The Conspiracy

by Zanrok

Winter is one of Zootopia's most interesting seasons. It's the time of year when many mammals choose their mate, it's a season with love in the air… except that some are too blind to see it. And others are fed up with those oblivious idiots and are determined to do something about it… at any cost.

11. Chapter 11 - Tunnel of Chaos: Part 2

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CLASSIFIED: DO NOT READ

THE CONSPIRACY

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Operations Clock: +6 hours

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Disclaimer:

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock...

Yes sir, we're trying to disarm the Fluff Nuke as fast as we can...

Its not as easy as just picking a blue or red wire! That only works in the movies!

Sir, We can't just get rid of the Fluff Nuke either! We need it for the plan remember? Whats the point of all of this if The Plan doesn't succeed? That and its welded to the deck.

Anyway, we spent too much time stealing all the required parts from Disney and all the other authors that stole stuff from Disney as well, to make this! These things are complicated darnit! Getting all the little plot elements to align just right so that the first level of Fluff explosions triggers a cascading fluff chain reaction...

Well sorry if I'm boring you sir! You want to be the one to try picking whether to cut the blue or red wire?

Thought so. No sir, I'm not being snarky like the Damned grinch, but low coffee rations will do that and this Fluff Nuke is just damned complicated! They take time and that Damned grinch that helped make it is running around like a caffeine addicted squirrel going into withdraw while being chased by the demonic fluff hoard. I'd like to see you try to get him to help disarm this thing. I'm pretty sure he only helped in the beginning to screw with us all anyway... and the note he left said so to.

Now if you don't I need to get back to trying to disarm this thing before we're all Fluffed!

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Chapter 11 – Tunnel of Chaos: Part 2

"So what's the deal with all you little chompers and carrots?" Nick asked looking across at Jack as he dug into his piece of carrot cake.

"What's the deal with all you predators being addicted to fruit?" Jack shot back smugly.

"Because fruit is sweet." Nick replied, with a disdainful look at the carrot cake and holding up his blueberry pie plate, "Who doesn't like sugary goodness?"

"Humm…" Jack said, a contemplative look on his face, "What mammal wouldn't like sugary goodness? Guess us little choppers must be crazy, what with liking carrot smoothies, honey glazed carrots, and carrot cake!" Savage said and smirked. Nick made a touché gesture with his fork to the hare.

Nick couldn't help but think that he could come to like the hare sitting across from him. Savage had a quick wit and decent sense of humor. They'd spent their short break shooting quips back and forth, which was exactly the type of distraction Nick needed at the moment.

"Anyway," Jack continued, "You seem to like Carrots well enough." He said pointing with his fork at the slice of carrot cake next to his slice of pie he was almost done eating.

That got a non-comitial snort and Nick simply pointed back at the slice of cherry pie sitting next to Jack in reply.

The hare shrugged and they sat in silence for a moment not really needing to say anything else.

"Blueberries are still the best." Nick said after the silent moment which got an immediate scornful look and reply of, "Ridiculous!"

Nick grinned; It helped to be able to have a deep meaningful conversation like that with another guy about his forlorn love interest.

Even if he wasn't showing it he still felt flustered from the crowd and more importantly, Nadine and Ralph finding out about his hopeless crush on Judy. He was sure that it wouldn't be long before one of them told Clawhauser and then his secret would all over the precinct's gossip net.

And what if Judy finds out? He couldn't help from worrying, only to have two different reactions wage a silent war within him.

There was a part of him that wanted nothing more than that. Wanted desperately to tell her how he felt. Wanted, needed to tell her, show her how much he loved her. It was part of why he hadn't been able to stop himself from essentially all but courting her; Granted, in a way she probably wouldn't pick up on, her being a bunny and all, but telling her without actually telling her that he loved her was about as bold as he could possibly bring himself to be.

And then there was the other part of himself that feared the moment she might find out that he thought of her as more than just his friend. Feared that she'd reject him. Feared that he'd lose their friendship. It was a fear that had kept him up late at night more than once.

Nick looked back over at the striped hare sitting across from him as he took another bite of his pie letting the familiar flavor distract him from his fears. Maybe, just maybe his hope that things might someday change, and change for the better between him and Judy wasn't such a fanciful outlandish dream after all.

"So…" he started, after savoring his bite, "You and Skye?"

Savage didn't make any response but fiddled with his fork for a moment before finally scooping out a piece of the untouched cheery pie next to him and lifting it up to examine.

He smiled briefly before saying in a wistfully happy manner, "Ya… me and Skye." and ate the bite.

Nick was silent for a moment then reached over and stole a piece of the untouched cake next to him and tasted it.

Maybe there is a chance…

Stupid or not, he couldn't help hoping, though that just might make him a dumb fox. Then he grinned; if Judy only knew how her optimism had infected him ever since he'd met her.

"As much as I've come to love Carrots," Nick said to Jack with a smirk, "Blueberries are still the best food."

The hare just sat back with a smug look reminiscent of Nick's hustler smirk, which immediately set off a sudden alarm in his mind. He only had a moment to think about it before his fork was plucked out of his paw.

"Best food or not, you eat too many of them," Judy said from right behind him and speared his last bit of his pie plopping it in her mouth.

"Hey!" Nick said in horror watching the last bit of his treat disappear, "That's theft Judy, I should arrest you for that! Grand theft berry, that's what that was!"

"And what do you call that, then?" she asked pointing to the slice of carrot cake with the corner missing.

Nick crossed his arms, "And how do you know that was me and not that suspicious looking hare across the table?"

Judy smirked, "Then where did this come from?" she reached out, wiping a bit of the carrot cakes frosting off of his muzzle with a finger and holding it up so he could see it.

Nick's ears started to splayed out in alarm, but he pulled himself together, adamantly saying, "That could be from the whip-cream on my pie, you have no proof that's-" he cut off as Judy tasted the icing and looked back at him like a fox corning a helpless rabbit, which Nick thought was just unfair.

"Tastes like carrot cake icing to me, Slick." She said, pointing the fork at him, coming in for the kill, "How are you gonna try to talk your way out of this one?"

Nick looked over and hiss at Jack, "Psst… Jack, Bud, hey a little help here?"

Jack who'd been a little preoccupied staring at his mate who was standing next to him, arms crossed and finger tapping as she gave him a moderate glower, looked over briefly at him. Then he looked at Judy, the cake and then spoke quickly before turning back to Skye.

"He stole a bite from that cake he bought for you. Saw it myself. Blatant theft. Absolutely despicable."

"Traitor!" Nick growled back with a glare, but Jack already had his full attention back on Skye. He picked up the slice of cherry pie and held it up with a hopeful, if shaky, smile as if presenting a peace offering. Skye held the glowering look for another second and then huffed and took the pie plate much to Jack's relief.

Nick's attention was brought back to the smirking bunny in front of him as the fork poked his nose. "So carrot thief, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Nick raised both his paws in a surrender gesture, and with his best charming smile said, "Carrots were too good to resist?"

Judy laughed, then reached over, took the cake and started demolishing it in her straightforward patented Judy manner of doing everything, that was with excess amounts of energy and enthusiasm. Nick grinned but before he could make a comment about her monstrous munching habit she pointed the fork threateningly at him again.

"Shush you! Not a word about it, I'm still deciding your punishment," another forkful of the cake disappeared, "You know well enough it's a habit I got from growing up with 275 siblings; slow eaters miss out on the best desserts."

Nick weighed his options, but decided that the situation was too perfect for a joke and opened his mouth… only for a forkful of carrot cake to fill it before he could speak.

"Well if that's the case then, I've decided on you're punishment. Since you apparently are getting so fond of carrots, you can come over next weekend when my parents are visiting. My mother has sworn that she's going to finally teach me how to cook properly so I'll stop eating all this 'unhealthy big city fast-food'; steamed carrots, baked carrots, carrot soup." She extracted the fork and tapped him on the nose as his eyes started going wide in fright, "And you are going to be my official taste tester."

"Judy please!" Nick pleaded feeling a trickle of fear. Judy might have enthusiasm to spare, but enthusiasm alone didn't make a good cook. He'd seen and tasted her attempts at it before, "I'll get you a second piece of cake if you want! Just-"

"Nope," Judy cut him of smirking and finishing the last of the cake, "You're not getting out of that Nick. If I'm going to have to suffer through another attempt by my parents to teach me to cook, you can suffer though it with me. Besides you do eat too much fast food, even burnt carrots are still healthy."

There was a whip-cracking noise and Nick looked over and glared at Jack who was snickering at him and making a whipped gesture. His snickering cut off as Skye gave one of his long striped ears a pinch and then used it to direct the suddenly much less amused hare after her.

"Come on Jack, less laughing and more moving, or we're not going to get our ride in before the concert."

Nick, instead of retaliating in the same childish manner, such as sticking out his tongue, decided to act mature and only snapped a few photos of the hare, snickering as he was led away.

There was a cough next to him and Nick looked over at Judy who was tapping her foot.

"You coming, Slick? Skye's right, we need to hurry or we're going to be late for the concert."

"Lead on McFluff. Lead on." He said giving her one of his jaunty salutes that he'd practiced just to drive Bogo nuts.

---

Ralph had always thought that cheesy love boat rides were silly and stupid. He still thought they were silly but as for stupid, well whoever thought them up was a genius.

He let out another happy growl as Nadine squeaked and pulled him back to her, the boat rocking as it entered the tunnel.

He could smell her scent all around him rich and exotic. Despite all the deodorant she'd used it had been growing stronger all day, and then there were moments like now were it spiked with a deeper, sweeter more intoxicating flavor. He breathed it in, that rich sharp scent wafting up and mixing with the unique strong scent of his tiger. His warm soft strong tigress.

His tail started thumping away and he growled louder as the scents muddled his mind like he'd just downed an entire row of shots.

"Ralph," Nadine said warningly, though a little hoarsely.

She was already holding him to her, so he just nuzzled her a little bit. He could feel the ragged gasp that resulted and the fast beating of her heart as her arms jerked, momentarily pulling him tight against her.

Mind muddy with her scent, he growled possessively again, liking her reaction to him. So he nuzzled against her more.

"Oh gods! Ralph!" she gasped and shifted, causing the boat to rock slightly and her movements to quickly cease as her breathing to pick up.

One of her big paws rested against his muzzle and angled his head up until their eyes met.

She swallowed hard, eyes a little panicked and open her mouth, "Ralph, we-"

He kissed her.

There was a moment's hesitation and then she was kissing him back.

Ralph growled happily into the kiss, and wrapped his paws around her neck, scooting close against her.

The kiss broke for a moment of air and then they were kissing again, Nadine holding him back and angling her muzzle to deepen the kiss.

They pulled away for another breath and Ralph looked into her eyes, eyes that seemed to glow with a faint brilliance in the dark tunnel. All he could smell was her. Him and her, and it felt right. She was his tiger and he was her wolf.

"Nadine," he started, mind fuzzy and drunk off of their scents and feel of his not-quite-yet-mate, "Nadine… I lov-"

She kissed him again before he could finish. A brief but powerful kiss.

She pulled back, her heart hammering hard enough he could easily feel it and said desperately, "Not yet Ralph. Not here. Not-"

Ne nuzzled her cheek, smelling their scents mixing, overlapping in the proximity of the boat and nearly whined as she gave a shuddering moan. The analytical part of his mind knew he was moving too fast, but that barely seemed to matter anymore. He'd slowly been building up his courage to finally take the plunge, to try and win her affection and her heart, but to find out so suddenly that she'd not only give him a chance but already returned his feels? It was all he could do not to try claiming her right there and then. His instincts were screaming at him to do just that. To make this mix of their scents while so close permanent, to mark her as his own and then claim her as his mate in the most primal fashions.

