So I managed to do 21 days of 31 for Zootopia themes Inktober (I did do other ones but they were all mainly trees for class :D) Now it’s time to try to not fail a new challenge!
I woke up really early this morning in order to bake cakes for my sisters, and I’m so damn tired. However, the inspiration for today’s picture came from it, so that’s a plus.
I’d figure a baking date between these two would start with the best of intentions, but then one of them throws flour and everything gets out of hand. Good times.
I only realised after finishing drawing Nick that I kinda drew him doing a dab in order to protect himself. So, if you don’t like baking, here’s Nick dancing. If you don’t like dancing, then I can’t help you; you’re too hard to please.
Exhaustion overtook Nick as he got home. He wasn’t lazy, not by any means. He was in great shape and energetic as a kit. He was just use to doing things at his own pace. His own way. Were they going to try to break him of that? They could try but he couldn’t imagine that working too well for them. He would work hard even though sometimes he wondered why he tried so hard to make this work.
He had issues with authority and society. A long, long time ago he had given up on his dreams. He had been pushed out of society by a group he had wanted more than anything to belong to. It wasn’t the only bad thing that happened in his life but it was the first in a long line of lessons and he was a good learner. Adaptable. Cunning. Able to read and observe other mammals. Use their wants for his gain.
He fell asleep his mind thinking of his aches, sores and his past life. He didn’t know when in his deep thoughts he actually fell asleep. He didn’t remember most of his dreams.
He was suddenly woken by the ringtone he used for his mother. The mammal he loved most in the world. He smile knowing where the conversation would lead. Where it often went. He didn’t mind. His mom was just a fanvixen and wanted miniatures of him. He answered and looked around his room. It was all so familiar but it seemed off.
“How’s my favorite vixen?” He said grinning into the video chat.
“Is this a bad time? You’re all mumbly, sweetheart.”
“No, I’m not,” he said defensively. It felt clearer but he knew he hadn’t mumbled before.
“Oh? We’re doing this, now are we?” There was a chuckle in her voice and he felt outside of a joke. “Okay, sweetheart. Interference on my end. What did you say when you answered?”
“How’s my favorite vixen?” Nick licked his muzzle and stood up to get a water. It seemed so wrong. His surroundings wasn’t his usual ones but it was the exact same steps to the water fixture of his refrigerator.
There was a pause and a soft chuckle on the other end of the phone.
“If I’m still your favorite vixen I guess I got an early answer to my question. Pity.” She sighed. “Nicky if you don’t want to have someone in your life that’s fine. I just always thought one day you would.”
“I do want somebody, Mom. I want somebody to share... Share the rest of my life... Share my innermost thoughts...”
“Oh, this is a treat. It’s been a long time since you’ve done this.”
Nick had no idea what she was talking about and he wanted to ask but he couldn’t stop himself. He needed his mom to know his feelings. He was on a mission. He was compelled.
“Know my intimate details... Someone who'll stand by my side... And give me support... And in return... She'll get my support... She will listen to me... When I want to speak... About the world we live in... And life in general.”
Long gray ears walked past him and his paw reached out to caress the head they belonged to as he spoke with his mother. His paw curled around to rub the bunny’s ears. She was wearing a colorful sundress with cream, green, blue, purple but the primary color was orange. Matching color of his fur. He had bought her a dress for her birthday a while ago and he hadn’t realized when he picked out the dress how much it was his way of marking her. Every color worked together and in a way that reminded him of them and the things in their lives. She was a big part of his life now. His ears started burning the more he thought about it. Thought about the way he was touching her, so formally. So possessively.
He didn’t even wonder why she was in his home. She belonged there. She fit. She fit in his home, in his life. Everything was right here. Her and her early morning dance to brew coffee in the percolator. Her paws swatted at him. She gave him that flustered “Judy look” he enjoyed spotting.
“Though my views may be wrong... They may even be perverted... She'll hear me out... And won't easily be converted... To my way of thinking... In fact she'll often disagree... But at the end of it all... She will understand me.”
“Are you singing Depeche Mole?” The bunny laughed out.
“Singing? I’m not singing, Judy. I’m talking to my mom.” Arms wrapped around his waist and it was wonderful. So good he used her actual name.
“Judy? Who’s Judy?” His mom asked, and he knew what it meant when Hopps said she could hear his smirk.
“Mine...” Nick mumbled. He was laughed at and defensively corrected himself hastily. “You know who Carrots is.”
“She’s there? She’s in your apartment?” His mom asked excitedly.
“A...partment...” He realized why everything felt off. He was a house. It was nice and spacious. It had room for and was decorated with their things and things that were THEIRS. And then there was the one thing that truly made this place home. His bunny. His solace. His friend. His, to his embarrassment at his age age occasional crush. Most of the time more. Something he never realized she was until now. Judy Hopps. “Rutting, stupid subconscious.”
“Language, young man,” his mother laughed a true belly laugh, showing it wasn’t a real concern.
“Sorry, Mom,” Nick said with a sigh. “Heh, even in a dream I swear in front of you.”
“You are actually sleep walking. I haven’t heard you sing in a long time,” Mrs. Wilde informed him.
He didn’t want to wake up. Even if it was only seeing her, having her there to his sleeping senses only. He knew it wasn’t the first time he dreamed of her, though he couldn’t remember the other ones. He knew in the awareness that he was sleep walking he was going to wake up. He didn’t want to. He wanted her there for real. He hated that his brain had tricked him so thoroughly. He didn’t want to forget the feel of peace and fulfillment that the dream gave him. But he would push it from his thoughts, like he always did when he had his realizations of what they could be. It still took a few tries for him to fully wake up from his slumber.
“I do hope you got your laughs out, mom.”
“Oh, I did, Sweetheart,” She grinned. “Are you going to tell her? Does she know you love her? Does she know you call her ‘Mine’ in your dreams?”
“I just woke up from a crazy dream, mom. I don’t even know what time it is or how many dreams I had before it.”
