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CLASSIFIED: DO NOT READ
THE CONSPIRACY
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Operation Clock: +0 hours
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Disclaimer: The Fox and Bunny MUST Kiss. That makes this necessary.
Chapter – 6 – Drastic Measures
Bogo looked at his phone one last time before putting it away.
It had started and there was no stopping it now. Most of the operation would be handled by his subordinates, but he would keep a close eye on it in case it needed his direct intervention. He had other matters to attend to today as well, but he'd made sure that he would be closer than any of them imagined, just in case. Anyways, there was a Gazelle concert that he was determined to see and most importantly of all, even more important that the operation, there was-
"Dear are you done playing matchmaker?" came the amused voice of his wife as she entered their bedroom.
Bogo let out a cough before turning to her, working to hide any signs of embarrassment, "Ehem… I, ah… don't know what you're talking about."
"You're blushing again dear," she said, leaning against the doorway and openly eyeing him before coming over and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your little secret. I think it's adorable that you're trying to get those two cute officers of yours together."
Another peck on the cheek and she passed him heading for the door, "Come on, I've been waiting for weeks to go to this festival with you, plus we might even get to see your two cuties kiss."
It took Bogo a second to break his gaze off of his wife's retreating form. He coughed once more and with an exertion of pure will forced the blush away and followed her.
He needed to make sure that Wilde and Hopps got together or they might bring the city to its knees but he also needed to make sure that this day was special for his wife or else his whole world might come crashing down.
Jessica Hopps watched as the 'Begin Operation' text disappeared from her phone and smirked as she looked back at her laptop. She had to admit that the plan was good, but it could be better.
She logged back onto MuzzleBook and started typing.
Those two idiots were so oblivious to the obvious, that for the plan to really work Judy and Nick would need a little kick to get them thinking in the right direction. And she was in the perfect position to shake their entrenched notions about each other up.
It hadn't been hard to find the most bigoted ass, though that was unfair to equines, from Judy's highschool days and contact him on MuzzleBook. The fact that he was a stuck up buck from a wealthy family and had a reputation for relying on his daddy's money and persistently chasing any and every tail that he saw, made him great for this; the fact that he'd tried to bed Judy only for her to publicly reject him made him perfect.
It hadn't been hard for her to casually start a conversation with him, all she needed to do was post some comments on topics he'd commented on; her profile picture had gotten him to start chatting her up almost immediately. Then amid the chatter and his poor attempts to try and suggest she should go out with him despite the fact that she was already dating someone, she made some casual small talk about her family and her sister. A few mentions of Judy and how her poor sister was in the big city, all by herself, without even a boyfriend, and his focus shifted. Leading him on was easier than dangling a carrot on a string in front of him.
A few remarks to stroke his ego, reinforcing his exaggerated self-image of himself. A little gossip about Judy and her partner on the force, a fox (gasp!), and how Judy had told her that since she didn't have a boyfriend she was going out with him on Valentine's day just so she wouldn't be alone. It was like watching a shark scenting blood in the water.
Playing him was frankly so easy it was scary. Feed his ego, poke his bigotry, and hint that her sister might be a bit desperate and as the coup de grace, sting his pride where it hurt the most by mentioning her previous rejection.
The colossal ass wasn't even very subtle in his attempt to trying pumping her for all the information he could, clearly planning to try and add Judy as one more sexual conquest. If it wasn't for the fact that Jessica was sure that he was going to get his ass, and hopefully his balls, kicked by her sister she would have felt bad about it.
She finished sending the reply to him, giving him the location and time of Judy and Nick's meet up which was just what he'd been probing her for, happy that she was done with this sleazeball. She'd feel better if she could have sicked the police on this creep, though, in a way she was sending him to the ZPD giftwrapped and maybe with flowers and chocolates too.
Jessica shrugged at the thought.
Drastic times called for drastic measures, and pointing this bigoted ass in Judy and Nick's direction was sure to shake things up, and as a bonus, if he was as much of a degenerate prideful idiot as Jessica had come to believe he was, it would probably do the community a favor to let her sister deal with him.
Just to be safe though, Jessica pulled out her phone and shot Fru Fru and her team a warning. They'd have eyes on them and if things went to hell in a handbasket, as could happen when you were playing with fire, it was always a good to have a way to take back control of the situation, like maybe having a few polar bears on standby to stomp out that fire, or a particular creep of a buck.
If there was one thing in her small apartment that that was decidedly not comfy, Nadine thought, it was the shower. On the good side, there was always enough hot water which made up for some of its downsides like the fact that it was water, (she considered most things that involved water and getting soaked a trial to be endured, not something to be enjoyed, though there were a few, a very few, notable exceptions… like hot tubs). Her shower, while it did have plenty of hot water just simply wasn't sized for a tiger and the spray nozzle only came up to her chin. It made even a hot shower a chore rather than something she could enjoy.
Today however, it was almost a blessing because her ritual grumbling and griping about the shower served to distract her from everything else that had happened this morning. It had done a great job of that in fact, right up until she got out and started drying herself off. It was then that she noticed a faint hint of wolf's scent… her wolf's scent to be exact.
Oh, god, thinking of Ralph as 'my wolf' isn't helping.
She'd made sure to wash herself thoroughly, because this morning had been a prime example of how scent, with all their accompanying pheromones combined with mating season, could break anyone's control. So why could she still smell Ralph's scent? She couldn't seem to figure out where the faint trace of scent was coming from, not even sniffing around helped. No matter where she moved her nose to smell it remaining irritatingly vague. It wasn't on her arms or her chest or anywhere else on her as far as she could tell, nor was it anywhere else in the room; where ever she moved her nose to smell, there was that constant faint scent of Ralph.
She glanced in the mirror and saw her rather confused looking reflection, when it suddenly hit her and her eyes crossed trying to look down at her muzzle.
Her paw shot up to the side of her cheek where Ralph's muzzle had rubbed against hers right before he kissed her. She made a few idiotic attempts to try and sniff the spot, which made her look more stupid than if she'd tried chasing her own tail.
He… marked me… He MARKED Me!?
Her heart was speeding up again,
He wouldn't have done that on purpose, not without asking.
Her breathing was coming faster and more ragged and she thought back to what he'd said through the door. That 'I love you'.
Oh, god. If he's felt that way for so long… and then after sitting on that couch surrounded by my scent of arousal from last night… he probably didn't even realize that he started scent marking me.
This was serious, very very serious. This wasn't just some custom to wolves like with giving and accepting food, though that was bad enough, scent marking was so common, so universally accepted, that it was about as significant as giving a ring, in some cases more so.
Nadine's breathing was coming in gasps and she had to sit down before her legs gave out. Scent marking wasn't just about attraction, it wasn't uncommon for mammals to sometimes mark things important to them or something they were protective of, many parents even scent marked their kits or cubs. It was less about attraction and more about possession and protection. There was only one reason to mark another mammal that wasn't your child; you didn't mark someone if you were attracted to them, you didn't even mark someone if you were having sex with them. Marking someone was declaring, that they were your mate, your life-mate; it was bluntly, an act of claiming. An unmistakable statement that you were choosing that mammal to start a family with. And it wasn't something that could be done on a whim either, scent marks were different from a mammal's normal everyday scent, it was a holdover of older traits, it took emotion more than thought to actually be able to scent mark something.
Oh gods, he did that without even thinking about it, did it unconsciously. This isn't lust, he doesn't just 'like' me or have a crush, like puppy love, he doesn't even 'like, like' me, he's already decided that he wants to marry me. He's as far gone as Wilde is, he's just been hiding it better.