He nuzzled her cheek again and this time she nuzzled back and his instincts howled.

"Nadine," He whined still nuzzling, "I need to tell you how I feel. I need you to know."

She nipped him, "I already know how you feel, Ralph," she said and then kissed him again, and his heart and tail seemed to go mad, flailing away widely.

He couldn't hold it in, and tried telling her as soon as their lips parted, "I lov-" but she kissed him fiercely before he finished.

She pulled back but before he could speak, she pressed her paw to his lips as she nipped his jaw line.

"Not here, not on this boat, Ralph!" She said voice rough and a little wild, almost hysterical as she nipped him harder. He let out a growl and kissed the side of her muzzle as a low vibrating purr started deep in her chest as she growled, "I don't want to tell you on a damned boat!" she said almost desperately between almost frantic nips and kisses along his neck and ruff as he tried to kiss just about every part of her head and nuzzle against her ears. "Ralph… you promised … promised you'd wait until I told you first," she pushed her muzzle and head under his chin in a long arching nuzzle, and purred like a smooth car engine. Her paws were still holding him, claws partially extended as if to make sure he wouldn't run. She repeated the motion, pushing her head up under his chin and along his muzzle, purring even louder.

It sent a wave of fiery need through him and he let out a short howl before tackling her, grinding up against her and kissing her frantically, and she responded kissing him just as furiously, her paws dipped under his shirt running through his fur.

A cold spash of water came over the side of the boat as it rocked violently from their struggles and Nadine let out a startled shriek.

Ralph suddenly found his muzzle buried between her breast again as she clutched him to her apparently intent on squeezing the life out of him. Not that he really minded as she only succeeded in forcing his face into her softest feature, one of the few parts of her that wasn't sleek powerfully toned muscle. He took a long deep breath and was filled with the pure smell of his tigress. With his nose jammed into her chest, the scent was overpowering, laced with her smell and pheromones. He let out a loud deeply possessive growl, that screamed, 'MINE' and nuzzled hard against her.

"Ralph!" Nadine squawked as she shuddered, "Ralph the boat! Careful of the boat!" But he was too far gone in her scent to hear her. The shirt she was wearing had ridden up some from all their movement and as he nuzzled, the tip of his nose found the bottom of it. Without conscious thought, he tipped his head up and under her shirt running his nose through her fur and drinking in her scent. His nose bumped up against her bra and he ran gave an automatic small wolfish lick.

"Oh sweet mother Destiny!" Nadine swore loudly arching against him and he growled in satisfaction. "Ralph! Don'-" he did it again, and her scent spiked as she gasped and arched. He would have continued in that deliriously happy haze but there was a sudden grip on the scruff of his neck and his muzzle was pulled out from under her shirt.

Faster than his muddled mind could process he was spun around and two strong arms and a flexible feline tail wrapped around him pinning his arms to his side and his back against Nadine's heaving chest.

"You… evil… naughty… wolf…" Nadine said between heavy pants, as he tried to twist about to continue nuzzling her. She nipped his shoulder hard and didn't release as she growled, "Bad, Bad, BAD, wolf! We're going to swamp the boat at this rate!"

Ralph only realized then that his hindpaws were in a pool of water that had collected in the bottom of the boat. He stopped his struggles and Nadine growled one last time before letting go of his shoulder only to buried her muzzle in the crook of his neck as she took in great lungful's of air, slowing her ragged breathing.

It took Ralph a few moments as well before he started getting some semblance of control back. His tail's frantic wagging slowed as he realized just how far he'd let his instincts take him. If Nadine hadn't grabbed hold of him and pinned him against against her, he'd wouldn't have stopped. He'd been right on the edge of trying to claim her, of taking her right in this wobbly boat and in the process would have certainly sunk them… and possibly his chances with her given how much she disliked cold water.

His tail had gone limp at that as he berated himself for losing control. Winter or not, Nadine's intoxicating scent or not, he'd been on the verge of going savage and trying to rut her like this was 10,000 years ago in prehistoric times.

"Sorry Nadine," he mumbled, his ears downcast, "I… I was losing it there. I shouldn't have-"

He gasped as she nipped his neck.

"Shush you," She nestled her head against him, "Just save all of that for the bedroom. We'd flip this boat if we tried rutting in it."

His ears popped up, "You wanted to… I mean you'd have… here, now?" he stuttered to a stop his tail starting to wag again.

"Ralph!" Nadine whined desperately, "You at least need to take me to dinner first!" she groaned, slumping against him, before muttering to herself almost too quietly for him to hear, "Gods, I'm not sure if I can wait until tomorrow night."

His tail started drumming against the side of the boat but Nadine grabbed it and brought it around to his lap where she idly started to play around with it, running her fingers through it in an almost absentmindedly fashion, her head still slumped into his shoulder.

Ralph rumbled, slumping back against her, his mind wandering as he basked in the comfort of being so close to Nadine.

Oh Karma, I love when she pets my tail, he thought, his mind going a bit hazy as she started stroking it.

I wonder if she'd let me take her to dinner tonight after we finish our job tailing Wilde and Hopps

Might be too late at night by then, another part of his mind thought glumly. The idea of having to go back to the small house he shared with his brother and sleep by himself was not pleasant.

Maybe take-out then? Would that count?

That just makes you sound like you're desperate to get some tail.

I don't want just any tail! I want her! I need her!

That's not making you sound any less desperate.

I AM desperate! What if someone else comes along and claims her first?! What then?!

Buddy that's the cave-wolf talking; She already said she's interested in you, this isn't the savage days where you have to fight off every other male and claim her first.

*growl* My Tiger! Me club stupid head that thinks too much! MINE!

Okay! Okay! Don't hurt me! Shesh... maybe see if she wants to get take-out and then just crash at our place and maybe snuggle together for the night?

… snuggling with Nadine sounds nice.

Snuggling with her right now is nice.

*happy sigh* yep, it's very nice

Just don't let mom find out what you're up too.

*shudder* That would not be good.

That deserves the understatement of the year award, but seriously we need to find a way of telling her that we've found a mate before she finds out.

That's… not going to be easy.

Or that we're planning on moving out of the pack neighborhood and into that apartment with Nadine.

She's going to kill us.

It's not like every pack member lives in the neighborhood, it might not be that bad.

Really? First, most of them do, Second, this is my Mother we're speaking of!

Good point. Maybe speak to dad first?

Ohhh, good idea, If we can get one half of the pack's alpha pair on our side we might be able to survive this.

Right, break it to dad gently that I'm going to mate Nadine.

Court, 'court' Nadine

*growl*

The idea is to break it to them gently numb-skull

Oh right, sorry, okay, break the news to dad that I'm going to 'court' Nadine and get him comfortable with the idea that she'd going to be my mate, and then about us moving into that apartment together.

"Ralph," Nadine said sounding amused as she broke into his thoughts, "Your tail is trying to wag again. What are you thinking about?"

"Oh," he made an effort to stop it and Nadine giggled softly, "I ah, just was thinking about how to break the news to my parents that I'm moving in with you."

Dumbo! We haven't discussed moving in with her yet!

He felt Nadine stiffen a bit and he hurriedly tried to back track, "I ah, don't mean move in tonight! I was just, um, thinking about that renovated apartment your landlady was talking about!"

Dope! Idiot! Moron!

"Um… I mean, if you… want… to?" he finished lamely. He could feel his ears dropping and wanted to whack his head repeatedly on something, "Oh gods I screwed that up, didn't I?"

Ralph was just considering whether he should throw himself overboard when he noticed Nadine's scent change. He sniffed the air, it had thickened again, like when-

Nadine's paw snapped over his nose.

"That's Cheating! Stop using your nose to figure out how I feel about stuff before I tell you!" She half shouted, half squeaked.

"So… is that a yes?" Ralph couldn't help asking as his tail tried to wag furiously

"That's me not giving you an answer yet!" Nadine snapped, removing her paw to grab his tail again.

"Because I was thinking," Ralph continued, too excited to stop, "That if we talk to your landlady tomorrow before the renovations are done, we could get a bathroom with the shower set at the right height, or maybe at least a bathtub that could fit both of us."

Even as Nadine groaned her scent continued getting stronger, with a very noticeable excited and aroused flair to it.

"Ralph, why don't we talk about something else? Anything else?" she sounded a little desperate but then a huge smile break across her face, "how about you tell me about Ms. Ramsbottom?"

His tail immediately stopped.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He said, completely unconvincingly, even to himself.

"Really?" Nadine said her smile only growing wider and she leaned in purring against his ear, "What if I call Clawhauser and ask about your special dance lessons? Hummm…?"

"You wouldn't!" Ralph gasped, turning to her, wide eyed.

Nadine smirked and pulled out her phone, flipping through her contacts until she found Clawhauser's.

"Well, Ralph? Should I ask him?" she asked, smiling predatorily at him and leaning in so close her nose almost touched his as her tail tip snapped excitedly against his stomach

"No! I... ah…" he stammered trying to figure out what to do. He took in a breath trying to calm himself enough to think, but her scent filling the air felt like a fog in his mind. Strong, exotic, feminine and excited… a very aroused excited. A sudden idea hit him.

"Fine, I'll tell you, okay? Just put the phone away." he said holding back his own smirk with difficulty.

Nadine put her phone away looking extremely pleased with herself.

"Okay, Ralph. Spill." She commanded crossing her arms and looking at him expectantly.

Ralph let part of his grin slip onto his face and noticed the sudden wariness creep into Nadine's.

"Well…" he scooted off her lap and stood up in front of her, careful not to rock the boat too much, "there's no pole here so I can't show that particular 'dance' routine I used but..." he swished his rear and tail watching as her eyes, almost unwillingly dragged themselves down to lock on the appendage, "Maybe I can see if I can give you a bit of an idea of what it was like," he backed up so that he was almost against her knees and with an exaggerated motion swished his tail up and around so that it brushed lightly under her chin. "I guess because this is only for you after all that I could even give you a special little show," He rocked a bit, side to side, letting his tail sway lazily in counter point to his hips. He smirked as he saw Nadine gulp visible as her scent was spiking hard. His nostrils flared as her arousal hit him and bolstered his confidence.

He did a slow turn making sure to move in a way to show off every bit of himself and grinned wickedly as he noticed her eyes track down and lock to the point just below his belt where a bulge showed as he arched his hips.

"Like what you see Nadine?" He said, now very smug with himself as she tried to look up at him but failed to unstick her eyes.

She gulped again, "R-Rralph, I-I'm not s-sure this-" he arched his hips forward again, then turned, swishing his tail and plopped down in her lap rocking back onto it.

"Hummm… what was that Nadine?" he asked, rubbing his tail against her.

"R-ralphhhh…" she started to say but trailed off into a stifled moan as she squirmed under him.

"Careful, Nadine," Ralph said in an overly sweet voice, thoroughly enjoying himself, "Don't want to rock the boat now do you? Would be a shame to get all wet." He said as he rubbed as much of himself up against her as he could.

Her eyes narrowed on him dangerously, "You evil bad w-w-wolf- o-oh gods." Nadine closed her eyes and clenched her jaw as he pushed himself hard into her lap and front.

