“Hey, Nick, what do foxes do for Thanksgiving?” Judy was lounging on the couch in Nick’s apartment, her muzzle still facing the glow of her smartphone. She finished the paragraph of the crime novel she was reading and looked up at him, ears perking. Strangely enough, she was enjoying them even more since joining the force. Everything always worked out so nicely in the books.

“Huh?” He was half frozen, still holding a dirty dish, tail lifting up, hair standing on end. “Oh, uh… nothing much, just the usual dinner with family. You know the drill.” He turned away and went back to scrubbing dishes and placing them in the dishwasher.

“Are you suuuuuurre that's all, Nick?” Judy turned to lean over the armrest of the couch.

This time, however, Nick was ready. “We’re city mammals, Carrots. You’re the one who should have some interesting traditions to tell me about, country bun,” he said, cool as the day they had met. With a swish, he spun back to the dishes, tail swinging amiably as he hummed.

“Nick, we both know you can lie better than that. That means you want to tell me, but you’re embarrassed.” Her raised eyebrow met a decidedly less cool fox’s face when he turned around again.

“Hey, quit the I-hustled-you face! That is a totally groundless accusation! Ha. Ha. Hahhahha. See? I’m laughing at how ridiculous you’re being. This is definitely not a fake laugh.” Judy’s eyebrow only rose higher. “ Ughh , fine. You really wanna know?” This time she nodded eagerly, ears bobbing along with her head.

“Okay, so I’m a fox, right? And foxes are predators, right? And predators eat meat, right?” Nick had left his dishes and begun pacing back and forth from the kitchen into the living room in his ‘I <3 the cook’ apron. Both paws moved in sync to punctuate each ‘right.’

“Where are you going with this, Nick?” Judy asked, leaning out and grabbing him as he passed by. He stopped and turned, looking down at her.

“So, where does meat come from?”

“What’re you getting at?”

“ Hunting! We hunt, Judy! We go out to a wildlife preserve, stalk turkeys, kill them, and eat them!” Nick’s eyes were wide and manic, parted jaws panting mere inches from her face. She scooted back on the couch in shock.

“You guys seriously still go hunting?”

He sat back on his haunches, drawing up and away from her. “I mean, I personally haven’t done it in a while, but in general? Yes. It’s like a coming of age thing.”

Okay, he’s totally just fucking with me. No way this 1) still happens and 2) I haven’t heard about it.

“Okay, fine Nick, you’re a good liar. You got me. Now what’s it really?” She rolled back towards him, sticking an arm out to grab his apron and pull him back to her. Instead he leaned in over her arm, gave her a quick kiss between the ears, and stood up.

“Couldn’t be more truthful if I tried, Fluff,” he said over his shoulder while he walked back to the kitchen. “Actually, I’m sure I could dig up the photos somewhere of my first hunt. My dad took me when I turned thirteen. Oh! And there was the next year when he bagged a dozen turkeys in a day! That was crazy.” He looked back when he realized Judy still hadn’t responded. “You okay, Carrots?”

Judy shook her head and popped back up over the armrest. “I’m still trying to comprehend all this.”

That’s the understatement of the year. Am I the only one who doesn’t know that preds still hunt? Or are all prey unaware?

“So, are you gonna go this year?” she asked.

“Huh? Oh, no way. I told you I haven’t gone in years. And I’m definitely not gonna go now.” He slid the last plate into the dishwasher and kicked it closed with a flourish.

“Why not?” He fixed her with a blank stare.

“Are you pulling my tail? I’m not gonna ditch my rabbit girlfriend to go hunting on Thanksgiving. I’m gonna be here with you, and then we can go sing kumbaya like every good Zootopian does once a year.” He pulled the apron off and hung it on the hook in the corner of the kitchen.

Judy scooted back and sat curled up in the corner of the couch as Nick walked back over to her. When he flopped down next to her and wrapped an arm around her, she leaned into him and flopped her ears across his chest. “So, will you take me hunting with you then?” Outwardly, she was giving Nick a coquettish smile. Inwardly, her heart was thundering in her chest.

