"What are you going to do now?"
"Hm?"
"Bellwether is in custody, Bogo failed to ever file your resignation, and you're standing in a museum with a bum leg and a strange fox in the middle of the night. What are you going to do now, Fluff?"
"Huh. First, I probably need to call my parents before they pack up 340 siblings and drive three hours to find me. I kind of took off with my dad's pickup without an explanation and it's probably better they hear about all of this from me and not the news. After that, I probably need to see if I can get a hotel room this time of night because I'm not going to drive this tired and I can't exactly walk up and ask for my apartment back right now."
"Agreed on the calling your parents, disagreed on the hotel room."
"Pardon?"
"You're a bunny cop who collected one paycheck and then ran back to the carrot farm. Chances are, the only hotel room you can afford in Zootopia is going to be infested enough to keep a Bug-Burga in supply for a year. You can either wake up Fru Fru and see if she wants to put up her daughter's godmother for the night or you can come take a nap at Casa del Wilde. Take your pick."
"…Let me call my parents and get back with you on that slight insult and generous offer."
"You sure you're okay with this, Nick?"
"Quit your worrying, Carrots. I'm offering you a clean, relatively comfortable place to sleep for the night. Not a big deal for anyone with an ounce of mammal compassion. Besides, even your mother thought it was a good idea."
"She thought it was better than sleeping at any hotel that only cost the $40 I have on paw. Trust me when I say she was not thrilled with the situation."
"She thought it was a good idea. Anyways, here we are."
Judy glanced into the apartment and took a tentative step forward as Nick turned on the lights. It was a surprisingly nice apartment. Simple and clean, with a kitchenette and a sitting area visible and one couch positioned in front of a television.
"The left door leads to the bathroom, the right door leads to the bedroom. Don't mix them up, please." Nick smirked at the doe who had yet to speak a word since she walked in. "If you're worried about your dental health, there's a spare toothbrush up in the cabinet over the sink. And the sheets in the bedroom were just washed a few days ago so you don't have to worry about predator germs."
"Nick…"
"Sorry, probably not the best time for that joke. But the sheets really are clean."
"I'm not going to take your bed."
"Yes you are. I have futon right here so I'm good."
"You take your bed. I can use the futon."
"I'm not arguing over this. My mother raised a gentlemammal and you are going to sleep in a bed. Besides, this is the futon Finnick uses when he comes over here and I would rather not expose you to anything that flea-bitten fur ball might be carrying."
"Nick, that's a little mean. He's the reason I even managed to find you today…or, I guess yesterday by now."
"Yeah, he sent me a text. Why else would I be casually waiting under a bridge?"
"Wait…you were expecting me?"
"…anyways, Carrots, it's late so you should probably get some sleep."
"Agreed." The bunny smirked as she hopped up onto the futon.
"You're a stubborn little thing."
"Fluff, you're late for work!"
Judy snatched up abruptly, ready to make the world a better place…before realizing the lack of logic in the wakeup call.
"I'm on leave until my leg is healed and until a public statement has been released on Bellwether."
"Yep. But it's almost noon and since you insisted on the futon, you're currently blocking my TV watching seat."
Miffed bunny lips pouted, but bright purple eyes betrayed their bearer.
"My delicate nose can only handle so much sweaty bunny smell. Why don't you hop to the shower, little bunny, and let me catch up on Canines and Cocktails."
"Never took you for the reality show type, Nick."
"It's quality entertainment! I'm sure all the little hero bunny has watched are crime shows and educational television."
The bathroom door closed in response.
Judy strutted back out dressed in her farmer get-up, drying behind her ears with a towel before tossing it neatly into the hamper behind her.
"I should probably get back to Bunnyburrow. I need to situate a few things before I move back up to Zootopia."
"So Officer Fluff is definitely returning?"
"She is…but she still does not have a partner. Do you perhaps know someone who might want to fill the role…?"
