Author's Note:
I have been sidetracked heavily by a visit from family and a lot of extra work, but things should move at a more normal pace after this week. I hope! Thanks for your patience, everyone. I know that some were a little disappointed that we kind of stumbled on ahead of some of the deepening of a fox and bunny's relationship but those bits just would not make it past the censors. I might offer a peek of what's going on in a comment here or there but unless there's a huge call for MA-rated fun-stuff I will leave that more to the imagination. That said, where they are going will test the rating and my ability to stay in it anyway, so here we go… come at me censors! ._o_.
If you are just joining Guardian Blue for the first timeyou will want to check out Season 1 first, and I would highly recommend Thanks for the Fox before that as well so everything makes sense. ^^
I do not have any sway or clout with Disney and they have not given any specific permission for me to write concerning this property. As such, it is free to read and enjoy as always. Do enjoy.
Also! A HUGE shout-out to J. N. Squire for assisting with editing for Season 2! With my busy schedule and rampant comma-abuse it's a gigantic help!
Guardian Blue: Season Two
Episode 5: Bare
A deep mahogany-toned rabbit stood in a simple black cotton skirt and white blouse. She held a small bag with a thin strap on her shoulder, looking at the entrance to what amounted to a city block with a high sandstone wall around it. Her dark brown eyes widened with a bit of surprise at the approach of the one she was to meet there. The fox was toned obsidian black where her partner's red would be, normal cream being in the same place. He had slight highlights of grey to show the advance of age, his ice-blue eyes narrow and cunning, and his ears back. He wore tan slacks and a red Pawaiian shirt. The bunny rolled her eyes.
"How is that any kind of cover?!" Judy asked with exasperation, not attempting to disguise her voice as yet.
The fox grinned, Nick's familiar voice ringing out. "Relax, Fluff. It's not like I will be wearing it the whole time we're here. Where's your country-girl accent? Aren't you supposed to have an accent?" he asked with a grin.
Judy growled, "I am not doing the accent." She hoisted her bag a bit and moved toward the large door of the Mystic Spring Oasis. "I'll change my voice…" she stated in a light, feathery tone that perked up Nick's ears, "… but t'ah ain't doin' th' accent sugar." Nick followed close behind.
Nick responded, "You are definitely allowed to use that voice. I like that voice. You're right though… The accent doesn't work. I think of Gideon when I hear it. That's just… all wrong." Nick shuddered at the thought.
Judy, in her chocolate-toned bunny cover, grinned broadly, "You should not have told me that. Ah intend to abuse that kahnd of information at the most in-oppor-tewn time!" She cackled.
Nick cringed and shook his head, then spoke in his 'cover-voice', something raspy. "I have done this terrible thing to myself."
Judy recoiled a little at it and said, "Deeper. That's just a laryngitis version of your regular voice there and it reminds me of when you lost your voice. That's a monumental no go for me."
Nick moved up closer and growled in a tone that seemed dark and almost dangerous. It was still raspy, but very different. "This was what I was originally intending to use, but I thought it was too much." The bunny looked back at him with wide eyes.
She murmured softly, "You sound like a wolf, Nick. That's eerie. But perfect. Let's go with that." Nick followed as Judy advanced toward the door.
He spoke again in his own voice. "Really? You like that? Should I use it more often?"
Judy laughed at that and shook her head. "Nah, I like you the way you are. You know that. And I know you aren't building any kind of attachments or frisky feelings about this tender, sweet, innocent strange brown bunny. I have no doubt that you are only thinking about a violent, loud, ambitious long-eared honorary-vixen waiting for you back home." Nick laughed heavily at that and they stopped at the entrance. The bunny then put her hand on the door, but paused a bit and then looked to her partner, ears back, face anxious.
"I mean, really? Us? Just because we're together?" she whined.
"Actually, I talked to Wolford and it's apparently two separate issues. It was offered to a few others since they were not mixed-gender teams and MR would have been fine with that, but absolutely no one wanted it. Some of us do not want to get as close to their partner as I happily did with mine." He crossed his arms, grinning. "And don't forget! This is a huge payout, Carrots. It's the down payment on a car. Not a great car, but we can finally get off the bus. I'm tired of getting sat on by drunken wildebeests."
Judy sighed, tightening her grip on the door handle. "You know I'm shy. This is so not like me." She looked up at the smiling figure of her disguised partner. He really looked very little like Nick and that made her even more self-conscious.
"Carrots, look at it like this..." Her fox leaned down to talk. "When you walk around in there, you are going as Delilah, or Dee. You look nothing like Judy Hopps. You will act very different from Judy Hopps. No one's gonna have any clue of who you are. You are playing a character. Haven't you ever roleplayed online?" he asked. He then folded his ears back. "No, never mind. Forget I asked. Look, it's fine. It'll be hard maybe at first, but I have been here before as a guest with Emmitt, remember? It gets easier after the first few minutes and it's designed with plenty of places to sit or stand that let you be modest if you're shy. It took them four hours to get our cover on us, so now is not the time to change our minds."
