"This would not have happened if we had followed protocol." Judy said once more, much to the annoyance of the two enforcers. Although, considering what had happened, none of them had the grounds to try and say anything.
After all, Blackwall and the two mammals with him had escaped. Now they also had an unconscious snow leopard and elephant on their paws.
"I mean, protocol exists for such things!" Judy said, looking at the two, as she looked up from the ground where she had been looking for evidence. "They are directions and rules that are set in place to keep the situation under control so stuff like that does not happens!"
"Yeah, you already said that." Emilia said, as she looked at the bunny. "Five times."
"She is right, you know?" Nick said, looking at the vixen, as both he and Marceli were standing at a certain distance, but close enough to be able to hear. Nick was busy with the job of "helping finding evidence" that Judy had just assigned to him after the three perps had escaped. Nick had to admit that he didn't seen much point in it, but he was not about to say that to Judy, who was already mad at the enforcers.
"Of course I am right!" The bunny said, "Protocols serve to ensure that the suspects will not be able to do things like this and that the cops and other individuals around will be at minimum risk!"
"You also said that." The vixen said, "And that one was six times already."
"And I'll keep repeating it if I have to." Judy said, looking at the vixen, "Because the fact that we didn't followed protocol was what allowed those three to escape."
"You don't know that." Emilia said, and Judy now looked at her.
"If Blackwall had been paw-cuffed, he would not have been able to use that vial of acid." Judy said, looking at her. "If we had taken him to the station under custody, he would have been kept under watch and he would have had much less chances of having pulled out something like that. If we had at least moved them to a more secluded are, instead of questioning them in the middle of the street, what is highly against protocol, than that elephant would not have come over, and Blackwall would not have had the chance to take control over him and use him as a mean of escaping."
Emilia looked at her, and she opened his mouth, apparently to protest. However, the vixen only stood there for a few seconds, with her mouth open, before she closed it and looked away. That was when Judy knew that she had made her point.
"We would have these three under custody if we had done it right." Judy said as she looked back at the ground and taking a few more pictures of the paw prints that they had left in the loose soil, saving it in a special file that she would later download into her computer as soon as she had the chance.
"We will have another chance to catch them." Marceli said, looking at the two cops. "I am sure of it."
Marceli said these words; however, he had some doubts himself.
"Yeah, next time we get to them they won't have chance of doing that again." Emilia said. She too had doubts, but she was sure that now she felt quite motivated to go after that rat and catch him. Marceli could actually share some of that determination.
"Yes, because next time we are going to follow protocol to the letter." Judy said, getting up and sighing as she looked around. "Well, guess we are all done in here. Nick you still got his jacket and the vials?"
"Right on paw, Carrots." Nick said, showing the little jacket and the small vials filled with acid that he had placed in an evidence envelop. "All bagged and ready to be send to forensics."
"Good, we can add Blackwall's fur and paw-prints to the index." She said, looking at Nick "This will help us finding him again if he ever tries anything in Zootopia. It seems all that we can do now."
She said that last part sounding a bit resigned. She was still quite upset that the suspects that they had under custody had managed to escape like that. Nick noticed that.
"Well, maybe we can also do something else." He said, and this caused Judy to look at him. "I already have a few contacts keeping their eyes out for Slimy Tusks and Laughing Joe. I can tell them to have their attention doubled if they see any sign of them. If we find them, we will most likely find the rat. It seems they are all besties now. I can even tell you some places that Slimy Tusks and Laughing Joe like going around the city, and we could try to keep an eye open for them."
Well, it seemed like that was an idea. She knew that Nick suggested that mostly to try to make her feel better, but it was still something that was worth a shot. She smiled at her partner, and the two enforcers looked back at them. Marceli himself had a raised eyebrow.
"Sooo... we are gonna go?" Emilia said, and the two cops looked back at her before they both nodded. Soon, the four mammals were walking back to the cruiser, parked on a street parallel to the one that the three had turned around on their way for the hidden van. Like the van, the cruiser was partially hidden by the foliage, something that the cops had opted for the three not to see them approaching and try running away.
Once back into the cruiser, they started the vehicle and soon were driving away, back to the station. This travel was much more silent than the previous ones up until now.
Upon arriving, they immediately parted ways, with the Enforcers going to take care of their own business, probably make some report for the Association about how they nearly had Blackwall, and Nick and Judy walking to their desks to fill in the reports on what happened.
As Nick worked on it, he once more was remind that paperwork was his own personal nemesis. Long and detailed reports of what has happened, written in a professional way and as extensively as possible for the shake of procedure and of any legal developments. As well as to make them as useful as possible for other officers who would come to face something similar in the future, so they would know what to expect and how to deal with the situation.
Nick knew how important that was, and how important it was to make that. However, that did not stopped this from still being the least favorite part of cop work for the red fox.
The fox counted the seconds as he tipped into his computer, and he even sometimes counted the words that he had tipped on the computer, as he found out that this somehow helped him get through, as he found out the number of words that an average report had, and this helped Nick settle a specific goal for his work. This did not meant that Nick was sloppy when doing it, though, for he knew that Bogo would review the reports himself in one occasion or another, and doing a poor work on a report equaled being in trouble with the boss, something that could lead to anything between a reduction in salary to an increased work load. Sometimes even some turns working on an unpleasant or tiring job.
As a result, when Nick worked on the documents, he was always as professional and efficient as it was possible to be, and made sure that everything he did was presentable. Although, that did not stopped him from adding a few annexes with a few personal observations and things that he thought were relevant. Nick's annexes were becoming quite famous among the ZPD, and even though some like McChill thought that they were unprofessional and annoying, most of the other cops actually took them with a lot of humor.
Of course, these were nothing compared to the kind of annexes that Officer Fanghanel put on his documents, and that landed him in a bit of trouble with Chief Bogo more than once...
Anyhow, Nick made sure to add everything that he remembered about the way that Blackwall had managed to escape from them, and he even added an annex in the document speaking of how his partner chastised the enforcers for not following procedure. He also added two more, with one talking about his personal notes on Slimy Tusks and Laughing Joe. However, the second one was not as light-hearted as the other one.
This one was more serious, for it talked about the fact that Blackwall had revealed to both himself and Judy. A fact that the enforcers seemed to have conveniently forgot to mention...
Nick was pretty sure that Buffalo-Butt was going to have an aneurism by the time he was done readying these...
Soon, Nick let out a sigh as he had finished his report and could now stretch his back, right after he had saved the file and submitted it. As if on cue...
"Hard day, Wilde?"
Nick sighed as the familiar face spoke to him. "You bet, Wolflan." He said, using the nickname to refer to the wolf that was speaking to him. Wolfard saw no problem in it, and he actually smiled back at the fox as he looked back at him.
