A/N:

So... Yeah. It's derp season, apparently. First, my thanks to kt_valmiri and Damlone for soundboarding and Beta reading respectively. My gratitude to OnceNeverTwiceAlways for editing. This is the start of a series, not a one-shot. Sorry for the confusion. RL nonsense has created a magnificent "oopsie" moment or two in that I forgot not only my thank-yous, but also the properly edited version. It's fixed now. Uhhuh... Go Wednesday.

Judy was grumpy. Very grumpy. She felt she was being a touch unreasonable, but her grump was simply refusing to shift. Since she had brought Nick home, her responsibilities had lessened slightly. She had a friend who she could talk to simply by walking down the hall and better quarters which were, coincidentally, right next to Nick's in the guest wing of the house. Judy couldn't complain about any of those facts. They were nothing but good. She didn't like to think of herself as an ungrateful rabbit. Her current circumstances were a notable improvement over living in the barracks and working eighteen hours a day. She appreciated the change heartily, and, yet, her displeasure remained.

She'd tried chocolate and coffee—even splurged on the new Gazelle album—but nothing had worked for longer than a few moments. She had to admit life was pretty good, as was evidenced by the fact that she was driving home from class instead of taking the bus. The privilege of using one of the farm trucks was usually reserved for family business; transport of injured, elderly or unwell family members; or courting. It was that last one that was turning her knuckles white.

Her world had gone sideways since that fox had shown up. As she'd tried explaining it to her mother: There was nothing between them but air. It was the truth—plain, simple, and obvious as her brilliant purple eyes. Her reasoning was sound and perfectly understandable.

It had held up for exactly one minute before her mother had torn it to shreds over pancakes that very morning.

"Mom, I'm serious. We're just friends and nothing else. I'll grant you how we met was a little odd, but that's it."

"You hid him from us." There was no rancor or admonishment in the statement, but the point had been clear.

"I hid him because I didn't want him dead until I knew why Beast stopped me from killing him."

Her mother had hummed. "And now you're friends."

"Yes. Friends. Like 'fiends', but with an R in it."

"Friends."

"Yes. He's been good company on my patrols, and I like hearing about the outside world. I'll never see it, so it's nice to hear about it from a mammal who has."

She got along with him. A fair point. There was a lot for her to get along with. He was considerate and polite, if rough around the edges and a bit rude at points. There were endless stories he could tell and jokes abounded. He was fun, and he listened. Plenty of friend material there.

Bonnie's expression had been part amused, part nonplussed as she'd asked, "How many friends do you have that Beast likes?"

Judy gripped the steering wheel like she wanted to murder it. Memories of all the ways Beast liked Nick were too numerous for her to ignore and, lately, had grown to embarrassing levels beyond tolerating. It was bad enough that he was Beast's favorite toy, but their neighborly status was causing serious problems. He'd learned far too much about her lately.

She liked to lounge around her room in the buff, when she had down time. Nick had discovered this when he was sent to call her down to dinner. The moment she had heard his voice, she'd jumped in surprise and that was all it had taken to break her focus. Beast surged up and took control, ripping open the door and pulling the blood-drinking fox into her room seconds after he'd spoken. That was also when he had learned of Beast's love of children's movies. The worst part was that she knew he could smell her embarrassment. Blessedly, he had assumed it was because of the kit's movie instead of her nudity in his presence.

Judy slowed the truck to a stop by the house and killed the engine. Much to the doe's relief, it was the brief lull in the evening during dinner, where everyone was at table and the yard was empty. Soon, the green at the front of the house would be full of tumbling kits and relaxing elder rabbits, but now it was still. The quiet afforded the beleaguered doe a chance to fortify herself. For a long moment, she concentrated on breathing—long, slow, deep breaths that would calm her. When that failed her utterly, she flopped her head against the steering wheel and started to slowly, but firmly, beat her forehead against it.

"Why?"

Thump

"Why?"

Thump

"Why?!"

Thump

Why was her nudity suddenly a problem around him? She'd been without clothes around him for weeks, right from the day they met. It wasn't until her mother had started her matchmaking campaign that she'd gotten self-conscious. That development only served to provide further ammunition to Mrs. Bonnie Hopps. Judy was so frustrated that she wanted to cry or maybe rip a tree apart with her teeth—she wasn't sure which.

Her internal grumblings were interrupted by a small tap at the window. One of her nieces, Annabelle, was eagerly trying to get her attention. Judy smiled weakly and opened the door.

"Hey, Annie! What's going on?"

"You're late," the six-year-old replied tartly.

"Classes ran long tonight."

"You missed dinner." The kit was hopping from foot to foot, impatiently waiting for Judy to get out of the truck.

"I'll warm something up later."

