Bunny Burrow was a place far removed from the hustle and bustle of Zootopia, the animal metropolis. More than just a winding plain of farm and hearth, it maintained a conservative demeanor much unlike the city Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde called home. Born and raised there, Judy was very familiar with its rustic topography and way of life. Since her departure for Zootopia and induction into the Police Department, however, she’d found herself quickly forgetting the many things she had learned while there. How to properly fertilize a field became replaced by the Miranda Rights. How to fix a tractor had to make room for booking a criminal. The scientific names of plants became redundant when you had to memorize police radio codes. She’d encountered this brain drain after her brief falling out with Nick and returned to the Burrow. Her father politely, but firmly, reminded her while she was unloading a crate of eggs to be careful as she haphazardly hopped off of the back of his truck. She wrote it off as a careless mistake and quickly forgot about it.

She remembered it the night she cooked dinner for Nick and her. It was a part of their celebration for having moved into a new apartment and out of that god awful Pangolin Arms joint. Weeks of saving and credit building had finally earned them the ability to move to a more suitable apartment where there was more space, they were closer to the police station, and they were spared the incessant fighting and shouting of the neighboring gazelles. It was more than a reason to celebrate, and the pair planned on cooking a mighty feast. Judy spent a small fortune at the nearest farmers’ market, making sure every ingredient was sourced from her own Bunny Burrow. Nick, meanwhile, unpacked their belongings so that she would come back to a house fully prepared for living in. He even went out of his way to purchase some candles as a surprise for when dinner started. “Setting the mood with some ambience,” as he put it.

Judy prepared the meal ingredient by ingredient. She chopped the vegetables, grinded the spices, heated the stove, and filled the pot with water. It was the moment she poured it all into the simmering pot that she had an inkling of her mistake. She held her arms open just above the pot’s rim after she had opened them. She frowned into the water where her reflection wibbled and wobbled around the ascending bubbles. Something wasn’t right. She had cut everything, she hadn’t added anything out of order and the temperature was where it was supposed to be. Why did it look so wrong? A single log of severed carrot floated to the top and rolled over, presenting the answer. Instead of a plain orange color, it was covered in a thin layer of brown capitalized by a fat blot in the center. It was still dirty. She forgot to clean and peel them.

“Noooo…” she groaned, putting her face into her paws.

“What?” asked Nick, perking up from the table where he was laying out the plates.

“I messed it up,” Judy groaned. She lurched her head back, floppy ears drooping. “I forgot to peel the carrots.”

“The carrots?” Nick walked up next to her to look. He didn’t see anything wrong. To a fox, all carrots were carrots. He frequently teased Judy over her acute expertise of a vegetable he thought was useless. “What’s wrong with them? They look alright.”

“I didn’t peel them, or clean them even.” Judy griped, killing the stove and grabbing the handles of the pot to move it. She had to reach above her head because the stove was so tall, a recently discovered downside to their new abode. Nick hastily reached to take it for her, but she batted him away. “I got it, I got it,” she insisted. She lifted the pot off the stove. Instantly her arms began to shake.

“Don’t hurt yourself, carrots,” Nick chided, taking the pot away from her. “Looks like we need a smaller stove. What do I do with this?”

Judy wiped her paws down her face, still kicking herself for her mistake. It was an easy fix. Something so minor normally wouldn’t have fazed her. The fact that it was something that had been drilled into her since she was a bunny was what nagged her. “Dump it into the strain. I gotta wash the vegetables and peel the carrots.”

“All of them?” He cocked an eyebrow. Looking into the stew, he still failed to see anything wrong.

“The water’s dirty. I gotta rinse it.”

“Can’t you just clean the carrots? It wasn’t in there long, was it?”

“Just dump it!” she snapped.

“Whoa! OK then! Touchy.” He carried the pot to the sink and did as she asked. The apparently defiled water gushed through the plastic white strain, leaving behind a clod of steaming vegetables. Nick set the pot aside. “There you go, ready for your preparation.” He strode back to the dinner table, smirking. “Don’t mess it up again this time.”

