Bumper Crop

"Bumper Crop" from Metal(loid)s
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“Refreshments?”

The stewardess smiled brightly at Nick from the aisle of the train. She was a small bunny just like- well, not quite like Judy, though naturally two of any species tend to share a few features. But what set her apart most clearly was how her wide eyes peered at his vulpine features with a sense of wonder, and from the way she gripped her tray a little tighter, maybe a little from innate fear. He grinned at this poor little fluffball, what with her having no idea that he wouldn’t even harm a Bug Burga grasshopper meal. Making a show of smiling with his teeth, he placed an order as her nose twitched furiously.

“I’ll have a blueberry seltzer, and a carrot snack-pack for my local-yokel friend here.” Nick lolled his head over to Judy, the usual sly grin in place but unheeded; Judy was looking out the window with unfocused eyes, and a furrowed brow. Rolling green hills canvased the view seen on the train back to Bunnyburrow, with rustic looking homes and quaint farmlands with huge silos coming more and more into sight. Zootopia had become just a glint in the distance as Nick gently placed a paw on Judy’s arm. “C’mon Carrots, this is a vacation! You yourself said we should take some time off from the force, and what better time to take a friend away from the grind and to the country than after the autumn harvest?”

“You mean you getting to relax and tease servers while I go to contend with my family?” Judy’s expression broke as she allowed herself a small smile and a sigh. “I mean, I love my family, and I love the harvest festivities, but it’s strange anymore; well, more strange this time. It’s just like going to a different city of sorts, except everyone is related to you and wants to know and get into all of your personal bee’s-wax.”

Nick placed a paw to her shoulder, her fur still startlingly soft on his pads every time. “Hey hey hey Flopsy! They just care about you after all, of course they want to hear about their family hero and maybe sneak a few looks over at her foxy friend, huh?” He laughed, but Judy’s body language made him think that there were other things still on her mind. “Uh, you did tell your family about me?”

Judy allowed herself a deep smile that made him feel an elation beyond any con; he'd never admit it, but Nick sometimes though Judy came up with better ones than even him. “Hah! If you knew the half of it.” She laughed for a moment at Nick’s pantomimed panic before hiding her smile, Judy leaning in even closer this time as Nick caught a whiff of her shampoo and something like the sweet perfume scent of honeysuckle flowers. “Nick, I think before we get to Bunnyburrow I might as well try to clue you in.”

"To what, how slow the refreshment service is on this train?" He deadpanned.

Judy responded with a pointed look, and Nick followed her gaze across the car; every other seat was occupied by a bunny, all of which were working very hard either not to notice him or staring pointedly. “Ah.”

“Yeah.” Judy flipped her ears in front of her head. “You’re a little, hm, conspicuous, shall we say?”

He rubbed his neck ruefully, suddenly a little anxious at his feelings of ‘otherness.’ “Oh yeah, I should have guessed it’s almost all bunnies on the BB/ZT line. But I think they’ll get used to my appearance, though admittedly it might take a little of the old silver tongue, or…” He halted as Judy tugged his sleeve, shaking her head slightly. Motioning him to lean in, she whispered into his ear.

“No, Nick.” Her voice quavered, her sounding as if she had just come off a light run to the Savannah District and back home “I, ah, I think you might be like our pumpkins; in-season if you catch my drift.” Judy bit her lip, her nose working overtime as she sniffed the air.

Nick’s eyes widened, and he looked at the seat-back in front of him as his mind felt like it might burst; it was around October that it tended to happen after all what with the light energy boost and all, but this time just yesterday he had been feeling tense and angry for no real reason; he almost started a fight with a hippo for jaywalking for bleat’s sake! Cripes, and now Judy had invited him HERE, and, and…

‘And you’re worried you won’t be able to control yourself Mr. Savage?’ Nick snorted to himself, earning a curious look from Judy before his smile dropped off again.

‘Do I even know how I feel about this? Well I’m definitely not getting any younger. But to settle down? For life? Nick, what are you saying?!’ Nick caught himself glancing once more at Judy and shook his head to clear his thoughts; the way things were was working just fine, and will thus likely continue to do just that; be great, working the beat with your best friend in the greatest city in the world.

“Ahem, I see. Well hey, I’ll buy some deodorant as soon as we get in and figure something out if it’s that, that uh…“ His words trailed off as he realized he must be smelling up the entire car by now; the trip from Zootopia is at least two hours and Nick couldn’t but help stare as a young female jaguar across the aisle from him tilted her head back to better breath the saturated air, purring hard enough to rumble her seat. "...Noticeable." Nick quickly looked away with a blush and back at the as-of-late-Moody Miss Judy, watching as she remained transfixed by the scene of rolling hills and vast trees; it make him think of a Roarman Rockwell painting, though Nick doubted he used fluorescent subway lights in his studio. Nick's mind soon wandered, and he wondered if anyone would paint Judy, and what it must be like to be from such a big family, and Judy’s generosity at taking him the whole way here; and first class too! Admittedly that was a perk from solving the Nighthowler case, but still a neat treat. Nick also found himself wondering what Judy had said about bringing a city-fox friend back to her little burrow, and why'd it gave her that strange sanguine smile.