Annabelle shook her head. "You need to eat now, so Mister Nick can eat. He promised flying tonight!"

A trembling breath later, Judy managed a fake smile good enough to satisfy the kit. "I'll be right in. I just need my bag."

"Hurry! Bedtime is soon!"

Judy watched the kit until she was out of sight, slumping back against the seat as soon as she was gone. The kits loved him. She couldn't deny that it was heartwarming to see him play with the little ones. They swarmed him whenever he was around them, which was usually when he was barely conscious in the evenings or early mornings. The doe also couldn't deny that it was a welcome amusement to see a groggy fox deal with the Hopps Fluffle's enthusiasm. They were a handful and a half and that was on quiet days.

Despite that, he was always gentle with them and worked very hard to make them happy. His self-named "Wilde Airline Rides" were the fluffle's single most sought-after entertainment. In the month since the fox had arrived, their popularity hadn't diminished a bit. Her mother had been quick to point that out at breakfast, and Judy had agreed without complaint, even smiling along with it. Then, the heavy blows had started falling—all the talk about her "friend" was just a warm-up.

"He'd make a good father."

Judy had planted her face in her paws. "Oh gods, Mom, really?"

"Really what, bun-bun?, Bonnie had sighed, patiently.

"Are you still trying to set me up with him?"

Bonnie's laughter had confused her, then what followed had horrified her. "Good lord, no! I don't have to do that!"

"You don't?"

"No!" Bonnie had chuckled and leaned against the sink. "I'm trying to get you to catch on, is all."

Mortified, Judy had hissed, "I am not infatuated with him!"

"But you are attracted. And before you start arguing, I have proof."

"Sure you do." Her mother's casual attitude had infuriated her.

While Judy was embarrassed and a little confused, Bonnie had calmly loadeddishes into the sink to soak. This was obviously not even a challenge for her, and Judy had hated to see it.

"Your scent changes when he bites you?"

Judy hadn't been able to deny that. The only time she'd allowed it to happen not in her were-form, she had discovered she very much enjoyed it when he fed.

"So, I have a kink," she'd disparaged. "That's hardly proof of an attachment, let alone romantic interest, as you keep implying."

In response, Bonnie had turned to face her with a smile that dripped smug assurance. "Kaitlyn and Maeve have taken an interest in him."

"The whole clan has taken an interest in him. So, what?"

"I heard them discussing him on the porch. In very explicit terms."

Judy had felt something hot and mean stir in the back of her mind. "I'm hardly surprised. He's male, and they're the biggest flirts in the family."

"There's a difference between girl talk and battle plans, Judith. They weren't admiring the scenery. They were sharing notes." The Hopps matriarch had grinned. "Those girls are fox hunting."

Judy had stood and stormed out of the room.

As she'd turned down the hallway, she had heard her mother call after her, "It's called jealousy, Judith!"

Jealousy.

Judy grumbled to herself as she slammed the truck door and hefted her rucksack onto her shoulder, heading for the house. She tried to let the breeze carry her stresses away. She was downwind from the house, so no one would scent out her emotional discombobulation and misinterpret it. The last thing she needed was anyone feeding her mother more ammunition.

She wasn't jealous. She was annoyed. Her mother was reading into the situation to push her own agenda. Yes, she had liked it when he'd bitten her, but that was once and would never happen again. She was making sure of that. No more meals that didn't come from Beast—but that was a concern for another moment. Now, Judy was faced with going back into the house after storming out of it that morning. Her mother was in there. But Judy had chores to do and homework before her patrol.

There were also a fair few tasks that centered on the fox she had to address, not the least of which were culinary. She needed to feed him as part of their deal, but, outside that, she would welcome all distractions. Once she got through her evening routine and out on patrol, things would be much better for her. She resolved to do so as quickly as she could manage. Gods willing, Nick wouldn't take his time with eating, and she could get lost in her homework quickly.

As her paw reached for the door, voices brought her up short.

"You're very loyal, Mister Wilde."

Judy recognized Kaitlyn's voice instantly and froze.

"I wouldn't say loyal, exactly."

"You're waiting for her."

"I'm starving."

Judy felt her anger skyrocket. She was not a snack! This was too much. Her mother's assumptions were one thing, but this was demeaning. If that was all she was to that red-furred moron, he could find elsewhere to eat. Or so she thought, until he continued.

"And she's never this late. I thought with her using that ancient truck, she'd be back a little earlier, not massively later. Maybe, I should go look for her."

The worry in his voice went a long way to blunting her ire. Alright, fine. He was hungry. Concerned and hungry. That was at least more understandable. However, her sister's follow up brought Judy straight back to fuming and then some.

"You know, you could always ask for someone else to stand in when she's out."

"Excuse me?"

