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Judy sighed. Nick sighed. Nox sighed. The questioning had been a wash.

It had started well enough, especially with the bunny leading the proceedings; though both the fox and the liger got more than a few cautious glances and uncomfortable rictus grins, Judy was 'known'. She was familiar. She greeted each of Gideon's neighbors by name, asking after their children; how little Tommy was doing in school, what Becky was doing now that she'd graduated, how Will's sabbatical was going. It was a connection, something to ease the door open.

But when the conversation had turned to Gideon Grey and what had been done to his shop, that door had been slammed shut; metaphorically, for the most part, but in some cases quite literally. Sure, a few of the other mammals living on the street--Mr. and Mrs. Buckington in the apartment next door, Mr. Neighmeyer across the street, Granny Barker on the corner--had offered their sympathy, while the rest had let out a few small-town-polite murmurs about what a shame it was. And sure, when the Molotov cocktail had been mentioned, even the ones who grumbled about the fox had winced. But all up and down the block, it was the same story: no one had heard--it had been the middle of the night, you know--or seen--that streetlamp right outside Gideon Grey's bakery had been out for a good few months, you know--anything that could help Judy and her partners find the culprits.

And so, as their rental car rumbled down the road out of Bunnyburrow's main municipal hub towards the rolling green fields of the Warrens, Nick tried to give the scowling bunny in the driver's seat a reassuring smile. "Well, guess we couldn't expect to solve the case in a single day. Don't beat yourself up too much, Carrots."

"I know." A deep breath, and then a heavy sigh heaved out of her tiny frame. "I know. But still, there has to be something. Some clue we're missing, or some lead no one wants to give us."

"Do you think they're lying?"

"No." The answer to Nox's question was immediate, and accompanied by a fiery glare from the rear-view mirror. "They wouldn't. Especially not about something like this. Why would they?"

Nox's mouth opened, and then fell shut. He looked down to the paws he had folded in his lap--kneading between the knuckles of one with the pawpads of the other to ease the twinging in his joints--and left the worst possibilities unsaid. After a long and uncomfortable moment, the fox sitting shotgun cleared his throat and piped up.

"So! Aside from all this messy business, how's coming home been, Carrots?"

"Probably a lot better when we get to the house." Another glance into the rearview mirror. "It's probably gonna be cramped, Nox, but mom and dad'll make sure you feel right at home!" A brief smile, which grew less strained as the liger nodded and offered a conciliatory lip-perk of his own. "I know the little ones'll love having you."

Nox grunted and shifted. "Uh, yeah..."

Glinting eyes peered at him from the front passenger seat. "What's the matter, Noxie, don't like kids?"

Loud. Rambunctious. Scuttering all over the place. "They're fine, I guess..."

"Heh, don't worry. Me and Carrots'll protect you from the big, bad, scary bunny kits."

"Thank you, Nick. Whatever would I do without you." Nox rolled his eyes even as the corners of his mouth moved up a little more. Nick laughed, and Judy sighed; however, the air in the car was a lot easier to breathe than it had been.

"Oh, speaking of, there it is now!" Judy gestured to get the liger's attention and then pointed ahead through the windshield. Rising before them, set into the side of a hill--just like many of the other warrens on the horizon--was the Hopps Family homestead. Large; it had to be, to contain all two-eighty-and-counting members of the bunny's family. Homey and rustic; all painted and carved wood, with shuttered windows poking out of the hillside and a large two-tier porch overlooking the gravel drive. Inviting; the front door left open, and soft light shining from within to illuminate the pair of figures waiting for them.

The rental car rolled to a stop. The engine cut off. Judy hopped out with a beaming grin, and rushed over into a tight hug with the two older bunnies. "Hey, mom! Heya, dad!"

"Hey, Jude!" The male hugged his daughter close and tight, and then looked up with a--slightly strained, but no less warm and welcoming--smile when Nick sauntered over. "Hey, Nick! You doin' good?"

"Good as I can, Mr. Stu. Miss Bonnie." With a wide and charismatic grin on his face, the fox shook paws with the pair in turn; he dipped down to nuzzle the back of Bonnie's hand, making the Hopps matron giggle while her daughter rolled her eyes. "Good to see you two doing the same."

