FSE

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"Fluff, it was a joke... well, kinda. Do you know what a heat cycle is?" The fox tensed. It was out now, Judy would know exactly what he was talking about.

"No...?"

Or she wouldn't. Nick groaned. That made it even harder. Not only that, but obviously this bunny was lacking some education. Then again, bunnies didn't have heat cycles, so he guessed that there would be no point to teach that in a place like Bunnyburrow and it wasn't like. "Okay Carrots, this isn't going to go well, but I'm gonna be as blunt as possible about it." He was using his hands to talk, Judy noted through her confusion. He did that a lot, it was a little quirk of his, among many, that made her smile a bit, bringing her guard down if only slightly again.

"It has to do with mating, Hopps." The fox started his long-delayed explanation, "Basically, during certain months, and well, for me thanks to my absolutely wonderful genetics pretty much the entire spring, my body tells me repeatedly every few minutes that it's time to mate. Now, I can keep it under control, but it certainly can cause a lot of... well, distraction... on the job and when I'm trying to talk to my partner. And there's no way to fix it, not even like medicine or anything that doesn't have dangerous side effects."

Judy opened her mouth to answer, then shut it again as nothing came out. "Oh." She finally managed, meekly. That's what it was. Nick was just hardwired to be especially... 'active' during the spring months. While Judy hadn't ever participated in anything like that before, she knew how it worked from her own 'research', and understood where the fox was coming from at least. Still, her ears were turning a shade of brick. Then, realizing that the awkward pause was probably even worse to the blind fox, the bunny tried to fill the air with something besides burning silence. "Well at least that explains why you were all distracted earlier, there was-"

"An arctic fox passing the car, yes." Nick interrupted, sighing. Until that point he had been nearly on fire in embarrassment, and his face was devoid of its usual tan undermuzzle. At this, it faded slightly. Judy was making it easier, as usual. One of the reasons he had taken such a liking to the bunny.

"Wait, but you were staring at me too, so it can't just-" The rabbit's eyes shot open suddenly, her pupils shrinking to dots. So much for making this easier.

Nick tried to escape the situation by literally fleeing the room, but he only managed to fall off his stool in his incapacitated state, toppling to the ground with a panicked yelp. Judy rushed forward to help him up, but he shrank away, finally accepting a hand only after a bit more fretting, limping for a few moments as he paced the kitchen, bumping into things the whole time before the shock of the fall wore off.

Judy's entire face went a darker shade of scarlet, and she grabbed the water glass she had retrieved earlier seconds before a fox paw could swat it from the counter. "How about I get you some water?"

The vulpine graciously accepted her diversion, and nodded. "Yes!" He spoke more forcefully than the situation demanded by any standard and continued, trying to cover his tracks. "I-it's not personal Hopps, I'm really sorry! Honestly no matter who was sitting that close to me if they were a girl, like you, I'd be staring at them too."

The rabbit officer bit her lip. That had come out wrong. Well, it would have been fine, if not for the fact that the bunny wasn't entirely sure she was opposed to Nick's thoughts of her. She wasn't sure if she should be flattered by it or offended, but he had certainly removed the flattered half if it were possible in his clumsy attempt at making this less awkward for both of them. She shoved the glass of water into his hand, offering him the benefit of the doubt on that one.

"Oof-" The fox felt the air driven out of his lungs by the slightly peeved bunny.

"Why so?" Judy smirked, if he was gong to be like that she would ask harder questions.

Nick, for once, didn't take the bait though and try to cover further. "The smell." He spoke without hesitation.

"What do you mean by that? Like, I smell weird?"

"No no no Carrots, just in general. When I'm in heat I... females, especially fit ones, have a certain sort of aroma. Really makes it hard to focus."

The lapin's face scrunched up at that. "Then why haven't you been staring off into space this entire time?"

"Listen Judy, if you think that for one minute I haven't been moderating my thoughts very carefully this entire time, you'd be dead wrong. And the only reason it hasn't gotten that bad is thanks to well, not being able to both smell or see. But that's the point, even the thought of you is enough to-" He slammed his hands over his mouth, downing the water in one gulp to cover for it. "You get it."