Thoughts of what this might mean for her rolled through her mind, this wouldn't be staying over at each other's places or moving into a shared apartment, this would mean moving in together, permanently. This would mean rings, and a wedding. This would mean having cubs together… and could they even have cubs together? She knew a coywolf in the legal department, but that was two different species of canids. She'd never even thought about having cubs before. She didn't want any right now, but what about later? And what about Ralph, some of her fondest memories of him were when they went to do show and tell outreaches at schools; Ralph loved kids, was great with them, he had all the makings of a great father. What if she couldn't give him that?
Nadine was sitting, her knees drawn up to her chest and her tail wrapped around them, breathing hard. And with every breath she drew in she could smell that ever so faint scent that wasn't hers.
He'd barely marked her, but it was still there, undeniable proof right there on the side of her muzzle.
She looked back at the shower, but knew that that would be futile. There was a reason that people joked that the only thing harder to get rid of than skunk spray was a scent mark. Marks weren't like the everyday scent you might pick up from close contact and could easily be wash away, nature had evolved scent marks to stay once placed, it could take weeks, sometimes months for a mark to fade completely.
She looked back at the door, in the direction her wolf was. She really only had two choices, she could go and reject him… or she could accept his claim.
Nadine started shaking. The moment she'd thought of her options she'd known what her choice would be. It was one of those things that you could debate and worry over all you wanted, but way deep down, you already knew what your decision was from before you'd even thought the question. It didn't matter how much you tried to delude yourself or talk yourself into a different choice because somewhere in the back of your mind you'd already chosen.
He'd marked her. She could accept the claim, mark him, claim him in turn… or she could reject him, make it known publicly that she'd refused his claim.
One or the other.
Meaning to or not, he had marked her and the answer was hers and hers alone to make.
A partial mark or not, it was still there for anyone who got close enough to smell, and he couldn't take it back.
One or the other
To accept or to reject.
She wasn't ready for this, wasn't prepared.
…
Nadine had once thought that she could face anything, had in fact been able to face every challenge head on... up until now. She simply could not bring herself to go and face Ralph. But she couldn't hide in her bathroom either, though she'd seriously considered doing just that.
Major Friedkin, the polar bear drill sergeant at the academy, had taught her well though. She'd warned everybody that someday, somewhere they'd run into a situation that would give them no good options, that couldn't be solved by their usual means. It was in those situations that the best officers would think outside of the box, if no solution or option was presented, then find one; if you couldn't find one, then make one. She could still remember the lectures she'd given them.
'If you find yourself facing an obstacle you can't surmount, then go around it!'
'But ma'am you said we're not allowed to go around the ice wall'
'then get a ladder and go over it'
'Ma'am, it's against the rules to bring anything but the standard issue equipment onto the course, and ladders aren't standard issue.'
'Then make one!'
'How are we supposed to do that? Ah… Ma'am.'
'That's up to you, but I've seen it done before. If you can't claw your way up that Ice wall, then find another way to get to the other side. There's not a single one of you that can get to the end of this course, use your brains and figure it out. Because if you can't figure out that solution when it matters for real, your dead! Hell, a bunny with enough brains and determination could finish that course. Shut it! That means stop laughing Cadet Delgato, or do you want to do that ice wall ten times? Good, do you all know who currently holds the record for that course?'
'Um… the Chief of Police?'
"That's right, Mason Adrian Bogo. He failed to get up that wall every time he tried. Do you know how he completed the course and got that record?'
'…'
'On his third try, he didn't attempt going over the wall, he went into the water, under it and punched his way through the ice on the other side.'
'no fucking way' 'Hell, that's crazy' 'are we supposed to do that?!'
'Did I give you all permission to talk? The QUITE down! I don't expect any of you to try doing what he did, what I expect is that you to come up with your own way to complete that course. Now get up and try it again.'
Nadine couldn't face Ralph because now that she'd showered all his other scent away, there wasn't a chance in hell that he wouldn't smell his mark on her, and she couldn't answer, well… she could, but it'd take Chief Bogo himself to drag that out of her.
So, after her mind had finally stopped panicking, she'd thought hard.
If he smelled the mark on her, she was royally fucked. She might not want to give an answer but she knew herself well enough to know that his look while waiting for an answer would almost certainly break her. So then, she couldn't let him smell it. Problem was, she couldn't get rid of it. Solution: Hide it.
Nadine wasn't one for perfume or fragrances or really any makeup in general, but she had some stuff left over from years ago, dating all the way back to highschool when she'd experimented with different looks. Luckily there was still a bottle of old perfume. She emptied it, nearly gagging on the floral scent. Then she got a bottle of Scent-Away Deodorizer out from her gym bag and emptied that too, then just for good measure grabbed the spare can of Scent-Away from her supplies, and used that entire can as well.
It took a few minutes for her nose to stop burning from all the aerosol, but when it did she couldn't smell the perfume or even her own scent let alone his mark.
Even the best nose in the precinct isn't perfect. And if he manages to smell anything through all that deodorized then he'll only smell the perfume.
It might just be delaying the inevitable, that mark was still there, just hidden, but she didn't have to deal with it today.
Feeling far better now that she'd prevented that particular crisis, she wrapped a towel around herself and headed out of the bathroom, her normal confidence and cheer finally starting to come back.
Another problem, though, quickly became apparent but compared to the one she'd just dealt with it seemed relatively minor.
Seeing as all her clean clothes were in her bedroom, she headed that way.
Knocking on the door, she called out, "Ralph? Are you okay now?"
"Um… mostly. Sorry about earlier. I, ah… after yesterday, and then the room with your scent and smell of… um, ya, sorry. I… kind of lost control."
Nadine snorted at that, grabbed the bookcase and started shoving it out of the way.
"What's the expression I'm looking for?" she said as she pushed, "Oh ya, 'At least buy me dinner first',"
His embarrassed whine from the other side of the door along with his, "You're never going to let me forget that, are you?" brought a smile to her face. Despite their almost romp earlier he was still the friend she'd come to care about, still her fun loving partner that she could joke with.
"Never." she said smiling, happy that whatever this was going on between them, that she hadn't lost the wolf she knew.
"You kissed me first! Why can't I kiss you back?" he asked still sounding embarrassed.
"Dinner first, then we'll see." She finished pushing the bookcase out of the way and grabbing the door handle. She tried turning it, but it felt like he was holding it closed from the other side.
"Ralph, what are you up too?" She said more amused than anything.
"um… "
That got her attention because while he simply sounded embarrassed before, now he sounded guilty as well.
"Nadine, um… before you come in here… I, ah… can I apologize now, so you won't get mad?" He finally said in a nervous rush, "I might have done something stupid and incredibly rude, but I wasn't thinking clearly right then. I'm sorry Nadine."
She sighed; with all the craziness this morning, trapping her winter-frenzied-sort-of-boyfriend-if-they-could-even-get-to-the-dating-before-they-started-rutting, in her room was probably not the best idea, though she wasn't sure what else she could have done.
The evil little part of her brain from earlier made a suggestion,
Oh, you know what else you could have done, remember how big he got at the end there? Wolves seem to have some knotty tricks tigers don't.
If there was a way to murder part of your own mind, Nadine promised herself that she was going to find out how and obliterate that little voice whispering those suggestions.
Muffling and hogtying that part of her mind she focused back on the present.
"Ralph what did you do?" she asked, trying to think of what might have him so worried. She'd left him in a pretty bad state; hell, she'd been almost ready to throw sense out the window and just give into more primal urges, for Ralph right now, it had to be far far worse. Taking a guess at what might have happened, he was a wolf after all and scents affected him more than they did for her, she asked while rolling her eyes, "Did you go through my clothes sniffing them or something?"