Ralph was grinning wickedly as he cooed to her, "But I'm your bad wolf, Nadine." he turned around, careful so the boat didn't sway too much, until he was straddling her and she let out a groaning moan, her paws wrapping around to grab his rear, keeping him from moving away. Ralph rocked forward, grinding against her and she shuddered, her head dropping against his shoulder with her eyes still closed tight.

He kissed her neck lightly, bringing his paws up to run along her, "This is your little show Nadine, just for you and no one else, ever." He whispered to her, loving the low noises she was making and how her paws were clutching at him, "Just relax so the boat doesn't flip." He kissed her lightly again, "And tell me if I start going too far, okay?" he kept up his grinding motion and let his paws slip under her clothes.

"R-ralph," she panted desperately, her whiskers brushing against his neck as he continued, and then she shuddered and made a small mewing sound, before latching her maw down on his shoulder, as one of her paws went under the back of his shirt and the other ran behind his tail, pulling him closer.

---

"So how'd it go?" Jack whispered to Skye as they watched the ride attended push the boat with Wilde and Hopps out into the artificial stream. There had only been one medium sized boat left and Skye had insisted that they take it, saying she needed a moment to talk to Jack anyway.

That had sent off some red flags in his mind. He just hoped whatever he had done this time, that the extra slice of cherry pie he had gotten her would make up for it.

If it didn't… well, there was always groveling. Any smart husband knew that making sure their mate was happy was far more important than any little bit of stuck up self-important pride.

"Pretty well." Skye replied, "I explained a few details about foxes to her. I think she can take it from there. It's certainly a better approach than yours."

Uh-oh, that's another red flag. What about my approach has her tail in a knot? Trying to get an outburst from them so they would slip up and say something that the other couldn't rationalize away might not have been the subtlest plan but it could have worked… maybe. He didn't think that was it though.

Did I use a bit too much charm or something? All I did was throw a few smiles around and give her paw a… oh...

Yep. That's probably it, dumbass. Traditional greeting or not, she probably didn't like that, especially since its winter.

Crap.

Drop to your knees and start begging.

"Ummm…. Skye?" he started slowly, wanting to approach this carefully. "You ah, know that I wasn't flirting at all right? Wilde might think she's cute, but her tails to short and her furs to dark and-"

Skye cut him off with a gesture, and turned to the elephant in charge of the ride, "We're fine taking one of the larger boats you just pulled around instead of waiting for more of the smaller ones." The attendant shrugged and pointed to one and Jack followed behind Skye, ears drooping.

Told you. part of his mind said annoyingly, should have left off the charm and compliments and jumped straight to groveling.

Jack stayed quiet, judging from the way Skye's ears and tail were twitching that silence was probably his best option at the moment.

It wasn't until they were entering the gaudy tunnels mouth that Skye spoke up.

"I know you didn't mean it like that." She said not quite angrily and his hopes soared.

Oh thank Serendipity, I thought I was in for the couch there tonight.

Shut-up and listen fool, she's not done!

Jack looked up and saw Skye's usually smiling face frown.

"I know that it's not the same for bunnies, and that its winter right now and that I'm overreacting." Skye continued, her frown deepening.

Shit, it's really bugging her. Do something quick.

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as his mind shouted a warning at him.

No Dumbass! If you make some sort of charmingly flippant remark you will end up on the couch!

He paused reconsidering what he was going to say and then went with the simplest truth he could think off.

"Skye, I love you."

The corner of her frown ticked up in a slight smile and her ears perked.

See, handled that just fine. Not always a dumbass am I? He thought smugly back to himself with a slight bit of relief.

No, you're not always a dumbass, you occasionally make smart moves such as marrying Skye.

Skye scooted over close to him on the overly large bench of the elephant sized boat that was more like a small ship to them.

"I know you do," Skye said, sounding much happier as she leaned into him, "I love you too." She kissed his cheek. "I love you so much that sometimes I get jealous for the stupidest reasons even though I know you'd never leave me."

"Damn straight," he said, "I got caught by a cunning vixen and now I'll never be able to love anyone else because she took my heart."

"You're such a charmer." Skye giggled and kissed him this time on his fore head, before pulling back and looking at him with a good bit of self-satisfaction. Then, grinning, she planted a few more kisses on his face and neck and then even a few on his ears before putting a paw on his chin and tilting it up and planting a solid kissing square on his lips.

A kiss that made his ears stand bolt upright, and he opened to her as she pressed the kiss, letting his mouth mingle with hers, tasting her… and also tasting a remaining hint of cherry.

That sparked a sudden suspicion in his mind and he broke the kiss. Skye leaned back smirking as he grabbed one of his ears and pulled it around to see one of the spots she'd kissed. The tunnel was dark, with only faint light from some of the cliché decorations that littered the interior walls, so he couldn't see more than shades of gray, not having good night vision like Skye; but even in the weak light he could see a darker spot under the natural stripes of his fur that looked suspiciously kiss shaped.

"Skye did you just leave cherry stain kiss marks all over my fur?" he asked looking back up at a very smug vixen.

"And what if I did?" she asked sweetly and giggled.

"Then I'm going to kiss you back until your fur is all mussed looking too!" Jack said and jumped on her, kissing everywhere he could as she squealed and giggled under his assault.

---

"I still think this ride is unbelievably corny." Nick said making Judy laugh and breaking the small awkward silence that had fallen between them after getting into the boat.

Nick squinted as they approached the tunnel entrance and then pulled out his shades, flicking them open and put them on in one smooth motion that Judy was sure he'd spent hours practicing to look as smooth and cool as possible.

"Seriously," she said giggling but he just looked at her nonchalantly.

"Carrots, you know I have sensitive eyes," he waved at the tunnel they were entering, "The sheer cheesy gaudiness of that could permanently damage them! Besides," he smirked at her saying with a ridiculous amount of suave, "They make me look cool."

"You know you're not a movie star right? There's no cameras around or paparazzi following you that you need to try looking 'cool' for. Plus we're about to go into a tunnel. Where it's dark. And if you've forgotten, those are sunglasses."

"Carrots. Carrots. Carrots." He said shaking his head with an amused grin, "I'm not trying to look 'cool', I am cool," he pulled his glasses down far enough on his muzzle with a claw so that he could wink at her, "And how do you know that I'm not a secret star that's in hiding from the paparazzi?"

"Really Nick? Really?" she asked looking at him dubiously, and he struck a pose swishing his tail.

"What? You don't think this handsome fox could be a star?" he waved at himself smirking and leaned over to her, "I'll tell you a secret, I gave it a try once but gave it up because it made all the ladies fall hopelessly for me. I'm just not cut out for that kind of life, having a crowd of girls always following me around and all."

Judy scoffed and snagged his glasses, putting them on (and immediately going almost blind behind the dark lenses).

"Nick," she said smirking at where she thought he was, "I might believe you…" she pulled the glasses down, copying him, wink and all, "but you don't have a pompadour fur-do." She smirked more at his momentary loss of composure, "Sorry Slick but you're no Mister Fox."

"What?!" Nick said his face scrunching and ears snapping back and then up and back down as he snatched his glasses back, "You're a bunny! How do you even know about that song? It was never very popular, barely even made the budget!"

Judy snickered as he recomposed himself, "I didn't know you were into pop music Nick." She poked his side as he put his glasses back on and looked up haughtily, saying, "I don't." but she could tell that she was getting to him by the reaction of his ears and tail.

She grinned, pushing her advantage. It wasn't often that she got him on the defense like this and she was going to make the most of it.

"Hummm… I don't think I believe that. You claim not to care for Gazelle's music either, but you seem to know quite a lot about all of it. You were talking about the Backstreet Bunnies earlier and now about Mister Fox… oh," she clapped her paws together smiling evilly at him and squealed, "Are you a fan of Justine Beaver too!"

Nick groaned and put his face into his paws with a disgusted sound.

"You are!" Judy cackled and Nick looked at her intently from behind his shades for a second, then remembering, pulled his sunglasses off, so that she could see his glare before putting them back on.

"Oh gods, I can't wait to tell Clawhauser!" Judy continued giggling despite his look. "We can all go to a karaoke bar! Even if you can't dance, I bet you'd make a halfway decent Mister Fox!" Judy was giggling and laughing so hard she had to hold her sides to stop from falling over.

"No." Nick huffed crossing his arms, before vehemently saying, "I will never sing that song again!"

Judy stopped long enough to look at him and Nick stiffened. Even with the glasses on she could tell he was going wide eyed at his slip up. Judy burst out laughing and fell over onto him.

"You even know the song!" she crowed between laughs.

"No I don't!" Nick said.

"You are such a Lier, Nick!" Judy laughed flicking an ear at him, her paws busy holding her sides from her laughter, "I heard your heart speeding up, slick! You totally know the song! I bet you can even do the dance from the music video!"

There was another hard spike to his heart rate and Judy started crowing, "You can! Oh My Gosh! You Can!" even as Nick started sputtering denials, which just made her laugh more.

"You so can Nick!" she said still snickering after she'd caught her breath again.

"Can not!" Nick huffed moodily, poking her nose

"Can to!" she replied swatting his paw away.

"Can not!"

"Can to!" she poked him in the side, smirking, "Yes you can Nick, don't try to deny it! You can't hide anything from me!"

"Yes I can!" Nick said

"Ha, so you admit it!" Judy said triumphantly, as Nick balked.

"No! I admitted no such thing!" he said waving his paws in denial and shaking his head.

Judy grinned and pulled out her lucky carrot pen and released the rewind button.

*click* 'Yes I can!' Nick's voice replayed.

"Wait! that's not-"

"Give it up Nick! I've got you dead to rights," Judy cut in smugly, "I even have a witness testimony."

She hit the button again

*click* 'Yes I can!'

"No, I said 'I can' to being able to hide stuff from you! Not that I can do the dance in that music video!" Nick tried reasoning, sounding a bit panicked and Judy moved in sensing weakness.

"So you admit then that you are hiding the fact that you know the song and dance?"

"No!" Nick said ears splayed back and eyes wide, looking exactly like when she'd gotten him over his taxes.

*click* 'Yes I can!'

"Juuuudddyyyyyyy," Nick groaned in defeat, putting his face in his paws. Triumphant, Judy took in a breath only for Nick's head to pop up looking at her with a panicked and horrified expression.

"No, no, no, please don't say it!"

Judy just gave him her sweetest smile,

"It's a hustle, sweetheart."

Nick clutched his ears and whined before flopping down across her lap like she'd stabbed him.

Giggling, Judy tapped him on the nose.

"You should know better than to try and hustle me Nick," she said, pleased with herself, "I always get you in the end."

Nick just whined again giving her a puppy eyes look that quite effectively melted her heart. She smirked and on impulse leaned down and kissed the tip of his nose.

"That's for the go-karts," she said smugly, happy to have a justifiable reason to kiss him. She giggled again at the way his ears perked up at her kiss, and then deciding to be merciful said, "But since you got me a piece of carrot cake, I'll be nice and keep your secret pop music obsession safe from Clawhauser.

"You're going to tease me about that, I just know it." Nick said grumpily but his slowly wagging tail gave away his real feelings, "And how do you even know about that song? It got all sorts of flak from rabbits in the city. How did it make its way out to Bunnyburrow?"

Judy snickered again at that, thinking back to the music video she'd watching secretly with her siblings (mostly her sisters) and her friends back in highschool. It had felt so rebellious in her conservative little town to watch that music video starring a sleek shirtless fox (so different from Gideon) wearing only tight shorts that showed off such a fabulously long and soft looking tail.

