Hopps Awk-Ward (For Cimar)
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"Yes, yes… YES!" Judy's brow furrowed in frustration, the doe bunny rolling her eyes at yet another question.
Across from her, Nick sat, smirking at the display. Something that didn't got unnoticed as Judy shot him a glare before pulling back to the phone. "It's really okay, I'm with a friend… -The injury wasn't even that bad!" She leant forward and tapped the bandage over the tusk-wound on her leg for good measure, before turning back to the phone. "It was a scratch and some swelling, I'm not…" Whatever she was not was cut off as she groaned in annoyance, Nick this time having the good graces to try to hide his smirk.
Ah, overprotective parents.
Still, he was hoping to keep his interaction with his mother brief, at least to a minimal degree, on such matters. He hoped that whatever worry and concern about his and Judy's wacky mayor busting adventure number two electric boogaloo and any risk, injuries, etcetera attained on it would be eclipsed over by this new lease on life he'd been given.
He, Nick Wilde… First Fox officer.
"-I am not at risk of being eaten!"
He cast his gaze up at her, then down on the floor. Sometimes, he didn't believe this was real.
…
Seriously, he thought, reaching down and pinching his arm. Some part of him genuinely didn't, and not in a good way. Something was just a bit wrong…
After all, he'd survived for a very long time on street smarts and gut instincts, and he knew when to trust them. And right now? It wasn't a danger per-say, but certainly a… Déjà vu?
He frowned, scratching his head. Yeah, that was right. Something about this whole chaotic little mini-adventure was something that he'd seen before, something odd, something on the tip of his tongue and right now it was…
"-Urrggghhhh…" Judy groaned, hanging up and flopping back into her seat, ears wilting down onto it. "Parents."
"Go figure."
"No, you don't," she groaned. "Did you know that they cheered when they saw I was wearing a meter maid outfit? That I had the safest job on the force. 'Our prayers have been answered.'"
"Well, just being concerned," Nick said, trying to fill the gap.
"-I showed them that farming is literally a more dangerous occupation than police work," she huffed, head moving forward. "Not that they cared. And now, I get an itty-bitty scratch on my leg…"
"-After an evil mayor tried to use a chemical agent to turn me into a savage beast and eat you up," Nick cut in.
Judy paused and frowned. "They don't know that. They're not going to know about it for as long as I can hold off. Right now, they just think it was a civilian matter and that's good for me."
"Uh-hu," Nick smirked. "I won't tell them about the train then."
"No," she hissed, her nose twitching. "Not after I brushed it aside as 'remotely detonating the evidence' or something… They can get the truth when I'm ready."
"Uh-hu," the fox said. "Just keep on slowly, slowly, dipping that leg into the cold pool…" He pulled his arms up to block the tossed pillow, catching it and smirking. "Assaulting me with my own furniture. Can I tell them about that instead?"
She managed a chuckle. "Honestly, they'll probably have the same amount of panic over that as everything else."
"They can't be that bad."
"Can, totally can. They are literally the most un-adventurous mammals there are."
"By the sound of it they'd be too panicky even to go into the Big Z."
"I…" Judy began, before rolling her eyes. "I think they might, might, but not before multiple contingency plans, a massive organisation plan to keep everyone together, and who knows what else in terms of prior planning and preparation. Just 'going' to Zootopia for a day trip though? On a whim?" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "You'd have a better chance of making that truck do a stunt jump."
Nick began to laugh only to freeze, his eyes going wide.
"But any… -Uh, Nick?" Judy paused, looking at the shocked expression on his face. "Earth to Nick, everything okay…"
"-Just a sec," he said, getting up. Turning swiftly, he made his way out to the front of the house, Judy's vehicle (retrieved from where they parked it) sitting there and waiting. The vulpine just looked at it, stepping back, turning around, framing it with his paws and…
"-Uh, Slick? Everything okay?"
"No…" He said, turning back to see Judy there, walking out with her clutch. "Ever had a really weird sense of Déjà vu?"
"No, not really," she said, giving a look at the truck. "Did you think you've seen this before or…"
"Yes," he said. "I'm certain I have…"
"-Well I'm not sure how," she said, paws on hips. "They got that when I was a child, brand new. It's never been out of Burrow limits and…"
"Fluff," he said, "the day before we met, I was doing the Pawpsicle Hustle with Finn and I saw a truck just like this."
Her nose began to twitch, but she shook it off. "Well, lots were made. You just saw one driving along…"
"-Flying through the air."
"I… What?"
He turned to her. "We were pouring out the juice into the moulds when we saw a truck just like this fly through the air. Full on leap across the valley."
Judy stifled a laugh, only for it to fade. "You're… Serious?"
"Yes," he said, "I…"
"Pics or it didn't happen."
He turned to face her, brow furrowing. "I didn't have time to get my camera, and it's not… like…" He paused. "Jam cams."
"Huh?"
"Can you call Bogo up and ask him if we can have a quick look on the jam cams? Just to put something about the case at rest or something."
Judy put her paw up, almost ready to say no, only for his soft begging eyes to pause her there. "Fine," she said, smirking. "But if you're wrong you need to take me out for a nice meal or something."
"Sure," Nick said, as she dialled Bogo up. "And if I'm right, I get to take you out for a nice meal or something."
She froze where she was, ears going bolt upright, only for the voice of the cape buffalo coming through to snap her back to attention. "Hi Chief, just a quick question."
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"Now if we…" Nick began, pausing. "Ah, there we are, just scroll through and… There." He pressed play, Judy looking on and smiling as she saw him pouring out the juice into the moulds. And then, in the background, a very familiar looking pickup truck flew across the back.
