Dang! Never knew you guys were that desperate! :)
But unfortunately you guys are gonna have to wait for a full blown love scene. Why? Coz it's too early for that.
But for now, here's a chapter with an unhealthy amount of fluffs and sweetness. Enough to give your dentist a reason to quit.
Judy hasn't seen Nick for a while now. Not since she released him from those handcuffs. And not since she caught a glimpse of him running through the rain last week. Carrying plastic bags containing who knows what.
She keeps denying it. One can't make her swear in front of a grand jury. It just seemed so unreal to Lieutenant Judy Hopps that she was actually concerned about her landlord, Nick Wilde.
She still has his phone. He hadn't asked for it. And she hadn't made it clear for how long she would be keeping it.
Right now, the device is rested in her paw. As she sat on her bed, head tilted down, her look of contemplation reflected on the darkened screen. Deep in thought, she ran possible scenarios if she were to go down to his room and return his phone. Some were simple, some were complicated. And others were... Well... She had to wonder how her certain 'Fantasies' got mixed in there.
Absentmindedly, her thumb found it's way into the phone's power button, the screen lit up. One would think that if someone valued their privacy they would install some sort of encryption on their phone. Nick hadn't installed one on his. And now Judy had free reign over his phone. Free to look into any of his accounts, photos and contacts.
Like I haven't done that already. She thought guiltily.
She went straight to find his gallery where hundreds of photos (almost half were selfies) of himself were stored.
Swipe after swipe. Photo after photo. Not a pixel goes by where she didn't see a flash of red fur on every panel. Eventually, she stopped on a specific photo, where the fox was holding his phone up as he smiled at the camera.
He was smiling on this one; His lips curving in a way that it creases the flesh and fur on his cheeks. His head was tilted at just the right, where the light illuminated his features perfectly.
He looked... Well, handsome. There weren't any other words to describe this picture.
He's simply handsome.
But the one thing that really caught her attention were his eyes. They were soft, lax. They put her at ease. She could easily avert her gaze.
But why would I want to? She mentally argued.
And the longer she stared the more they pulled her in.
And the more she gets pulled in, the more she realizes that she likes what she sees.
Then suddenly the phone beeped, snapping her out of her thoughts.
A prompt appeared on the screen:
14% battery left. Please charge.
How long had she been using this phone?
Long enough to know that it's time to return it. She realized.
With a loud sigh, she stood out of her bed. Feet dragging heavily against the floor, dreading the inevitable.
VVV
The three minute descent down the three flights of stairs went by too quickly. Now Judy stood in front of Nick's door, contemplating whether to knock or just barge in like nobody's business. Unsurprisingly, she went for the former.
Judy gently tapped her knuckles against the door. She hummed, wondering if the door was made from birch wood, quite a desperate way for her to distract herself with.
For a while, nobody answered the door. She concluded that maybe she didn't knock loud enough, and so she knocked again. And again, nothing.
Maybe he's not home.
Possible but a very unlikely conclusion. She could practically see the beam of light streaming from the gap under the door.
"Mr. Wilde?!" she called. Waited a few moments. And yet still nothing.
With a huff, she reached for the doorknob only to find that it was unlocked.
Should she let herself in?
One glance at the device that was slowly dying in her paws and she made her decision.
Slowly, Judy pushed the door open. "Nick?" she called once more.
Her ears sprung upwards, again she hears nothing. With another huff, she strolled right in.
And immediately, She was met by an awful (but tolerable) smell. It came with the heaps of thrash the littered the whole room. Piles of dirty clothes were strewn about carelessly. Unclean dishes and half eaten food filled the sink. And almost everything from the bookshelves to the television was covered with a thin film of dust. And it left Judy to wonder if Nick had done something for himself around here. If her mother were to see this dump she'd have an aneurysm.
A series of coughs caught her attention. Immediately her ears sprung back up. It sounded like it came from the bedroom (or she assumed it was the bedroom). She quietly approached it, seeing that it was slightly ajar.
She saw him immediately. He was lying on his bed in his usual attire. And if she thought his living room was a mess, his bedroom was even worse.
It reeked of... She can't even describe it. The smell of stale food, dirty clothes and body odor stung her poor little nose. She could even feel a few tears brimming her eyes.
And in the middle of all this disaster was Nicholas Wilde. Languidly curled on his bed.
"What the hell is all this?" she demanded.
If he even heard her at all she wouldn't be able to tell. The close enough response that she got was a slight shift from his tail.
Judy glared at the vulpine.
"Your place is a mess!" she exclaimed.
"Your dishes are piled up in your sink, your clothes are everywhere and sweet cheese and crackers, what is that smell?!"
His mouth remained shut. Her glare intensifies.
"What? No witty remarks?" she seethed.
And again he says nothing.
Judy threw her paws in the air with a frustrated groan.
"You know what? Here!" she roughly placed his phone on his nightstand. "I came here to return this." She then turned away.
"And if you just wanna wallow around in your own filth like some worthless bum, then fine! Be my guest!"
She barely would've made through the door, but not before another string coughs stopped her completely.
Judy turned back to look at Nick. She didn't notice before. She couldn't notice. She was too angry to do so; He looked like a mess.
His fur looked greasy and sticky. His yellow shirt was beyond wrinkled. And his eyes, the same ones that could both disarm and infuriate her were bloodshot.
The fox let out another series of coughs. Each one sounded dry and painful.
Judy merely stood there and watched as he laid back down on his bed. Shivering as he curled himself into a tighter ball.
She slowly approached him. Instinctively, she lifted a paw to his forehead.