Nick grinned a toothy grin. "Perhaps. Though he may not be interested in working with a bunny with fur matting on her face."
"What?" Judy felt her damp face, finally resting her paw on an area of stubborn fur on her cheek. "Oh, no that's just a little scar. My fur doesn't like to lay right there when it's wet."
He took by her casual mention that it was from a minor incident. "Scar? Some trophy from Officer Hopps taking on a mammal many times her size at the Academy?"
"Not quite. Childhood bully picking on some friends of mine at a festival when I was like nine. He stole their tickets, but I got them back!" Judy could not help but stand a little taller and smile in pride at her childhood accomplishment.
"Geez. How did a bunny scrape up your cheek like that?" Nick glanced closer at the faded scars.
"I'm sure ol' Gideon would love to hear himself being called a bunny." Judy snorted at the thought.
"Oh?"
"Foxes exist outside of Zootopia, you know." She spoke nonchalantly. "I ran into him the other day. He's running a baking business partnered with my parents now. I should catch up with him when I get back home. Thank him for his help with the case."
Nick heard nothing after "foxes".
"A fox clawed you."
"Yeah, but it really wasn't a big deal. I'm surprised it scarred. He seems like a good guy now, he apologized and everything."
"A fox clawed you for trying to do what was right."
"Nick, are you okay?"
He didn't respond, just stepping back. His eyes softened and his ears tucked down.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"What?"
"I snapped at you at the press conference. I had a panic attack from seeing a snarling polar bear with a muzzle because a couple of dumb kids muzzled me as kit, and then I got mad at you for being scared of a fox when one actually hurt you."
"Nick… stop. Don't think like that. Those kids were terrible to you. At the conference, I responded in a horribly—"
"Understandable way."
"Understandable or not, it was unjustified, and ignorant, and small-minded, and—"
"Judy."
The utterance of her name left her frozen.
"Tell me the truth. When I snarled at you, threatened you at the conference, did you see me or the fox that slashed your cheek? Instinctively, did you…think back? Like I did when I saw those pictures?"
"A little. But the second I popped open my pocket, I snapped out of it. I knew you were Nick. I understood what you were doing. You were just trying to—"
"Scare you. I was trying to scare you. I'm a sick-minded animal that wanted to see you react, wanted you to feel bad because I felt bad. I wanted to—"
"Nicholas Piberius Wilde, stop berating yourself right this instant."
"I scared you. For no good reason. I'm sorry. If I had known about when you were a kid, I wouldn't have been such an ass."
"Nick, it's in the past. We both made mistakes, and mine was so much bigger. You had no way of knowing about Gideon, and even if you had, it's not that traumatic of a memory. Even at the time, it just fueled my fire to pursue my dream of being a cop because I wanted to prove him wrong."
"You trusted me. Even after I did that to you. Even after I did nothing but put you down for the pawful of days you knew me. Why?"
"At first, I just needed help. After that, you proved you were more than a con-mammal. You defended me to a massive buffalo, you told be about your childhood, you stood by me until the end of the case…and I heard you calling out for me when we landed in the water. You cared. You wanted me to be okay. You could have swam out and went on with your life, and you still wanted to make sure I was okay. Nick, you're a good mammal, no matter how much you fight it. Of course I trust you."
"You trusted a strange fox to snarl and pounce and snap his teeth around you neck."
"You are NOT a strange fox. We may technically have known each other only a few days, but we went through more in those few days than some of the closest friends do in a lifetime. To tell you the truth, I know you better than a know most of my siblings. Please stop putting yourself down for no good reason. That's the only thing you've done that hurts me."
Nick's ears perked back up, his tail swishing nervously behind him. He sheepishly grinned at the fuzzy bunny in front of him, soaking in her words. He was about to speak when a few beeps cut him off.
"It's my parents. They're heading up to come get me. Good thing too, I'm pretty sure the pickup truck was out of gas."
Nick smiled as the rabbit texted her parents.
"Any chance you still have my job application?"
Judy smiled.