First Kiss

"Nick! Please! Don't! Stop!" Officer Judy Hopps, highly decorated member of the Zootopia Police Department, managed to shout as the strong jaws around her slender neck clamped even tighter. She could feel the keen ridges on those hard teeth on the vulnerable patch of skin just above her exposed collarbone where her grey fur was thinnest. A jolt of what might have been pain shot up from where she could feel the sharp tip of a canine tooth pressing down on her jugular, threatening to release her life's blood pulsing just underneath.

"Carrots, you ok?" Nicholas P. Wilde, fellow Zootopia Police Department member and her partner, asked as he froze in mid-bite. The four-foot tall red fox stood erect, carrying the full weight of his prey in front of him with his paws while his mouth was carefully positioned around her neck.

"Yeah," Judy whispered as she squinted down at Nick's snout, wondering why he had stopped. The fox had a confused look in the single green eye she could see. His head was angled sideways, his long canine jaws pushed around her neck as far as she could pull his head around it. "I said don't stop." Her paws ruffled the fur behind her partner's ears, which she then tugged on playfully. "Keep going."

Nick mumbled a muffled "okay" as he resumed playfully chewing on the rabbit's neck, trying to find that sweet spot between too much and too little force that shifted Judy's voice into soft and sensual moaning. He could feel her tensed neck muscles vibrate with every breath she took in. She seemed to take favorably to when he playfully raked the ridges of his rear teeth on her skin beneath the fur.

"Ohhh," a loud and throaty moan escaped the rabbit's mouth. Judy felt her shoulders tremble as Nick drew his tongue up the length of her neck, lowering her down and bringing his snout level with her nose. His light emerald eyes shone brightly in the dim moonlight, almost glowing as his predatory nature revealed itself through subtle biology. She noticed his iridescent pupils staring intently at her face, carefully taking in every single twitch, ready to release his grip if she showed any sign of becoming uncomfortable. It took Judy all her will to momentarily take control of her shuddering body and flash him a smile.

"You are one delicious rabbit, Miss Hopps." Nick whispered, his hot breath flowing over her twitching nose, past her whiskers and making her eyelashes flutter in anticipation. Warm, moist and fruity. His breath smelled like the blueberries he loved to munch on.

She couldn't take it any longer. Judy barely noticed her foot thumping on the ground uncontrollably as she lunged for her partner's snout and pressed her lips against his mouth. It felt much larger than she had initially expected, and she couldn't find the right position that would let her touch as much of his lips as possible.

Nick almost recoiled in surprise as his partner lunged for him. The diminutive rabbit barely reached up to the top of his shoulders and yet easily made it up the remaining foot-and-a-half to his snout in a single leap. He felt her powerful hind legs wrap around his narrow abdomen while her arms went for his furry neck.

The kiss caught him by surprise, much like the first peck she had given him a few minutes ago. This time, Nick offered little resistance, simply going along with Judy's inexperienced kisses, pressing her lips all along the slit of his mouth, trying to suck his mouth in at every opportunity. He tried to meet her wherever her lips landed but she was just too fast and vigorous, much like the way she conducted herself through life. Classic Judy.

Judy attacked Nick's snout relentlessly, striking with her lips over and over again like a highly energized cobra. After a while, she tired and simply rested her head in the crook of his neck. They hung there, near-motionless, listening to the sound of each other's heavy breathing. Judy's long ears were draped over her partner's back, and her extremely sensitive hearing could sense Nick's heart beating much faster than she was used to. She wasn't faring any different. The hyperactive bunny could feel her own trying to jump out of her chest.

The couple had been at it for just a few minutes, but Nick already found it difficult to remember the events that had led them here, into each other's arms, on top of a hill overlooking the sprawling megacity of Zootopia. It truly was the city that never slept, he realized as a cluster of spotlights caught his eye, just a block away from the stadium. Like multicolored pillars of light holding up the heavens, they moved around, illuminating any cloud that they happened to graze.

"You think Clawhauser's enjoying himself down there?" Judy asked, following Nick's line of sight down towards the lights emanating from Gazelle's after-concert party. They had come from the concert earlier, yet another one by the local pop superstar. Their work friends had invited them to the after-party but Nick hadn't wanted to and Judy decided to keep her partner company instead.

"Yeah, definitely." Nick wrapped his arm around Judy, intending to pull her in close before realizing she was already buried deep into his neck fur. He dropped his hand down to her side, gently stroking her curvy flank with his padded paw instead.