Most bunnies didn't see anything attractive in predators at all, but if there was one thing that was bound to intrigue them, whether out of curiosity or a sense of inferiority, it was their tails. And fox tails weren't only long but they looked like they could even rival a bunny's 'cotton tail' softness. The year that music video had spread through Bunnyburrow like a wildfire, the towns bully Gideon had suddenly become quite shy as every other mammal in their school class abruptly started trying to sneak a feel just to see if fox tail's really were that soft.

Judy shook herself out of her memories.

"Nick, that song was pretty much banned in Bunnyburrow. Every bunny family around was properly aghast and horrified as such an 'unseemly display' with a fox singing with bunny dancers and told their children they were not to watch it or listen to it. And that pretty much ensured every single bunny of my generation has seen it. My sister even slipped it into the prom dance music mix." She laughed, though a bit embarrassedly, "They teachers were more livid about that then when they found out that someone had spiked the punch!"

"Huh… who would have figured?" Nick muttered contemplatively, one ear angled a bit to the side in a quizzical manner that caused her to start giggling again. "All I knew is that the CD sales were pretty bad." He mumbled a bit more, but through her giggles she was pretty sure she heard him wrong because she thought he said something about foisting them off on Duke to make a profit.

Judy giggled again, "You are such an old floggey Nick! No one buys CD's anymore, not even out in Bunnyborrow! That music video got passed around on the net. It wasn't even copyrighted for some reason, so everyone pirated the carrot mashing hell out of it. There has to be a few dozen remixes of it too. I don't know a single friend of mine that actually paid for a copy of that video."

Nick's ear ticked in an irritated manner and he muttered, "I am not an old floggey, and getting a copyright required all sorts of paper work, the kind of paperwork that could lead to taxes."

Judy froze as Nick continued to grumble about stupid legal requirements, taxes and hustles backfiring. Her mind started replaying the old video on a loop, over and over again, seeing the fox in the video, the smirking fox, the smirking fox with green eyes.

~Hey hey, Mister Fox, what are you doing in the garden again? Hey hey, Mister Fox, would you take me home to your den?~

~Hey hey, Mister Fox, can you be my lover boy? Hey hey, Mister Fox, will you be my foxy toy?~

"-I swear," Nick continued grumbling, "getting the licenses for the pawpsicle gig was almost impossi-… Judy? … what are you doing?"

Judy ignored Nick as he trailed off and with both of her paws on holding his muzzle, shifted his head to look at it from a different angle.

"Stupid dim light." Judy muttered irritated as she leaned in close trying to see Nick better in the bad light.

Nick looked rather confused as she turned his head again examining it, leaning in so close their noses almost touched.

"It can't be…" she muttered to herself trailing off as her thoughts whirled, Nick's green eyes meanwhile staring back at her, completely baffled, as she continued her examination.

It can't be! Nick couldn't be Mister Fox, he doesn't have a silly pompadour.

But the analytical police portion of her mind disagreed, Mammals can change their fur-styles, and there are such things as wigs! Look at him! Besides the hair, he's an exact match!

No, this just has to be my mind superimposing Nick into that video. It's been a long time since I've even seen it!

And why was he so irritated about the copyright? Humm?

It could have just reminded him of one of his hustles….

Really? He seems rather well informed about that particular music video. And if we're talking about hustles, that was a low budget music video and the only one produced by Mister Fox.

Your suggesting that music video was a hustle?!

Your saying that pop music isn't a hustle?

It's music! Its not a hustle!

Uh-huh. What about Justin Beaver? Think that's not a hustle?

'…'

Told you so. And do you think Slick here wouldn't have tried a hustle like that? One that could make a lot of money with little effort? That, and he seems to know an awful lot about it…

Nick knows about pretty much every hustle that you could possibly pull! He's like a hustle encyclopedia! He knows about every type of money making scheme that anyone could ever do, its one reason he's such a good cop, but that doesn't mean he's been part of all of them!

You have to admit, it's the type of easy money hustle that fits his M. O.

That doesn't mean-

And, he's a perfect match! That's strike two

That wouldn't be admissible in a court! The hair is still different not to mention the light is bad here and my memory of that video is years old! Any good lawyer would get that comparison thrown out.

Okay forget the face then. Remember the tail? It had a black tip just like Nick's, about a paw-span of black at the end.

Judy dropped Nick's head ignoring his surprised yelp as it flopped back into her lap and the even louder startled yelp when she leaned over him and grabbed his tail.

See! Her mind said triumphantly, as she ran her paw through his tail examining it in minute detail, It is the tail from that video!

I could still just be seeing what I want to see… Judy debated uncertainly,

Then pull up that video again on ewetube as soon as you get home, confirm it and then use it to blackmail Nick into giving you an in person rendition!

I can't blackmail Nick!

Puftt, you've done it before, you even have his confession already recorded,

Judy ran her paws through Nick's tail again, biting her lip with indecision, as that other part of her mind wheedled and equivocated the morality of it and then resorted to flat out bribery.

Oh come on, You have the opportunity and excuse here to get Nick alone and shirtless! Even if he wasn't the fox in that video he still knows that song and dance, and you've got enough circumstantial evidence to 'convince' him to do the dance for you! Think of it! You can get him in those tight shorts with no shirt shaking this amazingly soft tail around just for you…

"Carrots?!…"

Judy was in the middle of the worst mental dilemma she'd ever faced. She hadn't had any trouble using the tax information she'd found against Nick back then but it had been to save Mr. Otterton… and Nick had been a real ass back before she'd gotten to know him. This though, this would be manipulating him solely for her own enjoyment.

"Judy?! *groan* *pant* what are you doing?"

This wouldn't be like their normal quips and jokes, no… this would be because she was fantasizing and lusting after Nick. She knew it, knew it was wrong and despite everything, she could feel herself losing the mental debate. She wanted him so badly and what was the harm? He didn't ever need to know that she'd done it just so she could ogle him, and it wouldn't hurt his chances of getting the vixen he was after to fall in love with him. She'd never know.

"Judy! *pant* oh Karma! Judy, my tail!"

That's right, Judy tried justifying to herself, I wouldn't be touching him, remember what Skye said? There's no harm if I just look, it's not like I'm going to take the chance to feel up his tail-

Nick gave out a moaning whine and buried his muzzle into Judy's lap, snapping her back to reality. She looked down at the shaking, panting fox sprawled over the small bench with his ears back and eyes tightly shut as he pushed his head into her stomach and lap in a desperate distressed manner. He gave out a pained sounding whine as he shuddered more violently, his face scrunching hard as his claws dug into the benchseat to either side of her.

It was only then that she noticed that she'd just ran her paw through his tail, right from the very base down to it's black furred tip and was about to do it again.

There was a moment of complete blankness in Judy's mind as she took in that fact that she was totally feeling up Nick's tail.

She wasn't just being a little too gregarious or cuddly, and from what she understood from her discussion with Skye with Nick being a fox, she was practically molesting him, her partner, her best friend, her secret crush. She, Judy Hopps was abusing trust of the mammal she cared for most in the world.

An angry roar echoed down the tunnel to where they were slowly floating like the vocalized wrath of a primordial god and Judy's moment of blankness was crushed like a stomped soda can as what she'd just done to Nick hit her.

---

Jack took a moment's break from their increasingly frenzied make out session to breath as a rather angry sounding roar echoed down the tunnel.

Skye giggle, the vibrations from her chest passing lightly through him from where he lay on top of her longer form that was spread across the huge bench seat.

"I think someome upset a kittycat." She said giggling, before kissing him lightly once. Then she stretched languidly underneath him arching up just a bit so that her tail could swish to the other side. The motion sent different parts of her lithe body pushing and stretching against him in a manner that had his pulse skyrocketing.

"Humm…" she hummed happily stretching a bit more, "Is that a stick and berries I feel down there Mr. 'humper?" she said with a predatory smile as she arched her hips lightly pressing against another part of him that had skyrocketed right along with his pulse.

"Skye!" Jack groaned, partly from arouse but more from that stupid name. She only laughed happily though and kissed the tip of his nose, which mollified him… somewhat... mostly.

"Gods, do I hate that name. I think Agent U assigned that one to me out of pure spite." He mumbled into Skye's neck, making her giggle again. He smiled, listening to the light crystal clear noise. It was like summer sunshine and happiness made into sound, and he nuzzled her neck, delighting as he heard it again. He couldn't help from imagined what it might be like if they had a daughter that giggle like that.

"Hey, Skye?" he asked softly, slowing his nuzzling, and she hummed in a happy easy response to his question. So he continued taking the plunge and voicing his thoughts, "You know how we talked about having our own family someday?"

Skye stilled under him and was silent for a bit before speaking, "Yes… I thought that after we talked to Doctor Badger about the possibilities of having our own kits, we decided that starting a family wasn't a good idea then, what with running around the world on secret missions and everything. I thought we were going to wait and talk about it sometime later in the future?"

Jack looked up into her eyes that seemed far away visiting old memories. He could remember that time too; They'd both been younger then, ready to take on the world together, wanting to go everywhere and see everything, but now… now there was a quiet longing in Skye's still form as she seemed to think back to that particular conversation.

He nuzzled her softly getting her attention before quietly saying, "Want to talk about it now?"

Her eyes snapped into focus looking at him and he felt the suddenly quick beat of her heart as his chest pressed against hers.

"It's has been a while since then," Jack said still watching her, "And I've been thinking about it a lot lately. We've seen the world, Skye and it's been fun," he ran his paw along the fur on the back of her paw before their fingers laced together, "but I think I'm ready for a different kind of adventure…" Jack gave her a small smile and squeezed her paw lightly, "that is… if you're ready to come along on that adventure too?" he asked and then waited for her response.

Skye was perfectly still except for the beating of her heart as she stared back at him; he wasn't sure in the dim interior of the tunnel and it may have just been a trick of the bad light but her eyes seemed to shine wetly. Finally, he felt her take a breath and squeeze his paw back, before saying, "You know that kind of adventure isn't going to be as flashy as what we're used to… and our boss is going to throw a fit."

Jack grinned, "Might not be flashy but it'll be just as exciting in its own way, and our boss will get over it. Plus, it's not like we have to completely give up our jobs to have a family."

Skye kissed him before grinning herself and asking with mock sternness, "You're not planning on bringing our kits along with us on missions are you?"

"Well…" Jack said smirking, "Now that you mention it, new parents out for their first family vacation would make for a great cover story. Maybe we could even get another agent to babysit while we have an evening alone for some private time and maybe a bit of sneaking around too."

Skye squeezed his paw again, grinning broadly as her tail thumped on the seat.

"You, Mr. Savage are completely incorrigible."

"And you, Mrs. Savage should already know that." He replied.

She kissed him again before whispering, "Reckless, that's what you are."

He kissed her back, "Yes, but you stop me before I get into trouble; you balance me out."

"Do I now?" she said and shifted under him, a glint coming into her eyes before she rolled him over on the seat and kissed him. Not lightly, not teasingly; it was a deep, demanding kiss filled with passion and lust and Jack let it envelop him. Skye's paw was moving, doing something around his waist, fiddling with their pants but she pushed harder into the kiss, demanding more from him and for a moment, Jack forgot about everything else but the kiss.

Then the kiss ended and Jack groaned. Skye, smirking now, whispered into his ear, "I think your reckless habits are rubbing off on me Jack."

