The persistent beeping of Judy's alarm woke her from her erotic dream. When she realized it was all just a dream, she could feel all the blood in her body rush to her ears. She turned off her alarm and got ready for work, more distractedly than usual. She was out of her apartment later than normal. She hesitated at the door, knowing Nick would be waiting on the other side, like always. She took a deep breath and opened the door
"Morning, Carrots" Nick said with a grin on his face. Judy only barely glanced at him and she could feel her face redden.
"Morning" she told him, lacking her usual morning chipper.
"What's wrong?" Nick asked, sensing the change in his partner's behavior.
"Nothing nothing... I'm just a little tired" Judy lied, beginning to walk towards work.
"Yeah, right, Fluff" Nick muttered before following beside her. They walked to work in silence, where there was usually some talking or banter between the two of them. Nick didn't want to push, but he really wanted to know what was bothering his partner.
They got to work and were given an ultimatum by Chief Bogo
"Parking duty or paperwork" he told them, not having much else they could do.
"Parking duty" Judy answered, then quickly turned to go get her vest and cart.
Her and Nick met again outside the station
"So I'll go this way and you go that way" Judy said, pointing and then jumping into her cart and driving away as quick as it would move. Nick stood there, confused and a little hurt. He turned, shaking his head, and walked down the sidewalk, keeping an ear out for expired parking meters.
To distract himself from the odd behaviors of his partner, he wrote as many tickets as he could. He had almost 150 by noon.
Judy was usually really good at writing tickets when she had to, keeping the record of tickets written in a day (358) and usually writing at least 100 before ten. But her dream distracted her and there she was, at noon, with the number 53 on her ticket meter. She let out a loud sigh and tried to focus on the sound of expiring meters.
At the end of the day, Nick was at the police station, turning in his paper work on his tickets. He had managed to rack up 276 tickets, a new high for him. But Judy was nowhere to be found. It was movie night, so he waited. And waited.
Half an hour after their shift ended, Judy slowly walked through the doors. She didn't even make it to 200 tickets. She was very disappointed in herself and still very embarrassed about her thoughts and dreams.
"Carrots, where have you been?" Nick asked, pausing his conversation with Clawhauster
"I... Lost track of time" Judy lied, slipping away do get her ticket numbers turned in. Nick more than doubled her number of tickets and she just wanted to jump out of a window. She was hoping Nick would have left when she came back through, but he was still there.
"Movie night, Hopps" Nick reminded her with a grin. Crap. Judy had forgotten about movie night. She didn't say anything, she just followed Nick out of the station.
Just like this morning, they walked in silence for a long time before Nick got sick of it.
"What is wrong?" He demanded, stopping and turning to face his partner. Judy stopped, but she didn't look at Nick.
"I told you this morning... I'm tired" she whispered, her voice shaking. She tried looking at him, but she never wanted to kiss him so badly and she had to look back down. Nick sighed in frustration and started walking again. He was hurt that she didn't want to tell him what was bothering her. They were friends. She was his best friend...
Judy wanted to make up an excuse and go home, but she could tell she had upset Nick, so she knew she at least owed him movie night
When they got to Nick's apartment, they were still silent. Nick was getting really upset, but he didn't want to push her.
Judy sat on the couch and looked through the movies while Nick popped popcorn. She was looking at the back of one of the movies, where the two main characters were kissing. Her thoughts began to wander again and then she was imagining kissing Nick like that.
So when he came in the room and sat next to her, she jumped about a foot off of the couch. Nick raised his brow at her, again wondering what was going on in her head today.
"I'm so sorry, Nick" she suddenly blurted. Nick didn't know what to say. He wanted to ask her why, but he knew she would tip toe around the answer again
"I... I had a... Dream" Judy muttered. Nick then felt much better
She was acting this way because of a dream? He thought he or someone else had done something to upset her. He either had to be upset with himself, or prepared to hurt whoever upset his best friend and partner. But it was just a dream.
Nick smirked at her
"That's all?" He asked. He saw her ears turn red. It must have been about something embarrassing
"Aww, did my innocent little bunny have a dirty dream?" Nick asked, taunting her in a way he hoped would make her smile. Instead, she turned a little farther away from him and her ears got even more red as they drooped.
Wait. Did she really?
"Judy, you have no reason to be all embarrassed and weird all day over a dream" Nick assured her
"I do have a reason" Judy told him, sounding frustrated
"And what's that?" Nick asked
"...You."
"Me?"
"Yes. You. It wouldn't be such a big deal if the dream wasn't about you. Because now I can't even look at you, let alone work with you or watch a movie with you" Judy told him, turning to face him, but still not looking at him
"It was about me?" Nick muttered to himself "Why not? Everybody has those kinds of dreams sometimes, its nothing to be ashamed of"
Judy couldn't take it anymore she finally looked up into his emerald eyes
"I'm not ashamed. I'm just really embarrassed because now I can't look at you without wanting to kiss you like crazy" Judy told him, her ears somehow getting even more red "And every time you get near me, the way you smell makes me want to tackle you to the ground. But when you talk to me... Your voice just..." Just couldn't finish. She let out a short, frustrated growl and put her face in her paws.
"What happened in the dream?" Nick asked after a long, silent pause.
"What?" Just asked, her voice muffled by her paws
"In the dream... What happened?" Nick repeated. He was curious. Did they just kiss? Make out? Did one of them make a move? How far did they go?
