AN Welcome to the conclusion of my four-chapter take on WildeHopps. I've always felt that Judy and Nick's relationship was a done deal after the scene under the bridge. They were miserable apart, and ecstatic once together again. All they had left to do was realize that, get pushed to admit their feelings to each other, and deal with the consequences of being a mixed species couple amid the disapproval of an intolerant society. My version of W.H. might seem a little rushed amid all of the beautifully written slow-burn romances woven around these two here—let me know how I did whether you agree with it or not! New reader reviews for my earlier chapters are still appreciated!

How will Nick handle the release of his suppressed feelings? What will Judy do now that she's openly taken possession of her fox? Can Skye and Jack guide them through the aftermath of their choices? Will Disney object to where I take their characters once I figure this all out? Find out below in my first double digit chapter! More plot and action next time!

Tinbuzzard11

Chapter Ten

Transition and Acceptance

Zootopia was a different city this late at night. There was almost no larger traffic; the smaller was thin and unobtrusive. The street lighting seemed dimmer—probably for the comfort of the now active nocturnals. Even the towers of downtown, their tops visible beyond the rise of the street in front of them, had forsaken their earlier evening brilliance.

There was a cold glow to the left of the skyline, which backlit part of the slope of Tundratown's main peak. Misty silver fingers slowly shifted above it as she watched. If ice could burn, that's what it would look like, Judy thought. A blunted claw of brilliance slowly started to extend upwards—once fully risen, the moon would provide some semblance of comfort and direction if streets like this one started to appear more menacing.

Left alone, she might still twitch and shiver in trepidation as she sought her miles distant shelter—but a nocturnal predator had already seized her. Only her paw was wrapped in his, but it spread warmth throughout her petite form. They had both silently reached out as they'd approached the ZTA station a block or so upriver from the stairs to Soren's burrow. She hadn't wanted to take the train back to Savanna Central, wait to make a transfer, and end up isolated in her apartment. He...Nick's grip had silently and publicly proclaimed 'mine!'

Along with incarceration, horror movies, and weddings, this was a form of possession that Judy Hopps had heretofore avoided—until she realized she was desperately in love with this fox. She'd been forced to not just hide, but then deny her feelings to preserve their lives from ruin. Doing so had proven to be the one thing that this overachieving superbunny, the pride of the tri-burrows, was a complete failure at.

She'd blamed the occasional unwelcome notice of others on her incautious, besotted, heart in his paw partner. He'd tried to hide it, but hadn't been able to fully control his behavior around his chosen life mate. Not all foxes did that Skye had said—but this one had fallen for her quickly and completely. It took two, she was equally culpable, and her regular casual association with him had also been a curiosity magnet. Now that they each knew how the other felt, further concealment from society would be at best difficult and probably futile—they'd slide into perdition together.

"Not gonna be easy," Nick said softly; which still jarringly broke their long silence.

Did he mean just us? Judy wondered. Or was it the multitudinous plots of the speciest conspiracy they all faced, and their earlier discussion of counter plans? Her perceptive fox must have sensed her unease as they walked. This was their first time alone together as mutually recognized mates, both able to really think about what that meant. You wanted him, needed him, now you've got him, the conflicted thoughts came, so what's wrong?

Anticipation! shouted her contrary internal voice. You killed it—you flipped to the last page of the book you silly rabbit! Yeah, she thought ruefully, we skipped right over the slowly discovering more about each other thing, the excitement of exotic dates, and all those dreamy evenings wondering how much he loves me. At least that's what the romance novels described—about acceptable normal relations. She must not have read enough of them to ingrain those plot lines into her life. Or listened to her sisters...or even her mom's advice.

You certainly didn't ignore his revelation this afternoon at the station—you embraced it! You both went straight to the love epiphany without the preliminaries. 'Heartbroken over that fox in three days! You really are fast for a rabbit!' Skye had said to stoke her shame. No patient exploration of your feelings, no gradually growing comfortable together and becoming more...intimate! Oh Spirits! He's taking me home tonight as his willing mate!

She'd already been cozily familiar with him on his sofa, and had spent that night cuddling with his tail. He'd told her afterwards that like most foxes he was sensitive about others touching it—except for her apparently. But now he knew she'd also accepted him as her mate—and that implied consent meant that he might want to...well...mate. A cold claw of fear struck between her shoulder blades to stop her mid-step, and threaten to complete the icing from a year ago—even though Big's mansion and Tundratown were miles away. A pace ahead, Nick turned to her in concern. She couldn't meet his eyes and looked down.

