A/N: I've decided to take small break from my other main Zootopia work to write this short little fluff piece, I don't plan to write more than two or so chapters for it, so it'll be short and sweet. A few things before I get started; after combing various Reddit posts and Wiki pages, I came up empty for Delgato's or Wolford's first names. So, for my fic they will be Ricardo Delgato and Stephen Wolford (If anyone knows their first names let me know and I'll update as soon as I can) Other than those few things I've said all I need to… So, enjoy and let me know what you think by leaving a review. Bye!
I apologize for anyone receiving a second update for this, I had to correct a few mistakes that Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps brought to my attention. If this your first time reading this chapter than pay no heed to this sentence and read on!
Officer Judy Hopps paced impatiently down one of the ZPD's dimly lit hallways, the only sound was the soft padding of her paws hitting the cool marble floor. Spinning on her heel, the rabbit glared at a metal door labeled 'Interrogation', it had been too long since her partner, Nick, had went in. It was the Fox's' first solo questioning and despite having absolutely no reason to worry, Judy found herself nervously awaiting her friend's goofy smile.
"C'mon, Judy. Focus, now's not the time for you to be worrying about that," the small Rabbit whispered fiercely, shaking her head.
"Got something on your mind, Carrots?" An all too familiar voice asked, it's tone cool and collected.
Judy's heart leapt into her throat as she spun around to see a particular the red devil himself, Nicholas Wilde, nonchalantly leaned against the Interrogation room door, his emerald eyes gazing at his partner with amusement.
"How'd the questioning go? We learn anything?" Judy questioned, avoiding the Fox's gaze, silently praying he couldn't see the blush under her gray fur.
Nick groaned and let a long sigh escape his muzzle before lazily pushing himself off the wall. "I got nothing we didn't already know, the Weasel isn't talking."
Judy quickly fell in step beside her partner as they made their way down the empty hallway in silence, so far this case had been a bust. They had been without a lead for two weeks, two whole weeks! Judy could barely contain herself, there was no reason for the investigation to be taking so long.
Suddenly a warm, furry arm draped itself across Judy's shoulders bringing her to a screeching halt. "You okay, Carrots?" Nick questioned, his voice's usual carefree tone replaced with concern. The only response was a loud squeak as the Bunny jumped in surprise over her partner's surprisingly soft touch.
"I-I'm fine, Nick, just fed up with the wall we've hit with the case," Judy whispered, pulling away from the Fox's touch leaving him staring at her in concern.
"You need a break Carrots, I think the case is starting to get to you," Nick sighed, placing his hands on her shoulders, giving them a light squeeze. Judy let out a small sigh, enjoying the feeling of his pads on her sore muscles. The Fox smirked as he watched the Bunny's ears twitch with each movement with of his talented thumbs.
"You're tense, Hopps. Even for a Rabbit. Take a vacation, I'm sure you've got plenty of days saved," Nick teased, a light chuckle escaping his maw. Judy sighed again, trying to summon the strength to pull away from Nick's warm touch. "C'mon Carrots, we can put the request into Bogo together," the Fox whispered into the Bunny's ear, his hot breath tickling her ear.
"Now now sly Fox, are you trying to convince me to shirk my duties?" Judy teased pulling away from her companion leaving him standing with a goofy grin.
"Guilty as charged Officer, you should probably take me in," Nick laughed, holding his wrists out front of himself in an exaggerated motion. Judy giggled at the thought of throwing a pair of handcuffs on the smug Fox, just to see how he would talk himself out of it.
"You two need to get a room, you're making me sick watching this soap opera shit," Wolford grumbled as he stalked past the pair of Officers, his nose buried in a coffee cup as he passed. Judy immediately blushed so fiercely that it seemed that all the blood in her little body had rushed to her head at once, Nick on the other hand saw the perfect time to mess with his favourite target.
"What's wrong Wolfy, Fox got your tail?" Nick joked swatting at the Predator's swishing tail as it passed. The response from Wolford was a low growl as he swept the brush of fur from the Fox's grasp. Judy, having recovered from her embarrassment, rolled her eyes before giving her partner a sharp elbow to the ribs wiping the mischievous smirk from his snout with a loud yelp.