Nick’s little train of thought was quickly lost as the stewardess returned with their refreshments and quickly hustled away to serve less odorous guests. Feeling especially thirsty and wholly humiliated, Nick finished his seltzer with gusto and stood up to stretch in the aisle for a moment before speaking to Judy. “Well then! I’m going to the restroom to wipe myself with wet paper towels until I can get into town for that Musk Mask. Just maybe let me know that I smell like a boudoir before I get on a train next time, eh Flopsy the Copsy?”

Judy smiled acidly at him for using one of her less loved nicknames, but he could still see an opacity in her expression that kept him throwing glances back while he made for the bathroom to begin scrubbing under his arms with a paper towel.

~

“Really. None.”

Nick probably shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was, considering where he was; the store itself was a small oak-wood shed essentially, with the main wall left open-air and giving a seemingly infinite view of field after field of carrots. The rabbit behind the counter shrugged, pointing one of his ears to the shelves.

“Sorry feller, we don’t have too many of your k- foxes runnin’ about, so we tend to stock it on a monthly basis.” He rocked back and forth on his feet pensively as he stood behind the counter before suddenly ducking down and grabbing an aerosol can from below. The can was sunshine yellow and emblazoned with a very muscular looking rabbit pulling two cartloads of carrots. “I’cn get that musk stuff in in maybe two weeks. We got Flopp’s though, if’n you want that, though I dunno if works as good for foxes, but it’s better than nothin’ eh?.”

Nick ran a paw across his head. “Aw, I don’t want Flopp’s, goat dammit; I’m a Musk Mask man!” The rabbit continued to stare as Nick finally rolled his eyes and reached for his wallet “Ugh, fine. I’ll take anything at this point.”

‘Sweet grapes, this place must be two weeks from just about anywhere.’ Making his way out of the shop, he passed a few giggling rabbit girls around a produce van who seemed to be giggling and eying his tail, one of them bending over a nearby hay bale and wiggling her fluffy tail a little. Nick gulped and quickly popped the top from the can, inundating himself with a cloud of deodorant before a voice gave him pause.

“Freeze perp!” Turning about, Nick couldn’t suppress a smile as Judy threw him a mock stern look; he always thought she looked great every time she’d wear her pink plaid flannel and muted work-pants worked to the point of buttery-softness. Her casual attire radiated that sweet dumb bunny bumpkin vibe, and her jeans were just that much more flattering to her hips without the ZPD belt… ‘For crying out loud Nick, snap out of it!’

“Dropping a pop-top to the ground like that is still littering Mr. Wilde.” Judy gave him a smirk as she picked up the cap from the ground and lobbed it into a nearby trash bin; luckily she didn’t seem to register or care about his little daze. It made Nick feel good to see shades of the old Judy coming back, goofing around. “You’re under arrest.”

“Officer, I swear I didn’t mean anything by it! No, please, not the third degree!” They shared a giggle as Judy pantomimed cuffing him, her paws grasping his wrists a little tighter than he anticipated. “Geeze Jude, strong grip you got… there?”
Nick arched his back a little as Judy pressed her face to Nick’s fur, taking deep breaths as she nuzzled between his shoulder blades. The girls he passed out of Burrow-Stop before were looking at each other with beet-red faces, whispering in hushed voices to each other as other bystanders began to catch on. “Um, J-Judy!”

Judy jumped back, whirling about to realize at least a score or more of bunny relatives and friends had stopped to stare at the young doe wrapping herself around a (for all they know) dangerous beast. “A-ahahaha! Just p-uh practicing police procedural!” She turned to Nick, refusing to look at him again as she already knew he’d be looking smugger than ever. “Please, let’s get you home.”

~|~

“The Hopps residence, please.”

Judy climbed into the car first, gingerly followed by Nick; he took up a seat and a half, and had to crane his head so as not to hit his head on the roof while on the way in. It was a short and quiet taxi ride to Judy’s home burrow, broken only by the occasional hiss of the can of Flopp’s spraying over Nick’s body and the odd cough from the cabbie. A long inclining road remarkably like the Zootopia highway lead them down into a massive tunnel and past cavernous halls of different rabbit families; the cabbie took a moment to explain that it was common for them to merge when neighbors married off enough as Nick watched with astonishment as a massive wall dividing two burrows crumbled under the watchful eyes of construction rabbits. The tunnel system itself was grand, with bubbly ethereal rock hutches and massive dome-like clan residences and Nick marveled at the high ceiling and the scaffolding above; it swarmed with maintenance crew rabbits and glittered bright with welding sparks like stars. Judy meanwhile hadn’t stopped sniffing the air the whole time she sat fidgeting and glancing from him to the window, and Nick self-consciously sprayed himself once more as the cab crawled to a stop.
Getting out into the cavernous roadway, Nick payed the fare as Judy was made to surrender to a sizable army of her young cousins, all delighting in climbing over their family hero. Nick couldn’t hold back a smile watching Judy contend with her small army of family, a moment that yet made him feel a pang he couldn’t or didn’t want to place as he watched the bunch of of fluffballs clamber over his friend while she laughed and mock protested. After a few moments more of adulation, Judy shook free from her admirers and with a wave of her paw took Nick’s paw to lead him through to a few small gasps from the crowd.

“…I think his ears are kind of cute!”

“Look at them together! Isn’t she afraid?”

“Aunt Judy is a FEARLESS TREASURE Tavis! She doesn’t fear any fox.”

“He’s BIG!”

“…fluffy tail like that, how can he walk?”

“Why does he smell like a Flopp's factory?”

