Sapperjoe85 : Thanks for the compliment. Joan, has a heart as big as her species suggest, for her and Judy to become friends only makes sense.
GhostWolf88 : Will do, thank you.
Foxlover91 : Glad to be back :D That would be a good thing for the two of them to accomplish all that, yeah, but they still have a few miles to go to get there...
Venomheart the Dreamer : Alright, this a lot, so let's answer this one each point after the other.
I assume you're talking about chapter Chapter 3 – Meeting Her Heroes
First, I'm not sure the entirety of the chapter is made bad by a few parts borrowed from the movie, but that is my opinion, which I'm not expecting everyone to share.
About swapping characters and reusing their dialogues on the confrontation at the museum : Only Bellwether had the same dialogue, you will have noticed that Nick didn't use any of his movie one-liners (as, to me, they were the product of the interactions between Nick and Judy)
I would admit I could have written it differently, but contrary to what you seem to believe it's more because of a lack of necessity than a lack of imagination. There wasn't much point in building a whole different situation for that confrontation and it would only have lengthened a scene that didn't need to be. So recycling a scene was not only a conscious choice, but also a way to show the situation more easily, as everyone knows that scene. Besides, I found it fun to rewrite a scene with different characters but leading to a somewhat similar outcome.
I don't see what you mean about that bridge reference, as it's pretty much the same dialogue Nick uses in the movie (bridge, emotional squalor, and all). As for Nick living under a bridge, even the movie doesn't really say it. There is nothing under the bridge where Nick and Judy meet that would indicate the fox lived there… To me, it was just a place he hung out to be away from the world. So to be quite honest, I have no idea where you found that idea...
As for reusing Nick's dialogue, it was a last minute decision. I didn't need to do it, and it was a bit of a pain to readapt his rant to fit this story's situation.
I hope these explanations satisfy you.
Glad you liked Nick's reasons though.
AthroDragon : They would be a long way from kissing. Maybe a reluctant handshake could work.
Cemsay : Glad you like my story. I'll say it right now : Hoppsfinnick isn't going to happen. The rest is still open. Maybe HerbertXJudy, who knows...
Sorry, this chapter's going to be short, I was sick as a dog the whole week, and I spent yesterday at Disneyland. For realsies. And it sucked. Big time (I hate crowds, constant chatter and waiting in line. And I was still sick). But it was for a bachelorette party, so it was worth it.
Chapter 5 - Booting Process
Nick's weary eyes opened to a white ceiling. He rolled to his side and noticed he was sleeping on a futon in his office. How he had found his way from the desk to his sleeping accommodations was a mystery, but one thing was for certain. He reeked.
The fox made his way toward the bathroom adjacent to his office, the only bathroom in that place with working hot water. Aside from Joan's of course.
As a way to speed up his brain's slow booting process, he began his shower ice cold. The he turned the hot water on. When his feet touched the bathroom tiles again, his stomach gurgled. Breakfast was needed. He put on a bathrobe, snatched his phone and cane, and glanced at the time.
"Shit." He muttered.
Having pulled yet another all-nighter, his sleeping pattern had been thrown further off. It was 11AM. When he reached the living/meeting room, he wasn't surprised to find it empty. He glanced through the window to see a tiny pair of feet sticking out of under the pick up truck hood. Finnick was already at work.
The fox entered the kitchen and grabbed the tiny folded ladder, using it to reach the counter and turn on a wolf sized coffee machine. Herbert had offered to look for a smaller one, but every single smaller mammal had refused. That coffee machine might have been a bit large to handle, but it contained the right amount of caffeinated beverage.
He grabbed a pack of biscuit and started nibbling on them while waiting for his coffee to heat up.
Then, he grabbed a mug, filled it to the brim and got down from the counter without spilling a single drop.
"So how're things ?" Came a voice from the next room. Nick stopped and side-stepped, before resting his back against the wall and sipping his coffee. Him and Fin' hadn't exchanged a word since he had lost his shit at the bunny, he didn't want to cut short the conversation he was having with whoever the other mammal was.
