Reports of my death were a bit too accurate; let's fix that.

Fox Logic

Nick watched as Judy took a bite out of a fork-full of pancakes. "How'd I do?"

"Mmmmm," Judy said, mouth full of fluffy goodness.

Nick let out an exasperated sigh. "And you doubted my cooking abilities."

Judy shrugged her shoulders and swallowed. She wiped her mouth and flashed a Nick-like grin. "When did I say that?"

"This morning," Nick said. "I think."

"Well, I take it back." Judy took another bite and let out a small moan of satisfaction. She giggled under her breath as Nick's ears twitched; his teeth bared slightly at the sultry moan that escaped her throat.

"I am thoroughly impressed with your pancake-making abilities, Mr. Fox," Judy said.

"I'm a fox of many talents," Nick said between sips of coffee. His eyes caught his sly reflection in the balcony window. He glanced down at the apron that covered his chest and smiled. "And I can rock an apron pretty fantastically."

"Do all foxes have such big egos?"

"Only the good-looking ones," Nick said with a wink.

Judy rolled her eyes and let out a guilty giggle. "I can't argue with that."

Nick grinned and took a seat at the table. His emerald eyes watched as Judy stuffed syrup-infused pancake after syrup-infused pancake into her mouth.

"You, my fluffy friend, are a pancake-eating machine," Nick said. "I'm going to have to run to the store if this keeps up."

Judy attempted to speak, but the only sounds that emerged from her maw were incomprehensible, pancake-distorted noises.

"Is that bunny for I'm sorry for eating all the handsome fox's pancakes? I think it wassss," Nick sang.

Judy's face adopted an annoyed expression, her free paw forming a rather vulgar gesture aimed in Nick's direction. Despite the gesture, her playful smile stretched from ear to ear.

"Well, that was just rude," Nick said. His muzzle morphed into a shit-eating grin.

Judy rolled her eyes and swallowed. "Bite me, Wilde."

"Oh, so you're that type of bunny?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Judy said. "You'll have to see."

"I saw and heard plenty last night." The two mammals shared a round of chuckles.

Judy leaned over the table and booped Nick on the tip of his muzzle. "Then you'll understand why I'm eating through your kitchen."

"I never said that was a bad thing," Nick said. He motioned towards Judy's plate, which was starting to get low on pancakes. "You want another round? The griddle's still hot."

"Only if you'll do that little hip dance you were doing earlier," Judy said, her eyes half-lidded.

"Are you objectifying me, Carrots?"

"What can I say? You have a great ass."

"So that's why you were so grabby last night," Nick said.

"A girl likes what a girl likes, especially when she can grab it."

"'Grabbing it is putting it mildly."

"You know you loved it," Judy said with a laugh. "And don't tell me you don't do the same to me."

Nick let loose a sly chuckle. "Guilty as charged." He stood up and walked toward Judy. He leaned down and kissed her; a kiss she returned with an almost fanatic zeal.

Judy tasted sweet; a tinge of syrup mixing with her own bunny flavor to create a semi-sweet concoction that perfectly represented the pair's growing relationship. For a moment, time seemed to grind to a halt. There was something uniquely encapsulating about how the simplest of actions - in this circumstance, a kiss and pancakes- seemed to grab hold of both mammals and bind them even tighter together.

Judy let out a low hum as Nick pulled away, his predatory eyes staring into her own.

"God I love you," Nick said as the fox planted another kiss between Judy's flattened ears. One of his paws sneaked around and lightly slapped her on the rear.

Judy let out a moan and glanced up at Nick. "Sly fox."

"Are you just now figuring that out?"

"Hush, you." Judy grabbed Nick's apron and pulled her fox back in for another round of syrup-flavored kisses. The gentle swishing of Nick's tail mixed with the low hum emanating from Judy's throat to form a cadence unlike anything both mammals had ever experienced in their lives.

The two slowly pulled away from one another, their eyes locked onto their partner's own glittering gems.

Judy pointed towards the griddle. "Pancakes?"

"Pancakes."

"You're a liar," Judy said from her position on the couch.

"I was a hustler; not a liar. " Nick said beside her.

Judy rolled her eyes."That's the same thing."

"Nope." Nick held up two fingers and waved them in front of Judy's face. "Two different things."

"What's the difference?"

"Hustlers are cool, mysterious, handsome individuals," Nick said, motioning towards himself.

Judy let out a snort of laughter. "Is that so?"

Nick feigned shock. "Am I not cool, mysterious, and handsome?"

"You're certainly arrogant."

Nick's grin stretched from ear-to-ear as he gave Judy a scratch on her head. "Hustlers are cool, mysterious, handsome, arrogant individuals."

"That sounds more like it." The two mammals shared a laugh. Judy took a sip of coffee and pointed a fured-finger at Nick. "But, seriously. You've never seen Fox Tales?"

"Never seen it. Is it about a fox and his tails?"

"Tales, not tails," Judy said, grabbing Nick's tail to emphasize her point. "Fox Tales was my favorite cartoon as a kit."

"I was never a big Saturday morning cartoons guy."

"You strike me as someone that was."

"I was too busy making that sweet, sweet popsicle money," Nick said. "What's it about?"

"Well, it's about a fox-"

"Figured that." Nick smiled a slick smile. "It would be kinda weird if a hippo was the star of a show named Fox Tales."

"Will you let me finish?"

"I'm sorry for being witty."

"It's about a fox named William Tails. He's a former master thief, and he's enjoying his retirement. That is until his grandsons show up and ask him to teach them his ways. He's stubborn to do so," Judy said. The excitement in her voice was palpable.