The rabbit's ears were, if it was even possible, even pinker than when he had been explaining his problem. Okay, she could just trust him that it wasn't personal but everything pointed it to being exactly that, he was probably lying to make it easier on both of them again. That was something she could live without, she wanted the fox to be able to trust her. Regardless, she let it slide. They could talk about this when he wasn't in constant pain. Her voice dropped to a much more calming, soft tone. "Look, Nick, you don't have to make excuses to me. I understand, okay? How about I help you feel out the bathroom so you can shower while I make us something to eat?"

The vulpine nodded, smiling sheepishly back at her. "Thanks, Carrots. Sorry about all of this... really, if I could get rid of this stupid thing I would."

Judy punched his arm, eliciting another 'ouch'. She grinned, ears standing again finally, if still quite pink around the inside. "Trust me, it's kinda fun watching you stumble about ogling other girls."

The vulpine groaned. "Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?"

Judy hummed to herself over the sound of the shower in the next room. It must me nice, she mused, to have your own personal shower and bathroom. In her apartment there was hardly enough room for her to fit, much less any sort of restroom. The building had a shared affair that the rabbit visited every day that, while lackluster and devoid of much privacy, still was functional. She never really had been one for vanity. Then again, foxes did live somewhat more secluded lifestyles, certainly more than the ever-increasing bunny population. Perhaps this fit the lonely red fox better. Well, lonely until she came along. Now that Judy thought about it, Nick's only real other friend was Finnick. It must be a hard life having to trick people to get by, but she was glad that her partner was past all that now.

As for how she felt about his little problem, and her involvement in it? She wasn't really quite sure what to think. Most of her wanted to scold the fox. It was incredibly unprofessional, even somewhat frowned upon to even discuss possibilities of fraternization in the police force. Not only that but right now he was only really thinking about her for the physical aspect of a relationship, and she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted that from the fox, as handsome, charming, and sly as he was. Then, on the other hand, she thought exactly like that. Nick really was an amazing friend, and Judy didn't pretend that she also didn't have... needs, sometimes. The rabbit sighed, putting the thought to the back of her mind and trying to let it die there. It resisted, vehemently.

To distract herself, she actually got to doing what she said she would. The lapin navigated the comparatively giant counters, again clambering all over them to try to find ingredients. She came up fairly empty-pawed, all of her treasures lined up in a row. There was a box of cereal, half empty, some assorted spices, vitamins, some of that horrid heat medicine Nick was talking about that had only one pill missing and the rest left untouched, a five pound bag of flour, and a five pound bag of sugar.

"Not much to go on, slick," she murmured, pursing her lips.

The next stop on her quest for food was somewhat more promising, digging in the bottom cabinets yielded a variety of cleaning supplies as well as some more foodstuffs luckily segregated to their own areas properly. However, the only real food there was canned soup, a lime, and a bag of potatoes. Judy twitched her nose, finally going to the refrigerator. She had been avoiding this, as the handle was a foot above her head.

The spunky lapin solved her problem by jumping to the handle of the fridge, hanging from it as her tiny form slowly swung back and forth eventually gaining enough momentum to pull the heavy door open. Cool air rushed over her as she inspected her findings. This was more like it. There were a variety of fruits, a head of lettuce, a plethora of condiments, and... Judy blanched, gulping and shaking her head. Meat, of course there was. Foxes couldn't have a proper diet without it. Some kind of salmon stared back at her, and on another shelf a smaller portion of an indiscriminate red meat. The rabbit officer felt a bit sick to her stomach. She really did need to read up on foxes more, it would help her to not get so many wonderful little surprises. Though, this one was common sense if she really had thought about it.