“You say that but not every dream gets you to sleep walk, talk and, I kid you not, sing.”
“Ugh... I was not singing.” Nick said definitively, smacking his paw to his face and dragging it down his muzzle.
“You weren’t just quoting the words from “Somebody” you were singing it.”
“Mom, you’re enjoying this a bit too much.”
“A bit,” she said and there it was again, that smirk in her voice that he didn’t have to see to know it was there.
“Mom, I only slept two hours tonight. I need at least 22 more to finish this conversation. I’m going back to sleep.” He grumbled, finally looking at the clock. It wasn’t that late in the night he had fallen to sleep as soon as he had gotten home. He going to be awake for a while now and he really didn’t feel like this conversation.
“Sweet dreams, Nicky. I mean that with all my heart, baby.” She knew she had pushed him a bit far and maybe took advantage. She felt bad that she didn’t feel worse but it was a much needed insight to his life that she craved.
“I love you, Mom,” Nick smiled.
“I love you, too, baby.”
Nick ended the call. He sat down and took a deep breath. He felt restless. He stared at his background picture of his pretty friend. The dream made him feel so incredibly... it was hard to say. Inadequate? Needy? Pathetic? A bit of all of these. And so much more. He wondered if he knew other languages if there would be a better word to describe his feelings.
The dream was wonderful. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was having a dream and not knowing the first thing to going about making it true. The problem was the doubt that it was right or wrong for her. The problem was not being able to find a compromise between his wake state and sleep state. This was so frustrating. He knew he needed her in his life. She had made it clear months ago that it was exactly the same that she felt. But there were many different ways to need someone. He knew he felt strongly for her. He would be there for her even if he was rejected as a romantic interest. She was important to him every way. He did have tell her.
But he knew he wasn’t the best at being direct. It wasn’t too late at night. He made a decision that this couldn’t wait. He dialed her.
“Hey, Carrots. It’s Halloween in a couple weeks. Want to go to out and have fun?”
Steps to synchronize (Zootopia fanfic) : 1st step, come to contact
Dedication to Wildehopps week, thanks to @rem289
Sooo I still don’t have posting fanfic site account yet. But that’s not gonna stop me from screaming my obsession towards the dynamic duo. Hope you folks enjoy my first Eng fanfic series.
A red fluffy tail with a dark auburn tip swayed left and right. A fox, a nocturnal mammal himself, was not all alert in the early morning. Therefore, he would rather stroll across the ZPD’s hallway while sipping his coffee. However, he could not help but notice that it was too rowdy for a moment like this. Without further ado, the tod headed to a portly cheetah at the reception desk. Benjamin Clawhauser, the receptionist, greeted him as soon as he clapped eyes on the fox.
“Good morning Wilde~”
“Morning buddy. By the way, why the fuss?”
Nick Wilde, the first fox police officer of ZPD, stopped at the front of the desk and pointed out their surroundings.
“Oh! That reminded me… You might wanna get to Briefing Room quick.”
“Not till my coffee kicks in.”
He yawned and took another sip with eyes half lidded.
“Hopps is already there.”
At that time, Clawhauser saw Nick gulping his coffee down. Luckily, it wasn’t hot or else it would burn his throat, still he coughed as he nearly choked himself from rushing the drink.
“Okay, that hits the spot. Better get going, see you later”
The fox walked off with mock salute. On the cheetah side, he giggled as waving his paw. Throwing an almost empty coffee paper cup in the bin on the side of path, Nick tightened up his tie also sashayed his way into the Briefing room.
“Wilde, you’re here. Great, take you seat.”
As soon as he entered the room, he received the first order of the day from his buffalo captain, Chief Bogo. Nick smirked in response, ready to kick off his day with a little tease.
“Aw Chief, at least greeting would make a decent start of work.”
“Hurry up already!”
“Roger that~”
The tod went to sit down agilely on the same spot, the same chair he shared with his trusty partner, Judy Hopps. Nick greeted a mammal right next to him with sly grin.
“Howdy Doody partner”
“Morning Nick!”
Cheerful as always, the rabbit officer turned her face to meet fox’s gaze. He examined the doe; neat uniform, bright expression and cuteness (according to Nick’s perspective). Then he checked his reflection in her twinkling big round eyes. Mask intact checked, Nick gave his best tempting smile and pointed finger bang both paws at his reflection or so to speak, Judy.
“What was that for?”
Judy inquisitively scrutinized her partner and snorted in amusement.
“Gotta reassure both first officers of certain species look their best.”
“Quit messing around!”
Chief scolded the mischievous officer which seemed like daily routine more or less, so other officers laughed as usual. Nick pretended to zip his mouth and behaved himself. Nonetheless, it was impossible for Nick not to notice that there were not many mammals at that time.
“Okay, I will repeat the case briefly only once. ZPD received an emergency call from a threatened victim who has been harassed by a peculiar culprit apparently having connections with ZIA. In addition, the threat level dramatically shifted when the victim received a threatening letter which stated that the culprit will terrorize an annual event, the Grand Pride Ballroom night. Therefore, we are planning to go undercover in order to protect all participants and secure the place.”
‘Having some agents backing up, I see. No wonder why things kept hidden from cops till issue escalates this much. But with clear menace on specific place and date, that’s more than enough to think of easier solutions than going undercover.’
So many questions had arisen in Nick’s mind. He crossed his arms entire time, paying attention to the case. The fox lifted his paw. After gaining nod in assent from the chief, Nick inquired.
“Ah, who is the victim?”
“You will meet her in private soon. Let me introduce you to her by that time.”
The Cape buffalo replied with an indifferent tone but somehow, Nick found a glimpse of excitement in his supervisor’s stare.
“Hmm”
‘Guess, all my doubts will be cleared by asking the mammal directly, huh?’
Pushing his curiosity aside for moments, the tod put his both paws behind his head.
“Now, everyone’s on the same page, dismissed!”