He said it all in the same joking manner he usually employed, never with any passive aggression or bitter edge. That did not stop Judy from feeling a layer of guilt for shouting at him. She heard the clink of Nick putting the silverware down, and she went about peeling the carrots in silence.

Dinner was ready not long after. With their polarized diets, Nick and her meals had to be separated on the table. That did not stop Nick from setting it all up with a certain gay flair that impressed her somewhat. In the center of the table were a pair of tall, unlit candles. Four plates surrounded them, equidistant from each other. “What’s this?” she asked, speaking for the first time since her outburst. “Is the sly fox some connoisseur at presentation?” She giggled at the candles. “Did you buy those?”

Nick bowed theatrically. “Only the best for our finest chef, Madame Hopps.” He straightened and went to the lightswitch. He lowered the light dimmer to the bottom quarter, pitching the apartment in a gloom. He pulled a lighter from his back pocket and lit the two candles. It hardly brightened anything, but did succeed in creating a romantic atmosphere, corny as it was. He smiled proudly. “What do you think?”

Judy fought back laughter, poorly. She swallowed her smile and nodded. “I think it’s splendid, Mr. Wilde. You’ve outdone yourself.”

Nick took a deep breath, inhaling that pleasant aroma emanating from the kitchen. “And I think you have too, although I won’t know until you bring that good stuff over here.”

She grinned giddily and pranced back to the stove where the meal awaited. She collected the four plates from around the candles (to Nick’s mild dismay) and pranced back to the kitchen. She reached for the ladle sitting in the pot by herself, making sure to make it clear that she was tall enough and that they didn’t need a new stove. She would’ve hopped up to grab it if she had to. She wasn’t going to let a stupid stove get in the way of her cooking. She filled the plates with their meals, two for her, two for Nick. She came back with a pair at a time and laid them out on the table. Between trips, Nick hastily scooted them into their original positions while she wasn’t looking. She pulled her chair out and plopped into her chair, elated to see such a fanciful dinner with the man she loved sitting across from her, smiling back.

Nick took his first bite and gave a perfunctory “Mmm, this is great!”

Her eyes narrowed. “You better tell me the truth, I swear.”

He feigned offense. “Ms. Hopps! Would I ever lie to you?”

“You have. On numerous occasions.”

“OK, you got me there, but on my honor as a police officer, this grub you got here is delicious.”

“Calling it grub has me doubting you.”

“Still don’t believe me? Watch.” He took several more bites. He grinned through the pain of searing hot meat sizzling on his tongue. He swallowed and promptly sucked air into his mouth to cool it. “See? Delish!”

Judy cackled into her paw. “Don’t hurt yourself silly!” The pair of them laughed it off. Judy knew that he was telling the truth since he had said it. She wanted to see what he would do to prove himself. She picked her fork up and went to scoop up some food, but came to a stop. Once again her eyes fell on the carrots, now smooth and shiny from the peeling and cooking. All remnants of the ground it had grown from was gone, yet she still dwelled on her failure to clean them when she had to. She dipped her fork into a mound of lettuce, twisting it about sullenly.

“What is it now?” Nick asked teasingly. “Carrots not up to par?”

“No. I’m just thinking about…” She twisted her lips and snorted. “Nothing.”

Nick lowered his head and cocked an eyebrow at her. “What’s up?”

She scoffed. “I’m still thinking about that goof-up with the carrots. I can’t let go of it.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier.”

Nick frowned. He had totally forgotten about it. “It’s OK. You’re really beaten up about it like that?”

“Yeah, and I don’t know why. I guess…” She remembered the crate of eggs. “I guess it’s a stupid mistake.”

“Yeah, a real small one. Don’t sweat it.”

“I’m trying. It’s just that every rabbit knows to clean and peel the carrots. It’s like riding a bike; you never forget it.” Apparently that wasn’t the case, given she just had.

Nick put his fork down. He’d rarely seen her eaten up by something so trivial. “Hey, it’s no big deal. We all forget stupid stuff like this all the time. You think I remember to do everything perfectly every time?”

