Writing. Mostly about Zootopia.

Boopersnootle by trashSavage

“Boopersnootle!”

An infant's gurgling laughter filled the air as playful, hazelnut paws tried to grab something no longer in front of it. The kit was bundled lovingly in warm, thick blue blankets. She smelled of country soap and lavender dryer sheets and had a faintness of slightly sour milk. Little baby Courtney had been wrapped in a grandmother's love, placed in a trusted aunt's arms, and was to be played with until she was sleepy and happy.

Judy gently poked the baby's nose again. “Boopersnootle!” she exclaimed softly into one tiny brown ear (a floplop for those in the know about the names of rabbit infant anatomy). The air was filled once again with a baby's laughter, a baby's paws, and the white hot heat of a newborn being held tightly against you.

Judy fell in love with the little rabbit all over again.

Judy Laverne Hopps spent a long, long time in the family burrow growing up. And a big, big part of the long, long time was spent right here in the kitchen. In this old wooden chair with its big purple cushion. She would study here; help her mother with the chores; teach the younger kits to cook, to  bake; and even spy on her sisters' and brothers' dates to make sure no unscrupulous characters tried to take advantage of a member of the Hopps family.

Then she left for the city and she missed it more than she wanted to admit. The smell of flour in the air. The idle gossip of a hundred aunts and older sisters floating around her. The sounds of coffee dripping and vegetables being cut and the taste of apple and cinnamon in the air from her mother's baking the night before.

She held the baby closer. “Boopersnootle!” The kitchen was filled with laughter and paws and it made her happy.

But when she came back to visit Judy found out she missed the city. Zootopia could be as busy as the rabbit household but wore it in a completely different way.  It was playful and aloof. Could run hot or cold, but was always calculating. The city had big eyes and easy grins and always watched you more than you could watch it. It had a dark past and sly humour and could be dangerous and sexy in ways that a home-raised stud-bunny never could be.

“Boopersnootle!” Giggles. Paws. Floplops.

So when she came back home a second time she brought her favorite part of the city with her. Nick Wilde, charming fox in the literal and not-so-literal sense of the word. He had wooed her sisters with a classic Nick Wilde grin, disarmed her mother with his typical Nick Wilde charm, and bribed her father with a bottle of expensive whiskey and an honest Nick Wilde promise to love and protect and cherish Judy Hopps for the rest of his life.

He had been accepted. They had been accepted. And yes, sometimes the neighbors would whisper and stare but she didn't care. So long as she had kitchens that smelled of apple pie, a big fluffy fox to curl up to at night, and fat, warm babies to play with, Judy Hopps was fine.

“Boopersnootle!”

“Carrots, what are you doing?” Nick asked. He was leaning against the kitchen door with a cup of coffee in hand. His shirt was only half buttoned and his eyes only half opened, but it was a few good hours before noon and this was as awake as Nick would be before his morning pot of coffee.

“Boopersnootle.” Judy replied matter-of-factly.  

He walked over and kissed her on the forehead, a short detour before moving to the coffee machine. “You say that as if it explains anything.”

“It's simple Nick,” She only took an eye away from the baby bunny to take a look at that fox butt as it walked towards the opposite side of the kitchen. “If you have a baby bunny in your arms, you must boop its snootle. It's the law.”

“Of Bunny Burrow?” he thought he was being witty.

“Of the universe!” she was being sincere.

Judy motioned with one hand and Nick joined her with two mugs filled with steaming coffee. “Alright Slick, put those down.”

He did.

“And now hold the baby.”

“Hey, look, Carrots. I don't know-” the fox said, looking around nervously.

“Nick, it'll be fine.” She rested one grey paw on his arm. He sighed and sat down next to her. Him on the floor, her in her chair. Their heads were at about the same height.

“I've never held a baby before.” Nick admitted.

“It's easy.” She said, chinning his snout. “All you have to do is hold your arm next to your body.” She nodded as he took something approaching the right position. She used her free hand to make the minor corrections. “Now remember to support its head.”

“Wait! Carrots I-”

The baby was slipped into his arms with a small shush from Judy. Nick looked down towards the bright bundle of life in his arms and it felt like a a tiny supernova on his chest. Enchanting brown eyes looked up at him and clapped excitedly. It gurgled and burbled and made all sorts of delighted cooing noises.