Making some noise, all the officers in the Briefing room were leaving, so does bunny and fox duo. However, before they could go anywhere, they halted when Chief Bogo commanded them.
“Hopps, Wilde, follow me.”
They jumped down the chair and followed chief to a door on the side of the room, not the one on the back that general officers usually used. The fox whispered to his partner walking next to him. Hopefully, the buffalo did not catch a curious nature of his.
“Hey Carrots, where are we going?”
“Interview room… the victim’s waiting there.”
Judy responded softly, using the same tone as Nick. He continued conversing tenderly.
“I love surprise and everything, still it would be better if at Ieast, I knew who our interviewee is.”
“I don’t really know who she is. I’m counting on you, Mr. Know Everyone.”
The fox sniggered as he faced away from a rabbit’s frisky stare. Shortly afterwards, he sensed the urge to tease the naïve rabbit a bit.
“For this going undercover mission, do you think we will have to dress up, stand around and wait on a sidewalk at night?”
“Nick!”
“Ahem…”
The doe hissed. Fortunately, these two rooms were not far from one another, hence they reached their destination before they could prolong a conversation further, yet Chief Bogo felt the need to remind them to stay professional as he cleared his throat. Since everything seemed to settle down even though Judy pouted slightly at Nick who appeared to enjoy himself, Chief opened a door to enter the Interview room, followed by the other two.
“Good morning officers.”
A slender chestnut haflinger mare with white mark on the forehead, pale mane and tail stood up and greeted. She was wearing a gold long sleeve off-the-right-shoulder tops and a dark red wide leg trousers.
“Good morning Ms. Boeriz. Here are Officer Judith Hopps and Officer Nicholas Wilde. Hopps, Wilde… This is Ms. Cherisse Boeriz, a professional ballroom dancer and event organizer.”
The buffalo gestured to his subordinates and a guest, introducing respectively. Both sides nodded then took the seats. Nick and Judy sat opposite to the horse while Chief Bogo sat kitty-corner from the guest. The rabbit was aware that this mammal in front of her is celebrity but she still did not have that many clues because she never had interest in professional dancing or organizing events. Thereby, she looked at Nick, wonder her partner would know, which was right, Nick knew Ms. Cherisse Boeriz or Cherry Boeriz, a famous ballroom dance athlete and a host of the Grand Pride Ballroom night.
“Excuse me…”
Ms. Boeriz was abased from speaking up at first although it was obvious that she had a silvery voice.
“It might sound really weird and inappropriate under this circumstance… it’s truly such an honor to meet the heroes who saved Zootopia!”
“Oh no no, I’m no hero… I’m not worthy of such compliment…”
Judy hastily protested. Her words became quieter each moment.
‘It was partly my fault anyway…’
The memory of the night howler case rewound. The guilt was coming back soon she recalled how chaotic it was after the press conference… how she damaged society… how she hurt hers…
‘Those droopy ears again… You bunnies really are emotional.’
The fox glanced at his partner, rapidly capturing her body language. He shifted his pupils to focus on a mammal in front of him.
“You look so gorgeous, Ms. Boeriz, even without the makeup and those elegant dresses.”
“You are flattering me, Officer Wilde.”
The horse lifted her hoof to lightly touch her own face which flushed red at the fox’s compliments. Nick added
“It’s a great pleasure to meet you today as well. We’re at your service, Madam.”
“About that… I apologize for bothering you officers but please help me.”
Boeriz’s expression was altered, tensing up, leading to Judy able to pull herself together and concentrate on the mare. Meanwhile,
‘Not bad, Wilde’
Bogo sincerely praised Nick inside his mind, undeniably impressed how the fox handled the situation after noticing his partner’s reaction. He changed the subject and smoothly got back to the job, the simplest way to distract Officer Hopps from her own anguish by helping her focus at work.
“He’d kept asking me out but I’ve rejected all his invitations. He’d hit on me harder and harder. I’ve attempted to request for assist; however, nothing worked… He certainly can conceal almost everything. I can’t stand any longer when I was given a letter, he insisted if I won’t dance with him and accept his proposal during this upcoming Grand Pride Ballroom event, he will make sure I gonna regret it. Therefore, today I approach you straightforwardly.”
Listening attentively, the duo learned more details about the case directly from the victim. They diverted their gaze to Chief. Understanding what was implied, he informed.
“At present, we’ve collected the letter as an evidence.”
They nodded. The doe was the first who reverse her attention to Boeriz.
“You’ve been saying it’s ‘he’, so you know who’s threating you?”
“Yes, I don’t desire to accuse him, yet I’m convinced, it must be Mr. Ralph Poulon.”
Boeriz mentioned a name Judy did not recognize. She averted her eyes from the horse to the fox, her cyclopedia of Mammals in Zootopia.
“He is a haflinger stallion, a director in a few big corporates’ board committee. No surprise we’re dealing with a guy got hook-ups.”
Nick crossed his arms, replying a question Judy had in mind without making eye contact as though he could read her thought. Nick hesitated; nonetheless, he interrogated Boeriz in the end.
“Ms. Boeriz, would it be better if you cancel this year event?”
“No! I mean… I know how dangerous it can be… even so… even I sound so selfish, I do not want the grand pride ballroom night get cancel! Not a single year…”
“It must mean a lot to you.”
Yelling unawarely, the horse became uneasy whereas the anxiety reflected in her eyes. The rabbit sympathized with her, showing empathy in her tone. On the fox’s side, he finally perceived why it was chosen to go through rather inconvenient plan like going undercover.
“Ah, Ms. Boeriz, you are single, correct? Why did you reject Ralph Poulon since the first place?”
“…”
“Oh! I’m sorry! But you were doing right thing. Better not hang around with a crazy stud like that! Ha ha…”
The doe laughed nervously after accidentally asking question by pure curiosity. She did not wish to provoke the mare’s worry any further. Shortly afterwards, Chief Bogo found an opportunity to proceed the true reason of this meeting.