Just concrete—no pit down to a dark and icy death yawned at her feet. She slowly lowered her raised foot, and numbly noticed that the white fur rimming its toes brightened as she did so. A small car, mid thigh high to her, slowed as it approached from ahead and began to pass to their right, blunt muzzles behind the windows swiveling to watch them. She just knew the looks were accusatory in spite of the reduced illumination from the streetlight.

How dare you, I'm not! Judy's foot came up and drew back, her toes panned to track the gawking hamsters—ready to boot that biasmobile over onto its side. It accelerated to safety with an otherwise comically high-pitched—blit...blit..blit.

"Can you believe it! They assumed we were...maybe you were a..." Oh sweet peaches! I might've thought the same thing if I saw this out on a late patrol, she realized. Sharp dressed shifty fox under a streetlight in the middle of the night leading a downcast bunny doe off to... Well wasn't he? She released Nick's paw and buried her face in hers. Embarrassment at their public exposure crumpled her up inside until it recoiled from the spikes of fear that pierced her heart. Her breath started to catch. It can't be happening like this!

She'd never thought about the physical aspect of their relationship as anything more than a distant possible...fulfillment, hidden safely behind their armor of self-denial. Deliberately vague imagined pleasures had become a horrifying immediate possibility. I'm not ready for this! If he is, could I reject him? How much will it hurt me to not hurt him! Any words were smothered by the sudden constriction in her throat and she felt warm tears start. Judy slumped back; felt blindly for the cold support of the sidewalk; the world abruptly rotated and fell away. She let the sobs come; trying to stop them would prolong her anguish. Her whole body flexed rhythmically in his arms with her gasps.

The bouncing continued even as she got her breathing under control. She was being carried—not just held—she wiped her eyes and risked a look up at Nick. His look back was steady, he must have watched her as he walked—she had a brief flash of shame at her present state but there was no judgment in his eyes, only concern. What's wrong with you girl! If there's one thing that you absolutely know, it's that he'll never hurt you. She couldn't stifle a last sniffle, but managed a weak laugh afterwards to show she was all right.

"You bunnies..."

"Yeah, so emotional, I know." Judy gave him a bigger smile and her flaccid ears firmed up a bit. "It's all happening so fast Nick, I overreacted to them, but I think I'm OK for now." She was gently set back on her feet.

"Heavier than you look, Carrots," Nick snarked, rubbing his upper arm and elbow. "Thought bunnies were supposed to be light and fluffy, not so built and toned."

Given his vulpine viewpoint, Judy took it as a compliment. "Most rabbits are shorthairs, won't find much fluff on me," she said, wondering just how far he'd carried her. The moon was well above the horizon now.

"Cept for this!" Nick leaned slightly and reached down behind her—instead of the anticipated flick, he gave her short tail a slower, sensuous stroke along its upturned curve. She felt it lift involuntarily against his paw and send a thrill up her back. "I think it's time to break in a new Nickname, Carrots; that OK with you...Fluff!"

"I suppose I could use another one; you only use my name when it's something serious." Although she was used to Nick calling her 'Carrots', others that overheard would consider it rather derogatory, so an alternative was wise. At least fluff had less allusion to the other 'C' word and was a good counterpoint to her use of 'slick.' She turned and signaled her readiness to continue with a slight hip check to the fox.

"Ha! Here they come!" Nick stayed put and pointed to the not quite third-quarter moon. She rubbed her eyes again to clear them and finally made out a few sparse groups of tiny black dots slowly moving downwards in front of it. As she watched, they became more frequent, with a few larger and faster spots jerkily transiting its face in various directions. It was mildly confusing until her brain abruptly recognized the pattern.

"Bats Nick? It seems like you expected them. There must be hundreds."

"Tens of thousands fluff, it's a big sky—all trying to make it home by one o clock. I assume you're never up this late? Well I am, I might have to work days but I still do night runs in the park a couple times a week. We foxes like to sharpen our senses, and exercise in the cool of night. Really looking forward to getting back to it—always sleep better afterwards. I've seen these flights many times."

"Why do they come back so early?" Judy asked. "There's still several hours of darkness left this time of year." She got a genuine laugh from him at that—they'd been rare lately.