"Oh, we're managing, despite all that trouble in town." Stu's expression grew just a little stiff as he looked between Nick and Judy. "How's the investigation coming along, by the way?"

"We're just starting it up. Following up on leads, gathering evidence, all that." Judy cleared her throat.

"You, uh... you got any good ones yet? Leads, I mean?" Bonnie's paw kneaded her daughter's shoulder.

"It's still in the initial stages, so we can't really say anything about it yet." However, the downward cast of her eyes and the drooping of her ears said more than enough for the two parents.

Bonnie glanced to Stu. She sighed. She then looked past Judy and Nick, and her eyes widened. "Oh my! And this must be Officer Priderock!" Her expression softened once more as the liger finally finished stretching the kinks out of his shoulder and padded up to join the group.

"Just Nox is alright, Mrs. Hopps." Nox nodded to Bonnie, and politely ignored the wide-eyed staring from Stu.

"In that case, it's just Bonnie and Stu to you, dear." The Hopps matriarch gave the larger mammal a nod in return while her foot nudged her husband's ankle.

"Uh, yeah!" Stu cleared his throat, ears tucking back and reddening a bit at the strangled squeak that had escaped his throat, and tried again while shaking Nox's paw. "I mean, yeah, your more'n welcome. I hope our Bun-bun and Nick've been treatin' you well!"

"They have, yes. It's been a real pleasure to work under them."

"Good!" Another clearing of his throat, and then Stu stepped back and gestured for Judy and the two boys to follow. "Come on in n' get settled, then! Everyone's been wantin' to see ya, Jude, Nick."

One of Nox's brows perked upward. "Everyone...?"

---

As it turned out, when Stu had said everyone, he meant everyone. Stu and Bonnie led their daughter and two guests through the--cramped, low-ceilinged, and nearly claustrophobic; for the liger, at least--halls of the Hopps family home into the massive living room, Nick and Judy greeting the other members of the family while Nox was introduced. To little Cotton, who bounded over the second she caught sight of Judy and leapt right up into her favorite aunt's arms. To Terry and Manny, who slung their arms over Nick's shoulders and patted the fox on the back with wide grins, and Violet and Maude, who hugged Judy in warm greeting. To Pop-Pop, who grumbled from his armchair near the fireplace in the fox's vague direction before nearly losing his dentures while gaping at Nox.

And of course, to the many little bunny kits of the Hopps family.

Loud. Rambunctious. Scuttering here and there and underfoot, squealing and wide-eyed as they ran from the hulking liger and then approached to prod at his ankles and legs. Nox was just as wide-eyed as he stared back down at the scurrying little kits, giving Nick and Judy helpless, pleading glances in between.

Nick chuckled, clapping his paws to get the young bunnies' collective attention. "Alright, alright, guys! You see this here?" He moved over, patting Nox on the forearm. "This here is my good friend Nox. You make sure to give him a proper Hopps family welcome, you hear?"

Grins. Giggles. A hundred voices piping up, shouting, "Alright, Mr. Nick!" And then the swarm descended, a hundred furry bodies hopping at Nox.

Judy and Violet shared a look, sighing and rubbing at their brows. Bonnie giggled, while Stu called out to, "Be careful, little'uns!" Terry and Manny cheered their sons and nephews and nieces on as the kits began scaling the pair of preds like living, breathing jungle gyms.

"Cute little scamps, aren't they?" Nick laughed, ducking his head down as a few young bunnies managed to mount his shoulders while letting out reedy war cries.

"Uh..." Nox still stayed frozen as the giggling horde scaled up his legs and reached to swing from his arms. He felt a few prods here and there, and couldn't stop a snort as the kits' little paws tickled him. He heard a hundred high-pitched voices jabbering a hundred different questions to him. The liger looked around at those bright, smiling, open faces, let out a quiet sigh, and nodded; once more, he felt the corners of his lips perking upward. "Yeah."

Maude finally made her way into the room, clapping her hands after wiping them on the flour-streaked apron she was wearing. "Alright, little'uns! Dinner's in the oven, so ya'll go wash yerselves up!"