“Okay, let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Ms. Boeriz, you’ve already known we will send our officers to both inside and outside of the ballroom event in order to insure against dangers. Your cooperation is highly appreciated.”
“I’ve organized the Grand Pride Ballroom night every single recent year including this year too, so I know all the layouts. I can provide you info about the timing and place.”
“Thank you. Furthermore, we need the invitation cards for our undercover officers to attend the event like normal participants and dancers. And speaking of dancers, Hopps, please tell Francine, Wolford that they’re selected be disguised ballroom dancers.”
“Noted, just two?”
Judy showed V sign, tilting her head sideways.
“Actually, it’s four, including Wilde and you.”
“What!? Why?”
The doe exclaimed when chief dropped the bomb. The buffalo merely contemplated the rabbit. He raised an eyebrow then declared.
“I thought you agree on this mission.”
“Yes sir…, as participant, I had no clue I gonna be dancer.”
“Well, we intend to cover all the fields possible. Unfortunately, we lack of female officers, so we have to fill you in. Suppose you understand.”
“… Yes sir”
The bunny frowned and avoided eye contact, staring down at the floor. The tod budged himself closer to his partner.
“C’mon Carrots, do it for the team. You can’t expect Chief to wear a dress and fill that role for you… even if he wants to.”
“Watch your mouth, Wilde.”
Bogo sent Nick intimidating aura. The fox grinned fearlessly despite the scare bubbling inside him. That gained a few chuckles from Boeriz. In the meantime, Judy was still concerned.
- .-. .- -. ... .. - .. --- -. ...
In the lonely evening, a Line Up room was occupied. A grey doe wearing a sky blue seamless v-neck T-shirt and navy leggings was swaying back and forth, side to side while an online waltz dancing instruction video was being played from a phone lying next to her. This particular Line Up room she chose suited all sizes of mammals. Consequently, the room was big enough for multiple elephants and a one-way mirror’s bottom edge was low enough for little rodents. There was plenty of room- plus the huge mirror, an acceptable substitute for a dance studio. The rabbit checked her reflection. Both arms were raised to shoulder height, right stretched straight to the side, left bent frontward. She peeked over her feet standing close together. Feeling tense, she sighed and crouched on the floor. The doe slipped a quiet murmur.
“This is ridiculous…”
“Suspect number 1, step forward.”
The familiar voice through a loudspeaker startled her. Judy leapt then stood still like she got paralyzed as her nose twitched swiftly. The door opened, someone coming in.
“You don’t look suspect-ish per se but you ‘hopps’ around alone here, that’s kinda suspicious. Don’t you agree?”
The mammal who walked in made a bad pun which brought the doe sinking down into deeper embarrassment because that clarified the identity of her guest very well.
“What are you doing here, Nick?”
“See, I found lady bunny wandering in the Line Up room, so I wonder what she’s guilty of.”
The fox closed the door behind him. He ambled along, putting his paws in his pockets. The doe observed her partner. He had taken off a regular uniform, revealing a ZPD T-shirt and putting on a sweatpants instead.
“I get that I use this room without a permission but the mission is right around the corner, insufficient time and fund for picking up a dancing class. This is an expedient solution I figured out.”
Her voice wavered. Judy scooped the phone to press a pause then hastily pocketed it, unaware of Nick’s approach.
“Self-learning is admirable but when it comes to dancing, it’s not simple. May I?”
Before the bunny could response, the reynard grabbed the hold of her right paw to his left paw. Her right fingers were placed between his left thumb and first finger. Facing each other, his right arm sloped slightly downwards from shoulder to elbow and lifted her left arm to rest on his right arm, placing his right paw comfortably on her left shoulder blade.
“Yoo-hoo, don’t leave that much gap, Carrots. I won’t bite.”
“Whoa!”
Nick abruptly hauled Judy in, sealing the distance between them. Her cheek bumped against his chest in the process. Being a rabbit herself, her sensitive ears caught his heart beat little bit faster. Judy withdrew her head as she looked up to Nick smirking cunningly.
“Much better~ Your well-built frame gives you a good start. Thus, all you need is a decent mentor.”
“What’s up with-?”
“Lesson 1 relax and follow my lead”
The tod’s lecture cut off the doe. He stepped his left foot forward resulting in her to go back with the right foot to avoid the fox treading on hers. She automatically went side with the left, soon followed by the tod’s right foot then both closed left and right simultaneously. The doe’s ears flicked, once the tod began to move again. She tried to watch his feet movement but her concentration was dragged by a teasing tone.
“Oy! Don’t look down.”
“How I gonna see where you are going if I don’t look at you.”
Judy protested instantly. On the other paw, Nick remained composed.
“You are stressing yourself, Ma’am. You must relax and focus on your surroundings.”
Judy was irritated that Nick acted omniscient. Nevertheless, she admitted Nick had far more experiences than her. She beckoned to him as a sign of affirmation. They repeated the moves, fox’s right leg and bunny’s left leg, opened the fox’s left and the bunny’s right to the side, drew the fox’s right and the bunny’s left in, then closed while Nick was counting ¾ time tempo. Judy was apparently amazed by her partner’s skill.
“I’ve never known you can dance.”
“When you were working for the classy crime boss, you eventually picked up one or two things.”
That emphasized the fact that Nick was ex-con-artist who used to fall in with Mr. Big. The doe somewhat could fantasize the tod suiting up fancily alongside the leader of mafia gang, arranging Gala Night, not the bloodshed one possibly.
“Pardon me, Carrots. Would you mind I ask why practice dancing? I mean… no one will blame you if you dance poorly.”
“It’s a part of a job…My duty… I wanna try my best.”
“Try everything huh? How cute?”
“Don’t call me cute!”
The rabbit yelled but not with pure frustration. There was something else mixed in her display indicated by the blush hidden under her facial fur.
“You are stepping on my foot. Off, off, off.”
The tod’s words made the doe perceive that she unintentionally trampled on his foot. She quickly took her foot off from his.
“I’m sorry!”