"Tagging along with mages can be quite taxing."
"Yeah, I can imagine." The wolf said, looking at him. The fox truly looked beat. "Hey, do you know the best thing to do after a long day of work?"
The fox looked back at him.
"I have a few answers to that, but I have the impression that you are about to tell me your own." Nick said, and indeed:
"A good night with your fellow officers in one of the best bars of the city." The wolf said, "That is why we and the others are going to the Tipsy Lion tonight. Wanna tag along?"
Nick looked at him. He knew the Tipsy Lion. Very well, by the way. However, he had never actually been in there, even after he became a cop. He had been wanting to go to the place for a while, but the occasion never really presented itself to him.
"Sounds good. Who else is going?"
"Me, Fangmeyer, Delgato, McHorn, Clawhauser, and also Hopps, if I can manage to convince her." The wolf said, and Nick nodded. "Although, I'm not sure that I'll be able to convince Hopps to come. You know that she often prefers to work than to go out."
Yeah, Nick knew it well. It was common knowledge in Precinct 1 that Judy Hopps was a workaholic. She was the kind who would take more shifts and extra hours gladly, if this meant that she could continue her work of making the world a better place. Some had already tried to invite her to some fun time, but they had all failed to do so. Well, all save for Nick, who convinced her to start a tradition of a movie night every week with him right on their first week as official partners.
"Let me talk to her." Nick said, getting up, "I'll see if I can convince our dear bunny to take the night to have some fun instead of working on another night shift. Before she actually does it and ruins my night." Nick added the last part to himself as he walked away from his desk, leaving Wolfard looking at him as he went.
Judy was on her desk, focused on her work, as it was to be expected, and she seemed to be focus on what she was typing.
She seemed so focused that Nick even thought that maybe he could try sneaking into her again. However, he changed his mind as soon as he saw her ears twitch in his direction. In that moment, he knew that she had noticed his approach already.
Sighing, the fox simply walked to her and stood behind the bunny, looking at her as she typed.
They kept like this for nearly five minutes, before Judy finally said:
"And now I am done."
As she said that, she spun her chair around, and she was now looking at the fox.
"So, I assume you finished your report, right?"
"Sure did." Nick confirmed, looking back at her. "One report about today's fiasco ready for Buffalo Butt to read. I'm pretty sure he is gonna flip when he does."
"Well, can't really blame him at this point." Judy admitted, "Letting a suspect escape like that is not a small thing by any means."
"You added that in the report?" Nick said, and he knew that this was a dumb question, because Judy would surely have added everything that she deemed relevant to her reports, and she tended to consider nearly everything as relevant. If Nick's reports were famous for the annexes, Judy's reports were famous for being amazingly thorough and professional, often impressing even the oldest cops on the force.
Once Bogo even presented a few of her reports and told the other officers that they should try to be as thorough with them as Judy was. That was an occasion that made Judy feel uncomfortable, kind of like the teachers calling on the entire class for not doing a good job by calling attention to the work of the smartest kit.
Well, at least the officers were mature enough not to dunk her in the toilet after that. But she still received one or two glares from some of the others...
"Well, I put on a personal note or two on the fails to follow procedure." Judy said, looking at Nick. "I don't want to criticize the enforcers for their way of doing things, but this is the kind of thing that needs to be pointed out."
"Yeah, I bet." Nick said, looking at her, "So, you plan to stay on their tails for this?"
"Well, I hope that from now on they will follow protocol better." She said, looking at him, "So things like what happened today won't happen again."
Nick nodded. This was something that he surely could expect from Judy. There was a brief silence, before he spoke:
"And you also added... what Blackwall said?"
Judy looked at him.
"About that 'package' that the enforcers are now protecting and that the MTC wants back?" He asked, and Judy looked at him for a few moments, before she nodded.
"Yes, I added all that Blackwall said about that in the report." Judy said, looking back at him. "Did you?"
"Added an annex about that in my report." Nick said, looking back at her, "Didn't put as many jokes as in the other ones."
Judy would have admonished Nick for putting any joke at all in a report, however, she didn't felt like doing that at the moment.
She was still thinking deep on what she had learned on that day. About the package that they prevented the MTC from getting being actually a part of the ritual that caused the destruction of the city of Fangtropolis and the deaths of the millions of mammals that lived in there.
It was the kind of thing that made you think...
It certainly was the kind of thing that she should add in her report, even thought the enforcers made a request at her and Nick for not to mention anything with the other officers.
This certainly was the kind of thing that Bogo should know, if he didn't already.
"Okay." Nick said, looking at her, "Anyway, I've come to let you know that Wolfard just invited me to a night in the city with some of the other guys, and we've been thinking if you would be interested in going."
Judy looked at him.
"Well, sounds like fun, but I was thinking of maybe giving a closer look to the evidence." She said, turning back to her computer. "Maybe I can zoom in a few of the pictures to see if I can find out more clues. Also, the lab is analyzing the evidence that we brought, and they must have the results ready in about two or three hours. I was planning to stand around here and talk to them as soon as they have the evidence ready."
Nick looked at her as she now had her back turned to him. He looked at the back of her head and the back of her ears, seeing the signs that he often saw when she was focusing on her work so hard that she was nearly forgetting all about the world around her. Nick knew from experience that, if he didn't acted now, he would most likely lose her.
"You know, the pictures will not change if you wait until tomorrow to take a better look at them." Nick said, approaching Judy. "And the analyzed evidence will still be there tomorrow for you to see the results. You really should consider taking a break now and having fun instead of focusing on the work all the time."
"Nick, this is really important." Judy said, "Blackwall might know more than what he said. As a matter of fact, I know that Blackwall knows more than he said. I had the feeling that he was only revealing us a little bit of what he knew."
Nick looked at her, and he was force to agree with this. However, it was not much about having a feeling, as more it was of noticing that the rat was only giving them pieces of information, telling them what was convenient for him. Basically, he only told them what they truly asked, and he didn't gave them any information that was detailed.
Quite sneaky of the rat, once he was not actually lying.
"If that package is so dangerous, then why would the MTC want it?" Judy said, still typing away. "Do they have some plan for it? Are they trying to rebuild the thing that it was a piece of? Are they planning on using it? What if they do that here in Zootopia?"
Her foot was subconsciously thumping as she said these words, faster and faster. Judy was even shaking slightly with the thumping of her own foot.
"Nick, if that thing is dangerous, then..."
She was stopped mid-sentence, for Nick held the chair and gently spun it around, so Judy was now facing him once more. The fox looked back at him for a few moments.
"Carrots, if you don't calm down now, any rabbit in a five miles radius is going to notice the thumping on the ground and be on high alert." He said, and Judy looked at him, confused, before she noticed what she had been doing and blushed madly.
