"School is out!" Nick practically howled, as Judy just barely managed to keep him from throwing his books up and through the air in is excitement.
"Calm down, Nick! The teachers can hear you!" the bunny cried, as she glanced over her shoulder to see their teacher watching them with a raised eyebrow. Judy gave her a small smile, and then turned back to her beaming friend.
"Come on, Carrots! There's nothing to worry about! By the time the holidays are over, the ol' dingbat will hardly remember me! Let alone anything I do or say," the younger fox kit reasoned with her, as the two started walking down the street. At that, Judy shifted her small orange backpack on her shoulders and huffed, a smile twitching at the edges of her lips.
"And come on, dingbat is not an insult, considering she is actually a bat!" Nick added, laughing as the two waited at the lights. That made Judy break into a huge grin.
Honestly, even though Nick was quite the troublemaker, being renowned for it at the school and throughout the staff, it was quite hard to stay mad at him. He was just trying to brighten up the mood or just be funny and get some attention. Well, not like he needed it, being the only child in his family, but who doesn't like attention?
"I guess you're right," Judy said with a sigh, as they crossed the road, and turned right, heading over to Judy's house.
"Hey, Carrots? I'm kidnapping you, remember?" Nick said, tapping Judy's shoulder as she looked up in surprise. The kit gestured with his thumb over his shoulder, in the direction of his house, when Judy suddenly remembered.
"Ohhhhh, right it's Friday. I completely forgot!" she laughed, as Nick tugged at her sleeve.
"And Fridays are when I kidnap you," he nodded in approval as the two started trotting to his little house.
Ever since the muzzle incident, Nick and Judy had stuck close by. Even their parents approved of their close friendship, having Nick even move over to the Tri-Burrows, even more so Bunnyburrows, which was a first for a fox family. However, Nick's mum and dad had been thrilled that their son had found such a close and loving friend, so at the end of grade four they decided to move in near Nick's aunt, uncle and cousin, Gideon.
Well, Judy was thrilled that Nick had come over to Bunnyburrows, even more so than his parents. And to add a carrot to the thoughts, Gideon wouldn't misbehave, as Nick could easily seem to handle him, which made the big bully fox behave.
In the end, everyone won.
Well, all except Gideon, but who cared about him any? He certainly didn't care about anyone other than himself.
"Hey Nick," Judy started, drawing the fox's attention, "tell me again why Gideon is so scared of you? I kind of forgot,"
"Welp, it's about time I get to brag about something!" the kit said, puffing out his chest as he tried to remember.
"You got to brag about your show and tell this morning, dumb fox!" Judy giggled, as the two kept walking on, about 3 blocks away from Nick's house. Plenty of time for him to finish bragging.
"I guess, but anyway," he coughed, as he began his amazing tale, "We were about 4, maybe 5, and my old town was throwing a fair. It was like a kind of summer carnival, yet more of city themed, with night markets for all of the nocturnal animals! My ma decided to invite Aunt Susie, and Gideon over one day so they could experience the markets themselves. Well, ma thought it would be nice for Aunt Susie to take her mind off of her husband being gone on a business trip, and to just have fun. So they came,"
"Well, Gid seemed nice enough when I met him, and after a while of having a coffee with them, ma asked if I wanted to show Gideon around the night markets, which was literately right next to us. I agreed, seeing as I was bored just sitting there, and Gid seemed happy about the idea, so ma gave me her phone and we were off,"
"Little did I know that Gerald, the school bully back in my old school, was at the night markets that night, so when we were looking at some toys, he came up behind us and started attacking Gideon," Judy gasped at that, which was more of a mocking gasp if anything.
"What did you do?!" she cried in mock horror, however Nick brushed it off and continued as if she had meant it.
"Well, I went up and grabbed Gerald's tail, and swung him to the ground! Bam! And then I started to punch him in the face when he tried to grab my tail and then pow! He was knocked back on the ground!" Nick cried, pretending to punch the bully, his fist swinging through the air as Judy laughed so hard she had to stop walking and regain her breath.
