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Feeling returned to his paws as her ears flickered once, twice. Softness was all he could feel underneath them, tracing his digits over the velvety grey fur of his partner. His claws parting her fur to scratch the taut skin under it, drawing a pleasant hum from the still unconscious rabbit.
His lids opened, sight, foggy with sleep, slowly turning clearer as his eyes adjusted to the morning light seeping through the thin curtains of their bedroom window. He looked down, careful with the movements of his head as his bunny love had her nose pressed against his throat.
His ears catching the faint snoring she swore she didn’t have despite his insistence on the matter, he felt the ticklish sensation of her warm breath against his fur. Her little paw pressed tightly between them against his chest, right atop his heart, the other laying over his tail that he used to cocoon her underneath the comforter.
He laid there, soaking in the moment, observing her chest rise and fall as his thumb ran circles on the small of her back. He must have stayed there for a good hour before she took a deep breath, joining him in enjoying the lazy morning in bed.
“Morning, Fluff” He whispered into her ear, licking the base of it tenderly.
“Mo’nin” She mumbled, pressing her nose deeper into his fur and nuzzling there to escape the sunlight, trying fruitlessly to fall back into slumber.
Those who said the bunny wonder was a morning mammal had clearly never met the doe on her days off, or well into her second serving of morning coffee. The girl didn’t possess a single lazy bone in her body, but she pursued the sanctity of rest with the same fervor she did everything else in life.
“Rise and shine, Sweetheart” His paw reached toward her neck, pressing the tip of his claw against its side and playfully running it through the length of it, knowing it was a ticklish spot for the bunny. “This fox demands to shower his girlfriend with affection but he can’t do that if she falls back asleep”
The paw on his tail flew to bat him away, before sandwiching it warmly between their bodies, before she wiggled weakly to hide deeper beneath the covers. “Go find another girlfriend, this one’s tired” Her voice muffled between his dense fur and the pillow.
He circled her body with his arms, hugging her tightly and placing small pecks around her head. “You know I can’t” One on the inner shell of her right ear. “I’m a one doe tod,” Another on top of her head. “remember?” He pulled back slightly, freeing enough to place the next one between her furrowed eyebrows.
“Then be a good partner to your female,” She pressed the palm of her paw against his black nose, pushing his muzzle away and opening one eye to look at him with displeasure. “and let me use you as a pillow some more”
“But we’re gonna nap the evening away either way, I want some lo~ving” He playfully moaned while rocking their bodies back and forth.
“Wasn’t last night enough?” She asked incredulously, pulling her head away from the warm spot beneath his chin. “Aren’t rabbits supposed to be the perpetually horny ones?”
“Right?” He asked with a big open smile, one that showed all his teeth. “Look what you’ve done to this innocent fox”
“Yeah, innocent, sure” She said in a deadpan tone with a roll of her eyes, letting her head fall listlessly back on the pillow. “Whatever makes you sleep easier”
“I can think of one thing right now that would make me nice and tired for our little nap later” He cupped one of her lower cheeks, giving it a soft squeeze before using his long fingers to play with the little cotton ball attached to the bunny’s posterior.
“Fine,” His ears perked up. “seeing as someone is intent on not letting me sleep in, I’m getting up. Let me go so I can dress myself” She pressed both paws on his chest, pushing for him to let go while his arms tightened around her, trying to pull her closer while rubbing his nose on her chest. “Nick!” She yelled light-heartedly between giggles.
“We have the day to ourselves, no emergency calls, no duty to report to” He kissed her lips. “What’s a little fur for a young couple that’s so very much in love?”
“Yeah, very cute. But we both know if I don’t wear a shirt at the very least, neither of us is leaving the bed” Her stomach chose that moment to announce its request “And right now, I want breakfast"
“I mean, it doesn’t have to be the bed per se, you know?” His smirk grew at her raised eyebrow. “There’s always the couch, or the carpet. Have I ever told you about my fantasy of having you on the kitchen table?” He used his long tongue to slowly lick his lips, adding seductively “I’d be very happy to have that for breakfast”
She sighed, her arms stopping the pushing motion. “And, I’m getting up” She said before turning around in his arms, getting up and out of bed with no resistance from her fox.
“Mmm, yes. I’m craving rabbit right abou - Wait, no~” He whined as she stepped towards their joint dresser, opening one of the doors and taking one of his shirts to slip into. He wasn’t sure what he hated more, the fact she was covering herself, or that his shirts on her body always made him mad with desire. “You are killing me right now, Fluff” He added gruffly.
“There’ll be time for that later” She smirked, winking playfully at him. “Right now? Food, get up you lazy tod” She said while rolling up the sleeves.
“Don’ wanna” He crossed his arms while pouting at her.
“Now you wanna stay in bed?” She asked incredulously.
“Nicky wants some loving”
“This is all the loving Nicky will get if he doesn’t get his tail out of bed and into the kitchen with his girlfriend” She reproachingly said while getting closer, pressing her lips against his just before leaving the bedroom, lasting long enough to test the constraints of a peck, teasing enough that within the fox rose the urge to extend his arms and force her back into the bed with him. Something he didn’t act upon for the simple knowledge that regardless of the height and weight difference between them she could easily overpower him, despite her penchant for ‘being trapped’ by him.
He watched her walk away, transfixed on the way the hem of the shirt rode over her tail, giving him a wonderful view of the small heart of white fur between her legs, and the teasing little flickering of her teardrop-shaped tail. “Sly bunny” He muttered under his breath, knowing full well this was her way of getting payback.
