Nick yawned and looked out the window. He was riding on the train with Judy on the 211 mile trip to Bunnyburrow. The Hopps' had invited him to come help set up and participate in the annual Carrot Days festival, and he accepted the invitation, mostly because Judy's explanation made it sound interesting and because it was nice to get out of the city once and awhile; something that he had found out on his first visit to Judy's hometown.

Also because Judy wouldn't stop pestering him about it until he agreed.

He looked away from the sprawling fields they were travelling through and down to the bunny sitting next to him. She was chatting with her parents over the phone, talking about when they'd arrive and who'd be coming to pick them up and whatnot. He smirked and gave her head a rub, making her stumble over her words and glance up at him in mild confusion, which got a snicker out of him.

The fox turned his attention back to the passing landscape, thinking about the next few days. He had heard about the Carrot Days festival since Judy had mentioned it a few times, but until she had invited him, he hadn't actually known what it was. It seemed pretty fun; carnival games, food, mazes, and the like; things that would be found at a standard county fair. The only things that he was worried about were the mammals that were going to be there.

The Hopps family had taken a little to warm up to Nick, but they were fine with him now, with this being his third stay at their house. He didn't know how the other families of small prey felt about him, though, probably because he'd never actually gone into the town of Bunnyburrow, he had only been to Judy's house. Because the festival was attended by many different families, the fox was slightly nervous about how they would react to him being there. He had discussed his issue with Judy, and she had assured him that he'd be welcome there. Still, he couldn't help but to feel a bit uneasy.

Nick wouldn't let that ruin his trip, though.

After around twenty minutes, the train arrived. Nick and Judy collected their luggage and disembarked, stepping onto the platform of the Bunnyburrow station.

"Come on, Nick, we should go sit down. My parents told me they'd be a few minutes late." Judy said, glancing up at him as she made her way some benches that were under the station building's roofed waiting area.

He nodded and followed, setting down his luggage next to the bench and sitting beside the bunny. The bench was a bit uncomfortable, but he didn't mind.

Nick looked around as he waited, smiling at the carrot-shaped support pillars and the general rounded, cozy design of the place. Used to shiny metal, shimmering glass, dirty concrete, and towering highrises, this was a nice change for him.

"Heya, Judes!"

Nick looked around at the voice, and saw Stu and Bonnie Hopps making their way over to them.

"Hi, Dad! Hi, Mom!" Judy exclaimed, beaming and jumping up from the bench and running over to hug her parents. Nick stood as well, smiling. Once they were done greeting their daughter, Stu and Bonnie turned their attentions to him.

"Hey, Nick!" Stu said happily, coming over and giving the fox a firm handshake.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Hopps." Nick replied, smiling as well.

"Oh, you can just call us Bonnie and Stu, remember?" Judy's mother commented, giving the predator a warm smile as she came to stand next to her husband.

"Dad, could you help Nick with the luggage, please?" Judy then asked, "We should probably get going if we want to show him the grounds before it gets dark."

In a few minutes, with Nick, Judy, and their suitcases in the back of Stu's truck, they were off to the Hopps' house.

"What are 'the grounds', Carrots?" Nick asked, looking around a bit at the nice trees and crop patches.

"The festival grounds." Judy replied, "It's held in the same place every year."

Nick nodded in understanding.

"When are you going to show me the video of that talent show you were in?" he then asked, looking at her.

Her eyes went wide and an expression of shock crossed her face, being replaced with mild anger. "How'd you find out about that?"

Nick snickered at his partner's reaction. "Your dad mentioned it when we were getting the luggage. I have to say that I'm very interested." he teased.

She grumbled and looked away, her ears slightly flattened.

"Little Judy in her tiny police uniform, looking like a dork while talking about how amazing Zootopia is. You really haven't changed much, have you?"

He earned a hard punch on the arm for that one.

They finally arrived at Judy's house, Nick helping Stu with the luggage while also trying to wade his way through a sea of hundreds of Judy's younger siblings, who were all excitedly crowding around him in greeting. He eventually made it to Judy's room and set the luggage down, then went back and joined her and Stu at the truck.

Stu drove them to the festival grounds, which were nearly centered between the town of Bunnyburrow and Judy's house. Upon arrival, he could see a few booth tents already set up along the trodden paths worn into the grass over the years that the festival had been held. The area was next to a two-lane road, nestled between a field of corn and what looked like either carrots or potatoes. There was a barn where presumably the talent show was held, along with a shed, probably for storage.

They got out and Judy and her dad led Nick around, pointing out what booths would be where, and where the hay maze and the bounce house would go.

As they were showing him where the Hopps family booth would be, someone called over to them from behind them.

"Hey, Judy!"

They turned around and Nick was surprised to see a fox setting up a booth across from them. He was slightly taller than Nick, with longer fur parted on his head and kind blue eyes, wearing a red plaid shirt and faded, partially rolled-up blue jeans.

"Oh, hey Gideon!" Judy exclaimed, smiling widely and going over to give him a friendly hug. Stu also greeted him with a handshake, grinning as well.

"Nick, this is Gideon. I told you about him, remember?" Judy said, looking at Nick. Nick was a bit confused at first, but then remembered. Judy had told him about the pie-maker that was her parents' business partner. She hadn't said anything about him being a fox, though, so he had assumed he was another bunny.

He smiled and shook paws with the other fox. "Nice to meet you. Carrots said that you make amazing pies."

"Heh, she did? Mighty nice of her." Gideon replied, a slight stutter in his voice, glancing at the bunny with a smile before looking back at Nick. "You're her partner, 's that right?" he asked, Nick nodding in confirmation. "Well, it's nice t' meet you, too, officer."

"Gideon has a booth across from us." Judy then informed Nick.

"Yep, I figured to set it up early; I don't wanna be caught up in th' rush." Gideon explained.

"We're setting ours up tomorrow, and we'll be helping around with the other stuff." Stu replied. "You're welcome to come help, if you'd like, Gid."

"Sure thing, Mr. Hopps. Early mornin'?"

"Yep, early morning."

While they were talking, Nick was looking at Gideon. For some reason, he was getting a strange feeling in his stomach, something that he'd felt before, but he couldn't pinpoint when or why. He decided to ignore it for now and think about it later.

Eventually, Stu, Judy, and Nick said goodbye to Gideon and started heading back to the truck, the sun starting to set.

"We're going to have a barbeque for dinner, Nick." Judy said happily as they sat in the truck bed on the way back to the house.

"I thought that prey don't eat meat?" Nick asked in confusion.

"You can barbeque vegetables, you know?"

"You can?"

"Yep! I think carrots are the best,-"

"Of course you do."

"-but roasted corn is really good, too. I think you'll like it!"

"Sounds good. As long as you don't make me try that cabbage and potato salad, I'll be fine." Nick said, smirking.

"Hey! Don't insult a family recipe! Potatoes with greens is actually really good." Judy said defensively.

"Oh, right. I'm assuming it was something else that made me almost throw up?"

Judy punched him on the arm again.