Judy sighed and nodded. "Alright, John, let's do this."
Nick cringed. "Gerald!" Judy blinked at his reaction a little confused by the intensity of his dislike for being called that, but nodded at the correction. In they went.
It was dark and soothing, and the gentle music made her want to crawl onto one of the haphazardly placed piles of pillows and nap. If it were not for the fact that she was about to leave her clothes behind, she might have really been excited for this assignment. They walked together to the front desk. Yax was there as he had been the first time they were here together, but he was stacking silver magnets into an intricate design that looked like he had been doing it a while. Judy was very careful not to startle him and upset his stacking. There were so many pieces and it looked delicate.
He noticed them as they approached, however, and he grinned. He looked as unkempt and fly-ridden as ever. He stated in his drawn out fashion, "Oh yeah guys, wow… Awesome disguises! If I didn't remember one of Officer Hopps' ears was longer than the other I'd have been fooled, ahuh!"
Judy flinched. "What?!" she cried in her normal voice. Yax, the owner of the establishment, was aware that Nick and Judy would be investigating, but that was not what the bunny was immediately fixated on. She grabbed her ears, looking at the ends of them in her hands. The dark tips were hidden by carefully airbrushed dye but as she pulled them carefully together she could only barely, just barely tell that what Yax said was true. The left ear was longer.
Nick's survival instinct apparently kicked in and he did not comment on that at all, instead nodding to the yak and saying in his new voice, "You should have us down as Gerald Woodson and Delilah Cloverfield." He smiled at the yak, ignoring Judy's careful pulling of one ear then the other. Yax regarded his sign in book and then nodded, scooting it over to the pair. Nick and Judy both signed in, and the owner of the specialized naturalist club then showed them to the changing area. This was the last place in the establishment where they were going to be wearing clothes.
Yax left them to their 'naturalization' as he called it. Judy looked at her locker. It was plenty large enough for her bag and everything she could want to put in it for this short visit, but she wondered what she would do if somehow her stuff went missing. She shook the thought away and turned, backpedaling a little as she saw her partner standing casually folding his shirt wearing nothing at all. He really was fine with it, but she had to look away just briefly because he still looked like a completely different fox. She had been self-conscious enough with the lady ermine who handled her full-body disguise but to stand bare before complete strangers was almost maddening. What in the world would her mother think? Her sisters would surely tease her mercilessly forever if they knew.
She took a deep breath and finally undressed, baring everything before turning and facing Nick. He regarded her and nodded before saying in his false voice, "They did a nice job. No one but Yax would ever recognize you." Judy reached up and touched her left ear.
"How bad… I mean… Is it like… really obvious?" she asked.
Nick grinned at the bunny and said, "I spend a bunch of time touching your ears, Fluff, and have never noticed until now. It's not noticeable. Really. Come on." He indicated the door that lead out to the common area of the club.
"Okay, so, to be clear on our parts…" Judy stalled, "You are Joh-Gerald Woodson, a close family friend who is in business with my brother in Deerbrook County. You and I both were curious about the naturalist lifestyle after finding a flyer on the bus. Since we are not the same species, we figured it would be good to have a friend here who could offer support without it being expected to be a relationship kind of a deal. You made the arrange-" Judy looked up and saw that the door was open and Nick had his hand out, indicating the bunny should follow. She put her hands stiffly at her sides, her phone in her hand because she had nowhere else to put it. Nick had his phone, as well as a pack that they had to keep with them because it had items they would need for the investigation.
The first thing Judy immediately noticed was the caress of moving air over her entire body. She could not recall a time in her life she'd ever felt the air move over every inch of her, uninhibited by clothing. Then she felt the sun as she walked out of the shade of the building along the thankfully unpopulated path leading to the bungalows where they would be staying. She watched Nick's dark tail sway side to side and found that she focused on that more than looking to see if other mammals were around. The sun actually felt very nice and she could not deny how curious and unique the feel of the weather over her unadorned body felt.
She glanced about after a little while and finally did notice a few other mammals milling about. Two zebras were holding drinks, chatting and laughing about something. There were three lady deer discussing trivially the contents of a magazine they were all marginally interested in. A cougar jogged by. It struck Judy that if anyone looked at her it was only long enough to see where she was so they didn't run into her, same as they might anywhere else. Her eyes could not help but track over the bare forms of the mammals as they had the first time she was here. She forced herself to look back up for a while, but in the time it took just to walk to the bungalows she found herself just mostly looking at mammals the way she always did. She did not want to admit Nick was right but it did not take terribly long for her to stop really caring about being nude or anyone else not being dressed. No one was staring and ultimately, neither was she.