"Sorry about my juvenile companion, he hasn't learned how to behave as an Officer yet," Judy apologized curtly, trying her best to keep the smile off her face. Wolford chuckled as he watched the Fox flick his partner's ear causing the short Bunny to whirl around, her fists bared for a fight. Nick let out another yelp as a fluffy ball of fury set upon him, her tiny paws striking him in the ribs repeatedly.
"I'll leave you two to your lover's quarrel," Wolford laughed as he stepped out of the way of Nick's swishing tail as he defended himself from a vicious Rabbit attack. The Wolf's comment made the pair stop mid fight, their eyes following his receding form down the hallway. Suddenly Nick cleared his throat making the Bunny realize she still had her arms wrapped around his torso in what was the beginning of a very serious wrestling move. Judy's cheeks once again turned a bright red and she released her partner with a small squeak, trying her best to conceal the blush spreading across her face.
"So Carrots, how about that vacation?" Nick laughed watching his partner squirm in embarrassment. 'She's so cute when she's riled up,' the Fox mused his green eyes sparkling with mischievous amusement.
"Fine sly Fox, you win this time," Judy lamented, accepting her defeat to the hands of the cunning red Fox. A grin split her partner's face as he mentally made a strike in his victory list over the smaller Officer. "But, only under one condition," the Bunny added, wiping the grin from Nick's face.
"You have to take me out to eat, somewhere nice," Judy ordered, a wide smile spreading across her innocent face. Nick groaned loudly as his mind raced to pick out a restaurant that served Predator and Prey dishes, last time they went out to eat he was forced to eat something absolutely revolting Judy called 'plums'. For the rest of the night he had sat in the patrol car moaning about how he was dying and it was all her fault.
"You drive a hard bargain Fluff, but I'll bite," the Fox sighed dramatically as if the Bunny was forcing him against his will. Judy let out a triumphant cheer and stuck her tongue out gloating of her victory.
"I can still hear you down here, and still not enjoying it," Wolford's voice grumbled from one of the open door's further down the hallway.
"Quiet grumpy, you just wish Delgato would be a nice partner like me and take you out to eat," Nick yelled down the hallway, his token smirk displayed prominently on his snout. Loud curses could be heard as Wolford banged around in his office, seconds later the Timber Wolf darted out of the room making a beeline for Nick.
"Hey now, didn't we just have a talk about acting like proper Officers?" the Fox yelled as he turned and fled down the hallway with Wolford hot on his tail. Judy watched in bewilderment as the two Predators skidded around a corner and disappeared from sight.
"No one manages to stir Stephen up like your Fox," Delgato mused, his head poking out from the doorway his partner had just burst out of. Judy felt her cheeks flush at the Tiger's choice of words, 'Her Fox', for some reason it made her smile hearing it said like that.
"Sorry Ricardo, seems like we need to keep both our partners on a shorter leash," Judy laughed as she turned to jog down the hallway where the two Officers had disappeared seconds earlier. The Tiger gave a lazy wave as he watched the Bunny for a few moments before he ducked back into his office quietly muttering about 'rookies and their antics'.
Judy frowned as she quietly padded up to Clawhauser's desk in the middle of Precincts One's expansive lobby, she had planned to take advantage of Nick's absence and put in for her vacation but quickly realized she had no clue how to request for days off. It took a matter of seconds for the portly Cheetah to notice the small Bunny standing in front of his desk.
"Oh! Hey Judy, how's my favourite Bunny todayyyy?" Clawhauser questioned, drawing out the end of his sentence in his usual fashion. To an outsider the heavy set Cheetah wouldn't fit the stereotype of a police officer, but even the most grizzled members of the force had come to love the gentle Predator and his quirks.
"Hey Benji, any chance you can show me how to ask for some vacation?" Judy asked meekly, not wanting to admit that she needed help, especially with something so simple.
"Job starting to get to you?" the Cheetah asked in concern his caring brown eyes drifting from the box of half eaten donuts that he had been eyeballing for the past half hour. Sure, the small Bunny was tough, but Clawhauser couldn't help but worry about her working such long hours. Anytime something happened to Precincts One's token Bunny everyone seemed to worry, even Chief Bogo, though he would never admit it himself.