"Can't help it," Jack replied teasingly, "That's what happens when we spend so much time cuddling and rubbing against each other."

Skye pulled back just enough so that he could see the bright smile on her face and a devious glint in her eyes. Her beautiful sandy white fur seemed to nearly glow in the dark as she straddled him.

"Hummm… I guess you're right." She looked at him, smiling predatorially, "I do love rubbing up against you," she pushed down against him, thrumming deeply as Jack gasped, feeling her suddenly take him.

She settled down atop him, surrounding him with a warm slick heat, and chest still vibrating with her hum, leaned down whispering to him, "You were saying something about starting a family right?" she nipped his long ear and pulled up, before arching back onto him as he bucked up involuntarily meeting her. "Said you wanted to go on that adventure together right?" she whispered, moving rhythmically and her other paw found his remaining free one and grasped it as she let out a small moan into his ear as they met again.

She slowed, teasing him, and whispered again, "You should know by now Jack, that I'll go with you anywhere, on any adventure, so long as we can go together."

Jack tried to keep his wits about him as Skye's took him again but this time slowly settling against him, grinding her hips against his and squeezing tight around him as the fur through their unbuttoned pants meshed and matted between them.

"Skye…" Jack said and kissed at the thicker winter fur around her neck, "You know we can't start that adventure right this moment…" he trailed into a groan, squeezing her paws as Skye pulled back and then pushed back against him in one fluidly quick motion.

Her breathing was becoming harder, "Call it practice…" she said with a smirk, now panting lightly and squeezing around him again as their hips met, giving out a small needy whine, "I'll talk to Doc Badger tomorrow… get off the birth control…" she rocked against him, again and again before kissing him, making a plaintiff sound as she stared speeding up.

"Jack…" Skye said, eyes closing, as she pressed her muzzle against him, nuzzling desperately and he understood. Sometimes Skye like to play and tease, draw out their love making into a long extended intimate cuddling session. It was a special glorious torture for him given his nature as a hare, having his mate, his vixen, take control and bring him right up to that edge and hold him there. But this wasn't one of those times. There was too much need, too much passion and lust. He could feel it in the way she moved against him, in the heat of her around him, in the way she held his paws and nuzzled and nipped and kissed. Despite her bit of teasing this wasn't one of those slow smoldering love making sessions, this was more like throwing a match into a pool of gasoline; it was a hot hungry inferno. Jack could hear it burning, building in the way she called his name and knew what she wanted, what she was asking. She was always fond of telling him that there were advantages in him having the natural speed and quickness of a hare after all.

Jack didn't need much incentive from his mate, her fire had already engulfed him as well and he was burning with his own need. He rolled her over like she'd done earlier and kissed her neck and breast causing her to arch her back up off the seat with a moan as he took over their tempo. Skye surrender control, submitting to him, panting and making small ecstatically pleased noises as he let his nature take over and sped up.

---

(A little while before)

Nadine was in a hellish bliss.

On one hand she seemed to be in a sort of fantasy come real, but on the other she couldn't move much for fear of tipping the boat and waking up from this not-so-unreal-dream she was having by way of a cold watery splash.

She tried hard to stifle a moan as Ralph, devil that he was, continued to tease her.

I swear that if he doesn't stop toying with me I'll drag if back to my bedroom by the tail and… oh gods…

Nadine tried to stifle a moan as she gave a small involuntarily buck, feeling Ralph's hardness press against her through their clothes while his paw teased her. The boat rocked with her motion and she desperately tried to stop herself before the boat's motion became any more unstable, but Ralph's soft yet slightly rough paw pad pressed against her again in just the right way, and she shuddered violently with the conflicting needs to press into that wonderful paw and yet not move and flip the boat.

She loosened up her mouths hold on his shoulder after the tremor passing though her had settled down and mewed with a contrasting mix of relief and unfulfilled blazing need. Ralph said something as he nuzzled her but she couldn't understand him through the white sparks that seemed to be popping like firecrackers in her mind.

He nuzzled her again, as his other paw, the sneaky one currently wrapped around behind her that had unclasped her bra earlier, dipping past the base of her tail as he continued to slowly move against her in her lap. Her vision almost whited out as his pawpad pushed against her, his finger dipping in and out lightly like he was testing the temperature in a pool of water.

If he doesn't stop that and just jump in I'm going to bite him for real!

Ralph pulled back, lightening his touch and she made a noise half way between a whine and a growl as she used her paws to force him closer, trying to get him to continue. His touch remained vexingly light though as he trailed a row of kisses and soft nips up her neck and then whispered into her ear in a teasingly almost sing song way.

"I found where you've been hiding your tranq pistol!"

Nadine gave a harder squeeze on his shoulder with her jaws before unlatching her maw and booped his nose hard with hers, growling as menacingly as she could,

"Ralph Wolford! If you don't finish what you've started I'll spend the rest of our days together making you regret it!" she grabbed his teasing paw with hers and forced it back down against her.

Nadine let out a mewling moan and kissed him as hard as she dared, still worried about flipping the boat as he finally stopped his toying around his paw, though she kept hers over his just to make sure he wouldn't stop. Despite last night and this morning she was more pent up than she could ever remember being in her life; She wasn't going to last long, not at all, not with Ralph being the one touching her, she moaned into their kiss as she felt herself nearing that final edge… and her phone went off breaking the moment.

Nadine broke the kiss and let loose a roar unlike any she had ever given in her life. It was a pure unbridled expression of anger and fury manifested in a single terrible sound that shook the boat and echoed off the walls of the tunnel seeming to amplify on itself until it seemed like the very walls might break and crumble under its onslaught.

Ralph had frozen and was staring at her with slightly dilated eyes as she finished giving voice to her rage and looked back at him.

"YOU." She glared at him with a burning intensity as she ripped her phone out of her pocket with her free paw, keeping the other over his, "DON'T EVEN THINK OF MOVING THOSE PAWS AWAY. YOU AREN'T DONE YET!" Nadine growled threateningly, and Ralph, usually completely unphased by her roars or snarls, nodded his head quickly.

There was a sharp cracking sound from her other paw and Nadine eased her grip on the ringing phone, bringing the device, now with a spider web of cracks running through its screen, up to her ear.

"MEGAN," Nadine snarled furiously into the phone, "When I get home, I'm going to tie you to a chair in your apartment and gag you so you can't interrupt me and Ralph again! I swear you're like Murphy incarnate, always interrupting at the worst moments!"

Nadine's mountainous raging fury of anger died in the next instant.

"Naddy dear?" her mother said and Nadine nearly choked as what she'd been about to yell at Megan suddenly lodge in her throat and made her eyes bulge, "Oh honey I'm sorry if we're interrupting you and your new mate, though… that's actually why your father and I are calling. And, it's probably a good thing we caught you two before you get into any sort of mating frenzy."

"Yes, and when were you going to tell us you'd picked a mate?" her father chimed in sounding if anything, hurt, "You didn't think we wouldn't accept you and your wolf did you?"

Amid the rising terror that Nadine was trying to hold back, her dad somehow managed to heap on a whole load of guilt on too. But as she struggled with all that, her father's voice became stern,

"Now is your mate there? It sounded like he's there, and I need to have a few words with him."

Ralph made a choked whining sound and looked pleadingly at Nadine as if she could tell him what to do.

"Speak up son." Her father's voice said sharply, "Why are you trying to elope with our daughter? We felines might not be as tradition bound as you wolves but that doesn't mean we don't have any, and no child of mine is going to have to skulk around to get married. You and I are going to have a bit of a conversation when we get to Zootopia."

"You're coming to Zootopia!?" Nadine shrieked, her voice an octave or two higher than normal.

"Of course we are Naddy!" her mom replied as if that should have been obvious, "Besides everything else, we'd be irresponsible parents if we didn't sit down with you two and explain some of the details of mating now that-"

"MOM!" Nadine shrieked again before gaining some control of her voice, "You don't need to tell me anything about sex! I already know how that works! I'm not a teenager!"

"Oh, Naddy." Her mother sounded more amused by her outburst than anything else, "Unprotected sex with your mate is a bit different, especially when you go into heat."

"Right." Her father chimed in, "Neither of you would want to get hurt. You haven't gone into heat yet have you?"

"DAD!" Nadine did shriek this time.

"Oh, that's a yes if I ever heard one!" her mother said before speaking presumably to her dad, "Honey, see if you can get tickets for the train tonight rather than the one tomorrow morning, the sooner we get there the better. She'll be a lot more sensitive than she's used to during heat, and without a condom you males and your so called 'love claws' are far more noticeable."

Ralph looked at her with a horrified and confused expression and whispered, "Love whats?"

"Oh dear, don't they teach you kids anything in school now-a-days?" he mother pitched in, having apparently overheard Ralph. "Mommm," Nadine groaned desperately, trying to stop her but she just rolled right over her objections, "Keratinized penile spines, dear, the barbs protuberances you males have on your end of the reproductive organ. They help with the reproduction process but while they might help bring a quick orgasm for us they can be a bit painful sometimes, particularly in heat." Nadine's fantasy-dream-come-real was morphing into a full-on nightmare as her mother continued unabated despite her attempted protests, "It's why you have to be careful rutting with your mate during heat when passions are running high; having to visit the hospital because things in the bedroom got too feisty and you accidentally clawed or bite your mate to hard is no fun at all."

"Wait?! Spines?!... Hospital?!" Ralph squeaked, his eyes wide as saucers. He looked down to where his paw, with hers still over it, disappeared beneath her unbuttoned jeans, and then back up at Nadine.

"Ralphhhh!" Nadine whined desperately, looking at his wide eyed expression with his ears splayed in an freaked out manner, "It's not like she's making it out to be-"

"Natasha!" her Dad said cutting in, "Your scaring scarring Nadine's mate! See, this is why we need to have this talk in person, and serious injuries usually only happen when things get way out of hand, plus her mate is a wolf. Wolves don't have spines, I checked. See here, this article says they have this 'bulbus glandis'. Supposed to swell up and keep them locked together during mating."

"Oh... yes forgot where not dealing with another feline, let me see that article… oh… well!… will that work though? She's bigger than him."

"We have pictures of the two of them, He's not that much smaller than her,"

"I think you're right, plus look how much this it's supposed to swell. He might not have spines, but she'll certainly feel that… especially since she's going into heat." Nadine was now the one staring a bit wide eyed at Ralph. She suddenly became acutely aware of the visible bulge in his clothes as her eyes, against her will, tracked down his front until they settled and locked on it.

It wasn't like she didn't know that wolves had somewhat different equipment… she might have done some clandestine internet research at some point while being Ralph's police partner and all… like maybe right after the academy… and just out of sheer curiosity, certainly not for any other reason.

It's knot that big, she thought to herself, looking at the bulge… but then again she'd never actually seen Ralphs equipment either, dreamed about it, yes; felt it, sort of (there had always been clothes between them… unfortunately.)

Ralph's paw, still pressed against her with hers over it, twitched nervously sending a jolt through her. She tuned out for a moment as her parents debated spines and knots, remembering this morning, remembering how he'd suddenly seemed quite a bit larger as she pressed against him when he'd howled. And just like this morning an irrational giddy glee swept through her in a hot wave. She felt like giggling manically, and tried to control the reaction, all the while still acutely aware of Ralphs paw under hers.