It took him roughly ten minutes to join her at the kitchen table, his legs covered by some comfortable jogging pants while leaving his chest bare. He chuckled at the mockery on her eyes as they traveled to his only article of clothing.
“What?” He asked. “If I can’t enjoy the scenery, neither can you”
The pair quickly got working, playfully bickering as they masterfully danced around each other in the small kitchen. Judy began mixing a batch of pancake batter while Nick peeled a large banana for the doe, the doe trading the wooden spoon for a small skillet to crisp some turkey bacon for the fox, the tod slicing the fruit on a wooden board before preheating a second pan and dropping a generous dollop of butter.
Everything else was done by the time the first spoonful of thick batter began sizzling away, lowering the heat when the butter began bubbling and the first layer of browning appeared. The doe’s head pressed to his side as they watched the cooking happen, her arms around his stomach and his left arm around her shoulders as his other paw stayed firmly on the pan’s handle.
The serene moment only broken by her cheering when he flipped the pancakes over by flinging them in the air or deftly piled them up on the waiting plates.
They took a seat on the table once they had a decent tower each, a half empty bottle of syrup between them as they sat side by side. The doe’s phone propped up against the paper towels roll quietly playing some kind of documentary on seasonal crops.
‘You can take the bunny off the farm but not the farm off the bunny’ He thought with a silent chuckle. His focus mostly fixated on the chewing bunny by his side rather than whatever the deer was explaining about the tomato she held on her hoof.
He reached toward her face with a paw, running his thumb over the corner of her lips. “You had some syrup” He explained with a smirk when she turned to look at him, licking the stickiness off his finger pad to make a point.
She gave him a small nod in gratitude, lowering her phone to lay flat on the table as her sight returned to the screen, taking the roll and ripping a towel out before cleaning her mouth with it.
“Hey Fluff” He asked quietly, his smile softening into something vulnerable.
“Mh?” She briefly paused before cutting herself another piece of pancake, looking up at him from her phone’s screen.
“Wanna get married?”
The knife and fork clattered loudly against the wooden table, her paws letting the utensils go when their hold slackened with her surprise.
“Wha - Like this? Are you joking around, Nicholas? No, of course you are not joking. That’s all I’m getting? Just asking out of nowhere during breakfast, and not even my name?” The stern slowly melted off her face, her eyes birthing new tears as they began to freely fall down her cheeks, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by emotions. “O-of course I want to-o marry you, you s-stupid, insen - sob - sitive - ” He broke her tirade by pressing his lips against hers, the sweetness of the syrup mixed with the banana flavor making them taste more delicious than usual. His paw reached towards the pocket of his pants, fingers grasping firmly on the little box before pulling it out.
“I love you, Judy” He presented the box to her, a dark blue little thing that when opened revealed to her the small charms inside, silver links contrasting against the black satin insert, the little green and light purple gems shining brightly as if enticing the bunny.
He picked the chain up when her watery eyes looked up to him, the request clear in them. His arms reached around her, momentarily fidgeting with the tiny clasp with his thick fingers, using the tips of his claws to maneuver around the size difference, until he finally managed to hook it properly and let it rest on her soft fur.
He watched proudly as the doe examined the little pieces now dangling from her neck. A light-colored circular amethyst encased in silver wiring to look like a blueberry, and three thin emeralds as the leaves of a metallic carrot. The charms symbolizing the two of them as per bunny courting tradition.
His tail wagged each time she would fall into a nose-stuffed giggle fit seemingly out of nowhere, his heart singing with joy whenever her legs tensed up as if fighting the urge to jump around the room in happiness.
He couldn’t help himself, his paws itching to hold the doe, and picked her up in his arms. The mostly finished breakfast forgotten along with the slowly disappearing voice of the deer presenter. She pressed her nose against his throat, nuzzling deeply into his fur as her short arms held him tightly. He held her with one paw on her back and the other on her bottom. His mouth alternated between softly nibbling her shoulder and smoothing the fur down with his tongue.
They quietly laid on their couch, holding each other as their breathing slowly began to sync up, her short stubby claws scratching at the side of his neck, right below his jaw, while he traced lazy lines along her back.
He had thought of doing some grand gesture for her, maybe surrounded by family or during a luxurious restaurant diner. Maybe during a moonlit walk in the park or even on the gondolas down in the Rainforest District where he had opened to her for the first time. But their lives were sufficiently tumultuous already to make a show of their love.
Instead he chose the comfort of their home, the place where they were just Nick and Judy and not officers Wilde and Hopps. He thought, why dilute the moment by making a spectacle of it? When everything important enough to them was already here, in this small apartment, held tightly in the grasp of their paws.
He angled his head to look down at her, at the relaxed posture of her ears, at her little button of her nose as it twitched once in a while. And, like he did whenever they had a quiet moment like this just to themselves, he thanked Karma, Serendipity, and any other deity that may be hearing him, for having sent her his way.
“So~, about that shirt - ” He said innocently as his paw began discretely unbuttoning the lowest one.
“Keep this up and you’ll have to wait until our wedding night” She muttered without stopping her ministrations.
“But, then you’d have to endure just as long” He whispered seductively into her ear.
“Don’t test me, Wilde” She looked up at him, giving him a challenging stare while staying pressed against him.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Wilde” He teased back fondly, before licking the tip of her pink nose.