"Late night drama time fluff! They can't miss 'I hear your Dance' or 'Echoes of the Heart,' it's all right there in the TV listings if you cared to look. Soon as it's dusk, they take off for the Meadowlands," Nick jerked a thumb back over his shoulder, "lots more bugs out there. Then they all dash back here to hang in front of the TV for a couple of hours. Never figured out if they hang the sets upside down, or just broadcast the programs that way. Stuff's unwatchable for us anyway, seems to need a custom surround sound system for it all to make sense to them. Anyway, I heard these mass flights are an expected cultural thing for bats."

"Maybe that's who they should have talk to the dolphins," she told him. This was yet another large group of rarely met mammals that had little in common with the rest of society. The badger prof was right; we are a group of separate cultures sharing little more than co-location. At least Nick had again worked his powers of distraction for her benefit. Her angst had passed, and they resumed their walk towards his familiar, and no longer seemingly perilous apartment.

They were spared further scrutiny by the unobtrusive, mostly residential route her streetwise fox took to his neighborhood convenience store. "I'm low on everything fluff, so let me go first, then you pick up what you need in a few minutes." Nick gave her a brief sad smile and ruffled the fur between her ears. "I'm not much further on, and it's probably best they don't get used to seeing us together here."

He was right; she waited out of sight across the intersection until he'd left the FareMart and walked away on a perpendicular street. Judy affected a weary guise before she entered the store and trudged over to the prepared meal case. She grumbled about having to work until closing because her relief didn't show, as she dumped an armful of burritos, lettuce wraps, and a bottle of VegAll on the counter. That precluded any conversation from the surly looking wolverine behind it, until he'd bagged her purchases and she turned to leave.

"Careful out there bun, there was a fox in here a few minutes ago. Think he went up Cortland Street." The mustelid actually sounded more civil than she'd expected, so she turned and nodded her thanks. It was likely his looking out for a vulnerable customer more than just a biased view of foxes, so she let it slide. Judy resumed her direct route to Nick's place, already close enough that she had her bearings in spite of the night. He reappeared out of the first threatening shadow she passed, and they were soon padding down his second floor hallway. She pointed silently at his opposite neighbor Carla's door as they passed it.

"Not at all nocturnal," he said in an almost normal voice to her surprise. "She might as well be hibernating. Him too," as he indicated the adjoining apartment, then unlocked his. They unloaded their bags and restocked the fridge for future need; Kristen's ample home cooking would likely carry both of them past breakfast tomorrow. She caught his eye, then reached and thumped the box in the back of the fridge.

"Carrot cake Nick? Any particular occasion?" she chided with a lilt. His paw tugged her back before he pushed the door closed, and he held up the other with two fingers together.

"Always be prepared," he intoned. "Never know who might hop over for a visit."

"Oddly specific for random guests," she teased, "Unless you just happen to like...Carrots!" Judy took two quick bounds over to her end of his sofa and settled herself against the armrest. He followed and gently trapped her as he sat—no space between them this time—and possessively bound her with tail and arm as she leaned forward to invite that.

"Kinda neutral on them as a kit, but they've grown on me," Nick said evenly before giving her the same look of recovered equanimity he often needed after annoying the chief. She tilted her head to let an ear drape in front of his shoulder—she could faintly hear and even feel his elevated heart rate against her cheek.

"Here we are," he continued with a slight strain in his voice. "You hid it better than I did—at least from me, don't know about everybody else. Back when I left home it was an escape for me—of course I didn't manage it too well. Was angry...scared, no plan no place, they'd put the elevated highway through so Happytown was already kinda rough. About dark I met this raccoon—Vance—he sorta knew who I was, took me to Finnick, they let me stay, taught me to survive. I couldn't ever imagine a bigger change happening in my life."

"I didn't eith..." Judy tried to interject, but his tightened arm stopped her.

"Then I met you, lost you, you found me, I ended up in the academy instead of a jail, wasn't a change so much as a whole new life, it took me awhile to realize that! I found my purpose Judy. I never expected to have one." She felt his paw cup the back of her head, his fingers around the base of her ears. It was gentle, but insistent as he shifted her slightly to lock their gazes. His was steady—with pupils wide. "And today I realized that a dream I dared not ever consider had been made real. I wanted what I could never ask of you, and you still chose to give it. How can I be so happy and terrified at the same time!"

