The new tales from Zootopia

by Vindictive456

This story is a well thought out work of fan-fiction that will cover in moderate pace how Judy came back to the force and convinced Nick to be her partner, Nick's training to become an officer and his days at the academy, a weird new case involving corrupt mammals and a new dangerous drug, all of that sprinkled with the growing love between Zootopia's favorite pair of officers.

32. Episode 32: Household (part 1)

Author's note: Salutations and welcome to you all, dear readers, It is I, Valiant, and I have returned at last with a brand new mouth-watering instalment of my Zootopia fan-fiction. Before you all devour this next part of my story, I would like to get a few things out of the way: First, I apologize once more for the delay on my chapters, I keep trying my best to bring out the best reading experience that i can on te least amount of time but life gets in the way of my hobbies and I get incresingly drained from writting, it takes a lot to get this story into publishing format and I do hope it meets your standards. Second, I want to wish you all a happy Halloween month and inform you that this might be the last bit of Zootopia you will all be seeing for a while, I will dive into new projects that will not be published here but this is not ggodbye forever, rest assured I will return as soon as I am able. Third and Finally, I wanted this piece of the story to showcase a lot of stuff that happens during Nick's stay in Bunnyburrow and it was a lot, like a whole lot, I ended up splitting the story into two chapters but even that wasn't enough, so, I proudly present to you all an extended triple chapter feature and I sincerely hope you will enjoy it.

Let's get on with the show! Have a fantastic reading.

Episode 32: Household. (Part 1)

Theodora drove ahead and the truck kicked up a lot of dust as it left the paved roads behind, the road that they were now taking was rocky and bumpy but it did not have a lot of holes that disturbed the ride, it was all very peaceful. Nick looked out of the right side window from the passenger seat of the truck, for the first time in a while he was playing the tourist and it felt nice to him to do that, although, the truck did not provide the fox with the most comfortable ride, it was mostly designed for bunnies so he had to tuck his legs real tight to fit without any issue in the passenger space. Judy looked out the window too but she hardly felt anything for the verdant fields and wide open spaces that occasionally brushed past her sight, her eyes were kept firmly on the horizon just out of her reach, all of those farms and fields of sprouting produces were something she hopped to leave behind, though, she could not deny, that was still a huge part of who she was.

Nick took off his sunglasses and put them in the left side pocket of his pants, he placed his left paw over the glass window as he looked at an angle and saw a mass of houses just ahead, it was the main town of Bunnyburrow and he could finally get a better view of it. The truck left the bumpy rocks and dust and arrived on paved ground once more, Theodora turned her head to the right so that she could project her voice to the passenger sitting on the back and tell him without taking her eyes out of the road:

- Welcome to Bunnyburrow, Nick. What do you think?

The fox looked out the window and noticed how the vehicle had slowed down just a bit, it was a nice chance for him to get better sights at the main stores and hanging spots of that new town. Nick turned his head in the direction of the driver of the truck and spoke up with a soft smile on his muzzle:

- It looks so nice and quaint. Definitely a contrast against the big landscapes I am so used to.

Theodore leaned her head to the left and smiled with the kind compliment from the fox, she pointed to a spot right outside the window to the left side of the truck and said:

- If you are looking for the best hanging spot around here, then that is the place. That is Tarnolf Hall, it's kinda like a big gathering of shops, stores and much more, it may not look like much at first but it's the closest thing we have to a shopping mall around here.

Nick looked just outside to the direction pointed from Theodora, the fox leaned to the left and scooched over his seat as he approached the left side window and placed his left paw over the door sill right beneath the glass, it took a few seconds for him to get to that position and get an eye full of one of the most busy areas of the town, many families of bunnies and other small mammals moving around in a crowd that was in constant motion into and out of medium sized structures, all of them a single story tall but there were so many of them. Due to the delay caused by his motion to get from one side of the seat to the other, Nick could only get a glimpse of the massive, one story, merchandising complex and an entrance to its side that lead to a modest below-ground parking structure, it still looked very nice and he thought about asking Judy if they could visit that place later.

Judy looked back, turning her head to the left and her eyes followed the direction of that motion, she watched as Nick moved and looked out the window with measured excitement, she felt so much at ease with seeing him like that but she still felt a palpable level of tension for knowing that some of her more irritant siblings would be greeting them upon arrival. The drive took much longer than Nick expected, the houses and small gated habitations were left behind and Nick could see lots more open spaces out the window until a particular one grabbed his sight. The truck made up to a small hill and Nick saw something almost unbelievable out the right side window, there was a side path that lead to a large parking place with discernable spots for vehicles of different sizes, all of them separated by clear metallic posts and positioned in front of a large cinema like screen, out in the open, an outdoor cinema much like his mother once told him about a long time past. Nick tapped his pointing claw against the window and turned his head towards Judy and Theodora to ask them:

- That is a Drive-in theater. There is an actual Drive-in theater in this town?

Theodora adjusted her grip on the steering wheel as she turned her head to Nick and answered him while asking at the same time:

- Why, sure. The 'Drive-o Plex' is an amazing place to go and catch up on some nice slices of movies and snacks. Don't you have a theater like that back in the big city?

The tone that the younger bunny was using sort of made it sound like she was bragging about something, Nick made a clicking noise with his mouth and answered to her question with some melancholy in his voice and without taking his eyes away from the faraway structure:

- No, not anymore. There used to be two of them back in the day but they were abandoned about twenty years past, my mother told me a lot about them and the movies she watched when she was younger. Now one of them is a parking lot and the other one is a mini-mall. I would really like to go to one.

Theodora showed off a mischievous smile that she quickly tried to disguise, controlling the tone of her voice and the curvature of her lips as she turned to both of her passengers and spoke suggestively:

- Well, maybe you and Judy can go there later.

Judy turned her head to Theodora, Judy raised her arm quickly and tapped Theodora's right shoulder with her left paw before asking in an angry whisper:

- What do you think you're doing?

Nick did not even give Theodora a chance to answer that, he did not even mind the possible squabble between the two sisters as he popped his head between their seats and asked:

- Hey, can we go there, fluff? Any idea what movie they're showing?

Judy was the one who did not have time to answer that in turn as Theodora spoke up:

- I don't really think you two will find it that fun. I think it's some silly giant robot movie.

Nick gasped as he searched his memory and recalled about hearing of the only giant clashing robot movie that was set to premier on movie theaters, he spoke out a full length title of the blockbuster picture and Judy just found it an exaggeration:

- "Geikitotsu Surak: Dawn of the fighting mechs"? That is my third favorite giant fighting robot related franchise!

Theodora laughed after hearing that, the excitement in the fox's voice already told her everything that she needed to know about how amazing the plot of the movie might be, Judy turned to the fox and asked of him:

- You have a favorite giant robot... franchise?

Nick made a gesture with his left paw as he showed his pointing finger and clarified:

- Several. You can't get more bombastic and awesome than giant fighting robots. Pitting monsters from the bowels of the earth or from the depths of space facing off against our own creations in a titanic spectacle combat that only the big screen can capture.

Judy lowered her left ear at a small angle as she spoke in response to that:

- I thought you hated robots. Why would the overall size of one make any difference at all on your opinion about them.

Nick, once more, clarified to his partner as he said:

- That is not the same thing at all. Regular sized robots have artificial intelligence on them, I do not trust them at all. Now *Giant* robots need pilots to operate them and fight the big bad monsters. That is a completely different thing.

Judy smiled and so did Theodora, Nick returned to his original position on the back seat of the truck as he placed his left paw beneath his muzzle and said with an excited rant to himself:

- Oh, I just hope that the producers ofthe film were competent enough to put the main robot in it with its most iconic weapon. I so want to see Mega-Karcona using its plasma chainsaw. Can't have an ultimate battle for the fate of the world without a plasma chainsaw.

Theodora laughed out loud after hearing that, convinced that her sister's partner was nothing more than a big kid playing around on the backseat of the truck, the younger bunny had her ears drop to the back of her head as she leaned forward over her seat and burst out for a short laugh, she was very much reminded of some of her younger siblings and how particular they all were about some movie, comic, toy or something of that nature. Theodora moved her head from side to side as soon as her short laugh subsided, she took a deep breath through her nose without taking her eyes off the road ahead and then said:

- Boys and their giant robots. When will it be enough?

Theodora said that as she referred to some of the young male bucks of her family and Judy caught on that right away, big spectacles of action and huge demonstrations of power on a screen by some hero of fiction were more than enough to get the dopamine running through a virile mammal's brain. Judy had no idea what Nick was referring to as he made an excited mention to a crucial detail in the movie plot, she lowered her ears without letting go of the smile she had in her face but she was surprised to feel the touch of the fox's paw in her left shoulder as Nick called to her attention and asked:

- So, Judy, you think there is any chance we can go and see the movie together? I bet that it will be a great time.

Judy froze over her seat for a second as her partner repeated the question from before with a more excited tone but a noticeable softness to his voice, he really wanted to see the movie and for Judy to tag along, her shoulders clicked and her ears shot up as they were placed parallel to one another in a fraction of a second and as she felt the warm touch of the fox over her shoulder, she was even more surprised to hear as he just asked her out like it was no big deal though it may not have been his immediate intention, granted it was to watch some movie that sparked no major interest in her, but still. Judy opened her mouth but no answer immediately left through her lips, she moved her eyes around the cockpit of the truck until they landed over Theodora, Judy noticed that her sister was trying to disguise the wide smile she had on her lips, poorly, by pressing them together, trapping them between her teeth and applying some suction over them while keeping an immutable eye on the road. Theodora was one of the Hopps sisters and she knew very well how to send signals to her other siblings that many others would not catch or understand right away, something that they picked up from their parents, she moved both of her ears over her head, making angles that would mimic something resembling letters or cues as she told to her sister with some nudges of her head and without the need for words:

"Say 'yes'! Say 'yes' right now!"

Judy noticed that before turning to Nick and answering him with a soft and calm tone to her voice:

- I... Sure, slick. We have time to enjoy ourselves, might as well spring for a movie.

Nick showed a toothy grin and tossed his back side over the comfort of the seat's repost behind him once more, he could barely contain his excitement after Judy's assuring confirmation as he said to himself:

- Oh, Finnick is going to be so jealous.

Judy frizzled her eyebrows as she directed a sharp stare to her immediate left, seeing Theodora with an unchanged grin on her face made it a little hard to enjoy that moment, the younger bunny figured thanks to what her other sister Samantha had told her that Judy had a noticeable degree of affection for her partner, even if the bunny officer still denied it thoroughly at every given situation and it was apprent after only knowing the fox for a few minutes. Judy crossed her arms and directed her eyes ahead, she tried to calm herself down and let that moment pass by without any fuss out of her while remaining guarded, it was definitely not how she wished to invite Nick for an outing in her old hometown but she still was rather glad that it happened, the rest of the drive proceeded as the drive-in cinema and the constructions of the town stayed behind and the panorama outside the window was replaced with verdant fields stretching far into the distance. Nick looked around once more and was becoming rather curious about where Judy's home might have been, also a little impatient maybe, the fox looked ahead and asked:

- Hey, fluff, how much of a drive do we still have until we get to your home?

Theodora took the chance to answer that as she turned her head to the right and said:

- Technically speaking, we're already there.

Nick raised his ears and asked subsequently:

- Wait. We're there? Where?

Theodora pointed her right paw out the left side window and clarified:

- What you see on this side of the truck is the Hopps' family farm. We passed the marker fence which showed the border of the property a while ago.

Nick had his eyes opened wide with incredulity, he looked out the window once more and tried stretching his sight as far as it could go, he saw patches of carrots, lettuce, cabbage, bushes of berries separated meticulously from one another and his jaw damn nearly dropped, the confirmation of what was told to him came a few more meters ahead as he saw a roadside sign that bared the outworn logo of the Hopps family farm, what Nick was seeing outside the window was actually a massive plot of land that belonged to Judy's family and it stretched much further than he could fathom with a single glance. Nick pointed a claw of his right paw at the window and to the passing picture of the farmstead, extending so far and so wide that he could hardly keep up through the drive, he turned his head to the two bunnies and asked, impressed with what he was seeing and making an effort to not trip over his words as he spoke:

- All of these crops belong to your family?!

- Well… I mean…

Judy tried to answer to that but Theodora leapt into the talk once more as she said:

- Not all of it. Some of these are results of collaborations, of sorts. Since most of our family and most of our neighbors are farmers, some of the lands are merged after some of our brothers and sisters married, nothing arranged of the sorts, most of the neighbors have been friends of the family for ages so… one interaction usually leads to some more intimate ties down the line. There is this constant back and forth of properties and crops, shares and obligations, for budget distribution and such but I won't bore you with the details, Dianna keeps way better track of all of it than I could ever hope to do.

Theodora referenced one of her sisters, the one who was keen on keeping track of the books and expenditures of the household, it sounded to Nick that this sister in particular was clever like that. Nick looked out the window again just in time to see a few more stretches of green pass by and hear as Theodora spoke to explain once more:

- Anyway, our family is proud of it, not because we have so much land to flaunt around or any of that, but because our fruits, berries and vegetables supply tons of restaurants, bakeries and markets all around the tri-burrow area, not to mention we work in partnership with many other farms all over the place that provide for other towns. It just feels nice to aid others and be there when they need it as well as knowing that they would gladly do the same for us, that is one reason of why we are proud to be who we are and to do our best to keep our work every day.

Nick turned his head back ahead once he heard that, the fox showed a little smile as he popped his head between the two front seats once more and spoke to Judy:

- And suddenly, your philosophy to life makes a whole lot more sense.

Theodora turned her head in the direction of Nick's voice with a little smile suddenly letting out of her mouth, she looked at the fox and called to his attention by speaking:

- Yeah, my big sis is really great, but then again, all of the Hopps family is. We owe a lot to our community, every family in Bunnyburrow helped us out at one point or another, doing what we do, helping them and providing what we can, it is just our way of helping right back.

The ride continued for a short while until the trio arrived at the Hopps family house, Nick took notice of it when the road changed all of a sudden and the truck began to ride over a milder path than before, Judy pointed to it as soon as it came into view with a finger of her right paw directed at the windshield but all that Nick saw at first was the top of a tall hill popping out from the distance, he soon figured out that this was it, their actual destination. Soon enough, they could all see attributes of a house on the hill, a little wooden fence painted in dark green surrounding it with a little gate at the front and a mailbox, lined-up shed-like structures by the far right side corner of the front yard which stored tools and other items which were kept safely locked away as well as little windows peppered through the surface of the hill, some receptive antennae near the top and a tall front door with the name 'Hopps' carved on the wood by the threshold placed right at the front. The home itself was a little burrow, constructed inside the former shell of a hill and Nick marveled at the sight, looking like nothing he had ever seen before and almost like something right out of a fairy tale story book and his first thought was imagining himself climbing up the adorable and huge house until he was admiring the fantastic view all around from up top, a thought he decided to save for later.

As soon as Theodora stopped the truck Judy was the first one to collect her bags and disembark, Nick took some time as he was still admiring the view but he followed soon enough with his luggage in paw, they turned back to the truck and saw Theodora, still seated with one paw on the steering wheel, she lowered the window and called out to their attention as she said:

- I'm going to take off so that I can park this thing, you guys go ahead and make yourselves at home.