“Look at his teeth Bert, he’ll eat you whole!”

“Nuh-uh, and I’m telling mom you’re trying to scare me!”

“What are those things on his paws, the jelly-bean lookin’ things?”

Nick smirked at the young rabbits as they passed through the throng and into the foyer of the Hopps residence. The scale was still stunning to Nick, both in size and populace; a team of rabbit chefs wheeling what looked to be an immense carrot cake, small baby bunnies playing leapfrog by the foyer where a group of maybe a hundred scooch in to watch ‘The Calf’s House on the Left’ and elders sitting tgether and talking by the fire. Following Judy past the hubbub of the main room, they reached a fork pointing variously to the kitchen, markets, outdoors, and a huge selection of dormitory hallways of reddish clay, lit by lamp after lamp and causing an effect like the tunnel walls themselves were aglow. Nick absently chuffed Judy's arm, as her confident strides lengthened. “Wow, hey Carrots, no wonder you acclimated to city living so fast, this place is Hinds Central Square on New- Judy?”

Whirling around, he barely saw her already making a dash for an immense set of corridors down the dormitory passage, tossing a smug look back at him as she rounded a corner marked by an immense archway fresco comprised of marble bunnies hunched down in thought with their ensuing ideas, plan, and dreams arching high above them to the skies. “Ah, a race you want?” Nick called out. “You’re on, Fluff-n-Stuff.”

Hopping confidently a few paces ahead of Nick, he dashed after her down long hallways of dorms, each numbered incredibly high. Judy’s pace was even quicker than usual as they progressed down fork after fork of passages, and Nick had to maintain a solid sprint to keep up as she darted forward, laughing, flushed, and eyes wide. He found his eyes meanwhile to be preoccupied with self-consciously peering around at the throngs of rabbits making their ways through the burrow, casting looks of shock in Nick’s direction as he sprinted round corners and one of them even throwing a sneer that made him rub at his necktie ruefully before they finally reached her room. Judy pushed the door open and Nick took a moment once inside to catch his breath before taking a gander as Judy threw herself to her bed with a groan of relief before burying her face into its soft sheets.

Judy’s room in the burrow was, well, ‘cuter’ than he could have hoped. It was high ceilinged enough that he could stand and warmly lit from an oil lamp hanging above. There was a tiny cherry desk with police work already out on it when Judy had maybe been here a minute. There was a cute little closet with a tiny police uniform from when Judy was one for the first time in a play as a kid. And there was a small Bunny-sized bed with carrot design sheets and pillows shaped like carrots, carrots on the wallpaper and even on the carpet and the clock. ‘Classic.’

Nick jokingly bent over to pant and kicked the door shut. “Whew, giving me a run for my money there sweetheart! We must be halfway to the center of the earth by now, I’m sweating like a pi-”

A towel thrown at his face cut him short, and a red-faced Judy stared him down panting nearly as hard. “You HAVE to shower Nick!”

Nick stared back at her, stunned at the outburst but also relieved she wasn’t being so distant anymore. “Uh, well, yeah, that much is obvious, but it’s not THAT bad, right?

“Nick, you smell like the Bunnyburrow High locker room! All I can smell is Flopps, and sweat, and, and it’s so…” Nick noticed Judy rubbing her legs together and quickly darted his eyes to the towel. “I’m sorry. It’s just a little hard to focus on anything that isn’t you, and the sooner you go-“

Nick raised a paw to quell her. “It’s okay, I get it. I must really be going strong to get you going like this though, never knew Eau de Faux has such a pull over cute bunnies.” It never failed to amuse him how he could always tease her to blush a little redder, and with an opportunity like this, how could he resist? Nick swirled the towel he’d been given about absently, cooling himself and scenting the room with each beat of the towel against his shirt as Judy continued to shiver on the bed. “I always thought it was just the silver tongue, but maybe it’s just something of a gif-ooh!”

‘Another projectile?’ “Hey, hey, hey, stop with the t-“ Nick froze as Judy clutched tightly at the scruff of his neck, her face buried deep against his skin and into his fur. He could feel the soft skin of her nose and each hushed, heated, snuffling breath against his body, and he could feel her velveteen padless paws, and he could feel her each wrapping around his neck like a beautiful delicate embrace of some otherworldly arms. Without thinking he got to his feet, holding her light and lithe form close and letting her breathe deeply, enjoying the feeling of cradling a creature who saw him for who he was. Nick let out a low grumble of pleasure as Judy kneaded the skin on his back. Her tiny and quick heartbeat palpable against his chest and the sensation of her nuzzling his jaw blocking out the rest of the world, Nick couldn’t even remember where he was aside from knowing he was in a place of compassion. It was a small eternity between them before Judy suddenly let out a gasp and started to disentangle herself.

“Oh sweet cheese and crackers, I’m sorry Nick! I know you’re not, I mean, I know you don’t-" Judy took a breath. "I hope I didn't upset you.”She bent over to pick up the fallen towel as Nick protested, hiding her face a little in the process. “Maybe it’s for the best if you just go shower now, please. For me.”

Nick stood stock still, stunned by a deeper embrace than he felt used to and the completely non-Judy way she was acting, it took him a moment before remembering the current situation in full. “Uh, y-yeah, I don’t ever want you to be…” He scratched at his neck, at the place where her face was just moments before. “Uncomfortable. With me."Nick coughed and looked to the floor a moment before quickly remembering to ask; "Which way is it?”