"I-it's kind of involuntary."
"Like when canines wag their tails when they are happy, right?" Nick asked, looking at her with a smile. "Anyway, if your foot is thumping so hard and so fast, is because you are really upset and stressed, based on what I know about bunnies."
On what he knew... Judy herself had explained to him about that. How it was an evolutionary feature when bunnies still had to worry about being devour by other animals, and they needed a way of informing the rest of the burrow about the incoming of danger. Thumping their foot was a way of doing that, and it used to be a signal for nearby bunnies that something was afoot (pun not intended) and that they should stand in attention and be ready for anything.
This was something that was not as useful as it was in the past, but it still was useful among bunnies, for allowed them to leave the rest alert in the case of an emergency. However, for the most part, it was just a reflex that bunnies got when they were mad or under stress, and that could leave nearby bunnies in alert when they heard the sound. It was not too different from how howling affected wolves, although Judy had never heard of a "chain foot-thumping" in her life.
"So, since you obviously is under stress, what about we take the night to relax and get your foot to stop this before all bunnies of the city have their noses twitching?" Nick said, looking back at her. Judy looked back at him.
"Nick, the case..."
"It will still be a case tomorrow." Nick said, looking at the bunny, "Worrying about it today will only make you feel so much worried that you will be unable to get happy now. Actually, I heard that working too much could lead to things like chronic stress and unhappiness. You might not mind facing these, but I like you too much to see you go through such things, Carrots."
Judy felt herself suddenly blush in the face and the ears, and she now had to actively suppress the thumping of her foot. It could react to other emotions than stress and annoyance, although Judy was having a bit of trouble to detect which emotions exactly where setting it off... or why she was blushing now.
"That's why I think that, just for tonight, you should try and forget a bit about that and relax." Nick said, looking at her, "Take the evening for yourself. Come have a few rounds with me and the boys. Who knows, if you give it a chance you might actually like it."
"But..." Judy tried to protest, but the fox once more cut her.
"You need to take a time off." Nick said, looking at her, "We know how much you work hard on things, but you definitely need to stop for a moment and try to have fun. And a way of doing it is going out and socializing with your fellow cops. And I mean outside of the station, not on the front desk, on the recreation room or in the bullpen before Bogo hands out the assignments. You need this, and you know I am right."
Judy wasn't so sure if he was right or not. However, she knew that he was going to keep insisting until she said yes and went along with him. Nick knew how to be quite stubborn when he wanted to, pretty much like Judy herself. She learned that they had that in common.
She also knew, deep inside, that she needed a break from her work every now and then. This was one of the reasons why she had agreed to have the movie nights with Nick every now and then, that and the fact that she did enjoyed his company.
She looked back at him, looking at her with that sly smile of always, and she saw as he raised his eyebrows in a way that was almost suggestive.
Letting out a sigh, she finally said:
"Okay, okay. I guess I can leave this for tomorrow." She said, looking at him, "I mean, our shift will end in just a few minutes, I see no harm in taking time to go into the city and socialize."
"Great!" Nick said, looking back at her. "So, I'll go tell Wolfard that you agreed and that you will be going with us. Then we go to the locker-room to get changed. You go to the girls' locker-room and get yourself changed too, unless you prefer to go to the city wearing your standard cop outfit." Nick said, looking up and down at her.
"Yeah, I guess I'll change." She said, looking down at herself, "But, first I want to take my report to Bogo. I'd like to be sure that seen it himself."
"Oh, he will, Carrots." Nick said to her, "I don't know if you've heard, but lately the Chief has been paying special attention to our reports, ever since we have been partnered up with the enforcers. That according to what my sources on the ZPD said."
Judy looked at him. It was no secret that Chief Bogo tended to check some of the reports himself, especially when they involved some big case or something of true importance. These were the times when the Chief was the more worried about everything going according to the book, so the situation would not escalate out of control.
Apparently, he was thinking that this was one of these situations. No surprise, considering it involved a terrorist attack to a mall full of innocent civilians. Of course the Chief would want to take a closer look in what the ones basically investigating directly the case would have found out.
"Yeah... I would still like to give him my report personally."
"You don't have to." Nick said to his partner. "In fact, I think that you should just submit the report already and wait for the chief to see it on his own. It might be better this way." He said, and the bunny looked at him with a raised eyebrow, to which the fox looked back at her.
"Carrots, we lost a criminal mage and his two new henchmen because the enforcers, the ones who we have been following, have refused to follow protocol." Nick said, "This put ourselves, them, and an innocent bystander in immediate danger. Chief Bogo is famous for being a cop that always goes by the book and that likes things going by the book as much as possible. I heard that he once fired a guy because he failed to follow procedure when apprehending a suspect and this caused the perp he got to get away later on. If the Chief is to hear that three perps managed to escape because the enforcers didn't followed procedure after both you insistently pointed it out to them..."
Nick made a small pause, and he looked at his bunny partner.
"I don't know about you, Carrots." He said, looking at her, "But I'd rather not be in here when Buffalo Butt reads our reports."
Soon, Nick and Judy both were going to their respective locker rooms, changing from their work clothes into casual attires. Nick chose for a red shirt with stamps of black leaves and a green tie, complete with black pants. He and the other male officers got out of the male locker room, all of them already talking to each other about some subjects.
Judy, on her end, was just coming out of the females' locker room, accompanied by Ellie Fangmeyer. Judy had traded her uniform for a more social clothing, with a blue t-shirt and a pair of dark pants, while Ellie had chosen a pink social blouse with a pair of black long skirts for herself. The tigress was a big and strong figure, something that was accentuate by her police uniform, which almost made her seem a bit masculine, so much that sometimes others actually mistook her for a male, at least until they talked to her. These clothes, however, helped accentuate her femininity, leaving no doubts to anyone who looked that Fangmeyer was female.
They all met in the front desk, where Benjamin was talking with Deermond a little bit before they parted ways and the deer would take his place for the rest of the night. The cheetah himself had also changed out of his police uniform, and now wore a pink shirt with Gazelle's picture printed on the chest and a pair of long white pants.
Ben beamed at his friends as soon as they approached, and soon, they were all leaving the station behind.
"So, guess you will be leaving the enforcers to investigate by themselves tonight, huh?" Asked Delgato, who had changed for a white shirt and jeans pants and jacket, and Nick looked back at him.
"Yeah, they are big kits, they can manage themselves."
"Well, maybe we could invite them to come along." Ellie said, as she walked side by side with Wolfard, who was wearing a black shirt with a yellow moon with the dark silhouette of a wolf and a pair of jeans pants. "Who knows, it could been interesting going out with them, I have a few questions I'd like to ask."