In any other case, she'd be pissed but she'd couldn't really bring herself to be mad at him. If she was going to date a wolf, start dating him in the middle of winter of all times, she might have to get used to a few eccentricities. It certainly didn't help either with the situation she'd put him in after riling him up before leaving him in her bedroom, so she was willing to forgive him a slip up or two as he got himself back under control.
Plus, she really didn't have a leg to stand on with how she'd used his shirt last night.
"Sort of?" Ralph said sounding even more guilty.
"Typical," Nadine muttered, getting tired of waiting for him to explain and pushing opened the door.
"Ralph we got to get moving or we're going to be late…" She stopped stunned as his scent hit her hard, far stronger than it should have, and coming from…
"Did you MARK MY BED?" she blurted out flabbergasted before just gaping at Ralph.
"I… ah, sorry?" he said not able to look right at her.
"Is this what I think it is, or is this something normal for wolves when they start dating?" she asked stunned.
"Would it help if I said it was?" he replied and she face palmed.
"Oh my gods, it's the day before were about to start dating and my not-yet-even-boyfriend just claimed my bed as his territory." She said in exasperation before frowning at a swishing sound that had started at the word 'boyfriend'. "And stop wagging your tail damnit! How would you like if I went into your house and marked your bed?!"
The swooshing sound quadrupled to industrial fan levels.
"UGHHH!" Nadine threw her hands up in the air in frustration... and the towel around her slipped and fell to the floor.
Ralph looked like she'd just hit him in the face with a two by four and stared at her; more accurately stared straight at her chest.
"Ralph," she started dangerously, "Are you ogling my breasts?"
Looking like all sense had departed him, he nodded his head enthusiastically never taking his gaze off of her chest.
"Un. freaking. believable." she said with a groan before snapping her fingers in front of her chest to get his attention.
"If you ever want a chance at making friends with my two girls." She said menacingly, "You'd better move your eyes up here," she pointed at her face.
Even as his eyes slowly, ever so slowly started to finally move up, Nadine was finding it extremely hard to stay mad while looking at the adorably dopily cute smile of delight on his face. Then, she saw his eyes.
Uh-oh, ok I need a distraction now… like Right Now! The reasonable part of her mind screamed.
He was looking at her like he had earlier… earlier when he'd accidentally marked her.
Her internal alarms were blaring, much to the delight and muffled laughter of the unruly part of her mind, still hogtied and left in a deep dark corner of her mind. The room was filled with Ralph's scent and mixed among its musky forest flavor she could detect the sharper tones of male and arousal, she could even smell the mix of their scents from their earlier romp.
NOW! DO SOMETHING NOW, DAMNIT! Her mind screamed at her, panicking again.
Nadine moved on instinct. That same fight or flight from the day before when she'd run. But this time she was in her home, her room and there wasn't anywhere else to flee to.
She moved, or maybe pounced was a better description.
She hit Ralph and he fell back, falling to the floor with her on top of him. She gave one short roar, her muzzle just in front of his and then was kissing him hard.
Umm… part of her mind bewilderedly thought at the sudden action, That was not what I meant…
You said do something. She argued back
Yes, but…
It worked, didn't it?
Yes, but what are you going to do now?
Um…
Better think quick because 'bad kitty' is breaking free… oh and he's making friends with the girls.
She suddenly became aware of Ralph's paws. He'd brought them up defensively when she'd pounced and they'd been trapped between their bodies. Now they seemed to be making the best of that position and were caressing her. She shivered as one of his paws moved across her in just the right way.
Son of a bi -, oh gods! *shudder* okay, what now, *shudder, moan* Some help here Please?!
Well of course his mother's a wolf, what were you expecting?
Help Now, Smartass comments later! Oh! *Purrrr*
Um… distract him?
Barely managing to summon the willpower, Nadine broke the kiss and then out of ideas, quickly nipped the side of his neck, causing him to shudder and let out a whine. She took the momentary distraction to snatch his paws away from her girls and trap them against the floor with her larger paws.
That done she looked back down at him, breathing hard. He, looked back up at her nearly panting.
D-did I just bite him? Oh shit, shit, Shit! She felt herself about ready to freak out but part of her remembered in time that he was a wolf, Thank the gods I've never told him about the intimate parts of tiger customs, he wouldn't know what that kind of thing meant to felines.
Ralph looked up at her still panting slightly. She was straddling him, had him pinned just like she would when they practiced grappling at the academy and precinct.
The position didn't escape Ralph; she could feel a rumble start deep in his chest and he raised his head so that it was almost touching hers.
"Uncle. You win," he said just like he had a hundred times before on the wrestling mats, but this time he didn't stop there.
"You caught me, fair and square, so what are you going to do with me?" he finished in a pleased growl, his rumbling deepening.
"Shut Up!" She said desperately. She wanted to whack that silly happy grin off his face but her paws were busy keeping his at bay, so she hit him with a short jabbing kiss.
His head rocked back at the unexpectedness but he rallied and tried to retaliate with one of his own. She'd been too fast though and had moved her head back blocking it.
His movement left him open though, and she took advantage of it, snapping a short hooking kiss down to the side of his muzzle stunning him. With his defenses weakening, she hit him with a series of quick and brutal straight kisses. She'd thought she'd about won when she realized he'd shifted under her in a classic shrimping grappling move. His leg got out from under where she was straddling him, crossed it over her leg and while pinning the limb, he bucked rolling her over to now sit atop her, straddling her and pinning her paws.
He took quick advantage of her surprise and hit her with a quick series of kisses, a few pecking jabs followed by a straight kiss that slipped by her scrambling defense, then another jabbing peck. She shifting her arm but he blocked the movement and used her distraction to hit her with a devastating uppercut nipping at her under her chin. She desperately tried shifting her other arm, actually got it free but he moved to interlock his arm with hers immobilizing both and hit her with three quick straight kisses one after another rocking her back with each, dazing her. Her defense was broken, she saw him rear up readying a wild haymaker kiss that was sure to be devastating and would probably do her in.
She whipped her tail around, hitting the inside of the elbow of his arm holding her paw. The sudden move caused his arm to collapse, sending his body shifting down to that side and his finishing punch of a kiss to graze her cheek instead of hitting her square on.
His weight was now off balance and the miss had left him over extended, a wide gap in his defense. She took the opening, executing a series of textbook grappling moves. A quick hooking kiss against his overextended neck to keep him stunned, she shifted the position of her interlocked arm pushing up while simultaneously grabbing his collapsed arm with her now free paw and pulled it down. With her larger size, she didn't bother with the shrimping move he'd used but just bucked her hips up as she pushed with one arm and pulled with the other flipping him off her to the side and onto his back. He landed with enough force that a blast of expelled air escaped him in a loud, 'Oouhff'.
There were the noises of a broom banging on her ceiling and some yelling.
"You kids were just rutting! Take a break already damnit!"
"Go Kitty Go! Teach that alpha wolf why pussycats rule!"
"Careful with your mate there dear, don't go breaking him!"
She ignored it all, and got up taking one step over and placing a hind paw on his chest pushing him back down to the ground as he tried to get up.
She looked down at him still recovering his breath. Ralph was a skilled grappler, she had to admit that in pure skill he was better than her, but she was bigger and stronger and that had always lent her just enough advantage in their matches to usually win.
She stared at him, the adrenaline from the morning, the tension, this fight and the kisses he'd landed blazing through her. She smirked down at him and couldn't help but deliver a verbal smack down.
"Give up, wolf. You're in my house now!"
There were some cheers, cat calls, and wolf whistles from the other apartments at that, but Nadine's attention was focused on Ralph because instead of looking defeated he was now grinning back at her.