The flock of bunny kits hopped off of Nox and Nick, and then stampeded up the steps towards the bathrooms to do just that. Judy crossed her arms and tried to glare at the fox, though she couldn't quite keep the smirk off her face. "Alright, you've had your fun 'Mr. Nick.' Can you make yourself useful and show Nox where to wash up? Me and Dad're gonna wait outside to meet Gid while Maude, Violet, and Mom finish up. Terry, Manny, you gonna set the table?"

"Sure!" The latter bunny nodded. "Should probably get a head start."

While the rest of the Hopps family scattered to perform their pre-dinner duties, Nick led Nox upstairs as well. "Watch your head, big guy." He grinned up to the liger, who kept his head ducked and his shoulders hunched to follow the fox. "And watch your step."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Nox sighed, shuffling along to make sure any bunny kits--or any of their older siblings who were milling about, staring at the massive mammal squeezing his way down the halls--didn't end up underfoot. "I'm used to it."

"You're used to lumbering around in bunny burrows?"

"Not exactly. But when you're between the size of a rhino and an elephant, you learn to be careful where you throw your weight." He glanced to the fox. "You seem awful used to this place, though." Indeed, the fox sauntered down the hall and through the rooms as though he was just another bunny in the crowd.

"What can I say? Judy's family knows how to treat friends."

A smirk as the liger's tail began to flick behind him. "Or perhaps more?"

Nick just grinned and shrugged. "Who knows? Carrots is an awesome partner. The pred and prey thing might make things a little hard, but..."

"I don't think that matters at all." Nox's expression shifted; the slightest furrowing of his brow, his jaw tensing a little bit, the corners of his mouth pulling downward.

The fox didn't answer right away. But once he was finished washing, he looked up to the larger pred with another wide grin while swiping his paws dry on Nox's shirt. "What, because of your preferences?"

The liger just snorted and batted Nick's paws away, then moved to wash his own. "No, I'm just saying." His eyes peered at the fox from the mirror, and glinted. "Though if that's the issue between you two, it seemed to me Manny or Terry'd be interested in making you part of the family instead."

Nick huffed. He rolled his eyes. He reached up to pat the small of Nox's back--wiping off a last few droplets of water caught between the pads--and let out a laugh. "Come on, let's head on down."

When they rejoined everyone downstairs, following the procession of Judy's nieces, nephews, and siblings into the large dining room, they found the bunny and her parents chatting with Gideon. "...kinda glad to have Judy n' her partners on the case," the portly fox was saying. "Got folks from outside Bunnyburrow takin' a fresh look at things, n' also have a local helpin' ta smooth things over."

"Our Judy here'll know what's best ta do. You don't worry none, y'hear?" Stu patted the fox on the back, while Bonnie gave him a nod.

"And if ya ever need it, our door's always open to ya."

"I sure am grateful, Mr. Stu, Mrs. Bonnie." Gideon smiled, and for a moment it didn't look strained or forced at all. "I jus' think I need some time ta get everythin' straight in mah head, y'know? But I'm glad to help ya with the investigation, Judy, anythin' ya need. You n' Nick n'..." He glanced over along with the three bunnies, and drew himself up at the sight of the approaching pair. "Uh, Officer Nox! Hi...!"

"Mr. Grey." Nox nodded to the smaller pred, offering a paw to shake. "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise!" The fox's grip was firm, and his eyes shone as they peered up into the liger's own. "And, uh, just Gideon's fine. Or Gid, if that's yer fancy." He worked his jaw for a brief moment. "Mr. Grey's mah pa."

"Alright then, Gid." Nox took a moment to taste the nickname on his tongue, rolling it around in his mouth before gulping.

Their paws were still pumping up and down.

The liger cleared his throat, letting go of Gideon; and he felt a tiny flutter in his stomach when the fox's paw lingered on his own for a moment before drawing back. "So, you know the Hopps family well?"

"Oh, yeah!" He looked over to Bonnie and Stu. "Lots a' the berries they grow go right inta my pies. The bakery wouldn't be half as suc- uh, suc-cess-ful... without 'em! And, well..." He ducked his head, and his beaming smile grew close-lipped. "They've just been real helpful all 'round."