Judy gave her sister a little wave of goodbye and Theodora took off, driving the truck away so that it could be parked far from the house's main entrance and along with other vehicles which belonged to other driver-certified members of the Hopps family. Judy showed Nick a side nudge of her head as she called the fox to follow close, the flopping of her ears as her nudge pointed towards the house calling to his sight right away and the bunny turning around and walking towards the abode without giving her partner even a second to formulate an answering gesture towards her. Judy walked ahead and Nick followed close, Judy set her baggage down on the ground as she needed both of her paws to undo the latch locking the front gate, the sliding mechanism was a little old so she had to push the gate back and forth as to allow the latch small intervals of diminished friction to be undone, a tedious process but she only needed a couple more seconds to open it and give both her and Nick entrance to the front yard.

Nick walked past Judy as she stayed behind to pick her luggage back up and close the latching gate shut, which was a far easier process than opening it, she turned around and Nick gave her the right of way to walk ahead, the two walked over a straight and narrow cobblestone path which cut through the grass and directed them towards the front door and Nick took the time to look around some more. Walking right behind Judy with a slower set of steps, the fox scanned the grassy yard and saw that there were a few colorful plastic toys scattered around, sure sign that there were playful youths living in that household, not just that but the dewy smell of wet grass felt good for him to take in as soon as he took one deep breath. Judy arrived first by the front door, she placed her luggage down once more and reached ahead with her right arm, she placed her right palm over the frame of the door before reaching for the circular doorknob with her left paw, the door was opened without much effort and Judy swung it open slowly to make her way inside, Nick followed her not that long after.

Nick was finally inside and he wanted to absorb as much as he could from that new place, the first thing that called to his attention was the scent all around him, there was such an intriguing mix of odors but none of them felt oppressive or undesirable to his sense of smell, he could detect traces of wet earth, old wood, warm paper, ink, synthetic pine air freshner on the rug, the far smell of a tantalizing vegetable stew cooking in a pot along with lingering traces of cumin, oregano, sugar, so many things that told him that house was tended to and there were a lot of inhabitants living in it. Nick walked slowly ahead through a wide and dimly lit hallway, the wallpaper that covered the walls on both side was simple, a very bright blue with thin vertical green lines that had a lot of space between one another, he noticed a long line of small metal hooks on the right side wall used to hang coats, keys and umbrellas, each of them nicely separated into height categories so that family and guests entering through the front door could have dedicated spots for their accessories, trinkets and belongings, Nick was already feeling very welcome in that new environment but, oddly, there was no one there to greet them upon arrival.

Judy kept walking ahead but she did not call out to anyone, she figured that she would either meet up with someone of her family or they would meet up with her along the hall sooner or later, she would not put it pass anyone of her siblings to pop out from any given place of hiding while yelling 'Surprise'. Judy's left ear twitched to the side as she heard the sound of someone watching a television not too far from their position, the bunny turned to Nick and showed a wave of her right paw, the hallway continued ahead but they turned the first left corner on the path0 and Nick was surprised to see a spacious and well-lit living space, in front of him stretched a living room with a long carpet that had a pleasant looking pattern on its quilting covering the floor, a large television set by the left side wall that was transmitting a wild wrestling match and a big couch that could fit almost ten of him side by side, at least according to his estimates. Nick took mental note of the living room and it was almost breath-taking but his eyes took notice of one of the most important details to be seen, there was a male buck seated on the couch and, strangely enough, he was watching the television while seated upside down on the middle cushioned seat.

The buck watching to the fight between two massive behemoths in a caged arena being broadcasted on live television was looking at the screen from an inverse perspective but that still did not diminish his appreciation of the fighting styles on display or his anger due to the fact that his preferred fighter had his back against the corner. The male bunny had a very dark coat of fur, the only spots of different color on his entire body were the dark tips of fur on his ears as they flopped about close to the floor below the couch, he had light brown eyes and was dressed in a white sleeveless shirt as well as a pair of long black pants with a single thin white stripe on the sides following its seams, he was strong, bulky, even from the perspective of a lagomorph and Nick could have already guessed that the prime example of country bunny in that room was a sibling of his dear partner. The buck pumped his right fist in the air and kicked his feet as he looked at the screen and yelled out:

- C'mon already. You call that a solemn grapple? I've seen little girls that held on harder to an opponent. Get some hustle out there!

His rant towards the fight on screen was interrupted as another voice was heard in the room, Judy placed her right paw on her waist line and directed a raised brow at her brother as she said:

- Really, Simon? You're still watching wrestling while hanging upside down? Mom told you to stop doing that already.

The male bunny looked to the right, which to his perspective would have been the left, he saw the two figures standing next to the couch and it did not take any longer than a single second to identify the owner of that voice. The buck felt his heart pounding much faster than when he was watching the battle on television, he kicked his feet, tried to reach for the freshly arriving bunny with both of his paws and yelled out with a rowdy greeting:

- JUDE!

On doing that, he fumbled on the dismount, as his whole body spun on an improvised axis, the male bunny tumbled and rolled off the couch and on to the floor, he flopped face and torso first over the carpet with a loud thud that made both Nick and Judy wince with discomfort due to the noise. The buck placed both of his palms on the ground, he raised himself from his fall with a quick push up and a fast tucking of both of his legs, he stood on both his feet with a short hop in place and opened his arms before heading into a big embrace. Judy did not move from where she was standing, waiting patiently for her brother to raise back from the ground and come to greet her properly, she did not even mind that the embrace that came soon after was an excited grapple to her midsection that picked her up from the ground and hoisted her up in the air, the buck released a laugh as he had Judy in his arms and spoke out:

- Jude! It's so good to see you again, baby sis!

Judy, being held a few inches up and not being able to touch on ground once more until she reciprocated the affections of her brother, patted him on his head which was resting right below her chest as he had his arms wrapped around her belly. Judy took in some air through her nose and spoke up with a small level of strain in her voice due to how he was squeezing her during the hug:

- It's great to see you too, Simon!

The male bunny put Judy down on the ground, leaning his back low until he was certain that his sister could stand nicely on her two legs after the excited embrace and only then placing his back straight once more to look at his sister, placing his paws over her shoulders while showing an overjoyed look in his eyes. Simon had a much broader view of the room after the hug, he now had a view of both Judy and the guest she had brought along. Simon had heard a lot about Nick, the fox that aided Judy in making the big city of Zootopia a better place to live, but that was the first time he was seeing the tall, strong and admittedly charismatic fox for himself. Simon pointed the thumb of his left paw in Nick's general direction, turned his eyes to Judy and asked of her:

- Is this him? Is this 'the fox'?

Nick did not know how to react to that, no one had ever called him 'the fox' before but he chose to take that as a term of endearment for the time being. Simon took one step forward and looked up placing his head at a small angle to look in the eyes of the fox in front of him, Judy took her time to point at the two of them and give proper introductions:

- Simon, this is my partner and friend, Nick Wilde. Nick, meet my older brother, Simon Hopps, the one who taught me how to fight.

Nick looked at the buck in front of him and should have guessed right away due to the apparent passion for fighting that Simon displayed as he watched the fight on television that he was the one in the family that gave Judy pointers on how to tussle like a pro. Nick looked at Simon and raised his left arm to greet him with a solid paw shake, the fox smiled and showed a slight twitch of his ears as he said:

- It's a pleasure to meet you. I have never been called 'the fox' before.

The buck released a little laugh between his teeth after hearing that, he reached ahead with both of his paws, holding on to Nick's wrist and then pulling him as close as possible for a full embrace, Simon dragged Nick closer with a gentle motion of his arms which actually felt really strong and surprised Nick for a bit, he placed his right paw over Nick's back as the fox leaned slightly down to fit nicely in that embrace and just in time to hear the buck saying:

- The pleasure is all mine. Come here you.

Nick smiled since, at the very least, the reception provided by Simon was friendly and it seemed very genuine. Simon let go of Nick as he eased up on the hug but he did not let go of Nick's left arm, caressing it so that he could get a nice feel for the supple and resilient muscle beneath the skin and fur, grading the fox's strength right there with a simple tactile glance, he called to Nick's attention with a twitch of his ears as he looked straight to the fox's face and asked:

- Dude, you are buff! How much do you press?

- Huh…

Nick was not sure how to respond to that but Judy intervened right away, getting in the middle of that exchange and saying:

- Simon, please don't try to 'buff gauge' my partner.

The buck retreated a single step after letting go of Nick's arm and turning over to face Judy and tell her:

- Sorry. I'm gonna go ahead and let everyone know that you're here.

Simon performed a quick side hop and then took off to a distant hallway while shouting for the entire burrow to hear:

- HEY, You guys, come quick! JUDE'S HOME!

Nick and Judy watched as Simon took off to fetch every other bunny in the household to come offer their greetings. Judy waited for a little while until he had seen Simon completely vanish into the home before leaning his upper body to the right, closer to Judy, he showed a little side smile before asking of her with certain ambiguity:

- So… 'Jude'?

The bunny let out a short sigh before telling him:

- Don't ask. My father started it and it kinda… caught on with my brothers.

Nick placed his body straight once more and began to look around a little more, taking in more details about the home. Nick already have a preliminary knowledge of the house after seeing the living room, with a few more slow steps ahead, he took in more of the house's ambiance. The main light source was a window by the far left, straight sides with a curved top, six glass squares divided by a wooden frame painted in white while the top was reserved for a small grid-like wooden frame, he saw how the window itself could be opened by undoing a small metal latch located by the left corner and he also saw how some of the white paint was peeling off at some of the lower corners, revealing some of the wood beneath its varnish but still showing how the rest of the frame was very well kept. Nick realized that the design trait was shared with all of the other windows in clear view of the outside, the degree of illumination coming from further into the homestead by via of soft natural light informed him that there were some wider windows placed in guest areas of the living room, a minor design nitpick out of him but it was interesting as well.

Upon looking a little further ahead, Nick saw that the living room branched out into a space with a table primed for accommodating visiting individuals and providing an inviting space for a long array of conversations, the table was long and lodged fourteen seats by his count, six on each side and two additional ones by its extremities, it only took him a few seconds to notice that it was not just one table, it was two tables of identical height, length and brand joined together to offer more options of space for any guests in the home. There were lamps up above that were supported in place by hanging chains, modest chandeliers with thin translucent plastic detail that only supported a single light bulb as a center piece but that also provided ample light for the inside of the house since they appeared to be expertly placed apart from one another to provide the most optimal amount of illumination without exaggerated shares.

Nick turned around and his eyes landed over a wall by his right side, to his surprise, he saw a wide range of pictures nailed to the wall in endearing frames of several shapes, colors and themes, the pictures were separated and organized in a way that could look chaotic at first sight but they were actually nicely placed and Nick was able to pick up on the pattern, every five photos depicting family members was separated by a panoramic view of a landscape on each of the line-ups by the wall. Nick was almost taken aback by the pictures so many smiling faces belonging to the Hopps family, in a single moment he saw a collage of mementos from parties, family vacations, weddings and other momentous occasions shared by the family that was hosting him for that little outing. Nick also noticed that there was a spot of prestige among all of the other pictures, he pointed to a photo colored in black and white of two bunnies with palms joined together while they posed for the photo in front of a humble wooden house, definitely a couple, and under the photo there was a phrase in Latin stamped on the frame, he read it out loud:

- 'Per labore consequi honestati… sumus.'

He squinted his eyes as he read through the last word of the sentence, Judy saw that and approached him as she translated the saying:

- 'Through hard work we achieve honesty'.

Nick looked further to the right and saw Judy, walking close to him while her arms were crossed and her eyes were focused on the very same picture that he noticed before, she had a smile on her face that he could not quite read through, it had touches of pride, maybe nostalgia, he thought so as he looked right at her. Nick's eyes traveled between the picture on the wall and Judy, still having the very same expression that he had found before, he pointed a claw to the wall and asked of her:

- House motto?

She looked at him and clarified with an explanation to follow:

- Life motto. That's my great grandfather and his wife when they purchased the first plot of land which would grow to be the entire Hopps family farm. He said those words and committed them to memory for every one of the family that followed. It means that through struggle and dedication we find out who we really are and we don't shy away on letting others know about it.

Nick took another look at the picture, he liked the lesson inscribed through it and he also understood that was the main way Judy communicated with others as she took life day by day. She did her best on every given task and let others know that by doing so she was letting show who she truly was, it might also have been how she got some of her stubborn personality. Nick continued to look through the pictures, he looked a little down, two lines of pictures, then to the left, another landscape, that is when he saw a small glint of blue and his eyes returned to the picture he let pass on the way, the picture of a small bunny, female with familiar features and dressed in a costume that resembled an officer uniform, the fox squinted his eyes and walked two steps closer, he raised his left paw and pointed to the precise picture before asking:

- Is that who I think it is?

Judy figured that it was only a matter of time before Nick found that particular photo, she did not try to hide that she was the one in that picture, dressed in her favorite costume of many years ago while having the signature look that inspired her to pursue such a tall dream. Judy nodded her head and said:

- Yeah, that's me. I was a little bit of a dork back in the day, walking around in that costume.

Judy took a short breath before continuing:

- But… I like to think that keeping that look with me for as long as I had and… actually exerting myself in a way that would match it helped me get to the path I am today.

Judy walked ahead, only a single step past where Nick was standing, she looked carefully to that picture of herself and she felt glad to realize just how far she had come. It made sense for her to be satisfied with what she had accomplished but she had never stopped to think about back in the day, when her mind was not even worried about what she would do after her quest to be a police officer had been concluded. No crucial thought had crossed her mind that was not related to becoming a ZPD officer and that had left a huge gap for her after the fact, even so, she was satisfied with everything that followed the attaining of her childhood dream. Judy had stopped for a moment to appreciate the rest of the pictures on the wall, family and friends that she could recognize and associate with a mere glance but she was interrupted by a strange sound that came from very close to her, the synthetic sound that resembled the clicking of a small camera. She looked to Nick and saw he fox pointing the back of his mobile phone to the wall.

- NICK!

The fox was quick to tuck the phone away to a precarious hiding spot, behind his wrist and next to his waist while the fabric on the side of his shirt was pulled to hide the presence of the device, when he heard Judy's voice calling to him in appalled embarrassment but it was too late to hide it. Judy pointed to the phone and asked of him, expecting a plausible explanation:

- What do you think you're doing?

To which the fox answered:

- Nothing much. Just… grabbing something that might incite a laugh out of both of us later. Maybe even incite a laugh out of someone else.

Judy had a piercing stare in her eyes as she looked at Nick, she showed the palm of her right paw to her partner and told him firmly:

- Give that to me, right now.

Nick took the phone out of its hiding spot and spoke in response, trying to joke around as he made it sound like he was remedying the delicate situation he now found himself in:

- Oh, c'mon, fluff, I'm not going to show it to anyone. I'm just gonna show it to Clawhouser. *He* will show it to everyone.

Judy walked closer to Nick, she reached up with both of her paws, trying to grab the phone right out of his left paw, she moved so fast and performed a stretching motion with her body so directly aimed towards him that Nick was not sure if he would be able to take the device out of her reach, he raised his left paw in the air, already anticipating such a reaction from her and turned his body a slight degree over to the left as to make so that it would be even further out of her reach. Judy lowered her ears, raised her tail and got on the tips of her feet as she reached up and said:

- Nick, you erase that.

Nick kept up with his motion from before, keeping the phone out of his partner's reach with an infantile effort to keep her funny reaction going, looking at her while his left paw was kept in the air and saying with a smug smile:

- Oh, c'mon now, fluff. Have a little humor on you. I'm only picking this for a quick laugh later, you know that I wouldn't really show this to anyone at all.

- I do not care. You delete that picture this instant, mister.

