NaZooverse - Book 1: The Risen Curtain

Chapter 21: The Curtain has Risen

Movement was high at the subway. Normal in a big city such as Zootopia. The three officers, now out of their uniforms, were on the station waiting for their train.

"So, what movie should we see today?" Judy asked him.

"You know, Carrots?" Nick said, before looking at her, "I'm feeling awfully nice today, so I'll be letting you decide. After all, we will be seeing it at your home."

"Oh, my. What a gentlemammal." Judy said to him, Ben just looked at them, and he almost looked like he wanted to squeal as he looked at them. Nick noticed it, and he looked up at the cheetah.

"What about you, buddy?" The fox asked, surprising the pudgy feline. "Would you like to tag along in our movie night? Carrots' apartment is not very big, but I'm sure we can all fit in there."

Benjamin looked surprised at this.

"W-what? Me?"

"Oh, sounds like a good idea!" Judy said, beaming. "You could join in our movie nights! It would be the three of us watching movies!"

Nick looked at her as she suggested that, and saw how happy she was with the joke suggestion he made.

Benjamin looked at the bunny, it seemed like he was trying to find words.

"W-well, I'd love to... but I really need to go back home tonight..." He said, a bit awkward.

"What, not wanting to be in the middle?" Nick asked. He wasn't sure why, but he kind of hoped Benjamin wouldn't tag along. It was not that he dislike the cheetah's company, it was... something else.

"Don't worry, Ben, you won't be intruding in anything." Judy assured him, really liking the idea of Ben tagging along with them.

"It's not that." Ben said, "Is that... my roommates are both waiting for me back home. They might get worried if I don't appear."

Both mammals looked at the bigger one.

"You have roommates?" Judy asked. "I didn't knew that."

"Yeah, not everyone knows." Ben said, "Is that... I get a little lonely, and they make me company."

"Well, you could give them a call and tell them you will be doing something else today." Nick suggested.

Ben looked at them and, after a few moments, he said:

"Better not. They usually wait for me to get home, and they are probably waiting for me tonight." Ben said to them. "Maybe another night."

"Oh... okay then." Judy said.

"Well, we can still share a train and talk." Nick said, and he looked at the cheetah. "Maybe you can tell us about these roommates of yours."

He could swear that Ben looked more than a bit nervous at this.

Soon their train arrived, and the three animals walked inside, taking a seat. Soon they were talking as the train moved, and Ben was actually quite talkative about those roommates of his'.

"They are kind of hardcore, you know?" Ben asked them, "They only eat animal protein and they love to see horror movies. I can't stand those things, but they really love it. Do you believe that they spend the night awake seeing the late night horror marathon?" "Wow, they stay awake all night?" Judy asked.

"Yeah, they are nocturnal." Ben admitted. "They tend to stay awake at night and sleep during the day, but they also tend to stay awake during the day when they want to."

"Oh..." Judy said, and she couldn't help but ask:

"And, what do they do for work?" Ben got a little awkward at this. "They... they don't really work..."