Disclaimer: Zootopia and all related characters are owned by Disney. All other characters, product names, trademarks, and copyrights, belong to their respective owners.
…..
Judy was slowly walking out the door of the Midrats diner with Gunny Mulcaty when she heard Nick talking with Sarge.
"Sarge, do you guys need a lift home? It's not a big deal to drop you off, and I promise I won't let Miss Judy, Triple-X, Hopps drive, so you're guaranteed to survive the trip."
"You've got yourself quite the catch there, Judy," chuckled Mulcaty nodding toward Nick, who was showing his car off to Abby.
Rolling her eyes, Judy replied, "Yeah, I suppose. He's a pretty good partner, but he'd be a better one if I could figure out how to get him to do his paperwork on time."
"Of course, my mate's always on me about the paperwork too. I'm sure it's just something in the male DNA. Adapt, overcome, it's what all you females have to do. You just keep working on him, and I'm sure everything will be okay."
Judy turned and hugged Francis, "Thank you for everything. It helped to hear from someone who's gone through what you have."
"Gone through what we both have," whispered the lynx, "You've got my number. Anytime, day or night, give me a call.
"And Judy, I may be an old Marine, but I'm not a blind one. Nick cares very deeply about you. Talk to him, let him help you too."
"Can we Dad, can we? His car is so cool," gushed Abby.
"Sorry, girl. Your brothers will be back here any minute with the truck to pick us up. Remember, it was your idea to infiltrate the neighborhood from here so you could survey Derek's medical stores and add his order to ours without the wrong buns being any the wiser."
Nick did a double-take and then looked around to make sure there were no rabbits within ear-shot, which meant no tall ears clear to the horizon, and then whispered to Sarge, "You guys know about Doc Stoan?"
Abby chimed in, "Yeah, one of my brothers was working on one of our pumpkin launchers a few years ago when the drill driver he was using slipped and tore up the claw bed on his thumb. The dummy thought duct tape would fix it, but if it weren't for Doc Stoan, he would have lost his claw."
"Doc Livingston and his crew are good," added Sarge, "but paw surgery is delicate, and Derek's got the best paws this side of Zootopia."
"So, you do his supply runs for him?" asked Nick, still whispering, "What if the Town Council finds out you're helping a predator like that, won't you get in trouble?"
"Is Doc Stoan the one that operated on Andie's ear?"
Nick nodded at Judy's question as she and Gunny Mulcaty joined the small group. "Yeah, he runs a clinic on the down-low over by that park I pointed out earlier."
"He's good people, deserves better than he's getting around here. So, to your question Nick, yes, my warren helps him out as best we can, which means hiding some of his supply purchases in ours and maybe adding an extra bit from when the Bunnleys can afford it."
"And the Town Council?"
"To hell with 'em!"
"Dad!"
"Sorry, Abby's right. We do have to be careful, more for Derek's sake than for ours. Border Warrens are Old Law and have Original Rights from having been around since Bunnyburrow was established. So, yes, I worry Derek could lose his clinic, which would mightily piss me off, but no one has the right to interfere with a Border Warren involved in the defense of Bunnyburrow or the protection of her people."
Nick smiled, "And helping a predator Doctor with supplies qualifies?"
Sarge shrugged.
Judy groaned, "You're hustling the Town Council?"
"Only if we get caught," chuckled Sarge.
Nick laughed, "I like it, a mammal after my own heart. You know, between you and me, there was this time when I was running a series of table games in –"
"Nick! We need to get going."
"I think she's giving you the hook, Son," whispered Sarge.
"Later," replied Nick out of the side of his mouth.
Abby bounced over to Judy and hugged her. "It was fun finally being able to talk with you." And then, taking another silent sniff of Judy, Abby smiled and whispered, "You're so lucky."
"I am?" asked Judy.
"Abby, the boys just texted," interrupted Sarge.
Abby finished her hug, saying, "Yup, say 'Hi' to Janae for me," and then gave Gunny Mulcaty a bunny-hug goodbye too.
"Thanks for lunch Sarge," said Judy. "It was nice talking with you again. It's been a long time."
"That it has. Maybe we can make it so the next time isn't so far off? I know that all the kits in my warren look up to you. They're all very proud of you having become a cop, and they'd love for you to stop by for a visit."
Judy raised a brow, "And joining the ZPD is a better choice than anyone else going AWOL from the Army, right?"
"Of course, and I'll have whoever says otherwise digging a new latrine in a hot second."
Laughing, Judy hugged Sarge, and with all the goodbyes done, made a play for Nick's car keys.
"No can do, Carrots. You're practically bedridden, no way can you handle the delicate controls of this finely tuned, precision machine in your weakened state.