"It's been our pleasure, dear." Bonnie gave the fox another pat on the back; and shot Pop-Pop a look when the older bunny began to murmur under his breath from his seat. "So! Come on, sit down, n' let's eat!"

Dinner turned out to be a veritable feast; it usually had to be, to feed the many mouths gathered around the table. Roasted carrots, baked carrots, heaping bowls of carrot stew. Carrot bread, with a side of glazed carrots. And set in the center of the table, ready to be doled out for dessert, the massive pie that Gideon had brought; boysenberry.

No meat, of course. And Nox wasn't ungrateful at all; food was food, and good food was always worth appreciating with gratitude for the one who cooked it. The liger was more than eager to show that gratitude, asking for a second helping when he'd polished off his first. The bunnies around the table began to glance his way when he requested a third helping, and by the time he was halfway through his fourth they were staring at him in open fascination. The liger felt a stab of self-conscious embarrassment, and swallowed down his mouthful with a nod to Bonnie. "It's very good, Mrs. Hopps."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it, Nox." The bunny gulped down her stuttering, and gave the larger mammal a faint smile.

"Yer, uh, really packin' it away, aren't'cha?" Stu's own shaky grin peered at the liger over the bunny's glass; carrot juice, of course.

"Well, Noxie here is a big boy." Nick let out a quiet guffaw, and tipped Nox a sloppy wink. "Gotta get lots of fuel in you to keep those big honking muscles working, right?" A soft choking sound came from Nick's left as Gideon ducked his reddening ears against his head.

Nox just scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Well, yes. I usually eat a lot to, uh... keep my strength up." Being a carnivore, his diet usually involved a lot more protein--and though it wasn't strictly kosher by Zootopia standards, the rarer the better in his opinion--than what was on his plate; however, the liger chose to leave that little detail out for the moment.

"Wow..." A few of the bunny kits glanced to each other, and then their faces split into wide and beaming grins. "I'm gonna have seconds so I can get big like Mr. Nox!"

"Hah, I'm gonna get thirds!"

"Mama, can I, can I?"

"Now now, little'uns, don't let'cher eyes get bigger'n yer stomachs..." Maude did her best to calm the suddenly-voracious young bunnies as they began to pile their plates high once more, but her voice was lost under the excited chattering. "You wanna leave some room fer Mr. Gideon's pie, right?"

They paused, suddenly caught in a dilemma: to stuff themselves at that time with their mother's, aunts', and grandmother's savory cooking, or to stuff themselves later with the sweet treat Gideon had brought?

It turned out, to no one's surprise, that the latter was by far the smarter option. Flaky crust, with a bit of cinnamon mixed into the dough. Tart and juicy boysenberries in a thick, sweet syrup. With a bit of milk, Gideon's pie ended up as the perfect end to dinner; and when Nox, his ears growing hot and red while his tail flicked behind him, went to the fox for a second slice, everyone in the room shared a good-natured laugh.

"Amazing, Gid." The liger slowly rubbed his stomach as he felt his food settling. The fox lounging next to the larger pred followed the movement of that massive paw with his eyes for a moment, and then glanced away with a sheepish chuckle.

"Well hey, I'm glad'ja liked it! Put mah heart n' soul into bakin' it."

"Have you been baking for long?" It was a little while after dinner; Maude and Violet had herded the little ones upstairs with the help of the older kids to get them ready for bed, Judy was helping her mother with the dishes in the kitchen, and the Hopps men--along with Nick, who'd been shooed out of the kitchen with firm gratitude when he tried to help clean up--had settled in near the fire to share a drink with one another. Nox had found a nice corner to settle into, glancing at the rabbit-sized furniture with a distrustful eye, and Gideon had trundled over to join the liger.

"Oh, yeah!" Gideon's tail thumped against the wall as it wagged behind him. "Set up the bakery a couple years ago, but I've been into bakin' n' stuff since I was about high-school age. Got inta it after, uh... some stuff happened." The fox quickly moved past that soft mutter, not allowing it any time to linger in the air. "Pa weren't none too happy, but it helps ta calm me down, y'know?"