What am I doing? Why did I ask that?

Because you want to see your fox being a fox. Just like in the museum.

Yeah, but hunting? This is crazy.

He looked down at her like she’d had a stroke. “Uhh, no? Why would you want that?”

Good question, Nick. Sadly, I don’t know the answer.

Yeah, you do.

Well if you have an idea what’s going on, why don’t you take over?

Gladly.

“I don’t want you to miss out on something just because of me. Plus, I’m curious about what it would be like. Everyone just likes to pretend hunting isn’t and never was a thing.” She gave him the cute face , and nestled even deeper into the crook between his arm and torso.

He responded by bringing his other paw up to shield his face. “I’m not looking at you until you put that thing away. We agreed you’re not allowed to use your cuteness as a weapon.”

“That was only if you didn’t call me cute, Slick.” Nick chanced another look, and a tiny “aww” escaped his lips before he put his paw back up.

Got him.

“You’re a monster, you know that?”

“A cute one, though.” She snaked her arms over, and began her final phase: tickle assault.

“ Agh! Ah! Ahhhhh! Cease! I surrender!” Nick scampered away, perching on the opposite edge of the couch on all fours, tail curving around his legs defensively. “Fine, I’ll take you, since I know you won’t give up until I say yes. But don’t blame me if you don’t like it. There’s a reason we don’t talk to prey about this.”

They were sitting together on the upper level of a nearly deserted train car. Outside, the rolling hills and woods grew slowly denser as traces of civilization dropped away. The last time they had seen a building was fifteen minutes ago. Judy’s face had been glued to the glass bubble of the observation deck for the whole trip.

“We’re probably further from Zootopia than the Burrows are by now. Pretty soon you’ll start seeing the fence that marks the edge of the wildlife preserve.” Nick was still lounging in his seat, paws behind his head, speaking to the ceiling.

“Aren’t you excited? You said you haven’t done this in years.”

Judy tore herself away from the glass and walked back to where he was sitting. As she sat down besides Nick, she took a moment to admire the fox next to her. With his arms folded back behind him, the sleeves on his t-shirt slid back to expose almost all of his arms. Lithe, russet, and marked by the hard edges of muscle. At the end of his limbs, large, claw-tipped paws cradled his head. His jaws hung slightly apart, revealing the sharp teeth inside. His torso dwarfed hers and his stout legs gave hers a run for their money. At this moment, he definitely looked built to kill.

“I’m more excited to see the looks on everyone’s faces when a bunny walks into Frank’s Hunting Lodge. Frank’ll probably be the best of all.” He sat up and hooked her towards him with one arm, nuzzling his snout in between her ears. “My tough little bunny is gonna be totally out of her element.”

Judy grimaced. He’s right, though.

Nick was certainly right about one thing. As the couple walked into the large, wooden building, there wasn’t a mammal—or predator, the words here were normally synonymous—who was looking at anything other than them. Specifically, the bunny, who had not only come here, but done so with a fox.

Judy hung close to Nick, forcing herself to look straight ahead and ignore the gawkers. Most of the mammals seemed to be around Nick’s size: foxes, jackals, aardwolves, dingos, lynxes, ocelots. Not many big cats or other large predator species.

I guess there aren't many birds big enough for them to hunt.

Inside the building, Judy couldn’t resist the urge to look around. Signs pointed down hallways advertising several restaurants—all specializing in different types of meat, claw filing services, coat grooming, and a locker room and sauna. At center of the chaos was a large service counter, behind which stood a grizzled brown bear and several smaller predators. Nick, who had stopped to let her take it all in, started walking up to the counter slowly. She quickly fell in-step.

“This is like some paradise predator getaway!” she hissed.

“Calm down, Carrots. They’re either gonna pay attention to you or not. No point in whispering. And yes, Frank is a smart businessmammal.” The whole time he had been looking at the bear who was now staring at the pair. When they got within polite range of the counter Nick threw his arms out in greeting. “Fraaaaaank, long time no see. How’s it going, big guy?”

“Nick Wilde, you’re a sight for sore eyes. And you’ve always got something interesting up your sleeve. What’s your name, miss?”