"Lonely." Came a flirty female voice Nick recognized as one of their common friend, Honey. "Since you and Nick left the city to install yourselves in this hole." She finished in a more even tone.
"I'm sure some fine badger like ya can easily find some other foxes to fill the void in her life." Finnick's voice was thick with undertone.
"I don't know, you've left a lot of empty space." She answered in the same voice.
Nick decided it was time to react before they decided to use the couch for another purpose than sitting. "Whatever you two are planning on doing, please don't make any stain in our workplace."
The fennec shot him a glare before hopping down from the couch. "See ya later Honey. I'll be in the parking lot if you're looking for me."
The large badger waved at the small vulpine as he left, before turning to the fox. They hadn't seen each other much, but she hadn't changed a lot in the last ten years. Maybe she was a bit more slouched and pudgy than before, but she still wore the same camo pants and tank top, with a sort of punkish (and very pink) hairstyle.
"You two not speaking ?" She asked.
"He's not speaking to me. I'm simply not trying to change his mind." Answered Nick. "How's your mom ?"
"Old and moody."
"She hasn't changed a bit then. Good to know the old Madge's still kicking."
"Good to know for you, you don't have to put up with her on a weekly basis." She grinned. "So, maybe we should get to work, I charge by the hour."
"The computer is upstairs."
The badger shook her head and opened her bag to take out a laptop. "Just give me the wifi password, I can do this from here."
The fox had the corner of a grin. "We don't have wifi."
"Are you shitting me ? Is this cabin a portal to the eighties ?" She gave ostentatious look at the room. "Given the interior, I looks more like the fifties. All right, show me the beast."
He led her back up to his office. When she finally saw the computer she started giggling, her laughter bordering on hysterical. "This thing is your computer ?"
"Looks like it."
"Cathodic screen, with a tower dating from..." She took a look at the stickers on the front. "The 2000's… If this is a windoe millenium, I'm not even touching the keyboard." She warned.
"What's so wrong with millenium ?"
"It's the benchmark for fail." She shot back, pushing the power button as she sat on Nick's chair. "Alright, Vista. That will have to do I guess. I suppose upgrading is out of the question ?"
"If we get through the next inspection, we might have some money for that, but it's not a priority."
The badger shrugged. "This thing is probably on its last leg. If you don't get it replaced, it's going to blow up in your face. I hope you do back-ups often."
The fox remained silent.
"Oh, for fuck's sake, Nick. You know better than that ! Don't you even have a machine set up as a NAS ?"
The fox threw his paws up. "We don't even have an external hard drive. What do you want me to do ?"
The badger rolled her eyes. "There isn't anything else in this than text. This is your external drive." She said, dropping an usb key in his paw. "64gb, on the house. Don't thank me. Just buy something better."
Then, at last, the login screen appeared. "So you're trying to get a hold of the password. Can't you login as a guest ?"
"Not if I want to access this account's e-mails."
The badger nodded and plugged her laptop to the computer before running a software the tod didn't know. The several hours was filled with a badger's grumbling, and Nick working on paperwork next to her.
"Aaaaand done !" Announced the badger.
"You found the password ?"
Honey stared at him with a jaded expression bordering on disgust. "Please. That took me about ten minutes."
"WHAT ?"
"Calm your tail, foxy. I cleaned this thing up for you."
Nick raised a brow. "What do mean 'cleaned' ? I hope you haven't erased-"
"By my mom's tail, Nick ! I know what I'm doing ! This thing was so riddled with malware, spywares and trojan horses, I'd be surprised if my next HIV test didn't come back positive."
"What ?"
"Okay, to make it understandable with words you will understand : If this thing was a mammal, its leprosis would have smallpox."
"That's a mental image I didn't need. So you… Cured it ? From what ? Where did it come from ?"
The badger smiled broadly. "Pred-on-prey pornsites mainly, poor choices in torrents, and maybe a teensy little bit of aviaphilia surfing."
"Now, this is messed up." Winced the fox in disgust.
"And sadly, since I'm not accredited by the government, I doubt you will be able to use my little report to demolish your previous boss."