"Mr. Grey, huh...?" Nox looked Gideon over; during dinner, the tension in the smaller pred's face had all but vanished completely. He'd been open and generous with both his laughter and his smiles, which shook the belly under his overalls and crinkled his shining eyes in ways that made the liger's own lips quirk upward while he watched. But at the mention of his father, Gideon's shoulders grew rigid and his one ear began to flick, while his smile grew tight-drawn once more. "I guess you don't get along with him...?"

Gideon shrugged. He rubbed through his headfur. He let out a quiet cough, and then looked up to Nox. "How about you? You get along good with yer folks?"

It was the liger's turn to shrug. "Decent. Mom and Jack keep in touch, and I head on out to Savannah Springs now and then to drop by and visit them."

"All the way out in Savannah Springs, huh?" Gideon chuckled. "That's a bit of a hike out from l'il ol' Bunnyburrow, much less Zootopia. How, uh... how is it out there?"

Nox met Gideon's gaze. "Well, it's... different. Some things are better, some things are worse." One of his fangs dug into his bottom lip as a few memories slipped forth from where he'd shoved them long ago to tickle the back of his mind. He rumbled, coughed, and looked away. "But yeah, Zootopia's pretty alright. And even with... everything going on here, Bunnyburrow isn't that bad, either." He turned towards Nick, Stu, and the Hopps uncles; the four were sharing a tipsy laugh with each other, Manny's arm slung around the fox's shoulders as Nick patted Stu's own.

A smile, warm and much more at-ease, crept onto Gideon's face while he watched. "Yeah, it ain't all bad here, either." The fox's shoulder brushed against the liger's side, and once more the pair shared a glance with each other. "And, well... I'm really glad'ja made the trip. Out here. Y'know." Gideon's tongue stumbled over itself as he looked down to the paws he had folded in his lap.

Nox brushed his side against Gideon's shoulder, hesitating a moment as the touch lingered. He breathed in, and then out, and nodded. "...I am, too."

Eyes meeting. Breath quickening. Fluttering in the stomach and chest which fanned the sparks between them.

The pair jerked upright when Manny called out to them. "What're y'all doin' over there?" The bunny, giving them a sloppy grin, waved his paw to gesture them over. "Come n' have a drink, instead a' sittin' on the floor all by yer lonesomes."

Nox cleared his throat, shaking a twinge out of his left leg. "Uh... alright. Thank you, Manny." He looked down to Gideon, and the fox put a smile on his muzzle.

"Sure do appreciate the offer. Could use somethin' ta take the edge off."

As the pair approached to join the group, Stu reached up to the mantel and took the whiskey bottle down while Terry ducked into the kitchen for another pair of glasses. Manny patted Gideon's back and what he could reach of Nox's thigh. Nick scoffed and took a long sip of his drink. "I mean, it's good stuff, don't get me wrong. But it's kinda weak."

"Well hey, just means you get ta appreciate the taste more." Stu nodded to Terry, taking one of the glasses in the younger bunny's paws and then the other to pour out a generous amount of the amber whiskey into each. Gideon received his first, and then Nox accepted his own with a brief murmur of gratitude.

"Yeah, maybe. Still, nice to have something with a kick to it now and then." The slim fox tipped a wink to the liger and raised his glass. "Nox n' me were talking about it earlier, weren't we, Noxie? About how things're regulated to crap around these parts."

"'Around these parts'?"

Nox grunted in response to Terry. "Yes. The Zootopia way of things isn't really common in other parts of the world. The rules for alcohol and... a lot of other things... are much stricter around here." He lifted his glass to his lips; then the liger paused and gave the whiskey inches from his nose a few sniffs. His eyes moved to follow Stu's paw as the bunny set the bottle back up on the mantel once more. A black label. White lettering: 'Lagom's Own Bunnyburrow Whiskey'. A stylized 'LO' circled with a swirling border. "You might as well... be, uh... drinking water."

"Water? Now you might be a guest under mah roof, Nox, but them's fightin' words." Stu glowered up at Nox, the bunny's expression made wholly unthreatening by both his swaying and a brief twitch of his nose. "You won't find a better whiskey around, even in Zootopia. I guarantee it!"