“Judy Hopps, ZPD.” Judy hopped onto the counter—again, roughly fox-sized—and held up a paw. She and the bear managed a gentle shake once she grasped one of his huge claws.

“Well, a warm welcome to our first prey customer, Ms. Hopps. And what exactly are you two here to do?” Judy noticed he was staring intently at Nick.

“Whelp, I’m here to do some turkey hunting. She convinced me to bring her so she could watch.” Judy caught Nick’s quick sidelong glance and gave an affirmative nod when the bear looked over at her for confirmation.

“Huh, alright. Wilde, you come with me and I’ll book you and give you a map with the good hunting spots.”

Judy watched as the pair moved away on either side of the divide, the bear with heavy steps, and Nick with his characteristic easy gait and swishing tail. When Nick stopped moving, she was released from her trance as his tail finally came to rest, and she began to realize how alone she was. Stranded by the empty counter in a room filled with pointy teeth—pointy teeth that were much less sexy and much more scary when they weren’t in Nick’s mouth.

Alright, keep it cool, Jude. These mammals have been nothing but friendly so far.

Yeah, like you haven’t noticed that most of those looks were glares, not stares.

She looked over to Nick and Frank again. The bear returned from a back room and laid out a map on the counter. She turned her ears towards them when the bear leaned close to Nick.

“So, are you two, uh, ya know, a thing?” the bear asked. Nick gave a little smile, turned briefly to glance at her, and then looked back with a shrug. “Huh, whaddaya know. Well, still, just to be sure.” The bear leaned in closer, forcing Judy to look away just before he glanced in her direction. “You’re not gonna eat her, right? Cuz if I get my license revoked again…” His voice lowered to barely intelligible growl, and his head extended over the counter until his nose almost touched Nick’s. “It’ll be your funeral.”

Nick, smirk still in place, clapped his paws together. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that. Just looking to hunt some turkeys. So, why don’t you just sell me the pass and tell me where to go?” Satisfied, Frank straightened up behind the counter and began animatedly gesturing and circling spots on the map while Judy zoned out.

Nick’s not gonna eat me, right?

Are you hearing yourself right now?

We are gonna be all alone out there, while he gets in touch with his primitive side…

This is ludicrous. This is Nick we’re talking about. Stop freaking out about not being in a prey-dominated space for once and calm down.

If Nick had broken her concentration by doing anything other than scratching her between her ears, she was sure she would have shot straight through the roof. As it was, she yelped and jumped about a foot off the ground before Nick’s paw slowed her ascent.

“Calm down, Carrots. You wouldn’t want all these big, bad preds to think you actually thought they were gonna eat ya, would you?” In his other paw he held the folded-up map and some sort of ticket.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that,” she huffed.

“Oh, well, excuse me for just being a sneaky fox. I can’t help it. Come on, this way.” With a gentle paw on her back, he began guiding her away from the front desk. Judy couldn’t help but notice his eager pace, or how his tail was riding much higher than usual.

Or all those delicious smells he’s giving off.

I wonder if that alone would be drawing stares even if I weren’t here.

“So, are you gonna eat me?” She arched an eyebrow at him.

“That’s for when we get home, Fluff.” She shivered a little when she saw that oh-so-predatory look in his eyes.

“You didn’t tell me we were going to be naked!” Judy squeaked. She and Nick had just exited the locker room that led out to the preserve itself. Her ears were plastered down her back while one paw covered her sex, and the other hovered protectively in front of her chest. Her head was on a constant swivel, and thankfully they appeared to be alone so far. Beside her, Nick appeared as comfortable as ever.

“Did you really think we were going to go hunting in jeans? Any clothes would just get in the way and make extra noise.” As the grass got higher and thicker and the slope gradually increased, he dropped down onto all fours.

“What’re you doing?”

“Well, I’m not gonna hunt standing up. Might as well get back in the swing of things now. Plus, it’s faster and easier. You might as well too, and that way you can stop worrying about covering up.”