"I…" She blinked. "What the…?"
"I told you," he said, leaning in closer. "And it's the same type of truck. Heck, see that bit of rust there?"
Judy just stared blankly. "Sweet Cheese and Crackers."
"Yeah, I know right," the fox began, only for the bunny to silently slide the keyboard and mouse away from him. She began typing in, zooming in closer, replaying the truck flying through the air…
"Even got two bunnies," Nick noted, pausing as he saw Judy beginning to quiver, buck teeth bared. "Uh Fluff, do you know them?"
Silently she pulled out her phone and slid it down for him to see the lock screen. He looked at it, he looked back at the screen. "Oh."
"Yes, oh."
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"What were they even doing!?" She yelled, the pair making their way back to the truck. "Why were they even here! How did this," she said, kicking the side, "get to Zootopia FASTER than the train."
"Wait, what?" Nick asked.
"The timestamp," Judy grumbled. "That was five-ten minutes before my train arrived at the station. I pushed this as fast as I could go and it took me three hours!"
"Isn't that just the speed limit?"
Judy facepawed, before looking back. "Okay, smartyfox, yes. But they'd have to go twice that speed to have a chance which this…" she kicked it in the side. "Could not…" She kicked it again. "Ever do!" A final light kick and the boot slipped off. "See?" she asked, gesturing over to it as a bunch of cans fell out. Nick walked forward and held one up.
"Fluff, this is Nitrous."
"I…" She turned and picked one up, before throwing it down hard and marching towards the engine. Up the bonnet went, she looked in, then slammed it down.
"-I happen to know someone," Nick said, bringing up his phone.
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Nick and Judy watched on as the swift fox vixen gave the truck an eye over, her tail wagging frantically behind her.
"So," the bunny began. "Miss, uh, Skye?"
"Ten-thousand," she said, turning to them. "-Wait, twelve. Fourteen! She's a beauty!"
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"Hi Bun… bun?"
Stu and Bonnie looked on concerned at the face Judy was pulling on the other end of the muzzle-time call.
"Hi Mom," she finally said. "Hi Dad. Still panicking about me in the big scary city? Having the big scary job and getting into worrying adventures and mishaps?"
"Oooh yes," Stu said. "Honestly, still a little panicky right now and… Uh…"
He and Bonnie paused as Judy held up the printed off picture of the pair of them flying through the air in the truck and then racing along the next to the train tracks, Stu trying to reach out or something. More pictures came, Stu and Bonnie just staring blankly at them.
Finally, the last picture gone, Judy fixed her gaze at the pair. "So, after the fuss you've made over me, mind explaining all that!?"
Bonnie was the first to break the silence. "Baby."
"Huh?"
"Baby," she said again. "Mollie climbed up onto the train roof and hitchhiked along the top and…"
"WHAT!?" Judy said, paws coming up to the side of her head.
"So," Stu explained, "We just packed in the truck and just raced after her. Got to the train when it arrived at the big city station, found her, then she just went and snuck back on top of the train so we had to race back after her."
Judy just stared at them, blinking.
"I think," Stu whispered, "she doesn't believe us."
"Of course, I don't!" Judy yelled. "Wouldn't Molly be blown off that train! Or if she survived go on and on about it when I got home."
"Oh, you know she was more interested in that butterfly by the time you returned home," Bonnie waved off.
"I… -Okay, but why didn't you just call the station attendant and got them to STOP THE TRAIN!"
…
"You know, that's a really good idea," Bonnie said, Stu nodding and agreeing.
"We'll definitely save it for next time," he agreed, turning back to Judy, the bunny currently making a bunch of assorted frustrated vocalisations. "Ha, kind of makes more sense when you think about it like that."
"But… But…"
"On the other hand," Stu said, "those pests at Kit Services would totally use it as an excuse to come in and lecture us and…"
"Urgh, don't remind me," Bonnie said, shaking her head. "Good thing we did keep this in the family."
"ARGGGHHHH!"
Bonnie and Stu turned to their daughter. "And that was for?" the matronly doe asked.
"You… You are so on me for anything, and then you're just going off doing this…"
"Molly was in danger," her parents said together, her father then coming in. "Now listen here, that makes it entirely different from choosing to go out and have a risky career. And I mean we know you want to do it, but you can't blame us for…" He trailed off as Judy just thumped her head against the table, again and again and again. "Now that's just rude."
"-Couldn't you have just called me or something to get her, or?"
"And ruin your first day as an independent doe in your new home?" Bonnie asked, Judy breaking off.
"Yeah, we didn't want to spoil that, have you deal with any big family stuff," Stu followed on. "That was your day."
"And we didn't want to ruin it."
"We do care about you."
"Even if we do worry."
"A lot."
"Every day…"
Head falling back, Judy let out a sigh. "Okay, okay. Just… Can you please be more open about these kinds of things. Please, if you're going to lecture me on keeping safe."
Bonnie and Stu looked at each other, her father looking back. "Well sure, are you going to be open with us?"
"I… 'Open?'"
"We do know that train crash and explosion did have something to do with your case," Bonnie pointed out, her arms crossing. "So, are you going to be open with us?"
"Fine, fine," Judy said, only to pause. "Just one question."
"Sure."
"-Fire away."
"Why is the truck fitted out with nitrous."
"Oh, the night time rally tournaments," Stu shrugged off.
"Don't forget the carrot-moonshine running we do," Bonnie pointed out.
"And I mean, for situations like with Molly, it's just common sense."