A/N: Surprise to see me? I am too. The story is not over. I've just been busy making comics and arts and more illustrations for upcoming fanfictions. Yes, I draw before I could write so I can remember the crucial part of the stories. Anyway, because of that, I've thought of some new OCs on the way.
I've also been talking with an artist in deviantart to collaborate for a fanfiction. So I was also busy about that, like thinking of the plot and how it will go. For now, it'll be on hold till I can actually confirm anything.
And also, I forgot to mention that Sophie's mother's name is Jennette Glace. She is a hare that takes priority to her family and wants the best for them. Take note that she is also the head of the family instead of her husband, Paul Glace.
Disclaimer: Zootopia belongs to Disney.
"Here you go," said Silvia putting a cup of hot tea on the table in front of Max. "I hope this will help warm you up."
Max grabbed onto the handle. "Thank you," he said, nodding to Silvia before drinking his tea gently and carefully, not burning his lips. He sighed with steam coming out of his mouth. "Taste's great."
"Thank you," she replied smiling. "I hope you find yourself comfortable here. And don't hesitate to ask the staffs for anything."
"Uh… I think the tea will do. Thanks."
"You're still with a fox?!" Jennette said in a whisper in the living room across the dining room by the fireplace.
"Mom," Sophie argued with her arms crossed. "He's not A fox. He was my best friend that. And I know Max means well."
"Oh, sure. One day, if he starts putting his claws on you, don't say I didn't warn you."
"Why do you think he wears his gloves then?"
"Max seems rather nice," Silvia interrupted, walking in on the two.
"Oh, shush, Silvia," Jennette ordered.
"Thanks…" Sophie said with a smile before turning back to her mother. "Just… Please give him a week to prove it. I brought him here to the dance after all. And I don't want to dance with anyone this year."
Jennette frowned, and closed her eyes, giving some thoughts. She sighed placing her index and middle finger on her forehead. "Very well," she said lifting her head up. "One week."
"Thank you," Sophie said hesitantly. She walked back into the dining room. "Hey, Max," she called. "Let me show…" But before she could finish her sentence, Max was gone and an empty cup was left on the table.
Meanwhile on Max's side…
Max walked around the hallway looking at pictures all over the wall. There was even one with Sophie in it and the others look really old. His first thought that maybe from the start it was a family heir. It was a really big home after all. Almost like a museum.
But before he knew it, he was lost. Like, he did not remember how he got to where he is now. It looked like an empty hallway with no entrance but the stairs.
He scratched his head. "Great…" he said sarcastically trying to find his way back. He eventually found himself next to the kitchen and he was lured by a delicious smell coming from it. He peeked a bit to find a few small preys such as guinea pigs, hamsters and mice doing the cooking. He shrugged and kept walking only to bump into jill.
"Hey," she said. "Watch…" She stopped midsentence when she saw Max.
"Sorry," he said, bowing. "I'm just lost. Do you know how you get to the dining hall?"
"There you are!" said Sophie's voice coming from the front.
He looked up to find her running towards him. "Geez… Don't ever do that again." She grabbed his paw and looked at the hare. "Sorry, Julie," she said. "This is Max. He'll be staying with us until the dance. Don't be afraid of him. He's nice."
Julie looked at Max and her eyes glistened with her cheeks turning pink. "H-hi…" she said, waving shyly.
Max nodded silently.
There was an awkward silence standing in between them. Obviously, Julie has never met another predator before. Especially up close and in person. All she could do was smile.
Sophie noticed this and her cheeks puffed a bit. "Okay!" she said with a forced smile pulling Max to her. "It's time to show him his room. Sorry about that, Julie."
Sophie dragged her boyfriend away quickly. Max looked back at her sister who waved goodbye.
Julie looked at him with half-closed eyes and eventually closing them. She sighed. "So… Enchanted…" she said.
Sophie led Max to a room and opened the door to it. "This is it," she said. "Your room. Mine is just next to you."
Max looked at the room besides his. "Let me guess," he said. "Parents still don't trust you with a fox?"