She smirked. “No, definitely not.”

He winked and shot her a finger gun. “You’re darn right I don’t, now be quiet and enjoy your carrots, carrots.”

She giggled and followed his orders, stabbing herself a log of carrot and munching on it. It was pleasantly warm and crisp, blended with that flavor her kind had evolved to love. She swallowed it, smiling brightly as she looked over to her boyfriend, digging into his own well-appreciated meal. She felt so very lucky to have met him. She recalled everyday their fateful meeting at the elephant dessert shop, a chance encounter seemingly so harmless that she could never have thought that it would lead to the wild adventure it did, ending with the sly fox becoming an officer and moving in with her. She loved him dearly for who he was, which was a fiercely intelligent young man cunning enough to solve almost any problem, be it real world or emotional. He had the suave and charm to talk a fish out of water, a tool once used for personal gain, now for others. She was so proud of him.

His reaction to her mishap with the carrots was even and appropriate, but what would her family think? She knew logically that they wouldn’t be harsh, but she could already hear her father’s passive aggressive remarks: “It’s alright! We’ll just get some other bunny to do it next time.” “I guess you don’t like carrots as much as we thought you did!” “I understand that you might like your vegetables with a little extra grit to them, but not everyone does, OK?” Even though he hadn’t been there, something in her told her to go back and prove that she wouldn’t mess up again. The image of her standing over a counter, mechanically peeling a carrot while a massive stack of raw ones to her right stood a few feet away from a growing pile of peeled ones rose to her mind like a bad memory. I can be the best peeler there is.

She recognized it as her competitive side flaring up, driving her to prove any doubts about her wrong. It was an incredible driving force of hers both helpful and detrimental. It was what helped achieve her dream of becoming a cop and excelling as one. It also turned what should’ve been unimportant tasks into acts so important it felt like her life was on the line. Sometimes proving that she could do something as menial as tying her shoes or peeling carrots was as serious as her job as a cop. Her greatest asset was also a terrible drain.

She knew this wasn’t going away unless she did something about it. Nick wasn’t perturbed in the least, but she was, and something had to be done about it. “How much vacation time do you have right now?” she asked abruptly.

Nick frowned, not expecting that at all. “A little over a week, I think. It’ll take me another year to get that much again. You should have the same. Why? Where do you want to go?”

Judy smiled. She was getting excited just thinking about it. “I wanna visit Bunny Burrow with you. I wanna show you around my hometown.”

Nick’s face brightened. “Hey! That sounds fun. Does this mean I finally get to meet your family in the flesh?”

“It sure does. We can spend the week there, or however long your vacation time is.”

“Great! Do you know how long yours is?”

“A little more than a week, like yours, but we won’t have to worry about that.” A sultry grin rose to her lips.

He smiled suspiciously. “And why’s that?”

“Oh, no reason.” She took a casual sip of water. “I just thought we’d leave in the beginning of March.” Her violet eyes rolled up at him, hung under half-closed lids.

Nick was a smart man, but it took him a few seconds. March? What’s so special about March? It’s not her birthday. What happened last-? He jerked upright in his seat. His black-tipped orange ears flicked themselves into a stand on his head. “You mean..?”

Judy nodded. Took him long enough. “Yes, I do.”

“Oh…” He chuckled, blushing in spite of himself. “I see. How naughty of you~”

Judy shrugged. “I can be naughty, when I want to be.” 

March was a special time of year between them, as it was for most rabbits. Spring thaw came around, the days grew longer, and rabbit mating season was in full swing. Almost all rabbits’ biological clocks clicked together in one synchronized moment, throwing their reproductive organs into a frenzy that demanded the touch of flesh to their own. Rabbits’ legendary proclivity to multiply was nothing to sniff at nor disbelieve. It was an evolutionary drive within every one of them impossible to mitigate or control.

