over her muzzle.

That had never happened before. For a moment she was afraid she had offended her Beast by wresting away control, but She seemed just as shocked. Speech shouldn't have been possible for them at all like this. A lycanthrope could only speak in their Were form when and if the mammal and their Beast were in perfect unity. Usually, they had to either shift back to their regular mammal form. It only happened because the vampire called her a dumb bunny.

The vampire!

Judy snapped herself out of her fugue expecting him to have vanished. She'd caught the intruder once. She did not want to waste the time needed to hunt him down again. She needn't have worried. He'd fainted.

Judy huffed to herself. At least there was that. A quick kill and they'd be done. At least it was asleep, so it wouldn't feel much. Judy popped back into paying attention just in time to see that she was sniffing him! Not generally, either. Beast was practically burrowing into the vampire, pawing at his clothes. For a heartbeat Judy remembered that they'd never seen a vampire before. Beast's curiosity was understandable, but there'd be plenty of time to smell him after he was dead! They could come back after classes and spend all the time She wanted sniffing his scraps, but Beast was not having it. The worst part of it was that She wouldn't tell Judy why!

Some time later, Nick slowly resurfaced. He felt groggy and oddly ruffled. The moonlight and feeling of the air told him he'd been out for a few minutes only. The feeling of someone watching him told him it hadn't been a nightmare.

A rabbit sat on a log a few feet away from him. A regular rabbit. A regular naked rabbit who didn't seem uncomfortable at all around him, or being in the middle of the forest without a stitch on. Nick moved this to the top of his weirdest experiences of all-time list and hazarded a greeting.

"Please don't eat me." He was an idiot.

"I don't eat junk food. Why are you here?"

"Not by choice. If I had known this was a lycanthrope claim, I'd have stayed well away."

"Good to know, but not what I asked. Why are you here?"

"I'm… starving."

That got a strange look from the rabbit.

Nick hurried on, "I made a few enemies back in the city. I ended up here by chance running for my life. I'm not trying to trespass, or anything, I just want to lie low for a while and I'll be on my way."

"No."

Well, that wasn't good. "No, what?"

"You won't be on your way. Vampires can't travel well if they're starving."

"You're well informed."

"Just stories. Nice to hear one of them is true." The rabbit looked at him hard and asked, "How can you be in such bad shape? I can smell that you fed two days ago. Shouldn't you be satisfied longer than that, if you're hiding?"

The note of suspicion in her voice set all Nick's fur on end. He opted for a mostly-truth answer. That didn't make it any less embarrassing. "I've got a fast metabolism. Feeding doesn't last for me as long as it does for other vampires and I used a lot of my strength in escaping."

"I see."

"Look, I don't have any blood packs…"

"Blood packs? Why would you have those?", Judy asked both confused and disgusted.

"Um, to eat? That's how I usually get my blood, back home."

"So, you don't drink from other mammals." Her retort was rife with sarcasm. "Right."

"I can, but I prefer not to."

"And why is that?"

"Um… Intimacy issues? Look, I know it sounds weird, but drinking from a mammal isn't done lightly. My parents raised me better than that."

Judy sat and processed what she had just heard. Intimacy? Really? That was… unexpected. Nothing like what she'd been told about vampires.

"So, you don't sneak into homes, drain mammals dry and raise them as slaves, then?"

"Absolutely not! Where did you get that idea from?"

His indignity was real and she didn't smell any indicators that he was lying. His hurried plea cut her off mid-thought.

"Look, I just need enough blood to keep myself alive until it's safe to go home. If you can point me towards a town…"

Judy snarled. "Liar! You just said you don't feed on mammals"

"I don't like it, but I'm desperate!", Nick whined. "I need a couple swallows so I don't starve to death. Two mouthfuls should last me twelve hours, if I don't use my powers. If I take it from a larger mammal, they'll barely notice it."

Judy's reply was tart. "I think they'd notice fang marks."

"No. My saliva speeds the healing process and I'm very careful with my feeding. They might notice a small itchy feeling, but the wound would be gone."

"Are you serious?"