Judy complied, and soon she was comfortably hopping along with Nick’s easy trot. They traveled in relative silence, occasionally stopping as Nick sat up on his haunches and looked around to gather his bearings. Judy was reminded of childhood games running through the crops in the Burrows as the flowers tickled her.

Of course, we didn’t do it naked. And certainly not with a fox.

It was shocking to her how quickly running around on all fours came back to her. Already it felt completely natural, dashing naked through the open countryside without a care in the world.

I think I’m definitely starting to understand the appeal to this.

It hit her then how pristine the air was. Zootopia was a relatively clean city, but it was still a far cry from the verdant atmosphere here. Gone was the automobile exhaust, the smell of a thousand species all in close proximity, the chemicals and metallic taste of the air near the climate control systems, or the myriad other smells unique to each district and neighborhood. Now her nostrils delighted in the wildflowers, the shrubs and herbs, and the earthy scent of undergrowth and fallen leaves as they entered a thicket.

I can only imagine what that must all be like for Nick.

Nick. That was another smell that became even louder and clearer out here in the emptiness. She didn’t have words to adequately describe his musk, probably because biologically her only incentive was to notice it and run away. But it was now especially thick, and pleasant as ever. Plodding along behind him, the smell of violets from his lower scent glands was stronger than usual as well. She began to hum with pleasure as the soft crunching of their footfalls quieted to the barely audible padding of their paws through the grass. When Nick stopped to look around, she seriously considered just stretching out for a nap after feeling the sun shimmering along her coat again.

“Hey, Lazybones, look! There they are!”

Nick’s excitement was barely contained by his attempt to whisper. When Judy got back up and scooted next to Nick, she could barely contain herself either. There they were indeed. Large birds, at least as tall as her when standing, with dark brown feathers and bare pink heads. She would have hated to admit it to Nick, but she hardly knew what a turkey was up until this moment. The other animals that hadn’t evolved weren’t a large part of education unless you were studying evolutionary biology, and the ones preds still ate—especially birds, which in so many ways were so eerily similar to mammalian prey—were a sore subject. Their meat was certainly fleshy-looking enough, which gave them a leg up on fish as far as making prey uncomfortable went.

“Wow, they’re much bigger than I expected. What’re… how’re you gonna, you know…” Sitting up with all four paws still on the ground, she was forced to thump one of her hind legs instead of inarticulately gesturing with her forepaws.

Well that was shockingly natural. I don’t know if I like getting this in touch with my nature.

“First, that was incredibly cute,” he said quietly while giving her a quick pet that turned into a stroke down her whole backside, claws lingering briefly around her nearly quivering tail. “Second, just watch. You wait here, and I’ll go see if I can work my magic.”

Judy’s gaze followed Nick as he walked off into the grass. Instantly, he was silent, each step taken with exceeding care, body held low to the ground to stay in cover. It was very different from almost anything she’d seen before.

Walking, walking, walking… No! He’s not walking. He’s stalking! Like at the museum!

Oh my God, was he hunting me at the museum? Is that how he acted it out so convincingly?

It took her a moment to find Nick once again. Thankfully, he was just close enough that she could pick out the waving grass stalks as he approached the turkeys. There were eight of them, four adults and four young, about a hundred yards down the slope from her, in a shallow gulley that Nick was now on the edge of. Around then, she lost him in the distance. She did see one of the turkeys gaze where she had last seen Nick and give a loud, clucking call. The young birds froze, and the other adults looked in the same direction as the first. After a moment, the turkey decided the danger had passed and turned back toward the others, who relaxed. They did, however, start pecking and wandering in the opposite direction.

Long minutes of nothingness passed as Judy continued observing the strange creatures.

This is probably the closest I’ve knowingly been to any sizeable wild animal.

Just when she was beginning to lose her focus, or even wonder if Nick had gotten lost sneaking around in the underbrush, it happened in a flash. Nick shot out of the grass into the air, several feet away from the biggest of the turkeys. Before it could fully turn its head, his jaws locked around its neck and his momentum pulled them both to the ground. Perhaps even more surprising to her was how the other turkeys scattered, flying off with incredible speed once they were sure their young were with them. Of course, this was all observed only unconsciously through her peripheral vision.

