Judy's ears stood up on end, being immediately enticed by a melody that was resonating near her as she made her way to the front door. From there, the doe found the direct source of the sounds. Her fox sat idly on the living room floor, resting against the bottom of the couch behind him with a black acoustic guitar firmly strapped around him.

She got closer to him, and he continued to play with great focus. His right paw glided smoothly across the fretboards of the guitar, a sweet and gentle sound reverberating from the rhythmically plucked strings. The widening smile of the vulpine indicated that he was currently in a happy place, humming along to the tune that he was trying to play as he carried on.

The tune carried on as Judy observed a few paces away from the fox. About a minute of soothing sounds later, the little melody was finished. The doe clapped in delight. That was just wonderful, she thought. How come he never played for me sooner? He could've been serenading me.

"Beautiful, Nick," she said. "Encore."

The utterance of Judy's applause made Nick jump a little, as he was not expecting anyone to be there and watch him "perform."

The fox was at a loss of how to respond. "Oh, uh… Hey, Carrots, how's it goin'?"

"Didn't know that you could play guitar," she replied, still in a small state of amazement due to the fox's undeniably charming musical skills.

"Yeah," the fox admitted, "but it's been a long time since I've picked it up again."

"You did it so well though, I mean… wow!"

The vulpine stretched his neck slightly, taking the matching black guitar strap off of him. He wasn't exactly sure in his mind how the doe seemed so awestruck by the fact he could just make a simple tune. "Oh, it's nothin', Fluff. My playing skills aren't exactly what they used to be."

"Well, I think it sounds wonderful."

"Oh, I don't know about that-"

"Perhaps you could use a singing partner?" the doe interrupted, taking a seat to her fox.

"Huh?"

"You know, we could both sing along as you play. Kinda like a duet. I heard there was an open mic gonna happen in a few days over at that restaurant in town, perhaps you like to sign up?"

"I might have to pass on your offering, Carrots," Nick said, hesitant. The fox pondered in silence for a short moment, a claw involuntarily plucking one the strings and making it resonate a single, deep note. "Never really played for any kind of crowd before. I don't think a bunch of mammals wanna hear my voice."

Judy outstretched a paw and placed in gently on Nick's shoulder. "You're probably just gonna be playing for a few customers there, it's not like you're heading to play for a sports stadium or something."

"I still might to take a raincheck on your offer, though."

"I'm gonna sign us up," Judy proclaimed, completely ignoring the vulpine's disagreement to what she was proposing for the two of them to do. "It's just a little open mic that's being held for fun, how many mammals could possibly be there?"

A Few Days Later...

Much to Nick's misfortune, the restaurant was basically at its full capacity. All of the tables that surrounded the restaurant had been filled with customers that came to grab a quick bite or a few drinks for the evening. With the mixture of the jumbling conversations of the various mammals and the current performer in the open mic, the noise level was quite high for the overall size of the establishment.

The vulpine tugged slightly at the guitar strap that hung over his neck, gently peaking over the side to watch who was out on a small platform playing music for everyone to here. The platform was small but elevated, with a few bright neon signs hanging a few feet above it. A badger currently was happily seated on top of a small stool, an ordinary, brown acoustic guitar resting on his lap. The voice that came out of him was a little bit deep but still pleasant to the ears, reciting a gentle tune about country living.

The badger's humble performance came to a close, making the fox's ears droop down in dismay. Knowing that he was finished meant that he and Judy were up next in only a few short moments.

"You know, Fluff," he said, sensing the presence of Judy on his side, "it's not too late to just head out. We can go somewhere else and enjoy-"

A deer came out from the other side of the makeshift stage, looking directly at the fox and rabbit. "Wilde and Hopps, right?" he asked. "It's time."

Nick nervously gulped as Judy took him by the paw and led him out to where they needed to go. The vulpine took his load off on the wooden stool and the doe stood right beside him, delicately smiling.

"Don't be nervous," Judy whispered.

The fox nodded his head, shrugged his shoulders, and gently tapped a claw on the microphone that was only a few inches away from him. Feedback resonated around the space, seeming to get the attention of most of the mammals gathered around the restaurant for the evening.

Anxiously chuckling, the vulpine got his paw into the proper position for the first chord shape and started to slowly strum all of the string in a specific pattern.

The angelic sound that was none other than Judy's singing voice chimed in, and Nick's voice joined hers a short moment after. Even though the vulpine's voice was not exactly worthy of a record deal when compared to his bunny's, the sounds of them sharing the musical moment together still had their charm.

As they stood their side by side and continued, several different joyous memories started replaying in Judy's mind thanks to the music bringing them up. Smiling, the doe reminisced about some of the fun memories that she made with her companion as Nick went into a solo session of just strumming the guitar.

The fox and rabbit carried on up until their little performance to everyone came to a close. Nick finished off with a cheerful picking pattern as Judy quietly clapped her paws together with personal applause for the two of them.

A few seconds of silence passed, and within that noiselessness Nick thought they weren't enjoying what he had performed. However, a small but considerable amount of clapping filled the air, coming from all four corners of the restaurant. The fox got up from his seat and stood proudly beside Judy.

Nick couldn't help but continue to grin with delight, letting his ears take in all of the wondrous applause that he and his companion were receiving.