“That wasn’t on purpose, was it?”
“Of course not.”
Both had sustained the dance hold. Judy was astonished that they had been practicing so smoothly, barely interrupted. Nick determined to tease his a tiny bit.
“Since you’ve learned so fast, shall we spice thing up?”
“Spice wha-Eek!?”
Unprepared, Judy was swung clockwise half-turn. She, losing her balance, spread a left foot, toe tapping on the floor. She leaned backward, a heel stomped. A noise of steps echoed, not just one but two footsteps in harmony. Nick’s right foot trod near Judy’s left, tip of his toes touching tip of her toes. His right paw supported her back firmly. Judy blinked at the fox’s figure, bathed by the LED light before being drawn back to stand straight and closed their feet.
“Pretty impressive, Darlin’.”
“The heck, Nick!?”
“Chill out~ No more unforeseen spin.”
The bunny pouted as she resumed following the reynard’s lead. She did not need to look at his feet to chase after his movement most of the time, just staring in those emerald gaze.
“Hey Carrots, remember what you asked Cherry Boeriz earlier?”
“You mean ‘why she’s rejected Ralph Poulon’? Yeah, it was so inappropriate.”
“Hold on. I’m not here to lecture you about propriety. I got the answer for you.”
“Wow! What is it?”
“Because she’s already in relationship.”
“Eh? How do you know that?”
“I don’t know… but I feel it.”
“That’s so half-baked, Slick.”
“Ouch~ how dare you insult my hustler instinct I’ve sharpened over decades.”
Giggling, she soon realized she did not feel agitated anymore and assured that hers, Nick, was truly remarkable.
Apple picking in the burrows leads to a discussion between Nick and Judy about their old flames. When they are both reluctant to share stories, Nick challenges Judy to find a perfect apple in the orchard. The winner keeps their secret. The loser spills the beans.
My addition for WildeHoppsWeek, Day 6 prompt. One shot and lots of fluff.
Everyone knew that you do not challenge Judy Hopps to something without first meeting the most stubborn rabbit on the planet. Especially a certain fox, though you’d never know it by how he spoke to her.
“So,” said Nick, whilst tugged along by Judy's paw. “These are the famous Hopps orchards? They're a bit smaller than I expected. And barren.”
Judy huffed in feign indignation. “What do you expect so late into the season, dumb fox?”
“Ripe, red apples as far as the eyes can see. No one tops a Hopp. Isn’t that what you told me?”
“I believe my exact words were, You know, I’ve never actually gone apple picking before. Not, Oh please, oh please take me apple picking, Judy. I beg you. There’s a much difference cadence in groveling for it.”
Judy could only laugh and squeeze Nick’s paw tighter.
One good thing about going to the orchards so late into the season was that there were no wondering eyes to scrutinize the pair. Not that they were trying to hide anything—Judy’s parents had been more than accepting, even if it took time for her dad to come around—But the rest of Bunnyburrow wasn’t quite so open-minded. Judy didn’t care what the other rabbits thought, but Nick insisted on making as few enemies on their visit to the burrows as possible.
Better to keep appearances than to make adversaries, he had said.
Of course, the downside Nick was so keen to point out was that there were very few apples remaining on the trees. And those left behind were abandoned for a reason. Latercomers rarely found the best fruit, as Judy’s parents had warned her. And most apples remaining were disgusting piñatas of bugs and rot.
Suddenly, Judy was glad they had stopped at one of her family’s stands for a lunch of fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of relying on food from the orchard.
“Jeez,” she muttered, kicking at a few of the apples littering the ground. “Maybe this was a mistake. I can’t see anything good in the trees.”
“Well, the view is still pretty.”
“It’s a lot better when the leaves are still on the branches. There’s more a bustle then too, with folks coming and going for the baked goods. Pumpkin pie and hot apple cider. And then there’s the hay rides.”
Most of the Hopps fields were devoted to carrots, as part of the family brand. But the acres of the northern fields were dedicated solely to the harvest experience of apples and pumpkins every autumn. Any farmer in the burrows worth his salt knew that when the tourists rushed to see the leaves change, it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up earning an extra buck.
And visitors to the farms weren’t the only ones who looked forward to the experience.
“Sounds like you have a lot of memories of this place, Carrots.”
“Yup. I remember when dad planted each of these trees. I was six when he started, and the apple acre sort of grew with the family from there. It’s fun to come back every year and see how much it’s grown. Dad plants one seedling for each new Hopp kit.”
“Oh? Does that mean you have your own tree? I wouldn’t mind seeing it.”
“One out of three hundred and nine, yeah. Though even I haven’t seen it since…”
As her voice trailed, Judy recalled why it had been six years since she had been to the apple farm. It was enough that Nick noticed the pause.
“Everything okay?”
“...Yeah, it’s nothing,” she replied, her ears behind her head. “Just some bad memories too.”
“The falling out an apple tree and break your leg kind?”
“More like the heartbreak and teenage angst kind.”
Judy patted the bark of a nearby honeycrisp tree, scraping the wood with her claws.
“You know how it is,” she said. “Buck meets doe. Starts a high school crush. Ends poorly when she decides she wants to focus on college. Nothing complicated.”
“I dunno. I think there’s plenty of room for complication there.”
“Well, I didn’t think you’d want to hear the whole story.”
“Nonsense. I like hearing you talk about yourself.”
Judy considered herself fortunate that her ears were already behind her head. That spared her from Nick pointing out her obvious blush and poking fun at her.
But Nick also had a habit of shrugging off her flusters when he knew they truly bothered her. And he always knew, somehow.
It was a pattern he continued.
“Hey, like you said, I know how it goes. And I think we all have one of those stories where we’ve done something we’ve regretted in a relationship. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. It’s not like I need to know. Though I’m very curious, mind you.”
Judy sensed the opportunity to turn the tables on him.
“...So, does that mean you have one of those stories too?”
“Oh, no. You’re cashing checks your bunny butt can’t afford by barking up that particular tree.”