She did notice that a lot of mammals had long and ornate bead lanyards which held a pouch that was a good size for a phone and personal effects like cash. She could not remember seeing those last time she was there, but she had not been looking that closely. She hoped she could have one too, suspecting maybe they were in the bungalow. Having nowhere to put her phone was awkward. They arrived at the small single-room cabin referred to as a bungalow and Judy looked around a little before going in with Nick. She didn't know how much anyone knew about what happened, but there was a reason they were assigned this particular one.
Inside, the place was something of a wreck. There were papers everywhere. There was an overturned chair. A mattress was thrown off the bed and lay upside down on the floor with all the sheets torn off.
Nick looked back at Judy and said in his regular voice, "Classy place. I've slept in worse." Judy sighed at her partner's humor.
"Someone died here, Nick." She carefully moved through the room, and began to take pictures. At the ZPD's assistance, aside from the body being removed, nothing had been touched or handled in the room since the murder. Nick joined her in that endeavor, beginning their investigation by meticulously recording the crime scene. CSI work was usually done by one or more of the department specialists, but the pair got a crash course in it before coming here. Much of the meticulous CSI work would still be done after the fact, using the evidence that Nick and Judy brought back. The fox and bunny were responsible for making sure it was recorded as accurately as possible without anyone knowing that the investigation was going on.
Nick spoke up again softly, "You know, we might one day make detective and we will be dealing with this specific kind of investigation from time to time, no way around it. Are you okay with it?" he asked, his tone sympathetic and caring.
Judy answered softly, "It's certainly not my favorite way to spend an afternoon, but yeah. I mean… This wolf deserves justice. I wish Jack had been more willing to tell us what it was the professor was researching. That might have helped us in trying to find clues."
Nick spoke softly. "Professor Lupin was formerly the curator of the Natural History Museum where we had our little showdown with Bellwether. He was forced out of his position by the board of trustees after failing to secure grants and funding. This was apparently a retaliation by some for using some of the existing grant money in a questionable manner by way of travel to the old interior." Judy looked slowly up at her partner. Nick grinned at her and murmured, "It's on his Wikipawdia page, Fluff. You really need to get out of the old mode of 'research is done in a library'." He circled her and carefully put on blue rubber gloves. "These days, if you ever have a question burning in your heart you just tap a few words in your phone and you have the answer. 'I don't know' is so last century!" Nick seemed to delight in this given that he was about 8 years her senior.
Judy just grinned back at her partner, "You're right, I feel so silly." She held up her phone, pretending to tap away at her screen, "Let's see… foods poisonous to foxes…" Nick gasped, giving his best 'scandalous' expression. Judy, having already donned her gloves, picked up a book. As she picked it up, an envelope fell out. She checked and the envelope was empty. She carefully dusted and taped for prints, cataloging it in a small book that was in Nick's pack. The envelope was then bagged in its own plastic baggie and she began looking through the book itself.
"This is about the old interior." Judy stated rather curiously. "I guess that was his thing. I wonder why he'd bring books here. It seems you don't come to a place like this to just read. I mean… You walk around and just… be naked, right?" She looked inquisitively. Nick was looking at an obvious 'little black book' and mindlessly scratching his left foxy flank.
"Carrots, give me a pencil…" he asked.
"Don't leave rude notes in the evidence, Nick, I swear, if you-" The fox waved the idea away.
He spoke up in a hushed tone, "No, no no, I am gonna do a rubbing, the last page of this is torn out and I want to know what had been written in here."
Judy rolled her eyes at that. "Oh my god, Nick, this is not a Nancy Shrew novel, that is so cliché." She laughed and handed the fox a pencil anyway. "You shouldn't be altering any of the evidence at all." Nick began scrapping the edge of the graphite back and forth over the small notebook page carefully.
"I know it's cliché but the cliché exists because it works. A page missing from a book at a crime scene where they obviously searched like crazy for something rather than just killing him and leaving makes finding out what the missing page had written on it important!" He held up his handiwork. "There! A clue!" Judy squinted at the unusual stylized sweeping script forming completely unfamiliar letters.
"Okay, so what is it?" she asked.
"I don't know." Nick said bluntly.
"How last century." Judy grinned. Nick pointed both index claws at Judy, a wide grin on his muzzle.
"Ah? Ahhhh?" He laughed, and they continued to look through the crime scene, Nick having taken a picture of the page before putting it with the rest of the evidence.