"I don't think that life cares if we're ready Nick. I'm not...not all the way...that's why I freaked out back there! Maybe some of us need our dreams and idealism to ease us into a commitment before the reality scares us away. That might be why I was never really interested in the bucks mom kept trying to fix me up with. It was always about the practical benefits and expectations—I never felt anything else; never wanted to...settle for that."

I'm so sorry Judy, I was really afraid to think that you might have felt like I did. I never thought you could want me the way I did you. I couldn't possibly be worth that, but you decided I was. How long has it been since you...started to become interested?" Now there was a hesitancy and cautious tone in her fox's voice. She realized he needed to know this—every detail would make it more real to him. Just like telling him would do for her.

"We can calculate that if you've got a calendar. It was thirty-nine and a half hours after we first met!" She felt him shift against her left side, and his eyebrows and ears twitched up as well at the precision of her answer. It didn't take much imagination to see him replaying that night in his eyes. "That's when I finally had enough time to recognize that you were more than a condescending, annoying, full of himself con-fox!

"So, when I stopped buffalo butt from bullying you? For this?" Nick said, as he reached with his other paw and brushed the spot on her top where the badge on her uniform would have been.

She stiffened to suppress the delighted shiver and 'eep' that would otherwise have escaped her and he quickly withdrew. "No, no, it's ok," she soothed, and reached to grasp the paw he momentarily didn't know what to do with. She brought it closer again and held it between both of hers. "That's only when I was able to accept what you'd done for me; it started...maybe a half-hour earlier when you didn't leave me on the platform with Manchas. Things were happening too fast then for me to think about what it meant! You could have just stepped to safety, I told you to! You could have been free and clear, rid of the annoying bunny cop, but you stayed! You chose near certain death just to give me a chance!" her voice had risen to a near squeal—smothered as her protector pulled her tightly against his shirt.

"That's when I found my purpose fluff, although I didn't realize then all of what you'd mean to me now. I'll always stay for you!" His voice was husky and almost broke into a whine, and he curled over to further wrap her up in foxy armor. Just get his shirt wet, said her inside voice; you can't do anything else right now.

After an interminable time in a clinch with her fox, Judy realized she now held his soft warm fur, her paw having found its way inside his shirt. Her own top had ridden up under her arms with his pressed up along her back. She had turned to put her leg over his and bury her face in the thicker ruff of creamy fur under his muzzle and neck. His long lean chin brushed between her ears—as much from her own movements as his. He's a canid came her disjointed thoughts, is he...chinning me? Marking me? Wouldn't it be more vigorous if he was? Judy slowly dragged herself out of the abliss—and realized it didn't matter—his musky odor was throughout her nose and lungs, it wasn't unpleasant...a bit like freshly turned earth.

Thank the spirits we don't have to go to the precinct tomorrow she realized, we can hold that revelation off for another day. He'll be with Skye—I'm with Jack and they both know. Judy's ears flushed; Skye would be delighted to smell me all over him—could she convince Nick to scrub enough to maintain some semblance of their privacy? Can I get his foxiness off of me? There was an unexpected chuff of breath from her mate as his discernibly shaking paws did the opposite and lifted her off his thigh and back down onto the sofa. Her troubled fox worked his mouth—obviously searching for words. The only right thing to do was to wait for him to find them.

"It's too late now for both of us," he finally said, "I forced myself to deny what had already happened because I was afraid I'd only hurt you Judy. I'm living in your world now but that's not the one I came from. Circumstances pushed us together, and neither of us really understood what that might eventually do to us. I know your thinking about Winter and Savage, but we're different! I spent twenty years hiding the real me behind walls and nobody saw anything other than what I wanted them to! Then you come along like a superhero to blast them away and rescue me without taking a good look at what's in there first. That's what I'm afraid of—you've forced me out where I can't hide what I am...to you."

"Nick, I know who you are! I've known how you felt about me for a long time. And me, I think I might have chosen you first without even knowing it. Once I figured that out, I tried...I really tried to hide that for our own good." Just like you did you noble lovable fox.

"How long does it really take to get to know someone bunny bumpkin?" A trace of sadness crept into Nick's voice. "You're an idealist, you see what you want to see in me. You know very little about how I was raised, what events shaped my life, what I've done! Yeah, I promised to always protect you from a dangerous and uncaring world—the same one that spent twenty years shaping me into a perfect representation of it! I've been so busy shielding you from it, that I didn't see its most immediate threat...me!"