Judy was very embarrassed but Nick really meant it when he said that he would not show the picture he just took to anyone, he still wish to keep the colorful memento in his phone but the bunny trying to climb over him in order to gain access to the device was having none of that. Judy leaned her right arm to a different angle, placing it over Nick's left shoulder and using it as a support to try and elevate her body upwards and have a better chance at reaching the phone, Nick was pinching at the device and moving back as to keep her hilarious reaction going and by the look in her eyes, showing playful disregard for conduct at the time, she was getting in on it too as if there was suddenly the starting mark for a full competition. Judy tried hopping up as she said:

- Nick, you give this phone to me or I swear I shall rain scorn upon you through this entire trip.

Nick showed a toothy smile as he retreated further back and said:

- I have been called out many times but I never had someone 'rain scorn' upon me. How does one actually go for something like that? Should I get an umbrella or will a raincoat suffice?

Judy jumped high and that caused Nick to lose some balance and fall over a seat on the couch, Judy was aware of his probable trajectory in case they were to fall so she did not worry too much and pounced on the fox, the one thing she had in mind was to erase the picture. Nick was toppled, he suddenly had his backside over the seat of the couch and leaning against the repost with Judy nearly scaling his figure and laying her entire body on top of him as she tucked her legs, curled her toes and tried using the precarious handle she had on his shirt and left shoulder as purchase to get closer to her objective, even still, Nick could not get the smile out of his face. Nick tried adjusting the angle of his body over the seat after the shock of the pounce, he was the one with the best standing and foothold so he had better control on how he and Judy would be positioned over the seat, it was hard to get good balance with an angry bunny on top of him while his muzzle was heard bursting out in laughter, Nick continued making his left arm take the cellphone just outside of Judy's reach, he noticed then the hold she had on him and spoke up causing his laughter to die down nearly immediately so that he could say:

- Yo! Judy, easy, you're wrinkling my shirt.

- I'm going to do way worse to you if you don't delete that picture!

- Where is your sense of humor, fluff? This is just so we will have a quick laugh later.

- Nick Wilde, you fork over that phone right now or so help me…

- Ahem!

Nick and Judy's back and forth was interrupted, they turned their eyes and ears in the direction of the new voice, a male tone that rang loudly through the living room and that halted their argument midway. Nick and Judy froze in place, the bunny laid in a stretched stance over the fox's body and the two of them nestled in a scene of competitive arguing over the couch as they looked for the owner of the voice. There were now three male bunnies present in the room though one of them was already known to Nick, to the left was placed Simon, leaning his head to the side so that he could get a better look on the supposed fight and step in for sheer fun if the moment were to call for it; Next, to the far right of the trio, there was a much shorter male bunny, same color of fur, white T-shirt buttoned all the way down and tucked into his waist band, clean pair of long wool pants colored in dark blue fabric and, as his main characteristic, a soft patch of darker gray fur growing over his head; Finally, at the center of the group, the owner of the voice, a tall, strong, imposing male buck, with a sharp stare in his eyes, wearing a black T-shirt with the symbol of a white, horizontally placed wrench stamped over the chest area, long jeans and a long, deep scar that cut its way across the fur of his left arm.

The three male bunnies were just staring at that scene and two of them were very much unsure if they should intervene at all, the tallest one on the front and center of the trio decided to let everyone know by a mere sound and glance that he was there to intervene and that he was the one who was in charge. Nick, now feeling very conscious about the scene and the ones watching it, tucked his left arm down and asked, in an attempt to break the tension:

- Hey, what's up?

Judy took that chance, to reach out, snag the phone away, which surprised Nick, and delete the embarrassing picture, the ignition point of the discussion which was sitting in clear view on the front of the digital gallery of the phone.

- Gotcha!

She said so as she snagged the phone away and tapped her fingers on the screen at amazing speed as she looked for the photo. Judy placed the device back in Nick's paw once she was done erasing the last labeled picture for good and got off of him, rolling off the fox after having accomplished her goal, now she was much more focused on diminishing the aura of awkwardness that was hanging around the room, she got up and stood straight before giving a quick wave of greeting with her left paw to the two other bunnies she had not seen yet that day and saying:

- Hey there, Dilan. Hello, Arthur.

The tallest bunny of the group stepped ahead and opened his arms to give Judy a long and cozy hug, he got his arms around her, placing them below her shoulders and leaned the right side of his head over hers as he said:

- Judy, we were told that you would be coming by. It is great to see you.

She repaid the hug, placing her paws on his back to give him slow pats, lowering her ears and telling him while employing the same endearing tone he had used shortly before:

- It's great to see you too, big brother.

Once the hug was concluded, the older buck placed his back straight as he looked ahead with a stare similar to the one he had before towards Nick, Judy noticed that and figured that introductions were definitely in order once more. Judy started out by pointing to the bunny on the left as she said:

- Nick, this are some of my other brothers. This here is Dilan, he is the one in charge of arranging the transport of all our produces. Basically he is our go-to errand guy.

Nick got that as a cue to reach out for the first bunny in the line and shake his paw, Dilan repaid the gesture with a firm paw shake and a smile, the buck was shy and he found Nick's presence in there a touch intimidating, not just for the fact that he was a predator. Judy turned to the next brother in line as she continued with the introductions:

- And this is the oldest buck in residence, Arthur Hopps. He is my big brother and the one in charge of managing the farm as well as the house while mom and dad are busy.

Nick repeated the gesture he did before, extending his left arm forward and saying:

- It's a pleasure to know you.

But, different from the other two, Arthur did not repay the gesture in the same way, the oldest buck crossed his arms and looked at Nick from head to toe before saying:

- So… you're 'him'? The one that everyone has been talking about nonstop. You're… 'the fox'.

Nick's paw retreated slightly, Arthur continued speaking after that as he squinted his eyes and nudged his head in Nick's direction, a gesture that could be taken as defiant or an atempt to intimidate him, before speaking up:

- Thought you'd be taller.

Nick did not mind that criticism or anything like that, even so he was not sure why Judy's brother was acting towards him in such a cold manner. Judy stepped forth, positioning herself between Nick and Arthur as soon as she picked up on the minor aura of hostility coming from her brother and before letting the others know:

- I'm going to show Nick around and take him to the room he will be staying. If mom and dad come back, you let us know.

Arthur turned his head to face Judy and his facial expression transformed right away, becoming more friendly as he looked at his sister, he showed her a soft smile, looking at her as she walked back, grabbed her luggage and came back to recommend Nick that he would quickly grab his luggage as well, Nick obliged and Judy gave her brothers a quick wave of farewell before she directed Nick towards the nearest hallway which would led them to the room reserved for the fox for his visit. Arthur and the others watched while remaining still in place, Simon could hardly believe that his sister was back and that she had brought such an interesting character, Dilan smiled and took off to attend to other things and pass a quick text message to all of the other members of the Hopps family that were present and accounted for to tell that Judy and her partner had arrived, Arthur remained with his arms crossed as he mumbled:

- I'm not so sure about this guy.

Simon looked to the right and gestured with his right paw, pointing to the hallway that Judy and Nick had just disappeared through before asking:

- He saved our sister's life, dude. Not to mention the fact that both of our parents vouch for the guy. Give it a chance.

The words spoken were thoroughly endorsed but Arthur did not change his stance, turning his head away with a warm puff of discontent out of his nostrils as he tried averting eye contact against his younger brother. Simon put the aplms of his paws together and asked of him:

- Arthur, please, try and be a little more nice. At least with this one.

Arthur rolled his eyes and took off towards the front door, he had places to be and things to do and he lamented in silence that he could not stay for a little while longer to interact with Judy, or, even more important, keep a closer eye on 'the fox' she had brought along. Arthur kept his eyes directed at the far off hallway before saying in confirmation:

- Fine, I'll try to be nice. But I won't like it.

Judy and Nick were traversing a dimly lit hallway, it ended on a right corner that guided them to a flight of stairs, it descended deep into the earth, Judy was the first to descend the steps with Nick following closely behind her, he had his eyes focused on the walls around him as he noticed that most of them looked very much like patches of soil from a certain view point. Nick's mind snapped back to the moment prior to his walk next to Judy down the stairs, he called to Judy's attention, nudging his head to the left and pointing the paw of his sling'd right arm to ask of her:

- Did I say something bad? Your brother did not seem too keen on getting to know me back there.

Judy turned to Nick before reaching the lowest step of the first flight of stairs they were on, she did not let go of her luggage as she turned around and gestured towards Nick, showing the palm of her left paw before saying:

- Don't take this the wrong way. Arthur has been groomed to be the most responsible of us all to take care of everything and everyone while our parents are out. He acts this way towards anyone new that comes into our house, it's his way of letting it show that he is in charge. He is actually a really nice guy.

Nick took Judy's word for it, there might be other chances to get to know other members of her family after they were both situated but he could not help but feel like she was downplaying his first interaction with her older brother if just for a bit. Nick turned his eyes back to the walls around him as he took in more details about the residence's lower floors, at first it looked like that passageway was nothing more than a flimsy tunnel that lead deeper into the heart of a mine but the walls were only made to look like such from a distance, on closer inspection, Nick saw that there was a thin type of concrete that was reinforcing the walls and working in conjunction with the earth itself to support the burrow, the ground beneath his feet was nicely tiled, every step was met with a rough porcelain square that was made to not allow accidental slips which was very welcomed to him, it was the same kind of safety tiles that his mother used on her place so they felt nicely on his bare feet and there was just enough light that he did not even have to use his night vision apt eyes to see clearly ahead. Upon reaching the next floor, Judy pointed out to the hallway ahead and explained:

- Over here we have the first floor, mostly areas for cleaning and storage, it's also where the emergency generators, the regulator for the solar panels, the main distributor for the air conditioner, the Wi-fi modem and the fuse box for the entire house are kept. Most of those things are set out further to the back and spread out evenly as to not weigh too much on the foundation or on the electrical grid.

Nick could smell the faintest traces of preserved food and seasonings on that floor as well as the synthetic flowery smell associated with soap and cleaning powder, there was no discernible scent of anyone else there except for the two of them which told him that any presence that was not for storing or retrieving items in that floor was exceedingly brief. Nick also noticed how the different doors that lead to separate storerooms in the single hallway were spaced out away from one another and all of them clearly marked with numerals, not only that but there was also a grid-like chart on the wall closest to them marked on a rectangular chalkboard that presented where each supply was stored as reference in case anyone came looking for something specific, the first half of the floor was like one big pantry with every stand of supplies and utensils labeled and organized. Judy gestured with her left paw for Nick to follow close and they descended further, Nick took a little longer as he was still impressed with what he saw on the previous floor but there was still much more to see. The next floor smelled more lived in, Nick heard the sound of steps echoing around, a voice in the distance singing, parallel conversations, and Judy spoke out to make herself the main focus on that floor and explain to him:

- This here is the first… inhabited floor of the burrow. It starts out with separate spaces for every Hopps who earned a room of their own. It's all set in alphabetical order of rooms from the right to the left.

Nick looked to the directions that Judy pointed out and was surprised to see a long line-up of doors leading to different rooms, each one of them spaced out equally and leading to the living spaces of different bunnies that lived there. Nick saw a marking on the left, an inscription carved on the wall that read 'B-2', clear indication that there were still more levels below but that one looked much more inviting than the one he saw before, almost like the layout of a multi-layered dormitory or the structure of a nicely built little inn that received guests from all over with a very safe environment which invited for a very cozy stay. Nick counted a total of twenty doors at first sight, some of them labeled with stickers that made them more unique and made the owners of each room more easily to identify, but he also noticed a passageway that veered to the right and cut through the middle of the door count, possibly leading to another hallway that was very much of the same with more doors and more rooms. Nick thought about that place once over, there were more rooms and more stairs, this was no inn, more like a full blown hotel.

Judy guided Nick over to the next floor, he looked to the left as soon as they got down the next flight of stairs and noticed the inscription carved on the wall closest to them, 'B-3', Nick imagined what it would have been like to dig and construct all of that, stablish a home for such a growing and thriving family. Judy pointed to the left to a double door that was closer to them and told Nick:

- Over here we have the game room. It's usually much more lively than this.

Nick walked a little ahead and took a peek inside, he left his luggage outside as he took a single long step into the room and was astonished to see it, a wide room with an assortment of shelves, each of them containing a variety of boxes that separated card packs, board games, computer accessories, portable battery powered trinkets for varied ages and a multitude of disks still contained in their boxes and cataloged by platform. There was a small plastic table with four equally small separate seats where children could lay out any game of their choosing and play away, there was also a television on the far side of the room, most of its plugs on the back of the screen were occupied with different gaming devices, three different gaming consoles tucked away on the lower stand underneath the television set and the controllers for each of them were placed in wait over each console, a modest three seat couch with plush bege cushios, a colorful carpet made for many children to sit over and made up of four square and different colored hard foam mats fitting together like one simple though enormous puzzle and a medium sized plastic chest with some other toys stuffed inside placed right next to the southern edge of the mat. It was almost unbelievable how varied everything in that room was and it all looked so fun to play around with.

Nick only looked at the electronic entertainment devices for a short while before his eyes turned to the wide selection of board games on a nearby shelf, some fun little cardboard covers that he had not seen or heard of in a long while, he raised his left paw and pointed at the selection until he found one that called to his attention, a simple chess board made out of thin wood and that folded on itself turning into a latching box to store all of the game pieces, he shook it in the air to hear the sound of the plastic pieces inside rattling around, he looked at Judy while still having the folded board in his reach before asking:

- Take me on a little round some other time?

Judy smiled and nodded once before telling him:

- Absolutely.

Nick left the board over the tiny plastic table and made a note in his mind, he would not forget to challenge Judy for a riveting round of chess or any other game of the sorts while they were there. Judy called out to Nick, they were near the floor where Nick's temporary room was located. Nick exited the game room and grabbed his bag to follow Judy further, as soon as they arrived on the floor that was labeled 'B-4', Nick called out to his partner and asked of her:

- Does every one of your brothers and sisters live underground?

Judy turned around and made a point to explain that, gesturing in the air with a slow wave of her left paw as she said:

- No, not all of them. There are rooms above the surface, most of them belong to the siblings that have to wake up early and get to places of work a little faster than the younger ones who need to catch the late bus for school or stick around to help with chores for the rest of the day, there is an intercom line that connects to their room and we all have access to it in case of in-house emergency scenarios or… just need some assistance settling a silly squabble. My parents can keep tabs on the whole house from wherever they are, be it by the intercom or via text message, their room is on the second floor up above and they are the only ones with the private bathroom, for the rest… well… we have to learn how to share.

Judy finished that part of the explanation as she pointed to a doorway to her immediate left, a side nudge of her head pointed to a tall door with the symbol of a lavatory embroiled on its frame, a sign that stick to the smooth hardwood surface and that had the picture of a male and female bunny, both of them separated by a leaning line between them and placed above the letter W.C.. Nick took a long look at the door and wondered to himself:

"Seriously? Only one bathroom?"

His line of thought was interrupted as he heard the door opening up and revealing a very familiar bunny stepping through it, a bunny that had her ears placed high over her head as she stepped out with a refreshed look on her face, she looked around and recognized her sister and the guest she had brought along right away. Samantha appeared while wearing a sleeveless shock pink top and jean shorts as she exited the bathroom, shaking her recently washed paws I the air with repeated flickering motions to dry them out faster, she looked to her right and proceeded to open her arms and release a loud squeal of excitement from her mouth as she came closer to hug Judy and tell her:

- Judy! It's so good to see you.