The liger held up a conciliatory paw. "I just meant alcohol-percentage-wise, Mr. Stu. I didn't mean any offense." He glanced to Nick; the fox was staring back up at him, taking a slow sip of his drink. One of the smaller mammal's brows perked up, and Nox cleared his throat before sipping from his own glass. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, and then nodded. "Not much of a burn, but the flavor more than makes up for it."

Stu seemed to deem that acceptable; the bunny nodded as well, and his glower eased into a slight smile.

"Is it really popular around here?"

"Oh, of course!" It was Manny who answered Nox's question. "Made locally, so it's the drink a' choice fer every bunny what's got a speck a' hometown pride."

"I see." Nox's shoulders dropped just the smallest bit. "...Would you happen to know where I could score a few bottles myself? To take for the road, of course. Once the investigation's over."

"Only liquor store in town's on the corner a' Main n' Station Avenue." Manny gulped down the last few swallows in his glass, and then held it out to Stu for a refill. "Cain't miss it with a blindfold on."

"Main and Station. Got it." Nox filed that tidbit of information away, knocked his whiskey back, and then held out his glass as well. "May I have a refill as well, Mr. Stu?"

"Sure." The bottle hovered over the liger's glass, but just before tipping it out Stu glanced up to the larger male. His eyes glinted, and his smile grew just the tiniest bit lopsided. "...If'n you think you could grab an extra bottle fer me when you visit Mike's."

Nick snorted out a quiet giggle, while Manny and Terry scoffed and rolled their eyes. "Pa, are you really gonna try moochin' booze off a guest again?" The latter bunny kneaded the bridge of his nose with a paw, while the former's lips broke into a teasing grin that would put the vulpine officer standing just to his right to shame.

Stu's cheeks and ears reddened as he let out an embarrassed huff, pouring out a good amount of whiskey into Nox's glass. "N-no, I'm just sayin'. If'n he's feelin' in a generous mood."

Nox peered down at the older bunny from over the ridge of his snout, and then one corner of his mouth perked up around the rim of his glass while he reached down to pat Stu's back; gentle as a butterfly landing, but even so the rabbit still staggered a little bit from it. "Well, I'd be happy to repay your hospitality with some generosity of my own, sure."

Stu reached up to give Nox's flat stomach a pat in return. He chuckled, and offered the pred a beaming grin. "Y'know what, Nox? Yer alright." He blinked, and his paw pressed more firmly against the expanse of the liger's abdomen. "I'll be. What're you, made all up of muscle or somethin'? Manny, Terry, you gotta feel this!"

Indeed, as Stu's--and then Manny's, and then Terry's--paws touched--kneaded, in the older bunny's case--Nox's stomach, they pressed through the soft, thin layer of cushy fat to the iron-hard musculature underneath. It flexed under the touch of the other males as even a wide-grinning Nick and a blushing Gideon got in on feeling the liger up; Nox just grunted while the slim fox's paws wandered, but glanced down to meet the pudgy one's shy gaze with the smallest upward quirk of his lips.

"Man, Noxie. How many sit-ups does a mammal gotta do ta get ripped like you, huh?"

Nox hummed in response to Manny's awestruck question, and his tail flicked behind him. "Sit-ups are good, but the real trick is wrestling bears every day. Do that for a couple years, and you end up building strength real fast."

"Wrestling, huh...?" The wide scythe of Nick's grin widened, and a tiny bit of heat crept into Nox's cheeks and ears as he glanced away. "And what kind of bears are you wrestling, Noxie."

Another flick of the liger's tail. "Oh, all kinds. Started up with polar bears a long while back, and I've worked my way up over the years to short-faced bears."

Gideon's amazed expression dropped into one of confusion. "Short-faced bears?" He looked over to Stu, but the older rabbit just shrugged. "What kinda critter's that?"

It was Nick who spoke up. "Real big, hulking one. You know how big polar bears are, right?" He chuckled when all three Bunnyburrow-born-and-bred males nodded. "Well say you're the polar bear, Stu..." He gestured from the bunny towards his fellow fox with his glass. "Gid here would be the short-face."