Nick had been crushing on Judy for a while now. He tried to ignore it, because he didn't think she would ever like him back, but now the idea that she has been thinking about him enough to had an erotic dream made him excited.
"No! Why? I can't" Judy said through her paws.
"Would it help if I told you a secret?" Nick asked her, deciding to just go for it.
"I don't know... Maybe"
"I... I have... Liked..." This was harder than he had expected "I have liked... You... For a while now" he finally got out.
Judy removed her paws from her face and looked at Nick
"You have?" She asked, unbelieving
"Yeah" Nick answered, now embarrassed himself "I've been scared to tell you, because I didn't think you'd like me back. But now we are both embarrassed about something..." He explained.
"I... I like you too" Judy admitted. If she didn't like him, she would have make a joke of her dream, but the fact that she did like him is what made it so embarrassing.
They now both sat, embarrassed, with their ears bright red.
"Will you tell me about the dream now?" Nick asked after the silence grew too heavy for him to bear.
"We were having movie night... And my shoulders were sore from work out... You started rubbing them... Then you kissed my neck" Judy involuntarily shivered a little at the memory of Nick's lips on her neck. She was embarrassed to recap the dream to the guy she had the dream about, but it was also kind of exciting, so she continued.
"Then I turned my head and kissed you. I don't know how it happened, but then I was straddling your lap and we were making out... You carried me to your bedroom and took off your shirt. And I took off mine. You kissed my belly, and then worked your way up..." Nick was captivate by Judy's dream. It was more than he had imagined and far more than he had ever hoped for in real life
"...was this dream a good thing?" Nick asked quietly
"What?"
"Was it a good thing? Or do you regret it and wish it had never happened?" Nick repeated, elaborating some
"I... I don't want to ruin our friendship. I'm scared that if we get involved in a romantic relationship, it might not work out and then our friendship will be awkward and working together will be weird... I'm scared" Judy admitted.
"Why is your first thought what would happen if it doesn't work? Why not think about it actually working out and us being together forever?" Nick asked, slightly sarcastically because he wasn't good at serious situations.
"Because, Nick, it won't work! It can't work! You are a predator. The only reason I had that fox repellent when we met was because my parents insisted that I take something with me. My dad tried to give me a fox taser, but I refused to take it. If they knew that I was even friends with you they would flip out"
"Wait, your parents don't know about me?" Nick demanded, hurt greatly by the idea of Judy ignoring his existence when it came to her family.
"They know about Nick. But they don't know that you're a fox. They know about my amazing friend and partner... I'm too scared to tell them you're a fox... I'm sorry" Judy explained. She felt like her heart was going to fall apart with everything she was putting it through today.
"Nick... I really like you. You are my best friend. But interspecies relationships are not received well at all, let alone a predator/prey interspecies relationship"
"I don't care how we could be received... I don't care what anybody else thinks. I love you and that should be all that matters" Nick insisted. There was a long pause.
"You love me?" Judy asked gently
"Was that a stupid question? Yes, yes it was" Nick told her, rolling his eyes a little. He thought he had made it obvious. But sometimes his dumb bunny was oblivious to the obvious.
He looked and saw Judy staring at him. He stared back into her beautifully purple eyes. They were so unique and he never got to look at them enough. Judy moved closer to Nick and closed her eyes for a moment.
She took a deep breath and let it out, making a decision. She opened her eyes and couldn't help the small grin on her face.
"Nick" she said
"Yes?" Nick whispered back
"I have to kiss you now" she whispered, leaning in and pressing her lips against his.
It was so much better than in her dream. His lips were so warm and the fur on his face was so soft. Nick moved her so she was on his lap without breaking their kiss. Judy wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him tight. She never wanted to let go, but eventually they both needed air.
"Nick... I love you too" she whispered when they finally broke apart. He was unable to hide his genuine grin, which was different than his usual one. She did; she loved him so much. She felt very stupid that she hasn't realized it sooner. She hadn't even realized that what she had been feeling for months was a hard core crush on Nick. She had never really had a crush on anyone before. Most of her time and attention before Nick went into her dream of becoming a cop.
She wrapped her arms around his chest and laid her head against it, just listening to his heartbeat. Nick's arms automatically wrapped around Judy and he leaned his head against hers.
After a long while, Judy leaned away from Nick and looked at the buttons on his shirt for a moment before starting to undo them
"Uh... Whatcha doin there, carrots?" He asked with a slight chuckle.
"I'm curious about something" she answered, continuing to unbutton his shirt. He didn't argue, though he was really confused and curious. When all the buttons were undone, Judy didn't hesitate before she wrapped her arms around Nick's middle, pressing her face against the fur on his chest. He chuckled a little at her and wrapped his arms back around her.
After about a minute, Judy turned her face so it was visible and explained herself
"In my dream, the fur on your face was really soft, but it's softer for real. In my dream the fur on your chest was extra soft, so I wondered if it, too, was softer in real life" she said, rubbing her fluffy cheek against Nick's chest
"And?" Nick asked, a huge grin on his face. He was loving this. Having his Bunny so close to him was like a dream in itself.
"How do you get so fluffy and soft?" Judy demanded. Nick chuckled and hugged Judy close to him
"It's a sly fox kind of thing, you bunnies just can't get on our level" he said, pressing a kiss between his bunny's ears.