“It's a tiny Shallot, don't you think Fluff?” Nick asked, never taking his eyes away from the baby, “A teeny, tiny Shallot. Hello baby Shallot.”

Judy rested her head on Nick's shoulder. “I think I see a snootle that needs to be booped.”

Baby Shallot blew bubbles happily.

“And how exactly do I do that?”

“Well, it's very complicated.” she joked and nuzzled the side of his head. “You see, you take your finger...”

“Yeah?”

“And you boop the snootle.”

Nick nervously raised his free hand.

“You have to say 'boopersnootle' when you do it, too” Judy added at the last second.

Nick nodded and brought his finger to the brink. He could feel baby Shallot's warm breath. Smell the flour and lavender and sour milk.

“Boopersnootle!”

A baby's giggles. Grasping paws. A duet of laughter.

Flopwops strategically moved to cover innocent and curious eyes.

A kiss between lovers.

-~-

Thunder peeled through the red morning sky, an ill omen for the next few days forecasting rains that could tear a field apart and would keep the population of Bunnyburrow locked inside until after the storm had passed. Judy and Bonnie ran back and forth between the kitchen and garage loading dozens of meals into the Hopps family truck.

“Mom, I should be out there helping you and dad.” Judy protested as she got another load into the back of the truck.

Bonnie stopped to catch her breath. “Judy please, we all know you want to help but you've been away for to long. The fields have been rotated, honey. We're growing new crops this year. We even have new equipment. We can't take the time to show you everything.”

Bonnie stepped up and pulled her daughter close to her. “We have your brothers and sisters helping your dad and I, Judy. We have a plan. It'll be fine. What we really need is for you to take care of the kids.”

“I know Mom,” Judy's frustration was clear in her eyes. “I just could be doing something more than babysitting.”

“Oh you thinks taking care of the little ones will be easy, do you? We'll see how you feel about it later tonight when we get back.” Bonnie laughed.

“Please. The kits will be nothing!”

“They all really look up to their Aunt Judy. You're all they talk about: you and and Nick.” Bonnie hugged her daughter close. “Take care of them.”

Judy leaned in for an extra second before letting go. “I will. Love you, Mom. Be careful.”

“We'll be back soon. Tonight we'll compare your battle scars to your fathers and see whose are worse.” Bonnie replied with a wink as she climb into the truck. “Now shoo! Lord knows a man can't take care of all those kits at once.”

The truck started to rumble down the road, following a path carved by clouds growing grayer and grayer the farther off they went. Judy waved at the truck, then watched as it slowly disappeared behind a hill.

-~-

Judy surveyed the scene from the doorway. The large family den seemed nearly empty except of one small slice where Nick sat with almost two dozen younger rabbits illuminated by the bright lights of a flashing screen. Usually the large oval room would hold over a hundred rabbits, some vying for the best couch seats, a couple trying to secure The Big TV, a few dozen cooling off from a fight with their litter mates, and maybe just a scattering trying to get away from doing chores. Now it was just every rabbit in the house between the ages of not-quite-still-a-toddler to not-quite-yet-a-teenager and their over-enthusiastic fox babysitter.

Nick flicked his tail from the right to the left and half a dozen small children ran to try and catch their new favourite, fluffy toy. “No! No! Onion you have to lean into the turn!” the fox exclaimed as one of the brightly coloured racers on screen missed his power-up and skidded off the track.

“My name is Clarence!” a soft yellow rabbit shouted at him. The hair on his head peaked into a single point between his ears. From behind he definitely looked like an onion.

“You can't yell at our guest, Onion!” jeered another rabbit with a controller. Same size, darker yellow, wearing a green dress.

“Oh shut up, Dandelion!”

“You shut up!”

“No. You shut up!”

“I win!” Shouted a deep red rabbit as he jumped out of his seat. A fat pig in a tiny car circled the digital track track throwing his hands up in elation.

“You cheated Charlie! Using the blue shell is cheating!” protested a brown rabbit next to him.

“Nuh-uh. It's in the game so it's fair! And it's Beats! Like Beats by Brey!” Beats replied.

“Beats as in the root vegetable you dweeb!” the brown rabbit shot back.

Nick flicked his tail and half a dozen not-quite-still-toddlers went running. “Ginger! It's not nice to call someone a dweeb.” he chastised.