There were no other 'intriguing' finds aside from the little bit of blood that remained of the actual crime. The wolf had been strangled so there had not been much in the way of blood, but the condition of the scene made it immediately apparent there was foul play involved. After recording the scene carefully, Judy and Nick tidied up the scene a bit as they would have to return to the room later. They put away the investigation kit with the various bits of evidence that they could find and then both sat on the small loveseat. There was little reason for them to need anything larger as they happily sat close together. Judy went through the pictures she had taken and categorized them carefully. She was very meticulous about that stuff.
As she finished doing that, Nick finally spoke up. "Alright, Fluff, you ready to do some asking around?" Judy looked up at her partner curiously.
Judy gave Nick a perplexed look and asked in an exasperated tone, "Are you serious? We're undercover, we can't exactly go interrogating and interviewing, Nick." It was easy to forget that their role here was not the same as it was when they were out in the field, so Judy figured her partner was still thinking in terms of usual police duty. The unfamiliar-looking fox grinned, however.
He said, "Not officially no, but you would be surprised how much mammals share when no one's really trying to get them to talk."
Judy folded her chocolate-toned ears back. "If this is a ploy to get me out into the common area just to embarrass me…" Judy growled.
Nick grinned smugly back to the bunny, bringing his nose close to hers. "I got that out of my system the first time, Carrots." He flicked his tail about merrily and Judy wanted to pull his ears for it, but reluctantly agreed to head out.
They put their belongings away and Judy found that there were pouches with the beaded lanyards suitable for their phones. She had to loop her own a couple of times, where Nick's fit fine with just one loop. One size fits all could be a very relative thing.
Nick and Judy sauntered out to the central courtyard. At first, the bunny found her eyes wandering again as if she'd forgotten it was normal. However, that passed quickly and she even felt a little less self-conscious about her own nudity. Nick of course seemed absolutely shameless, but this wasn't his first time. He looked around casually, smiling, nodding to mammals here and there. No one really gave them more than a passing glance. Judy half expected to see the yoga class out on the lawn. That was the part of her first visit that stuck in her head the most, but obviously they didn't just do Yoga all day long. The lawn was open and there were a few mammals there on rolled out blankets just enjoying the sunshine.
Her fox finally spoke again in his lower, growly tone as they walked. "So, I'm thinking… That maybe the best folks to talk to are the ones who likely hear the most. When I was here the first time, Yax and Emmitt both highly recommended one of the services and I would have to guess it's popular. I assume that's where we should start."
Judy lifted her ears high. "Oh? What service might that be?" she asked. She was almost afraid to ask. She had been waiting for some kind of exotic surprise that she'd not really considered before to make itself known, but that hadn't happened. Everything was pretty much as she remembered it and that made it familiar.
Her partner answered, "A masseuse." He grinned broadly.
Judy stopped walking in general defiance of the suggestion. "Nick! We are not here on the city's dime to get pampered!" she snapped perhaps a little too loudly.
"Gerald! Gerald!" he hissed. Judy gritted her teeth. That was right; they were out in the open. She scolded herself silently for messing that up. This took getting used to. Absolutely no one seemed to notice their exchange, however.
'Delilah' whispered back, "Sorry, Gerald." She again used her sweet feathery voice. "Still, we can't ask them direct questions about the incident, 'Gerald'." The fox nodded at that and simply led Judy with him to the West corner of the compound, his tail swaying elegantly side to side as if to bait her into following.
He spoke again after a moment. "I know the parameters, Dee. Have faith in your fox." He padded up to a quiet, thatched hut with a white double-paw-print sign outside. Two large palms crossed over it to provide wonderful shade. They both headed inside. There was a curtain of beads separating the lounge outside from the interior. Beyond the curtain there were three long, low padded platforms in the center of the half-moon shaped room. They were sized huge, medium, and small. It was nicely air-conditioned in the hut, which was a welcome amenity. There was a wrap-around counter at one side of the room where the attendants sat. Nick sat on the medium platform and smiled at the present attendants, two rather petite white foxes. They were lovely, elegant creatures a bit smaller than Skye. They had such a dainty appearance that Judy was sure they were not even the same species of fox that Nick was. They were much shorter and their ears were smaller. Both had amber-colored eyes that were brilliant against the snowy white of their faces.
"Welcome!" one of the pair chimed. "I'm Seki!"
The other stated happily, "I'm Uma. We're only free until one o'clock when we have a scheduled session." Judy perked her ears and looked up at a small clock above the door. It was about fifteen minutes until one. They were not likely to get much information here. "Oh! A bunny!" Uma exclaimed as Judy finished stepping through the beads as well.
Judy perked up at the greeting, and spoke in her soft, feathery tone, "I take it you don't see many bunnies here?"
"City bunnies are pretty shy about this sort of thing." Seki stated. "No offense intended, of course! We are happy to see you. All are welcome and of course, we are knowledgeable in acupressure techniques for all sizes." The amber-eyed white vixen moved closer, her tail swaying elegantly behind her in a manner that Judy suspected was intended to be casual and relaxed. As she approached she said with a tone of genuine compassion, "Bunny feet get tortured on hard city streets, would you allow me to tend to them?"