It actually started with a challenge. Nick had been acting rather stiff during the concert, which annoyed Judy who had been enjoying the show so far. It wasn't unheard of for the suave fox to be the straight man to Judy's naive wackiness. Most times she was used to it. But this night, Nick just got to her.

It was during Gazelle's performance of her signature song, 'Try Everything.' Nick had made an off-handed comment that Judy had overheard, something about how 'trying is what gets you burnt.' As cynical as Nick normally was, his optimistic rabbit partner felt that one go over the line. So it was that after the concert she challenged the pessimistic fox.

"I dare you to kiss me," was her brazen, half-adrenalin, half-euphoria and partially-alcohol-fueled dare. At first, Nick gave her a look bordering on incredulity. But as soon as he realized she was serious, he agreed, urged on by pride. And alcohol. In retrospect, they really should have stayed away from the VIP open bar section of the concert grounds.

"Fine," he replied angrily. But his partner held her hand up in a gesture for him to stop as he advanced on her in the stadium parking lot, surrounded by other patrons, many of whom recognized two of the most famous police officers in the city.

"Not here! Somewhere private!" Judy exclaimed, suddenly looking nervously at the groups of strangers around them with wide eyes. At the time, Nick should have noticed there was something brewing behind those large, lavender orbs. But Nicolas P. Wilde was not one to back down from a challenge, especially not a challenge from his partner and best friend. So he decided to take her up to Lookout Point, one of the highest points in Zootopia.

It took them a while to walk to the base of the hill where Lookout Point was located. It took them even longer to scamper up the sloped ground. Neither of them had brought a car to the concert, having ridden with the rest of the ZPD gang in McHorn's van. So they were sweaty and exhausted when they reached the peak of the hill, a few hundred meters above the city.

"Do I really have to do this?" Nick asked nervously, uncharacteristic of the typically cocky fox. As an experienced ex-con man, he was usually brazen and over-confident. Judy giggled as Nick showed her a side of himself few people barely ever saw. "How about we call it quits and well, you win." The fox shifted his weight from foot to foot as he loosened his striped tie, his bushy tail unconsciously wagging rapidly behind him.

"Come on, Nick. Try everything, right?" Judy strode over to her partner slowly, one foot in front of the other, her loose blouse billowing in the evening wind. It was cold, and she could feel the buzz in her blood. Thank you, open bar.

"Try me." She said as she reached him, placing one grey paw on his chest. It was now or never, she thought. Judy puckered her lips and closed her eyes, her head angled upwards for Nick's easy access.

She had been planning on getting him to kiss her all week long, ever since Clawhauser had gotten them tickets for the concert. Her attraction to the fox had been brewing ever since 'the Night Howler incident,' when they had first met each other and saved the city from a takeover by the former assistant mayor. That attraction had slowly grown in the months past that, but Judy clearly remembered the first time she had considered the possibility. It was there on the cable car, during the event, when Nick had first opened up to her after being attacked by the feral jaguar driver. The way he looked so vulnerable, pouring his heart out to her, she wanted to reach out and embrace him, to tell him the world wasn't as dark as he thought. All she could do at the time was put her paw on his arm. One first step that would culminate in this weekend's Gazelle concert.

And there it was.

The kiss was nothing like she had ever imagined. A bit disappointing actually, until she realized all Nick had done was dip his snout low enough for her pouted lips to touch the tip of his cold nose. "There!" He quickly withdrew his head and spun around on his heels back towards the bottom of the hill.

"Nicholas Piberius Wilde!" Judy shouted at her partner, hands on her hips and an angry, disappointed look on her face. "You come back here and give me a real kiss you coward!" She hopped a few times in anger, the full length of her rabbit feet making an audible thud with each stomped landing. "Don't you dare leave me with a half-assed first kiss!"

Nick stopped in his tracks with that last line. Judy couldn't figure out if she had gone too far with her taunting. In the moonlight, his silhouette started shaking, which tipped off Judy that something was off. No, he was laughing.

"F-first kiss?" Nick tried to hold in his laughter, failing miserably. "This is your first kiss?" He looked back incredulously at his partner. Judy was in her mid-twenties. He figured she'd been in a few relationships before, but never realized she was this green.

"Y-yeah!" Judy glared at him, overcompensating for the embarrassment she was feeling at the moment. It was a cold night, and yet she felt like she was burning around her eyes and neck. "What's so funny?"

"You're a rabbit! Don't you guys, you know?" Nick asked as he walked back to her. Never been kissed? That was quite unexpected to hear, especially considering that she was a rabbit. Nick thought about it. Rabbits were known for well, multiplying. Judy herself came from an extremely large family, as far as he knew. "Don't you have a bajillion brothers and sisters?"