There was a sudden tug on her tail that made her jump straight up, thumping the ceiling with her head, and she let out a startled yowl as her fur to spike out.
"Got, your tail!" Ralph yelled smugly.
She managed to keep her feet under her as she landed but Ralph was already moving. He kicked out hitting the back of her knee causing it to buckle forward and to fall back on him. He wrapped his legs around her hips and his arms under hers hauling them back and into a lock. She found herself laying face up, her back pressed into Ralph while he held her pinned, unable to move her arms, and this time her tail trapped between them as he pressed up close behind her.
"I thought grabbing a tiger by the tail was a bad thing," Ralph said far too smugly and kissed her neck, then the side of her muzzle, then behind her ear. She shuddered against his flurry of kisses and struggled but his position had countered her greater size and she couldn't break his hold or dislodge him.
Each kiss was sending a jolt through her and she could feel every bit of him pressed up against her back and rear. She'd always been competitive, never liked to lose at anything, but having Ralph pin her like this, having him pressed up against her, kissing her, was causing a reaction she'd never had before to losing a fight. And worst of all she knew Ralph could smell her skyrocketing arousal because he started rumbling happily.
"Uncle!" she called out desperately, trying to hold back the hot rising wave.
"Nope," growled Ralph in her ear, before kissing it, making her moan out loud, "If you want me to stop, then tell me how you feel about me."
"W-What?!" she shouted, though her exclamation was cut a bit short as he kissed her neck again.
"Right after you put me in here you said that you weren't ready to admit that you love me."
She went rigid. "And so what if I did?!" She said defensively, desperately, her ears going flat.
"That implies that you do love me." he said with a throaty growl that made her heart rate spike dangerously.
"I Admit Nothing!" She roared and started desperately squirming.
"That's sounds pretty guilty. If you didn't love me you'd have just said so." he replied in that growly happy voice that was wrecking her resolve and restraint.
Not having any good response to that she blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "A lack of denial is not proof of compliance or admission of guilt. Every mammal has the right to remain silent in addition to the right of legal counsel!" she responded verbatim from the police academy handbook.
She could hear a whooshing sound and was pretty sure his tail was wagging like mad.
"You're not saying you don't love me," he said far too happily now.
She felt his tail brush up against one of her arms he was holding locked back as it wagged. She snatched at it and this time Ralph yelped and his grip on her loosened as she tugged on his tail, which part of her mind noted with glee, was criminally soft and fuzzy unlike hers. That thought was not a productive thought at the moment and she sidelined it for later examination in favor of more immediate concerns, like not letting her wolf beat her in her own room.
"Your Ass is Mine!" she roared, finally twisting free of his loosened grip and rolling off him. She whipped her tail away just in time to prevent him from grabbing it again but managed to snatch his paw that had reached for it. Using the captured paw she dragged him over to her and grabbed his remaining free paw before he managed something tricky with it.
She blocked two quick pecking kisses, but the jabs were a faint and he slipped in to nail her with a straight kiss that connected hard.
While still reeling from the kiss, he'd had after all managed to get some tongue in there to devastating effect, but she managed to get her hind paws under him and before he could hit her with another devastating blow, she kicked out hard, lifting his body clear up and off of her. She used her hold on his arms to direct his short flight up and over her to come crashing down onto her bed, which let out a grating squeak as a spring or two somewhere inside gave way at the impact.
Seeing her chance for victory Nadine gave a battle roar and pounced.
She came down on Ralph before he could get out of the way, pushing him into the mattress and causing it squeak more. She pinned both of his arms, straddling his waist and hit him hard with a straight kiss of her own before he could recover, repaying him for the earlier blow and making the bed squeak again.
Ralph twisted, trying to pull the same move he'd used earlier to get out from under her but this time she was ready for it. she locked his ankle with hers preventing him from getting it under and around her for the leverage he needed to roll her.
He looked up at her, his eyes going a little wide, knowing she had him this time. She hit him with a few jabbing kisses but he fended off most of the pecks until she snuck a hooking kiss around as he'd turned his head and nailed him, rocking his head back with the kiss to continued squeaks of the bed, dazing him.
"You came into my house," she hit him with a few more pecks before slipping a straight kiss through his weakening defense for another devastating blow and more squeaks of the bed.
Nadine pulled back ignoring the noises of her bed and shouts from other apartments.
"my Room, my BED!" dazed from her series of hits, Ralph fell for her first faint and she nailed him with another hard kiss slipping her tongue into his mouth. He tried to squirm and buck out from under her, as their muzzles locked and battled but she had him completely pinned and at her mercy.
She pulled back again and roared, "I rule here wolf!" and hit him with a few more kisses that he could barely offer a defense against.
He bucked desperately trying to get out from under her, but she was having none of it.
"And your ass and tail are mine now!" She wound up and hit him with as hard of a kiss as she could, then did it again, and again and kept kissing him until his desperate struggles finally stopped.
She looked down on her wolf, now too dazed and disoriented from her brutal and relentless series of kisses.
She gave a satisfied huff, "I win, Ralph. You should know better than to try and take me on my home turf." Then just for good measure and because she wanted too, she kissed him again and took her time with it, locking her muzzle with Ralph's and running her tongue against his.
After that final kiss, she got up off the bed which now squeaked at nearly every slight movement.
Ralph stayed where he was looking only half conscious and with the largest dopy smile she'd ever seen on him stretching across his muzzle.
She reached over, picking him up and slung him fireman style across her shoulder.
"I want a rematch," Ralph said trying to shift around, but she prevented it and he didn't have any more fight left in him.
"I won. I get to make the rules now. You are going to get a shower and I'm going to get dressed, then we are going to go tail Wilde and Hopps for the rest of the day. Then tomorrow you're going to take me out on a date, a proper date… and you're going to bring me more of those flowers."
"Date. Flowers. Got it…" he trailed off seeming to happily contemplate that and his tail started wagging.
With him slung over her shoulder his tail was swooshing back and forth right in front of her and the motion was impossible for her to ignore.
swoosh. swoosh. swoosh.
Her eyes were nearly crossing as they tracked the movement of his tail because each time it swooshed across, it brushed up against her nose, both tickling it and filling it with his musky scent.
She didn't notice the low rumbling purr that was starting in her chest.
swoosh. swoosh. swoosh.
She tried batting it away with a paw but it just swooshed back.
swoosh. swoosh. swoosh. swoosh. back and forth, back and forth
swoosh.
She couldn't help herself. The next time it swooshed back in front of her she clamped down on it, not biting hard enough to hurt but certainly enough to trap it.
Ralph gave out a yelp as his tail tried to swoosh back but was stopped by her grip on it, blurting out, "Nadine! Careful! I need that!"
She gave it a slight tug and growled.
"Okay! Okay! I'll try to control it!"
She growled once more, then with her free paw to make sure that his over excited tail didn't get away, moved it under the paw she had over Ralph's legs to hold him in the fireman's carry.
You totally just used that chance to feel up his tail. Part of her mind accused her.
Shut up, it's fluffy and I claim it as victory spoils.
She was almost to the bathroom door when Ralph spoke up in that stupidly happy voice, "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"
She almost tripped on that, "Ralph save the compliments for the date and- hey!" she jostled him on her shoulder, "Stop eyeing up my tail and ass!"
"But they're gorgeous." He whined and she couldn't help the blush that appeared, she'd never been called gorgeous before. Most tigresses were less muscled and more sleek than she was, but apparently Ralph thought differently because he continued.
"Gods I fell in love with you because of who you are but your so damned pretty too."
She came to a halt right outside of the bathroom and had to admit she was glad that Ralph was looking at her ass and not her face because only one set of those cheeks could blush. Ralph's tail despite his attempts to stop it and being trapped under her arm was trying to wag again, jerking back and forth above his rump.
