Chapter 4: Details or Acting Out

“No, no, go away! Don’t!” cry/moans Judy in her sleep.

Nick hugged her a little tighter to him and her grip on him tightened up while she tried to bury her head, literally, in his chest.

“I’m here, Fluff. No one’s going to get you,” he whispered to her as he started using one of his hands to rhythmically flap thump her on her back.

While Judy wore pajamas Nick was down to just his undershorts. He needed to give her as much contact as possible so as to help sooth her. Suddenly, Judy squealed and her arms around him felt like being in the grip of a circular constriction vice.

“Whoa, it’s like she’s trying to merge her body inside of mine!” the fox thought as he did his best to tactilely reassure the bunny while trying to keep breathing. “Humph, wouldn’t that be something if she managed to do it. Talk about getting in touch with your inner bunny!”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

After getting the four arm points down, Nick quizzed Judy on how she knew this.

“Really, I don’t know, but, when whatever it was pounced, that’s the only way I can describe it, on me it grabbed me….”

She stopped, looked it Nick for a few seconds with that ‘’thinking’ expression on her that he’d come to know. He was wearing that blue checked long loose sleeved shirt of his with that vest over it.

“Nick, do you have a set of protective gloves on you?” she asked.

He reached to a pouch pocket, opened it, and extracted a pair of gloves.

“Made of Kevlaar III and proof against most sharp edged weapons,” he said as he slipped them on his paws.

Judy stood up, went over to the back wall, then got down on her hands and knees with her left side brushing up against the wall.

“Nick, come here and stand within arm’s reach behind me,” she directed.

He did as she asked.

“Now, when I say ‘Mark!’ grab me here…”

She indicated the areas on her sides just a few inches above her waist.

“…then haul me up into the air and hold me out at arm’s length. As soon as I’m up, I’m going to start kicking my legs hard and flailing my arms, so get a good hard grip on me,” Judy said.

“Got you. Okay, I’m set.”

Pause.

“Mark!”

The swiftness of his move was astonishing, it mimicked what happened to her perfectly. The only thing missing was that scent. As promised, Judy kicked and flailed away, her hands clawing at those that held her.

“Press your thumbs in harder!” she called out.

He did.

“That’s it! That’s the grip! Now, move me in closer to you. Be aware that I’m going to be kicking you.”

“Rog.”

One foot, then the other just made contact.

“A little closer.”

Better contact but not like the ones she remembered.

“Still closer.”

There, there it was!

“That’s it! That’s how far I was from the front of that…thing…being,” Judy said.

“Fifteen to sixteen inches,” Nick said as he set her, feet first, down on the floor. “For its size, this thing either has a short reach or it crooked its arms for some reason.”

“Might have had to hold me closer so it could wrap me up with its other set of arms?” Judy queried.

“Maybe. Any idea on how steady its hold on you was?”

She thought on that.

“I was thrashing around so much that I really can’t say.”

“Off top of your head, best guess.”

“Stiff and steady,” Judy threw out. “Oh, and it seemed that your hands and the…alien’s are about the same size.”

Another few seconds consideration.

“Yours might be a shade bigger,” she added.

“Any finger digits? If so, how many?” Nick asked as he typed away furiously on the laptop’s keyboard.

Violet eyes close and she lets her mind drift for a while.

“Best guess, three,” she said at last.

“Good haul of info, Bunbun,” he said. “I’m surprised that you’re able to get so much considering the situation you were in.”

“Nick, there’s something else about this thing.”

The tone in her voice made him stop and he looked to her to see a haunted expression on her face.

“It has a scent, an…aroma that…it isn’t like anything I’ve ever come across before. It was so different…alien that it sent me into a full blown panic!”

“If you panicked, then how do you know…”

“I relived that…event Maker only knows how many times while in that cocoon. With nothing else to work with, I’m guessing that my mind analyzed it for every bit of detail it could get,” she said.

Saying nothing, Nick returned his attention to the laptop and tapped away for several more minutes. When he stopped, she saw him pull a ‘memory stick’ from one pocket and plug it into a slot in one side. Three keystrokes and a few seconds wait and then he pulled it back out. Next, he made a call on his smart phone.

“Miss Howlverson, send a runner over to Hopps’s residence. I’ve got a delivery for the Chief,” he said. “No, I can’t bring it myself as I’m staying close to Judith for the rest of the day and night.”

A few seconds wait.

“Tell Buffalo Buns that it’s none of his business why. It’s a personal matter and that both him and you are to keep your dirty minds in check!” he said, then disconnected.

“We’ve done enough for this day. How about we get your living room furniture back in place and then we’ll watch a show or two.

“Fine with me,” Judy said.

They weren’t even halfway done when there was a knock at the door. Nick answered it and Judy saw the cheetah standing outside.

“Take this to Bogo. Do not pass ‘Go!’, do not collect $200.00, straight to his lair,” Nick directed as he handed the memory stick over.

After that, they finished setting the rest of the furniture right, popped up a big batch of popcorn, selected some drinks from the ‘frig., then settled in on the sofa in front of the widescreen and started up a movie. Nick sat at one end with Judy snugged up against his side.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Judy moaned and moved restlessly against her fox. He was her anchor, her one solid point in this whirlpool of terrible dream memories.

“Ride it out, Judith. You survived six decades of it and you’ll get through this one as well. As the saying goes, ‘This too, shall pass’,” Nick murmured to her.