"Nick." she whispered, "You're sick. You're burning up!"
She heard him mumble something. It sounded like 'cold' and 'blanket'.
Without another word she maneuvered herself around the dirty room, eventually reaching the only big cabinet in there.
After sifting through shirts, pants and dozens of pillow cases she found a white blanket for him to use and she quickly draped it over him.
"Do you need anything else?" she asked. "Are you thirsty? Have you eaten yet?"
This time she got an answer: he shook his head once. And immediately, a pang of guilt hit Judy like a ton of bricks.
He's sick, hungry and cold. And she yelled at him.
"I'm sorry I yelled. I didn't know." she said.
Judy didn't have a clue for how long he's been ill. And she knew for a fact that any type of illness to a fox is definitely fatal. Looking back on all of her biology classes, she remembered that foxes have weak immune systems. They couldn't afford to get sick because their bodies couldn't fend off an illness fast enough for it to go away.
And so with a determination to make this right, she dashed out of his room, into the living room and then up the stairs to her apartment.
VVV
The smell of boiling broth flooded Nick's apartment.
At the stove, Judy stirred the mushroom soup in a pot. She dipped a spoon to sample her cooking, once she determined it was ready, she turned the stove off.
She inhaled the soup's steam as she used a ladle to scoop the broth into a bowl. The scent of garlic, ginger and salt brought her back to her hometown. She recalled her mother's own words in regards to serving soup to a sick mammal.
Not too much or it could make him sick. Not too little or you'll have him starving.
A smile creased her lips. The picture of a grumpy Nicholas Wilde begging for her cooking flashed briefly in her thoughts.
With the bowl of soup in her paws, she carefully strolled into Nick's bedroom, taking care not to spill any of the piping hot soup.
"Nick," she sat herself right next to him, "I've made some soup. Do you think you have the strength to feed yourself?"
Deep within the corners of her thoughts, she secretly hoped that he would say no. She liked the prospect of taking care of him.
Perhaps today someone up there was listening to her prayers. Once Nick shook his head no, Judy almost failed to suppress her excitement.
"Okay," she scooped a spoonful and brought to his muzzle, "It's a bit hot, so be careful."
She tenderly smiled as he readily took the soup into his mouth. Two and three spoonfuls later and he looks a tad better already, if not a bit drowsy still.
"Is it good?" she asked.
Nick didn't open his mouth, instead he gave her a somewhat tired smile and an offhanded shrug. The kind that said: "Meh."
Judy giggled softly before lightly smacking the silver spoon against his nose, causing him to let out a canide yelp.
"Just be glad I'm feeding you!" she scolded before scooping another spoonful for him to take.
This went on for a while, only until Nick had finished the whole bowl. Judy had asked if he wanted more, he had refused. She nodded once and just fluffed his pillow for him, he hadn't asked for it but he was grateful nonetheless.
Judy held a paw against his forehead, "Well, your fevers gone down a bit, bit your still a bit hot. I suggest you sleep it off. Here," she placed a couple of aspirin on his nightstand, "Take one of these if your fever comes back. I'll be outside if you need me."
She promptly left for the door right after Nick had settled himself into his bed. Once entering in the living room, she scanned the seemingly mountainous piles of thrash, laundry and dirty plates.
This is unacceptable. She thought. She couldn't just leave this apartment in this state. She doesn't even know where to begin.
She spotted a wall clock, hanging just above the TV set.
11:30 am.
Today's her day off. She could be up in her own apartment, binge watching an entire season of The Savage Dead. But she guessed that maybe cleaning her landlord's apartment is much more fulfilling. And that's putting it lightly, she loves cleaning. Call it a sickness and she would argue that it's just good sense.
And so with a determined smile, she started on the nearest thrash heap next her and started cleaning.
VVV
She took out the trash, cleaned the dishes, sweeped the dust off the floor, did the laundry and found the most potent aerosol freshener that she could find (Lemon scented) to dilute that horrible smell in the air.
It took forever (four hours at the most) to do all those things. Now she was just content on flopping down on the couch. She hit the cushions face first, inhaling a distinct smell from the fabric.
The seats smell exactly like him. She realised.
Judy let herself smile. If her parents could see what she's doing right now; planted face first onto a couch, sniffing the cushions because it smelled like a guy.
I'm such a creep.
Pushing herself off the couch, she glanced back at the wallclock.
3:35 pm.
Nick hadn't called for her. Maybe he didn't need anything for now. Still, she collected herself and made a straight line towards Nick's bedroom.
He was still there, right where she left him. He looked so peaceful; his soft snores made her smile, if not faintly. Quietly, she shuffled towards his bed, lifting a paw to his forehead once more she nodded in satisfaction. The soup and the medicine did their work, his fever had gotten down and if she could take a guess, he'd be good as new come morning.
She hadn't noticed that her paw had lingered against his fur. The grey furred paw travelled down from his forehead and now it rested against his whiskered cheek. The stiff black hairs tickled her soft paw pad.
It took her a moment, right after she pulled her paw away, and right after she decided to just sit beside him on his bed.
She cooked for him. She fed him. She cleaned his apartment for him. And it all adds up to one simple and all the while complicated conclusion.
She cared.
Judith Anne Hopps cares about her landlord, Nicholas Wilde.
And cut there!
I know that Judy's middle name isn't Anne, but I'll just go with. It sounds like it fits.
This chapter was actually inspired by a Filipino movie. I've seen it myself, and it's not bad. I don't recall the title for now, but maybe my Filipino readers could help me.
It starred Sarah Geronimo And John Loyd Cruise.
And now, you may release your inner fangirl in 3 2 1...!