"You're no threat! You said you chose to protect!" Judy leaped to her feet, wavered unsteadily on the sofa cushion, and grabbed the closest support—Nick's muzzle. She stretched her paws to hang on and clamp it shut—no more of his selfish misgivings. "You're my mate! I'm yours and that won't change. It can't! If there are any issues between us we will deal with them together. No more doubts, Nick, I won't have it!"

His green eyes were wide, but not in fear as he carefully pried her paws off and took a breath. "I really don't deserve you Carrots, no matter how much..."

She slapped him—hard. The recoil tipped her back irrecoverably and she bounced off the end of the armrest on the way to the floor, arms flailing. Training took over to tuck and roll her to a safe landing. Back on her feet in the middle of the room, she watched a shocked red fox rub the base of his muzzle below one eye. She closed her own as her shame returned.

"You know fluff," he said carefully, "maybe I do. Savage said that Skye did almost the same thing to him—except her claws were longer. She drew blood; then they made up."

That totally quenched her chagrin—not the blood part—the make up part. The fear she'd laid to rest reopened its eyes. "Ok Nick, I'll give you conditional forgiveness. We don't second-guess each other's choice of mate ever again. It's done! Now, what did Jack do?"

"I believe the same thing I just did, he questioned the integrity of their relationship in front of his vixen. Skye's got nothing on you in that department." Nick kept rubbing, just for show.

He considers me his vixen? Judy smiled broadly at the compliment since he'd directly compared her to Skye. "I'm hardly a vixen slick, your fault you didn't look around more."

"I just never found any that really interested me. On closer examination you are a bit peculiar for one, what with the two tails on the wrong end and the butt ear." He invited her back with spread paws and lifted her into his lap. This was much better. They'd both been on-edge and overreacting to their open new status as an affirmed couple. His arms remained around her middle, likely to forestall further lapine assault, and his muzzle found its place between her ears. "Mmmm, so soothing." He abruptly twitched and loosened his hold on her. "Is this too much right now? I'm honestly not good with the...physical signals here."

"Of course not, we need this...Nick, am I your first...serious relationship?" She had a flash of guilt about prying at him so soon after her outburst, but decided she needed to know. Large parts of his past were blank to her—he'd never mentioned any others before and he was thirty-three now! She settled back to confirm their present arrangement was fine with her. He didn't speak right away, although she felt his muzzle nod slightly atop her head.

"Yeah fluff, you're the first one that really got to me," he emphasized before she felt his expression change. "It's not like I wasn't interested in vixens...sometimes the guys worried...but I'm ok...I just never met...out there...ones that I'd want to..." Nick stammered anxiously before he stopped for several seconds.

"Choose, Nick?"

"No fluff. It's kinda embarrassing, but I couldn't disappoint—get involved with—someone mom wouldn't approve of," he finished in a quick whine of distress. Nick let out a long deep breath, then tapped the side of his head. "Part of my mom's always been in here. I failed her, hurt her with my first big choice in life; couldn't do it again. Without you Judy, I don't think I would have ever had the courage to go back and face her, being what I was on the streets. I know she looked for me, I was too ashamed to let her find me."

So she really set the core values of my fox. Judy was proud that he'd maintained his mom's example decades on. From what she knew of his hustles, even they had ethical bounds. It wasn't going to be easy to find a way to thank Vivian Wilde for Nick's upbringing without revealing the depth of their relationship. "Didn't mean to do this Nick, I brought you two back together; now it looks like I'm going to take you away from her again." The last thing she expected back from him was a yipped laugh.

"If I can't have any doubts about us anymore, you can't either!" Her wrap-around-back support snugged a bit tighter. "Yeah, it'll be a shock when I bring you home as my mate, she'll have to adjust—but will accept you. I'm certain of that Judy, she already likes you."

A warm flush spread through her. He felt she was not only worthy of Vivian's approval, but that she'd receive it. She would be family to those two foxes—and share society's scorn with them. Just like that, the ice was back.

"We're not much compensation for yours, are we?" Nick had sensed the change in her as soon as it had happened. "I know what you're giving up for me, but I'll do whatever you need to reduce the shock to your family when they find out."

