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jeriendhal“I know we’re out in the sticks but come on,” Nick muttered to himself as he stared at his phone in dismay.
“What’s up, Nick?” Tommy asked, coming from inside to look over Nick curiously on the front porch.
“Need to get a Zuber ride to pick some protein from the store, but there’s no service in this area,” he replied.
“Around here Zuber is called ‘Y’all got room in the back for me?’” Tommy said with a chuckle. “I’m headin’ into town anyway to pick up some shop towels from Burrow Depot. You can come along if you want and we can swing by the Feed Lion.”
“Thanks!” Nick followed Tommy out to the truck, settling in the passenger seat. As the battered blue pickup pulled out onto the blacktop. “I really appreciate this.”
“If you really need something, all ya have to do is tell Mom to add it to the shopping list,” Tommy said.
Nick made a dismissive wave of his paw. “I wouldn’t want to presume. I’m causing enough trouble just being a houseguest for six months. I can’t ask your parents to be buying fish patties and bug burgers on top of that.”
“Ain’t no trouble,” Tommy countered. “Besides, you’re keeping an eye on Judy for us.”
He frowned. “Judy can take care of herself.”
“Y’know what I mean,” Tommy said amiably. When Nick didn’t reply, he added, “You get along real well with the kits too.”
“I like Bonnie and Stu’s kits,” Nick said in agreement. “They don’t seem to… I don’t know, judge me, like some kids did when I was their age.”
“Wellllll,” Tommy drawled, “with Gideon Grey around as an example, I can’t see them looking at a fox and seeing somebody scary. Not that his folks weren’t nasty in their own way, but that wasn’t anything to do with them being preds, more like just being a couple of jackasses. Sad that them dying when he was a teenager was the best thing that could’a happened to the poor kid.”
“I guess so. Gideon turned out to be a nice guy.”
“Ayup.” After a moment he said, “You’re a pretty nice fella yourself.”
Nick shrugged. “Don’t know about that, but I’m getting better.”
“Judy likes you.”
“Judy likes everybody. She’s a serial liker.”
“That’s a point,” Tommy agreed. “She hugs a lot too.”
“That’s true,” Nick agreed, remembering how soft and warm she felt when they’d hugged by the graves two days ago. He’d walked her back to the house and fixed pancakes for her, while she’d finished composing herself before the rest of the house woke up. Tommy had been the first one to come downstairs as a matter of fact. His eyes flicked suspiciously to the older bunny, but Tommy’s eyes were firmly on the road. “Er…?” he tried experimentally.
“Saw y’all in the back of the yard, near the graves,” Tommy answered, still keeping his eyes on the road. “I’d heard her moving around, and thought she was sneaking out to exercise or something. Once I saw she went to the shed and then got the flowers, I had a pretty good idea what she was doing. Did wonder why you were following her though.”
“I was worried about her exercising too,” Nick admitted. “So I made sure she wasn’t going to pop her stitches pushing herself.”
“Thought that might be it. Then I saw you talking to her, and then, ah, hugging awfully close, and I wasn’t sure what was goin’ on.”
Nick blinked. “Tommy, are you asking what my intentions are towards your sister?”
The bunny shrugged. “I s’pose I am.”
He closed his eyes and rubbed his muzzle briefly. “Look, Judy is my partner, okay? We’re in each other’s pockets twelve hours a day, six days a week. In each other’s heads too. We have to be, so we don’t second guess each other while we’re out on patrol. Fortunately we’re friends too. Good friends, but just friends, okay? It isn’t… can’t be... anything more than that.”
“Why d’ya suppose that is?” Tommy asked, sounding genuinely curious. “Seein’ as you’re such good friends and all.”
“She’s prey, I’m a predator, isn’t that explanation enough?”
“It’s Judy we’re talkin’ about, so no.”
Nick nodded, and tried again. “Look, I… didn’t have many friends when I was growing up. Sneaky fox and all that. I mean, I had a few, but the ones I could count on to watch my back I could probably keep track of with the fingers of one paw after a shop class accident.” He took a deep breath to calm down, before he started babbling. “A friend like Judy, I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had. Not even compared to Finnick, and I’ve known him the longest of any of them.”
“So what’s the problem?” Tommy asked.
“The problem is, that I don’t dare screw that up. I could name you a dozen reasons why anything closer wouldn’t work. If I messed up what we have right now by demanding it be something more, I… I honestly don’t know what I’d do.” Well, he did have an idea what he’d do, but he’d grown out of thoughts like that once he’d escaped high school, mostly.
“I don’t think you’re givin’ Judy enough credit.”
Nick snorted. “Judy’s reserve at the Bank of Wilde is pretty much anything short of asking me to cut off my tail, and maybe even that if I could figure out how to reattach it.”
“That so?” Tommy tapped his claws on the steering wheel. “But ‘just friends.’”
“That’s so, and yeah, ‘just friends.’ Like I said, I’ve never had a friend like Judy.”
“Seems like.” The older bunny spared him a look, then turned off the road into the Burrow Depot parking lot. “We’re here. I’m gonna get those shop towels. Feed Lion is across the street. I’ll meet you back here in fifteen minutes.”
Nick nodded and stepped out of the truck. “Thanks, Tommy, for… everything,” he said awkwardly, his usual glibness escaping him.
“No problem.” Tommy seemed to consider something, then said, “If you’re such good friends, y’ might want to think about what keeping things like you said to yourself might mean, if you’re so worried about her good opinion of you.”
With that the bunny turned away towards the hardware store, leaving Nick to think hard about old fables, and how the ones about foxes were mostly about them outsmarting themselves.