"What?" Judy pouted upwards as Nick reached her. "If you haven't noticed, I'm a career-oriented woman! I never had time for that...stuff." She remembered all the boy rabbits who had crushes on her back in school. She never paid heed to any of them or their advances. There was only one goal, and that was becoming the best police officer in all of Zootopia.

"Here, let's try again." Nick patted his diminutive partner on the shoulder. It was a second after that he realized Judy's blouse had pulled to one side and he had placed his paw on the side that had her shoulder bared. The sensation of her soft fur under his padded palm wasn't going to make this easy. "Come on, let's give you a proper first kiss." Nick said as he tried to hide the fact that his throat had just completely dried up.

Judy nodded, and made the same awkward face she had made the first time. She looked so cute in the pale evening light, so adorable as her eyelids crushed her lashes between them. Nick tried to focus on her twitching nose as he closed in with his snout. He hadn't done this in a while, and he wanted to get it right. Which was difficult to do while he tried hard not to pay attention to the fact that he had been trying to hide his growing feelings for her for months now. Nick held his feelings in check and went in for the kiss.

Judy's entire body tensed up as she first felt the warm, soft wetness envelop her lips, pressing firmly against them and yet drawing them in at the same time. She felt a shudder through her body as she yielded her tightened pout, letting Nick's flesh dictate the form of her mouth instead.

Almost on instinct, she let her lips flow over his, retreating back towards her mouth with a sucking motion, drawing Nick further into her. He reciprocated, sucking back with such controlled softness that it felt like a sensual tug of war between the two partners.

"Carrots," Nick whispered out the side of his mouth as he felt his eyes roll upwards and backwards, trying to catch sight of the back of his eye sockets.

"Mmnnh?" Judy managed to mumble while keeping her mouth glued to his snout.

"Your breath smells like carrots," he said softly as he pushed her back down and away. As he opened his eyes, and took in the sweetest face he had ever lain eyes on, a look of confusion came across his face. The reality of the situation was just settling in. Life had just become much more complicated for Nicholas P. Wilde. What else was new?

"I-is that a bad thing?" Judy's voice was an adorable whimper. The look in her eyes was a mix of guilt and excitement as reality was also catching up to her senses. Her nose twitched rapidly as she let her hands fall to her sides.

"No," Nick turned to sit on the soft grass beneath their feet. "It's perfect." His words floated in the wind above them. Judy followed suit, sitting down beside her partner. They faced the sparkling lights of Zootopia below them. The stadium lights were still on, along with the spotlights coming from where the after-party was being held. The business district and the downtown area were blazingly bright as ever, even for early in the morning. In the distance, they could see an eerie glow emanating from Tundratown as the collective moonlight reflected off the snow and ice. Even farther, tiny pinpricks of shimmering yellow belied the torch-like street lamps of the Rainforest District. It all seemed so surreal, their entire world beneath their feet, as they were just above it all. For just one night.

Surprisingly, it was Nick who shifted himself closer to his companion, moving nearer until he could put his arm around her tiny body. She seemed so small compared to the lanky fox, and yet felt so large nestled within the arc of his outstretched arm.

Judy reciprocated, wrapping both arms around his midsection while keeping her gaze trained on the city lights. He felt so warm and comfy against her body, and there was something about him tonight that seemed different. A scent that tickled primal spots in the back of her brain, buttons that had been forgotten for the past twenty-some years were being pushed. She felt a stirring in her belly as she looked up at her companion.

"Nick," she said in a voice so soft, the wind could have stolen her words away without a passing thought. It came out in a purr, not exactly how she imagined but exactly how she felt. "Kiss me."

"Judy," said Nick hesitantly. He felt a hint of nervousness as he looked down into her eyes while he cradled the rest of her body. His ears could pick up a trembling rasp in her voice, as if her words were coming from deep within her body. In their short time together as partners, he had never heard her sound like this. Raw. Sensual.

"Shut up and kiss me, Nicholas Wilde." Judy forcefully pulled Nick down by his tie, aiming for his lips with her mouth. There was barely enough time for him to respond as Judy planted yet another green kiss on the side of his mouth. Nick closed his eyes and smiled. She was as innocent as he had imagined. He slipped his paw behind her neck and up just under her ears. It was time to up the ante.