She laughed nervously. "You could say that…"
Max smiled. "I can manage," he said. He entered the room and looked around. Not so dusty and the bed looked comfortable too. He sat down and lay back down, stretching his body. The bed was really soft. "Feels nice…" he said.
Sophie smiled and left his bag by the door. "The closest shower is at the end of the hallway. Don't worry. There's a heater this time."
"Okay," he said giving a thumbs up.
She closed the door behind her and walked towards him, sitting next to him. "I'm really happy you decided to come. You're gonna be the first fox and predator to ever appear in the ball."
Max looked up at the ceiling and then to her. "Why only preys all this time?" he asked.
She shrugged. "My family is probably still afraid of predators. I really feel bad for them though."
He sat up. "Well, then. I'll try to look my best." He held her face in his paw.
She frowned and held his paw. "No gloves…" she said, taking them off. "For now that is…" She didn't want to feel his gloves touching her. She wanted a full exposure of his paws touching hers.
Max really wasn't fighting back anymore. He felt her fingers rubbing on his along with his claws. It was so sharp but she didn't mind it at all. He smiled at her which caused her to blush but smile back. "You seriously want to do this now?" he teased.
She giggled and held his paws tighter. "What if I said yes?" she mocked.
The two laughed a bit before coming in for a kiss until…
The door swung open. "So, Max, how are you…?" Silvia stood by the door only to catch her sister and her boyfriend in the scene. Her eyes widened with her ears dropped. "Uh… Whoops…" she said, stepping back. "I'll just… Leave you two be." She closed the door.
Sophie and Max stared at the door a bit and then to each other.
The hare blushed and got off of her boyfriend, clearing the throat.
"That was… Awkward…" Max commented.
Sophie nodded. "I'll… Leave you to unpack," she said. "Here." She passed him his glove back and quickly exited the room. She peeked a bit. "Sorry…" she said quickly before leaving.
He chuckled. He took off his other glove and placed them on the drawer before beginning to unpack.
And as for Sophie who was just outside his room, she sat down, leaning on the wall, covering her face. "Oh my God!" she yelled with her face buried deep in her lap. She just sat that for a while until all that embarrassment went away. She looked back up and sighed. "It's not that bad…" she thought. "It could be worse… Like being caught WHILE doing it…" Her cheeks grew hotter and she buried her face again. "Oh God…"
Hours has passed until dusk came. It was around 5 in the evening until two jacks of the Glace has returned home from their work. As soon as Sophie saw her father and her brother walked through the gates, she walked towards them. "Hey, dad," she said. She then glared at her brother. "Damien…"
"Sophia," her father, Benjamin, said in surprised. "I thought you wouldn't make it." He hugged his daughter closely as a welcome home greeting. "I'm so glad you could come."
"What happened?" Damien said. "The fox dumped you?"
"Damien, show some respect for your sister."
Damien crossed his arms before looking up a little at the front door. His eyes opened a bit to find Max walking behind Sophie.
"Hey, Sophie?" he called. "I almost forgot. Did you see my Catbury bar?"
"Oh, perfect timing," she said. She quickly grabbed his arms and showed him to her father. "Dad, this is Max. My boyfriend and also my dance partner."
Benjamin looked at Max from head to toe. "He looks… Well, taller than any other foxes I've seen." Which is true because Max was a lot more taller than regular foxes.
Max nodded with his paws in his pockets. "Thank you," he said.
"Welcome to Glace Manor," Benjamin said, pulling out a paw to shake.
Max shook paws gently with his gloved paw. "Thank you," he repeated.
Benjamin was then aware of his gloves and held his paw. "Amazing…" he said. "This is a McKroc brand… How did you obtain this?"
"It was a present for my 17th birthday. I didn't know it was that rare though. But leather is good enough to keep my claws away."
"Indeed." Benjamin let his paw go. "I hope you're making yourself at home?"
"I try not to. Since this isn't my house."
Her father laughed. "Very gentlemale-like of you," he said. "Benjamin Glace," he introduced. "And this is my son, Damien."
Damien looked up at the fox with a frown and arms crossed.. He was trying his best to not be intimidated by he fox. Although, Max did no such thing. It was just in the jack's imagination is all.