“Aw, come on. You never talk about your past.”
“There isn’t much to say,” he shrugged, releasing his grip on her a little. “And you probably wouldn’t like what you’d hear anyway. Old Nick was not a nice mammal.”
“Oh, please. I managed to put up with him.”
“For reasons that are still unknown to me.”
His paw escaped hers completely as he bundled up in the hoodie he was wearing.
In the beginning, Judy might have been worried she had hurt his feelings. But she knew better.
It was a game Nick liked to play with her. Feigning distance to encourage her to provoke him further along and coax an answer out of him. Some days, Judy wondered if it was Nick’s way of subtly training her how to hustle. Like hustling was his method of communicating with her better. But she always knew the difference between playful hurt and real hurt. It showed in his eyes, which betrayed everything about Nick’s masked persona.
In that moment, Nick’s green eyes stared at her with an air of fondness and coyness to them, contrasting the pouted lip he was giving her.
She answered his bluff with one of her own. Ears back and eyes wide, like a child begging for candy.
“Won’t you tell me the story? Pretty please?”
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours first,” he answered with a smile.
“No way. It’s too embarrassing and stupid…”
“Then it appears we are at an impasse,” Nick said. “You won’t tell me your story and I won’t tell you mine.”
“It’s not an impasse. You’re just no fun.”
“Ah. But I have a solution to our problem, madam rabbit. And something fun, no less.”
“Oh,” she replied, crossing her arms with a smile and looking on at his performance. “And what are you proposing, mister fox?”
“A game.”
“A game?”
“Indeed. It’s very simple, you see. We’ll go our separate ways in search of apples. Whomever finds a perfect apple will be declared the winner. The loser will have to tell their little heartbreak story to the other. That sounds fun, right?”
“A perfect apple,” Judy repeated the words. “What do you mean perfect?”
“I mean flawless. Perfect shape. Perfect red color. Delicious. I want the apple you think of when someone says the word apple. A textbook definition. That should be easy enough to find, right? Even toddlers know what a perfect apple looks like.”
Judy huffed and crossed her arms at the fantasy.
“There’s no such thing as a perfect apple. Not this late into the season, anyway.”
“Then you’ll just have to get creative, Carrots,” he replied with his trademark smirk. “It will make looking through the orchard more exciting. Don’t you think?”
She furrowed her brow at him. “What are you scheming?”
“Me? Scheme? Never. What makes you think I’m up to something?”
“Call it a hunch.”
“I’m hurt. Hurt, I say.”
“If that’s what hurts you, you wouldn’t be able to hustle a dime from a philanthropist much less pawsicles for a living. And whatever you say, I’m not falling for it. I learned my lesson already buying you that jumbo pop.”
“What’s the matter, Carrots? Chicken?”
Judy could feel a particular type of heat travel up her ears. And it wasn’t a blush.
Instead, she felt more like a stick of shortfuse dynamite. It was shame and indignation over Nick’s childish words. The blustering emotions boiling beneath the surface were not helped by his continued, knowing smirk.
“Well?” he asked. “Wanna play or do I win by default?”
~
Judy would have been proud to say such petty taunts from Nick had no effect on her at this point in their relationship.
But then she would be lying.
She stomped off through the mud in the opposite direction of Nick, cooling herself down by reminding herself that he was only playing with her. It was too small an acre to hold a grudge. And she knew Nick wasn’t going to have much luck on his end of the farm either.
It was simply far too late in the season to ever hope to find a perfect apple.
And yes, Judy had known that from the beginning when they had set out for the orchard.
She had been expecting to find, at least, a few decent apples. Maybe one that was a tad misshapen or had a few bad spots that could be cut away. But walking amongst the trees, Judy saw the branches picked clean.
“Business has been booming…”
Privately, Judy couldn’t help but wonder if the farm’s success had to do with the stir she had caused in Zootopia. Fans of her exploits who migrated south to see where the famous Judy Hopps had grown up. They invaded the burrow during an already intense time of the year for the farm.
The usual apple choices were long gone.
Macintosh being the most popular, didn’t even have a stem left behind. Then were the honeycrisp, sweet and Judy’s favorite. And a favorite of the bees too, judging by how they buzzed happily amongst the discarded, browned mush left on the ground. Granny smith were a sourer, rarer sort that only a pawful of Hopps preferred.
Each Hopp was given a choice of what type of apple tree to grow. And some of the youngest sprouts hadn’t even passed Judy in height yet.
She paused at one sign on a nearby tree. Red delicious.
“Well, he did say red and delicious…”
As with all the other trees, most of the branches were bare, especially near the bottom. Amongst the top, however, were several riper fruits. Or late-bloomers, it being so far in the season.
They were high enough up that any sane rabbit would have opted to move to the next tree. Or find a ladder.
But Judy Hopps was harebrained enough to jump for them.
She stepped back for a running start before clawing her way up the trunk. Though the peak of the apple tree was far too high for a single bound, there were plenty of branches to climb. And all her police training came in handy as Judy leapt further up the trunk.
Even when the sprigs grew narrow and she stumbled, she did not let up. It was unfitting of her to ever back down from a challenge. Even a self-imposed one.
She kept her eyes on the prize. A rather juicy looking red globe perched at the second branch to the top.
In one final push, she reached for the apple with her tippy toes before slinking back down with her prize in paw.
“Gotcha.”
It was a short lived victory.
No sooner than did Judy put all her weight down on her supporting branch did it creak and groan under pressure. Even the tiny weight of a rabbit was enough to snap the wood entirely, sending Judy tumbling several feet to the hard ground.
She landed with a heavy thud on her butt, protecting her apple by holding it close like a baby.
The ringing sensation of pain traveled up her spine as her body asked her the obvious question. What the heck were you thinking?
“That’s definitely going to bruise,” she groaned, rubbing at her hindquarters.
Judy flexed her hips slightly in a few stretches, making sure she hadn’t broken anything. When satisfied she had gotten away with only dirtying her fluffy, white tail, she returned her gaze to the acquired fruit.