Judy's large eyes popped open in surprise as she felt something wet press against her teeth. She felt her ears stand on end as the taste of blueberries rushed past her lips and into her mouth. The knot in her belly grew even tighter, and she let out a moan to compensate. She felt it softly scrape the top of her mouth as she licked its hot underside with her own tongue.

"Oh god," Judy pressed a paw against her partner's back while squeezing with her knees. It felt so wrong, and yet so good. "We should not be doing this," Judy mumbled through the side of her mouth.

"Hey, this was your idea, carrots. If you want to stop, just say so." Nick pulled away and held her at arm's length. Despite every single fiber in his body telling him not to, he would have let her go if she asked.

"No, I was just - keep going," the diminutive rabbit reached out and grabbed her partner's neck by tie again. With a flick of her wrist, she wrapped the silk strap around her paws and pulled with all her might.

"Hey! Umph!" Nick was caught off guard by Judy's strength. His snout hurtled forward straight into her lips. It felt weird at first, with Judy wrapping as much of her small mouth around the tip of Nick's snout. He wriggled his head upwards, freeing his nose and helping her find his mouth.

"Mmmmmmnnnnn." She sucked on what little of her companion's mouth would fit into her own, and then she thrust her tongue out to stroke his. Her turn. Judy reached inside, thirsting for that transient taste of blueberries mixed with just a little bit of the beer they had been drinking earlier.

Nick felt her tiny little stub of flesh tickling the tip of his tongue. He resisted the primal urge to just let go and slobber all over her face with his tongue the way all canines do. Instead, it took all of his will and concentration to skillfully maneuver his large tongue to meet her own, inside the cavity of his protruding mouth.

Gently, he slipped as much of his large, canine tongue into Judy's mouth. More quickly this time, although there was a bit of apprehension from their earlier lingual exchange. He realized this might have been the first time she had ever felt tongue.

Judy felt her ears lose all structure as Nick's flesh filled her oral cavity. It took all of her concentration and focus to cling to his body. Her arms wanted to follow her ears and just let go. She mustered enough strength to hold on, though she felt them get lower as he gave in to her weight.

His tongue felt so rough, so textured, as it assaulted the soft, wet skin on the inside of her cheeks. It was unlike anything she had ever felt or tasted before. Millions of tiny bristles caressed her tender flesh, sending her nerve endings haywire. And then there it was.

It was that very same feeling of her nose, twitching uncontrollably. Except this time, the twitching was much stronger. And it wasn't simply her nose, not this time. She could feel every single strand of fur stand on end all over her entire body.

And then there was pain.

"Ow!" Judy's eyes flicked open as she tasted blood in her mouth. Not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. Maybe he just hadn't had practice in a long time, she secretly hoped. The engaged rabbit was willing to continue, but her partner seemed to have frozen after the accidental bite. At least she hoped it was accidental.

Nick's eyes were wide open and his pupils tiny. It was a look of surprise. At first, Judy thought it was because of the bite but she quickly realized he was looking not at her, but past her. At something behind her.

She spun around expecting danger and saw four long, large claws held high in the air facing the couple. The hand was swaying in the air slowly, almost undulating with a frequency that was far too slow for her rapidly beating heart. They were attached to the hand of something – no – someone standing a few feet behind her. Someone familiar.

It was a sloth. Judy sighed in relief and prepared to drag Nick away, hoping the sloth's slow perception was too slow to remember any details. That was before she had a closer look at the lumbering animal that was slowly raising its hand at them while breaking into a smile. It was their friend from the DMV, Flash. And he had just seen them making out.

"Hi."

"Hey Flash!" Nick exclaimed, putting on all his innate charm into his voice. Judy could tell that the sly fox was putting on his professional suave act.

"Nick."

Oh. At least he only recognized Nick. Judy hoped he had only seen the fox and not-

"And Judy."

-herself. She felt herself shrinking in embarrassment as she took a few steps back and tried to hide herself behind Nick.

"Flash, buddy!" Nick waved cautiously while looking around. There seemed to be nobody else around. He squinted, trying to see in the shadows with his low-light vision. Nothing. He couldn't smell anyone else either. But that wasn't saying much since the only thing he could really smell was the freshness of Judy's mouth, all over his muzzle.

Instinctively, he held his partner close behind him, trying to hide her with his tail. She peeked out anyway and gave their slow friend a wave and a smile. "What brings you here?" Nick asked the sloth.

Flash took a good ten seconds to raise one clawed hand and gesture towards the view of the city.

"This is."

Judy knew the drill. She rested her chin on the red tail in front of her face, waiting for the sloth to continue-

"Where I go."