"I'm ahead of you, Ellie." Wolfard said, looking at his partner. "I passed by them when I was coming back from the archives, and I asked them if they wanted to hang out with us afterhours. The vixen seemed quite pumped up by this, but her uncle cut her off and said that they had a lot of work to do. She seemed upset with this."
"Yeah, it seems that they are as much of workaholics as you are, Hopps." McHorn, who was dressed in a blue and white striped shirt with brown social shorts, said as he looked at the bunny.
"Yeah, but Wilde was able to convince her to stop being a workaholic for a night to come to have fun." Delgato said, looking at the fox, "Maybe he could try convincing the enforcers to come as well."
"Yeah, I'm not sure of that." Nick said, looking at him. "I don't really know the enforcers that well yet. Not as much as I know this bunny here." He said, petting Judy's head right between her ears. "I had plenty of time to learn how she works."
"Nick!" Judy said, blushing and having her nose twitching once more, this caused the cops around to laugh at it, while Nick only smiled at her. For some reason, he liked seeing Judy blushing like that. He thought that she looked rather cute when she was flustered. Of course, he would never say that aloud, he liked to have his joints in place.
One train ride later and they were soon arriving into a specific place in Savannah Central.
The Tipsy Lion.
It was a rather famous bar. It was famous for the delicious food, great beverages, and for the good music to which you could dance nearly all night along. Not to mention the staff, who were the nicest bunch you can imagine. It was a place that welcomed everyone, both predator and prey, and didn't looked down on you because of things like your species. It was a really nice place to go, even though it was not famous enough to be on any touristic flyer of Zootopia.
Even so, it was the kind of place that Nick Wilde avoided like the plague in the past, all of that because the Tipsy Lion was a cop bar.
Yes, the Tipsy Lion was the favored place of choice for nearly all of the cops of the city. It was a place that all of them felt like they could visit, and you would often find a few cops spread over the tables during their break or during their off-duty time.
As a result, it was the kind of place where the criminal types would avoid to be, as to avoid the risk of running into any cops.
To be in there for the first time, and without feeling any kind of fear or apprehension, just served to remember Nick how much he had turned his life around. Once a con artist that would not go near anywhere that he could find a cop that would be smart enough to pin something on him, now another one of the cops that frequented the place.
And, as any cop, Nick was more than welcome in the place.
The bear waiter received all the cops warmly, as he welcomed then all to the Tipsy Lion with a smile on his face. He greeted those who had been there before, which were the majority of the group. He also, of course, greeted Nick and Judy, who were visiting the place for the very first time. He offered them all a preferential table where they all could sit and have their meals. There were some specially adapted tables in there for mammals of different sizes, and these chairs, in particular, could fit Judy and Nick rather perfectly.
"It is almost as if they were waiting for us." Nick said to his partner as they both sat on the table, with everyone else sitting around the big table that was reserved to the cops.
"Nice, huh?" Delgato said, "They added these chairs after the small mammals entering the force really became a thing. Before this, the small guys had to climb on the chairs and stand on them or even climb on the tables."
"Well, good to know that they are really being inclusive." Judy said, as she and Nick felt comfortable on their chairs. Soon, they were talking among themselves and ordering their foods.
Minutes passed, and Judy found herself enjoying their company greatly. She had to admit that it felt good to forget about job for a while and interact with other mammals. Of course, she already did that with Nick, but even then, it was mostly just stay on her home and watch movies with her partner. It was rarer for her to go out in the town with others, even though she did talked to them frequently when she had a chance back at the station.
McHorn was still funny as he usually was, sharing jokes with everyone. However, Judy noticed that the jokes that he was using now were dirtier than the ones that he told at the station. In fact, some of these jokes were making the bunny girl blush. Nick, on his end, seemed more comfortable with these jokes, enough to make some dirty jokes of his own, what caused Judy to blush harder, to the amusement of her partner.
Meanwhile, Delgato, who was Mchorn's partner, would bring about a more sophisticated conversation. Well, kind of, as he would talk about the latest news on the world of famous mammals, with a particular focus being something he read about Gazelle's dancers, and about the people's reactions for finding out they were mages. He even showed some interest in the fact that Judy and Nick told him that they had questioned the tigers. Well, that the enforcers questioned the tigers while they waited with Gazelle. This spiked the lion's curiosity, as it was no secret to anyone that he had a weak spot for any news related to celebrities.
Fangmeyer and Wolfard would both tell of the day they had, with some highlights on how they managed to stop some perp from stealing something, and on how Fangmeyer was able to put the guy in a submission hold while Wolfard cuffed the suspect and read his rights. The two talked about each other performances, and even made some playful quips on each other for these. It was nice seeing how well along these two got. Nick, on his end, was among the ones who saw this and couldn't help but wonder...
"Oh, my gooosh, this food is so delicious!" Benjamin said, as he ate yet another bite of the delicious fried fish.
"Yeah, I'll say." Delgato said, looking at the cheetah. "The fish in here truly is the best. Fried to perfection in the more fat-rich oil of Zootopia. Just a few bites and you can feel you arteries clogging."
"Yeah, the herbivore options are also really good." McHorn said, taking a bite on his own food. "Seriously, I didn't knew that it was possible to deep-fry broccoli before I came here for the first time."
"Don't eat too much of the entrees, all of you." Fangmeyer said, looking at them, "This way you will have no space for the actual dinner, and for the dessert."
"Don't worry, mom." Delgato said, looking at her, and the tigress gave him a glare accompanied by a smirk, as the lion took another bite on his fried fish.
"So, each one pays for what they ate or we share the bill evenly?" Wolfard asked.
"I cannot pay more than fifty bucks. Had to fix a plumbing on my house today." McHorn said, looking around. That was when Ben said:
"I can pay the bill, if you guys want."
Everyone looked at him.
"For real?" Wolfard asked, and the cheetah nodded.
"Sure. Just ask whatever you want and I'll pay." He said, looking at his friends, and some of them shared looks among themselves.
"Look, Ben." McHorn said, looking at the cheetah, "It is nice that you want to be nice for us, but there is no need to spend so much with us." He looked at the cheetah as he spoke that. "We can split the bill, no problem."
"No, I can pay, seriously." Ben said, looking at him. "You guys can ask whatever you want, my treat."
"Seriously, because I was thinking on asking for that cake that costs nearly twenty bucks the slice." Delgato said, "Think, you can pay that?"
Ben looked at him, and soon he was reaching out for his wallet.
Delgato immediately felt bad for saying this, for he thought that Ben was checking to see if he actually had the money. He was about to apologize to the cheetah, but he was rendered speechless when the cheetah pulled a waddle of Z$100 bills from his wallet.
"Yeah, I can pay that." Ben said, looking around, and realizing that all the ones in there save for Nick and Judy were looking at him with wide eyes.
