boyfriend material - a wildehopps fic by Stapler_Stealer
tags: Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde, fake dating, it's a wedding, undercover shenanigans, in which our duo solves a case, mutual pining, idiots in love, romantic comedy
status: 6/6 COMPLETE
“Where’s that charming fox of yours headed to?” Bonnie exclaims, as her parents approach at last. “I was hoping we’d get to talk to him!” “J-just getting us some lemonade, haha!” Judy laughs, too loud and too disingenuous to her own ears. She steers both elder Hopps in the opposite direction, urging them along with gentle paws on their shoulders. “What a perfect gentleman, isn’t that right?” “I was just about to get to that, honey,” Stu interjects, looking like he desperately wants to get something off his chest. “Let me tell ya, your mother and I were so relieved to hear that you two are finally dating!” Wait — what??! “You…you are?” Judy frowns, halting in her steps. “You guys weren’t…surprised in the least, when I sprung that text message on you, out of the blue?” “Surprised?” Titters her mother, eyes wide like it’s the most amusing thing she’s heard since Aunt Gertrude’s wisdom tooth extraction went awry. “If anything, we’re more surprised that it took that long!” “Oh,” Judy huffs out the nervous breath that she’d been holding in. “But you guys are really…cool with it?” “We-elll,” Stu begins, but seemingly presses his lips together when Bonnie shoots him a reproachful look. “Of course I had my reservations, what with him not being a bunny like us after all.” “We’ve seen how good he is for you, Judy,” Bonnie chimes in, with a tender smile. “At the welcome party for the lovely De’Snakes, remember?” “Even if — ” Judy ventures, echoing out loud the worries that have been weighing on her mind ever since she’d started to entertain the possibility that maybe she and Nick could be…more than friends. “ — even if Nick and I may never be able to have biological kits? That if we do decide to start a family, it won’t exactly be a…conventional one?” “Oh, you know none of that stuff matters to your mother and I,” chuckles Stu, with the fond air of resignation of a father who’s already seen it all. “What matters the most is what you want.” “All we want is for you to be happy, bun,” says Bonnie, giving Judy’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “And I’m not gonna lie, he did seem kinda unreliable and…flippant at first, but — ” her father gestures in the distance, as their gazes all drift in Nick’s direction. “It’s clear how deeply he admires you; quietly watches out for you, in his own special way.” Nick’s timing could not be more impeccable as he returns from his daring pilgrimage, glasses upon glasses of lemonade teetering precariously on a large metal tray. As if on cue, a litter of mini Hopps accost him at once, tugging at his pants and clamouring for his attention. The fox chuckles at that; makes a half-hearted attempt at fending them off but the way his eyes twinkle and his face lights up with pure joy is…it’s unmistakable. “He makes you happy, Judes,” Stu shakes his head fondly at the adorable sight. “I can see it in your eyes.” Hot tears well up in Judy’s eyes, beyond her volition. He really does, doesn’t he? Life has never been the same, ever since Nicholas P. Wilde came sauntering into her life, pawpsicle stick dangling from perpetually smirking lips. Denial has held it tenuously at bay this entire time but it’s impossible to deny it now — the warmth, soothing and grounding, that settles in her chest at the mere hint of his smile; the ever-present ache of wanting to snuggle close to him. Whatever that is — it isn’t just a fleeting crush, it’s…it’s something far, far more frightening, which is exactly why Judy’s been refusing to acknowledge it. …Is this why they call it falling in love? Because it feels like she’s on the edge of a daunting precipice and staring down at the jagged ground far below — heart in her throat, scared as all fuck out of her little bunny mind. Knowing that somehow, she has to take that leap of faith. …She wants to.
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