"Nadine?" Ralph asked quietly, seeming a bit hysterical himself with a sort of horrified, confused and embarrassed arousal. She looked up meeting his eyes, giggled (only slightly crazily) and blushed violently, realizing that he wouldn't even need his nose to figure out her current mental state with his paw pressed up against her wet heat like it was. Then she heard what her parents were saying,

" - and they'll be stuck together, what if it's a bit too much for Naddy? With her going into heat and all… it's not like they can call a time out if they're stuck together…"

"They'll be fine… probably. He can just usual the traditional mounting position the first couple of times until they get used to it. Should be natural enough for him anyway, mammal's do call it doggy style after all."

"Hummm… I think you're right, though he might want to bite and hold her scruff. Should help keep her calmer and-"

"Nadine," Ralph whispered desperately, sounding a bit hysterical, "Are you parents discussing the best way for us to have sex?"

She groaned and let her head flop against him, "I told you this would happen! And you thought dealing with your parents was going to be difficult!"

"Oh Naddy, there's no reason to be embarrassed." Her mother cut in, trying unsuccessfully to calm her down, "Mating is just a part of life like anything else. This is all just natural actions and instincts. There's nothing out of the normal here."

"Dear, she's taking a wolf as her mate, that's not quite 'normal'," her dad said, and there was a light smacking sound, before he quickly added, "Not that there's anything wrong with that! Mating is still just a natural part of life no matter what species you are!"

"Right, and any reasonable mammal shouldn't find such a normal part of life embarrassing, why when we talked to Ralph's parents-"

"WHAT?!" Ralph spluttered a look of total fear coming over his face, "You spoke to my parents?!"

"They called us," Nadine's father said calmly, then added a bit sternly, "They weren't happy about you two trying to elope either."

"We're Not eloping!" Nadine snapped, finally regaining enough of her wits to do what she probably should have done right after realizing who was on the other end of the call, "We're just dating! Now if you don't mind, me and Ralph are busy right now, we've got to go, bye!" she hit the end call button hard enough that another crack appeared on the screen.

She wanted to scream in frustration, but her attention refocused on Ralph who was full on panicking.

"Nadine! We're screwed! If my parents found out before I could tell them… oh gods they think we're eloping?!" He reclaimed his paw from her, much to her displeasure, and pulled out his own phone. He turned it on and the screen showed a hundred and thirteen missed calls. Ralph's ears went flat and he slumped into her.

"We're done for! Goners! Dead! Oh gods, if they find us…"

"Ralph calm down," Nadine said not sounding very calm herself, "We can-" she was cut off as his phone, now with its silent mode turned off, rang with an incoming call.

Ralph's eyes were huge, like he realized he'd accidentally picked up a rattlesnake.

Something about the way Ralph looked at the phone in terror broke the last bit of Nadine's restraint.

"Okay, I am done with this! I am done with others butting into our business!" She snatched the phone out of his paw and hitting the answer button, snarled, "What do you want?!"

---

Cassandra Wolford paced as she called her sons phone again while waited for her husband to get the tickets so they could finish tracking down their runaway kit and his new mate.

"Try to steal my child away will she? We'll just see about that!" she huffed right before the call finally went through.

A voice she recognized from of some of her encounters with her son and his police partner snarled through the phone.

"What do you want?"

"Don't you take that tone with me!" she snapped back icily, "Where are you and my son right now?"

"That's none of your business." The tiger responded just as icily, and there was a faint panicked whisper of, "Nadine, what are you doing?!"

"None of my business? None of my Business?! You made it my business when you decided to steal my son from our pack!" she snarled back into the phone.

"Mother!" Ralph's voice came through, abet a bit shakily, "She did not 'steal' me! And whatever you've heard, it's not the truth!"

"Oh, she didn't did she?" Cassandra huffed angrily, "Then care to explain why you're with her right now instead of on that date set up between our pack and the Silverclaws's? Humm? Have you been with her all the other times you've skipped pack arranged dates too?" The silence from her son was all the confirmation she needed to know that he had.

"He's not going on any other date today, tomorrow or any time in the future because he's dating me!", Fangmeyer's voice snarled out of the phone, before back tracking, "Wait, Arghh! I mean that he's asked me out and we've agreed to start dating! We are just starting to date, and Ralph, will not be going on any 'dates' with anyone else! I don't care what 'pack' reason you have for it!"

"Don't you try changing your story little miss tiger! What you know about how a pack works could fit in a thimble! And if you weren't stealing him out from under us, then he would have at least told us he was planning on courting you!"

"Umm…" Ralph cut in hesitantly, "since we haven't technically started dating yet, I can tell you now that I'm planning on courting Nadine, right?"

"Oh, no. It's far too late for that. I know all about your morning romp and your plans to elope and move in together! You can't just mark someone and then claim you're planning on courting them! You're no lone wolf and that's not how any civilized pack works!"

There was a strangled squeaking sound from Fangmeyer as Ralph suddenly tried vehemently denying that he'd marked her yet.

"Don't think you're going to be able to talk your way out of this one Ralph. You two are in deep enough trouble as it is! Our pack is in an uproar because of you two and Bill had to cover for you, Ralph, so that the Silverclaws's pack didn't feel slighted! You two can forget whatever notions you have about some 'secret romance'. You two are coming back to the pack grounds where we can keep an eye on both of you until Mr. and Mrs. Fangmeyer get here tomorrow and we can sort this whole mess out before it gets any worse."

"Oh no! No! No! NO! You are not bringing my parents into this!" the tiger objected, voice sounding strained.

"Listen here girl," Cassandra said putting her paw up to her temple and rubbing, "You made the decision to pursue my son and now you're going to have to pay the price for sneaking around with him. You have two choices. You and Ralph can come quietly or I'll drag both of you back by the tails."

"Oh you just try that!" she snarled, almost roared, and Cassandra heard Ralph's voice saying, "Nadine, calm down! Calm down you're going to flip us!"

"Fine, the hard way it is," Cassandra growled, "I will not let my son run off to be some outcast lone wolf and I will not let you two create some scandal to ruin our pack! Ralph is not leaving our pack and if that means I have to hog tie you, drag you back and force a tiger into our pack, then so be it. I'll stuff you into a wedding dress, and perform the marriage myself."

There was a strangled sounding cry of "What!?", a startled shout from Ralph and then a splash and the line went dead.

---

'Never let them see that they get to you'

Part of Nick mused on how after years, decades, of practicing that little rule of his, he could fool just about anyone...

Except for one too smart, too perceptive, too lovable bunnyrabbit.

She had a knack for getting past his defenses; for always finding the one angle he wasn't prepared to cover. She was the only mammal that could hustle him like this or get him to talk himself into a corner instead of out of it.

At least she only thinks I know the song, Nick thought as he continued to grumble to himself, Gods if she ever finds out that I was the one in that video, I'll never hear the end of it! and if Clawhauser where to find out… *shudder* , not even Robin Hood himself could save me if that were to happen. I'd lose all credibility! I can't believe I let Finnick talk me into that! Easy money my ass! And to think it even ended up being somewhat popular and we just couldn't collect on it! Arghh! I told him it wasn't worth doing without being able to sell it through all the normal methods, which we couldn't do. If he had just listened-

Nick's internal tirade cut off as two soft but firm paws clasped his cheeks and yanked his head forward and then side to side like an old grandparent insistently inspecting a young kit.

Nick blinked once in surprise as Judy angled his head, examining him with a look of extreme focus.

"Judy?" Nick asked, slightly confused and amused at her strange behavior, not that he minded much… or at all. Unlike a fox, her paws didn't have pawpads, just very fine fur that was silky smooth and her claws were tiny blunt things that pressed against his cheeks with just a faint touch. He rather liked the feeling of her holding his head like this even if he had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

Maybe it's a bunny thing? Nick thought with a mental shrug and gave a small smile, asking her in a quizzically, almost playful way, "What are you doing?"

She seemed not to hear him at all. Her brow furrowed, and she leaned in close to him and for a brief second Nick had the wildly irrational hope that she was going to kiss him, but she just muttered, "Stupid dim light." as she turned his head a bit examining it from a different angle.

Nick's tail which had been about to explode into motion slumped, and he had to fight back a quick wave of longing so deep that he wanted to howl.

Stupid, Stupid, STUPID fox. She's a bunny. She's your best friend, be happy that you have that much.

There was a murmured "It can't be…" from Judy, as she shifted his head again. That comment caught his attention, she'd sounded... hopeful? Disbelieving? Stunned?

What? Is my fur messed up? I spent two hours groom myself this morning so I'd look my best today around Judy. Maybe one of the rollercoasters tussled it or… oh gods I don't have blueberry stains all over my muzzle do I? Is that it?"

Nick was about to ask her when she suddenly let go of him. He hadn't noticed how far over toward her she'd pulled him or how much he'd been leaning into her touch, so when she let go, he flopped down face first into her lap with a startled yelp, then yelped louder completely surprised as she leaned over him and grabbed his tail with both paws.

She didn't yank it or tug on it, but his tail was sensitive and he wasn't prepared for her to grab it and suddenly pull it closer to her.

He froze for a second out of sheer shock as Judy started fiddling with the tip of his tail, bent over him. She ran a paw through the fur at the tip, almost experimentally and there was a rush of warmth and pleasure that washed through him.

If he'd been prepared for it, he could have hidden his reaction. Muted it so that he didn't lose himself to her touch. But just like always Judy had caught him off guard.

Nick gasped at the feeling, but his head was in Judy's lap with her leaning over him in the narrow confines of the boat, practically boxing his head in, and his sudden startled intake of air brought with it a wave of her scent that hit him like a boxer slamming an unexpected hook into an already stunned foe.

Her scent flooded him, filled him, surrounded him.

Like a kit at the beach that's sweep under by an unexpected wave, he was suddenly drowning under a roiling sea of her scent, unable to find his way back to the surface. His mind floundered while the feeling of her stroking his tail again was like the distant crash of another wave somewhere above him that sent his mind careening once more.

Judy shifted slightly, still fiddling with his tail as Nick broke through to the surface and managed to gasp out a startled questioning "Carrots?!..."

But she didn't reply, didn't even seem to hear him. And her paw ran through the fur of his tail tracing nearly its whole length and he was shoved back under as the wave of pleasure that came along from her touch ran through him, over him and he found himself once more fighting to try and resurface and not drown in her scent and touch.

His body shook and a sliver of fear ran through him paralleling the pleasure. It would be so easy to give in, to let all his worries go and give into her. To not fight to regain his control. But he knew what would happen if he did that and Nick feared it. Feared what it would do to his chance at happiness, at his chance of being with Judy or even being just her friend. If he let himself go in that blissful roiling storm of feelings that was surging through him, he wouldn't just sit there and enjoy it, he'd take her, claim her right there. He wouldn't be able to stop himself.

She stroked his tail again and he shuddered, breathing in her wonderful sweet scent, a mix of her normal everyday scent like liquid comfort, that was tinged liberally with the scent of her arousal. He'd gotten used to that particularly subtle and intoxicating aspect of her scent since, as she'd embarrassedly explained the one time he'd asked, being a bunny whose species was renowned for their ability to multiplying, they had drives to match. But while he's gotten used to that particular flavor of her scent that seemed to always be around in at least faint amounts, this time with his nose nestled into her lap it hit him like a hammer blow.

"Judy!" Nick managed to say in a frantic growl as she stroked his tail again before he groaned and had to pant hard for a brief moment. He needed air desperately to clear his head but couldn't get any, his lungs only filled with her sweet aroma.