She watched with morbid fascination as Nick rolled through the grass, his head and thick neck thrashing wildly. Within seconds, the fluttering stopped, and the bird lay lifeless before him. He gave its neck a few more shakes for good measure, and then released it, turning his muzzle up and barking out a few short syllables. Judy figured he would have howled if he could. In fact, if her ears weren’t playing tricks on her—and they rarely did—he actually received a few distant answering calls.

He just killed a living thing. And celebrated it. And got congratulated for it by other predators.

Nick took a couple steps over to the body of the bird, without ceremony placed his forepaws on it, and began tearing bites out of its flesh. Feathers flew into the air to settle gently around the carnage. Others, glistening with fresh blood, stuck to the edges of his maw. Although he appeared wholly engrossed in the act, his ears remained perked and alert atop his head. Several times he paused, his head popping up to face some perceived intruder, his tail angrily beating the ground, before he would return to his meal.

His meal.

He just killed a living thing. And celebrated it. And got congratulated for it by other predators. And now he’s eating it.

After what felt like eons of watching Nick tear off hunks of flesh, occasionally tossing them up and catching them in his open jaws, he stopped and sat up on his haunches. The whole time the same thoughts ran through her head over and over again. He scanned the field, eventually finding Judy. Even at this distance she could recognize the sheepish grin on his blood-covered muzzle, and the little wave of his paw that went along with it. Yet she could not control what went through her brain.

YouarealloutintheopenandapredatorwithbloodonhismuzzlejustlookedrightatyourunnowyouaredeadmeatifyoudontrunrunrunRUN

Before she could stop herself, she took a single step back. Nick tilted his head in confusion. After a moment, he dropped back down and began bounding through the grass towards her. An even greater internal struggle ensued, and when Nick emerged from the nearby grass and approached her, she was still frozen with one paw extended behind her. He stood up on two feet, then bent over, paws on his knees.

“Hey, Judy, you all right? We can leave any time if you want.”

She remained motionless for a moment before the gears started churning. Then, she stood up and turned to face him, their nakedness completely forgotten.

“No, I’m fine. I wouldn’t want to ruin today for you.”

She took a step towards him.

“Getting a few turkeys is not worth scarring you for life, Judy,” he said, straightening back up. He let her make first contact as she approached for a hug. Once she was fully nuzzled into his chest, he tentatively wrapped his arms around her. She responded with a quick squeeze of her arms, so he tightened his grip into a full embrace.

“I’ll be fine, you big baby. Besides, once you get past all the death, you’re kind of cute out there. You should have seen yourself when you were looking for me.”

She looked up at him as he craned his neck down to meet her eyes. Giving him a little tug, she stood up on her toes and their lips met. Very quickly they came apart again as Judy spluttered and spat out the blood transferred from Nick’s lips to hers.

“Way to ruin the moment, Fluff.”

“ Eghck! I could barely get over the concept, but the taste. Ughh! How do you eat that stuff?” She furiously ran her paws over her tongue to get rid of the taste while Nick hastily licked the rest of the blood off his muzzle.

“I guess it’s just in my biology.”

“Oh, har har.” Judy turned back to face the now cleaned-off fox.

“So, wanna try for round two?”

“Not until you brush your teeth, Mister.”

“Well then, as long as you’re okay and don’t want to have glorious wilderness sex, I guess I’ll go back to hunting.”

But when Nick went out for his second hunt, Judy found it was not so easy to just get past the death. She didn’t freeze up in panic this time, but she couldn’t shake the thoughts out of her head as she watched him leap out of the underbrush, snap the turkey’s neck, and tear off a few hunks of flesh before looking back for her.

He’s a killer he kills he hunts and he kills and he eats.

Her internal debate was little more articulate this time while Nick made his way back.

But is there anything wrong with that? That’s how foxes have always been.

AND THAT’S WHY BUNNIES HAVE ALWAYS STAYED AWAY FROM FOXES!

We’re civilized now! We can coexist.