Samantha took a little time to retreat from the hug while still keeping a gentle hold over Judy with her paws over both of her shoulders, she looked at the bunny officer up and down and spoke up:

- You're looking great. Looking fit.

Judy smiled and spoke in gratitude:

- Thanks, Sam. You're looking great yourself.

Samantha shrugged that comment off with a rise and lowering of her shoulders before admitting with a touch of bragging in her voice:

- Yeah, well… having a sexy boyfriend will do that to you.

Judy rolled her eyes but that went unseen from her sister, it was natural for the sisters in the Hopps home to brag about some romantic conquest every now and again and Judy really should be used to that, even if it was not truly relevant for that moment. Samantha went right ahead to greeting Nick who took a little time to recognize the bunny as the one who accompanied Judy during her surprise visit to the ZPD academy. Samantha did not waste any time, pulling Nick up close for a nice hug, during the hug, she noticed how his body was warm and cozy and then it hit her how it would feel like to experience that sensation through every consecutive day, Samantha slowly let go of Nick and imagined what it would be like to change places with her sister Judy and have a taste of that exact same hug every day. Nick raised from the lowered stance he had to employ to fit nicely into the embrace, he did that and Samantha immediately inquired of him:

- There he is. The fox himself. So, how are you doing?

Nick raised his left shoulder and then answered her:

- I'm actually doing much better. I hope I'll heal up completely real soon.

- We all hope you will heal up nice too. When I heard that Judy was coming over and bringing you along with her I just had to let everyone know about it, everyone has been waiting with great excitement to finally meet you. I'm real glad to see you again.

Nick smiled and thanked Samantha for the nice words, the fox showed a smile and he did not even bother himself to move in any way when Samantha came close to embrace him for three seconds or so before turning over to Judy so they could talk. Nick gave Samantha and Judy ample room to mingle and catch up, he then took a look to his left, catching a glimpse of the gleam from white tiles that covered the walls of the room that Samantha had just come from, the two bunnies turned to each other to exchange words that went unheard from the fox, he was far too distracted with something else. As Judy and Samantha were just starting to talk and Nick left them be to converse in piece, he took a quick peek inside the bathroom so that he would have an idea of the kind of space that he would have to bathe and freshen up while he was staying at the burrow and what he saw greatly surprised him:

- HOLY MOLEY!

Samantha and Judy turned their heads to the fox and saw him taking a step back after the sudden shock of seeing the bathroom, the entirety of the lavatory ringing in his mind as he let go of his luggage, let his jaw drop to the ground and had his ears twitching above his head as he could not decide if he was impressed or just intimidated. The lavatory was immense, almost like it was constructed for a full team of athletes or a lavish mansion to have all of its inhabitants using it in an effective manner every morning, having at least ten separate stalls for toilets on the left with doors that locked with simple rotating latches, twelve different sinks with pairing mirrors, paper towels distributors and soap dispensers for each one placed to the right and, at the far end, ten compact shower boxes that were surrounded by enclosed opaque glass that provided some privacy for each potential occupant to bathe. Nick gestured towards the enormous room and his voiced bounced around the tiled walls, reverberating and emphasizing its sheer size as he asked:

- *This* is the bathroom?

Judy nudged her head in a positive manner as she answered as if that was no big deal at all, she was already used to the form and size of the bathroom and it took a moment to figure that Nick had possibly never seen such a large space reserved for hygiene before in a house of any kind, something that came to light right away for her when the fox displayed such a reaction. Judy simply confirmed Nick's question by saying:

- Well… yes.

Nick gestured towards the inside of the bathroom in the same manner as before as he spoke up, explaining his outrageous reaction:

- It's freaking huge!

Samantha and Judy shared a look, they both caught the reason for Nick's reaction at the same time, they shared a grin that communicated how they wanted to get as much of the fox's reaction as possible, Sam's being a tad more malicious that her sister's at that point. Judy and Samantha walked closer to Nick, positioning themselves by the fox's right and left sides respectively, they leaned towards him to get a better read of his facial expression as Judy asked subsequently:

- Of course. Did you really think that a big family like mine was just going to wake up every day and fight amongst themselves to attain privileges over a single, solitary-use bathroom?

Nick pressed his lips together as he took the time to formulate an answer, he saw no other option except being honest while laying down a nice jest, turning towards Judy by his right as he said

- The implications about that for comical interludes did pop into my head right before seeing the bathroom itself.

Samantha contained her laugh before jumping in the talk and telling him:

- In all fairness, there *is* a single mammal bathroom up on the ground floor and that one is highly coveted when we are gathered up there but the bathroom down here is far better in my opinion. There is so much more room but there is also a rigid schedule in place during the mornings but, in case you slip and fall, need some solid advice for a last minute engagement or run out of toilet paper, help is never too far. Also, if you get in any kind of discussion about the use of the upstairs bathroom, don't sweat it, you'll win no problem.

Judy might have thought that line of thought to be embarrassing at one point but she knew that the system in place for the bathroom was favorable arrangement for every family member who used it, she simply smiled outside of Nick's field of view and continued with the prodding in that scene by listing the main benefit of using the larger bathroom:

- Also, since the water reservoir is located far above and the water has to travel down the pipes to reach this one, the water pressure down here is just amazing and you only need some minor adjustments to the shower head of your choice to get the perfect temperature and setting. Gravity and physics do most of the work as I came to understand.

Nick smiled and looked around once more, trying to figure out what would be the best stall, sink, shower box combo that he would use for the rest of his stay in the burrow, trying to get use to such arrangements for personal hygiene would really be an experience to him. Samantha excused herself, she had to take off and resolve a few things out of the burrow but she assured Judy that she would be back to have supper with the rest of the family, she waved goodbye for the time and walked away, leaving the bunny and the fox alone once more. Judy pointed ahead and entered a side path that lead them to other rooms, lined-up in the same way as others before from the previous floor, Nick began to feel a little dizzy, to him it was a nice feeling to get accustomed once he entered a new place but that was back in Zootopia, the Hopps' household was an underground maze and being there caused him to be in equal measures excited, like an adventurer exploring a newly discovered cave, and vulnerable, almost like a foreign agent infiltrating unfamiliar territory.

Judy showed Nick to another path to the left, he looked around and saw as the hallway divided into two separate paths, the two leading to dead ends marked by walls with the one on the left having a small bicycle that could be folded for easy storage leaned against the wall, Judy continued walking ahead and telling Nick that they were nearly in the room that would be reserved for the fox but Nick mumbled something after only two steps ahead after he took a quick sniff:

- Fresh air.

Judy turned around and asked of him, hearing what he said but not sure why he commented on it:

- What?

Nick halted his walk at the same time as hers and clarified what he said:

- It's just…

It took him a few seconds to arrive at a congruent trail of thought but he turned back to speaking once he was done thinking it over:

- I was expecting the air down here to be more… stuffy, heavy. That is not the case. Back in Zootopia, the interior of most building has that air that really clings to you, kind of a mess in a way that you take in and get used to one bit at a time, but it is not like that in here. We are so down in relation to the surface, and there are clearly no windows around so I thought the air would be stuffy but I still smell the fresh air from outside.

Judy pressed her lips smiled faintly, she let go of her bag and then walked a single step back in the direction she came from to be a little closer to Nick and explain a few more things to him, she accompanied the thoughts laid out by her partner and nodded her head once before explaining:

- That is because of the vents. Set across the walls and over every door of every room, there is this small but really intricate system of vents. The ones high up on the walls pump the air from outside in while the ones closer to the floor slowly blow the old air out. They make the air circulate in such a nice way so we rarely even use the air-conditioner down here since the air we get is always so nice and fresh. The burrow is always nice and ventilated so you tend to forget you are actually below ground most of the time.

Nick was beyond impressed, a lot of thought and careful planning had gone in the construction of the burrow and there was still a whole lot more that he could not see right away nudging at his imagination, could there be more hallways or maybe even secret compartments hiding somewhere or maybe his mind was just getting away from him and that moment all together? The fox could not hold up the smile he had on his face as they continued to move ahead, he had come with Judy on that minor escape from the city in order to relax and recuperate but his mind could not take it easy after getting just a glimpse of that place, he just had to see more. Nick looked ahead, he saw Judy moving down the hall in front of him and he tried to play it cool, placing his mind in a more 'Police officer' mentality, adopting the face of a calm and collected fox as he did when performing his tasks back at the precinct, still smiling but more softly as he walked a single step closer to Judy.

Judy continued the walk on the path she had in mind before but she stopped herself short as she got to the previous to last door in that hallway, she placed her left paw under her chin and let go of her luggage before pointing her right paw to a selection of three doors just ahead, Judy proceeded to point at them in sequence, flicking her wrist as she pointed at the doors in an almost rhythmic way. Nick noticed what she was doing and watched her attentively, almost as if she was checking for something important just ahead but she had to be deep in concentration and search methodically through her memory to identify precisely what it was, he also noticed how her mouth opened and closed as she went down every pointed door but no sound came out of her lips, it almost made it seem like she was trying to identify the one goal of her search through a simple method, like humble visual cues or maybe the timing of a song. Judy pointed to the last door and lowered her right paw, that was the one, no doubts about it, she turned to Nick and gestured to the door with both of her paws as she said:

- Here we are. This is my sister Jill's room. She is busy in an out-of-town event so you can feel free to stay here and make yourself comfortable.

Nick nodded his head and thought about inquiring a little more about that particular member of Judy's family, hardly he knew that any of his unaired questions were about to be answered on the spot. As soon as Judy opened the door to the bedroom that Nick was set to stay in, she was surprised to see that the original inhabitant of the room was still using it, the door swung open slowly with the motion of Judy's right arm and it revealed the view of a dimly lit room, there were small candles on a stand being cupped by thin metallic covers that guarded its lower parts from letting hot wax spill out over the wooden surface below and they had a scent that filled the room with a pleasant smell that spilled over to the outside as soon as the door was opened. The main lights of the room were off, the only things providing any illumination were the candles that set an overbearing mood of isolation, the dimlight of a covered lamp by the night stand and a laptop computer left on over the bed and placed over a nice black plastic platform that prevented it from overheating while in use, the light from the screen illuminated the face of the owner of the room as she looked away from her work on the computer and directed an angry voice at the door, asking in defiance:

- Shoot! Does no one in this house know how to knock anymore?

The bunny inside the room got out from her perch over the bed, she got down to the ground and walked slowly in the direction of the door so that she could turn on the lights and identify the two silhouettes that were invading her personal space unannounced. Judy and Nick waited for a moment and they gave a step back, as soon as the lights were on they could see the face of Judy's sister. Nick noticed that the female bunny emerging from the room was similar to Judy in eye coloration, ear length, nose shape but she had many key differences. Dark gray fur with a synthetically colored line of black over her head and between her ears, eyes heavy with masquera and rouge but no trace of makeup on her lips and an attire that perfectly encapsulated her interests. The bunny from the dark room was wearing a blue T-shirt with a crooked neckpiece that could let anyone see the laces of her underclothing, a modest top with black colors and wide strappings over her left shoulder which was well in view, and the curious design of a skull belonging to some mythical creature stamped on the fabric, nestled in a garden of pure red roses with thorns, she also had a pair of slim tight jeans to complete the clothing set that did not restrict her movement at all, she stood by the door with her arms crossed and waited for any reaction at all out of her unexpected guests. Judy raised her ears and spoke out loud:

- Jill?! Why are you here?

To which the bunny with dark clothes and darker complexion said:

- Well, it's good to see you too, Judy. And that is kind of an awkward question seeing as this is my room and you barged into it without knocking.

Jill kept an eye on Judy and another one at the tall predator accompanying her, a mighty impressive sight but she continued playing it cool with a cold stare in her eyes as they traveled up his figure, definitely someone keeping around. Jill pointed a finger of her right paw to the fox and asked of Judy:

- Is this him? Is this 'the fox'.

Nick intervened in the conversation as he raised the pointing finger of his left paw and said:

- You know, being called 'the fox' was kinda cool at first but now is just getting a little weird.

Judy looked at her partner, showed the palms of her paws in a dismissive gesture and said to him with a loud whisper:

- I don't know why everyone is on this either. I swear I had no part in it.

Jill shook her head slowly from side to side as she let a little smile burst through her cold façade, she gave one more step ahead and out of her room before extending her left arm and saying:

- Nice to meet you, I'm Jill Hopps, Judy's younger sister. One of them at least.

Nick repaid the gesture as he shook her paw and said:

- Nick Wilde, it's nice to meet you too.

Nick only then noticed, as the bunny approached him, that there was an all too familiar smell in the air, he turned his eyes to the inside of the room and asked briefly:

- Is that cookie dough?

Jill looked inside her room once more and gestured to the candles still lit inside with a simple wave of her left paw, she looked back at Nick while saying:

- It's my favorite smell in the world. I light a few of them when I want to focus on writing my stuff.

Nick asked subsequently after hearing that:

- You're a writer? That's cool.

There was a moderate level of excitement in Nick's voice as he leaned his body forward, looked over and asked that question, the fox showed some genuine interest in the assumed vocation of the bunny by the door. Jill crossed her arms once more, she leaned her back against the left side of the door threshold and tried to appear just as cool and stoic as she did when she walked towards Nick and Judy, truthfully, she was taken off guard by Nick's interest and his question, she had no problem bragging about her literary ventures to her close friends or even her family, even going so far as disclosing the main details of her writing endeavors, but, for some reason, she found hard to put the words together to answer the fox placed right in front of her. Judy hopped in the conversation, Jill looked to the right and was relieved to see Judy giving her a little more time to think things over about what to say next, Jill had never fell such an intimidating energy before, something about Nick's presence made her wince and made her want to retreat, though, not with fear. Judy gestured toward Jill and explained as she praised her sister:

- Jill here is quite the talented scribe. She has won many awards on writing contests with her stellar texts, she even wrote a few published texts.

Nick had his ears raised over his head as he asked soon after:

- Really?

His eyes turned to Jill as he asked so, the younger bunny raised and lowered her shoulders without uncrossing her arms and spoke like the accomplishments and accolades she gathered thus far were no major deal:

- Yeah, pretty much. Just a few minor ticks on the list for recognition here and there. What I am working on right now will really put the wind on my sails. It will be my opus… sort of speak.

Nick stretched himself upwards, taking a better look inside the room as if he could see anything at all that would relate to anything close to the subject of Jill's work, after a second or so of not seeing anything that noteworthy from his viewpoint, Nick decided to turn to Jill and ask her directly:

- What are you writing about?

Jill's eyes suddenly glimmered with the sight of oportunity, though her facial expression and stance remained intact for a short moment, Judy shook her head slowly from side to side and Nick noticed that, almost getting a sense that he had said something wrong by that, he had unknowingly unleashed quite the torrent. Suddenly, Jill pushed herself away from the threshold leading to her room and placed her posture in a straight manner, showing the palm of her paws so that she could get into the correct mindset and gesture in accordance with her well-stablished trail of thought, referring to her newest written story as a true opus. Jill began the narrative, Judy braced herself for what may have been a long talk and Nick watched and listened well as the younger bunny explain:

- It is a true gripping story, a love story that veers off in all sort of weird and wonderful ways. So… there is this cool soldier guy and he is a true-blue machine of combat, he gets enlisted to fight for a shady organization funded by filthy rich nutcases, his job is to lead a squad in order to investigate paranormal and extraordinary occurrences around the world but given some time he is the only member of the original squad that lives through it all. On his last mission, before he smartens up and gets the chance to make things better, he finds this weird tablet and opens a portal to a dimension separate from our own, turns out he accidentally summoned this sexy demon girl to our world and the two of them fall in love as they work together to save the day, then it's all fight, fight, fight, save the world, live together, learn a precious lesson. You know, that sort of thing.