"Oh, no, no, nothing like that. I just need some time off, some 'me' time," Judy stammered moving to reassure the Cheetah before he worried too much over her.
"Would this have anything to do with a certain Fox taking the same number of vacation days?" Clawhauser gasped, his chubby paws jumping to cover the shocked 'O' his mouth hand become. A blush immediately sprang to Judy's cheeks as she cleared her throat in an attempt to hide it from the Cheetah.
"A-absolutely not, why would you think that?" The Bunny stammered trying to clear her mind from the shock of what her co worker had just accused her of. 'Way to not appear guilty, dumb Bunny,' a voice that sounded much like her partners teased in the back of her head.
"No reasonnn," Clawhauser giggled madly as he moved a empty doughnut box so he could punch a few buttons on his keyboard, bouncing in his seat giddly all the while. Judy's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly, her mind trying not to imagine the scenes that were playing in the Cheetah's twisted reality. Left to her own thoughts Judy leaned against the desk, her amethyst eyes staring off into the distance, the noises of Precinct One blurring together.
"You look quite cute tonight, Carrots," Nick breathed, his eyes taking in Judy's petite from in her dazzling blue dress as she blushed deeply at her partner's use of the C-word, usually she would berate the Fox for using it, but there was just something about the way he whispered it. A sweet smile graced her lips, one that made the Fox's heart melt, making him blush at the sight. Her paw slowly found his, their fingers intertwining together pulling them closer together on the chilly night. Nick's signature grin spread across his face as the Bunny buried her head in his chest, her senses getting drunk in his scent.
A silence fell over the pair as Judy's beautiful purple eyes met Nick's kind, green gaze. Without a single thought she reached up and pulled the Fox into a deep kiss. Her Fox. Fireworks exploded between the pair as Nick answered the embrace in earnest, his lips pressing against her's in silent bliss. Suddenly the Fox pulled away from the kiss leaving Judy silently wishing for more of his embrace, her wishes were answered when Nick pulled her into a tight hug, his nose gently brushing her ear, tickling the sensitive fur, as he leaned in to whisper.
"Why are you drooling?"
Judy snapped to attention, her mind tearing back to reality faster than Flash's street car. Beside her Nick looked on in amusement, his brows raised in curiosity to what the Bunny could be thinking of in her own little world.
"I-I'm not drooling," Judy stammered dumbly in response to her partner's accusation, causing the Fox's smirk to deepen. 'She's so adorable when she's flustered,' Nick mused, watching the Officer try and conceal the blush that was spreading across her cheeks. Her cute little Bunny cheeks.
"Benji, did my favourite Cheetah get our days off squared away?" Nick inquired, turning his attention over to Clawhauser, who was ogling the pair as if they were a donut waiting to be devoured. Almost immediately the portly Officer jumped in his seat, apparently caught in his own daydream.
"Four vacation for the each of you, Chief Bogo approved them as soon as they hit his desk. Looks like he really does have a soft spot for you two," Clawhauser chuckled lightly. Nick smirked slyly, even though old Buffalo Butt would never admit it, the Cheetah was right. Ever since the Nighthowlers case the duo had quickly climbed the ranks of the ZPD, solving case after case until they were among Chief Bogo's finest Officers. The older Mammal couldn't help but feel a little protective over the pair at this point, especially after they had overcome so much just to prove themselves.
"Wait one second, four days?!" Judy exclaimed, her mouth dropping open slightly at the preposterous idea of leaving her case for that long. Clawhauser nodded in a stunned silence, trying his best to figure out what he had done wrong.
"C'mon, Carrots. That's four whole days you get to spend with yours truly," Nick teased lightheartedly, giving his partner's ear a gentle flick. Suddenly the Bunny whirled around, her eyes burning with what seemed to be anger. Cute, adorable, Bunny anger.
"Outside now Nicholas Wilde!" Judy ordered grabbing the Fox by his collar making him yelp in surprise. Any present Mammal in the Precinct's lobby stopped to stare at the ordeal, each of them taking pity in the Fox's predicament. Seconds later the enraged Bunny disappeared out of the station's front doors with her partner in tow leaving behind her a wake of murmurs.