'Dee' looked warily at 'Gerald' who nodded. Judy still felt guilty about sampling some of the personal spoiling the place had to offer, but her partner seemed to have an plan so she decided to trust him. She nodded and followed the instructions of the trained masseuse, laying on her tummy on the smallest of the padded platforms. Seki sat down behind her and picked up one of Judy's strong foot-paws in her hands. The first sensation made Judy wince with pain just a little, and then it was just pure magic. The bunny's face dropped to the padding with a soft thump and she sighed out loudly. This was worth whatever the price would have been for them to come here. Did Nick do this on purpose? Was this just supposed to be a treat for her or did he really have a plan? She stopped caring long before Seki moved to the other foot.
Uma eventually asked what 'Gerald' would like and he immediately asked for something the bunny knew already that her partner loved. Brushing. This treatment was almost more common in a massage parlor than actual massage, so it was not an unexpected request. Nick rested on his belly on the medium platform much as his partner did on the smaller one. He looked down at her where she lay and smiled at whatever expression resulted from the pampering the now earth-toned bunny was getting.
Judy glanced up as the other vixen attentively stroked her dark-colored fox with a luxurious brush and the bunny felt the slightest pang of jealousy, but chased it away. Uma only had a brush. Judy had his vow. Those two things existed in completely different worlds. As the brush was applied to him, he relaxed and casually explained some of their fictitious backstory. Much curiosity was displayed by the two vixens about why a bunny had come with a fox companion to this place. They actually seemed disappointed to find Gerald and Delilah were not a romantic pair. Judy was a little surprised at how accepting the two seemed to be of the idea of a fox and bunny pair. Then again, a naturalist club seemed like the kind of place one would find open-mindedness. As her own massage continued she wondered how much different the experience would be if they were not undercover.
In return for Nick telling their story, Uma explained that she and her sister Seki had grown up in Tundra Town and found themselves with no real plan after they got out of school but knew they liked seeing other mammals happy so a friend told them that massage therapy paid well and was not as grueling and repetitive as working in the markets could be. They went to school for that, but found most folks underestimated them due to their size so they didn't have enough clients to do more than just make ends meet in Tundra Town. While things looked rather bleak, they met Yax at a protest during the Nighthowler Incidents and were fascinated by his slow-rolling style, befriending him and eventually working for him. The weather took getting used to, but it was a far better place for the two sisters.
Judy melted a bit more as her legs were massaged and eventually, Nick began to stray with his topics, relaxing and seeming to just talk for talking's sake. He asked, "So, you don't get many bunnies here, have there been any particularly exotic sorts around?" Judy perked up a bit at that. It wasn't a very direct or telling question, but it certainly seemed like nonsense where the case was concerned. They didn't have long to get more information at that point.
"We get them sometimes." Uma stated casually as she stroked Nick with the brush in long, slow, even strokes. "This week's been pretty typical. I take it you are a fan of the exotic?" As Uma said this she gave Judy's foot a little shake, as if indicating it. The rabbit smirked. She had no idea. She then furrowed her brow. Were they still giving off signals of being a couple, even while undercover? The bunny worried a little about that.
Nick chuckled a bit and said in his deeper, wolfish tone, "Sometimes… I'm not here for that, but meeting someone new seemed fun and I heard this place attracted all sorts, even folks from far, far away!"
Uma spoke softly, "Indeed we do! Gerald, is it alright to brush your tail?" she asked.
Nick replied quickly, "Thank you, no, I will tend to that." Judy arched a brow, remembering that this was personal for a fox. She suddenly felt slightly embarrassed for how much attention she gave to Nick's tail before they were even a couple. Judy realized then that it was every bit as personal as she'd been lead to believe. The masseuse had to ask to even be allowed to touch it, and Nick had refused despite laying there naked. That didn't seem to put her off though, so perhaps that was not such an unusual exchange. She casually answered his question instead.
"We really do get visitors from everywhere. Mystic Spring Oasis is not the only club of its kind, but we offer the nicest amenities to be sure!" She stroked Nick's ears with the back side of the brush which was, it appeared, a pillow of felt. It was for hands-free petting. Judy admitted that it looked like it felt pretty good.
Her partner replied, "It sounds like I missed some of the best opportunities then." Nick laughed at that. Judy found it odd how well Nick could laugh in his 'false' voice and it not slip back to his usual Nick voice. He had used a fake voice before, she could tell. It was far more natural to him. This was one of those times where his former life was obviously still useful to them.