Judy opted for a vegetarian option, her hands skirting as far from the meat as it could. Nick would have to prepare it himself if he wanted that stuff, the bunny wasn't exactly that comfortable being around it. She gathered a pineapple, some nuts from the spices rack, some strawberries, and the head of lettuce from the fridge. After a bit more struggling with the furniture, the rabbit managed to clamber up to the counter and remove a fox-sized knife from a drawer, being careful not to hurt herself with the added weight behind it as she worked making a light salad. She finished two plates of it by dousing hers in perhaps a bit too much vinaigrette, but that was how she liked it. The other she left bare, waiting for her partner as she set the food on the table.

The rabbit was in the middle of pouring both of them another glass of water when Nick emerged from the bathroom, judging by the steam cloud. Judy had to stifle a chuckle. His shirt was on backwards and inside-out, but there was no way he could really know that.

"You look a lot better, Nick," she addressed him, helping him slowly find his way back to the kitchen/dining room.

The fox nodded, smiling. "Feeling a lot better too, Carrots." His eyes were partially open now, but what was visible was incredibly bloodshot.

"Can you see anything?" She asked, suddenly worried that she would have to feed him.

"Blurry shapes, if I don't mind my eyes slowly sizzling," he smirked, sitting at the chair he was provided.

"Better than before..." her nose twitched as she suddenly caught a hint of lavender on the air, no, honeysuckle maybe? She sniffed at it, trying to determine the source of that wonderful smell, and quickly found herself drifting toward the fox struggling to find his silverware. There was another smell this close too, something more basal. It seemed familiar but she couldn't describe what it was or where it was coming from. For some reason it made her think of Nick, so she figured maybe it was some sort of product he used on his fur beyond his obvious honeysuckle shampoo. It wasn't unpleasant, rather somewhat nice, a bit like the mist in the morning with just a hint of the lavender she had been detecting earlier. Her body had a strange reaction to it though, it made her feel... she shook her head to clear it, ears slapping against Nick's side.

"What was that, Fluff?"

"Oh, sorry. Do you need help with that?" She pointed to his food, then realized that might not really suffice. "Your food, I mean?"

Nick chuckled. "I think I can eat without having a bunny do it for me, I did manage not to break my neck in the shower after all."

Judy nodded, then watched as the fox took a bite of the untreated leaves.

"Oh, I forgot. Rabbit. Do you mind if I put dressing on mine Carrots? Or would that be offensive to your culture?"

The lapin bit her lip, looking at her own drenched plate, he could do without knowing about that particular embarrassing quirk for now. "It's better tasting and better for you if you just have it plain, there's already enough fruit on the plate after all," she scolded him, trying not to let her grin be detectable in her voice.

"Alright Hopps, but only this once." He smiled, starting to slowly devour his salad plain.

Judy pursed her lips at that, looking down at her food. Oh well. The rabbit devoured her meal, she had been hungry after skipping lunch to stay with Nick at the hospital, not wanting to leave his side for a proper meal until he woke up.

The vulpine finished his meal as she watched and he got up, slowly feeling with his feet to the counter, setting his plate aside and finding the sink with his paws, pushing the plate into it. "Well, thank you very much for the meal, fluff. Sorry that I don't have much to snack on, and definitely no carrots, but help yourself to whatever, I've got cable on the TV in here, as well as Howlu, so feel free to have fun with that. I know I'm being no fun, but honestly I just want to sleep until I can see again. Try not to get too lonely without me, okay? And if you do, you know where to find me."

Judy nodded, then turned very scarlet as the fox began to walk towards the farthest door in the room, stumbling a few times. Had he just invited her to-

"Oh, that probably came out really, really wrong, didn't it? I mean like if you want to talk or something," he amended, holding his temples, then quickly retreating and closing the door to his room while the rabbit placed her own dinnerware in the sink. She rinsed them, then finally after a few moments decided against leaving the dishes for later, washing them more fully.

It was strange for Nick to be so quiet like he was after the shower, but she figured that he was probably tired after the day he had been through, not to mention embarrassed. He shouldn't have to be afraid to tell her stuff like that, the rabbit thought to herself. Even if it was a little personal... or rather, very by the sound of it, she hoped that he could trust her with things like that. She hadn't reacted too poorly, had she? Poor guy, it's not like it was his fault, and being single it was likely a lot harder for him to deal with that.