"My father was very thorough in his lessons on feeding. Living mortals are a last resort and he would kill me if I harmed one."

Another bizarre statement from the vampire fox and no indicators of lies. Curioser and curioser… Speaking of curious, Beast was acting weird again. Judy had managed to negotiate taking control, but it had come with a price in coffee and something else that embarrassed the daylights out of her. Beast's love of kit's movies was a point of absolute confusion to her and Beast never explained. She did not want to get caught watching another animated kit's movie in the Barracks, again.

Unfortunately, that would have to wait. She was not about to turn this vampire loose on the town. His honesty notwithstanding, even if he was somehow a vampire that wasn't a sadistic freak like she'd heard, defending the town and her territory was her duty. Letting him use it as a hunting ground would be a violation of her most basic duty. However, there was no other option. Unless she was going to feed him herself…

Beast's attention suddenly slammed into her consciousness with the force of a train, pushing her to do exactly that. Judy couldn't believe her figurative ears. Her Beast wanted to feed this vampire with her own blood. Not for the first time that night, Judy wondered if her other half had gone barking mad. Then, She offered a bargain. Judy would be spared the possibility of embarrassing movie choices, but there was a price attached. Blood for the vampire and one other concession. Easily as embarrassing, but not public.

Judy's mortification and fear of her Beast's insanity warred with her desire to not embarrass herself in the Barracks and hope to end her patrol with no further fuss. It was a very near thing.

"Alright, fox. I'll make you a deal. My Beast likes you."

"Your what in the who now?"

Judy sighed. "My lycan personality."

"Hold up there, Carrots, are you telling me there are two of you in there?"

"Yes. There's me, Judith, and my Beast. We live I the same body."

"Like a timeshare?"

Judy blinked at that. "Weirdly, yes. And don't call me Carrots!"

"No promises there. I'm Nick, by the way."

"Nick, huh?"

"Nick Wilde. And you are Judith…?"

"Judy. Judy Hopps."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now, what is this deal of yours?"

"Not mine. Beast's."

"Right."

"Let's just call it mine…" Judy pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, I'll give you one swallow from me. In my Were form, it won't be too bad a loss and if you try anything funny, I pulverize you. Deal?"

"Um, I need at least two to make it to nightfall."

"If you're telling the truth about your healing saliva, you'll get a second."

"Alright. I can't argue the terms, but this'll buy me a day. I can't go home for a while still and I'll be back to starving tomorrow."

"We'll talk about that tomorrow."

Nick blinked. He wasn't positive, but it sounded like he might get another meal the next day. That was generous, he supposed. Even if it wasn't it was more than he had. He was curious to know why, but it would be foolish to press his luck. He had to prove himself first.

"The deal sounds good to me. I mean, not starving sounds amazing, but what do you get out of it?"

Now, Nick was surprised to see the little bunny with the titanic presence act nervous. "I don't get anything, now. If you haven't lied to me, I might be willing to trade blood for conversation. Tomorrow, maybe after sunset?"

"Alright, but what about this meal? I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but it doesn't sound like you're getting anything to compensate you."

Judy muttered something. "Sorry, Carrots, I missed that."

Judy snorted and bit out, "Five minutes."

"Five minutes of what?"

"Beast's price. She wants you for five minutes."

"I suppose you are buying me dinner…"

Judy's ears flamed red and her temper flared hot. "Not like that, you dope! She wants you to do as she says for five minute. Fully clothed!"

"Ok, I can work with that. Will she tell me what she wants?"

"She can't."

"I'm confused. Earlier, she spoke."

"That was both of us. It doesn't happen often. We're non-verbal when she's in charge."

"Most of the time.," Nick chided.

"Yes, yes. Most of the time."

"So how will she…?"

"She'll make it clear. She's very good about communicating, despite not speaking. Now, do we have a deal or not?"

"Yes, we have a deal." They shook paws.

Judy took a few steps back once their paws parted, shifted to her Were form and held out her arm before she realized that he was staring slack-jawed. Nick had never seen a lycanthrope change forms and he wasn't sure whether to be fascinated, or faint. Judy cocked her head and the movement snapped Nick out of his stupor. He shook himself and addressed himself to his meal.