"Look, we all know Judy feeds you. You had an arrangement while you were in the woods. But you aren't anymore."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Why? Because all the were-buns will destroy you?"

"For a start."

Kaitlyn's musical laughter tinkled through the open windows and made Judy's blood boil.

"Nicky, all the weres have given you their tentative blessing. No one knows why, but their Beasts don't want to hurt you. You've been respectful and courteous to Judy—hell, you have better table manners than most of my brothers!"

"That's a strange endorsement…"

Kaitlyn pounced on the end of his sentence. "And my father, some days. I'm just saying you have other options. I'm sure I'm not the only one willing to offer you a sip or two."

"I appreciate the offer, but—"

"I get it," Kaitlyn interrupted. "You feel more comfortable with Jude the Prude. I'm not trying to mess that up. Just… If you're interested in a little variety, let me know. Who knows? There may be a new flavor of bunny you enjoy. Maybe as a little dessert?"

The thoughts boiled through her mind in a matter of rabbit-quick heartbeats.

Beast liked him. Her littermates and older siblings were at least not-untrusting of him. Her fellow were-buns were astonished to admit that their beasts didn't want him dead. Bonnie herself admitted to enjoying the fox's company, and her father had agreed to letting him stay in the house. To his credit, the fox had been honest about his less than salubrious past and had managed a degree of tasteful humor in the face of being torn to shreds that first night. That went a long way towards ingratiating him with her family, and his fluffle wrangling was a huge help. Even her father was on pleasantly cordial terms with him. Now, she had a sister making a play. Her hated nickname didn't help.

It was no surprise that some of her sisters were getting curious about the vampire. He had possessed a strangeness at first, but that was just because he was new. Over the last month, that had worn off. It had been encouraging to see...until now.

That was no simple flirt. Judy had seen the machinations of her sisters and younger aunts for far too long to miss it. That little exchange was the opening move of a buck hunt on her fox.

The words "her fox" flitted through her mind and left her stunned.

She regained her senses just in time to hear Nick mumble, "I should see if Bonnie's heard from her yet. Excuse me," followed by his quick, yet heavy paw-falls fading away. Judy breathed a sigh of relief. Her shoulders locked as her sister's flat voice carried to her ears.

"You coming in, Judy? It's safe. Your fox is gone."

She pushed open the door and eyed her slightly younger sibling.

"Problem?"

"I know what you're doing, Kait," Judy stated as she dropped her bag and leaned against the bench by the door.

"I'd be flabbergasted if you didn't."

"Why?"

"Really, Jude? Why?" Kaitlyn asked, half laughing. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious. Why are you going after him?"

"Mostly because of you, Judy."

The younger Hopps doe must have realized how it had sounded to put it that way from the groaning of the bench's arm under her sister's grip. It was never wise to challenge a lycanthrope, even obliquely, and that certainly sounded like a challenge in retrospect. Kaitlyn Hopps was very quick to set the record straight.

"No! Not like that, Judy. Seriously. I'm not trying to steal him."

"Oh, for gods' sake…. I'm not dating him!"

"And that's the problem."

Judy raked her paws over her ears. "Can you please be clear? I'm too tired for this."

"Ok. I'll make it simple for you. You've been showing him off for a month and haven't put a claim on him. How did you expect us to react?"

"Claim? What? I—"

"You can save the excuses. I don't know what you're doing or why, but you have been asking for trouble. If you like that male, you better stop being stupid about it."

"Excuse me?"

"Judy, he's cute."

Hearing that word made Judy's ears drop like stones. An annoying four-letter word that rabbits found pejorative and demeaning from other species, "cute" meant something very different between rabbits. When a buck described a doe with that word, it meant distracting and alluring with all kinds of connotations ranging from long-term interest to sexual prowess. Directed at a buck, it meant strong and confident, appealing and companionable with a massive dash of desire. All in all, it meant attractive, desirable, and—of notable interest—it also meant mate and father material. To hear it from her sister in a dead serious tone made her nose twitch.

"He's great with the fluffle, charming, polite, and kinda funny."

"He's not!" Judy huffed.

Her sister crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Says the one who giggles most when he tells those terrible dad-jokes. I swear, Daddy is taking notes."

"I do not!" Judy exclaimed, nearly panicking.

Kaitlyn sighed. "Whatever you're telling yourself is your business. The rest of us see how interested you are, but you haven't claimed him. Nothing makes a male more desirable than seeing the interest of other females. You've brought him here and shown off how much he has to offer. I want a shot at him. I know Maeve does, and there are at least a paw-full of others that do too. You need to get your head straight, and quick if you want to keep him to yourself. You have right of first claim, but if you don't take it soon, I'll be first in line to take that fox for a test drive."