Jerry Jumbeaux hated his apartment. There were some parts of Zootopia that just weren't very convenient for the larger mammals, no matter how beautiful the city itself was. His living space took up the entire basement floor of a building right next to Little Rodentia. He could actually see the miniature metropolis from his window.

The bills were murder. So was the landlady, who wasn't crazy about missing out on the rent that several families of smaller mammals would have provided. Still, that was life in the big city. Bigger mammals had to be accommodated under penalty of law, and that was that. If she didn't like it, well, she was in the wrong business wasn't she?

Too bad he couldn't get somewhere with higher ceilings. Jerry was constantly in danger of banging his head against one of the low doorways leading to his kitchen. It was a good thing he had such a thick skull, or he'd be knocking himself senseless on the regular.

Something clattered to the ground in the kitchen. Great. Now he'd probably have a mess to clean up after spending all day doing much the same thing at his ice cream parlor. He stomped through the dark apartment, ducking instinctively to avoid bumping his head, and flipped on the kitchen light.

One of the cabinet doors was hanging open, and Tupperware had spilled out onto the floor. Well, that wasn't so bad. Jerry bent low and began to scoop up the plastic containers, his trunk making the job considerably easier.

A loud cracking noise filled the room. Jerry dropped like a ton of bricks, a quarter-size hole blown into the top of his head. The elephant's thick skull hadn't protected him this time.

There was something really special about watching the city get ready for the day. Judy had only been working in Zootopia for a few months, but already she had developed her own morning ritual. Right before work she would sit in a coffee shop for half an hour, sip a latte, and watch the crowds of animals pass by outside. Rising early wasn't a problem for a farm bunny, and she was always grateful for a good start to the day.

Judy was still enamored with her job. True, she still worked most of her shifts as a meter maid, but Chief Bogo was slowly putting her into more and more important roles when he had the chance. She understood the system now; as a cop she needed to learn her way around town, but as a rooky she needed to be kept out of harm's way until she had a little more experience under her tiny belt. Traffic duty allowed her to do both. It didn't feel like a punishment any longer, more like she was going through the same initiation that every other cop had to deal with.

Nick was in the same boat. They hardly saw each other at work since writing tickets didn't require a partner, but they ate lunch together and hung out while not on the clock. The fox was chafing under the Chief's authority a little, but he'd come around eventually. Turning from con man to cop wasn't the easiest transformation to make.

This morning hadn't started out quite like the others. Judy had received a gift outside her door that caught her by surprise. A little basket of sweet pea pods, still cool and wet with condensation, was waiting with a ribbon tied around the handle. There was no card, but right away she knew who had left it for her. It was a surprisingly sweet gesture from a fox that had once called romance and flirting a very expensive way to earn a restraining order.

It had to be Nick, of course. Who else could know her well enough to do something like this? There were a few officers at Precinct 1, none of whom seemed even remotely interested in romance. Those that were had mates already or weren't looking to date a bunny. She also knew the Ottertons, who didn't know her address. No, this had to be her best friend's doing.

The question was, why? Did he just want to do something nice for her? She hoped so, because there was no way they'd end up dating. Police officers that worked together weren't supposed to get romantically involved, and she badly wanted to keep him as her partner. Besides, they were two very different species. Nothing good could come of that, no matter how progressive both of them had become. Predators and prey could coexist in relative harmony, but as a couple? Forget it.

Judy sighed, finished her coffee, and headed for the door. She waved at the rabbit behind the counter on the way out. He made a really good latte.

It was hard to know what to say to Nick, or if she should even say anything at all. Judy didn't want to hurt his feelings, or to make him think she was turning him down for the wrong reasons. At this point she wasn't even sure that he meant for the gift to be a romantic gesture and not a simple favor for a friend.

Maybe she should just stay quiet. It would be easier to make a decision once she knew his intentions. That certainly seemed like the right thing to do. Judy felt a lot better now that she had a course of action in mind, and was able to approach the day with her usual enthusiasm.

The hare reached her desk before her partner, as usual. Nick didn't show up until just before the morning's briefing, coffee in hand and eyes hiding behind mirrored sunglasses. "Lazy fox," Judy muttered as she climbed onto the chair next to him.

"Dumb bunny," he responded. "You should try switching to the night shift. We'll see who has trouble staying awake then. Think I could convince them to give me a bonus for working days since I'm nocturnal?"

Judy snorted and nudged him with an elbow. "No, and the last thing you need is for anyone to take a closer look at your finances when tax season comes along."

Nick rolled his eyes so hard that it almost looked painful. "Is it my fault that I dared to do the impossible? Death and taxes were once life's two certainties. I've managed to conquer one, and for some reason that makes me the bad guy."

"And to think, some animals just spend their time trying to cure cancer or end world hunger."

"Well I'm not a scientist or a doctor, but I like to think my talents speak for themselves." The fox was the only one that didn't rise a few moments later as Chief Bogo entered the room. Nick had somehow managed to get away with that thus far, although it annoyed their boss a little more each time. There was probably a punishment in store for him just as soon as Bogo got around to thinking of one.

The two rookies were assigned parking duty. Big surprise. Judy and Nick set out in their underpowered "jokemobiles" to hand out as many tickets as they could and then met at Judy's favorite coffee shop for lunch. Everything seemed perfectly normal, which either meant that Nick wasn't behind the gift or that he didn't intend for it to be a romantic gesture.

That made Judy feel a bit better. Part of her was disappointed, but she knew that things would be less complicated this way. It also meant that the difficult question of why she was so concerned over Nick's opinion of her could wait to be answered another time. Or, as was more likely at this point, she could just never answer it at all. That sounded like a much better idea.