Judy looked upwards as she tried to mentally map it out, playing distractedly with an ear. “Uh, it’s a right out of here, then you go straight until you hit the first fork. Don’t take that one, then take the next one, don’t take the third… Actually, hm... just avoid the first, third, fifth and sixth forks, I think. Got it?”

Nick smirked at her as he threw the towel over his shoulder, wafting his musk at her again and making her scowl once more; a face he loved for how non-intimidating it always was to see. “Honeybuns, I was born navigating the Zootopia subway system. I think I can handle a few tunnels.”

~

Nick was hopelessly lost within the tunnel systems of Bunnyburrow. He couldn’t remember whether it was the fifth or the sixth for where he went wrong, so he decided to check each of the tunnels; each of which leading to, in turn; a kitchen where the carrot cake had finally arrived, a sauna and a hot tub that Nick figured he’d take up a quarter of, another grand living room packed full of bunnies playing the largest game of hide and seek he’d ever seen, and a library. Nick slumped into a nearby lounger chair, having attempted to ask twelve different rabbits for the way to the baths and being either looked at with fear or simply ignored by rabbits with kerchiefed noses. His thoughts became of Judy, and how she’d tackled him, and her feeling distant but how nice she felt against his neck, and…

‘C’mon Nick, you’re damn ancient, and of course you feel affection for her; she saved your life! Get it together man, she just wants what you want right? Changing a good friendship to what, ruin it and make things uncomfortable? Out yourself as some sort of very particular Prey-lover?’

“Excuse me?” Nick snapped out of his reverie to see a young buck rabbit staring up at him. “Are you the fox that Judy told me about?”

Nick grinned and leaned back in his chair. “That popular with her, am I?”

His ears drooped as the rabbit shook his head. “Nah, she caught me a few minutes ago and said she knew you’d get lost. I’m Randy, I can show you where she wants you to go if you like.”

Nick clasped Randy’s paw. “Please! The librarian here is ancient, and she keeps eyeing me for-“

‘Nick, this kid is maybe twelve!”

“-an overdue book Judy owes her, and she wants back something fierce. Let’s skedattle my high-jumping friend.”

~

“…thus the, um, the balance of power shifts again and again making things even out.” Randy looked almost vacant as they began the trip down further into Bunnyburrow, giving him the same spiel almost verbatim that the cabbie had earlier. “And so Bunnyburrow continues to survive and thrive in our, uh, new global market as families merge and stuff. So…”

“Stop.” Nick held up a paw and Randy’s eyes suddenly widened as if he were waking up from a daze. “You don’t seem too keen on giving me a history lesson. Why don’t you tell me about yourself, say… Three big things about Randy Hopps.”

Randy puffed out his chest a little at the shift of attention and grinned. “Well, I’m the oldest in my litter of twelve by six and a half seconds! My Aunt Judy-and you of course-made me want be a cop when I grow up! Even though I’d probably want to police here, so I can visit family anytime! And…” Randy motioned for Nick to lean in as he whispered; “I actually hate carrots; my favorite is yams.”

Nick rocked back on his feet a moment, then let out a peal of laughter before noting the slight hurt on Randy’s face. “Hah! I’m sorry Randy, I take you a hundred percent at face value. I’m just always delighted to see animals busting free of the boxes some animals try to put them in.”

“Yeah, see, I'm hoping can be just like Judy! Though maybe just policing Bunnyburrow instead. You know, I heard that they stuck her as a meter maid in the beginning, and she had to do 400 tickets, timed, just to be given a chance! Is that true?” Randy turned out to make for quite the conversational partner as they made their way through the rapidly emptying labyrinth that was the warren. Nick and Randy each amicably chatted variously and in detail about the burrow life and what there was to do for fun there from Randy, and life in Zootopia and true crime, resulting in Randy pleading with Nick until he agreed to tell him about some of the more appropriate cases he and Judy tackled together; the underground gin-joint bust down in Tundratown that was making patrons go blind, the time Judy was able handspring a firetruck to tackle the full-grown moon bear perp, and of course Randy also wanted to rehash the tale of when he and Judy cracked the Nighthowler case.

Nick gave Randy his most winning smile as he fixed his tie. “You sure are in luck! After all you're looking at the original actor from the real deal. AHEM! Scene. A handsome young hustling fox is out enjoying another beautiful day of getting by in Zootopia through pure ingenuity when suddenly he finds himself being pursued; the chase is afoot! Hey, speaking of, slow down the pace, I’m already getting winded. Anyway…”

~

“Ooh the best part is coming up!” Randy said through paws pressed to his face.

Nick hunched himself up and mocked a growl, Randy giggling slightly at his pantomime of ferocity against empty air “So, Bellweather had just hit me with what she thought was the real serum, right? But actually, we’d loaded it with blueberries the whole time, so of course then to sell it all we needed-“

“Was a bit of play acting!” Randy finished, clapping in delight. “And then Bellweather’s off to jail because she was already dumb enough to say her whole scheme when the best schemes are kept quiet! Like your blueberry ruse.” Randy said with a smirk. Suddenly his face turned a little stern, and he furitively peered around to see if anyone was in earshot before speaking. “Is it true that, um, that you went for her throat?”