-talking. She felt one eye twitch. As she had learned during her first days on the force, it was incredibly frustrating to interact with the slower citizens especially for a fast-paced bunny such as-

"To think."

-herself. She poked Nick in the small of his back, her impatience bubbling behind her eyes.

Nick seemed to get it, giving her shoulder a good squeeze with his paw. "Well, that's great buddy! We really have to get going-"

"About life."

Nick stopped abruptly, almost forgetting his train of thought. Judy found that quite odd, having seen him interact with the sloths in the short time they had been together. He never got cut off in mid-sentence. It was weird. Then again, tonight was all sorts of weird.

Nick for the life of him wasn't thinking about any of that at all. He was trying to figure out what in the world a sloth would need to think about, considering they seemed to have all the time in the world to think about pretty much everything and anything. It was a reminder of just how different they all were despite living in the same place. He opened his mouth to say something but Flash managed to cut him off again.

"And how it's been."

Judy felt a growl of frustration simmer inside Nick's throat. Or rather, she heard it. Her left ear was pressed flat against his back, above where he was holding her head behind his tail.

Nick stomped once on the ground and tried to put on a straight face. "What could-"

"Good."

Judy couldn't take it anymore. She groaned in exasperation and bit down on the red tail tickling her nose. "What my, ahem, partner means to say is that-"

"So far."

Urgh! She pulled away and threw her hands in the air in surrender, then brought them down behind her ears, wiping them over and on her face.

Nick looked down at his partner. Judy was exceptionally hyper, even compared to non-sloths. Sometimes, she was too fast even for the likes of him. This must be torture for her. They had to make a break for it. It was a rather steep climb back down the hill. They could definitely make it before Flash even realized they had left. But then that left the problem of there being a witness to...whatever had just happened.

And that just wouldn't fly, even in incredibly diverse Zootopia. Interspecies dealings were commonly professional. This? This was more taboo than eating meat from a fellow animal.

Besides, Nick realized. Just how much had the sloth seen? It couldn't have been much. "How long have you been here?" He asked Flash.

"Five."

Phew, Nick breathed a sigh of relief. Five minutes wouldn't have been enough time to see everything. It was barely enough time-

"Hours."

Nick's face fell. He knows. Someone knows. If word of this got out, he'd be kicked off the force. Judy might get away with a reprimand, but maybe not. She definitely was one of the more recognizable public faces of the Zootopia Police Department. If there was even the slightest gossip that officer Judy Hopps wasn't as straight and clean as her reputation, that would reflect badly not only on her, but the entire department as well. And it would have been all his fault. He felt his shoulders slump as he pondered his options, right until he felt her wiggle out from his paw and out towards their ponderous mutual acquaintance.

Hands clasped guiltily in front of her belly, Judy stepped in front of her flabbergasted partner. She addressed the sloth. "Mister Flash, I know you saw me and my partner um, doing things. Things that may have looked a bit weird and frankly unconventional. But I know you know that we're decent animals and well, we'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this. Please. It could jeopardize our lives, everything. Please?"

"Oh." A look of understanding slowly formed on the sloth's face, which then morphed into a harmless smile. "Kay." He nodded. At least it might have been a nod, or a slight bobbing of his head. "Okay." He repeated. No other words. No comments. Not a single sign of judgement on his oddly expressive face.

Judy felt a warm sigh of relief blow over on the top of her head. Nick grabbed her hand and gestured down the road, down the hill. "Ok thanks bye catch you around!" He said as he tugged on Judy's arm and started jogging along the road. She followed suit and hopped alongside him. They passed Flash's sports car just parked right behind a thicket of bushes, and then continued down the asphalt path back down towards the city.

"That was close," Nick finally spoke after a long bout of silence between the two. What had happened had happened. It was probably just the heat of the moment, the emotional high from the concert, and the alcohol. It reminded him why he generally tended to stay away from drinking. He could smell the alcohol coming from Judy's breath as well. Things would be back to normal after the weekend.

Halfway down, Judy let go and broke into a playful run. She looked back at her partner and gave him that look. The hustle look. One eyebrow raised while the other eye stared at him seductively. It was her playful challenge look. Except tonight, it had changed what it meant for him. There was a hunger there that he never noticed before.

"Catch me if you can!" She wiggled her tail and ears at him. Something triggered in the back of his mind, something primal. As if thousands of years of evolution had failed to stamp out his predatory instincts.