Nick exhaled dismissively. "He's retired, that wouldn't make much of a difference. With this done, I won't have to think about this prick ever again." He leaned over the desk and clicked the e-mail account. The amount of new e-mail was jarring. "Shit." He blurted.
"Wow, you got a metric-ton of work ahead of you. Sucks to be you."
"Yeah, I look forward to that… I'm starting to miss the outdoor part of my job."
"Why don't you give this to do to someone else ? You're the boss after all."
Nick gave her sceptical look. "Finnick would just throw it all in the bin and call it a day, Joan would panic, and she wouldn't fit in the office anyways. Duke would try but just screw it up since he doesn't know how to do it, and Herbert… Well, I had to buy him his first phone seven years ago, and I'm not sure he really know how to use it completely." The fox enumerated on his fingers.
"What about the bunny ?"
"Er…" Nick hesitated. "How much do I owe you ?" He asked, switching topic with the subtlety of a 40-ton lorry.
"One hundred bucks." She said, opening her paws expectantly. Nick dropped a fistful of cash in it.
"Here ya go."
She quickly counted the money. "There's too much." She said, handing him back a twenty he refused.
"Go buy yourself something nice." He smiled.
The notes disappeared in the mustelid's pocket. "Look at you, being generous and everything." She patted his shoulder. "These ten years walking straight really made a number on you, didn't they ?"
"What can I say. I have reformed."
"I think it suits you. And Fin' and Duke. That's a nice thing you did, giving them these jobs."
The fox raised his paws deflectively. "They were the right mammals for it."
"I know they were. You're still a good mammal, you should stop denying it." She smiled. "Now, if you don't mind, I have stuff to see and mammals to do."
Nick was looking through the window at the badger heading off toward her scooter. She stopped midway and turned toward the pickup truck Finnick was still working on. He saw them chatting a for a bit, and the badger pointing at his van with her thumb.
The fennec hopped down from the hood of the pick up truck and wiped his paws with a cloth, before opening his van backdoors to her, bowing to let her in, and closing them behind him as he followed her in.
Nick smirked and shook his head. "Mammals to do, huh ?"
Honey and Finnick had been on and off for years and it never worked. They tried to keep it casual, started to think they could make it work, and spent their time fighting. Then they broke off and didn't speak to each other for a few months. Rince and repeat every three years of the last three decades.
The red fox sighed and went to his computer. Now that he could access the files, it was a good time to take a look at Ramowitz's recruiting process. He made a quick search in the e-mail software with "application" as a keyword, and found around thirty answers.
He trudged through them, and really great profiles showed up. In fact, there would have been a few of them he would have invited to an interview given the opportunity. Nick was actually glad to have been able to bypass the ram when he had hired Finnick and Duke. He hadn't liked calling the favors needed to do so, but having mammals he knew, and liked, to rely on was better than having to get to know total stranger.
And Judy was a total stranger he hadn't even chosen. That wasn't an excuse for blowing up in her face and he knew it, but it was all the rationalisation he had.
He finally found the e-mail conversation between her and Ramowitz. He took a look at her résumé and didn't found it impressive. But not abysmal either. The twenty-years as a bun-scout were easy to check, as well as the degree in criminology (why would a bunny need a degree in criminology ?), for the rest, he supposed he'd have to take her word for it. After a quick reading of her cover letter,
he reached the conclusion that she was the naive bunny he had suspected (and accused) her to be, but she that she was also full of motivation and good will. And as he knew, skills could be taught, but not attitude.
He leaned back against his chair, knocking the back of his head against the frame with a sigh. The feeling of having been a dick went from nagging to harassing and he pinched the bridge of his muzzle.
There was a bunny he owed a big apology to, and he absolutely didn't feel ready to deliver it that evening. Or week. Or century.
The week passed slowly, while the ambiance gradually deteriorated. Finnick's open hostility toward their boss was starting to erode the other workers mood, and the fact that said boss and new bunny recruit seemed like they absolutely didn't want to be in the same room together.
What made the bubble burst, though was another problem altogether...
What ? Of course, I was going to end it on a cliffhanger. Have you not read my other stories ? :D