Nick shivered for a moment, the question unexpected and the thought still far too real for him to think any further than to answer simply; “Well, yes. I just sort of, did what I thought was supposed to happen next I guess..”

Randy suddenly clapped his ears together and pointed to his head. “Ah hah! I remember hearing about how some of you predator-types can do that, get into the kind of flow like I do when I run through the carrot fields extra fast! So was it all instinct? Were you in control? I feel like I'm flying away when I run sometimes.”

Nick slowed his pace to give him a bit more room from Randy and his ears flattened slightly at the term ‘instinct.’ ‘Man this family is weird! And a little on the snout.’

“Well no Randy, I mean it’s not like there’s some kind of crazy bio-murder clock in my head, but I have to say in that moment-“ Nick thought of Judy’s neck on his teeth, her jugular pulse quick and desperate as they both hoped they’d stalled long enough. Nick could still feel the swelling panic of having the life of someone you care about between your jaws, canines indenting the flesh. The mix of power and humiliation he felt from acting as if he were a savage creature created within him a feeling like being sheared in shame and praised as you claim your rule at the same time. Why couldn’t he get the memory to fade, what part of him was so firmly holding on to his worst moment? To see her like laying so close, trembling as they each trusted neither would flinch in their act, watching her shut her eyes tight when Nick snapped his maw just barely on her grey coat, their bodies connected in horrible, primal, amazing way; could Nick ever leave that instant of savage façade behind when that same façade had felt a part of his skin this whole time?

Nick realized he’d been silent a while now, his breathing feeling a little off and also dimly light-headed. “Maybe I was lost in the moment after all. Or maybe sometimes I still wind up lost there afraid of what could have been done that day.” For a moment Nick looked entirely crestfallen and Randy looked away in embarrassment before Nick gently nudged his shoulder back to attention. “But Judy helps out, give me some kind of bearing, I could never hurt her.” Randy beamed at Nick upon hearing this news and picked up the pace, skipping a little quicker down the hall now. “Anyway, you know, a life-or-death situation leads to more action than thought; there just isn’t time otherwise and I think that’s the only way I can think about that day; clinically, like an officer should. And having close that case pretty thoroughly, as far as it concerns me all the increased talk of biology is almost always just a dumb way to excuse the bad behavior of a select few rotten apple, or hey, maybe Carrots. We know prey can go just as bad.”

“Well sure they can, but still, there’s a reason it was you who had to sell the scene as Aunt Judy’s attacker after all; aside from that dirty dye-wool ewe’s prejudices.” Nick gaped at him as he laughed. “It's just a joke mister! About the sheep-naming at least. You don’t have to trust in me here Mr. Nick, but still I think that in some way everyone has base parts; heck, you solved that nighthowler case, you know way better than I could that funny things can happen to any old person, even a little otter. But I think if we all had no instincts at all, I don’t think those ball bullet thingies would have anything to work on to make those pore critters turn into beasts. Oh hey! Uh, we’re getting kinda close to the end of our trip I think, and I know I’m just one of Judy’s dumb siblings but let me just say this much to give you some notice; I’m a bunny. I may be young, but I know some things that go on around here and if biology isn’t part of the explanation then there’s definitely gas in the air ducts again because you can’t ignore what this place holds. Oh! And I dunno why we came here, but good luck Mister Fox!”

Nick called out at the young buck as he hopped off down the hallway, completely flabbergasted now. “Wait! What does that mean, does this bathroom hold special amenities? Also, my name is NICK WILDE! AND WHERE AM I?”  Randy had already vanished off into the distance of the tunnels, though Nick could swear he could still hear his laughter echoing softly back at him. Wheeling himself about, Nick almost wept with joy as he finally came face to face with the communal shower sign and strode inside to get himself de-musked; without so much as scanning the rest of it.

                                ‘BURROW SECTION C SHOWERS: EXTREME HEAT QUARANTINE PATIENTS ONLY’
~|~

Rounding the corner, Nick found himself looking at a cavernous locker room packed with narrow lockers, ash wood benches, and walled with quartz crystal likely found during the formation of the burrows. The room echoed loudly with each slap of Nick’s padded paws on the cool stone, and he went from a walk to a jog to an all-out sprint as he laughed; Nick was feeling like he was going to be running down these hallways forever, just like Randy out in the fields. The feeling lasted until he suddenly saw a dead end approaching out from between the parallel walls of the lockers around him. Flailing his arms for any kind of support, he hit a particularly slippery section of floor yet just managed to cling to an open locker door; he was swiftly rewarded for his save by being swung by the hinge and slammed chest-first into the locker next to it. Steadying himself on the door and rubbing his now aching chest, Nick looked inside to find a set of small bunny-sized towels with a shower cap for ears, and an old pin-up of Rebecca Rabbit with her paws on her hips and one ear flopped forward, hiding a sultry expression.

He couldn't help but grin at the faded photo, and Nick found himself already strangely reenergized by the unusually enjoyable smell of the damp washroom as he bounded though the passageways feeling much lighter than his years, as he rounded out his jog to the showers. His enthusiasm faded on approach however, as he soon noticed the tallest showerhead meant he would still have to crouch down just to bathe, or maybe even sit on the floor. ‘Eh, when in Rame.’ Peering around self-consciously, Nick first took off his tie and carefully rolled it up, putting it in the pin-up locker before getting to work on the buttons of his shirt. His eyes continued to flick to the picture of Rebecca Rabbit and he involuntarily barked with laughter as he realized on the bottom was written ‘Rebecca knows protection matters!’ and adorned with a small blurb for SecondSheath condoms.