"Pleasure," he said, bowing.
Silence began to play for a few seconds as the two stared at each other. Damien's glare against Max's… Well, stare. Like, there was seriously nothing going on in Max's mind right now. He was literally staring at the jack as he glared back.
"Anyway," Sophie interrupted. "Max will be joining us for dinner tonight, won't you?"
"That sounds great," Benjamin commented. "I hope you like cake, Max."
"I'm not into cake so much but I'll try."
The older hare laughed again. "My, my. You're an honest one. I hope you enjoy your stay here."
Max nodded before turning to Sophie. "Catbury bar?" he asked again.
"You can have mine," she said. "It's in the cooler downstairs in the basement. It's behind the first flight of stairs. Be careful though, our cooks are there."
"Okay." Max walked back inside to where Sophie said it was until he bumped into Julie again like this afternoon. "S-sorry," he apologize.
Julie looked up and smiled. "It's okay," she said. "We really need to stop bumping into each other." She tidied up her skirt a bit. "I'm Julie," she introduced. "Sophie's younger sister." She had quite the accent though. A bit more of an English.
"Max," he said. "Max Zero."
She responded in awe. "So cool…" she said. She shook her head a bit. "Uh, I mean, very interesting name."
Max raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Thank you."
That smile was enough to send chills up to Julie's spine. She covered her face with an ear a bit and looked away.
Max looked at her in confusion. "Anyway, I'm looking for the basement. Can you show me where it is? I'm afraid I might get lost again."
She peeked a bit and let go of her ear. "Yea, yea," she said. She pointed across the hallway to some stairs. "It's behind that stairs over there."
"Thanks, Jules."
She looked behind him and sighed before twirling around. "Jules… I like that name…" she said to herself softly with a smile.
Time passed by in a flash. It wasn't long until it was finally dinner time. The sky has turned orange and the sun slowly setting down. Sophie was looking for Max to get him to the dining hall while waiting for dinner but he was nowhere to be seen. She was even starting to get worried.
Few minutes later, she gave up and just went to the dining hall reluctantly. She knew he was fine. She just wanted him to be on time but apparently, he himself was to blame.
"Where's Max?" Silvia whispered after Sophie took a seat next to her.
Sophie looked at her and shrugged.
Mr. Glace tapped his fingers slowly, waiting for the clock to ring for dinner. Everyone of the Glace family was there, all sixteen. Two parents, seven boys, seven girls. And a fox was missing.
When the clock struck 7, the door to the kitchen swung opened and a group of mice were carrying trays of all sorts. One with two pots of tea, a large bowl of stew and soup, a claypot filled with steaming baked potato and many more fit for herbivores.
"Ah, finally," commented Paul.
And as the food keeps coming, a tall bright-colored mammal exited the kitchen bringing the final dish, boiled fish seasoned with small pieces of maple leaves. And to everyone's surprise, it was Max.
The fox was bringing the final dish to them while wearing a chef outfit including the hat. "Enjoy," he said with a terrible and forceful smile.
Everyone in the room laughed after seeing at his attempt to smile. Everyone but Sophie. She quickly get off her seat and pulled him out of the dining hall to have a chat with him in private.
"What were you doing in there?" she whispered angrily.
"I thought I'd help out with the cooking," he said. "The cooks here are really nice and it was fun learning new recipes."
She placed her paws on her hips and frowned. She sighed and hugged him. "At least you're okay…" she said softly with her face buried in his chest.
"I'm not weak, you know," he said. "I can handle myself even if I'm alone."
She moved her head away and looked up at him. "I know. But… Nevermind. Just…" she pushed up a little away from him. "Let's just have dinner," she said with a gleeful smile.
She let go of him and walked back into the dining hall. He sighed and smiled a little. He had no choice but to have dinner with the chef outfit instead. A little too late to get changed already.
A/N: Gonna have to end it here. Sorry for such a long update. Writer's block. However, the story will go on. Trust me.
Also, I didn't even check for any errors because… Well… I was in no mood. Sorry everyone.