"Okay, Ralph. If we are going to date, and I mean seriously date, not just fool around then I'm laying down a condition on it," she said trying to control the wild blush on her face, "You are not allowed to use the L word until I use it first. Understood?"
"But Nadine I do lo-" she cut him off.
"Not until I tell you first!"
'But-" he started to whine so she bit his rump hard and growled; it wasn't hard enough to break the skin but was certainly going to leave a mark for a few days.
"OWWW! Okay! Fine, fine, I won't tell you that I Lo-, how I feel until you tell me first." She let up and he reached back and rubbed at the spot where his pants now had a few holes. Nadine's blush was raging out of control as she determinedly tried not thinking about what she'd just done, and thanked the gods that Ralph didn't know what that meant to tigers.
"Yeish, was that necessary?" he asked still rubbing at the spot.
"Yes." Nadine answered and then scrambled to think up an excuse, "That's payback for marking my bed." Close enough to the truth, she thought and then opened the door to the bathroom and put Ralph down, ushered him in.
"Get showered. I'm going to go get dressed and then I'll get your duffle bag with your spare clothes out of the trunk of the cruiser." She said and hurried away before he'd even managed to nod and close the door, still distractedly thinking about what she'd done.
…
One shower later and things between her and Ralph seemed to have calmed down. Though considering they'd been a pair of pants away from having sex this morning and then had what was either a fight or a serious round of foreplay (possibly both) that had left Ralph kissed halfway to unconsciousness, it would have been hard for things to get even crazier.
After getting dressed and retrieving his bag from the cruiser, she'd gone back to the kitchen to get some coffee going as she expected she was going to need it today.
The one good thing, she mused as she sipped her coffee while waited for Ralph to finish, was that her hangover was completely gone.
Ralph came into the kitchen and she offered him mug. He reached out but stopped and seemed to hesitate.
"Oh for Rajah's sake, I'm not a wolf, it doesn't count." She said rolling her eyes.
"Doesn't matter, your not-quite-yet-boyfriend," he said that with particular relish, "is a wolf."
Then he took the mug with a huge smile and gave her a quick light kiss on her lips before she had a chance to react.
"Thank you for the coffee Nadine," he said and sipped it, grinning then whole time.
Okay, giving someone coffee shouldn't make me feel so happy, that's just not normal.
But imagine waking up to a kiss and a smile like that every morning, part of her mind mussed.
Forget that, imagine waking up With him every morning, another part said delightedly.
"So, are we ready to convene our little operations planning session? I learned a bit about their supposed schedule as well as some other interesting tid bits.." Ralph said breaking her out of her inner turmoil over a particular fantasy.
"Oh, ah… ya let's get started." She drained her mug and focused her mind off of what cuddling with Ralph might be like and onto the job at hand.
…
"This is sounding more serious than I thought," Nadine said afterwards worriedly.
"Yep, I think you're right that they might need backup. From what I got, it sounds like someone claiming to be associated with the Bigs pulled some strings to make sure that Judy won that prize. It smells like a trap."
"Then why is Bogo having them waltz right into it?" Nadine said frustrated.
Ralph shrugged, "If you know it's a trap sometimes the best thing you can do is spring it. Whatever's going on everyone involved has been closed lipped about it. Best we're going to be able to do is keep a close eye on them until something happens."
Nadine nodded, "Right. Well then, you ready to roll partner?"
Ralph grinned and nodded but then stopped and looked her up and down seeming a little confused at her choice of clothing.
"You are bringing along more than your claws, right?" he said lifting up his casually untucked shirt enough that she could see the tranq pistol and pawcuffs holstered discretely under it.
"Of course," she said crossing her arms, grinning back at him.
He looked at her snuggly comfortable jeans and shirt, seeming more confused, "Um, really? Because while you look amazing, I can't see where you're going to put anything."
Her grin widened and she turned, heading for the front door, "Ralph, I've already got my gear on me. Now, let's get going."
"But where?" he said, sounding flummoxed.
Nadine couldn't help the chuckle or the slight flicking of her tail, knowing he was scrutinizing her, trying to figure out where her pistol and cuffs where.
"I'll leave that up to you to figure out. You're a police officer aren't you?" she said as she opened the door and Ralph hurried to catch up to her.
His bewilderment kept her amused until they got to the lobby, and a wave of cheers and congratulations hit them.
"Megan!" Nadine shouted at the small bobcat taking pictures of them. She was sure that the cat was the instigator of this; Friend or not Nadine swore to herself that she was going to find a way to get back at her for today. She was a tiger, she knew how to stalk and wait for the perfect opportunity, and when she struck, she was going to return the embarrassment tenfold.
"Nadine, we just wanted to show our support!" she said smugly, snapping more pictures just as Nadine noticed Ralph had somehow managed to clasp their paws together and scoot up next to her making them look like an overly cliché couple.
"Ralph!" She said blushing, and he looked up at her, a huge smile across his muzzle… that disappeared as Mrs. Woolstein came out of the lobby office.
"What's all this racket now?" the old sheep said before her eyes narrowed and her cane coming up to point like a rifle sighting a mark, right at Megan who didn't look nearly as smug as she had a second before.
"Girl, you know the rules, if you want to throw a party for them then you can schedule to use the patio." She sniffed disdainfully and speared the bobcat with a look that promised a full lecture, "And if I ever catch you or any of the other tenets," she glared at the crowd, "making bets again on which one of them is going to come out on top, I'll double your rent. The gall of you youngsters intruding on their private time like that! Why in my day we'd-"
"WHAT?!" Nadine's voice nearly roared in a high squeaky tone as her head swiveled over to Megan, "You did, WHAT?!"
Megan tried to shrug off her look nonchalantly but Nadine saw her tuck something suspiciously like a roll of bills, into her pocket, "Oh, you know… I was just supporting us cats," She tried saying like it was nothing, "Mr. Smith said that you should have known what you were getting into, mating with an alpha wolf and all and I told him to stuff it, that a feline is always going to come out on top of a canid. When he got your tail…" she shrugged grinning, "Well... we just put a friendly wager on it."
Nadine was staring at her slack jawed, and Megan's self-assured feline smugness seeming to auto-right itself like a gyroscope. She looked back up at her grinning, "And you sure showed him! 'This is my house!' Ha!" she gave her a thumbs-up before smirking at Ralph, "How does it feel to get your ass owned in bed by a cat, wolf?"
Ralph, blushing now too, though he seemed more amused by Megan's comment than anything, rubbed the back of his pants and muttered, "She's definitely a fine she-wolf, has a hell of a bite too."
Megan looked startled for half a second, staring at where he was rubbing, then at his chagrinned smile and then at Nadine's crimson face before her expression started to shift towards delight.
A feeling of horror started to build in Nadine's stomach seeing that look.
The little bobcat's paws shot to her face as she let out a squeal worthy of Clawhauser.
"Nadine! You didn't! O M G, When are you two-" a cane whacked her on the head cutting off her excitement as she let out a yowling, 'OWW!'. Megan jumped away from the old ewe and dashed for the stairs, but not before the surprisingly swift old sheep managed to swat her good across her rear with the cane.
The 'thwack' sound of the cane as it connected sent Megan nearly flying up the staircase clutching at the spot and yowling the entire way.
Mrs. Woolstien waved the cane at the retreating figure, all the while lecturing her about how she'd better start behaving or she'd give her a proper switching like she deserved."
Ralph looked up at her and asked, "What's the deal with the bite?"