"Ow."
-/-/-
"Alright, my turn," whispered Judy to Sunni while leaning in front of Nick.
"Nuh-uh."
"Tail. Now."
Nick looked back and forth between the two whispering does sitting to either side of him on the couch.
"Meanie," grumbled Sunni as she unwound Nick's tail from around her, and pushing her soft friend forward a little, guided the fluffy appendage over to the waiting paws of her older sister.
"'Your turn?' Am I just an object to be passed around like some sort of life-sized plushie?"
"Nope," smirked Judy as she settled into Nick's side, his tail warming her lap, "Just your tail, sooo fluffy."
Pulling his bunny close, Nick felt her relax into him, and after refocusing on the movie for a few moments, he felt the quiet vibration of her purring.
Ever since coming back from her talk with Gunny Mulcaty, Judy seemed to be in a better place, not entirely back to her usual bouncy self but on the right track.
For him, the drive back had been the perfect combination of warm sun and beautiful bunny. He'd put the top down on his car and then patted the seat next to him until Judy rolled her eyes, slid over, and they held paws just like a pair of high school kits would.
Pulling up to the Hopps' warren, Nick parked next to a small pickup truck he'd not seen before and chuckled when he saw Kristy come rushing out of the house, hug Charlie, and drag him by the paw inside to test his memory skills in remembering over three hundred names.
Judy bounced over and introduced herself to Charlie's mom, Dana, and then led her, at a more stately pace, into the kitchen to meet her mom.
Bonnie was just as happy to meet Dana as Nick had promised, and the conversation quickly changed from deciding a pickup time to Bonnie talking her new friend into staying for dinner. 'No sense in spending all that time on the road going home and coming back when one more appetite through tonight's buffet line won't noticeably dent the leftovers.'
With both moms busy chatting over empty plates, laughing and telling embarrassing stories about their kits, it was left to Nick and Judy to properly entertain and chaperone all the young kits for movie night.
Nick was all about watching Adventures in Kitsitting, and, on his knees in front of the player, he was about to load that DVD when Nick learned the full extent of Sunni's newly honed skills.
Holding the DVD in question in his paw, Nick suddenly felt, but hardly saw, Sunni snatch it away and replace it with her movie choice.
Eyes wide, Nick looked at the new DVD in his paw, and after reading the title, intoned, "Ahh, well done little one, the student has now become the master," and then nodding sagely, he slipped Lady and the Scamp into the player and faced his most prized student.
With a deep bow of respect, Nick said, "Take this, Grasshopper, as a sign that your training is now complete and you are ready to face the world on your own."
Taking the remote from Mr. Nick and holding it in her paws as if it were a Shaolin Monk's sword of honor, Sunni performed a perfectly matched bow of respect, and then laughing, she launched herself at her friend and gave him a big hug.
"Remember, only G-rated movies for the kits, and bedtime is sacred. Okay?"
Sunni rolled her eyes, and pulling Nick toward the couch, said, "Come on, time to watch."
"Grasshopper?" whispered Judy as Nick slid onto the couch next to her.
"Yeah, she would have failed the final test if she'd picked the live-action version. I heard the lizards in that one were mostly CGI, yuck!" whispered Nick back, putting his arm around Judy at the same time he felt Sunni collect her fox-tail prize.
-/-/-
Janae grabbed a can of grape soda from one of the twelve-packs stacked in the pantry and popped it open. Taking a drink, she had to chuckle, between Nick and Judy, they'd supplied so much in snacks and sugar for movie night tonight she wasn't sure any of the kits were ever going to fall asleep.
Dalton was running late. Bummer too, if he didn't hurry, the only seats left would be the ones in the very back of the room where no one watching the movie would see what you're doing.
'Yeah, totally a bummer,' Janae thought to herself as she glanced toward the front door.
Figuring she should probably check in on all the kits, including the two big ones supposedly watching all the little ones, she huffed, 'If there were ever two mammals in the universe that sucked worse at hiding their feelings for each other than those two… Well, there aren't, so you better get in there!'
Waving toward her mom, who'd been talking with Mrs. Duncan most of the evening, Janae called out, "Mom, when Dalton gets here, tell him I'm in the big media room."
Bonnie waved back with a knowing expression on her muzzle and then whispered something to Dana, who looked over and smiled.
'Okay, fine. Maybe there's one couple that might suck worse at being stealthy than Judy and Nick. Probably a good thing Mom and Dad are focused on Dalton and me and not those two.
'Dad.'
Making her way to the media room, Janae sighed at thinking about her dad. Nobody'd seen him since last night when he'd asked Nick to stay. 'Not last night, and not all day today. And Mom was carrying on like it was no big deal.