"Clawhauser..." McHorn said, looking at the buddle of notes, which Ben was quick to hide, but it was already too late. "Where did you got all of that money?"
"O-oh... this?" Ben said, looking at them, and he then looked at Judy and Nick, as if he was asking for their help on the matter. Nick only shrugged at the cheetah.
"Well, you are between friends in here." The fox said to them, "No need to be shy about your new wealth."
"New wealth?" Delgato asked, looking at them, "Clawhauser?"
Ben looked at Nick, and then he looked at the other cops on the table. They were cops that Ben had knew for years, and that had been really nice to him for as far as he could remember, even after they found out that he was an ex-mage. Ben never had any reason to mistrust any of them, or to think that they would treat him differently now.
"Y-yeah." Ben said, looking at them. "I-I kind of...have a lot of money now."
"Wait, so it's true?" Fangmeyer asked, "Are you really a millionaire?"
"Say what now?" Wolfard said, looking between the cheetah and his partner.
"My cousin Ronny works in the Furs National Bank." The tigress said, looking around the table. "He told me that there was a new account opened recently by someone from the ZPD. Someone named Clawhauser." She looked at Ben as she spoke that, "And that the account had over fifteen million zoollars."
In that moment, faces with shocked expressions were looking at the cheetah, who smiled sheepishly back at them.
"F-f-fifteen millions?" McHorn said, looking completely baffled.
Ben blushed. "W-well... actually is a little over fifteen-and-a-half."
"Fenrir's fangs!" Wolfard said, as surprised as everyone else.
"Ben!" Delgato said, in as much surprise. "Where did you get that much money? Did you won the lottery and didn't tell anyone?"
Ben blushed, feeling a bit uncomfortable with all of the attention.
"W-well. Actually..."
Soon, Ben was explaining to them what Nick and Judy themselves already knew. About how Benjamin and his twin brother invented some rituals and formulas before the cheetah renounced magecraft, that these things generated some very good patents and that Ben received gold as the payment for his half of the patents.
"So, let me get this straight." Delgato said, "Because of these patents that you and your twin have, you receive two gold bars every single month?"
"Yeah." Ben said.
"And you have kept all of this gold with you until the guys convinced you to trade it and open a bank account?" Wolfard asked.
"Yeah."
"And none of that gold was declared?" Fangmeyer asked, looking at the cheetah, and Ben looked away.
"Well, I never truly worried about that." Ben said, "Mages always do their business in gold, and they don't really worry about taxes and stuff." He looked at them, and immediately added: "B-but I got a tax attorney, and he will help me with this stuff. I'll have all of that solved by Christmas."
"Fifteen millions." McHorn said, looking at the cheetah, "Man, can't believe that you kept this a secret."
"Well, I never really spent the money." Ben said, "I would have to trade the gold for that, and I didn't wanted to call too much attention. I knew that if I started going around with a lot of money someone could start asking questions. At least that was what they told me. And I didn't wanted to resort to anything illegal to trade the gold either."
"Well, that's really noble of you." Nick said, looking at the cheetah.
"Yeah. Thanks." Ben said, and Wolfard looked at him.
"So, you have all this money... Will you still work as a cop?"
"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I?" Ben said, sounding genuinely surprised at this, and the wolf looked back at him.
"I mean... you have a fortune now, and you are still going to keep receiving it every month. I mean, two gold bars a month. How many zoollars is that?"
"237.420 zoollars." Judy said, showing once more how quick she was with her math. "That taking in account the current value of the ounce of gold and that Ben gets two gold bars of 100 ounces a month. We are talking about 2.849.040 zoollars a year."
Delgato whistled at this, while the others looked at Ben, who continued to smile sheepishly at all of them.
"Okay..." Wolfard said, after a few moments of silence. "So, you still plan to work with all of that money?"
"Yeah." McHorn said, "If I had an income like that I would just retire and go live in some beach in the Canibbean." The rhino said, looking at the cheetah, "Why still work as a cop if you have so much money without doing jack?"
Ben looked at him, as if he did not understood the question, and then he said, as if it was the most obvious thing ever:
"Because it makes me happy."
The way he spoke was as if he truly didn't understood why they were asking that. This only made the other cops look at him for a few moments.
"Well, I totally understand it." Judy said, causing the attention to shift to her immediately. "In my opinion, no money can replace the feeling of knowing that you are making the world a better place. I would not give up being a cop for money."
"Really?" McHorn asked, "Not even for nearly three million bucks a year?"
"Not even for that much." Judy said, and the others looked at her, before the attention shifted back to Benjamin.
"So, what do you plan to do with your money?" Delgato asked the cheetah, "That is, besides paying the bill every now and then?"
"Well... that is kind of the thing." Ben said, looking around the table. "I don't really know. I lived very comfortably for seven years with a regular salary, and five of them were with my cop salary. I grew used to use only the essential. Now that I have all of that money, I kind of don't know what to do with it."
"Limousine." McHorn said, looking at the cheetah. "Mansion. Yatch. Private Island." The rhino said, counting on his fingers the things that Ben could do with so much money. "That just to name a few."
"You could also hire a chef to prepare your meals." Fangmeyer said, "With this much money, you could hire Gordon Ramsay himself."
"Well, those are ideas, I guess." Ben said, looking at them, "It would feel like I'm living with my family again."
"Huh?"
Ben looked around.
"Yeah." The cheetah said, "If I bought all of these things you are saying it would feel like I'm living in my family's mansion again."
"Your family has a mansion?" Wolfard said, surprised.
"Actually they have three." Benjamin said, "But, it kind of feels like just one, because they are all kind of connected to each other."
The cops all looked at Ben as he said that, and now so did Nick and Judy, once the two didn't knew this fact.
Three mansions? For real?
Of course, they already knew that Ben had his own income from the patents. However, for the first time, it was as if they suddenly realized that it were only the cheetah's own patents, and not that of the entire Clawhauser clan. And this led them to make a questioning that they didn't made before:
If Ben alone had that much money, how much money did his family had?
After a few moments, however, the talk continued:
"So, you and your brother must be true geniuses."Wolfard mentioned, "I mean, you guys invented rituals together, you gotta be smart to do things like that." This prompted Ben to blush.
"So, your twin is like you? I mean, he obviously is, since you are twins and all? But, is he exactly like you?"
"Well, not exactly." Ben said.
I'll say. Nick thought as he remembered Joshua Clawhauser in detail.
"Well, we look alike like all twins, but we grew up to be different." Benjamin said, "Mom used to say that we were like two jackets. She said that I was a winter jacket with a fluffy wool filling, while Josh was more of a... faux leather with metal spikes on the wrists and shoulders. He even wear faux leather... and also actual reptile leather."