Nadine's face seemed to catch on fire, "Nothing!" she said far too quickly, "Just… just a cat thing and Megan being Megan-"
The crack of Mrs. Woolstien's cane hitting the floor caused both of them to look over at the ewe who'd turned and was heading straight for them, muttering about how Megan needed to stop being a headstrong wild-child and find a mate to settle her down.
Ralph involuntarily clutched at his backside and then there was a small subtly fight between them that ended with Nadine behind Ralph, and him looking at her like she'd just thrown him under a bus.
There came a final crack as the cane came to rest against the floor with Mrs. Woolstien in front of them. Nadine couldn't help but squeeze Ralphs paw as she looked at the terrifying little landlady.
"Now young man, I take it that we won't have to have this morning's discussion again?" she asked and Ralph nodded as fast as he could.
"Yes ma'am, I'm going to take care of her properly, I swear." He said quickly, still nodding.
"Good, now that all of this hullabaloo is over," she glared back at the remaining mammals in the lobby who quickly seemed to realize they were all late for something and went rushing off, "I wanted to talk to you two about the apartment." Nadine tried to speak but the little old sheep ran right over her, not seeming to even notice. "That flat is too small for the both of you. There's a vacancy in the floor above in one of the larger units, granted the ceilings aren't any higher but there's enough space for a new couple starting a family. I'm having it renovated at the moment and I'll make sure that they put some extra insulation in the main bedroom so that you two won't have to deal with over enthusiastic neighbors butting their snouts in where they don't belong." She gave another disdainful sniff at that. "It should be ready by the end of next week so you two can move in then. Now, run along for the day and don't go getting into any trouble, I'll leave the paperwork for the new apartment in your mailbox." She turned away and headed back toward her office.
Nadine was about to protest that they were just starting to date and that they were not about to move in together, but the 'crack, crack, crack' of the cane against the floor as the Mrs. Woolstein walked away stopped her every time she opened her mouth.
The old ewe stopped at the door and turned back to level her gaze on them, "Oh, and what are you two doing about your last names? I need to know for the lease agreement."
"Um…" Ralph looked up at her desperately and whispered, "What the hell are we supposed to say?!"
"Ah, we're… ah. Still discussing it. Um… we'll tell you when we figure it out, but we've got to go or we're going to be late!" Nadine finished in a rush.
That answer didn't seem to pass muster with her and she looked like she was about to start in on them and explain just how it was done in the proper good old days. Ralph pulled out his phone and glanced at it, "Oh my gosh, look at the time! Nadine we have to hurry! Sorry Mrs. Woolstein, we really have to go."
The two of them fled toward the front doors, as the ewe called out after them, "I expect you two to figure it out before the apartment is ready!"
They didn't stop till they had escaped the building and we're hiding in the cruiser.
"Sheep are not supposed to be terrifying." Ralph said catching his breath from their sprint, "I thought little old ladies were supposed to be sweet not… not that!"
"She turned to the crotchety side of the force. Hell, she'd even terrify sith lords."
Ralph laughed at that, "I forget how much of a nerd you are sometimes."
"Nerd?! I'm not the one with the collector's edition set of Starwars DVDs." She shot back only to see him grin.
"So, are you moving in with your nerdy boyfriend next week? I can bring that collector's edition for us to watch." he said waggling his eyebrows and she groaned.
"We haven't even started dating, Ralph!" she said slumping back in the seat.
"So, you're going to tell her that we're not moving in? I'll make sure to have an ambulance there and ready for when she fries you with lighting… or just canes you."
"Hell no, I want to live, anyway isn't that the boyfriend's job?" His tail started wagging, "perspective-boyfriend's job." She corrected quickly with another groan.
He gave her a peck on her muzzle, "You can ask your boyfriend for anything, he'd even face the evil crotchety old sheep for you."
"Arghh!", Nadine grabbed her head in exasperation, then with one paw gestured forward groaning, "Just… Just, drive."
The barista behind the counter looked back over at the nervous bunny sitting at the same table she always did, and hid a smile. The two small ZPD officers always met at that table, the sight had become so common that the staff had declared it the official WildeHopps table and kept it unofficial reserved for the two, not that keeping it clear was hard; all the other regulars knew it was their table as well.
"Think today's gonna be the day?" the Barista's coworker, an antelope, asked from behind the register after finishing with the last customer in line.
"Maybe, this isn't their usual meet up for work and today is Valentine's day." She looked back over at the bunny anxiously glancing toward the door.
"It had better be today, I don't think any of us or the customers can survive the rest of winter watching this every day." He said gesturing at the bunny, who was now fidgeting with her clothes, "You made sure to give her decaf right? She looks like she might be about to pass out from nerves."
"Of course! I'm not an idiot! But if you think this is bad just wait till the fox gets here. He's going to stand outside that window twice as long as he does on a normal morning, stealing glances at her and working up the nerve to come in."
"Three times as long, if her nerves are anything to judge by." The antelope said then stopped, seeming to think hard before leaning back to the Oryx barista and whispering, "You know that one tea pack that's supposed to be a bit of an aphrodisiac?" the barista nodded locking intrigued, "what if we put some of that in his usual order? You know give him a little extra incentive to finally make a move; might even get her to finally realize that he's interested in her if he 'standing at attention' around her."
The barista looked back over at the bunny, now unconsciously stroking her long ears back in a nervous tick, and carefully said, "That would be like adding an extra shot of espresso to his drink 'on the house' right?"
The antelope nodded, "Right. Nothing wrong with giving our best customers an extra free shot… or two."
"Humm… Espressos got a strong flavor, could cover up quite a bit of that tea, better make sure your hoof doesn't slip and dump a whole carton in it."
Some more nodding, "I'll try not to, but you know how clumsy I am. Well, I'd better go get his order ready, he'll be here soon."
The antelope hurried off, just as there was a chime from the bell over the door. The barista saw the bunny's ears jump straight up as she glanced at the door, only for them to drop back down as she didn't see her fox, but only a brown bunny buck enter. She looked back at the table, disappointment clearly showing on her face as she started fiddling with her coffee cup again.
As Judy sat in the coffee house that she and Nick used as their meeting spot, she couldn't ever remember feeling this nervous, happy, sad and generally conflicted. She was going with Nick on what she could guiltily pretend was a date. The going on a 'date' part with Nick was something from her daydreams (her night time dreams about Nick were not nearly so PG). The part that curbed her happiness though, was that she'd have to act like this was just her going with him as a friend to a couple events, not going out on a date with the mammal her heart was fixed on. Then there was the guilt because Nick already had someone and she felt like she was using the bump in their relationship to steal him away. It didn't matter how much she tried to convince herself that was not what she was doing, didn't matter how many times she'd swore to herself that she wouldn't try to steal him away when he was already in love, it still felt like that was exactly what she was doing. And the fact that she wanted to steal him away, claim him for herself despite what his heart felt made her feel like the worst friend ever.
The bell over the door chimed and she glanced at it hoping to see Nick but only saw some buck. She turned back and reached out for her coffee cup losing herself in her thoughts again.
However much she wanted them to be more, she was still Nick's friend, his best friend. Whatever had happened between him and his sweetheart, it had hurt him; she couldn't help the hope that it might end things between them and that she might have a chance, but she'd seen past his mask, seen the pain there. He must really love that vixen for a rough patch in his relationship to hurt like that. And if nothing else Judy was his friend, she'd always be his friend; If he needed a friend's support and a bit of a distraction on Valentine's day because of relationship issues, she would be there for him. She would make the day as fun as possible for him and she would not try to use it to put a wedge between him and his love. And if she got the chance to pretend, just to herself, just for one day, that he was dating her, that he was in love with her, not some stupid vixen that would never be good enough for her fox, well… it didn't hurt anyone else…
The presence of someone else interrupted her thoughts and she looked up from her coffee to see the buck that had entered a few moments ago standing at her table. He seemed vaguely familiar for some reason. Her mind, though, couldn't help making an automatic comparison between him and her fox and tallying up how just at a glance how her fox already had him beat in every way.