COEXIST! NOT CO-MINGLE! BUNNIES AND FOXES SHOULD NOT BE TOGETHER AND A BUNNY SHOULD NOT BE GOING ON A HUNTING TRIP WITH A FOX!

But I love Nick! And I know he would never hurt me.

HE’S DESIGNED TO HURT! LOOK AT WHAT HE DID TO THOSE TURKEYS! AND YOU CONSTANTLY TEMPT HIM BY PUTTING YOURSELF IN HIS JAWS!

That’s why it’s so hot! He could, but he doesn’t.

Wow. You actually said it.

“That went a lot better than the first time! You still good, Carrots?” Nick approached her on two feet again.

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. I’m fine.” Judy was still sitting on all fours. Nick fixed her with a suspicious stare for a moment. He squatted down to look her in the eyes.

“You don’t look fine.” He leaned forwards and sniffed her a few times. “You don’t smell fine. You know fear has a scent? Beats me why this was a good thing evolutionarily, but just about every mammal emits certain chemicals and pheromones when they’re afraid. And right now you reek of it.”

Judy’s brows furrowed into a glare. Oh, well, that just does it!

“I’m fine and I’m gonna stay until you’re done. And that’s final!”

Whether I like it or not.

Wait, did he just play me?

Best not to think about that.

“Alrighty then. This way.”

For the next few hours, Judy followed Nick on the search for more turkeys. He eventually caught four more, and while she found it less jarring each time, it was still far from pleasant to watch.

This is unnatural.

Isn’t this like the definition of natural?

Not for a bunny to be here watching.

Touché.

“Alright, Carrots, I’m beat. What say you we head back to the lodge?” Nick flopped down on his back next to where Judy was sitting.

“So, do you just leave all those dead turkeys out there?” She laid back, bringing her head next to his.

“Nah, you mark them and then go carry ‘em all back for processing. Might I say, normally you don’t get six turkeys in one day, especially when you haven’t hunted in years.” He rolled onto his side, nuzzling into her neck with his snout and fixing her with that piercing, green gaze. When she didn’t immediately respond he raised his eyebrows insistently.

“Oh, yes, I’m so proud of my big, bad fox. Good boy.” Judy reached out and scratched under his chin, and soon she had Nick rolling around in the grass with his tongue lolled out and tail furiously wagging. After a few minutes she stopped, giggling at his piteous whines while he sat up and combed leaves and blades of grass from his fur. “You gonna go grab that turkey now?”

“I was gonna take you back first so you wouldn’t have to walk with me while I carry the dead birds.” Judy watched as he stood up and began gingerly running his claws through his tail. She hopped up and ran a paw over her own tail for good measure.

“Believe me, I’d rather carry a turkey myself than sit in that lounge alone for God knows how long.” A little tremor ran through her at the thought.

All those eyes watching. Those claws clicking.

“Just saying, if you did carry one, it’d be only two trips instead of three.”

“Ew, no. You can carry all your own turkeys. I’m fine with a little extra walking. It is really pretty here.”

The sun was hanging low over the horizon as the train sped back toward Zootopia. This time, Judy payed no attention to the foliage as it sped by outside the window. They were in the small mammal section of the car, with Nick’s enormous cooler of turkeys sitting next to the bench. Judy sat in one of the seats while Nick sprawled out across the rest of the row, his head resting in her lap. He was half-asleep, purring appreciatively as Judy scratched his muzzle and between his ears.

Not surprisingly, they were alone in the car. The one rabbit family that had gotten on at the last stop had left in a huff at the indecent sight of Judy petting her fox.

My fox. My fox with a cooler full of meat he just killed. But my fox.

The rest of the passengers in the sparsely filled train were in other cars or size sections.

Not that I’d even care about the stares at this point. I don’t think anything could match being at Frank’s.

She pulled Nick’s head closer against her belly, feeling the rumbles, which could be either purrs or snores at this point, reverberate through her. With the warmth of the sun on her back, and Nick dozing in her lap, her ears drooped as her paws slowly stopped moving through his fur, and she drifted off to sleep.