The brown rabbit shrank down in her seat, arms crossed with a sour face. “He's still a dweeb.”

Judy wormed her away around the kits and sat down next to Nick, wrapping his arm around her. “Hey.”

“Hey.” he pulled her in a little closer.

“How are the babies?”

“They're fine.” Nick replied. “After their morning bottle they all went to sleep pretty easily.”

“Hmm.” Judy idly patted the head of one of the kids she now noticed sitting in Nick's lap. “They'll need to be changed soon.”

“Do you know when? I need to know so I'll be busy doing something somewhere else.” He gave her a lazy smile and eyes she's sure were designed to make her want to kiss him.

Judy punched him instead. “You'll be right there with me, Slick. Poopy diapers and all.”

“Aren't we supposed to be doing that whole 'Teaching the kids to not hit each other thing'?”

“If you want,” Judy leaned in. “I could kiss it and make it all better.”

“Tempting. How about when we don't have an audience.”

Judy looked around and saw twenty pairs of eyes staring right at her and Nick. Immediately her ears fell.

“No no. Don't mind us. Continue.” Ginger said, voice hushed and curious eyes wide.

Beats turned to her. “Hey. Do you think he's gonna be Uncle Nick?”

There was a cheer from behind Nick. One of the children had finally caught their toy.

-~-

Judy learned a lot about children from her older brother Bernard. Bernie seemed to be born to raise kits, a big boon to the family as he seemed to kill every crop he put his hands on. It was a trade Bonnie Hopps was more than happy to have stumbled into; with rabbit families growing as large as they do having a few sons and daughters that were good with the young ones was as much as a blessing as a child with a green thumb. When Bernie left for Hare Hills to pursue a career as a kindergarten teacher it seemed a good fit and the family wished him well on his way.

So now Bernie was at least a day's train ride away and probably taking care of several handfuls of kits while the farmers of Hare Hills prepared for the oncoming storm. While Judy would have preferred to have her brother here rather than just the few lessons she'd gleaned from him over the years, the lessons were good and she was an expert at making do. She was confident she'd do fine.

She would be more confident if she didn't want to kill the other rabbit in the kitchen.

“Your boyfriend's cute. Don't you think he's cute?” said Augustine Hopps as she idly flicked through pictures on her phone. She had dark brown fur, like her mother; blue eyes,  like her mother; and an inability to shut up and let people get on with their work, again, like her mother. “ I think he's cute.”

Judy's rhythm on the cutting board didn't falter. She had vegetables to cut up and pizzas to make. Kids love pizza and Bernie taught her that getting the kids to make their own pizzas was a great, fun activity that usually burned up about two hours while praying for mom and dad to come home early. “Augustine, aren't you a little old to be here? You should be out helping with the fields.”

“These are the paws of an artiste, Aunt Judy!” Augustine replied “They can't be wasted on carrots and cabbages and... and.. and whatnot!”

Judy stopped cutting for a moment and fixed the younger rabbit with a stare.

“Mom doesn't want me to go out.” Augustine admittedly sheepishly.

Judy resumed chopping. “Mm-hmm.”

Augustine righted herself in her chair. “It's not fair. All the others are out there, why can't I be?”

“Your mother's just worried about you.” Judy replied.

“Why, because I'm the runt?” The last word was spat out with disgust. It was a topic no one talked about, especially when little Augutine was near. She was just over twelve years old but still looked like she was ten. She wasn't as strong or as fast as her brothers and sisters, and while that engendered a vast intellect and quick wits, Judy knew all to well how not fitting the standard rabbit mold went in farmer households.

“Augustine it's not that-”

“Don't lie to me, Aunt Judy.” Augustine sulked. “Lie to the others. They're too stupid or star struck to notice.”

“They're not stupid.”

“It's like a great big giant Jabberwock galumphed through their heads and ate their brains!” Augustine raised her hands in the air to mimic the motions of the imaginary monster.

“Augustine! That's enough.” Judy's annoyance echoed in her voice.

“It's not enough! It's not fair!” The little rabbit shouted. “They all get to be normal! Normal and happy and stupid! They get to play outside and have friends and go to sleepovers and not get called a freak!” her voice was getting louder. “They get birthday parties where lots of people come! And they get to play sports! And they get people who understand! And a Mom and Dad that love them!”