"It'll be bad no matter how it happens," she told him, "I've already had to deflect questions about my life here—even a few about you directly. My family's size and nature doesn't allow for real privacy for any of us; with everybody checking on everybody else's well being including those like me who've left the warren. It's even worse for me since I've always been seen as different and in need of...well meaning guidance! Hence all of the—'You aren't going to the dance?' or, 'Here's a nice buck you could settle down with'—that gets dumped on me." That came out more bitterly than she expected; and Nick noticed.

"Woah! I'm supposed to be the one who ran away from home because I felt smothered! So you had it what...three hundred times worse? Do you realize what you've done fluff? You've taken away any excuse I had for feeling sorry for myself!" He ruffled the fur atop her head and slid her drooped ears up between his fingers. To her surprise, it was enough physical attention to make them stay there.

"There's more slick. You're not the only one here lacking experience in the relationship department." She made sure his paw rejoined its mate around her middle—to forestall any physical withdrawal on his part. "You like nicknames for me? Here's one my dad coined—if it ever escapes your lips, it will be the last thing you ever do! Understand fox?"

She felt him nod again before he said, "Must be pretty adorable to rile you up."

"Way worse Nick...it's...Jude the Dude." She felt his flinch; then his whole body writhed as he brutally strangled his imminent ridicule. "You may live for now," she said looking up.

"Your own dad came up with that?" Nick managed to squeeze incredulity and sympathy into his response.

"Yes, and its already spread to several of my siblings. Bad enough you fell for a rabbit, let alone an abnormal one. That's what they're worried about. I always focused on my own interests and goals in life, not what was expected. Teenage rabbit does spend a lot of time socializing about family matters; general gossip, eligible bucks, dating, planning to settle down, how many kits they want! I had to participate in enough of that to fit in, but it never rang true for them, I was always...apart. I'm taller than most rabbit does, and leaner. I helped with more physical chores than some of the bucks in the family did, and the ones outside of it were far more interested in my softer curvier more demure sisters!"

"I'm glad they were, I got the foxy one!" Nick enthused. "Unfortunately, I have to play this by ear since you didn't come with instructions." He tentatively gave a light stroke up along her left ear—she hummed to let him know that was quite enjoyable. Perhaps she did appear to him as more...vixen like than other rabbits would. A hint of unaccustomed excitement about being wanted by a male companion kept her earlier fear in check.

"Nick, I'll admit to being a little nervous, I really don't know what to expect from foxes, or the...right way to react to them. I'm not a vixen; I don't know how they...or I should respond to your...expectations? Honestly, I didn't really get that far with any bucks either—a couple of second dates was about it."

A heartfelt foxy sigh had her sink a little deeper into his front. "Thank your moon goddess! I'm not quite the suave, sophisticated, vixen-collecting rake everybody assumes me to be—what with my mom issues and all. I was concerned that I might be less worldly than such a desirable member of your notorious species!"

"Hardly slick, if I was typical there would be a lot less of us around. You actually have the honor of being the first one to really get me...seriously interested!" Now she could admit that without fear, they'd voiced their anxieties and signaled their desire to proceed slowly. Her mate was apparently as relieved as she was from his lightened mood.

"All those bunnies to choose from, and you take their worst nightmare, a fox as a mate. They already see you as assertive and ambitious, now they can add aggressive! Have you even researched the implications of becoming seriously interested in one like me?"

"I know we have a lot to learn about each other, but I don't want to rush that! We've missed so much already Nick by choosing so quickly! I wish we could go back—you know, more dates, more time to get to know each other, more...romance before we decided."

"We can still do all of that fluff, just with the security of knowing that we won't break up!" Should also give you time to do your adult homework on vulpine culture and biology so I don't...startle you."

"I'm not completely naive Nick! Several of my sisters already have kits of their own! You learn more about life in my family than you ever could in high school sex-ed." Oh right, she realized, home or not, it's all bunny-centric sex-ed. Wait! Skye had...no, he's dressed, and the only good places reachable from her present position on his lap were his ears. Save it! Otherwise you'll have to explain how you know about those!

"Bunnyburrow sex-ed? Think they'd allow a fox in the class? Might be useful," Nick snarked as he started slowly stroking both of her ears. He was more tentative and awkward than Skye has been, although she still enjoyed it. "We foxes are quite tactile fluff. Even a single gentle touch can be considered flirting. And when mates engage in closer activities like what we're doing, it will invariably lead to the...biting!