"But little did I know he was going to trip me with his leg, and then, bang I was on the ground! Well, he was towering above me, as Gideon cowered in fear from a corner. It was quite deserted that night, and the owner of the shop was gone. So there I was, pinned to the ground, no hope of escape, about to die at the arms of the most feared crime boss known to history!" Nick puffed, as he ran short of breath in his story telling, getting maybe just slightly carried away with the storyline. However, thankfully Judy noticed, and just played along. It was a fun routine the two had nearly every week, telling random stories, as they tried to make themselves look fiercer and bold. In the end, they tried to see who was the best story teller.
"Go on! What happened next? Did you die?" Judy urged, reminding Nick of his story as the resumed walking again, passing a cycler on the way.
"Oh, you would have thought, wouldn't you? But I lived!" the bunny breathed a fake sigh of relief, as she tried to hold in her laughter.
"See, I hooked his legs with mine, and then used the momentum of his lunge to throw him over my head, whilst I slid through his legs, making him catapult into the brick wall behind us.
"Nick, what was a brick wall doing in the middle of the night markets?" Judy laughed, as they rounded the corner and turned into a little garden gate, which led to Nick's little house. The fox kit paused at that question, as he rested his hand on the gate and cocked his head to the sky.
"I dunno. It's in a shopping centre so, yeah,"
"Oh well. But how come Gideon is so scared of you?"
"Er, because he saw my true strength when I battled the bully, and at the end when the cops came to get the criminal- I mean bully, I turned and said to him 'See what happens when you bully anyone I know? You get snapped in half!'" the fox kit said, putting on a deep voice as he pushed open the garden gate and the two stepped in, Judy closing the gate behind her. She smiled at Nick's impersonation, even though it was hopeless as his voice cracked in the middle of it.
"Well, as unbelievable as that story sounded, it was admittedly very exciting and- intense," Judy ended, as Nick held his fist to knock on the door.
"I'm glad you liked it, Carrots," the young fox laughed as he knocked on the door, making the bunny grin. She loved to hear his laugh, because it just sounded so sweet, like a mixture between a yip and a chuckle. She sometimes thought of it as a yuckle, or a chiple. Either way it was adorable, much as Nick refused it.
"Hey, Carrots, wanna come over to my house for a cool off?" Nick's voice sounded through the phone, as Judy stood on her tiptoes to reach it. So far it was a week into the holidays and it was already boiling hot, especially speaking as they also had fur other than their clothes.
"Yeah, sure, I'll be right over as soon as I tell mum!" Judy said through the line, and with a swift goodbye, jumped up and placed the phone back into its place.
"Hey mum, I'm going over for a swim at Nick!" Judy yelled throughout the household as she ran to her room, pulling out her little care-package bag and stuffing some spare clothes and water gear, as she chucked on some swimmers, and then a loose dress on top.
"Alright but be careful!" her mother, Bonnie, shouted through the walls, coming from most likely the nursery, which is where she looked after her newborns.
"I will!" the young bunny replied back through the walls as she threw the bag over her shoulder and ran out and through all of the corridor in her house, sprinting out and through the doorway, where she closed the front door.
Judy stopped as she remembered something.
"Bye mum love you!"
"Love you too sweetie!" came a faint echo, and with that Judy was off.
The walls in her house were specially made so you could shout something and another bunny would hear it, mainly because Bonnie needed to know when a baby needed tending to or if someone was leaving. Once upon a time the bunnies had tried phones, but that ended in disaster. Besides, babies can't call, and having hollow walls was much easier.
Judy hummed to herself as she skipped down the street, trying to make her trip as fast as possible, spending as little time as possible touching the scorching footpath. The sun had made it burning hot, and that burnt her soft bunny pads, which ended in blisters if she was out long enough, so skipping was the best option to stay up high and in the air. At least in the young rabbit's mind.