Taking a moment to toss his clothes into the open locker, Nick strode for the shower stalls with renewed purpose only to find nothing but freezing cold water on activation and no curtains on any of the showers here. Tapping his foot, he waited for the water to warm and rubbed at his ears, gazing around at the hundreds of adjacent showerheads and lockers and pulling at his oily fur in anticipation as he absently checked the rapidly warming water temperature. At long last he’d put this trip back on track, and maybe stop drawing attention to him and Judy like a Gazelle concert. All things considered however, Nick decided he’d been doing a great job keeping his cool all this time and now with a good scrubbing and maybe a little Flopp’s he could maybe transition in the eyes of the rest of the Hopps from the stinky predator friend of Judy’s to just the predator friend; an improvement, at any rate. But Judy’s lack of vibrancy kept him uneasy, and the sooner he could get clean the sooner Nick could talk to her for real and get some things back to normal. He stepped into the now steaming water on auto-pilot, adopting a squat to put the stream at above head level resting his face in his paws as the water dragged on his pelt like heavy, grasping paws.

‘You know you love me.’ Those words were so easy to say, no stakes attached in the moment and after everything that they’d been through together. In fact, Nick honestly expected a joke or sassy reply back at him, anything but a confirmation from her. Most of his thoughts now were of her, and their previous cases and off-duty adventures; sometimes he almost felt like life before Judy was just a dream that he only had to gain the motivation to wake from. Judy took him on her first case and saved his life, Judy came back and was big enough to admit she was wrong, Judy was the ONLY prey animal to EVER embrace him warmly in the long years of memory he cared to recall. Rubbing a paw across his face, he suppressed a sob into a laugh as the full absurdity and wonder of his life hit him, a predator caught and exposed by prey; ugh what a cliche he'd become.

Facing the jet of water directly now, Nick took a moment to look around for a bottle of shampoo and found a clear one just atop one of the benches nearest the showers. He poured the colorless gel liberally across his paws and worked it into his skin and fur, making sure to get nice and deep as his mind continued to wander back to thoughts of Judy. The familiar guilt of envy trickled through him, but this time Nick tried to tap into it as he remembered everything he told Randy before; that recollection now even more vivid fresh off the retelling. Nick recalled feeling his heart in his throat as he dropped to all fours, exposing his claws and for an instant thinking he could see actual fear in Judy’s eyes. Turning in a flash, Judy scrambled for the high grass and Nick recalled the way he effortlessly broke that fake animal display, as Bellweather taunted them from above. And he most certainly remembered his ‘attack,’ and the feeling of Judy giving herself over to the role as he felt her lifeblood pulsing in tempo with his own racing heart…

With his gel slicked paws, he scrubbed at the fur of his chest and neck a few moments before sliding his pads lower to toy absently with his now growing member. Forced down by the low architecture of the shower, Nick found himself hunched into the same slinking form he’d taken that night in the museum, living it out in his mind as he’d done so many times now. He told himself it was from the trauma at first, then out of curiosity, and then more and more until whenever he’d lose himself in the feelings of heat Nick would find himself coming home to dream each night of a massive savannah and Judy running through the grass; sometimes with a face of fear and sometimes one a little hard to place; still afraid, yet excited and anticipating. An involuntary whine escaped from his muzzle as he stroked his cock with his soap slicked pads and Nick started to pant openly as he pictured Judy before him, vulnerable but unwilling to cut and run. His thoughts turned to her tackling him in her room, his body trying to draw her in with the basest form of biological attraction at its disposal and almost, almost…

“Ooooh, it looks like you’re having some fun there.” Nick shot up and nearly knocked himself out on the showerhead as he was wrenched from his fantasy by a creamy colored doe with grey tipped ears and white splotch across her taut belly. She giggled as he hid behind his soaked tail, putting her paws on a set of full hips and making a clear show of her own nudity. “Aw, don’t stop on my behalf! I’m Laura, Judy’s sister; you know, I’ve never seen a predator before, much less one getting carnal with himself like that. Something must have gotten you pretty hot, hmm?”

Finally Nick managed to find his voice. “No! Uh, no no no, I’m showering is all! You must have mistook me washing for, ah…” As a former con artist, Nick could instantly tell the jig was up.

“And you must mistake me for a dumb bunny." She gave him a wink and stepped in close, making Nick take a step back. “Also, you still smell all the way through Section C, it’s causing quite the stir; it probably also doesn’t help that that’s lube and not shampoo.” He dropped the bottle as Laura entered the shower and leaned casually against the wall, only to throw him a self-satisfied grin. “But admittedly you’re still all wet-“

“Soooo I better go dry off, right now, bye-bye.” Nick ran out of the stall, making it exactly two paces before he was confronted by a wall of fur. Rabbits; tall, short, long eared, big footed, fluff tailed, rabbits as far as he could see, all female and in various stages of lustful attentiveness to his nude form. A few squealed at the sight of him, and he felt his face heat up under hundreds of watchful eyes greedily; Nick suddenly noticed a few of the younger does squeezing towels like stress balls and having to be held back by the others. Nick nervously took a step back only to bump into Laura.