He gasped out again, "What are you doing?" in a frantic and confused voice as he fought to stay sane.

But Judy didn't answer. She didn't stop. Her paw moved through his fur, starting at the base of his tail, her tiny claws brushing lightly against his skin and he cried out and cursed as he struggled with himself. His senses were overloading, and Nick was reeling, trying to fight the crashing waves of sensual gleeful pleasure, that she was bringing to him. He wanted more of it. More of her. Craved her. Needed her. There was a purely savage side within him straining wildly against its bonds, stretching the chains that bound it, starting to snap links one by one as it screamed.

She was his. His and no one else's. She was his mate, his to love, his to claim and protect. There was nothing else in the world more important than her.

And that was the problem. There was nothing more important in the world to him than her. And as much as he needed her, needed her like some mammal dying of thirst in a dessert needed water, taking her, claiming her like that savage part of him frantically insisted he do right this very second, would hurt her, would violate her trust in him. It would destroy her happiness, her smile, her laugh, because he would have done the unforgivable... because she didn't want him in that way.

He took another desperate gasping breathing and she flooded through his sense of smell as her paw moved through his tail causing pure sensation to travel up his spine.

The beast within him broke free, raging madly, and Nick fought against it with every last bit of himself. His whole body shook and his paws that had started to move to grab her, hold her, draw her nearer, clawed into the seat to either side of her, gouging deep as his rational side battled his primal one. His need for her and his need to protect her, waging war with each other, the outcome teetering back and forth on a razor's edge.

Nick pushed his muzzle into her, closer to her, literally burying his nose into her clothes and fur.

Her scent was an intoxicant that the beast craved madly but it also reminded him of her, of his always bright and happy bunny, his Judy. And it was enough… barely.

Judy's paw had stopped, lying motionless on his tail, and he let out a pained whine, half out of relief that she'd stopped her blissful torment and half out of a despairing sense of loss.

Nick tried to collect himself but he'd barely started when he faintly heard an echoing roar. And before he had so much as a moment to pull himself together, Judy had let go of his tail like it had burned her and started spewing apologies.

" -So so so sorry! I wasn't thinking! I didn't mean to-! Oh gods Nick, I'm sorry!-"

Her sudden panic hit Nick like a shot of pure adrenaline, sending a spike of fear through him that silenced every other thought and feeling he had. Then his chin thumped painfully onto the seat as Judy, still apologizing, tried scooting as far away from him as she could, not that she was very successful beyond moving far enough away to let his muzzle fall off her lap in the confines of the boat.

"Oh gods, you're going to hate me now, you're going to-"

"Judyyyy," Nick whined desperately, trying to get her attention as his chin throbbed painfully but she only tried scouting further away, tears tracing her face, as she wedged herself into a tight ball in the corner of the seat.

He tried again but rather than calming her though, he only seemed to upset her more and she curled in on herself, her ears pulled down hiding her face as she continued her sobbing apology that was ripping out Nick's heart. It was like when she was had come back after the press conference and found him under the bridge, but worse, far worse.

Nick did the only thing he could think of in his panicked state, he moved to hug her, like he'd done so often since that day under the bridge… or tried too. He hadn't realized just how deeply he'd dug his claws into the faux wood of the bench seat, and his move forward to hug her turned into a sudden awkward flop that slammed his chin painfully against her leg as his paws refused to lift away from the seat.

Nick gave another groan, but the sharp jolt through his muzzle was nothing compared to the sound coming from the huddled bunny. He tried calling her name, nearly shouting it but she just shrunk back into herself all the more, sobbing a repetitive, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry,"

Seeing her like that, and being unable to do anything to help her was too much for him and Nick lost it.

A frustrated angry growl at his inability to do anything torn out of him and Nick snapped his muzzle forward sinking his teeth into the cloth of Judy's pants and with his paws still stuck, pushed his chest up off the seat and yanked his head back under him. Judy's apologetic mantra was broken with a loud startled squeak as she was yanked away from the corner of the seat and under Nick.

With another growl, Nick let go of her and then unceremoniously flopped down protectively, his chest still rumbling angrily. There was another startled squeak from the bunny that suddenly found herself pinned underneath him but she'd stopped crying and apologizing so Nick gave halfway satisfied huff and rumbled before letting his head flop back down tiredly. The events of the past couple minuets had drained him. From her hustle to the unexpected move grabbing his tail to her emotional breakdown, his emotions had been whiplashing back and forth from terror to ecstasy and he felt exhausted.

"Dumb bunny is going to be the death of me." he mumbled with his eyes closed, a bit of irritation more at the world in general than at Judy bleeding into his voice.

There was a blessed few moments where nothing happened. No sound or movement besides his angry protective growl that was diminishing to just a low rumble and the rapid heartbeat and slightly disjointed breathing of Judy pinned between him and the seat.

But it didn't last.

Judy finally seemed to break through her shock at his sudden move and squirmed slightly, then again as she hesitantly, questioningly asked, "N-Nick?"

Still feeling far more savage than rational, Nick lifted off her just enough so that he could angle his head down until his nose nearly pressed into hers as he growled out, "I don't know what you where panicking over, and frankly I don't care," he said looking hard down into her startled lavender eyes, pressing his nose against hers, stopping the rapid twitch that had started. He could see the glossy water film of tears still in her eyes and growled again, rumbling deep in his chest, "No." he narrowed his eyes, "No more crying. No more apologies. No more beating yourself up over whatever it is this time you overly emotional dumb bunny. I'm not moving until my happy smiling partner is back, do you understand?" he finished his voice rumbling dangerously. There was the slightest hesitant nod and Nick huffed and flopped back down, his head coming to rest against the top of hers so that she was all but buried under him. He grumbled to himself, the low rumble continuing the whole time. He felt exhausted, utterly depleted; he decided to just rest for a minute before trying to regain some control from the savage protective beast that was currently refusing to let his bunny move so much as an inch away from him.

---

"Come on, hurry up!" Skye hiss over to Jack.

"I am, I am." Jack replied, moving faster.

Skye looking back toward where she could see a light at the end of the tunnel, "Hurry! We've got like 30 seconds."

"Plenty of time." He said, though there was a faint hint of tension in his voice.

"Maid Marian save me," Skye huffed, rolling her eyes, "Here let me."

She reached over to the hare fumbling around in the dark and finished buttoning up his shirt and pants so it wouldn't look like they'd been up to anything too unseemly while in the love tunnel. She smirked though, as her cherry red kiss marks still covered his face, neck and ears.

"See," She said finishing, rather pleased with how things had gone on their 'ride', "Told you being quick had its advantages, 2 rounds and nobody but us will be the wiser."

"I'm pretty sure that wolf and any other mammal with a decent nose is going to be the wiser." Jack said smoothing out his shirt.

"Nope," Skye said smirking, pulling a travel size can of Muskmask deodorizer from her small purse and spritzing herself then Jack, just enough to knock their scents down to (somewhat) respectable levels, "They'll just assume that we've had quite the makeout session." She said putting the deodorizer away just as they exited the tunnel. She gave Jack a kiss on the cheek, right where there was a sticky red cherry mark from a previous kiss.

"Ummm… Delicious." She said with a smirk just as there was a laugh and a (literal) wolf whistle from the exit dock as their large sized boat was pushed over to by some unseen mechanism that grated against the bottom of the craft until it merged with the small and mid sized boat channel at the dock and they could get out.

"Hey, 'Thumper. I thought you were supposed to be the charmer! Looks more like that vixen ate you alive!"

Jack's ears popped up as if he was about to make some snappy reply, but the sight of his kiss covered ears popping up drew laughs and giggles from everyone including Skye, before he could say anything.

Skye leaned over grinning and kissed him again, before whispering smugly, "See you should listen to my plans more often."

Jack just shook his head, though there was a smile across his face. "I always listen to your plans Skye," he hopped out of the boat and then held his paw down to help her up.

She took it, still smirking, "Jack, you only listen if you haven't already run off recklessly and gotten yourself in trouble."

"It's called being 'dashing' dear," Jack answered with a charming grin, "How else am I supposed to impress my girl?" he turned back forward to the wolf standing next to the tiger, "Right Ms. Ramsbottom..." He stopped and blinked before smirking, as his attention now fully on the two other mammals. "What happened to you two?"

Skye looked over and noticed for the first time that the wolf and tiger were soaked. They were sitting on a bench by the attendant's booth at the dock and toweling each other off. Fangmeyer blushed and looked down while Wolford just grinned.

"Come on Jack, a gentle-mammal never kisses and tells."

There was grunt as a moose wearing one of the parks uniforms walked over and dropped another set of dry towels next to them.

"What happened," The moose said rolling his eyes as if this wasn't the first time he'd had to deal with this, "Is that these two love birds got too frisky with each other and flipped their boat." He gave Skye and Jack a look and snorted, "Not that it looks like you two didn't give that a good try too." The attendant shook his antlers as he walked over to the boat they'd gotten out of and started moving it over to a line of other boats to move back around to the front of the ride.

"So..." Wolford said, picking up one of the new towels and starting to dry Fangmeyer's tail without any hesitation, "If we got dunked, and you two came out with new furstyles, what state do you think Wilde and Hopps will be in when they exit?"

Fangmeyer who'd blushed again when Wolford had started drying her tail, though she hadn't made any objection to it, grabbed the other dry towel and dropped it over the wolf's face before starting to dry his ears. "Given their track record," she huffed, as the wolfs muzzle sticking out from under the towel grinned happily, "The two of them probably found some sort of criminal operation and will come out of there with at least one mammal tussled up and ready to be carted of the precinct."

"Well," Jack said smirking, "Anyone want to take bets on that?"

---

Judy's usually meticulously ordered mind was a bit of a mess as she lay pinned under Nick, with his larger lithly predatory body all but smothered her. It was almost like one of their practice bouts in the precinct gym when he managed to pin her, but his chest continued to vibrate against hers in a rumbling growl that had an almost menacing edge to it. That certainly didn't help her straying, fracturing thoughts, and the conflicting urges from her instincts didn't help either. There was a small part of her that did not like having this predator, even her predator, trap her so easily, though that might have just been her wounded ego; but at the same time other instincts, stronger instincts liked having this bigger stronger mammal, predator or not, protectively crouched over her and they only wanted to snuggle closer against him.

That little bit of cognitive dissonance certainly wasn't helping her mental state right now. The fox, her ancestral enemy, the bogey-mammal in all the tales told between bunnies to scare each other had her trapped, cornered. He had her pinned and he wasn't letting her go... And she didn't want him too.

He'd even snarled, pressing his muzzle right up to her nose with emerald eyes that had been blazing wildly, savagely, and she'd been startled; startled that she really hadn't been scared. He'd been angry; she'd seen it in those eyes. He'd been very angry, angry and scared, but not angry at her. That angry fox had all but wrapped her up, seeming to growl and rumble threateningly at everything around them.

Judy wasn't one that needed protection; she'd worked hard to be able to stand on her own so that she didn't have to rely on anyone else, but even still, the feeling of being completely protected by someone else was... seductive. There was a part of her that wanted desperately to just stay there and let the big bad fox protect her, comfort her. She wanted to give herself to him, to have him be hers so that she didn't have to always be the only one looking out for herself.

Not that she didn't already seem to have that, a stray thought reminder her, Nick always seemed to be there for her.

But it wasn't enough, she wanted this protective caring fox all for her own. He could be ungodly irritating at times, but he was always there, especially when she was at her lowest. He made her smile, he made her laugh, he made her happy and he made her feel safe no matter what else happened in the world.