Judy nearly dropped her knife, both rabbits shocked still by the sudden outburst. The kitchen was still, silent except for constant ticking of the second hand on the kitchen clock.

Augustine started again, her voice quiet and shaky. “I get to read big books. Sometimes I can take a really good picture on my phone. I get a Mom that treats me like I'm made of glass and a Dad who doesn't even want to look me in the face.”

Augustine stared forward, out the kitchen window at the dark, gray sky. She held her paws out in front of her slowly and stared at them disgusted. “They don't even touch me. Andrew always gets a hug before he leaves the house. Andy gets a pat on the head and a 'good game champ!' when he comes home. Andrea gets chin rubs and Audrey gets to go out with mom and the girls to dance and try on clothes. What was even the point of bringing me home?”

Neither rabbit said anything for a long time. The kitchen was still, a stray raindrop hit the window.

Augustine lowered her paws and made a motion to move.

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. You're here trying to have a nice time with y-” was about as far as Augustine got before Judy swept her up into a big, tight hug. Judy crushed the tiny brown rabbit between her arms, held Augustine tight next to her her pink flannel shirt, and fiercely rubbed her cheek and face all over the top of Augustine's head. Judy kissed the young rabbit between her ears.

At first Augustine tried to pull away, and when that didn't work she tried to squirm out of the unfamiliar hug, but Judy just held her tighter. After a few moments the half-hearted pushes became full-hearted pulls and the younger rabbit buried herself in Judy's shirt. Augustine started crying, softly at first with little whimpers that turned into great rivers of tears accompanied by hiccups and tugging harder at Judy's shirt. Augustine did her best to try and hide away from the world that didn't want her by surrounding herself with a fortress of pink and gray. Judy did her best to oblige.

The kitchen was still. The rain had begun to fall, but Judy was there to make sure everything would be okay.

-~-

The pantry is huge. A labyrinthian affair of oversized bags containing vegetables and starches, constructed over years of tired rabbits putting down heavy parcels of food as close to the entrance as possible and dozens of other rabbits giving up half way through sorting it out. Bonnie Hopps had some way of diving through this mess with reasonable efficiency. Mom magic developed over years of practice to make sure dinner was always on the table by 6  and everyone could have a cup of tea before heading to bed.

Judy was just glad that the way to the door was clear. She could look out to the kitchen and dining room to keep an eye on the kits.

“What do you call her?” Judy asks Nick. They're getting the final things to make chocolate pudding; a small treat for all the good girls and boys who don't put up to much of a fuss at lunch and Judy's secret weapon against a kit uprising.

“Who?”  Nick is moving aside a bag of potatoes at least as big as him. He can't remember half of their names; it's the reason he doles out nicknames so freely.

“Augustine.” Judy motions with her head to the figure helping the younger kits into their seats at the family table.

Nick shrugs. “She doesn't have one yet.”

“Nick, you've given them all names.”

“Not all, Fluff. Not yet. Only the ones I've talked to.” Nick grabbed an insulated carrying case filled with bottles. He'd need these for the babies. “'Creampuff' maybe?”

Judy shakes her head. “No, not Creampuff. Think of something else.”

“What's wrong with creampuffs? They're sweet.” Nick surveys the kitchen through the open door. “She looks like a sweet kid.”

“They're fragile. They break too easy. They deflate when you touch them.” Judy put her hand on her hip and leveled a serious stare at her fox. “Give her something strong. Something powerful. Something that doesn't break easily.”

“You want me to call her Judy?”

Judy shifted her weight to her other hip and gave Nick a warm smile. “You know, we can't just make out in the pantry.”

The fox leaned in and gave Judy a sexy half-grin. “How do you know? We haven't tried yet.”

Judy has a flash of inspiration. Grey on red. Hot moans and pink tongues and pinker, private things that they only shared with each other. Paws grasping at fur. Claws running down her back. A toothy grin leading into a pleased yip as she works Nick over on a sack of flour as big as her bed back in the city.

It only lasts a second but she already knows by the look in Nick's eye that he's seen the look in hers. Any good partner would know that look and Judy knows Nick is more than a good partner. She knows he tries at it. This whole long-term-romantic-relationship thing is new for both of them.

She tries her best too. The trying together makes it work out pretty well. They're not perfect, but they've found out that making up is a lot of fun.