Nick froze in place, his eyes open wide as the abridged narrative came to a close, the details got a little loose by the end but everything before that called to his attention, reminding him of the greedy stories from graphic novels that he became more interested in as he became a teenager but that hardly ever read in recent years, far from the funny antics of shows and comic books that he enjoyed and that still called to his interest. Nick moved his eyes to the left and to the right, he saw Judy looking at him with a concrete expression, forcing her cheeks into a smile that said it all, before he looked back at Jill, eagerly waiting for any sort of feedback from the fox. Nick raised his left arm and pointed to the ground in a definitive manner before he said:

- Okay, I really want to read this book right now.

Jill nodded her head and pointed at Nick and at inside of her room, in that order, as she said:

- No problem. I can send you a draft of the first chapter. You get a quick read and tell me what you think.

Nick nodded his head and smiled widely as he posted his answer:

- Nifty.

Judy interjected in the conversation once more, she shook her paws slowly in the air as she called to Jill's attention and inquired of her while also explaining the details of why she and Nick were there in the first place:

- Jill, look, the reason why we are here and why I was so surprised that you are here as well is because Nick here was supposed to stay in your room while he is staying in our burrow.

Jill countered that straight away, she walked into her room to check on the candles that she had lit and said with a tone of slight derision to start things off:

- Oh, you call it 'our burrow'. I'm sorry to tell you, Jude, but you stepped out to save the world and things changed quite a lot for those who stayed behind. This has not been 'your burrow' as well for quite some time.

Judy frizzled her expression, staring down at Jill with a sharp look that could chop a clump of wood down the middle, Nick looked at his partner, not being too fond of that menacing stare, even if it was not aimed at him. Nick took a short step back, almost as if he was stepping away from the potential line of fire, and asked while pointing his left thumb over his shoulder:

- Should I… step off and come back later?

To which Judy responded with a quick show of her right pointing finger in his direction and a decisive tone in her voice:

- No, you stay right there.

- Okay.

Nick said without wanting to incur any more rage out of Judy. Jill returned to the side of her bed, the head piece neatly placed by the far wall as she reached for a secret stash of salty snacks placed right under it, she opened up a pack of potato chips as if the talk with Judy had been set and done in an instant, the crunch of her teeth over the snack punctuating it all, Judy was not done just yet. Judy took in some air through her nose and pointed to Jill with her left paw as she spoke up:

- Nick was supposed to stay right here, I called ahead and everything.

To which Jill relied as she still had a portion of fried chips in her mouth:

- Oh, I figured you would've heard it by now. The event I was invited to was cancelled just this morning, something about traffic and energy demand. They've postponed it 'till next weekend.

Jill grabbed another salty treat to chew on before saying:

- Sorry, sis, but your friend can't stay here, I am very much still using this room.

Judy shook her head from side to side, placing her left paw over her mouth and thinking things over, that little detail of her plan broke through, she truly expected Jill to be off and about since the younger bunny had a habit of following the beat of her own drum and visit places outside of Bunnyburrow, outings that usually took weeks before her return. Jill offered a solution, considering for only a second's worth of thought that Judy would come to appreciate the solution for that minor predicament, the younger bunny finished chewing up on her snack and spoke up:

- If it's a vacant room that you are looking for then Juliet's room is nearby and free for the taking. She won't be needing it since she is spending this month out of town so you can set your friend there for his stay without any problem.

Judy tried to protest, if memory served her well there was a particular detail concerning the location of Juliet's room and the location of the room Judy was planning to occupy during their stay there. Judy opened her mouth and the few words that managed to get out for her aired protest barely qualified for a case of its own as she spoke:

- But that room… it's…

She pressed her lips shut as the thought crossed her mind in full length, she clutched her left paw in the air and halted her movement completely while her eyes were directed at her sister and Jill was just standing there in her room with the certainty in her mind that Judy would grab what could be seen as a great opportunity. As Jill saw Judy halt herself before even ending that sentence, Jill raised a brow, chewed suggestively on the next treat she managed to snag between her teeth and asked:

- Something wrong with it?

Judy took one deep breath and regained her composure, Nick was not sure what was happening at all but he was put at ease once he saw Judy turning away and answering with a confident albeit rushed:

- No, there is nothing wrong at all. Thank you, Jill.

Judy began to walk after airing that acknowledgement which felt a little forced coming out of her mouth, she guided Nick back the direction they came from and a little past the connecting corner of another hallway while letting him know that she was sorry for that hassle, Nick let her know with a slow waving gesture of his left paw that it was no bother at all. As Nick and Judy walked away towards their next set destination inside of the burrow, Nick turned around for a moment and gave Jill a quick wave of farewell before moving closer to Judy once more, Jill reciprocated with a paw gesture of her own, moving her wrist in a small waving pattern while showing her pointing and middle finger to him, a little sign of peace, and stood by the door just watching her sister walk away with the fox in toe and the two of them disappearing as they turned the corner. Just as Nick and Judy went out of view, and assuming out of earshot, Jill smiled naughtily while reaching for another treat inside the plastic bag and spoke to herself with a low volume to her voice:

- Samantha was right. Nice ass.

Nick and Judy walked two more turns and at that point Nick was definitely worried that he was going to get lost inside the burrow if he was not paying attention to the direction they were heading. Judy started counting down the doors once more with the same gesture and finger movement she did before barging into Jill's room only she appeared more mechanic as she did that, her left wrist moved up and down guiding her paw in a sturdier manner as she counted down the doorways in front of her. Near the end of the hallway, Judy stopped her walk and released a long sigh, she then leaned ahead and knocked three times on the door directly in front of her, learning the lesson from before and checking if the room was indeed vacant, five seconds after her knock with no answer served to confirm it. Judy turned back to Nick and spoke to him:

- Alright, now I am sure that *this* is the room you will be staying in.

Nick nodded his head once and then walked ahead, he had to let go of his luggage momentarily to reach for the doorknob, the room was devoid of any presence, there was only a simple bedframe with folded sheets and a small pillow over it, the room was cleared out of any personal belongings and the space as actually not at all minimal, Nick thought that it was quite a nice place to rest and relax. Judy left Nick to enter the room and look around, the fox walked slowly inside the dormitory and let his bag down for what he hopped would be the last time for that day so that he could sit down on the mattress and get a feel for the springs on the bed, he placed his hindquarters over the comfy rest and deemed it as just the right amount of comfort for a good night's rest. Judy gave a couple of steps to the side and placed herself in front of the door just to the left side of the room presented to Nick, the fox noticed his partner moving away from the doorway closest to him and asked:

- Hey, where are you heading off to?

Judy pointed to the door closer to her with her left paw before tucking her arm close to her chest and saying:

- Right here. This is my room.

Nick walked outside of his room and looked at Judy, slowly reaching for the door she would enter to place her things that she had been carrying and dropping along all the way from the train station, Nick placed himself right alongside Judy as he looked straight at the door and tapped his own chest with his left paw before saying:

- Cool. We're going to be neighbors. How awesome is that?

Judy coiled up for a bit after hearing that, her mind initially thought about how uncomfortable she might be with Nick and her sleeping mere inches apart with a mere wall of earth and bricks between them, but her thought quickly turned to a more relaxed setting once she thought more carefully about that, she would still have her privacy and Nick would have his, they would be closer to one another and that did not sound so bad. Nick seemed to be very excited to be placed so near Judy's habitational space while they were there along for the trip and the bunny simply told him in answer to his question by placing both of her paws together over the strap hold of her luggage while speaking up:

- Very awesome.

Nick waited for a moment, leaning his back against the wall just outside as Judy entered her room to leave behind her luggage. As the door of the room opened with a small creaking of the hinges and the light was turned on, Judy could feel a sense of pleasurable nostalgia coming over her, that space was her own and it appeared to have been left untouched according to her memories of departure, she had stayed in that room for countless hours of study, training, preparation, doubt, it was a safe space though it had taken some time for her to realize that such a feeling extended through the entire burrow. Nick took a quick peek inside, letting curiosity get the better of him with no protests, trying to see what Judy's old room looked like. Nick could see posters on the wall depicting calm vistas from places far away and an enlisting poster of the ZPD academy that was dated from long ago plastered over a prestige spot, he saw an old dresser cabinet with the figurine of a unidentifiable princess from some animated movie praying a wish to a distant star and a bedframe that had a multitude of stuffed toys next to the pillow where Judy were to rest her head at night. Nick smiled but he remained unimpressed, he figured that Judy's personal space in her old home would be something exactly like that so he did not even air any snarky comments after seeing all of that.

Judy exited her room and closed the door behind her, she released a sigh of relief after figuring that the bedding situation of both her and Nick was sorted out completely, she then decided to point out to her partner that she would be returning upstairs to the above ground level to check on things, Nick closed the door to his room and just kept following her, confident that being close by to Judy he would be able to see much more of her home and meet more of her family. After making their way back up the stairs and on to ground level, Nick and Judy were pleasantly surprised when a crowd of bunnies made their way towards them, smiling fluffy faces moving towards them in a massive wave, crossing past the living room carpet and all of them, childish voices filled with excitement, yelling Judy's name out loud:

- Judy's home!

Nick jumped back, tugging down on the sling that protected his right arm as he saw the wave approaching but Judy did not retreat one inch, she remained in place, kneeled down, opened her arms and was gladly embraced by all of the tiny bunnies that wished to see her once more. It was one hug and greeting after the other, names that made it out of her mouth which she already had memorized, it was a great surprise to see all them there to greet her and she nearly shed a tear of happiness from seeing everyone. Those were all of Judy's nieces and nephews and they all missed they aunt that made her way up to the big city very much, Judy could see out from the corner of her eye as two tall figures passed by the corridor in the distance, no doubt the ones responsible for the surprise, her smile did not diminish as she greeted every one of the young bunnies in the crowd and they all had something to share with her.

Nick tried keeping his distance for a time, it was shocking for him to see so many bunnies gathered up in one place, advancing like that, to him it was almost intimidating but hearing the laughter and the cheerful voice from his partner as she became surrounded with family members gave him some reassurance. Nick leaned ahead and then began taking slow and short steps ahead, he walked closer and closer to Judy's position being extra careful as to not accidentally bump into anyone as he tried getting closer to Judy once more after getting separated, he could still identify Judy's voice in the middle of all the others as she heard all of the bunnies closest to her, one at a time:

- Gale, you grew so much. Tatiana, you look so precious in that dress. Steven, stop nibbling on that, that is not nice…

Nick hoped that his partner would just keep on talking so that he could find her in that crowd of fluff without any issue, he raised his left arm and looked down as he meticulously maneuvered his feet around every bunny on his path, his tail raised as high as it could go right behind him just to make sure that it would not be trampled or tugged as he made his way, Nick's presence and his gentle slicing of the crowd made all of the little bunnies keenly aware of his presence and they slowly opened up the circle around Judy as he came closer, the fox could now get ever so close to his partner and position himself neatly by her side just as she finished handing out the final greetings for the time and rose back to her feet to see as Nick came to be just a few inches to her left side, adjusted his stance and asked:

- So… are all of these… your siblings as well?

Judy had her ears twitching slightly over her head before taking a short breath and answering:

- No, not all of them. These are all my nieces and nephews. All of them are part of my family.

Nick had his eyes opened wide and his ears lowered as he scanned the room from left to right, it was still a little hard to process just how massive Judy's family actually was, he pointed his left paw at Judy just to his right and asked of her:

- You're an aunt?

Judy had a cheeky smile on her face as she answered:

- Of course I'm an aunt.

Nick looked at the crowd of little bunnies once more, repeating the movement of his head as he noticed how every little eye was aimed right at him and Judy, he leaned to the right and asked of her:

- Are you a cool aunt?

- Nick.

Judy did not even give the fox a chance to dish out a silly joke, as she was sure he was going for it, calling out to his name with a certain demeaning tone in her voice. Nick leaned his body back to its original position and showed the pal of his left paw to her before saying:

- I'm just kidding.

Judy shook her head slowly and then turned back to her audience, they were all now watching in silence, their eyes turning often to the figure of the fox right next to her, Nick had a soft smile on his face as he said:

- Quite the fan-club you got here, fluff.

Judy turned to her partner and said:

- Not just mine.

Nick was not sure what she meant by that but the cue to comprehending it came soon as Judy gave a single step forward and said out loud so that ever little ear in that room could hear her:

- Everyone, this is my partner and friend, Nick Wilde. He will be staying with us for a little while.

The crowd of bunnies suddenly walked forth and turned their attention to Nick, gathering closer to his legs and looking high so that they could watch and understand him a little better, Nick was suddenly captivated by their little eyes directed right at him though he did not know exactly how to answer to that, all of the little bunnies formed a great colorful expand over the living room floor and he was slowly geting used to that view, he was actually a little worried that the group would gang up and trample him down on the spot if he was not careful enough. Judy took the cue one last time, she turned to Nick and pointed to certain spots in the crowd, trying to introduce every bunny individually, even if there was almost no chance at all that her partner would be able to memorize every name and face there even if he tried really hard to do so:

- Nick, I would like you to meet Steven, Pan, Sasha, Katherine, Tai, Oliver, Marge, Stan, Sharon, Oscar, Jane…

The list would have kept going if not for the fox and the utterly overwhelmed look he had in his eyes, alerting Judy in a sort of humorous way that his mind was already starting to get overloaded with all of that new information. Nick tired looking to the precise direction that Judy was pointing at when she began introducing all of the young bunnies in the living room but he inevitably got lost somewhere along the way, Nick's eyes kept traveling around as he tried finding any point of reference that he could hold on to before he spoke up utterly flabbergasted:

- So… many…

Judy turned her head to the left to look at him with a smile but the thought spoken by Nick followed through as a new voice came from the other side of the crowd, a mature female voice that spoke in accordance to him:

- And there are still a few more on the way.

Nick and Judy turned their eyes over in the direction of the new voice, so did most of the other eyes in the living room, they all saw an adult bunny, walking through the colony of small lagomorphs, she was wearing a smooth maroon dress with extravagant details sewn into the fabric, carrying an infant bunny girl dressed in diapers and a tiny pik dress on her arms while supporting her to the right side of her chest and while her left shoulder was preoccupied with the handle strap of a purse which was loaded with supplies. The bunny walking towards the pair, effortlessly making her way pass all of the young, was very similar to Judy, Nick noticed that right away, height, form, ears, fur coloration, even the way she walked was nearly identical to his bunny partner, but there were some vital details that settled the difference in their appearances clear as day. First thing that Nick noticed was the scent given off by the bunny coming closer, it was not hard to pin down the perfume she gave off, more earthy and a tad more flowery than Judy's, it set a clear line of partition in his mind, next it was the coloration in her eyes, the new bunny had dark brown eyes, almost like the color of a hazelnut, those made it much clear for Nick to differentiate them and he got a better take in his mind on how to identify her.

The female bunny stopped her walk, she got just close enough to greet the two mammals that were held as the center of attentions in the house until her recent arrival, she gave a small bounce in place with a slight elevation and lowering of her ankles over the floor, blinked twice in slow succession and took one long breath before saying:

- It's kind of a bunny thing. We're all hardwired to live with big families. It isn't easy, but is one of the best feelings there are. At the very least we are never alone.