Seki replied as she moved to Judy's other leg, "Only just barely. A lycaon was here a few days ago. He wasn't here a whole day so I have to guess it was a lunch session to steam his fur, or something." Nick perked a bit at that, as did Judy. A lycaon, or painted dog, was a rare sight in Zootopia proper. Most of them lived in The Interior, a remote region of the continent which was largely unsettled and not nearly so refined and civilized despite a lot of the original population of Zootopia originating from there so very long ago. That was where the professor had been doing his research. The bunny had to try to calm herself a little. How did Nick know to lead them to talking about that? There was very little 'forced' about his conversation and he'd gotten the desired information in just minutes. She had to admit to herself that she was impressed.
Nick spoke again, in a relaxed, spoiled tone, "Wow, The Interior. I've always wanted to go there. I bet half those folks haven't ever seen a fox," he chuckled.
Seki spoke again, her voice lilting with cheerfulness. "Are you both staying long? I know it's a pretty big departure from the norm but it's really more comfortable the longer you stay. Even I had some worries when I first took the job, but Uma and I have always been treated nicely and everyone here seems comfortable, so it kind of grows on you." This turn in conversation seemed to signal that their fifteen minutes was up. Uma stood up fully and Nick sat up. Judy did the same, feeling that her partner actually got the information he was after. It was actually pretty good intel.
Uma grinned at Nick. "I know you said you weren't, but I still say you two make a pretty cute couple." Judy's partner laughed a little uncomfortably.
He said in a stressed voice, "Dee's brother would have my head on a pike if I so much as thought about it." He gazed at the bunny, and Judy noticed that he was unable to keep himself from smiling when he looked at her directly.
'Dee' gave a coy grin and stated, "I guess I will spare your life and not tell him then. Come on Gerald, let's get some drinks." She got up and padded out of the hut followed by the twittering laughter of the younger white foxes. Nick laughed as well and followed dutifully.
He caught up to his partner and grinned. "See, you are warming up to this just fine!" he stated.
Judy rolled her eyes at that and hopped side to side a bit. "I won't lie; my feet and legs feel like they did before the academy. That alone is worth another visit," she noted. Nick widened his eyes and gave a little gasp. "…Not that I'm saying we will be back any time soon in the official capacity. But I must concede that right now… I'm not hating this. I'd try the hot tub or pleasure pool if it wouldn't blow our cover. I guess we can always do the clay-pot thing." Nick gave a shiver at that and Judy gritted her teeth. She goofed up. She felt bad immediately.
They walked over to a refreshment stand close by to get complimentary water that was available. It was a pretty warm day given the part of the city they were in and the thought of bounding around in the pleasure pool only seemed more alluring. Perhaps they really would do it another time. They quietly discussed getting information about a painted dog. If he was here, he might have checked in. Judy felt certain that Yax would remember something that unique.
They sat down in a shady area where mist sprayers cooled the air around them. Judy leaned back, looking around a bit and finding that they were alone and could discuss the case. She turned to Nick, about to speak, but she paused, watching him focus on his hands. He seemed to be rubbing the back of them with his thumbs as if trying to get the black dye off of them subconsciously, ears back in irritation. She should not have mentioned the clay-pots. That was a treatment where they coated the body with thick, sticky mud to strip the dirt and dander from fur more completely and restore natural oil balance. It made for very shiny, soft fur, but her partner was still having some issues with anything messing up his fur. She had to figure out a way to get him to think about something else.
She perked her ears finally, and asked, with a little bit of trepidation, "So when did you know?" She leaned back a bit, trying to relax herself again.
Her partner spoke casually after sipping his water, "That strange writing. It looked like something from The Interior, so I figured I would ask about exotic mammals. I bet Jack knows something. It would be wise, I think, to give him a call. He's not part of the investigation team, I know, but he might be able to-"
Judy smiled and cut him off. "No, not about that!" The fox looked back to her curiously. Judy inhaled slowly and then sighed before speaking again. "You… seemed to have your mind already well made up with how you felt about me. I have wanted to ask you this for a while and I've been a bit nervous. The disguises are kind of liberating so I'm asking now. When did you know you had feelings that led us… here?" Her eyes tracked up and down her dark, 'unfamiliar' fox. Nick smiled at that, and leaned in.
He said softly, "If I tell you, you have to tell me. Does that seem fair, so long as I go first?" he asked. Judy nodded slowly at that, a little nervous but that was certainly fair. Nick laced his fingers, crossing a leg and resting his hands on his knees. "Well, pinpointing an exact moment it happened isn't going to do it justice, I think, but I am pretty sure of when I knew. But first, I should say… Even becoming friends with you was unique."
Judy clarified, "…because I was a bunny?"