Judy stopped suddenly as a thought crossed her mind. Maybe that's why he was single, because she was always hanging around him. The lapin gulped guiltily as she remembered that Nick had been so resistant to being looked after by her. Sure, it could be because of his heat, but maybe the fox had had something planned, or worse, was trying to reduce the amount of time he was seen with another female so prospective mates didn't get the wrong idea. She could have been snubbing his love life this entire time without knowing it, not to mention that the media always put them together in reports, perhaps people were getting the wrong idea. Yet at the same time the rabbit, for reasons she just couldn't determine she felt somewhat protective of the fox. Him having a girlfriend would likely only lead to more conflict, something he didn't need.

Hopps walked to the couch in the main area of the fairly open apartment, that was where she would be sleeping. Nick had insisted she take the bed, talking about changing the sheets and everything for her, but Judy would not have it that the injured one would be forced to take a couch to sleep on. Plus, she kinda liked big chairs. Being a bunny there were normally plenty around, and a couch was like that.

The rabbit hopped in one bound onto the seat, laying back, her ears flopping down over the pillow. She pulled her phone out, craning her neck as she checked to make sure that her bag was still by the door where she had left it. It was and she debated getting up, finally fighting the urge to simply fall asleep in her uniform.

Judy showered, coming back out in a towel to get her things and moving back to the bathroom to change into something more suited for sleep, in this case a tank top and flannel bottoms. The bunny flopped out over the couch again once everything had been folded and readied for the next day, checking her phone again. This time there was a text message waiting for her from one of her sisters, Samantha. Judy sighed. She hadn't seen Sam in nearly two months, they did occasionally talk though. Samantha had always been fairly spunky herself, not much unlike the lapin on the couch, but she was a bit more abrasive. She was athletic, pretty, and confident, something that commonly had the local male rabbits of Bunnyburrow falling over themselves in hope for a date that would likely never come. Judy loved her as a sister, but she could certainly get on her nerves.

The rabbit unlocked her phone, reading the message quickly.

Hey, what's up?

Judy quickly sent a greeting back, wondering what her sister could want.

Just settling down for today, hard day at work and all the usual excuses.

Yeah, I heard. Well, overheard really when you were talking to mom and dad.

Judy frowned, typing back, Oh, that. Yeah, I wish they didn't treat Nick like that, I'm sure they'll get over it though.

There was a longer pause before the doe's response. Well you certainly gave them a shock, me too honestly, and that's hard to do sis. Good work.

Again, the lapin frowned. Her talking care of her friend shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. I mean I'm gonna take care of him, we are partners after all.

Another even longer pause, then, In more ways than one now I guess. I mean, how do you even manage that though, aren't there size issues?

Judy's forehead wrinkled as she thought that over. I mean, I guess. Stuff in his apartment is a lot bigger than I'm used to but I have to deal with that a lot in Zootopia.

Oh, so you're even living with him too?

Just until he gets better. Judy noticed that her answers were getting a bit shorter as the couch slowly beckoned her to sleep.

Well I gotta say Judy, I think you even out-crazy me on this one. Good luck with your fox, though I'm sure he's very satisfying. Maybe share him sometime? ; )

Judy blinked, realizing what her sister was assuming, and pulled her ears down over her face as she realized that her conversation with her parents before likely had the entire family assuming something similar. "Oh sugar..."

She frantically typed back, I'M NOT SLEEPING WITH HIM, HE'S JUST INJURED FROM WORK TODAY.

I dunno Jude, you made it sound pretty clear over the call.

I know that it sounded odd but I didn't know- Judy thought, if her sister learned that she didn't know what a heat cycle was she would never let her live it down, especially with a fox partner. She revised her proposed message. I know that i __t_ sounded odd but it's been a long day, tell mom and dad that too, it probably sounded a lot like that but that's not happening, no way._

Whatever you say~ Her sister shot back, and Hopps held her head in her hands. This was worse than police PR, and that was a nightmare most of the time. She sent back a final message attempting to reassure her sister of the situation, then opened her mother's contact info.