“Maybe later Slick. But for now we both have jobs to do. Did you find the formula?” Judy turns around and bends over, half to pick up a sack of sugar and half because if Nick's going to play dirty she will to.

It's part of the trying thing that works so well.

Nick pauses just long enough before answering that she knows it works. “Hmm? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I got it right here. I'm ready to go.”

“Take Augustine with you. She can help.”

Nick slings the bottle carrier over his shoulder and packs the formula under his arm. “Carrots, there are at least a dozen babies. I will take all the help I can get.”  

Judy nods approvingly. “Good. Get going. And don't take it easy on her.”

“Don't worry. I only save my sweetness for one rabbit.”

“Oh, who's that?” Country snark tempered by city living.

“Little baby Shallot of course! You met her. She likes to get her snootle booped.”

-~-

Half-an-hour later Judy gets a text with an image attached. The picture is of Nick, sitting in front of a dozen cribs, arms filled with babies. He's saying something to them and they all look at him sleepy and happy.

The text was signed '-Wasabi'.

-~-

Judy and Nick were playing with the babies in the family room. The rain was coming down harder now and every so often the sky would crack with lightning and thunder. She tries not to worry too much. Her parents and siblings were all experienced farm rabbits, she tells herself, they'll be fine. Unfortunately  Judy was a cop, and she knows all to well how quickly things could turn from fine to tragic.

Nick helped by providing little distractions through the day. Right now he was lying on the ground as about half a dozen babies crawled all over him. A few more had taken refuge in his bushy tail and he flicked it every so often to their amusement. Their paws worked overtime taking in the fluffy red fur and Judy was surrounded by the noises of happy infants.

Lunch had gone well. There were very few fires to put out, only one of them literal. All the kits were happy and fed. The kitchen was a disaster but she could take care of that later. Judy leaned closer to Nick, reached an arm around his torso and boopersnootled one of the babies on Nick's tail. The response was comforting.

The moment was broken by the sound of a digital shutter. Judy looked up and saw Augustine capturing the scene on her phone.

Judy stood up slowly and began making her way to the doorway Augustine was standing it. The younger rabbit handed over the phone to show Judy the picture. “I had to take a picture. It was too perfect.”

“Yeah.” Judy replied. It was a perfect picture. Judy and Nick and a bundle of happy babies. She felt a small tinge of sadness. Her and Nick might never have babies like this. The biology was too different. It was to much of a long shot for her to really hope for. Judy found herself hoping anyways.

Augustine looked up at her worried. “Are you alright, Aunt Judy?”

“I'm fine.” Judy said as she handed back the phone. “Send me a copy of that.”

Augustine tucked it into her dress. “I have an Instalamb account. Just add me and you'll be able to see all my photos.”

Judy took  Augustine's shoulder and held the younger rabbit close. Augustine melted into Judy's side and they took a moment to watch Nick and the babies.

“I saw the caravan coming over the hill a second ago.” Augustine spoke up. “Grandma and Grandpa should be back in, like, a  couple of minutes.”

“Is everyone still napping?”

“Most of them are. Aunt Irene's kids are playing video games again.”

Judy nodded. “That's good. Tell them to get ready. I'm sure they want to see their mom. Nick and I will handle the babies.”

“You got a few minutes.” Augustine said “You and Nick could try making some babies.”

Nick barked with laughter and Judy went red in the face. “Augustine!”

“It's Wasabi.” Nick's head was tilted backwards, eyeing the two rabbits. “'Cause she's spicy.”

Augustine waggled her eyebrows at her aunt. Judy put her head in her paws. Nick laughed with a chorus of giggling babies.

-~-

Bundles of tired field rabbits trudged in through the front door two and three at a time. Most of them looked haggard. Even the young men and women usually full with energy were looking beat. Outside the rain poured heavy, hard and oppressive; the sky was a dull gray, almost black, and the only reprieve from the dark was the occasional blast of lightning and thunder tearing through the sky.

The children ran to meet their parents and siblings, assaulting them with hugs and questions. Judy and Nick handed the babies over to their respective parents. Every so often Judy could hear Augustine hidden somewhere taking pictures of the whole thing. Unlike the others she didn't run to meet her parents, expectations dashed by years of reality. Judy told herself the small rabbit would be fine but made a note to talk to her brother and sister-in-law. Or maybe just thump them a couple of times, she wasn't sure yet.