Nick shook his head. "No, because it was real friendship. It wasn't some kind of symbiosis where I needed something you had and you needed something I had. That's how most of my friendships my whole like worked. When you and I became friends, all we had to give was each other and that's all either of us wanted out of it. What you offered me was going to take a lot of work, and getting me ready for it was not going to be a cake-walk for you, but we did it anyway. There wasn't even a guarantee we'd be in the same precinct! But you did everything you could to help me. So, my friendship with you was immediately different, Fluff."
"That… That's actually good to know, Nick," Judy stated, nodding slowly. She was actually immensely happy with even that part of his explanation.
Nick continued softly, "… As for the other… The really deep, hard feelings..."
"…Hard feelings? Haven't heard them referred to like that before…" Judy chuckled.
Nick smiled kindly and shook his head. "They're hard when you grow up being afraid of feelings like that." The bunny recoiled, having not really considered what it might have been like for Nick, feeling that way when he didn't like getting close to anyone. He continued. "The more difficult feelings started when you brought my mother back, of course. That was… I mean, Judy that was one of the scariest things I've ever gone through." He shook his head a little.
Judy put a hand on his, not seeming to care if anyone saw. "You thought you lost her. I mean, of course it was scary. And you dealt with it alone for a year…"
"No, not losing her. You bringing her back. I mean... I wasn't scared about you bringing her back. I was scared about how I felt for you immediately after. I… I thought about you nearly all the time in the days after that. I was distracted if you got close, I felt sad if you weren't there, and I felt lonely. I'd been alone a lot, but I'd never been lonely." Judy held her breath, hardly able to believe just how open Nick was being about this. She had figured she might get a couple of words about it, maybe a bit of teasing, but certainly not this! He continued slowly, "If I hadn't visited my mom so frequently during those first few weekends I think I'd have driven you nuts. I knew something was up, but I didn't want to admit it. I was so worried that I was going to say or do something stupid and you'd be upset. I tamped it down well enough I think, then the sad-fic internet story thing happened."
"Oh no, don't remind me, I was so completely silly." Judy hung her head, remembering that with a bit of shame. Judy had made herself a very recognizable figure and as a result more than a few internet-savvy mammals had their hand at writing fiction based on her and her partner. Feeling defiant to Nick's insistence she not read it, Judy read it. And she regretted it immediately. The first thing she read had Nick pointlessly die. It made her think about losing him and that didn't go well for her.
Nick replied, "Was it silly? Yes, yes it was, but… something happened that ended up sparking that flame inside me again, can you remember?" he asked.
"I'm not sure…" Judy replied, chasing back her embarrassment. "I guess you realized that I really cared about you a lot because the story messed me up?"
Nick smiled warmly. "A little of that I guess, but you cuddled me in your sleep… I don't think you remember that part as well… you ended up having a nightmare… but when you cuddled, you pushed in very close and as much as I wanted to ignore it and just watch the show, all I could focus on was that you were holding me, and I was completely consumed with wanting to hold you too. It was actually painful not to. I decided then that I needed to be really careful. I was quickly losing control of the situation and I just knew I was going to mess everything up. I tried to take a big step back and things got pretty much back to normal for a few months because we started getting efficient at helping each other with work. Instead of everything being new and kind of scary, the job was actually getting really rewarding and kind of fun."
"I'm glad for that." Judy interjected. She had suspected that Nick took to being a police officer very well, but hearing him tell her that he found it rewarding made her feel less like it was this thing she roped him into. "So you figured things out when I cuddled you, huh?" she asked. As she reflected on that, she realized that she had pretty much forgotten the two of them were naked. She was amazed at how easy it was to just dismiss the lack of clothing entirely after a while.
Nick held up a paw. "Not so fast. I knew I had feelings, but I would be doing a disservice to the real thing if I called that love. I don't know what it was. It was strong, but I managed to rein it in. There's no reining in what I have now. It's different. But I had things under control back then." Nick sighed softly and paused before saying with an eye-roll, "But then you asked me to come with you to Bunnyburrow." Judy rubbed her chin, remembering fondly the whole trip. It made her so happy to show him around and that Munch game they played was one of her very happiest memories of him. They saved some kits in a burning house and they hung out with a few of her siblings. All of it seemed almost like a dream, so long ago, but it wasn't even a full two seasons ago. Nick leaned back a little, arms stretched out along the back of the bench, continuing to speak. "Every cautious bone in my body told me 'don't do it'. Don't go to Bunnyburrow, your shields won't protect you there."
"Shields? Oh, you mean your wall." Judy laughed.
"They had already taken a beating, I knew they wouldn't hold." Nick laughed. "But, you convinced me to go, and I will be honest. It was the happiest week of my entire memorable life up to that point and the feelings I had toward you were beyond anything I'd ever even read a description of in a fantasy novel. I was scared out of my freaking mind." Judy widened her eyes at that, ears high. She had not realized that Nick was afraid of those feelings back then, he had hidden it so well. Sure, the trip back was pretty quiet, but he'd been terrified the whole time? She laughed a bit at that.