The rabbit peered up at Gideon, gulped, and stammered. "I see."

"Thing is, though, I haven't ever heard of any short-faced bears in or around Zootopia." Nick took another slow sip of his whisky while his eyes moved up to meet Nox's. "In fact, last I'd heard, they were extinct."

That time, the liger's tail didn't flick. "Oh, there are some still around. Way out in the hinterlands, far from Zootopia." Nox shrugged, the line of his mouth becoming straight and flat. "You... just need to know where to look."

Stu nodded. Manny and Terry took sips of their whiskey. Gideon blinked, and then took a gulp of his own. Nick opened his mouth, continuing to look up at the liger, but swallowed down whatever he was about to say when the larger pred's eyes flicked away.

Towards the mantel. Up to the clock above it, and then down to the merrily-dancing fire. To Stu's paw, which was still pressed against his stomach.

A rumble, and then Nox cleared his throat. "Uh, Stu? I'm flattered you like my stomach so much, but do you mind...?"

"Huh?" Stu blinked. He looked down at his own paw. He let out a grunt, his ears reddening in embarrassment, and then he offered the liger a sheepish grin while pulling away. "Sorry, Nox. Got caught up in the moment." The bunny let out a quiet laugh that helped to ease the liger's own expression. "So! What else d'ya do to get those kinds a' muscles? Other'n eatin' like a vacuum n' wrasslin' bears, I mean?"

---

The conversation drifted from there, the six males slipping into the easy and open companionship that always comes--even between different species, even between pred and prey--with good drink. Judy and Bonnie wandered in to join them once all the washing up had been completed, and Maude and Violet came back down for a little nightcap of their own once the children had been settled and tucked in. The hour grew late, and eventually Gideon said his farewells to his hosts and made to leave.

"Would you like me to walk you back?"

The pudgy fox blinked, holding the pie dish against his chest while looking up at Nox. Once more, Gideon's ears flicked and reddened as he gave the larger pred a shy smile. "That's a mighty kind offer, Nox. But, uh, I'll be alright."

"Mm." Nox shifted from hindpaw to hindpaw, and then padded along beside the smaller pred when Gideon walked out the front door and onto the porch. "I wouldn't mind. And it would set my mind at ease. You know, considering..."

"Yeah..." Silence fell for a moment before Gideon coughed to break it. "I, uh, I couldn't put'cha out like that, though. It's pretty late, n' Travis' family's house ain't exactly a hop, skip, n' a jump away."

Those words only made the liger's tail lash behind him as he looked down to the fox; and that they only made him more eager to see Gideon safely home went unsaid. Finally, Nox grunted and pulled his phone out. "How about I give you my number, instead?"

Gideon blinked. He blushed. He peeked up at the larger pred, working his jaw. "Uh, sure. I could send'ja a text when I'm safe n' sound. To, uh... to set'cher mind at ease."

"Yes." Nox felt heat blooming across his snout and in his own flicking ears. "And, well... if you need anything, then..." He cleared his throat and looked out towards the fields, watching the swaying of the haygrass in the light wind. "You're welcome to give me a buzz. Or a ring. If you'd like."

"I would like that, yeah." Gideon finally smiled--truly smiled--and once more a spark flared and was stoked by the fluttering in Nox's chest and gut. The pair quickly exchanged numbers, Nox sending a quick 'hi' to confirm and Gideon responding with a 'hi urself'. It was agreed that Gideon would send a brief text in about half an hour; more than enough time for the fox to get to his friend's house and settle in. And then, while Nox waved from the porch and called out a quiet, rumbling "Goodnight!", Gideon made his way down the porch steps, crunched over the gravel drive, and started his lonely trek out into the darkness.

The liger watched, his eyes staying locked onto the fox's retreating form until it crested over a rise and then was gone. He stayed there on the Hopps' front porch, standing still as a statue, for a few minutes more. Then, when he heard Bonnie's voice calling him, Nox turned to make his way back inside; he shut the door with a firm click behind him to keep the light and warmth of the warren in, and the chill of the night out.