It was as ordinary any other apple one might find on a farm, almost like the ones the pair had for lunch an hour ago. With curves in all the right places and five bumps at the bottom, it looked exceptionally average on the surface. A typical, perfect apple.
“I guess it’s as good as any,” Judy said to herself, tossing it in the air a few times. “Wonder if Nick had any luck.”
~
Nick was right where Judy had left him, leaning against one of the trees with his own apple in his paw. A Macintosh.
“How’d you make out, Carrots?”
“See for yourself,” Judy held up her apple with pride.
Nick smiled and held his paw out.
“Not bad. May I?”
She shrugged and tossed Nick the fruit, which he juggled for a moment as he struggled to get a grasp on it.
Once he did, Nick gave it a full combover much like he was a jeweler examining a precious gemstone. Judy watched him while tapping her foot as he inspected every corner of her apple, from the top to bottom.
First, he fiddled with it, tugging at the stem. Then he squeezed it to test its firmness. And finally he sniffed it.
“Nope,” he said at last. “It’s no good.”
“It’s no good,” Judy repeated his words. “Why? What’s wrong with it? It looks fine.”
“Oh, sure. It looks perfect on the outside. But what’s inside counts too.”
Nick dug his claws into the skin of the fruit, allowing him to tear apart the apple neatly in half. Judy contorted in disgust at what was in the core.
“Ugh! Worms!?”
“Looks like it,” said Nick as the maggots wriggled free. “I thought it smelled iffy. Not the tastiest apple, I would think.”
“Agh,” Judy clawed at her tongue. “And I wanted to eat that when you were done!”
“Still can,” he offered the fruit. “Want it?”
“No!”
Nick chuckled before tossing the apple away.
“I figured a farm girl like you wouldn’t mind bugs so much.”
“Bugs are fine. But maggots are the worst. They ruin so many crops and can sometimes kill a whole harvest. So, I hate them.”
Judy took a moment to collect herself while Nick grinned. He was very pleased with himself as he tossed his own apple in the air a few times. Judy quickly realized why.
With her apple tainted by worms, that left Nick as the winner of the game by default. And him winning was almost worse than eating an apple filled with maggots. His smugness was insufferable, just like having to admit her loss.
Judy grinded her teeth as she spoke.
“Well...It looks like you won the bet.”
“Wrong again, Carrots. I failed too.”
He caught her by surprise by tossing his apple in her direction. Judy’s trained reflexes allowed her to catch it instantly.
“It looks fine to me,” she said, inspecting its shape and color.
“You’re only seeing the surface level then.”
“What?” she asked, holding the apple away from her at arm's length. “Does this have worms in it too?”
“No, no. Nothing like that. Just look a bit closer, Carrots.”
Judy humored him with a sigh and brought the apple into her face. She then spun it around a few times.
It was on her third circle that she noticed a white sticker taped to the surface. It took her a few heartbeats to process what it meant. But when Nick’s message clicked, her face morphed into a scowl.
“You cheated!”
“Hey, now. I admitted that I lost, just like you. Everything’s fair and square. I just happened to keep one of the apples we had for lunch. And I didn’t want to break any of the branches of a tree by trying to climb it. Foxes aren’t known for their mountaineering skills, after all.”
Judy groaned in disgust as she peeled off her family logo from the apple.
Nick’s entry had been one of the apples from the reserved orchards, picked early in the season and treated with preservatives. It was the sort grown solely for selling, be it for wholesale or for cider. Of course it was going to look too perfect to be picked from the orchard they were in. It’d even lack a genuine taste.
“That’s still a cheap hustle,” she muttered, dropping the apple to the ground.
“Sorry, Carrots. Couldn’t resist. If it makes you feel any better, we both lost.”
“Right...So, what happens now?”
“Admittedly, I haven’t thought this far ahead in the case of a tie. I was hoping you’d find something a little better than a ball of worms.”
“Well, sorry I’m a disappointment.”
“You’re not. Trust me. It’s just funny. Here I was expecting to let you win.”
As unfair as Nick’s little trick felt, his smile always had the habit of making Judy forgive him quickly.
Perhaps teasing her was a little reminder of what he used to do for a living. But he never took it too far with her. And he knew the right things to say afterwards.
“Let me make it up to you,” he said, bowing his head. “Walk with me and I’ll tell you all about the time I got dumped.”
~
“You remember what I was like back then, right?”
“Completely egocentric? Cockier than a rooster? Always had on a smirk like a crocodile?”
“Alright, alright. I get it. I wasn’t a nice guy. I had a chip on my shoulders, especially in my early twenties. And there weren’t exactly a lot of prospects given what I did for a living. I was far from a perfect catch. But I could act civilized when it was called for.”
“I’d hope so, given our first encounter.”
“You know how it is,” Nick said with a smile. “One day, you just sort of stumble into someone on the streets who catches your eye. Suddenly, you spend your whole day thinking about them.”
Judy let out a curious “hmm” while gripping at Nick’s paw.
“It was completely superficial. She was just a cute vixen I bumped into while selling ‘supplies.’ I ran my mouth to impress her. Made up a bunch of stuff about who I was. Hustled her, basically, into thinking I was someone I wasn’t. And she believed me. Every single word.”
Judy couldn’t help but feel some kinship towards the poor vixen whom she had never met. She had been on the other end of one of Nick’s hustles too. And that memory showed in her glance to Nick.
“You don’t have to say it,” continued Nick. “I was a jerk. And it didn’t end well, as one would expect. I kept it going for a while, but everyday was like wearing a mask. Like looking over your shoulder, waiting for the moment it’d all come crashing down. Until one day she finally found out about it through a slip up I made in the worst possible way.”
“Did she rip you a new one?”