Nick's fur was a stunning russet and cream that she could stare at all day, the buck was a boring brown with dirty white.
Nick was sleek and lithe, and after finishing at the academy, his naturally predator frame had become even more toned. Watching his muscles flex and ripple under his fur when they worked out, especially when he was shirtless, was probably her single greatest guilty pleasure. Images and imaginings of his body pressing against her was one of the staples of her dreams and was a guaranteed way for her to get herself off. The buck, on the other hand, was slightly overweight, not the charmingly cute Clawhauser tubby, just overweight with no muscle to speak of.
Where Nick had a smirking smile with a roguish charm and sometimes displayed a secret hidden pure smile that made her heart race every time she saw it, the buck's smile looked greasy and fake.
Where Nick had a casual friendly demeanor despite some of his more predatory traits (which for some reason just seemed to make him more attractive to her, not less), the buck looked haughty and predatory, not in the physical sense, but in the way a stalker was predatory, the kind of creepy predatory that set off alarms, not sent a thrill through her.
Her gaze moved up and focused on the buck's eyes, beady little brown eyes that seemed to look at her like something he might buy at a market, absolutely nothing like the beautifully emerald green eyes of her fox, eyes that were always warm and jovial with a spark of mischief, but above all else caring.
Despite her effort to appear cheerful, she could feel her face sag as the sight of this buck as it just made her heart long for Nick all that much more.
She was about to speak up, and ask if there was anything he needed, when he pulled a rose out from behind his back and offered it to her with a smile so oily that she wanted to shower just after seeing it.
"I heard that there was a beautiful doe in need of a Valentine today," the buck said trying for a charming voice and utterly failing.
Judy just stared for a second too shocked to respond, but then the voice registered; she'd always had a good ear for voices, even for a bunny.
"Leaps? Billy Leaps? Is that you?" she blurted out confused as to what he was doing here, while she took a second look at him. A lot of does in highschool had thought that he was handsome enough, though that might have been a tad generous and because of his wealthy background. He still had most of the traits that does usually liked though he'd gained weight since highschool, but Judy had never found him very attractive. He was okay she guessed, but his personality had clashed with hers in every possible way. Hell, she'd liked Gideon more than him back then, because as much of a total jerk as Gideon was, Gideon at least didn't try to hide it like Billy Leaps did.
He waved the rose in an obscenely overly romantic fashion, "Oh, She remembers me, Love springs eternal! Not even years apart can stop true love!"
Judy managed to stifle her gag reflex.
Gods that was awful, Nick could make that look charming and funny while half asleep, but that... that was terrible.
"Leaps," Judy started but he interrupted her.
"Oh, come now. Old flames don't need to go by last names, Jude" he tried placing the rose in her paw but managed to prick himself on a thorn and dropped it, only to have it land face down in her coffee.
Judy's ear twitched irritably, but she tried to control her reaction. She picked the now coffee stained rose out of her cup and put it on a napkin, sliding it back toward him.
"Leaps, I went on one date with you and walked out ten minutes into the movie when you tried to cop a feel after I'd already told you to knock it off the first time."
He shrugged, giving her a greasy grin that looked like it had turned rancid, not seeming repentant at all, "What can I say Jude, it was young love, and what doe doesn't enjoy the attention of a strong buck?" he finished posturing like he was some demigod and she should swoon at the sight of him.
"This doe doesn't enjoy unsolicited advances," Judy snapped, now not even trying to hide her annoyance, "What are you doing here Leaps?"
"Oh Judes," he started cheerfully and Judy's ear twitched again, "You don't need to be coy. The rumor mill in Bunnyburrow is abuzz with how miserable you've been here. All alone in the big city surrounded by conniving predators, trying to do a job too big for a cute little doe like yourself all because you don't have a buck to support you." Judy's ears didn't twitch in irritation this time because they were pinned back angrily by this point as she tried not to slug the pompous ass in the nose he'd always been so proud of.
He leaned forward, far into her personal space and placed a paw on her thigh, "I'm here Judes, to save you from this awful life. I'm going to sweep you off your feet today like a Valentine dream and show you what you missed out on in highschool. By tonight you'll be crying out my name and dreaming of me."
"Get. Your. Paw. Off. Of. Me." Judy said slowly and clearly to make sure her raging anger didn't make the words unclear, as she balled her shaking fist, about ready to break his paw and probably his nose, despite the trouble it might cause.
The barista's attention had shifted to the buck that had entered when he'd headed over toward the WildeHopps table rather than head for the counter to order a drink. By the time he had stopped in front of it, quite a few mammals in the shop had noticed and were now watching. Many of them, like the barista, could see the brown buck was holding a rose behind his back and were wonder what the hell he was trying, because he couldn't be stupid enough to think that he had a chance with the bunny. When it looked like he was that stupid, a few phones appeared and where discreetly pointed in their direction to catch the show.
"What the hell is going on?" the antelope whispered coming over to watch next to the barista.
"Shhh!" she waved him to silence, keeping her attention on the buck. By this point nearly the entire coffee house was quiet and watching the scene.
At first, the barista felt a bit of pity for the little bunny buck that was trying to charm Hopps. Besides the fact that he stumbled through his start to woo her, there wasn't a doubt in the oryx's mind that he was doomed to fail; anybody with one eye, let alone a pair, could see the does heart was already given away to someone.
The Barista was so engrossed in watching the scene that she didn't even hear the doorbell chime as it opened.
It looked for a few moments like this might turn into something from a sitcom drama show, with a love triangle when there was a mention of old flames. But that didn't last long, and any pity she'd felt for the buck vanished as it became apparent that he was some lowlife tail chaser.
Then despite all the growing irritation and anger on the does face he jumped straight past possible stalking and straight to sexual harassment. A low angry murmuring broke the silence of the coffee house and the barista found herself reaching for her phone to call the police when she remembered that the bunny was the police.
Her antelope co-worker next to her suddenly let out a low, "Oh, shit." in a worried voice and she shifted her gaze toward the front door where he was looking.
Instead of removing his paw from her, Leaps's greasy smile grew and his paw started moving up Judy's thigh, "Judes, You know you want me, stop lying to yourself."
She grabbed his paw hard and slammed it down on the table, making him wince, though she restrained herself enough not to break it.
Before she did more though there was a menacing growl that rolled through the coffee house and froze everything.
Judy had become accustomed to predatory sounds after having gone to the academy and living in Zootopia, but she'd never heard a growl like that. The closest was probably when Mr. Manchas had been hit with the Nighthowler serum during the Missing Mammals case, but that had been like a pure outburst of rage and anger. This… this growl had that same level of anger in it along with unfretted menace, but unlike Mr. Manchas's growl, this one had an undeniable focus in a way his hadn't.
The buck's eyes went wide before he looked over toward the source of the growl and Judy couldn't help but look too.
Nick stood by the front door growling, his hackles standing on end. His normally happy bright emerald eyes were narrowed and looked more like the stormy dark green of the ocean in storm, and all of that anger was focused right at the buck still leaning in toward her.
"She told you to get your paws off her." he growled out and started forward.
Leaps looked like he might wet himself, so Judy was caught off guard when he managed to sneer back at the approaching fox.