The babysitters made their way past the crowd to the kitchen where Bonnie and Stu had taken refuge. Judy took a place next to her mother while Nick retrieved a set of glasses from the cupboard then moved to sit across from her. Quietly he pulled a bottle of scotch from somewhere hidden and poured a glass for everyone at the table.

“More scotch Nick?” Stu asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I made sure to bring a bottle with me in case you wanted to threaten me with a shotgun again.” Nick joked as he passed a dram to Stu.

The old farmer nodded and took his drink. “Good man. A little preparedness goes a long way in a husband.”

“Stu! You did not threaten Nick with a shotgun!” Bonnie threatened with all the indignation she could muster.

“Only a little bit.” both men answered at the same time. They blinked, looked at each other, smiled then laughed. They downed their drinks like twins.

Judy smiled at her mother. “Don't worry Mom, all the boyfriends get the shotgun. Dad hasn't shot anyone yet.”

“Oh good lord.” Bonnie exclaimed. She picked up her glass, sniffed it experimentally, and scrunched her face in disgust. She then drained her glass just like her husband.

“Easy there Bon.”

“Oh hush, Stu.” Bonnie said as she poured herself and her husband another drink. “I need this after today.”

Judy let her parents finish another drink before she asked. “Are the fields alright?”

Stu poured another for himself. This one he nursed, sipping slowly. “We got most of the farm but we didn't get to the west field before the rain started getting bad. It's sloped you know-”  

“She remember Stu.” Bonnie chided.

Stu took another sip, pointedly not looking at his wife. “It was too dangerous to start by the time we got there. Depending how bad the storm is we could lose the cabbages.”

“Better the cabbages than your lives.” Nick commented. He hadn't taken another drink, letting the two farm rabbits have free reign of the bottle.

Bonnie gave Stu an accusatory look. “Thank you. Nicholas. It's nice to know someone here has a head on his shoulders.” The fox had taken a side in an argument he didn't even know was happening.

“What about the silos?” Judy asked; trying to stop an argument before it began..

“We upgraded those last year Jude. They'll be fine.” Stu finished his drink. “Empty, but fine.”  

Bonnie sighed, unwilling to reinitiate the fight they started in the fields. “How about you, Judy? Were the kids alright? They weren't to much, were they?”

“They were fine mom. They played videogames and we made pizzas for lunch. It was easy.” Judy reassured her.

“What about the babies, dear?”

“Nick took care of the babies.” Judy smiled at her fox. “He was good at it.”

“Really? Nick?” Bonnie asked surprised. “Well, aren't you just full of surprises.”

Stu poured Nick and himself another drink. The elder rabbit was already on his forth. “Sure, babies are easy.” Nick gave the women a confident smile. “Feed them their bottles; give them a big, fluffy tail to play with; boop their snootles. Money in the bank.”

“You played boopersnootle?” Bonnie's eyes and ear turned to Nick.

“Is something wrong with that?”

“I didn't know foxes played boopersnootle.”

“Judy showed me.” Nick grinned, eyes lingering on Judy.

Bonnie took her daughter's hand. “Did she show you Peek-a-boo?”

The fox shook his head. “No. What's that?”

“I'll show you later.” Judy smiled over her half-emptied scotch. “You can't do it now though.”

“Why not?”

“You've already played boopersnootle today. It doesn't work if you've played boopersnootle with them.” Bonnie explained.

“Maybe I can.... un-boop their snootles?” Nick shrugged, playing with his now empty glass.

“Nicholas, you can't unboop a snootle.” Bonnie chuckled.

Stu nodded solemnly. “It's just not done, son.”

-~-

Despite the rampant rumours of rabbit proclivities the Hopps household is still a mostly conservative one, and boyfriends, even long-term boyfriends, sleep on the couch in the living room with the weird, lumpy mattress that had a large bump in the middle requiring imaginative sleeping positions to work around.

Judy sat down on the corner of the bed and with every slight shift it creaked loudly with protest, more interested in its own rest than it's occupant. Nick lay there under the covers and watched her. She'd come down late in the night, past the time everyone would be sleeping, and danced so quietly down the  squeaky steps and chirping floors just to be here. It was an unnerving change, Nick was usually the one trying to sneak into her bed when they were visiting her parents.

“Hey, Fluff.” Worry. Tension.