Judy smiled widely before opening her arms and leaning closer with the outmost care as to not disturb the baby being held by her sister, the other bunny showed an open gesture of her left arm as she gladly pulled Judy closer for the hug and heard as Judy spoke:

- It is great to see you Sarah.

To which she responded with:

- Right back at ya, little sis.

The two bunnies separated from their embrace and Sarah turned to the right so that she could get a look at the guest, the fox everyone has been talking about nonstop. Sarah looked at Nick from the top of his head to the tip of his tail, scanning him diligently before taking a single short step in his direction and saying:

- I finally get to meet you. Thanks.

Nick did not know why he was being thanked, Sarah's tone sounded so genuine and so direct towards him as if she should have known right on the spot the good deed that earned him that thanks. Without worry about sounding too conceited or fainting acknowledgement, Nick leaned towards Sarah and asked of her:

- You're… welcome. But 'thanks' for… what, exactly?

Sarah then turned to Judy and gestured towards her with her left paw, reaching for Judy's right cheek before saying:

- For making this one as cheerful as can be. I was beginning to worry when she came home all mope-y and depressed all those months ago, but all I am hearing just how happy and amazing you two are together and I'm willing to bet how much of a part you played in it. You saved her life and you make her life much better just by being around, if my sister is happy then I am just as happy.

Nick took the time to understand it all, it was such a nice gesture of Sarah to refer to him in such a way, like he was some vessel of agency that made Judy happy when, in truth, she was the one that had the biggest influence in his life by far, according to his point of view. Judy grew nervous after hearing her sister speaking, convinced that this was some ploy machinated by her other siblings to make her more embarrassed after her arrival, putting Nick on a pedestal and make her realize all too quick that there were definitely feelings of desire within her aimed at her partner, she knew that already, she did not need any more help figuring that out, the true challenge was leaving it out of mind. She tried cutting into the conversation so that she could guide Nick away from the living room but she was not fast enough, the little bunny on Sarah's arms reached forth and grabbed Nick's tie, the tiny baby bunny thinking it was some sort of colorful tugging toy and not even minding that it clearly belonged to the fox, reached for it and grasped avidly. Nick was surprised, feeling the tugging around his neck and being softly strung along while saying:

- Oops.

The fox spoke out and Sarah immediately turned in his direction, looking at his face and then at her own child, doing her best to reprimand the baby for what she was doing, there was a soft gasp from Sarah and then some cute laughs were coming from the other young bunnies in the room. Sarah tried reaching for the baby bunny's paws with as much finesse as she could, not wanting the fox placed so close to her to be mad with the unthank actions of an infant, Judy also tried mending things up, skipping ahead and trying to find a nice angle to position herself and help out but Nick did not even mind that, he was actually smiling all the way through it. Sarah reached for her daughter's paws with her left paw before saying in clear apology to the fox:

- Oh, my goodness. I'm so sorry.

Nick did not let the smile wash off his face and looked at the little bunny as she strung him along by the necktie, the smallest ball of fluff he had ever seen in his life demonstrating curiosity, bravery and quite the grip. Nick released a little puff of warm air from his mouth and spoke directly to the baby as he said:

- Hey, you can't have that. It's brand new and it's mine.

The baby bunny, listening to the fox's words but ultimately uncaring about their meaning, simply turned her sight towards him and babbled a single syllable as part of her still limited toddler vocabulary:

- Bah.

Her adorable tone of voice left the fox shaken in a humorous way, his smile melted as he turned to Judy and spoke up with a softness to his voice, being careful as to not pull too hard on his own tie during his head's turning motion while also letting out one of his trademark jokes:

- She builds a strong argument. I might be losing this one.

Nick's funny reprive reffering to the tiny bunny managed to get a few laughs out of Judy, Sarah and many other bunnies in the room, Sarah had to resort to showing the little bunny a dangling set of keys that she was carrying in her back pocket to let her to let go of Nick's tie, the baby bunny's attention turned over to the metal tingles of the keys, she let go of Nick and nabbed the keys almost immediately, Sarah was relieved that her daughter had let go of their guest but she also knew that she was not likely to get those keys back anytime soon. Nick leaned away from Sarah, straightening out his tie with a pat of his left paw, looking right at the adorable infant in her arms as she told him:

- This here is little Eliza, my first one. She has been a bundle of troubles ever since she figured out how to grab things.

Nick adjusted his tie and spoke up without losing his smile:

- Quite the grip on her, but I don't mind it at all. Goes to show that I still have quite the appealing sense for fashion. Most mammals would consider my choice in tie acumen… 'tacky'.

Judy released a sigh and asked of Nick with her eyes aimed up and at him:

- You are not going to let that one go easy, are you?

To which he replied:

- Not a chance. You know all too well that I make this look good.

Other bunnies flocked over to pry at Nick, they were now certain that it was okay to approach him since he had shown to be very friendly towards Judy, Samantha and little Eliza. Nick noticed a sudden and small tug on the right leg of his pants, he looked down and saw the crowd of bunnies coming towards him little by little, the firs one in the line-up asking of him:

- You're so tall. Are you strong too?

Nick demonstrated his left biceps in a moderate show of physical form and strength as he said:

- You better believe I'm strong! Tough too.

Then another one, a little girls this time, raising her right paw in the air and hopping in place before asking him:

- My teacher said that foxes can see in the dark. Is that true?

Nick looked at the one that posed the question, he would not have identified her if not for her little arm sticking up in the middle of that crowd. The fox answered and spoke clearly:

- That's true. It's also one of the coolest things in the world, being able to see around even when there is no light rules.

Another question came over, this time from a taller male bunny, clearly shown to be the oldest among that mere fraction of the housing crowd:

- Do you and aunt Judy arrest a lot of bad guys?

Nick was already prepared for that kind of question to come up at some point, when dealing with young kids questions about the police business are nearly inevitable as he came to learn from the other officers of precinct one who already had gone through the whole ritual of presentations and carrier orientation at schools at some point. The fox did not dread answering the little bunny and he also did not erase any chance to give Judy the proper credit and make her uncomfortable in the process, he took in some air through his nose and then pointed at both himself and Judy close to his side while he said:

- Well, *I* arrest the bad guys. Your aunt Judy here kicks them in the face.

Everyone in the audience gasped and they thought that comment to be the most amazing thing that they ever heard, mumbles began to circulate and Judy jumped right in the middle of that to speak up and tell every single one of her nieces and nephews to dismiss that comment right away:

- Wait! No. That's not true. Don't listen to him.

Nick turned his head to face Judy, making it seem like he was talking only to her in contrast to what she had just said previously when he was actually letting everyone in the know in turn:

- Actually, that's the truth. You kick a lot of bad guys in the face.

Judy approached Nick, leaning herself slightly against his left side and placing her paws over his arm while telling him with a frustrated whisper:

- You didn't have to say it like that. That's not my job.

Nick shrugged that off with a raise of his left shoulder, a slow nudge of his head and a slick smile as he said:

- Maybe not, but we make it work and I really like how you make it work for me as well.

Judy pressed her lips shut, looking at Nick with a sharp stare that told him how she was definitely not up for any silly banter only it was perfectly counter-acted upon by the fox's smooth look shot back in her direction, Sarah let out a little gasp while covering her smile with the palm of her left paw over her lips as she was almost certain that the fox was flirting with her sister right then and there. In a fit to make the situation deescalate, Sarah cleared her throat with a very clear sound, hopped in front of the crowd, halting the advance of any more little bunnies and any more questions, before letting them all know loud and clear:

- Alright everyone, let our guest get situated a little more before any more questions. Your aunt Judy needs to finish some things up while you all need to go downstairs take a bath and get ready to eat. Grandma and Grandpa will be home shortly and you are all a mess. Everyone, get going.

An audible 'aw' of disappointment was heard coming from every corner of the room, some of it wildly exaggerated as it came from a few members of the audience who were still looking forward to meeting Nick in the flesh. A little voice came from somewhere in the crowd, in the distant hallway near the end of the living room, one of the young bunnies asked in an effort to change Sarah's mind:

- Do we really have to?

To which Sarah responded with a commanding tone of voice and a wave of her left paw:

- You all heard me and I know I did not stutter. Get going so you can all get clean and then get something to eat. Go!

All of the little bunnies began their march downstairs towards the bathroom, they had already had hygiene supplies packed along, they all walked past, funneling themselves through the narrow pass of the nearby corridor so that they could descend to the correct floor and get a good stall in the bathroom, the rules of the household were very clear about not getting to join for supper unless all the preparations were completed. The tiny steps of the young ones drew further but one little bunny stayed behind, hauling along a small red backpack and hugging tightly to a soft plushie of a blue sparrow, she stopped herself before going over to the hallway and directed those beautiful eyes full of hope and fascination towards Nick, she showed the fox a quick wave of her left paw and then dashed off to do what she had been asked to do along with all the other youths. Sarah began to walk in the same direction, planning on supervising the comings and goings on the lower floors of the burrow to make sure that everyone would be ready for the arrival of Stu and Bonnie, she turned to Nick and spoke up:

- That was May, she doesn't speak much, but she thinks you two are amazing together. I will leave you two alone for now, we'll all be coming up to eat when mom and dad come back.

Judy nodded her head and raised her paws to the height of her shoulders as she said while releasing a long sigh through her words:

- Thanks a lot, Sarah. We'll be ready to join everyone soon enough.

Sarah replied to that with a little wink of her right eye before turning away and disappearing past the hallway along with her daughter, Judy was not sure what the blinking was about, much less Nick, but Judy was certain that there was something more audacious and provocative aimed at her behind it in some way. Judy directed Nick past the living room and showed him the rest of the house, the upper floors contained an observation deck that lead to a spacious balcony just outside, there was a big room with many mats and toys made to be a sort of daycare center for the youngest members of the family, the kitchen was very roomy and had the widest selection of utensils and assorted ingredients that the fox had ever seen and the tour arrived to its conclusion with Judy directing Nick out the back door and on to the last bits of the property to be shown just outside. The backyard was almost twice as spacious as the front yard and there were entrances on both sides that lead to different spots on the property, to the left a gate that lead to a path that passed around the outter burrow and back to the front yard and to the right a much narrower path that lead to the parking garage where most of the vehicles belonging to the Hopps family were parked, however the most attention worthy spots were just ahead.

As Nick stepped through the back door, passing around the two dinner tables in the kitchen, each of them capable to support plenty of food over their frames and plenty of patrons on each side, he was ultimately impressed, the huge stretch of land that he saw during the drive over seemed almost minute compared to the area outback. There was plenty of room for kids to run around in the fenced area of the backyard, a simple double latched gate to provide easy access to the rest of the farm, there were easy to follow side paths for support vehicles to come through without disturbing the fields and there were even more features to list. Over to the right by the edge of the fence where the yard met with the foot of the hill, there was a small out cove, built adjacent to the back side hill of the burrow, one of the few additions to the original construction made outward and clearly shown to not be a part of the hill itself but still connected to the house, an enticing looking gazeebo of sorts that could house guests for a long and nice time next to the outside air and calm undulations of the wind over the fields. The spot called to Nick's eyes and looked like a prime place to rest, nap, talk, read, or even just hang out for a while.

Turning to the left, Nick saw the next piece that took front stage in the backyard, a fenced garden that had an intimidating warning sign on its secured gateway, Nick leaned towards Judy while pointing a finger of his left paw towards it and asked:

- So… am I to assume *that* is the garden that I am not supposed to mess with.

Judy placed both of her paws behind her back and stood almost at full attention as she answered the question:

- Yep, that is my mom's garden ad no one but her messes with it. She has been tending to it for a while. It only takes a little bit of the backyard area but everyone in the house knows not to mess with it.

- Cool.

Nick said that with a touch of awkwardness in his voice, he definitely did not wish to cause any problems that would come to aggravate the relationship with his hosts. The fox took a single step back to distance himself from the garden's area, an act that may have seem comical in hindsight but he only did so to make absolutely sure that no part of him, not even a stray falling follicle of his fur, would intermit with the current state of the little garden. Judy called Nick over to follow her a little closer, there was one last thing she wished to show him, she opened the double latched gate leading to the open farming field, waited for Nick to pass through the divide and the closed it behind them, she was very excited to show what she had in store for him.

After entering the field and walking past the crops closer to the house, Nick suddenly became overwhelmed, his senses could only detect the farm air, the earthy scent all around him, carried over by the moderately strong winds brushing past that immense open space, it was almost like a sizeable piece of him had been taken away and flung back towards the far off limits of Zootopia and he did not mind that one bit. Nick walked ahead, following Judy's short but quick steps with wide and slow steps of his own, his head turned from side to side in a methodical movement as he absorbed the vastness of that place, there were no towering buildings, not roads of pavement or concrete, there were no loud obnoxious rings or even the all too familiar smell of exhaust, there was just him, Judy and that immense open field with crops and vegetables, he almost felt like there was a piece of him stumbling all over itself to walk forward.

Judy looked back for a moment, she consulted memory for a quick second as she made sure they were still heading in the right direction and that Nick was still following her closely, she saw the fox standing still in the middle of the path, his head looking towards the skies as his walk began to slow down, he was just taking a leisurely stroll with his mind wandering far from earth and a sweet smile stamped over his muzzle. Judy walked back and thought about poking his left arm as to call his attention back to terra firma, that is, until she noticed the fox stubbing his right feet and almost tripping, he did not even pay any mind to a small stone sticking out of the ground as his left leg stepped forth in a rush to catch him before he lost all of his balance o the spot, Judy raised her ears and reach forth out of pure reflex as she saw her friend tripping up all of a sudden, asking him as soon as he regained all of his balance:

- Are you alright?

Nick looked at her with his back straight up and his tail flopping down showing the shock he felt for a fraction of a second during the stub step had subsided:

- Yeah, I'm just feeling a little… disoriented right now.

Judy retreated half a step after hearing that coming from Nick, that was the last self-referential adjective that she expected to come out of his mouth. Judy leaned closer to Nick, looked into his eyes and asked:

- You of all mammals are feeling disoriented of all things? You never get like this. You always know where you are going.

Nick gestured to the environment around him, turning his body at a small angle to the left as he said:

- Not when I'm in a place like this. There are no buildings or street markers, no stores or alleys, there are no mammals pushing around and yelling to get through, is just green, dirt and the sky. All of this open space is making me feel dizzy since I don't have a map in my head to find my way around. Either that or the trip has left me more drained than anything else.

Judy had her ears lowered, she approached Nick with short and slow steps before reaching for his left paw, left hanging low by his side, the bunny grabbed his wrist softly with both of her paws and tugged gently before saying:

- You don't have to feel disoriented in any way, I'm right here.

Nick appreciated the words uttered by his partner, he walked a single short step closer without disrupting her hold on him before saying:

- I'll be fine, fluff. Just gotta get things back in order up in here since this new place is almost a lot to take in all at once. I'll take the time to acclimate, then I'll find myself.

Nick said that as he moved his ears around and directed his eyes upward, he also made a quick gesture with his right paw as he pointed to himself, a simple gesture that went unseen since his right arm was still wrapped around the sling. Judy noticed how she was holding on to Nick, her left paw providing some support to his paw while her right paw gently petted his knuckles, she let go of him after making sure that he would be alright but he did it so quickly, almost like the fox had just given her a minor shock, he found that a little strange, but any lingering thoughts were retracted once he saw the bunny gesture with a wave of her left arm flicking some air over her right shoulder as she said:

- We're almost there. Come along.