Just like now.

Deserving it or not Judy let herself sink into the warm comforting feeling, pressing her nose into his shirt and the thicker fur of his ruff, letting his rumble and heavy musk roll through her, making all her problems and worries just… wash away.

All she'd been able to think about before was that she'd ruined everything. Coming back from her thoughts to find she'd been literally fondling his tail was like the moment right after her first press conference when the relation that she'd messed up, and messed up bad, crashed over her. Sure, she'd touched Nick's tail before incidentally… mostly, but it had been part of their usual teasing. This though had been different; She hadn't been tweaking his nose or anything, she'd been blatantly petting him, fondling his tail. Even among bunnies, who were quite comfortable being touchy feely with their friends and family, that would have been far over the top for acceptable behavior, and with what Skye had told her about foxes… well over the top was a severe understatement.

She'd messed up spectacularly, horrifically, she'd screwed up everything in a manner she'd never be able to fix and yet Nick was still here. Still being the caring friend she wanted so much more from.

Thoughts about what Skye had said rolled through her mind along with all their past interactions, her hugs, and jabs and teasing pokes and nudges. It had been so normal for her but it must have been a strain on Nick, and she wondered why he put up with her. Why he must constantly be putting himself far out of his comfort zone.

For a brief moment she let herself believe that he wanted her like she wanted him. She let herself snuggle into his frame and hold him, let herself imagine that he was hers. It could almost be the truth, with how close they were, with how he put himself out there for her, just to accommodate one silly little over emotional bunny, all just because she was his friend. She could almost convince herself that it was his sly way of telling her he loved her, loved her more than just as a friend. She might have been able to fully convince herself of that if it wasn't for the stupid carrot picking fact that she knew he was in love with a carrot-be-damned vixen.

Judy took in another breath, letting his thick musk fill and calm her sudden anger and jealousy at that. It helped settle the stray thoughts bouncing around her mind. Let her find her balance. She'd messed up but Nick was still here. Things would be alright.

With one last breath that sent his fur brushing against her muzzle as his musk filled her, she spoke up.

"Nick?"

He just rumbled a bit, his head nestling tighter against hers.

"Nick, I'm sorry. I screwed up… again."

His rumble became an unhappy growl.

"No, Judy. I said no more apologized. You didn't screw up anything."

"Yes, I did, Nick!" Judy said needing to excise her guilt. "When Skye was talking to me she told me how foxes are very sensitive about touch, about what it means to you all. It's not the same for bunnies and not only am I always pushing into your personal space but now I just went and completely felt up your tail! And now you're pushing yourself out there again to comfort me, all because I'm just a dumb emotional bunny!"

There was a louder growl, and Nick's chest thrummed against her, "As you said Judy, you're a bunny. It's not the same for you so it doesn't matter."

"It matters to you, Nick." Judy retorted a little bit angrily; being angry was better than crying again, "Even if you try to hide it like everything else it matters to you and I don't want to hurt my friend! My best friend!"

His rumble quieted and he huffed.

"Fine Judy it matters to me, but I can make an exception for my best friend if I damn well want too!"

"And what about the girl you're in love with Nick?" Judy said, fortified enough by her anger at the injustice she was casing Nick to bringing up what lay at the heart of all her recent pain, "I might have been wrong about thinking you were in love with Skye, but you're in love with someone."

Some Stupid Foxy Lady! She mentally seethed.

"How would that vixen feel if she saw me petting your tail or… or…"

"Or me laying atop you in a cheesy swan boat in the world's most ridiculously corny tunnel of love?" Nick finished with snort.

"YES!" Judy said and tried to thump Nick for his stupid sarcastic comments when she was trying to be serious, not that she was very successful, what with being trapped under him and all, "How are you going to win her over if I'm always too close to you? How would she react to another mammal always touching you?"

Nick actually laughed and Judy tried thumping him with her leg, with only moderate success.

"Fine Fluff, you want to know how she'd react if she was interested in me; She'd probably thump the living hell out of them and then get them arrested just for good measure. I'm pretty sure that's how she'd react, but…" he said, snickering at her, "You don't have to worry about that because she, unfortunately, isn't interested in me; she's happy to be my friend and if that's all I can get, then that's what I'll take."

"Stop being such an ass and be serious for once!" Judy snapped, angry at the whole situation now. She knew that he was just using his usual snark to cover up his pain. "You can't give up. You've never given up on anything we've ever faced so stop giving up on her."

"Who said I'm giving up?" Nick snapped back at her and she could feel by the tension in his body that she'd hit a nerve. He shifted slightly and then snarked back to her, "And as for being such an ass, I've always thought that that was among my best features;" he snickered again, "Why even you seemed to have trouble keeping your paws off of it and my tail!"

"Nick!" She said angrily and managed a slightly better kick than before, getting a grunt from him. "Stop messing around. This isn't something to joke about."

"And who said I was joking?" Nick said smugly and this time it was Judy who was growling.

"You are such a Dumb Fox!" she nearly snarled.

"And you are such a Dumb Bunny!" Nick said seeming to quite enjoy himself now.

"Dumb, Dumb, DUMB fox!" Judy said irritatedly, only for Nick to give a belly laugh, and Judy had to fight hard to hold onto her irritation as Nick's mirth tried to infect her.

"You know you love me, dumb fox and all." Nick said in a teasing wheedling tone as his laughter lightened. Judy snapped her ears down against the back of her head, partly out of irritation at his quip but far more because they'd suddenly heated up like they'd been lit on fire. She was still practically cuddled against him, his musk surrounding her and it was making it hard for her to keep her emotions from wildly swinging out of balance.

"I'm not answering that, Nick!" She said obstinately only for Nick to snicker and start nuzzling between her ears.

"Come on Carrooots you know it's true."

"I'm not giving the dumb fox and answer to that!" Judy said trying to poke his chest. "You're too dumb to even understand it!"

"You know you're going to answer, Judy." Nick said, voice tauntingly smug.

"Am not!" she snapped.

"You can't hold back from saying it forever." He snickered

"Just watch me!" She snapped defiantly.

Nick seemed to take that as a challenge,

"Really Judy?" he snickered delightedly and she just turned her head away from him, intent on ignoring the annoyingly warm fox above her. He nuzzled her head again ruffling her fur in a way he probably knew drove her nuts.

"JJuuuuddddyyyy," he snickered again, and when she gave no response, he lowered his mental age to that of a 5 year old in an attempt to annoy an answer out of her,

"Judy, Judy, Judy, Judy, Judy, Judy, Judy, Judy, Judy…" he started saying incessantly right into her ear until she finally snapped.

"NICK! I'm not answering!"

She could feel the smirk forming on his muzzle and then he whispered into her ear in that same taunting tone.

"Judy, you know I love you right?"

"Arggghhhhh!" Judy exploded, ears now blazingly, and started trying to thump him however she could as he laughed like he'd pulled the world's, best joke.

"You Stupid, Dumb, Idiotic, Incorrigible, Incessant, Irritation, Annoying, FOX," She ranted trying to thump every part of him she could reach while still trapped cuddled against him.

"Yep," Nick said still snickering, "And despite all that, you still know you love me."

"Fine, you're right you dumb fox," Judy snapped, "I love you and now I'm going to give you a proper thrashing, so get up off of me so I can start!"

"No can do, Carrots." Nick said in a ridiculously happy voice at having won their game.

"Argghhhh!" she groaned again in frustration before asking, "And why not?"

She could even hear his tail wagging now which made her feel warm and happy inside… which also irritated her for being so easily swayed by him.

"First, Carrots, I said I'd only get off you once I had my happy smiling partner back. Granted annoyed is a step up from sad but I'm a mammal of my word."

"You're a hustler, that's what you are Nick." She replied in a clipped tone.

"Doesn't mean I'm don't keep my word," he snickered and she groaned again before scrunching up her face into a smile that Chief Bogo would have been proud of.

"Okay, Nick." She said, her foot starting to thump against his thigh where it rested, "I'm smiling and happy now," she used her best fake happy voice, which Chief Bogo would also probably have approved of, "So will you please let me up now?"

"Nope." Nick said cheerfully, without even a moments wait.

She thumped his thigh but it didn't seem to faze him at all.

"Sorry Carrots, I would let you up, but I can't."

"And why not?" she asked sighing in a frustrated, defeated manner as she thumping her forehead into his chest repeatedly since there was nothing better to whack it against.

"Because I'm stuck." Nick replied happily, his tail swishing faster.

Judy stopped at that with her head pressed into his ruff, and took a second to contemplate that before coming up with an appropriate answer.

"What?!"

"Well…" Nick said, and she was sure he was grinning, "When you started fondling and petting my tail-"

Judy's groaned interrupting him, and she pressed her face into his ruff as it caught fire, "Gods, can we forget I ever did that? I can't believe I was that rude."

Nick thumped her head lightly with his muzzle, sternly saying, "It's only rude if I say it's rude, Judy. Now back to what I was saying, I can't let you up because when you were fiddling with my tail I… sort of dug my claws into the seat… and can't get them out."

Judy blinked at that.

"You're serious?" she asked.

Nick huffed, "Judy, you're horrible at telling when I'm serious."

"I didn't even know that was possible…" Judy mussed, trying to look over at his paws.

"Well, Fluff…" Nick lifting off of her just a bit and yanking an arm, but his paw stayed firmly attached to the benchseat, "Evidence would seem to say that it is possible."

"You actually got your claws stuck…" Judy said distantly watching him try to free his paw, a giggle escaping her as she watched.

"Not, funny Fluff." Nick said, still working to try and free his paw.

"Actually Nick… *giggle* that is funny." Her giggles broke into laughter, "You got yourself stuck!" she cackled, "Stuck on a loveboat. Oh gods wait until we get to the end of the ride and Nadine and Ralph see this!" she started to wiggle out from under him, "I so need pictures of this!"

"Oh no you don't Fluff!" Nick said, ceasing his attempt to free his paws and flopping back down on her just as she started wiggling out from under him, "If I'm stuck, then I'll make sure you're stuck with me!"

"Not a chance, Slick!" Jud said still giggling, but now also trying to find a way to squirm out from under the fox.

"I'm not letting you go Judith Laverne Hopps!" Nick said sternly, "If I'm going down, I'm bringing you with me!"

She'd managed to get her head out from under him and turned it to glare evilly at him, "We'll just see about that!"

Nick looked just about ready to toss back another quip as the boat exited the tunnel.

---

A/N

…

Operations Clock: +6.25 hours

…

...

Supply Division:

Damnit the Coffee supply got pirated?! Why those backstabing little *******!

Well at least we found this Epicly cool picture of WolfEyer. Got to thank DrummerMax64 and Ziegelzeig for this awesome pic!

.

ziegelzeig DOT deviantart DOT com /art/WolfEyer-675285697

.

...

...Now this is the Law of the Jungle

as old and as true as the moon in the sky;

And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper,

but the Wolf that shall break it must die.

.

As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk

the Law runneth forward and back

For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf,

and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

.

Because of her age and her cunning,

because of her gripe and her paw,

In all that the Law leaveth open,

the word of your Head Wolf is Law.

.

Ralph you might follow after that Tiger,

but, Cub, when thy whiskers are grown,

Remember this Wolf is the Hunter

And I'll drag that you and that Tiger back home.

.

-Cassandra Wolford's rendition of Law of the Jungle

...