“Hi Slick.” Monotone. Lifeless.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Judy kicks at the floor absentmindedly; a stray dust mote flew by and is lost forever under a side table. “Not really.”

Nick lifts the blanket. “Come here.” And she does, wordlessly, instinctually curling up beside him. She ran a paw along his shirt, took a deep breath of dryer sheet and fox musk and the special soap he brings with him from the city so the entire living room doesn't smell like fox musk.

She missed the smell of fox musk.

She buries her head in the crook of his shoulder. She listens to the beating of his heart and feels the beating of hers and tries to use him as an anchor against something she doesn't want to admit.

“Carrots, are you alright?”

“Yes.” she lies.

“Judy....” the voice is long and trailing. She isn't usually this emotional. Its only happened a few times and he doesn't really know what to do except hug her until she lets it out. She lays there with him for seconds, hours, minutes; she doesn't really know. Time is measured in grasping paws and tightened holds and snouts burying into places to dig up the scent of the other person.

“Mom and Dad are alright.” she begins.

She can feel him nodding from her position curled up in his chest. She pulls herself closer and tries to drown in the scent of him.

“They stopped fighting a while ago. You could hear them all through the house! They were louder than the thunder!” She laughs into his chest. It's hollow on her voice and partly muffled by a growing wet spot on Nick's shirt.

“Carrots.” the voice is disbelieving, probing. He's trying to ask but doesn't know how. He's trying. She knows it. It's not one of his better attempts but at least it's there. She decides she should try to.

“Nick.”

“Judy.”

“You're-” She pauses, hesitates for longer than comfortable, and finally pushes herself forward. “Are you okay if we never have kids?”

“Carrots, you know I am. I just-”

“I don't think I am.” She looks up to him with big, purple eyes. Tears are streaming down her face, her fur is matted, ears and tangled clothes distraught and she feel like the smallest, ugliest thing in the world.

He kisses her like she's the most beautiful thing in the world. It's a small kiss. On top her head, between her messy ears and on top the distraught fur and it reaches down and makes her feel warm again.

“So we'll have kids.” he says, looking at her with a confidence different than the everyday, easy, practiced confidence he wears everywhere he goes.

“But Nick-”

“So. We'll. Have. Kids.” He grips her tighter. Presses her against his chest. She responds by grabbing handfuls of his fur and never wanting to let go.

“The doctors say it's nearly impossible.” she mutters into his shirt.

He lifts her head so she has to look him eye to eye. They're warm emerald waters and deep-sea green and when the lightning catches them Judy thinks she's the biggest fool in the world because she walked right back into the fox's den and was never going to be able to leave.

“It's a good thing you're Judy Hopps, then.” he starts; she drowns “You've made a career of doing the impossible. The nearly impossible should be a cinch.”

“A cinch?” she's able to put some more strength in her voice.

He nods. “A piece of cake.”

They lay there in silence for two tightened holds and a snout burying before either of them speak again. “Tell me about our kids.” she says.

“We'll have two-”

“Only two?”

“At least two.” She can hear the smile in his voice.

“What are they like”

Nick sits up lazily. He runs his paw through her face, cups her chin, shares a kiss, and takes a position to tell a story. “The eldest,” he begins. “is Violet. She's called that because she has your eyes. Giant amethyst pools filled with hope and wonder. I won't let you call her anything else.”

“This is beginning to sound pretty one sided.” Judy laughs and plays with Nick's tail.

“That's because she's all you. Optimistic, head-strong, quick witted and quick on her feet. She's always top of the class and takes all the extracurriculars she can. She wants to get into a good university. She has all these ideas about changing the world, making life better for everybody.”

“Sounds like a handful.” She's smiling again. A real smile. She's having fun.

Nick straightens himself up a little. “That's just because you haven't heard about our son.”

“Bernie.” Judy says.

“Bernie?”

“Bernie.” she repeats herself, inviting no discussion. “If you name the first I name the second. He's Bernie.”

Nick relents. “Alright, alright. Bernie. Bernie Pickadilly Wilde.”

“Pickabilly!” Judy snorts.

“You got to pick Violet's middle name!”

“Autumn.” Judy nods her head with faux seriousness. “Violet Autumn Wilde and Bernard Pickadilly Wilde.”

“So anyways,”  Nick aims to get them back on track. “Bernie is a handful. A little bit to much like his old man for my liking. He reads people well, too well. He always seems to be angry at the world. He's always picking fights. For a long time he's lost and doesn't know what to do.”