His muzzle darted to her neck just as the word registered, his jaws wrapped over it at the base. She couldn't resist an instinctive strong flinch—he held her firmly in his paws, teeth barely pricking her skin through the fur. It was a moment frozen in time, the primal end of so many of her remote ancestors—then he slowly dragged his fangs through her fur and away.

"Normally," he drawled, "this happens when it's already serious enough that you have your clothes off! Then you can get it all over." He was back to benignly stroking her ears—which served to slacken her suddenly elevated heart rate. Although gentle and brief, it had been an unexpected and far more intense experience than even their desperate acting in the museum pit. "But since I'm a gentlefox, I will go no further unless specifically invited to." As soon as he felt the tension flow out of her, he stopped the ear rub and lifted her slightly to turn her around. She drew back a leg and pushed with the other to help until they were face to face. He drew and squeezed her legs around him with his forearms until she tightened her grip. Nick raised his arms; his paws went behind her head to support—this time massaging slowly around the base of her ears.

They were muzzle to muzzle, almost touching, eyes locked together as if by glass rods between them. Although he was slightly out of focus at this range, his gaze was intense. Her nose twitched in response to his soft breath periodically wafting across it—his earthy scent was strong. She knew what he wanted, but couldn't think of anything to say to encourage him that didn't sound like bad movie dialog. Judy settled for bumping noses gently and turning one cheek very slightly towards him.

He reacted immediately with two long strokes of his muzzle against her, his eye momentarily close enough to hers each time to fill half her field of vision. Twice more he went grossly out of focus as he marked her other cheek. Again, her fox repeated the four almost desperate strokes, pushing against her, as a long, needful whine escaped from him.

He clung to her with his muzzle resting atop her shoulder, while she frantically tried to recall anything useful from her mammalian behavior classes in school. This wasn't a rabbit thing; male predators usually did marking as she recalled. Felids and canids mostly. Nick was right, she should have done her homework on foxes—she wasn't sure what response was expected from her. I need to acknowledge this, she decided. His muzzle was right there beside her, she turned and tipped her head slightly to give him a brief rub back.

It was enough; she got a shorter, softer whine from him, then he pushed them gently apart with his paws on her upper arms and broke into a broad smile. "Now it's official fluff," he said enthusiastically, "I can drag my mate off to bed!" He managed to wag his tail somewhat even though it was scrunched against the back of the sofa.

"Not so fast cave fox, we have an agreement!" she said with an unfortunate hint of panic. Why would he make light of their first seriously intimate moment—one that she wanted to remember and cherish? Because, said her inside voice, it's how he copes with emotional moments—things that get to him.

"Yes I remember dearest bonded lifemate who just invited me to claim her. We still have a few hours before dawn to take things nice and slooow!" He had his smarmiest hustle face on.

Ok, she decided, already feeling somewhat overtired and giddy, he's completely incorrigible. Well, said her voice, you'll just have to play foxface's game. "And that's what we'll do slick—slowly and in the proper order! That means being properly introduced by our guardians, then at least ten supervised social events with trusted chaperones, then..."

"I'm willing to compromise fluff!"

"Good. We really need our sleep Nick; after tomorrow, we'll need a lot more. And we absolutely have to learn more about each others...cultures to avoid any...hasty misunderstandings."

"Interesting descriptive—cultures," her fox pondered, "If you're curious about the basics and don't want to wade through all the academic stuff, you can just go to CaniPorn dot com.

"Nick! Don't ruin this! It won't help me knowing what other canids do."

"Yeah right, you'll need to look up fox and bunn..."

"NICK!"

"Surely you must know about rule..."

"I know about the Internet Nick, I don't want to spoil what we've got ahead of us! And don't forget that I now have the status here to make you sleep on our sofa!" She poked the cushion for emphasis.

"Not tonight rabbit mine!" Nick rose, boosting her up with him and smoothly transferring her to under his arm. "I am dragging my mate to our bed—even if she stays in her carrot print underwear!"

This is a good break point for those who are binge reading my story. Now that chapter ten has concluded, our focus will shift away from following character relationships, and back towards the unfolding primary plot. So go refresh yourself, get dinner if it's not too late, and like Judy and Nick, go to bed if it is!