Judy was already a few dozen yards ahead of him when he decided to give in and go with the chase. It was a game they had come to occasionally play. The bunny knew exactly how to get a rise out of her predatory friend, to trigger his instinctive need to chase down his prey.

"I'll get you this time, carrots!" He listened to the tiny voice in the back of his mind that wanted him to eat that rabbit. To hold a part of her soft body in his mouth. Oh he so wanted to have her in his mouth. Again. Nick gave chase.

It was well past three when the partners got back to their part of the massive megacity. It being a Friday night, right after a Gazelle concert to boot, there were still a few cliques of citizens trying to make their way back home.

There weren't any more weird shenanigans between them, but they were dead drunk. The two had found an open liquor shop and Judy had uncharacteristically insisted on having a carrot cooler. Maybe it was the long trot down outlook point just they were parched. By the time they found themselves in front of Judy's apartment, they had already finished five bottles between the two of them. That left both off-duty police officers just barely able to stand.

"You're under arrest for public intoxication!" The pint-sized rabbit suddenly grabbed her much larger companion's wrist. She gave him a large toothy grin as she looked up at him.

Nick grabbed Judy's arm in response. "No, you're under arrest for public intoxication!" He gave her a much bigger smile as he leaned down and looked her in the eyes. The smell of her breath was intense at this range. He tried to ignore it, to no avail.

Their noses almost touching, Nick felt a kind of warmth from Judy's stare. The whites surrounding her lavender eyes were streaked with red, glazed over and a bit teary. Probably from the carrot coolers, of which she had a lot of. He himself felt warm all over, right under his skin, as if his fur was a little too thick for the night time air.

"Nick," she whispered.

"Judy," he responded.

"Would you like to..." Judy's voice trailed off as her addled mind cycled through various images of her and Nick. In compromising positions. A blur of rust red and shadow grey on her otherwise pristine bed. "...come inside?" A look of half-horror crossed her eyes as some part of her had just heard what she had just said. Her subconscious was bleeding out through her words. "I mean upstairs? Come upstairs?" She corrected herself.

Nick paused to think, however hard it had become given the circumstances. He found himself staring straight into the purple of her eyes. Every single detail jumped out at him. Every single trembling eyelash, every minute twitch of her button-like nose. He could see the whiskers above her mouth quivering. It didn't feel right. Not right now, not with her like this.

"Maybe next time." He gave his partner a tiny peck on her button nose with his pouted lips just under the tip of his snout.

"We don't have to try everything," he managed to say while biting down on the back half of his tongue. The little fox voice in the back of his head, the one that had kept him alive all these years, was shouting at him to stop and think. To figure out what was happening first. The last time he remembered ignoring that voice involved a rug made from the butt of a skunk. Yeah, better listen, Nicholas. He bumped his nose against Judy's. "Not right now, not all at once."

A look of disappointment momentarily crossed Judy's face before it was replaced by the sweetest, drunkest smile Nick had ever seen. Any sweeter and they would have needed to wake up the anteater who lived a floor below her for help. She pulled him down with her paws and planted a wet, sloppy kiss on his lips. Nick wanted so much to give in to her advances but they had to take this slow, whatever this was. It had to be right. He reciprocated with a tiny flick of his own tongue, pushing hers back into her mouth before he pushed her back down as gently as he could.

"Goodnight, carrots."

He made sure she was well inside the door to her building before he turned around and disappeared into the night.

He wasn't looking forward to Monday.

Upstairs, Judy Hopps lay on her bed, staring upward at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity. Hey eyes glazed over, her heart beating too rapidly to allow her mind to slip into the loving embrace of sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about the taste of blueberries.

Her phone beeped. Judy reached for the smartphone and drew it up to her nose. It was a text message from Clawhauser. Hmm, she realized the after-party must have been winding down. With a tap, she opened it the message expecting to see him rave about hanging out with his favorite pop star.

'Well, how did it go?' His message asked, ending with a winking emoticon.

Judy grinned, firing off a quick reply. 'Blueberries,' followed by a kissing smiley. She could imagine the portly cheetah squealing in delight as he read her message. 'Please, don't tell anyone,' she added quickly. While their co-workers teased her and Nick constantly, they probably wouldn't be ready to discover that their constant joking had a grain of truth to it. It was going to be hard to hide whatever this was from a building full of police-mammals, including some of the best detectives Zootopia had to offer.

Still, an uncontrollable smile found its way on Judy's lips as her phone fell to her wayside and fatigue finally took over. The smell of blueberries got stronger the deeper she fell into slumber.

She was definitely looking forward to Monday.