“What’s up, Nick?” Tommy asked, coming from inside to look over Nick curiously on the front porch.
“Need to get a Zuber ride to pick some protein from the store, but there’s no service in this area,” he replied.
“Around here Zuber is called ‘Y’all got room in the back for me?’” Tommy said with a chuckle. “I’m headin’ into town anyway to pick up some shop towels from Burrow Depot. You can come along if you want and we can swing by the Feed Lion.”
“Thanks!” Nick followed Tommy out to the truck, settling in the passenger seat. As the battered blue pickup pulled out onto the blacktop. “I really appreciate this.”
“If you really need something, all ya have to do is tell Mom to add it to the shopping list,” Tommy said.
Nick made a dismissive wave of his paw. “I wouldn’t want to presume. I’m causing enough trouble just being a houseguest for six months. I can’t ask your parents to be buying fish patties and bug burgers on top of that.”
“Ain’t no trouble,” Tommy countered. “Besides, you’re keeping an eye on Judy for us.”
He frowned. “Judy can take care of herself.”
“Y’know what I mean,” Tommy said amiably. When Nick didn’t reply, he added, “You get along real well with the kits too.”
“I like Bonnie and Stu’s kits,” Nick said in agreement. “They don’t seem to… I don’t know, judge me, like some kids did when I was their age.”
“Wellllll,” Tommy drawled, “with Gideon Grey around as an example, I can’t see them looking at a fox and seeing somebody scary. Not that his folks weren’t nasty in their own way, but that wasn’t anything to do with them being preds, more like just being a couple of jackasses. Sad that them dying when he was a teenager was the best thing that could’a happened to the poor kid.”
“I guess so. Gideon turned out to be a nice guy.”
“Ayup.” After a moment he said, “You’re a pretty nice fella yourself.”
Nick shrugged. “Don’t know about that, but I’m getting better.”
“Judy likes you.”
“Judy likes everybody. She’s a serial liker.”
“That’s a point,” Tommy agreed. “She hugs a lot too.”
“That’s true,” Nick agreed, remembering how soft and warm she felt when they’d hugged by the graves two days ago. He’d walked her back to the house and fixed pancakes for her, while she’d finished composing herself before the rest of the house woke up. Tommy had been the first one to come downstairs as a matter of fact. His eyes flicked suspiciously to the older bunny, but Tommy’s eyes were firmly on the road. “Er…?” he tried experimentally.
“Saw y’all in the back of the yard, near the graves,” Tommy answered, still keeping his eyes on the road. “I’d heard her moving around, and thought she was sneaking out to exercise or something. Once I saw she went to the shed and then got the flowers, I had a pretty good idea what she was doing. Did wonder why you were following her though.”
“I was worried about her exercising too,” Nick admitted. “So I made sure she wasn’t going to pop her stitches pushing herself.”
“Thought that might be it. Then I saw you talking to her, and then, ah, hugging awfully close, and I wasn’t sure what was goin’ on.”
Nick blinked. “Tommy, are you asking what my intentions are towards your sister?”
The bunny shrugged. “I s’pose I am.”
He closed his eyes and rubbed his muzzle briefly. “Look, Judy is my partner, okay? We’re in each other’s pockets twelve hours a day, six days a week. In each other’s heads too. We have to be, so we don’t second guess each other while we’re out on patrol. Fortunately we’re friends too. Good friends, but just friends, okay? It isn’t… can’t be... anything more than that.”
“Why d’ya suppose that is?” Tommy asked, sounding genuinely curious. “Seein’ as you’re such good friends and all.”
“She’s prey, I’m a predator, isn’t that explanation enough?”
“It’s Judy we’re talkin’ about, so no.”
Nick nodded, and tried again. “Look, I… didn’t have many friends when I was growing up. Sneaky fox and all that. I mean, I had a few, but the ones I could count on to watch my back I could probably keep track of with the fingers of one paw after a shop class accident.” He took a deep breath to calm down, before he started babbling. “A friend like Judy, I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had. Not even compared to Finnick, and I’ve known him the longest of any of them.”
“So what’s the problem?” Tommy asked.
“The problem is, that I don’t dare screw that up. I could name you a dozen reasons why anything closer wouldn’t work. If I messed up what we have right now by demanding it be something more, I… I honestly don’t know what I’d do.” Well, he did have an idea what he’d do, but he’d grown out of thoughts like that once he’d escaped high school, mostly.
“I don’t think you’re givin’ Judy enough credit.”
Nick snorted. “Judy’s reserve at the Bank of Wilde is pretty much anything short of asking me to cut off my tail, and maybe even that if I could figure out how to reattach it.”
“That so?” Tommy tapped his claws on the steering wheel. “But ‘just friends.’”
“That’s so, and yeah, ‘just friends.’ Like I said, I’ve never had a friend like Judy.”
“Seems like.” The older bunny spared him a look, then turned off the road into the Burrow Depot parking lot. “We’re here. I’m gonna get those shop towels. Feed Lion is across the street. I’ll meet you back here in fifteen minutes.”
Nick nodded and stepped out of the truck. “Thanks, Tommy, for… everything,” he said awkwardly, his usual glibness escaping him.
“No problem.” Tommy seemed to consider something, then said, “If you’re such good friends, y’ might want to think about what keeping things like you said to yourself might mean, if you’re so worried about her good opinion of you.”
With that the bunny turned away towards the hardware store, leaving Nick to think hard about old fables, and how the ones about foxes were mostly about them outsmarting themselves.
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