Feeding Etiquette was a matter of pride in his family. Feeding was an intimacy, therefore, unless it was done with someone they were close to, there were certain protocols to follow. Was it an emergency? Yes. Was she willing? Yes. Was she getting something in exchange? Yes. Was she at risk?

Nick looked up at the massive being of muscle and remembered her warning.

No. No, she was not at risk.

Nick took her arm in his paws and sniffed to find an appropriate vein in the wrist. Carefully concealing his fangs under his lip, he placed them very carefully and applied just enough pressure with his lower jaw to puncture the blood vessel. After a moment, the hot red liquid began to drip onto his tongue and pool. He forced himself to focus on anything but the taste. That was a fast way to lose oneself to the Thirst and that was poor manners. In this case it would be fatal.

Instead, he did as he had been taught. Savor afterwards. His first responsibility was to his host.

Vampire bites could cause many different reactions, depending on the mammal. Nick was very well aware of what to look out for. He was careful to track her scent. She was a mass of many scent markers. Most were unfamiliar, but he did not smell any of the markers to indicate distress, or panic. She wasn't thrilled and was very uncomfortable, but that was only to be expected. Adrenalin, anxiety, frustration, a little curiosity; all very much expected and normal.

Once he had a swallow of the life-giving liquid in his mouth, he carefully lifted his fangs from her flesh and swallowed. Then, he set about cleaning up after himself. He laved the wound with his tongue to close it, first, before moving on to lap up every trace and drop on her arm. He was very thorough. By the time he was done, the wound had closed, leaving two ruby pinpoints where his fangs had been. A final pass with his tongue saw them removed and he stepped back. It was only a mouthful, but he felt surprisingly sated. Blood packs were the preferred and more plentifully available source of his food, but fresh from the vein was a much different experience. Like home cooking after a stint of take out.

Then, the rush hit. Normally, he felt a little rush like the first jolt of coffee, after feeding. Feeding from a mammal was akin to a double espresso, while a blood pack was a cup of good diner coffee. This, however, was jet fuel. Her blood flowed like hot quicksilver through him. One mouthful of her blood and he felt like he'd gorged himself. It was a bizarre feeling. So bizarre and intense that he felt dizzy from the wave of feeling accompanying it. The flavor of her blood and the rush accompanying it were spectacular. It was the best meal he'd ever had.

Judy watched the process with a sense of morbid fascination. It seemed almost ritualistic. For some reason, Beast chimed in with a reference to her favorite movie, Paws and Prejudice. The manners the characters had employed at formal table were strangely similar to how the fox was addressing his meal. The parallel made her want to giggle, until the fangs came to bear.

It was an odd feeling. Not bad, but not good either. It was clear Nick was trying to be as restrained as possible. A few brief moments passed before the fox lifted his teeth free and swallowed before cleaning her up with an unexpected efficiency. She had to admit, the healing saliva was no lie. Moments after he swallowed, the wound was gone, her arm was clean.

That was when it got weird.

The fox seemed to wobble at the knees and lose his equilibrium for a moment, but stabilized himself. Then, to Judy's utter amazement, he practically hugged her arm and ran his tongue languidly over the spot he had just healed. It was almost pornographic, if not for the act then the expression on his face of sheer pleasure. He went back over the area he had just cleaned with the same, long strokes of his tongue, savoring every drop.

She was too shocked to move, which was why he didn't get slapped. Judy's shock only got worse as she saw the change in the fox as he went from starved to fed. When she had cornered him, he'd looked like a ratty old rag doll. Now, he looked like a new plushie. His fur filled out, glossy and russet in the pre-dawn light; his lean frame less brittle looking; sunken eyes shining. He looked like a new fox, complete with a laconic demeanor and an easy smile.

"Are you ok, Carrots?"

"Don't call me that."

"You did it again."

Judy popped her mouth shut. She had spoken in Were form, again. The fox's smug grin irritated her for some reason and she slid through the change again, back to her usual rabbit self. "That's how vampires feed, is it?"

"More or less. I hope it wasn't too bad for you."