"Naturally," Nick said with a smile.

"But eventually he agrees to, and the group gets into all sorts of adventures and mischief."

"Like?"

"There's one where Tails gets kidnapped, and the boys have to find him. There's another where the group tries to steal the Topia diamond from a group of thieves."

"Did they steal it?"

"Nope. Turns out the diamond was stolen by another group, and that group had the diamond stolen from them by another thief who disappeared with the diamond."

"I think I know that guy," Nick said.

"My personal favorite was when Tails and the gang are forced to work with their arch-rival to stop the evil Mr. X from overthrowing the mayor of Zootropolis."

"And that would be?"

"Why who else but bunny cop extraordinaire Jane Savage," Judy said. She sat up and stood on Nick's couch, an almost child-like smile dominating her face.

"Jane Savage?"

"She's this tough, no-nonsense bunny detective that's been assigned to track down Tails. She's just great. I would watch episode-after-episode as a kit and imagine myself as Jane Savage, fighting crime, stopping bad guys, and trying to track down Tails." Judy emphasized her point by attempting to box the air. Nick couldn't help but smile as his partner's addictive, raging excitement flowed through his body like a raging typhoon.

"You know that you're essentially jumping up and down on my couch, right?"

"Sorry, I'm kinda really into Fox Tales. It was the main reason I wanted to become a cop."

"To catch slick, sneaky foxes?"

"Well, I caught you."

"That you did." Nick leaned over and kissed Judy - a gesture the bunny returned with an almost electric fervor. The two mammals tangoed in an unhinged passion.

Nick and Judy slowly pulled away from each other. Judy smiled and squeezed Nick's fur-covered arm. "Want to see a picture of them?" She asked.

"Of who?"

"Tails and Savage."

"You just have a picture of them on your phone?"

"Pictures," Judy said, grabbing her phone. "Don't judge me."

"Me? Judging someone? Never."

"Shush." Judy's fingers tapped across the phone's thin screen. "I know they're in here somewhere. Ah!"

Judy shoved the phone into Nick's paws, her voice etched with excitement. "Here we are."

Nick studied the two mammals plastered across the phone's screen with a raised eyebrow.

William, or Tails, as Judy called him, though drawn in a cartoonish style, looked an awfully lot like a fox Nick had encountered during a particularly odd time of his life.

Tails' fur was a dangerous shade of crimson, accented by a pair of steely-gold eyes that seemed to peer into Nick's soul. The fox was slim, but not skinny; tall, but not too tall. The expression adorning his aged face was a look of reserved, calculating vanity; a look Nick had only seen in older mammals working in professions where mammals died young; the look of someone that didn't think they were amazing, but knew they were amazing.

Nick liked Tails.

Jane, on the other paw, was an enigma; the kind of mammal one must meet in order to understand. The bunny was young; her coat a light shade of gray similar to Judy's own, but darker in spots. Two horizontal stripes crossed Jane's ears, adding a ribbon-like effect to the bunny's appearance.

Jane's youthful appearance gave Nick the impression she was the type of mammal that wouldn't go around mountains to get where she wanted, but punch through them instead. She wore a uniform that was clearly modeled after an older version of the Z.P.D.'s own, and it was clear to Nick what kind of officer Judy had tried to adopt in her law-enforcement career.

"So, these two are enemies right?"

"At first. They kinda get along as the show goes on, and they are forced to work together some instances, but they never really get along that well. Which is ironic." Judy let out a chuckle, gave another look at fictional mammals on the screen, and put the phone down.

Nick looked at Judy, his eyes twinkling in curiosity. "Ironic because...?"

"They'd make a cute couple."

Nick let out a sharp chuckle. "Judy, are you pairing up cartoon characters in a makeshift relationship?"

"Don't give me that look; everyone that watches the show thinks the same thing."

"Do you guys have regular meetings of the Tails and Savage Club? Talk about your dream dates for the lucky couple?"

"Hardy har," Judy said, rolling her eyes. There was a slight bit of genuine annoyance in her voice. Sensing this, Nick leaned down and gave Judy an affectionate scratch on the head.

"So, Carrots. You're pretty into this show?"

"Not that much," Judy said as Nick's paw pulled away. "I'll sometimes watch an episode, or two, or three."

"Well, Carrots, we've got an hour or so before we need to mozy on down to Sahara Square. Let's watch an episode, or two."

Judy looked at Nick, her face a mix of genuine surprise and joy. "You actually want to watch it?"

"It sounds interesting." Nick shrugged his shoulders, and a wide, excited simile broke out on Judy's face. "Just one problem: how exactly do I watch it?"

"The show's on Amazon Pride," Judy said, as if that was supposed to be common knowledge.

Nick smiled and grabbed the nearby remote. "I think my TV has that."

"You think?"

"My TV has too much shit on it." Nick tossed the remote to Judy, who began pressing buttons, opening applications, and other technological marvels.

Judy laughed. "Then why'd you buy it?"

"Because it has so much shit on it," Nick said grinning.

"Can't argue with that logic."

"Fox logic wins again." Nick grabbed Judy and gave her another kiss, surprising the bunny. The two mammals quickly became lost in each other's arms.

Judy slowly pulled away, her face filled with a wondrous, tender passion. "I'm starting to like fox logic."

Author's note: It's been far too long since I've updated Masks. I'll be posting a quick update in the coming days describing the future of Masks. Hope y'all enjoy the chapter.