“Sounds like we have some work to do with him.”

“We do, uh huh, ain't that the truth. But not as much as you think.” Nick grins at her. “Because he's as much your son as he is mine. Whenever he reads people it's to get to the truth of things. He's angry at the world because it's cruel, unfair and he can't stand that it is. He'll pick a fight with a bully, any bully, every bully, even if he can't win. Even if it's just to show them you can't push people around.”

“Sounds more like his father than you think.” Judy remarks, smiling face and smiling eyes.

Nick pulls Judy up to him so they're sitting side by side. “He wants to be a cop. He doesn't know it, not until his last year of high school, but he wants it. It's the only thing he wants. It's the only thing that makes sense. And Carrots, oh Carrots, he's the best cop in the world.”

-~-

Judy doesn't remember falling asleep but farmer's habits wake her up early. She tries to sneak back to her room but hears her mother in the kitchen and knows that she's been caught.

“Good morning, Mom.” Judy says from the hallway.

“Morning honey. Want some coffee?” Her mother's tone is light, as if she didn't see anything walking from the stairs to the kitchen right through the living room.

“No thanks, I'm good.” Judy glances to the stove and sees bottles in boiling water. “Want some help with the babies this morning?”

“Oh, baby, that'd be great.” Bonnie sighs, relieved. “I wanted everyone to have a good nights rest after yesterday but I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew.”

Judy yawns, stretching out the morning kinks in her overly big sleeping shirt. It's not really hers, but it's the first thing she could find this morning and Nick couldn't really wear it last night after she'd nearly drowned it in tears.

Judy feels better. The air smells of apples and cinnamon. She has a big, fluffy fox to curl up to. She has plenty of babies to spend the morning with. One day soon she'd start trying for her own.

“Don't worry, Mom. Aunt Judy is here to save the day.”

Alyona by trashSavage

'Her name was Alyona, she was an arctic fox, and I loved her more than anything else in my life. We met on mission ten years ago, a joint venture between the ZIA and the Kremlin to stop a madman in Bulltan from weaponizing the musk of genetically-engineered super-mammals and turning it into a biological super-weapon.

'At first it was rough. Almost antagonistic. We would snipe at each other. Her more open style clashing against my stubborn, by-the-book approach. But the more we worked together, the more I came to appreciate her. The doors her smile opened. The subtle observations. My Aly was brilliant and strong in every sense of those words. She wore a cynical shell but beneath it she was warmer and more loving than anyone I had ever met before.

'I remember when we made love for the first time. On the white, beach sands at mid-night. The heat of her paw pads as she ran them across my fur. The warmth of her breath. The softness of her fur. The scent of the white lily I had placed behind her ear mixed with the smell of her. '

And suddenly Jack was back in the present, and not some far off beach half the way across the world. The air was pregnant with questions but neither rabbit dared to say anything; Judy afraid that if she started speaking she might start crying and Jack trying vainly to fall back into memory.

The ice in Judy's carrot brandy cracked, then tumbled, then bobbed. It let out a slight noise.

'Why are you telling me all this?' Judy asked.

Jack took a sip of his brandy and stared out the hotel window, out over the entirety of the Zootopia skyline, and tried his best to compared the light of the full moon to his memories of Alyona's fur. The moon was a poor substitute.

He turned his whole body towards Judy. 'Because Hopps, I need you to understand. I need you to know that I know what it is to be in love with someone. Not to settle for someone. Not to find your best friend or special someone or true soulmate or any of that useless foss. I mean love. True love.'

Judy nodded. 'Yes but-'

'I burnt down a city for her Hopps. They killed her and I raised fire from the darkest places I could find and burned down the entire city of Moobisa to make sure they were all dead. That crazed king, his entire family, the things he created. Everything.  An entire city. I turned it to ash.'

Judy looked across the table and found nothing but hollow orbs in the place where a mammal's soul was supposed to be. 'That's insane.'

'Yes,' Jack shrugged and took another sip, 'I loved her, and I needed you know that I loved her. I needed  you to know so that you will take seriously what I say next. So you will know that I am speaking with no exaggeration. I loved her. I burned down a city for her. But if I ever looked at her the way Wilde looks at you, the world would still be on fire.'

Judy stared at him, shocked.