"No, it was weird, but not a bad experience. I think."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're acting weird."

"We only just met." Nick relented under her steely gaze. He may have been fed, but he was still very much at her mercy. "Your blood was… intense. Feeding from a living source is always more potent than a blood pack, but you are on a whole other level."

"Is that good?"

"Well, I won't need to eat until well after nightfall, if that's what you mean."

"You don't want the second swallow we agreed on?"

Nick considered for a moment. Hesitantly, he replied, "No. I don't think so. Not because it was bad, or anything, I assure you. I'm just full." The last sentence was delivered with a clear degree of confusion on his part. Judy was unsure how to take that. Fortunately, the fox spoke up. "Usually, I'd need a lot more to feel this sated. I'm surprised."

"We can figure that out later. Are you ready to fulfill your part of the bargain?"

"Five minutes with Beast? Absolutely. 100%."

"And our agreement about your next meal?"

"Don't worry, Carrots. I feel full, but my metabolism will leave me hungry well before midnight. I'm not going anywhere. We can negotiate then, as agreed."

"Good. This is my region, so as long as you don't stray too far from here, you'll be safe."

"Is the clearing we met in acceptable? I found a nice hollow tree to sleep in."

"That's fine. Now, just hang on."

Judy shifted again. She could feel the giddy anticipation from Beast roiling through her, just under the skin. Not for the first time that night, Judy wondered what her Beast was up to. As soon as the change was complete she found out, as did the interloper. Nick found himself awkwardly hanging off the ground, planted against a steel wall covered in rabbit fur and barely able to breathe. Judy had lunged forward the moment she was in Were form and snatched nick into a hug. She was now cuddling him in a very kit-like way. Beast was so happy she was purring. It sounded like the engine of a mac truck. Judy was mortified.

After five minutes, Judy held Beast to her word and Nick was placed on the ground looking rumpled and confused, but no worse for wear. Making her excuses, Judy hightailed it back towards the farmhouse. She had so many questions. Some, she'd be asking Nick at their next meeting, like the whole deal with the licking and, if he wasn't seeing things, his forked tongue? She'd learned a lot about vampires, but there was never any mention of forked tongues, or table manners, or… well, any of what she'd heard or seen. He was totally different from everything she'd heard.

Against her better judgement, she was curious. Unfortunately, curiosity was a double-edged sword. Her own might get her in a trouble. Her Mother's curiosity could get her into a lot. On her way home, Judy stopped at the river to bathe. Being one of the strongest Weres in her family came with some advantages. She bathed and scrubbed herself until she could only faintly smell the vampire on her fur. A smell that weak would only be detectable by her mother in Were form or possibly her grandfather. No real risk there, as he rarely left his room anymore.

Bonnie Hopps, matriarch of the clan, met Judy at the door. Judy made her report. No major events. One trespasser. Patrol complete, if modified due to unforeseen events. She'd cover the ground she'd missed in the next patrol or two.

Everything was smooth sailing until Bonnie caught the scent of a male. It was unusual for her daughter to be in the company of a male of any kind. It had to be the intruder, but it was noteworthy enough to be worth the asking. She had to inquire.

"He's just a stray, mom. He's no threat and will be gone before long. I'll keep an eye on him and make sure he leaves."

Judy knew her answer was unsatisfactory and it left a lot unanswered, but her mother didn't press. It was a minor thing and Judy was not one to make exceptions like this. There was no way her daughter would risk the safety of her family, or allow a stranger to trespass. There had to be a reason she allowed this male to stay, but to pry would indicate a lack of trust. Bonnie elected to be patient and trust in her child. The truth would come to light in time.

Judy made it to her bed in the Barracks almost two hours later than she had hoped for. Coffee would be the word of the day. All she had to do was get through two classes, catch the 3:25 bus and finish her essay before 8:00. Then she'd have four hours to sleep before her patrol. Beast was unhelpful in settling to sleep, so Judy made an addendum to her plans. An hour of sleep would be sacrificed so she and her other half could have a nice chat about Her interest in that vampire fox. Hopefully, then she'd have some idea of what her Beast was up to.