And sure enough, before she could blink, she was at Nick's house. Well, she was a bunny, and they were extraordinarily fast creatures.
Said fast creature rapped at the fox's door, and waited patiently for an answer, her hands clasped in front of her in anticipation. And shock and horror it was immediately opened, by Mrs Wilde.
"Oh, hello Judy! Nick has been expecting you," the older fox said sweetly, as she beckoned for the young rabbit to come in. The bunny much obliged, stepping into the cool interior which cooled down her aching feet.
"Thank you Mrs Wilde! Where is he?"
"Oh he is in the backyard waiting for you. I hope you have fun, I am off to finish some of my work," the vixen said, and then disappeared into the study which was right next to the hallway. It may have seemed strange to just walk away from your guest, but with Nick and Judy's families it was a common thing, as the two best friends had memorised each other's houses as if they were their own.
So the bunny bobbed along the hallway, until she reached the back door. She slowly slid it open, and then stepped outside onto the back patio, closing it behind her as she turned around, expecting to see her friend.
But he wasn't there.
"Nick? Where are you?" the doe called out, stepping onto the lawn as her eyes drifted all throughout the backyard. But not sign of him.
"Nick?"
Suddenly a hissing sound started behind her, making Judy whip around, to come face to face with a garden hose. Before she could think let alone react, water sprayed into her face, drenching her to the bone as the bunny desperately placed her paws in front of her, trying to shield herself from the torrent of water.
"Eek!"
"Hahaha! I got you good Carrots!" laughter squealed from behind the deadly weapon. Judy looked up, blinking water droplets away, as she came face to face with a delighted Nick Wilde, who was rolling on the floor in his swimmers.
"I hate you!" Judy laughed as she realized the prank that had been pulled off, and she joined him on the floor as they laughed at Judy's expense.
"F-feelings mutual!" Nick giggled, just managing to calm down his laughs so he could speak. Judy calmed down along with him, as she sat on the lawn, soaking wet.
"It feels nice, though," she said, as the soft breeze cut through her fur, cooling her down from the hot sun.
"I bet," Nick smiled at her, leaning back on his hands, looking at her with laughing eyes. Suddenly, Judy got a devious grin on her face, making Nick uneasy.
"You okay, Carrots?"
"I have to do something, be right back!" the bunny replied, grabbing her bag and going back to the other side of the backyard, near the tap.
"Hey fluff the hose is here if you want to get me back!" Nick called out, sensing the vengeance that was written all over the young bunnies face. He held the hose up for good measure, standing up along with it, as he saw her foot disappear around the corner of his house. He lowered the hose, as he waited for her to come back.
It took about 5 minutes, and then Nick was bored, so he started making a small puddle with the hose water, but that only lasted about 2 minutes as the hose went dry, and Nick sourly placed it back down, knowing Judy was behind it. He was now seated with his legs sprawled out in front of him, hunched over as he waited for his friend's arrival.
"Carrots I'm bored. What's taking you so long?" the fox kit wailed as he fiddled with the hose snout. He sniffed and placed it back down, waiting, waiting, waiting.
And then it happened.
A whooshing sound coming towards him, replaced by a splat as something cold and jelly like hit his back. That cold and jelly thing exploded into liquid, and before he knew it Nick's ears were weighed down with droplets of water, his fur drenched. However, all the kit could do was sit there, blinking as he tried to process what had just happened.
A sound of muffled laughter sounded behind him, as Nick turned around to see Judy, paw over her mouth, eyes grinning at him as if he were the next best thing to carrots. And in her paw, was a water balloon.
"Uh oh…" he dwindled off, as Judy approached him, evil smirk on her face.
"It's called a hustle, Nick," was the last thing she said before Nick tore through the backyard, trying to outrun the approaching bunny and cargo. And that was how they spent their afternoon, drenching each other and coming up with even more devious ways to get their revenge, via a giant water fight.