Ben said that, and his gaze suddenly went elsewhere as he caught something.
"And fingerless leather gloves, a red shirt and jeans." He said, looking at somewhere else. "And he is smoking a cigar and talking to a bison."
The others looked at the cheetah with confused expressions, when he suddenly got up from the table and started waving his arm.
"Hey, Josh!"
Suddenly, the entire table turned in the direction that Ben was waving, and they all saw that he was waving at a muscular cheetah who had been talking to a nearby bison. He looked over, seeing who had called his name, and smiled to see that it was...
"Benji!"
Soon, the muscular cheetah had made his way to the table, and the two siblings were hugging.
"Say, I'm surprised to see you here. I mean, I heard this was a cop bar, but you never was the kind who went to bars. Restaurants, sure. But not bars."
"Yeah, I'm here with my friends. What about you?" Ben said.
"Exploring the city." The muscular cheetah said, "Seeing if there is anywhere in here where I can find some game, if you know what I mean..." He said, and Ben blushed a bit as if he knew, "So, these are all your friends?"
"Oh, yeah." Ben said, "These are McHorn, Delgato, Fangmeyer, Wolfard, and you already know Nick Wilde and Judy Judy Hopps. Everyone, this is my twin brother, Joshua Clawhauser."
They looked at the fat cheetah. Then they looked at the muscular one. And kept alternating between one and the other.
"Twin?" McHorn asked, to which Josh smirked.
"You would never have guessed, would you?"
Soon, Josh was sitting on the table along with them, and he was slowly getting to know the cops, while they got to know him as well.
It turned out that Josh Clawhauser was a very good conversation, and the cops found themselves really liking Ben's brother, much to the plump cheetah's delight, who enjoyed seeing his twin getting along with all of his work buddies. Josh definitely seemed very comfortable talking with all of them.
Maybe a bit too comfortable.
"I'm just saying that you should open yourself to new experiences." Joshua Clawhauser said to McHorn. "It is not like I am asking for a serious compromise."
"Quit it man!" The rhino said, looking at him, "I'm not going to bed with you! I am straight!"
"So are noodles until you get them hot and wet." The cheetah said, giving the rhino bedroom eyes.
"Dude, if you weren't Benjamin's brother, I would have punched you by now." The rhino said, and the muscular cheetah laughed. The others looked at him, and they did found it interesting, although a bit annoying.
Joshua Clawhauser had flirted with almost everyone in the table by now. He flirted with Nick. With Delgato. With Wolfard. With Judy (which made Nick a bit uncomfortable). Now he just flirted with McHorn.
Honestly, it was a bit creepy the way that he made advances, however, he was showing that he was actually not a creep. He stopped making advances when he saw that they were not interested. Then he resumed the pleasant talk and took a while until he tried to flirt with someone else.
"So, what about you, lady?" He said, looking at Fangmeyer. "Be honest, there is anything that I could say that would make me have a chance with you? I prefer males, but you do make my type."
"Sorry, charmer." The tigress said, looking at him, "Really not happening."
"Oh, well." The muscular cheetah said, leaning back on his chair. "I was kind of hoping to get some tonight. Well, guess I'll have to keep looking. But after another round."
"Oh, Josh." Ben said, looking at his brother. "You really haven't changed."
"Well, I am me, after all." The muscular cheetah said, "If I see someone who I find interesting I try going for it. You would do it as well if you were a bit more assertive. I don't waste a chance of getting some."
"I'll say." Nick said, looking at the muscular feline. "You have just flirted with everyone in this table, save for your own brother."
"Yeah, I wouldn't go that far." Josh said, looking at the tod, "I might be a bit promiscuous and somewhat of a pervert, but I draw my line on incest, just like the rest of the Clawhauser clan."
"Are the rest of them promiscuous like you?" Fangmeyer asked, and she soon added, "Well, I know that Ben is definitely not."
"Yeah, that is a point where Ben and I are really different." Josh said, patting his sibling on the shoulder. "I am quite lewd myself, but the same is not true for everyone in the Clawhauser family. Well, save for mom, maybe. But that is usually what most assume, since she uses tantric magecraft."
"Tantric magecraft?" Judy asked. The word "tantric" was familiar to her, but she could not remember what it was.
"Yeah, that is the type of magecraft of the Pawla clan, the clan of mages form which Mom came before she married Dad." The cheetah explained, looking at the bunny. That was when McHorn said:
"Wait, tantric is not something that has to do with sex?"
"In a way." Josh said, "Tantric magecraft is a type of thaumaturgy that aims to achieve events through the channeling of the energy of life that comes from the union between feminine and masculine."
"So... it is, like, sex magecraft?" Wolfard asked, looking at the male cheetah, and so did the others on the table. Including Judy, who now remembered the meaning behind "tantric", and it made her blush a bit.
"Well, not entirely." Josh said, looking around, "I mean, there are some complex rituals that actually involve sex, but most of it is just about unifying the feminine and masculine parts of one's own soul. Like, achieving the perfect balance of one's soul. In theory, if you do that, you are able to elevate your soul to another state of existence where you can form a connection to the absolute truth and use it to acquire True Magic."
"Well, now that's interesting." Nick said, looking at the cheetah.
"And, these rituals that involve..." Judy said, and hesitated a little bit, "Intercourse... did your mother actually... taught them to you?"
"Only a few." Josh said, seeing the shocked looks in the eyes of many of the cops, "And only theory lessons. Like I say, I draw my line on incest, and so does our mother." He added, seeing how they were looking and having a guess on what they were thinking.
"She taught us some of these rituals after we turned eighteen. She gave us basic lessons and used diagrams and drawings to teach us. She even taught us how to use our 'tension' to increase our flow of magic energy. Ain't it right, Ben?" He said, nudging at the cheetah by his side, who blushed at this as he nodded.
"So, you from the Clawhauser clan specialize in tantric magecraft?" Judy asked, and the muscular feline soon was answering:
"Nah, we only learn it from mother because that's what her clan specialized upon, and it is what she learned as she grew up." He said, and he took another bit of fried fish on the table. "Actually, the Clawhauser practices a few other things. Mostly astromancy and kabbalah. But, what we are truly famous is for our advances in the art of vibrating our prana."
"Vibrating?" Delgato asked, and the cheetah looked at him.
"Yeah, we specialize in causing our prana to vibrate." He said, looking at the lion, "Basically, the idea is that you can influence the prana that runs into your magic circuits, causing it to vibrate. If you do that the correct way, in theory, you can vibrate it into a frequency that causes you to transcend the limitations of flesh. Basically, you vibrate yourself into another level of existence, allowing you to transcend the boundaries of reality and reach for the Root, allowing you to acquire True Magic."
There was a silence following this, as everyone took in what the cheetah had just said.