Judy said softly in her disguised voice as a couple of zebra wandered by, "Well, back then is when I started to recognize that I had unusual feelings too, Nick, so I guess it hit us at the same time. I was worried that it was some kind of weird security attachment like my sister Sammie described and I was just trying hard not to let it interfere in our friendship. So believe me, I understand why you didn't want to say anything." She didn't want Nick to regret that he didn't say anything back then. She was scared of her feelings too.
Nick looked down rather suddenly, seeming a bit sullen. Judy sat up a bit more, looking at him with concern as he spoke. "I knew what the feelings had to be then, but I didn't know what I was going to do about it. So I decided I would talk to the only mammal I trusted as much as I trusted you."
"Your mother." Judy guessed, knowing she was right.
Nick nodded. "Yep. But…" He looked up into her eyes and there was obvious pain in his, making Judy's throat tighten up a bit. "I met my mom in the diner… I told her how I was feeling, and I wanted to know if she thought it was normal for friends to feel that way because I didn't have a lot of friends. But I had no sooner gotten the words out of my mouth when my phone rang. It was Bogo." Judy winced, her heart aching suddenly as she realized what Nick was talking about.
Bogo had called him to tell him that Judy had been hit by a bus. Nick, at the time, didn't have any additional information and could only guess it was a bus moving at full speed and his partner… no, not just his partner… the one he loved had been taken from him. His mother had told Judy that she went with Nick because she needed to be there for him. He had not taken it well. Now the bunny understood a little better exactly why it had hit him so hard. She understood why he sounded the way he did on the phone, and why his mother wanted her to hold him when he came to the hospital. It made so much more sense. Judy didn't care if anyone saw it or what they thought of it in her disguised persona. Dee hugged her sad-looking Gerald tight.
"As I said before, and I mean this, I will be more careful… a lot more careful, so we can keep saving the city together, alright?" she asked with a smile. Nick smiled back, seeming to feel better as he pressed past that memory. It gave Judy a bit of pause, however. Vivienne knew. She knew Nick was in love with Judy when everyone thought he'd died.
Nick continued to speak, pulling Judy from that thought. "… So yeah, that's when I knew. When I was coming back to Zootopia on a train thinking the worst… and you called. The way I felt when I heard your voice, there was no mistaking it. I knew. And I knew I was never going to be able to think of a life that didn't also include you… so stuff kind of changed after that. I didn't pull away anymore. I let you get as close as you wanted. I wanted you as close as you were willing to be." He sighed finally. "…So, how about you? What was your exact ah-hah moment of clarity?" He wiped his nose, perhaps having been near enough to tears at that to have it unusually wet.
Judy sucked in a deep breath. She had already mentioned when her feelings started and just looked up and told him the exact moment. He'd been open with her and while it wasn't a great memory, she'd share the truth. "I wanted more and more to hold you and be close to you after the bus incident, honestly. I decided that I really liked being near you when I slept and was still thinking it was a weird bunny emotional hang up and you'd be mortified by it. After the apartment invasion when we really cuddled and slept like that for the first time I knew it was something entirely different but we were too busy to really think about it." Judy inhaled and gave the part she knew Nick was waiting for but might not like hearing. "I finally figured it out over a week after you… went into the spillway. The day before your funeral." She said it quickly, like ripping off a bandage.
Nick looked stunned, and was certainly speechless a moment. He then grimaced a little and stated slowly, "Judy that… That's absolutely… I mean… I…" He looked down, ears back. "That was… really inconvenient," Nick finally said. "I'm sorry you went through that."
"It's done and gone, and feels like a bad dream anymore. And here we are, back on a case, doing what we do to make the world a better place together." She nodded with a grin. This seemed to make Nick feel a little better.
Nick helped Judy up onto her feet. "Well, we should get back to work then!" he said brightly, disguising his voice again. Judy stood up and checked the bench to make sure her fur-dye wasn't coming off on it. It seemed it was not. She turned and helped Nick as they walked back into the common area and turned toward front of the establishment so they could talk to Yax about the painted dog.
Judy spoke again finally, "You know, I will say it even more securely now... I don't know why I was afraid I would ever be embarrassed about coming here. It feels like it's perfectly natural now, I almost don't notice." She walked alongside the taller fox.
He smiled kindly and said, "There's nothing embarrassing about it, it's not like any of us are so different." It sounded like something Yax would say, and she was about to chide him for it before she heard something behind her that made her blood nearly turn to ice.
Her sister's voice.
Angela's voice came from behind her, speaking casually and cheerfully. "See mom! I told you there'd be other bunnies here!"