The two continued on the path, one last turn to the right and Nick could finally see the destination ahead. After a few more steps, Judy pointed to a path to the left and let Nick know that it lead to a big red barn where harvest supplies were kept but she took the path to her right and Nick followed close before he noticed that the paths that separated each of the crops on the field were actually very evenly placed, every vegetable, hedge, root and berry bush had its set place inside neatly enclosed patches of soil but there was one significant imperfection placed close to the carrot patch adjacent to the path leading to the right, a single solitary tree that opened its way through the hard earth with straight strong trunk, lush branches that trickled the light of the past noon sun and thick curved roots popping out of the ground around it. That tree had its own reserved spot among all of the other orchards and it was very noticeable even from a far, tall and imposing, definitely looked like a symbol of pride, there was a little bench next to it, dark wood being supported by curvy joints of rusted metal, rustic and inviting in a sense, the sight of it caused Nick to feel something very familiar, the same way he felt when he was stepping into the museum back in Zootopia not that long ago, he felt like he was entering a place with great significance, he did not have to wait that long for an explanation.

The bench was placed close to the tree, built at a respectable distance from its roots, it would appear as if some of its bolts connecting the wooden supports to the metal frame had been recently replaced along with a relatively fresh coat of paint to the seat but the metallic legs of the seat remained untouched except for the prospects of time, firmly lodged into the ground below to provide even horizontal support to the bench, to replace the metal structure would be equivalent to digging the very foundation of the earth beneath their feet along with a shard of history itself. Judy hopped ahead, she got close to the bench and grabbed a seat near the right edge, Nick followed her lead and placed himself by the right, the tree right next to him, from that seat the two mammals had a privileged spot to see all of the crops, as far as their eyes could see. There was an extended moment of silence before Judy called to Nick's attention and pointed to the tree while saying succinctly:

- This is where it all started.

Nick looked around, he looked quickly in Judy's direction then at the tree next to him before pointing to it and asking:

- 'This'? This tree, right here, is where it all started?

Judy nodded her head once and said:

-My great-grandfather spotted this tree from quite a ways away, I believe it was much smaller back then, he saw it growing in the middle of nowhere and he knew that this was the right spot to start his farm. The earth was good for food and profit, it grew along with our family and their ambitions, a groing reminder of how the earth has been good to us ever since. Every one of the Hopps knows the story and there were even a few heated arguments about the exact species of this tree, this spot is basically sacred to us.

Nick raised from his seat on the bench and walked closer to the tree, he looked to the roots under him and then his eyes moved up towards the branches, he saw how the pattern of the light passing past the leaves above changed and he was mesmerized for a second. Nick turned to Judy and pointed at the tree, he only had one thing to say:

- That is really cool. You are all just a short walk away from your literal roots.

Judy showed a smile before saying:

- I suppose so.

The two stayed there, admiring the scenery and enjoying the passing wind, the clear sky, the shade provided by the tree and each other's company until they heard a voice calling out to them, Stu and Bonnie had returned home and it was time for the family to come together for supper. Nick wanted to say a little more but he and Judy figured it was time to come inside and get something to eat along with the others, they returned posthaste.

After returning indoors, Nick and Judy were warmly greeted by Stuart and Bonnie, the older bunnies of the burrow had just come back from a transporting errand half a county over with lots to talk about but they put it on hold until they could finish welcoming their daughter and her requested guest. Stu entered the house first, he was immediately greeted by Arthur and the eldest son of the house listed everything that happened since they were out, debriefing his father like a responsible overseer that he built himself to be. Bonnie was carrying a bag of fruit that they had brought over, she was unsure what to do with it since she had no idea what those wrinkly yellow fruits actually were, they received the bag filled with exotic food as a gift but she still had to do some research about what it actually was before she decided to use it for cooking, that was the second thing on her mind, the first was seeing Judy.

Judy and Nick reentered the house, Judy was quick to hop ahead and embrace her parents before telling them that Nick and her had already become situated in the available rooms during their nonattendance earlier that day, Nick entered the living room and greeted Judy's parents but his quick salute was cut short once h identified a very familiar scent in the air. Nick walked closer to Bonnie, taking long and strong sniffs of the air as he came closer, he pointed to the plastic bag being held by both of her paws, she demonstrated the contents to Nick and the fox gasped with delight after making sure to identify the origin of the scent:

- Oh, sweet! Passion fruit!

The tropical smell now had a name and Bonnie was glad to know that at least someone knew what the cargo that she had brought along actually was. Bonnie saw how excited Nick looked and asked in turn while holding the mouth of the bag wide open:

- You know this particular type of fruit, mister Wilde?

Nick pointed down at the bag before reaching over and grabbing a single yellow plump from inside, he head it in his left paw and gave it a soft squeeze to check if it was ripe enough, Judy came close since not even her was aware of that type of fruit and she considered herself quite the authority in knowing about flora of all kinds. Nick looked at the bunny holding on to the bag before answering:

- Sure I know it. This is one of the most delicious fruits there are. Sweet pulp, nutritional weight, tons of seeds hiding the tangiest tropical taste, but it costs a fortune back in Zootopia. If you get the trick on how to extract the pulp from inside the thick cover you can actually make all sorts of things, juice, cake, even perfume can be manufacture with these.

Nick placed the fruit he picked up back in the bag before continuing with what he was saying with a question:

- You got a ton. Where did you get all of these?

Stu came forth and answered him:

- One of our well-natured partners from out of town gave us a gift. We just organized a new trade agreement with them and they let us have this full bag to commemorate. Are these really that good?

Nick nodded his head once and confirmed it:

- *Really* good. It has been a while since I had one of these.

Bonnie assured Nick that he would be most welcome to try some of the fruit for himself but only if he was willing to help her apply some of his own knowledge in the kitchen later, for the time, they were all going to gather up and eat. After almost twenty minutes of preparations for the two dinner tables by the kitchen, the whole of the burrow was gathered up for a nice family meal, Nick was occupying a seat of prestige, second table, right side, near the center, sitting to the left of Judy, his empty plate resting in front of him with fork and knife on the side both clean and ready to be used, he waited in grand anticipation for the meal to be served but the rule stood that no one would eat until they were all seated and the tables were ready, he would have to wait just a little bit more.

Nick did not have to wait that long for the meal he craved, Stu and Bonnie walked in soon enough bringing hefty servings of the food to be served, carrying trays of vegetables, fruits, baked treats, layered dishes all prepped to the whole burrow's liking, she had some help from Stu, Judy and Arthur and they had to perform a few trips to the kitchen and back to bring all of the food over. Nick was not the kind of guy to get excited for a meal unless there was something that he really enjoyed on the menu, fish and turkey were his favorite types of snacks, he was a predator after all and his body would often crave protein of the nicest caliber, but even the fox had to admit that the appealing scent of the vegetarian meal coming from the kitchen was taunting him since their arrival and had his mouth watering. A vegetarian casserole with a side of pudding, salty baked sticks of bread, pitchers filled with cranberry juice, pasta, mixed fruit and veggie salad, it was almost too much to quantify and the fox wanted a taste of it all.

Nick sat down next to Judy, she made a point to be seated by his left side while all of the other bunnies grabbed the seats that suited them the most around the table. After a little more time, all were seated, Nick looked around and he saw a few other members of Judy's family that he had not met yet, all of them greeted the fox and their sister with good graces before searching around and taking each of their seats, this was going to be quite the interactive meal and Nick was looking forward to it. Bonnie presented the spread over the floral table covers for everyone and told them to grab a plate and serve themselves at will but she had one last surprise for Nick before he began his meal, she called to his attention and spoke:

- Nick, if I am to remember it correctly, Judy has told us that you really appreciate our blueberries.

She said so as she looked at the fox, speaking with comprehensible tone and louder volume as she was walking all the way around the table to get to the fox's seat on the other side, she wanted to present the covered plate that she was carrying over to him herself. Nick shrugged Bonnie's comment off at first, not wanting to suddenly impose before the meal even started for everyone else, he accompanied the older doe moving towards his seating with his eyes as he said:

- Yeah, they are really good.

Bonnie was steps away from coming close enough to Nick and present him with a special desert, she placed the plate over the table frame and spoke out as she removed the cloth hiding the meal in appearance and, hopefully, scent as well. The reveal caused Nick to smile like a fool as soon as he saw the delicious slice of blueberry pie in front of him, a generous slice mind it, the fox gasped and raised his left paw closer to his torso before turning over to Bonnie and thanking her for it:

- Wow, thanks. You really shouldn't have.

Bonnie dismissed that with a waving gesture of her right paw, looking at Nick with eyes bursting with appreciation before she said:

- It's no trouble at all. We have plenty of it still so you can feel free to have as much as you want.

Nick was looking forward to having more pie just like that, it looked terrific and the smell was even better, it sort of felt like a hero's welcome to him in a way and he would not let it pass unappreciated. Nick had to summon some grand amounts of fiber to gently set the pie aside and not just scarf it down on the spot, he slid the plate of pie to the left and then turned to Bonnie to provide a quick explanation:

- I'll save it for later. That casserole over there looks amazing.

Bonnie smiled, satisfied that their guest approved of the house cooking before turning away and returning to her seat next to Stu. The meal continued and the emotions at the table were running in all sorts of directions, Arthur ate up while shooting sharp glances at Nick from time to time, thankfully it all went unnoticed, Stu kept trying to pull up some conversation starter or another with his sons to check up on all of the other stretches of the farm and make sure it was all functioning at optimal efficiency but that did not last long since Bonnie was quick to point out that the dinner table was no place to bring work or any stress related to it. Jill leaned from left to right constantly during the meal, trying her best to catch comprehensive glimpses at the fox seated about six chairs away from her spot on the table, envying Judy for having such bewildering company for the whole meal, Samantha and Sarah tried to organize the younger bunnies over at the other table as far as the occasional push and shove went with the younger bunnies and Nick just enjoyed his part of the meal in silence, retrieving slices of the casserole and filling his fork as much as he could before taking one bite at a time of the scrumptious supper, the utensils he had at his disposal were nice but also a little smaller than he was used to, he had to adapt on the spot in order to use them as well as deal with the periodic sting of his healing shoulder.

Judy would offer Nick some assistance but the fox insisted on doing what he could for himself, if he kept complaining that a small pain was bothering him from time to time than he was never going to heal up and be ready for anything. Bonnie released a silent laugh after hearing that, male boldness and hard-headiness at its finest. Conversations were dying down but Simon decided to go ahead and ask, pointing at Nick from all the way over the upper right corner of the table and asking:

- So hey, Nick, what is it like working alongside my sister?

It was a reasonable question, at least it may have sounded like so if most of the eyes had not turned over to Nick placing a great deal of pressure over him and at the answer he was about to air, all of the curious bunny eyes over him awaiting for him to speak felt a little repressive for some reason but he knew there was nothing to worry about. The fox played it cool, released his fork, cleaned the tip of his muzzle with a napkin and answered him but in a way for the whole table to hear:

- Working with Judy is great. We have a very nice work dynamic: She pesters me to get work done and I pester her to lighten up a little bit and have some fun.

There were a few laughs around the table, except for Judy who gave him a bump on the left shoulder before telling:

- I don't 'pester' you.

Nick smiled before rephrasing his answer in a more serious tone:

- Seriously. Working with Judy is the best, we roll around the city, we help mammals in need, we always have great support from the other officers and all of this cool equipment that is always state of the art. That is all great but the paperwork that we have to do is always a major letdown. I would be lost under a pile of freshly pressed paper if not for her. I would be way worse for wear if it wasn't for Judy's help every step of the way.

Arthur raised his brows but his sharp stare towards Nick did not fade, Stu gave his daughter a quick thumbs up, glad to know that she was so applied and was making such a noticeable impact at her job, her answer to her father's gesture was a simple awkward smile that came across really well. Following that, came another question, as Sarah, standing up and taking a few rounds around the tables with little Eliza in her arms, resting peacefully with a baby bottle being held near her lips. As Sarah bounced slowly and consistently with the little bunny in her arms, she asked:

- How long have you two been working together?

Nick made a few quick calculations by looking down while raising and lowering the fingers of his left paw, his answer came only a few seconds after:

- About a month and two weeks total by my count. Then again, we have been training and hanging out together a lot, so maybe way more than that.

Arthur was quick to lean ahead and inquire with a very direct tone to his voice:

- 'Hanging out'. What do you mean by that?

Judy pressed her teeth together inside her mouth, she recognized that tone of voice as one that bared some aggressive oversight towards Nick but the fox did not catch that, taking to answering the question without even looking to the right and catching the eye of the bunny who asked it. The fox started the answer in a simplistic way, listing some of the activities that he and Judy did outside of work:

- Well… we watched some movies together, trained and studied for a while before I went to the academy, we talk about life in the city or cool places we visited, we go get some ice cream, scout some nice restaurants, we also go on nice long walks while on patrol, we even get to hit the gym together back at the precinct. It's almost hard to pick a time when we were not hanging together.

Judy was a little worried at that point, Nick listed those activities like it was no big deal but it made it sound like they have been dating, for a while if not since always, she could sense that is what some of her sisters thought as well by the looks in their faces and her answer to that was to press her lips together, strain her tail over her seat and release a soft grunt from the back of her throat which was the reflection of an almost primal scream only heard at the forefront of her thoughts. Arthur pushed the questioning further, lowering his ears to the sides at a modest angle, sharpening his look even more and placing his right paw over the table before saying:

- So… you and my sister are… close. Even outside work.

Nick was not sure where that was going but he did not mind, he just went along with it. The fox's tail moved from side to side behind him, he raised his ears slightly and his smiling toned down for a bit before he said:

- Sure we're close, Judy has my trust. We are partners at the ZPD and we rely on each other to come out of patrol and of the office with all of our wits about us. I honestly feel like I can trust her with everything, even what I am most afraid of.

After finishing that sentence, Nick looked over to the left and saw Judy, slightly hunched over the repost of her chair but she fixed her posture right away once she noticed the fox looking right at her, she noticed the somber look on Nick's face and she did not know what to make of it, he was getting ready to speak something really important and she was not ready for it. The whole table went to silence, Nick reached for Judy's right shoulder with his left paw, making sure he had all of her attention at the moment, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and said with an epic dramatic pause before disclosing the crucial piece of information about himself:

- Judy. I'm afraid of scorpions.

Of all the things Judy imagined her partner was about to say, such a closely guarded secret was absolutely not one of them. Judy lowered her ears until they were behind her head, she squinted her eyes and shook her head as she asked:

- What?!

Nick was quick to explain that, pointing at himself and saying:

- I am afraid of scorpions. Ever since I studied the and then saw one of those things in a living display during a school field trip, I have been terrified of them. I can't even see them in pictures otherwise I freak out.

Samantha jumped in the middle of the conversation, showing the palms of her paws as she rationalized out loud, asking of Nick:

- Let me get this straight, you hate hospitals, robots and scorpions? That is quite the list you got going on there.

Nick was quick to correct the bunny seated almost across from him by only a couple of chairs, listing his dislikes as he put much needed emphasis on all of the matters that troubled him while placing the correct notions over each of them:

- Not quite. I actually *tolerate* hospitals. I *hate* artificial intelligent machines. I am *terrified* of scorpions. That is my threshold. That is how I keep myself grounded.

Samantha teased the fox by posing a silly question, taking him off guard momentarily as she said:

- What about… robot scorpions... invading a hospital?

Nick lowered his head and showed a sour face, almost as if that question punched him in the gut with full force. The fox let out a warm breath of air before saying:

- Don't you even joke about that.