“Don’t worry about any of that.” She put a paw on his arm, patting it sympathetically. “These young ladies undergoing their first heat here in section C wanted to thank you personally for leaving them feeling so… energetic today! Girls! Come dry this lube off him, then he can shower again… later.”

~

Running was futile, as there was nowhere to run and no way to outpace them. Each girl hit and clung to him like a burr, quickly scrubbing at his body with their towels but mostly exploring with their paws from what he could discern past the sensory overload. The one immediately in front of him, a white rabbit with droopy ears and sad pink eyes, cooed as she felt up his package through her towel and scandalizing him when she took the towel and began to huff deeply from it. He tried to cover himself with his tail again, but a slightly chubby and darker grey Hopps sister had a hold of it tight, making him shiver as she casually stroked at it. Meanwhile a duo chatted gleefully as they dried his ears, taking turns jumping to reach and attempting to plant kisses on the nape of his neck.

“C’mon ladies, you don’t really want this, do you?” The girls redouble their efforts, the ones towards the front now jockeying for prime audience seating. “I mean, Pred-Prey stuff, ladies?”

“What’s wrong with that?” The white rabbit kneeling in front of him cocked her head, pressing her nose just above his privates. Nick could feel the humid heat from her breath on his shaft as she murmured the question, and he gulped involuntarily as she allowed a single strand of drool to drip down onto the tip. “Don’t you want a taste of something new Mr. Fox? I know I do.” Closing her eyes and opening her mouth, Nick suddenly felt several paws on his rear pushing his hips forwards and making his legs buckle as he felt her lips and tongue glide across his cock.

“W-woah there, I think you guys have the wrong idea, I’m –oh gosh slow down- I’m not against it! It’s just, you know the myth; ‘foxes pair for life’ and all that, just waiting for the ooooooone second, please do slow down!” Nick looked from face to face frantically as the cluster of rabbit flesh around him pulsated like a cohesive being, the girls now combining their efforts to work him over. One of the more zealous ones took his paw and firmly placed it on her tail, wiggling her hips just a little.

‘Ah, so fluffy!’ Nick popped his claws as carefully as he could, eliciting a scream of shock and pleasure from her as he gingerly scratched at the base of her tail. Another sister quickly cottoned on to the idea, and in moments he was dragged to and pinned on the floor with a red-faced and panting doe worming her body against his digits on either side. Nick grunted with relief as the white rabbit release him from her maw, only to moan uncertainly as she and a dewlapped bunny with a speckled coat trailed kisses over his penis, their delicate whiskers eliciting panted laughter from him as they tickled and played with his body.

“So what, are you saying I couldn’t be the one Mister? Maybe it’s like The Sword in the Stone.” White Rabbit said, nudging her sister aside to try and climb atop him as Nick bucked and struggled.

“What? I don’t even know your NAME!” Nick’s ability to speak was halted momentarily by a deep kiss from a girl who seemed to think his tongue was delicious, and she quickly decided to make better use of it as straddled his parted muzzle. White Rabbit ground on his erect cock impatiently as her speckled sister stroked his sack with her satiny ears, and Nick resolved to get the rabbit holding him silent off, in any way he could.

“Whose name is it then?” White Rabbit teased as Nick probed with his tongue furiously, a series of wails and trembling hips egging him on. “C’mon stranger, tell me on three, I bet we'll say each other’s; it’ll be a cute story for our kids when we tell them how we met!” She rocked up on her knees, her warm paws brushing the head of his rod against her well-slicked pussy. Simultaneously Nick ever so lightly clamped his jaw on the riding rabbit’s mons and felt climax take her as bucked her hips against his mouth furiously before falling off, spent. Meanwhile, White Rabbit still toyed with Nick’s cock, smiling wickedly as he gasped for air. “Maybe we should just try every rabbit here…”

“JUDY!” He yelled, and the activity around him suddenly ground to a halt. “I love Judy, and I think she’s the one, and I’m scared if she doesn’t feel like that…” Nick banged his head on the floor. “…Then I’d lose her, or it’d just mean she doesn’t see me anymore, she sees stupid sap Nick and his misplaced love in a friend. I guess that’s why she’s been pushing back so much lately.”
From a distance Nick thought he heard gentle hoofbeats and began to wonder if he had concussed himself against the floor before the sea of rabbits began to part, revealing a slow-clapping, bathrobed Judy Hopps walking towards Nick and the mass of her nude relatives.

“Well that took everything short of wild horses to drag out of you.” She gave him a smirk he himself would be proud of. “You should see the look on your face right now! Also, Bri you can take his balls off his ears now, please.”

“Wait… You knew?” Nick wiped his sticky mouth incredulously.

Judy shook her head lightly, standing next to his prone form. “Eh, it was more of a hunch since I noticed you started changing habits around me once a year, each year; standing apart, requesting desk work, inviting third wheels. So I decided to use my wheels and roll you over, loverboy.”

Nick laughed in relief and joy, a mental weight gone now and never for him to contend with again. “Well Carrots, let me tell you this was certainly something!” Nick motioned his head to the varied Hopps still pinning down each of his limbs. “Now, uh, could you have your goons let me up?”

Judy remained silent and dropped her bathrobe, taking a second to smile as his gaze drifted over her nude form while teasing his pre-drenched crotch with a fuzzy foot. “Girls, keep him still.”