Hey mom! s_he started,_Really sorry about earlier, but it's been a really long day. I just wanted to let you and dad know that Nick and I are just friends, we're not doing anything weird or whatever. I thought that he had seasonal allergies, but now I know what's actually bothering him and trust me I won't be helping at least directly with that! Sorry for the confusion! The lapin sent the message, crossing her fingers that they would believe her. She had been thinking about taking Nick back to her hometown sometime soon since the fox never seemed to take a day off, and would rather get this resolved before such a trip to avoid the embarrassment that would follow.

Judy set her phone aside, sighing and laying back against her makeshift bed. She spotted a bit of orange-red fur stuck to an inner cushion and chuckled, she would probably be covered by morning. Her nose twitched as she also detected a very distinct misty lavender smell, her mind immediately shooting to thoughts of Nick. Her body naturally curled backwards into its source, slowly pressing harder into the cushions as she breathed it in, mind slowly going blank. She felt so comfortable, so safe and protected... Her eyes closed.

Judy groaned, it was too hot, not only that but there was something gritty digging into her fur. She tried to brush it off, but only more came, and she finally opened her eyes.

Warm sand surrounded her, blowing everywhere as the rabbit stood. She must have passed out in Sahara Square earlier during the chase, but she didn't remember there being a sandstorm. The rabbit officer raised a paw to cover her eyes, feeling something heavy and metallic in it.

"Hopps!"

Her ears shot up as she recognized Nick's voice, oh no, Nick! He'd been hurt, she could even hear the same rasping and coughing as right after he'd been sprayed. She dashed forward, but the strong winds of the storm slowed her progress to a virtual crawl, battering her back as sand filled every crevice of her outfit, irritating her ears, eyes, and nose, making her practically blind.

"Judy!"

She assessed where he was, finally managing to strike up a better pace to where she thought he must be. The rabbit started to panic despite her training. Low visibility was a death sentence when there was an armed suspect, and her legs fought the air with powerful strokes. Her radio was gone, she must have left it behind in the sand where she had fallen for a short time. No backup either, that's okay. All she had to do was get Nick into shelter, he'd be okay. Her heart started to race.

"JUDY!"

Again, a call for help, this time she responded against her best tactical instincts. "Nick, I'm coming! Just stay with me!" Her voice broke as she yelled into the wind, praying that her shouting carried well enough to reach her injured companion. She coughed, eyes burning as sand caked the edges of her face. "I'm right-" her ears shot up as she heard a horrific noise, a harsh, explosive cracking that seemed to shake the air around her. She knew that noise from her training. Gunfire.

There was a grating, guttural series of yelps that followed each blast, and Judy screamed. "Nick!" her vocal cords felt like they would tear out, and her head pounded suddenly with the weight of the sand. Her eyes were wet now, facilitating more of the blistering sand to deposit itself in her lashes. There was nothing but silence now, and she let out a guttural scream again past the pain, panicking. "NICK!"

"Carrots, I'm right here! Calm down!"

Judy's eyes shot open. Nick was standing over her, wearing nothing but his boxers. The room was dark. He had his hands on her shoulders and was shaking her. The rabbit darted her eyes from side to side, heart pounding.

"Judy! What's happening?"

The lapin officer's gaze locked onto his eyes, her pupils tiny dots. "Nick..." she choked out past tears, then launched herself into his chest, wrapping her tiny arms around his front.

"Woah, easy there Carrots..." He held his hands up first, then dropped one to pet the bunny's head, the other wrapping around her back. "It's okay Judy, you're okay..."

Judy sniffled as she let her tears slowly wet his fur, finally pulling herself together as she rubbed the last of the moisture from her eyes. "Y-You're okay?"