“No. That was the worst part. I could understand if someone wanted to scream at me for lying to them like that. But there wasn’t even a single word she said to me. She just got up and left in silence. Never contacted me again. And I never saw her after that. Not that it wasn’t what I deserved but…”
It was rare to see Nick give a genuine frown as he rubbed the back of his head. He wasn’t one to ever show honest discomfort, if he could help it. That was all part of his motto. His mask.
It was also how Judy knew he was telling the truth when he said.
“I regret leaving things with her like I did. I really wasn’t fair to her. And I’d like to think I’m a better mammal now. If I ever see her again, I’d want to apologize.”
Judy smirked and squeezed his paw slightly. “I’d like to think you are too.”
There was a silence between the couple as they continued to walk down the rows of apple trees, paw in paw.
It wasn’t the bad kind of quiet. Just the sort that could exist between two friends when there was nothing else to say, but they could still enjoy each other’s company. Though, internally, Judy was digesting Nick’s story. It was another layer to the checkered past of her fox. Bits and pieces that she would sew together to see the real person he liked to keep locked away.
And there was something about his story that prompted Judy to break the pleasant quiet.
“...You aren’t the only one who wasn’t fair though. I’ve only had one other boyfriend. And I sort of started the relationship knowing that it would probably end badly, if only subconsciously.”
Nick let out his own, knowing “hmm.”
“I guess something is destined to fail if it's rotten from the onset,” said Judy. “It was late high school when I met Billy. Or, more accurately, he met me. He was absolutely smitten with me. And I liked him. Well enough, anyway. People always said we looked like the perfect couple. But, deep down, we just wanted different things. And he was very...Traditional.”
“Ah. This already has an unhappy ending, Carrots.”
Judy covered her face. “You know how I get about my police work. But Billy certainly didn’t understand why I had to go to community college outside of the burrows for my career. Or why I even wanted to be an officer of law when the Hopps own one of the biggest farms in the state. And he got very clingy at the end before I left him for school.”
Judy let out a heavy sigh, recalling just how taxing her first year of college was.
The chaos of traveling across state, coupled with a bad breakup, made her freshman year particularly difficult. Not to mention the guilty memory of seeing a pair of drooping rabbit ears watching her leave from the train station.
“He’s doing fine now,” she said. “Last I heard, he married and had like thirty kids of his own. But...I dunno. There’s always that bad taste in your mouth. You know? But it’s like...How can you expect a relationship to succeed if there are problems at the core? I know it was probably for the best. But a part of me always wonders if I’m a bad person for not giving it a fair try in the moment.”
“You’re not. Sometimes things don’t work out. You wanted different things. Happens all the time.”
“Well...I guess I’m happy at least one thing did work out.”
Judy gave Nick’s paw another squeeze before pulling him along to the honeycrisp tree at the end of the row.
She had all but forgotten about the tree marked by the heart carved into the bark with the initials J.H. and B.Y. at its middle. The wood had healed well from the knife and the lines were already starting to fade to the untrained eye. But Judy could still see the message, clear as day.
“Well,” she said. “Here it is. My apple tree.”
Being a fox in the burrow, Judy was used to seeing Nick tower over most things around the town. Even her apple tree didn’t look nearly so big next to him. Though he still wouldn’t be able to reach the top, even on his tippy toes.
“Shorter than I thought,” he commented.
“Shush you. Anyway, depressing backstories aside...You said you wanted to see it, so here it is.”
Nick looked it up and down with a smile. He was genuinely pleased with what he saw.
“There are still some apples left up there,” he pointed out the few resting at the very top branches. “Wanna get em?”
Judy rubbed at her sore hip. “I think I’ve had enough climbing trees for one day.”
“You don’t need to climb any trees. You only need to climb me.”
Nick released her paw and pressed his back against the trunk of the tree. He then held his own paws together in a makeshift step like he wanted to give her a boost.
“You can’t be serious…”
“Aw, come on. It’s perfectly safe. Don’t you trust me?”
“You barely passed enormous criminals training in the academy, and you want to try lifting me in the air?”
“Yup! It’ll be fun.”
“No thanks, Nick…”
At first, Judy thought Nick was going to try to taunt her again with another challenge or a sleight on her bravery. But after staring blankly at each other, he just shrugged and dropped his pose.
“Eh. I’m getting cold anyway. You’re right. If we want apples, we can just get them at your family’s stands.”
Judy watched Nick’s back as he stepped away from the tree, heading towards the path for home. Though she still caught a glimpse of something somber in his eye before he turned around.
She let out a soft sigh before preparing to go into a sprint.
“Dumb fox…”
Nick yelped when Judy collided into him.
She then scrambled for his shoulders and tugged at his ears to better position herself into comfortable seating, planting the back of his head between her thighs.
“If you wanted fresh apples from the tree,” she grumbled into his ear. “Why didn’t you just say so from the beginning?”
“I didn’t want to be a bother,” he mumbled back, with her foot in his face.
“You’re not a bother if you want something, dumb fox. Sometimes it’s okay to open up a little. You know?”
Nick went quiet for a moment.
“Sorry, Carrots. You’re right. I need to try harder at that.”
“So long as you remember it with me. Now, move to the left.”
Judy was directing him by fondling at his ears like they were a pair of joysticks and she was operating a crane. Nick lurched closer to the trees by her command. Close enough for her to reach the lowest hanging fruit. It was one with a funny looking shape and color, half red and half yellow. But otherwise unblemished.
She grabbed, twisted, and pulled it skyward until it popped free into her palm.
“There,” she said as they stepped back from the tree. “Worm check.”
Nick sniffed at the apple as she dangled it in front of his snout before giving the thumbs up to signal the all clear.
“Smells good to me.”
“Well, it’s not perfect,” she said, dropping it fully into Nick’s paw.
“It doesn’t have to be to still be good.”
“I guess you’re right,” Judy smiled as she rested atop of Nick’s head, content to listen to him munch on her apple.
He took one big chomp before holding it up for her to nibble on. She happily took a bite of his offer. Savoring the crisp taste of fall and the wind rustling through the dried leaves that still remained on the trees.