"Ow, Judy that actually kind of hurts," Nick groaned as his partner drug him behind the shadow of one of Precinct One's massive stone pillars that dominated the front stairs of the huge building. Satisfied that there were no other Mammals nearby to eavesdrop Judy released the Fox's shirt letting him return to his normal, not Bunny sized, height. She watched him in amusement as he dramatically stretched his back as if he suffered some great injury.
"I agreed to a short vacation, not four days off work! What's going to happen to the case when we're not around?" Judy questioned, jabbing her finger into Nick's chest repeatedly with every word.
"First off Carrots, a short vacation is a few days off, a few equaling four in this case. Secondly, I talked Wolfard into helping out after he stopped trying strangle me," Nick lazily explained, opting to not repeat Judy's finger jabbing move on her.
"You asked him to help, on our case?!" Judy snapped, she could almost not believe her ears. Why would Nick just give away their case like that?
"Did you forget that they're our senior Officers? We're supposed to have them in charge anyways," Nick grumbled, not enjoying the betrayed look his partner was shooting him. "And no, I didn't give our case away," he added almost as if he could read Judy's thoughts.
"Oh! You're just incorrigible you stupid Fox," Judy growed, completely unable to argue with her partner's logic no matter how much she opposed it.
"But I'm your stupid Fox," Nick teased, enjoying the blush that was barely noticeable through the Bunny's grey fur. Before he got a chance to tease her further, Judy spun around and stalked back inside that station leaving Nick standing alone on the steps with his thoughts.
'Her Fox,' he turned the idea over and over in his head, the thought becoming more appealing by the second. Little did he know that inside Judy was thinking the same thoughts, the blush on her cheeks deepening with every moment.
Nick's day passed slowly ever since his conversation with Judy earlier in the day, and not a moment passed where she wasn't on his mind. It was strange really, for he couldn't seem to remember when his feelings for the Bunny went past just being friends. Even going back to the very first day he met her, he wasn't lying about her being a cute meter maid. The moment Nick laid his eyes on the petite Bunny he felt something stir in himself, something that just felt right.
"Could I date her?" The Fox mused, a certain grey Bunny filling his head with 'what ifs'. He was never against cross species relationships, so the thought didn't seem strange as it bounced around his mind. In his time being a hustler he had seen his fair share of them, heck, even Finnick had a fling with a very attractive skunk on one of their many 'adventures'. The longer he sat there thinking about the more he made up his mind, he wanted Judy Hopps to be his Bunny, the only hitch was how she felt.
Nick sighed deeply and stretched in his office chair, his maw opening to let out an exaggerated yawn. His emerald gaze slid over to Judy to see if his display had distracted the Bunny from her work, to his disappointment it did not. 'Wonder what that silly Bunny could be thinking,' Nick pondered watching Judy's nose twitch as her amethyst eyes stared at her computer screen as if it was some great mystery recorded in the lines of code.
In reality the Bunny couldn't be more distracted, her mind racing a mile a minute, which is fast, even for Bunny standards. Frustration didn't even begin to describe what Judy was feeling as she tried to have just a single moment where she wasn't thinking of a certain sly Fox and his mischievous grin. It didn't help that the Mammal that filled her mind with daydreams was sitting right next to her, his emerald gaze burning into her skin.
"So Carrots, how does seven sound for our 'date' tonight?" Nick purred, his smooth voice pulling the Bunny from her thoughts. 'Did he say date?' Judy questioned inside her head, a blush jumping onto her cheeks.
"T-That sounds fine to me," she managed to stammer, purposely turning away from the Fox to conceal the scarlet glow that was barely hidden by her fur.
"Great! I'll be at your place later tonight then," Nick announced standing up from his chair with a groan, taking a second to let his bones crack audibly. Judy ignored her partner as he quietly padded to the door and opened it with a loud creak.
"By the way Carrots, you're really cute when you blush," Nick breathed, his words almost stopping the Bunny's heart cold. Judy's breath caught in her throat as she glanced behind her, expecting to see the Fox leaned against the door frame with his signature smirk plastered on his maw. Instead the Bunny found herself staring into a empty hallway, her partner long gone leaving only his comment burning on her face.
"I'll show him cute," Judy huffed turning her attention back to her laptop, her mind plotting on how to get revenge on the dumb Fox.