"I'd heard that some pelt was sniffing after her, trying to take advantage of a silly lonely doe." He sneered at Nick, then quivered a bit under the look of fury that crossed Nick's face, but like a true idiot determinedly walking to his own doom, continued on, "Go back to whatever rock you crawled out from under, fox," he spat, "before I sue you for interrupting me and my girl and leave you penniless on the street like you deserve."
The buck reached out his other paw toward her as if to pull her to his side. That was the last straw for
That was the last straw for Judy, and was about to flatten him, but Nick's larger paw closer around his reaching arm and twisted it up behind his back before spinning him around to slam him muzzle first into the floor.
"She said not to touch her!" Nick said in a dangerous voice, looking like he might tear his arm off as Leaps groaned.
Judy hadn't ever seen Nick lose his cool like this before. His fur was bristling and his claws were all the way out and clearly visible.
It scared her, not because he frightened her but because Judy was worried that Nick might do something he'd regret later, like break Leaps's arm after he'd already subdued the ass… even if he deserved it.
Nick didn't like hurting other mammals, even when it was necessary. It was something she'd learned about him while helping him prepare for the academy's boxing and grappling courses. In hindsight she should have expected it; Nick had been a hustler, he'd always used words to avoid fights, that and she knew despite the hard closed exterior he had, Nick was the kind of mammal that liked to be friends with others, whether predator or prey. It was part of the reason, she was sure, that had driven him to join the ranger scouts as a kid.
If he hurt someone more than necessary in a moment of anger, even if it was justified, it would hurt him, and she couldn't let that happen. Not to him, not to her fox.
She reached out a paw and touched his shoulder, "Nick." She said calmly, reassuringly, "Thanks for taking care of that scumbag," the reaction was almost immediate, the low threatening rumble dying down and his fur settling.
Nick looked back over at her and his menacing expression softened, "I… ah, sorry Judy. I know you could have handled him yourself. I… I just couldn't..."
She smiled back and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "Nick, don't apologize; we're partners, remember? We'll always have each other's backs."
Nick seemed almost to be back to his normal self. He smiled at her and seemed about to speak when his whole body went ridged, convulsing as a crackling sound filled the air.
"Nick!" Judy screamed as he fell forward, only to show leaps with his free arm out holding a hand-taser up to where Nick's back had been.
"Gods damned foxes-" he started to say, trying to get up, but the end of his sentence ended in a shout of pain as Judy disarmed him… and she was pretty sure, broke his wrist, not that she cared. Nor was she particularly careful as she flipped him over, more threw really, and pulled out her pawcuffs she always carried, first cuffing his uninjured paw.
The buck, moaned out in a slightly dazed voice, "Judes? What?... what are you doing?"
In an act of more kindness than she thought he deserved she snapped the other end of the handcuff around his upper arm and not on the broken paw, though she might have been digging her knee into his back more than necessary as she worked.
"Arresting you, for harassment and assault." She said trying to control the snarl in her voice. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to legal counsel, if you cannot afford a lawyer one will be provided." She pulled out her cellphone and dialed the precinct.
"Jude? Have you lost your head?" He said trying to struggle and she dug her knee harder into his back, stopping the movement. "I was saving you from that conniving fox, you should be thanking me."
She had to focus hard to stop herself from breaking something else as she shook with anger and responded not even fully aware of what she was saying, "Thank you?! You came here, interrupted my date, tried to force yourself on me, and then hurt my fox!"
"Judes, you're letting that fox hoodwink you! I read up on the news about you two and heard the gossip about how he'd managed to con you into going out with him today. He's going to try and get you alone and ravish you. I came here to stop that!"
Judy looked down at him incredulously, and let out a short sharp derisive laugh, "What? So you, 'the big strong buck' thought he'd come down here and save the 'pretty little airheaded doe' from 'the big bad fox' and then take her away, where, what? She'd let him have your way with her as thanks?"
"Um… yes?" he said sounding confused as to why she was upset about that.
Judy ratcheted down the paw cuffs tight to make sure he couldn't slip out of them, causing him to squeal out a bit as his broken paw was jostled.
"I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last male on this planet, you bastard." She said angrily leaving him on the floor to go make sure that Nick was okay. "Nick has never taken advantage of me, hell he's not even interested in me, I could only wish he was because unlike you I'd take him as a mate any day!"
That seemed to shut him up, or maybe it was just that the pain from his broken wrist starting to make itself apparent because rather than reply he just moaned and whimpered.
Nick was groaning and shifting slightly. Judy checked him over quickly to make sure nothing major was wrong and then placed his head in her lap and stroked his head and ears as his eyes blinking and he seemed to start coming back to full consciousness.
It was only then with her anger ebbing, knowing that her fox was going to be alright, that she remembered her phone.
"Officer Hopps? Officer Hopps? Is everything alright? Officer-" came the voice of Delgato who'd drawn front desk duty while Clawhauser was off for the day.
"Sorry, was distracted for a moment there. I need a pick up at the Elm Street Snarlbucks for a case of harassment and assault. Ssuspect is restrained and in custody but has a broken paw."
"Okay, I'll send patrol car 7 over, Francine and McHorn will be there in a few minutes, anyone else hurt?" Delgato asked, and she heard him issuing orders over the police radio net.
"Nick got tasered pretty badly but I think he's going to be alright, he's starting to come around." She stroked the side of his muzzle looking down at him. With the situation and immediate threat over she could feel the adrenalin and anger leaving and all the other thoughts and emotions that had been put aside in the face of the immediate threat came rushing back.
What if it hadn't been just a taser?
She barely heard Delgato say that he was sending an ambulance over just to make sure they were alright and to deal with the injured suspect. She gave some sort answer and ended the call, trying to hold back the emotions that were causing her eyes to water.
What if it had been a knife? What if Nick had gotten seriously hurt?
She leaned down hugged him, putting her face into his neck so that no one would see or hear her as some tears and sobs slipped out.
What if I'd lost Nick?
Judy wasn't quite sure how long she stayed there like that, but Nick's muzzle moving finally pulled her back to the present. In a choked voice and with a hiccup she asked, "Nick?"
He let out a groan before saying tiredly, "My bunny saved me again, didn't she?"
Her heart skipped a beat at his teasing but she didn't care right then. She hugged him all the tighter.
"Air! Carrots, Air! Need to… breath!" Nick wheezed and she let up, pulling her head back enough to see his face, to look down into his emerald eyes and see that he was really alright.
"Thanks Judy," he said, his nose nearly touching hers, "I know I can always count on you to be there for me, even when I'm supposed to be the one helping you."
She could feel a tear run down and drop onto him, before she said sternly, "Don't go getting yourself hurt like that! Who will watch my back if you're not there Nick?!"
Judy felt his paw brush up against her cheek wiping away another tear before it could fall, "If it'll get my overly emotional bunny to smile, I'll promise to try."
She thumped his chest, "Don't try, just do it, you dumb fox!"
She could feel Nick's nose against hers now, as he spoke in that jokingly happy tone that told her everything was alright, "Ah, come now, you know you love your dumb fox."
"Do I know that?" Judy said seeming to lose herself looking into his eyes, her lips almost touching his as she spoke. In that moment, she didn't care about any of the reasons that she couldn't have Nick, she didn't care what he said was just their own personal little joke.
"Yes…" her lips barely brushed against his. He might only say that teasingly, but she meant her answer. In that frozen moment, nothing else mattered, she could feel her heart breaking with the need to tell him, to kiss him, to claim him as hers. She started to close that last fraction of an inch between them.
"Yes, I d-"
"Wilde? Hopps?" came McHorn's booming voice as he rushed into the coffee house slamming open the front doors and causing both their heads to jerk apart and look over at him as the approaching siren of an ambulance could be heard in the distance getting louder.
A/N
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Operations Clock: +2 hours
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