'None of the warren gossips had heard anything about what they'd spent so long doing last night either.'
"Oh, well," Janae whispered to herself as she leaned against the media room's doorjamb. It was probably just as well that Dad was out in one of the barns 'working on something,' as opposed to dealing with the fact that his mate was hosting a ferret jill in their home, and enjoying every second of it.
And if Dad ever finds out how much one of his teenage daughters is enjoying having a teen ferret boar over for family movie night, he'll probably lose his mind.
'Poor Dad.'
Fortunately, there were two highly trained, focused chaperones in attendance to keep any untoward behavior from occurring.
'Right.'
Focusing in on said, soon to be fired, chaperones, Janae huffed at her littermate's borderline pawsy behavior and then looked over to where Kristy was holding paws with Charlie as they sat on a blanket along with a dozen of her youngest siblings. Charlie looked a bit nervous, but the doe-eyed glances Kristy kept giving him made it clear exactly what her feelings toward her soon to be outed boyfriend were.
"Ooooh, movie night," came a voice from behind Janae. "Where's Nick? I'll bet he'd like to cuddle up together and watch the movie with me."
"Cuddle up, yes. With you, no," replied Janae as she motioned toward the large kits on the couch, one of which was wrapped in a fox-tail blanket.
"No fair, how come she gets to watch the movie with Nick and not me?" cried Amy. "I'm the prettiest doe in Bunnyburrow, and I know exactly what a handsome fox like Nick really wants to be doing tonight, and I don't mean being forced to hang out with Jude the Dude and all her siblings watching a stupid movie.
"And look at her clawing his beautiful tail, how gross. He must be miserable. You help the Prude watch the kits. I'm going to rescue Nick and take him back to my room for some adult fun."
Janae turned and put a paw on Amy's chest before she could take a step toward her intended target.
"They're best friends and partners," Janae whisper-shouted, "You go near him, and Judy will pound you. Now walk away before someone gets hurt, namely you."
Amy huffed, "Are you kidding? You make it sound like your loser littermate has a thing for Nick. I talked to her about him, she's clueless, and she doesn't know the first thing about boys, especially him. I bet he can't wait to get back to his girl in the city and away from her unpainted claws.
"And before he hightails it away from Jude the Prude, I want him to know what a real doe can do to make him feel good."
"No! Look, Amy, this isn't like when you slept with Sarah's boyfriend because she didn't like your claw polish and the Council sentenced you to a month of bathroom cleaning. This is way-worse, Nick is Judy's fox, ah, partner at work, and according to ZPD regulations, she's got dibs on his tail.
"Which means paws off the fox."
"But…"
"No buts! If you're so interested in foxes, why don't you join the ZPD and find your own, and then you'll have exclusive tail privileges with him?"
Amy glared at the two cuddling mammals on the couch and then back at Janae, "Join the ZPD? You have got to be kidding," and then stomped her way out the door.
-/-/-
Nick's tail went in on his bunny for a tickle shot, but said stealthy tail tip was thwarted at the last second by the soft, yet firm, grip of its intended target.
"Nick, stop. This is my favorite part," whispered Judy.
'Butch-a, he says he wants-a two spaghetti especialle.'
"I knew you liked scoundrels," replied Nick.
Feeling a pinch on his tail, Nick passed the pack of red licorice whips to Judy and then crunched on a couple of Cheesy poof balls from the plate in his lap.
"Shhh!"
'On this lovely Bella Notte'
Judy kept her eye on the screen as she bent down and nibbled a whip of licorice from the bundle in her paw, barely noticing Nick nibble one out too.
'Side by side with your loved one'
The fox and bunny nibbled their licorice, staying focused on the screen until a slight tug turned their heads.
'You'll find enchantment here'
Lips met in the dark.
'The night will weave it's magic spell'
The whole room 'Awwwed' as Lady quickly bit the spaghetti noodle and turned shyly away from her scoundrel of a date.
'And the heavens are right'
Nick nibbled in the last bit of licorice that Judy had left, and seeing her ears drop in embarrassment, Nick leaned down to his lap and used his nose to push the last cheese ball toward Judy.
'On this lovely Bella Notte'
Judy smiled, made sure no one was watching, and then gave Nick a soft kiss on the side of his muzzle.
'When the one you love is near.'
Picking up the cheese ball, Nick fed it to Judy as if it were a grape and then settled back into the couch.
"Aren't they cute together?" whispered Sunni, eyes glued to the big screen.
"Yes, yes they are," whispered Nick to Judy, cuddled next to him.
A/N: Next chapter will post in a couple of weeks, have a great Halloween!