"Wow..." Wolfard said.
"That is... somewhat far-fetched, ain't it?" Fangmeyer said, to which the cheetah just shrugged.
"Well, it is what dad taught all of us. It is something that we believe, and that we all try to do, even if it is impossible." He said, as he looked around the table. "We have been trying to do it for generations, and during the meantime, we did used it to develop some really nice skills."
"Really?" McHorn asked, "Like what?" He took another sip of his drink, while the cheetah looked at him. Then, a smirk formed on his lips, and he looked at the table. There were some things in it already. Some napkins, a napkin dispenser, a saltshaker (as well as a pepper one), a few empty glasses (some of which still had ice in them).
The cheetah still had his smirk, as he rose his paw, raising a single finger in the general direction of the table. As he did, some of the things that were on the table start to shake slightly.
The cops looked at it, and then they saw as the cheetah, with a movement of his finger, caused a napkin, the napkin dispenser, the saltshaker and a glass to raise into the air.
"Wow!" Wolfard said quietly as he saw these four objects raise in the air and start moving in response to the movements of the cheetah's paw. It almost seemed that he was making them dance in the air.
This, of course, called some attention, as a nearby waiter nearly tripped as he looked at this. Some mammals on a nearby table saw that and immediately moved away. One mammal who was seeing it even took of their cellphone and took pictures.
"All matter exists in a certain vibration frequency." Joshua said, as he looked around the table, seeing how what he was doing was managing to catch the attention of the mammals on the table. "And the vibration of prana can allow you to affect matter, if you do it right."
"Of course, there are other ways of affecting matter." He said, "From levitation spells, spells that reduce weight, even spells that generate kinetic force. However, the Clawhauser clan is known for their own way of affecting matter, which involves vibrating their prana in the right way."
"If you can vibrate your prana right, you can cause it to vibrate in the specific frequency of the matter of a certain material." He explained, as he continued to play with the objects in the air. "Paper, metal, plastic, glass, all of them have their own frequency of vibration, and once you reach the right vibration, you are able to affect matter by controlling it directly."
He smiled at them, "Basically, it is a form of telekinesis."
"That is so cool." Wolfard said, looking at the floating objects. Josh simply made a gesture, and the objects landed safely on the table, save for the saltshaker, which remained up and, with another gesture, flew to the cheetah's paw, letting him grab it and shake it to spread salt over his food.
"This is something that made the Clawhauser clan famous." He said, "We shared the knowledge of how to do it, and this was one of the first patents that the Clawhauser clan ever received. It has been used for centuries now, and we get a lot of money for that."
"So, you just taught others how to do it?" McHorn asked, looking at the cheetah. "I thought that mages protected their secrets with all that they had."
"And we do." Josh said, looking at them, "We shared the way of vibrating prana because it was something very basic, and using it to affect matter is something that is relevant, but that others could probably have figured out on their own. We just took the chance to make it a patent while we still could. There is much more to vibrating prana, and it is something that we don't really teach others outside of the clan, for example how to cause your prana to resonate."
"Resonate?" Judy asked, and this time the one who answered was Ben:
"Different types of mater vibrate in different frequencies." The plump cheetah said. "To make a specific object move you need to vibrate your prana in the specific frequency of that specific type of matter. This means, you can only control one specific type of matter at a time. For instance, if you are controlling metal, you won't be able to control glass or plastic."
"The Clawhauser clan found a way around it." Josh said, looking at them. "We found a way to vibrate our prana in a manner that it resonates with different types of matter. This way, you can control different materials at the same time, this is a trademark of the Clawhauser clan, and it is and will remain our secret."
The cops nodded at this.
"Yeah, it sounds like you guys have a pretty cool thing going on." Delgato said. "So, it works on metal and glass and other stuff... does it works on living things?"
"Oh, it certainly does." Josh said, "Flesh and bone have their own vibration, just like all other forms of matter."
"So, you could actually control someone's body if you wanted?" Judy asked, finding the prospect a bit frightening.
"In theory, we could." Josh said, "But the rules prevent us from being it."
"Rules?" Fangmeyer said, "You mean, the Codex?"
"No, I mean the Clawhauser rules." Josh said, "They are like a personal set of rules that we created for ourselves along the centuries as we developed the powers of using our magecraft to affect matter. It serves to help keep or responsibility with a magecraft with the potential to cause so much damage."
"Well, that's really interesting." Nick said, "So, could you maybe give us an example of these rules?"
"Well, there are a few of them." Josh said, looking at them, "But, the two first are the most important ones. Number one: never use it directly on a living being. Number two: never use it if you are angry."
"The first one is exactly to avoid the temptation of using it to actually harm someone." Ben said, looking at the others. "The second on is... well, it I s basically for the same reason why you should not handle a gun if you are mad."
"Yeah, great power brings great responsibility, right?" Nick said, and the cheetahs both looked back at him.
"Yeah, you can say that." Josh said, "Well, that only means that you don't really need to worry about us misusing this power." He said, and looked at his sibling.
"Especially Ben here." He said, as he pat the plump feline in the shoulder, "Ever since he was little, the idea of hurting others never had any appeal to him."
"I don't see why it would ever have." Ben said, and Josh chuckled at this, saying something about Ben being "a little cinnamon roll", to which the plump cheetah blushed even more and looked away.
"You know, I still can't get around you two being twins." McHorn said, causing the two to look at him.
"I mean. Because you are so..." He said, looking at Ben, but saying nothing, and then he turned to Josh.
"And, you are so..." He once more left the phrase unfinished, and all of sudden, he seemed to notice that this was quite the wrong thing to say.
McHorn was not a bad mammal, by any means. He just lacked tact sometimes.
Luckily, Josh simply smiled.
"Yeah, we look quite different, alright." He said, looking at the rhino, and he soon was reaching for something inside of his jacket. "But, we were not always like that."
"You are showing them the picture?" Ben asked, and Josh smiled back at him.
"Of course. You know I love showing others the picture."
The ones around looked at them. They saw as the muscular cheetah pulled a picture from inside of his jacket. Soon, this picture was being pass around the table, for all of the cops to be able to look at it.
The picture showed two cheetahs who looked identical. Both were wearing suits, one black and one white. The cheetah with the black suit was smiling at the camera with a toothy grin as he had his arm around the other cheetah's shoulders, who smiled a shy smile. Both of them were making a "V" with their fingers, and both of them looked kind of skinny.
"Okay, two cheetahs on suits. I don't see what..." McHorn said as he looked at the picture, however, he stopped as it suddenly hit him.
"Wait, don't tell me..." He said, looking up at the two.
Josh opened a toothy grin, as he placed an arm around Ben's shoulder and raised his other arm to show a "V" with his fingers. Soon, Ben was doing the same thing, as he had a shy smile on his face."