Judy learned that the hard way with her first real mating season, unfortunately falling on her first March in Zootopia. It happened not long after Nick moved in with her to the Pangolin. It hit hard, waking her up in the morning with an exigent ache that clung to her loins like a heavy pressure. She tried to ignore it, going about her job like nothing was wrong as best she could. That turned difficult once the heat came on, and wouldn’t turn off. Every other minute in her patrol car had her groping at her crotch where she fought to contain that burgeoning desire, rendering her into a hot sweaty mess. Nick asked what was wrong. An embarrassed Judy told him the truth: She was really, really horny.

Nick saved her the embarrassment and told Chief Bogo what was going on. Judy was granted mating season leave for the next three weeks, as was mandated for all seasonal breeders. Bogo didn’t tell anyone, but Judy’s following absence from the station told everyone what they needed. Nick suffered the brunt of many quips and jabs. “That time of the year, eh? You got your work cut out for ya.” “I bet she’s hoppin’ on ya every chance she gets! Lucky dog.” “Runnin’ down the old bunny trail, are we? Don’t wear yourself out now.” Nick took it in stride, always sure to give a rebuttal equally snide.

Judy was handling things far worse. Venturing outside of the apartment became ill-advised as the arousal radiating from her womanhood fitted her with a dense aroma impossible to miss or ignore. Anyone within a few feet of her would’ve smelled it and know what was going on. Even if she smelled normal, her horniness hindered her ability to act regularly. She was constantly sweating and panting, trying in vain to regulate her temperature to some degree. She paced the apartment nude, groping and grabbing at her cunt, now thoroughly soaked in her fluids. She hopped on her laptop and visited lewd websites. She leaned back on the bed, balanced on one paw, spread her legs, and fingered her pussy with an intense fury she didn’t know she had. 

On the screen in front of her were images of foxes that weren’t Nick, men who wore nothing more than two articles of clothing at once, showing off their rippled muscles and blessed endowments. Even within the din of her mind burning with arousal she could recall a time when she would never have found a fox of any stature or physique attractive. Meeting Nick had changed that. Her time with him gradually altered what she found sexy in men, that being lustrous orange fur, long bushy tails, quick wits, and piercing green eyes. She saw that and then some on the screen in front of her, imagining Nick’s face instead of the ones that were there.

She came multiple times and with frightening bombast. It did nothing. Her paw was a gunky mess, covered from fingers to wrist in a discordant mess of her womanly product. Even then that terrible aching would not subside. She knew very well what her body was demanding, which was a man’s seed. Nothing would make it go away until she was gifted that.

Nick came to the apartment after his shift in the evening. He was in front of the door ready to knock when it flung open to reveal a totally nude Judy looking like she had gone feral. He was struck in the face by her rancorous aroma, crinkling his nose and making his fur bristle. “Wha-!?” She cut him off with a curt grab of his shirt. She yanked him inside and slammed the door behind him. He stumbled inside and looked her up and down. “Goodness, carrots! Is everything-” She charged up to him and frantically began unbuttoning his uniform. At once he understood. “-OK? Ah, I see.” He stood there motionless while she stripped him nude piece by piece. His clothes were scattered around the apartment in a few moments, leaving him in his boxers. Judy leapt into his arms and latched to him like a tick. She mushed her lips to his and invaded his mouth with her tongue. He held onto her tight, meeting her sloppy kiss while trying to match her energy as best he could.

She came off of his mouth with a loud, throaty gasp. “Huhhhhh… Oh goodness… Huhhh…. Where have you been all day?”

	“Ahh.. At work. You know that.” He slid his paws to her rump where he squeezed hard, pressing her claws into her firm yet doughy haunches. 

A sharp thrill rocketed up her spine like a zap of electricity, twitching her bunny tail and erecting her floppy ears. “Mmm… Don’t ever go back, then. Goodness… I need you so bad…”

He chuckled. “I guessed as much.” They resumed their chaotic smooching while he carried her over to the bed. “Let go and drop down. Let me take these boxers off.”