That answer managed to get a few laughs out of the bunnies at the dinner table once more, Judy was ultimately glad since the new route that the conversation took diminished the amount of tension she felt only a few minutes earlier and had taken her mind to a more manageable setting, she even got to net a new interesting fact about her friend that went unknown until that point, a soft victory for her in a sense. Simon wanted to ask something as well, he waited for Nick to take another bite of is meal and swallow it before speaking up:

- Judy told me once that you got to climb the ranks in the academy after enlisting. Was it tough to go through all of that?

Nick looked over to the left and answered Simon's question shortly after readjusting his posture over the chair:

- It got easier with time, the true challenge was getting use to the schedule and the constant nagging of the drill instructor. Even still, I managed to get by. Like that time when me and my friends snuck out of our room to share a beer after the curfew, they still did not catch us.

Simon tapped the palm of his left paw against the hard surface of the dinner table before speaking out loud:

- Damn, Wilde, you're funny as hell.

At that instant, Bonnie raised her right paw without taking her eyes away from her plate, her ears were turned towards Simon and she made a disciplinary case to tell him with a clear tone of voice:

- Jar!

The male buck grunted with discomfort, there was no cursing in the house of any kind, especially when there were kids nearby and that was a definitive house rule to be followed. Simon reached into his pocket and retrieved a money bill marked as a five, Nick watched the buck pass the piece of money along and it moved from paw to paw around the table until it reached Bonnie who proceeded to store it away in her pocket. Nick was not sure what that was all about but he let it slide by as another question hit his ears not two seconds later, it was Jill this time, asking directly to the fox something that she really wished to know in greater detail:

- Nick, how did you and my sister meet?

Nick turned his head to the left and looked at Judy, his partner placing her head a little lower to avoid immediately eye contact with the fox or to any member of her family, everyone looked at Nick, waiting for a comprehensive and detailed answer, something that would connect the dots to what Judy had told them a while back, they would have to wait just a little more for it. Nick gestured with his left paw, pointing his thumb to the others seated at the table as he asked Judy:

- You didn't tell them?

The bunny beside him raised her head before telling:

- I told them the… 'broad strokes' about the day we met.

Samantha interceded by raising her voice and leaning over the table slightly to say:

- Which is to say she let out some of the juicy details.

Judy countered her sister's words by turning to her and saying:

- There are no 'juicy' details. We just… sort of… found each other.

Nick leaned his head closer to Judy and said with an enticing smile on his lips:

- 'No juicy details'? 'Found each other'? We must have very different memories of that time.

Judy really should have seen that coming, how Nick would just find a way to cut in and embarrass her like that, she lowered her ears and placed the palms of her paws over her face to hide herself away from the eyes of her parents and her siblings, thinking that Nick would just go ahead and tell the story without any filters but that is not what happened. Nick saw Judy's reaction but he did not act out without any thought about her or how she might feel, he leaned closer and poked her shoulder before asking her:

- Do you want to start telling them the whole entire story or should I?

Judy raised her ears slowly and then uncovered her face before turning in Nick's direction, her blank stare did not communicate a positive answer at first but her voice for confirmation came soon after as she said:

- I don't know. Why don't you just start telling them what was it like to you?

Nick did not take his eyes away from Judy as he answered:

- Because I think it would be for the best if we both agree on it. I don't want to step on any cracks here and we're still a team after all.

Their audience became anxious for a moment, seeing the two of them exchanging words like they were the only ones at the table, Samantha had a soft smile on her face as she saw that, leaning her head to the left and supporting most of its weight with her cheek over the palm of her left paw as she listened to them, she had seen that particular interaction between her sister and the fox before and she really hoped to see it again some time. Nick nudged his head towards the other occupants of the table and a quick glance in that direction showed that the other bunnies from the next table over had their ears raised as well, even the kids, wanting to learn the unspoken details of Judy's first adventure in the city of Zootopia now from a whole new perspective, his eyes turned back to Judy as he asked:

- So… should I go ahead?

Judy released a heavy puff of air out of her mouth before saying:

- It feels like we have told this story a good few times already.

Nick did not disagree with her, opening his left paw and gesturing with a circular wave of his palm as he said:

- It *is* a really nice story.

Judy released a little giggle before agreeing with him and ultimately conceding permission to go ahead and tell to her family the details of the story that she let slide before:

- It deserves to be told a few times more.

Some of Judy's siblings were looking at her and Nick with a sort of estranged look, her soft banter with the fox called to their attention, mostly to Simon who leaned closer to Dillan right next to him and asking with a whisper, bending his lips in an awkward way to the right as he asked with uncertainty and hoping to get some further insight covertly:

- What are we watching right now?

Dillan moved his eyes to his brother without flinching off from his seating stance, he placed both of his arms slowly over the table frame before letting Simon know:

- I'm not really sure but I think Arthur is not too keen on watching it unfold.

The older brother made a quick pointing gesture with his right paw as it crossed over his left one over the table, discretely pointing to the left and showing Arthur's expression to Simon's acknowledgment. Simon stretched upward, adjusting his neck to check up on Arthur as it was clearly staring down at the fox with a growing sense of disdain, he was masking it very well underneath his poise and cold demeanor but his brothers could still sense the negative output coming from him. Simon leaned towards Dillan again without taking his eyes away from Arthur and whispering with concern:

- I swear I can almost feel his blood boiling from here.

Turning back to Nick and Judy, after agreeing on who had the lead on telling the story in all of its intricacies, Nick spoke up, putting his fork down with only a few slivers of food left on his plate before he stated his narrative:

- So, back in Zootopia making money for everyday expenditures was a huge chore, even the average day of regular work out on the streets would pay for peanuts, that is why I had a lot of these 'side gigs' that would lend me more money. On this particular day, I was entering an ice cream shop to buy a large jumbo pop, I had in my mind that if I could melt it down and make a bunch of small ice pops out of it, the whole thing may amount to more cash down the line.

Simon raised his paw and, drawing a relative comparison in his mind, he spoke up:

- Oh, that's the old 'The stickers cost more separated than the whole full album' deal.

Nick turned his head slowly to the left until his eyes landed over Simon, the fox's narration halted but he did not even mind it after learning that his most simple, though not less convoluted, scheme actually had a name that explained it perfectly. Nick did not take long to understand the comparison, he nodded his head once and agreed with Simon while placing a short pause on his answer, letting it show that he was actually a little impressed from hearing it:

- Yes... that is exactly it.

Judy and some of her siblings turned over to look at Simon and the bunny seated closest to Nick was the first to ask:

- How would *you* know about something like that?

Simon tried to act defensively, poorly, the buck grabbed the glass of juice beside him and took close to his lips, he thought of taking an innocent sip of the beverage but he tried to dodge the question posted by his sister while simply saying:

- Just… something I… no never mind.

There was no need to dig into that at that moment so Nick just decided to continue with his story, pointing right at Judy as it came her cue on the scene and he did not mince words when referring to their first meeting:

- Anyway, she comes along, well natured officer, new in town, she follows me around and uncovers the whole thing up, thinking that a little scam of mine is worth getting all frazzled about.

Judy dumped into the conversation, showing a face of slight annoyance as she turned to Nick and said:

- I still can't believe that you knew I was following you all along and didn't say a word.

Nick raised his paw and asked her:

- Well, what was I supposed to do? Just look up, wave my arm in the air and yell out 'Hey, I see you.'?

Judy placed the pointing finger and the thumb of her left paw on the bridge of her nose and released a single laugh, her laugh calmed most of the audience at the table and Nick did not let that little pause take the wind or rhythm out of his storytelling, the fox turned his eyes back to his audience and continued:

- I did not give her respect, at all. She comes at me all high and mighty, trying to push an arrest on to me but, by all accounts, I didn't exactly do anything illegal or malicious, she scoots away but she finds me again on the next day that followed, coming at me with something urgent: A missing mammal case. That is when things really get interesting.

Judy looked to her right, seeing Nick with a bright spark in his eyes, a spark that reflected on to her, she recalled things from that day so well and she knew why Nick was acting that way, because it was hard for him to open up or trust anyone else, especially if that one in particular was a proud part of the ZPD who's officers might hassle a fox like him without just cause, not the case for sure but it was still a mode of thinking cemented into his mind for quite some time. Nick gestured with his left paw in the air in front of him, moving it in a small circle spinning forward to give his thoughts a little push as he kept going:

- She comes at me and… convinced me to help her out, I am well versed in the streets and I might know a thing or two about this otter who went missing. I do know, so we go together to the first stop in the investigation, the naturalist club in Savana central.

Sarah stopped the narration right there, she had a question that could not go unanswered:

- Wait up, you guys went to a… 'naturalist' place?

Bonnie followed up on that by asking with an uncomfortable look in her face:

- Isn't that the place where all the mammals walk around… in their birthday suits?

She asked so while gesturing over her own body, moving her paws up and down her own figure while still seated on her chair, trying to find the most suitable words to ask about that. Nick had no embarrassment in admitting that it was exactly what they thought of, the patrons of the oasis back in Zootopia had nothing to hide during their regularly scheduled sessions and the fox spoke up in answer to it:

- It's actually a little more than just that. They have volleyball, yoga, swimming lessons, tanning spots, massage parlors, art and music gatherings. I was actually thinking about joining up myself at one point.

Judy looked at her partner with surprise in her eyes, having her ears standing up parallel to one another over her head as she spoke up in shock of hearing that:

- Nick!

The fox responded to that by defending his opinion, speaking:

- What? I think it would be nice for me. I didn't mind all of the nudity, unlike you.

Nick turned over to Bonnie and said in a sneaky comment towards Judy:

- She was not comfortable with all of that.

Bonnie looked to Judy and then back to Nick as she revealed a rather embarrassing secret by saying:

- I don't know why, Judy here had no problem with nudeness when she used to live in the burrow.

- MOM!

Judy halted her mother from saying anything else but just those words called out to a few laughs around the tables, Bonnie pressed on as she spoke up, not even bothering on fully acknowledging Judy's protest:

- I mean, she used to dance alone in her room, all unclothed and free. She thought no one knew of it, but I did.

Judy tucked down, wanting to shrink out of existence at that point, not even needing to turn her head to feel the eyes of Nick over her, she lowered her ears and braced herself for any funny comments that the fox had for her or maybe just for a loud fit laughter coming right next to her but she really should have known better at that point. What came from Nick was a simple question directed at her, taken from the one detail out of Bonnie's embarrassing comment that called out to him, he turned to her and asked:

- You can dance, fluff?

Judy opened her eyes and turned her head to the right to face Nick, her answer to his question came soon enough, still showing her ears lowered to give off some minor defensive take on the conversation, she spoke with low volume to her voice:

- I... used to dance a lot, it was a nice way to stay in shape. I don't dance anymore.

To that, Nick showed a slow shake of his head from side to side and a single comment with equal parts curiosity, defiance and intrigue:

- I refuse to believe that.

With that exchange finished, raising the intrigue level of all those listening for the story to keep heading off, Nick turned his head once more to face the crowd and continued, noticing in the process that there were a few more bunnies on the other table turning their heads and prepping their ears to look over and listen along to what he had to say, he continued:

- We then head off to another part of the savanna, she got the information that she needed on a vehicle license plate and I knew a guy in the DMV, it would be no problem at all for him to pull up what she needed from the dataspace.

Judy really felt the need to add to another major detail on the narrative:

- Except for the fact that Flash and all of the other DMV attendants in there were sloths. All of them were sloths.

There were chuckles and giggles circulating all around the table after hearing that part of the story, Simon tapped his left paw over the table before speaking up to that:

- 'Sloths'?! There has got to be some shadow of irony joke there somewhere.

Nick raised his left paw in a roguish gesture as he admitted:

- In all fairness, Flash did manage to get us what we were looking for.

To which Judy countered:

- We wasted so much time there. The sun was already down when we left the DMV.

The chuckles were showing little sign of dying down any time soon but everyone soon silenced themselves and return to pay attention to Nick as he spoke up:

- Be that as it may, we were soon on the next part of the trail for the missing mammals but I did not even know how strange things were going to get from then on. We were at Tundra town next and I was sure we were going to get knee deep in trouble until I discovered that Judy here saved the life of one of the city's greatest…

Nick stopped himself short since she was not too sure how to describe the intimidating visage of Mr. Big for the family of bunnies without stepping majorly out of line, thankfully, Judy was right beside him to provide him with a softer term that did not discredit the shrew completely. Judy leaned to the right and whispered a word that helped Nick put the missing piece which would fit the story nicely:

- ´Entrepreneur'.

- That's it. She saved the life of the daughter of one of the greatest "Entrepreneur" in town. That just left me astonished. I was in the room looking in awe and just thinking to myself: … 'WHAT'?!

Now Nick really had his audience grasping at the story and what crazy things might happen next but, before anyone could even figure out the length of emotions that might be taking a hold of the main characters Nick had already moved the location with one quick fling of words. Nick made a quick waving gesture of his left paw, representing how fast the story was moving from their perspective, almost like the whipping shot effect from a movie, he swallowed some air before proceeding:

- Our next stop was the rainforest district, lots of stairs and suspended bridges lead us to the apartment of a panther called Mr. Manchas, looked like a nice and reasonable mammal, maybe some trust issues but I don't blame him for it, we were just about to get some substantial information out of him when the unthinkable happened, the poor guy turned savage and he came after us.

Loud gasps were heard from the audience, Nick continued while Judy stayed on alert by his side just in case his storytelling went a little out of line:

- He busted through the door of his own apartment and comes after us, almost gets the upper handle on us but we manage to escape. I think Judy saved my life two times in a row that day.

Judy leaned closer to Nick and corrected him:

- Three times. But who's counting?

Nick lowered his head and shoo it from side to side in a slow manner while letting out a sigh, he was not embarrassed or frustrated with Judy, he did had to recognize that during such a crazy situation she did her best to stay as calm as can be and think just outside of the box enough to get them out of a bind. Nick raised his head once more just in time to hear Judy saying:

- You were really brave that day.

Nick turned his head to her, giving his honest opinion.

- You were the brave one. I was a scared off mess.

Nick jumped to what may have sounded like the history's conclusion right after that, telling the Hopps family about how Judy fished out the main suspects and found the missing mammals trapped for research and protection from the eyes of the public inside of a secret facility, he told everyone how she came in front of the press and how things in Zootopia spiraled downward from that point on, Nick had stayed in the city during that time and he confessed how it was even hard for him to go to sleep at night during that time. Judy realized how it was the first time for her hearing all of that, she was out on the streets trying to remedy the situation and stop a major confrontation between prey and predator but this was the first account she had from someone else's perspective about how bad things were really getting out in the streets. Judy felt a certain pressure from within, her shoulders clicked and she felt short of breath for a moment, she looked over to Nick and said:

- I still feel kinda bad about all of that.

Nick gave Judy's side a soft bump with his left shoulder before comforting her by saying:

- Neither of us had all of the facts back then. We know better by now.

Judy gave a little positive nod of her head and Nick continued along, speedrunning through the end of the story as he laid out the most important facts:

- By the end of it all, Judy here came around to finding me, we tracked down the bad guys in an underground lab, she kicked an angry lamb in the face, we both jumped out from a moving subway cart and then we safely delivered all of the evidence that we found to the ZPD. That's the story.

The end of the narration had come and there was even a short salve of applause from all around, except for Stu who raised his right paw in order to ask one important detail that he was not going to let pass:

- Could you go back to the whole… 'Jumping out of a moving train' part?