"Sweet cheese and crackers..." Judy said, as she and everyone else got the gist.
The two skinny cheetahs on the pictures were the same ones currently sitting on the table.
"Wow..." McHorn said, looking at them, seeing the muscular Josh and the Plump Ben, both who looked very different from these two skinny cheetahs in suits that were showing on the picture. "When was this taken?"
"Seven years ago." Josh said, and everyone on the table took turns looking at the picture.
"How much in seven years." Wolfard said under his breath, only for having the tigress sitting by his side elbowing his stomach, nearly causing him to fall from the chair and to lose some of his breath.
"Yeah, we changed a lot, right?" Josh said, "I decided to make some exercises and get defined abs. And Ben..."
"Yeah, I let myself go in the years following me giving up magecraft." The cheetah said, "It weren't really my best two years. I got a little better after joining the ZPD, but I never really lost the pounds I gained."
Josh chuckled, gently nudging Ben's arm, and this caused the plump feline to smile back at him.
It was Nick's turn to look at the picture, and he did noticed how skinny they both were. However, he also noted another thing.
"Say, were you two going to a party when this picture was taken?" The fox asked, "These suits of yours look fancy. Was it some social meeting, or a ball?"
Nick looked up to them, and he saw that they had stopped smiling. They both looked away, and Nick for a moment thought that he had maybe asked something stupid.
"It was... a wedding." Josh said, looking away, and Ben said:
"Actually, it was a rehearsal for a wedding."
"Oh..." Nick said, and he decided not to mention it anymore, once it seemed that the two had suddenly became uncomfortable. However, the fox could not keep others from asking something else...
"Who was getting married?" McHorn asked, the two shared a look, and then Ben said:
"I was."
This caused a reaction from the other cops.
"Wait, what?"
"For real?"
"You kidding, right?"
They asked to the cheetah.
"Ben, were you engaged?" Judy asked, but she regretted this, for only then she noticed that the cheetah looked less and less happy with each question.
"Y-yeah. I was..." he said, "Before I renounced being a mage, I was betrothed. I was going to marry someone."
He looked around, seeing all of these eyes on him.
"The night this photo was taken, I was going to rehearsal my wedding. I was going to meet my fiancée... But... I never made it to the church."
Ben looked upset, and everyone around him noticed.
"Hey, its okay, Spots." Nick said, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't..."
"I had to call it off." Ben said, acting as if he hadn't heard what Nick was saying. "I-I had to call it all off, the entire wedding. I had to. I couldn't give up being a mage and stay married to a non-mage. I had to leave. I had to leave all of it behind. That was why I left... l-left that note. I just had to..."
Ben was looking more upset with each passing phrase, and everyone now was starting to get worried.
"Ben?" McHorn asked. He was ignore.
"I-I couldn't do it in person." Ben said; he was now shaking slightly. "I-I couldn't even stand face to face and say that it was all over. I didn't had stomach. I just left that note and went away without even saying goodbye... after all of the twelve years that we stayed engaged... I-I didn't even had the courage to..."
Ben was starting to rock back and forth on his chair, and his gaze was becoming lost.
"But I couldn't." He said, "I couldn't, because I knew that if I tried I would have lost my nerve and would not have been able to leave. And I had to leave! I could not have stay! Not after... N-not after..."
He continued to look down, and his shaking got more intense. He was starting to let out small distressed noises.
That was when he felt a paw landing on his shoulder. He looked to the side immediately.
Josh had a serious expression, and he was looking at him with kind eyes.
Ben blinked, and then he looked around the table. All of the mammals in there were looking at him with worried expressions.
Ben takes some deep breaths, and feels wetness on his cheeks. He then realizes he had started to cry.
"I..." He said, looking around, "I... need to breathe a little bit. I'll be right back." Ben said, getting up from the table and leaving. Josh soon got up and left, going after Ben. This left the cops to sit there in silent.
"What just happened?" Delgato said, sounding surprised by it.
"Don't know." Fangmeyer said, "But I hope Ben is okay."
This was a point where all of the cops could agree, as all of them saw how upset the cheetah had become.
"What do you think happened to make him act like that?" Wolfard asked.
"I don't know, but apparently it must have been really bad..." McHorn said, and there was a silent in there before he spoke again. "Can you guys believe that Ben was engaged to someone? And he is so young. He must have really been in love."
"Yeah, I'm not sure of that." Nick said.
Now all eye were on the fox.
"Nick, what do you mean by that?" Judy asked, and Nick looked at him.
"I'm just saying that maybe Ben could not have had a saying in the marriage, considering the timeline."
"What?" Judy said, looking at him with a raised eyebrow, and Nick looked back at him.
"Wow. You are great at math, but you don't make the calculations when it is important." He said, and Judy continued to look at him.
"Okay. How old Ben is?" He asked.
"He is twenty-six." McHorn said, and Nick nodded.
"Correct. And, according to what I remember, he gave up being a mage seven years ago. I am considering that he must have called off the engagement right before that." Nick said, and looked around, "And, as he just said, he had been engaged for twelve years. Is everyone following?"
Everyone looked at the fox, trying to understand what he was getting at.
"Okay, so take twelve plus seven and you get a number. Take this number and subtract it from twenty-six and tell me, how old was Benjamin Clawhauser when he became betrothed?"
Everyone looked at him, as they did as he said, and then, they started to realize what the fox was getting at.
"Wait..." Wolfard said, as he just finished the calculation. "This means... Ben got engaged at seven? How can that be?"
"Well, it is possible to get engaged to someone else when you are a kid." Nick said, looking around. "If your family takes care of everything for you."
"As in... an arranged marriage?" Fangmeyer asked, and Nick shrugged.
"Well, this is kind of how mages do things, right?" He said, looking at them, "They arrange for their little ones to get married to the right mammals, who often are other mages from some important family that can give them little mage grandkits, and maybe make your family even richer."
Everyone processed what the fox just said, until both of the cheetahs had returned to the table and sat themselves.
Ben looked much better. The fur of his face was a little damp, indicating that he had gone to the bathroom and washed his face with tap water, and he didn't looked nervous anymore.
Soon, the happy conversation was resuming, and they ate their food and continued with a pleasant evening. No one else mentioned the photo, or weddings, or anything of the like. Even McHorn had enough tact to know that it was better not to speak of it.
However, even as the conversation continued, up until the moment they parted ways to go back home, they couldn't help but think back on how Ben had become. On how upset he had become...
So, this concludes this chapter, hope you all have enjoyed.
As per usual, Read and Review and no flaming, but constructive criticism is always welcome. In particular, I really want opinions this time, once I'm not sure if I did a good job on the ending of this chapter.
It felt a little rushed. What you think?