She didn’t want to let go, or to ever stop touching him for that matter, but she managed to relax her grip on him and plop down to the mattress on her back. Her legs were spread as wide as they would go. The powerful muscles in her thighs bulged her fur out. Her loins were glistening with the smear of her arousal. Her cunt was splayed open audaciously, letting him see her jutted clit so ready for his attention.

He was eager to oblige her. He grabbed his waistband and pushed them down his slender, orange legs. They crumpled around his ankles, and he stepped out of them. Judy bit her lip. Her nose twitched. Her amethyst eyes locked with his penis which was sprung clear of his sheath. Everytime she looked at it she recalled the first time they made love. It was an event they both looked forward to and dreaded. They’d known each other for half a year. They both knew how badly the other wanted to consummate their relationship, but the social stigma hung over their heads like an anvil. Predator and prey, making love together. That wasn’t what you’d call totally accepted by society. Regardless, they still loved each other, and their relationship had already been made public. What was there to be ashamed of? Judy was a virgin. Giving it to Nick would’ve made her the happiest woman in the world. The night they first had sex was one of great passion, intense love, and for Judy, immense disappointment.

Putting it bluntly, Nick was no good in bed. The stereotype of the sly and nimble fox was utterly debunked the moment he tried positioning himself on her. Doggystyle, missionary, butterfly, whatever the case, he struggled and often failed to place himself correctly for adequate thrusting, which were themselves awkward and stilted. He had no stamina. His muscles were prone to cramping. His body had a habit of breaking into a deep sweat long before she did.

Worst of all, his penis was utterly incompetant.  Packed tightly between his thighs, it fell short along every metric Judy could think of. His scrotum was a beady fruit hardly growing past a size she would expect to see on Nick’s friend, Finnick, who was several times shorter than him. His balls were mostly hidden under a thin fuzz of white fur. His penis matched the overall dearth of his scrotum, hardly reaching just a few measly inches from his nubby sheathe. 

Judy hated herself for her disappointment, but there was hardly anything else to feel when looking at it. It being inside her wasn’t very different. She squeezed her walls around it for all it was worth, but failed in garnering much pleasure. Seconds of awkward huffing and gasping from Nick without any input from her forced her to fake some moaning. She didn’t have to do it for long, because Nick wasn’t the longevity type. Less than five minutes of humping and he was done. His face would scrunch, his teeth would grit, his cheeks flushed, and his penis let loose whatever it could. He went again after a few minutes’ wait, but was burnt out before his second climax could arrive.

Judy had never come close to an orgasm of her own, a debt he paid for with his tongue. She was more than happy to accept his gentlemanly payment, but the thought of what could’ve been lingered like a traumatic memory. Nick, for all his intelligence and character, was simply not the love maker Judy had hoped he’d be, and he never would.

She dwelled on that fact once Nick removed his underwear and let bare his pitiful manhood. He bred her to the best of his ability, which was mediocre. His orgasm and following cunnilingus doused the flames of her arousal for a few minutes, but a rogue ember found its way back into her loins and lit it ablaze once more. The rest of that season was hell for the both of them whenever they were together. Judy pounced on him every chance she had until his penis could muster nothing more than a watery spit of cum. Nick ended every night sore as a broken limb while Judy still had energy to spare. Nick came to work every morning burnt out while Judy stayed locked in the apartment, masturbating. It was an awful strain on their relationship, one that didn’t break them, but battered them mentally.

Being on vacation would’ve made it incredibly easier for Nick at least. Being away from the station and the constant heckling which he didn’t have the energy to defend against would be a great burden lifted. For as long as he could, he would be by her side to take care of her, easing her aches. When she thought about it, maybe it was a good thing Judy messed up the carrots. She probably wouldn’t have thought about going back to Bunny Burrow during mating season when she knew mostly everyone would be too busy porking to bother Nick and her. She would see her family for the first time in almost a year and finally introduce them to Nick.

“Here’s to vacation in March,” Judy said, lifting her glass of water above the dining table towards Nick.

He grinned broadly. “To March.” He lifted his glass and reached out to her. They clinked glasses between the candles and took long, refreshing sips.