“Judy…” Nick tensed up as she got down on all fours, climbing atop him and rocking her fluffy tail against his rock hard erection. He looked deep into her eyes as she settled herself slowly down, her body tight and so much warmer than he imagined she’d be, and he craned his body upward against his restraints to place a grazing kiss which she then deepened. Her breathing quickened in pace as she made it halfway down, some of Judy’s randier sisters shouting encouragement and praise as she bounced her hips.

“C’mon Judy, you gotta rock your hips more, milk that city-slicker!”

“Turn around and show him that butt! I think he has a thing for tails…”

“Can it Meredith! Say, where’s that lube the fox washed himself in like a dummy earlier?”

“Laura has it. Give it here greedy, these two need it more!”

The clear bottle from before sailed over the crowd and perfectly into Judy’s open paw; with a whimpering moan, she pulled herself free and traced a paw across her dripping slit before uncapping the bottle and applying it liberally from base to tip as he moaned and the crowd murmured admiringly.  Giving it a quick smooch, Judy stood and turned around, wiggling her tail at him and inciting him to flick her nose with his own. Crouched and damp-pawed, Judy spread her puffy pink lips and with a deep breath sunk herself halfway back down to cheers from the crowd and a strangled noise from Nick. Now eased in progress, Judy took him back to the very tip before dropping herself down as far as she could each time. The additional sisters who’d been restraining him finally relinquished their hold of his fur with various degrees of reluctance as the ranking officer claimed her stake.

Judy continued to struggle, eyes fixated on the cock raking her insides and aching to force in the rest when suddenly the crowd gasped. Looking up, she saw Nick with his claws exposed and bit her lip as he trailed their points across the very space his teeth were all though days ago; she shivered, and in that moment everything clicked. Upending their bodies, Judy cried out in mock horror as Nick took his place atop her and growled, causing the audience to visibly back away. But the two of them knew the act from prior experience, and from the ease with which Nick slipped deeper and deeper into the plush bunny body below him he knew that now was the time to get instinctual. Her masquerade of fearful cries quickly became full throated moans as Nick got closer and closer to hilting her completely.  Taking her ears up into his teeth, he snarled and gave a light tug, eliciting a high squeal of delight and a few gasps from the transfixed circle of sisters around them. Pulling her neck back just a smidge while she dreamily swirled her hips onto him, he knew that it was almost time for the showstopper. “Ready Carrots?”

Judy narrowed her eyes at him and nodded. “Do it a little rougher this time.”

Nick snapped his head forward, his teeth visibly indenting her fur and causing a burst scandalized noises from the crowd. Forcing a claw into her drooling mouth, Judy came in a trembling heap, squeezing Nick’s cock like a vice and suckling hungrily on his pawpad. Pumping a few more times into her pulsing cunny, he gave her neck a quick nip before squeezing her body tight and cumming deep into her belly as she gasped for air with hazy eyes and an arched back. After a moment’s rest she slid free from him, and the two of them sat on the sticky floor in a close embrace, silent but for the heavy breathing of hard exertion.

Suddenly there sounded an explosion of noise from around him, and Nick was so startled as to almost pop his claws again, only to realize the group that had been watching the whole time had just broken out in cheers and celebration.

“That was great Judy! Damn, that’s a new record!”

“Ooh, and he’s good with roleplay? You are SO lucky Judy, unfair.”

“I have the pictures! This one you can really see he’s giving it to her good.”
Nick looked over with weary amazement. “Does this pervert-group-thing happen often here darling, or am I missing something?”

“I got you here, didn’t I?” He blinked as Judy nudged him. “For some reason when one of us bunnies gets a guy they usually are too timid—or think it’s a stereotype—to ask about sex or initiate, or do ANYTHING.” She knocked her head against his chest.

“I get it, sounds familiar. So what, you wait until they heat, bring them here…” Nick rubbed his forehead a moment before snapping his pads together. “Randy! Wait, don’t tell me you give him these pictures!”

Judy laughed, causing Nick to smile. “No, he’s easy enough to bribe with pin-up magazines and candy, and he thinks we bring the guys here to intimidate them through sheer numbers.”

Now it was his turn to laugh. “Hate to tell ya Carrots, but I think the boy has cottoned on by now. Anyway, you organize a heck of a con; ever consider leaving the force?”

She rolled her eyes. “Pfft. I’d sooner leave you.”

Nick put a paw to his heart and mocked falling back. “Ouch Officer, that’s ZPD brutality.” But he grinned anyway, and they stood up together as the crowd finally dispersed. “But I won’t press charges.”

“I should press charges, I was the one savaged! I admit my ‘goons’ did get you good earlier, and it looks like they got you again as well.” Nick looked at where Judy pointed and sighed, finding the locker he threw his clothes into now bereft of everything but a close up picture of Nick inside of Judy with the caption ‘New Champ’ written beneath it.

“Hey, they got you too, you’re in the incriminating picture after all.”

“Uh yeah, as the new champ.” Judy hopped up to kiss his cheek. “Though admittedly I couldn’t have done it without you. Now let me find some towels for wash and for wear and soap, because now we both stink of sex. Back in a second sly.”

Nick flicked her butt with his tail impishly as she checked lockers, taking a moment to lay on one of the benches. “Yes officer, just leave me to loiter here a bit and write me a ticket if need be, but know I’ll hate you for it.”

“You’d never.” she said, tossing him a towel, some shampoo, and a new bottle of lube. “You love me after all, and we both know that.”