The fox smiled at that and rubbed her head again affectionately. "I'm fine, I mean my eyes still hurt a little but I can see much better now that it's dark, and I think that fox-away is finally starting to wear off. I can even smell a little bit."

The rabbit blushed a bit as she realized that she was squeezing him pretty harshly, and let go slowly, not wanting to lose the reassurance of him being there. "G-Good..." She was still shaking, her little body pumping with the adrenaline of fear.

Nick's eyes were most of the way open now and he looked, to say the least, extremely concerned. "Carrots, what happened?"

"Bad dream..." She explained hoarsely, noting that her voice was almost gone.

"Yeah, I'd bet... you were screaming my name over and over, something about sand?"

Judy nodded, whimpering, her ears flattened against her back. "You were hurt and I couldn't get to you in time and you... you... s-somebody-" she started to tear up again and the much larger fox pulled her closer, pressing her head to his chest. She breathed in his warm scent, her heart finally starting to calm as she pressed to him, her hands taking fistfuls of his fur and slowly grabbing at him lightly.

"Hey... I'm okay Judy, I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, fox-away or not. Alright?" The fox slowly pet her head, letting her knead at him. His soft tail slowly wrapped up and curled around her. It helped even more. She knew that he was very protective of it and the act of trust was comforting, but not nearly as much as having him close, being able to take in his aroma.

The lapin nodded, closing her eyes and finally slowly prying herself off of him. "Thank you Nick..."

The red fox smiled gently. "Hey, no problem fluff. Just uh, try not to wake the neighbors next time?"

There was a knock at the door and both sets of ears in the room shot up, eyes darting to the entrance way.

"Sir, this is the ZPD, please open the door."

Nick stood, taking a deep breath. "Now that, I did not expect." Judy's own eyes widened at the concept, had she been that loud? Her partner walked to the door unlocking it and slowly opening it, revealing officer Wolfard.

"Nick?" His head cocked to the side in confusion.

"Yeah big guy, this is where I live." The fox gave a dry chuckle.

The wolf peered over his shoulder into the room, his head cocking the other way. "And Judy? Ohhh that's right, sorry about that, forgot you got maced today... err, yesterday I guess, Nick. So, she's looking after you?"

The vulpine nodded. "You do have a job you know. Mind telling me why the police are here?"

Wolfard smiled at that. "Well, the police already were here, but now there's one more." It drew a laugh from the rabbit in the room behind Nick, and the on-duty officer at the door seemed to relax a bit at that. "So, you're both not like, being murdered or anything? Specifically you, Hopps?"

Judy frowned, wiping her eyes one last time as she padded up to the door. "No, of course not. Why?"

The wolf at the door nervously shifted his collar. "We got reports from civilians that apparently 'sounded like a bunny was being butchered alive'. You seem to not be very butchered, so I'm not too worried about it, but would you two try to uh, keep it down if you're gonna do any 'activities'? I know that Nick's well... 'active' right now, but try to remember that you two have neighbors..." He was slightly flushed, obviously not wanting to have this talk but required by law to do so.

Judy turned scarlet again, babbling quickly. "Oh no no I-I was having a bad dream and thought that Nick got hurt again and I was scared it wasn't anything like that I promise!" She wasn't sure why she had to promise him, but it felt like it would help.

Wolford let out a tense breath, nodding quickly. "Oh god okay, sorry for assuming. Just kinda figured since you guys were always hanging out and... you know what? I'm just gonna get going, have a good night, you two." The officer shut the door quickly to hide his embarrassment.

Judy sighed and turned back to the couch, slowly padding back over to it with her partner in tow, clambering back onto it. She looked down, rolling her eyes. Of course, she was also absolutely covered in red fur from her time sleeping on it and especially her near-tackle of Nick after. The fox started to walk back to his room and Judy watched him go, starting at his back as the door closed. Her heart sped up again as she lost sight of him, afraid for a moment that he was gone, but she just barely managed to snap herself out of it, distracting herself with some quiet television as she drifted to sleep, his scent on the couch lulling her to rest.