It was going to be another sleepless night for Nicholas Wilde. He didn't know what had caused it but ever since he graduated from the police academy a mere month ago sleep had managed to elude his grasp. It was like he exchanged his ability to sleep for a badge and while he was very proud to be a member of the ZPD; he desperately wished that he could rest again. Maybe he could consider buying a cot to sleep in instead of a cheap, plastic, poolside recliner? Some new blankets might be nice too, the one he was using now was thin and in tattered pieces. Heck, he had a reliable and legitimate source of income now; maybe he could consider renting a cozy apartment with real walls. Wouldn't that be nice? He fantasized about having an imaginary heating system in his imaginary apartment as a cold breeze attempted to steal his thin blanket from him. Luckily, Nick caught it before it could be swept up and lost forever. He hastily wrapped the thin blanket around himself being sure to tuck it under him this time so the wind couldn't try something like that again. He gave an involuntary shiver before curling up into a ball and trying to snuggle deeper into his makeshift bed. He bitterly scoffed at his previous musings as the wind continued to bully him, easily blowing under the bridge that he called his home.
Despite Zootopia's recent strides towards reaching equality, prey animals were still wary of predators, not that Nick blamed them. The Nighthowler incident had been a grim reminder that no matter how far predator and prey had come in terms of equality, the former still had the capability to easily hurt the latter… or worse. With that being the current, if not fading mentality of the city, it meant that predators were faced with an assortment of extra hardships for the time being. One of those hardships included difficulty finding homes in buildings that also housed prey, such as an apartment complex. Nick knew that it would be impossible to find an apartment building that didn't house prey as they made up about ninety percent of the general population. Simply put, some prey animals wouldn't want a predator living in the same building as them. It was a dyeing mentality, thank goodness, but it was still present enough to make it difficult for Nick to find a willing landlord.
He gave another shiver as a particularly strong gust of wind collided with him. In the meantime he still had his bridge and blanket, right? He even had a recliner to lay in so he didn't have to lay on the dirty ground. He had a cellphone, too! Granted it was a very old model and as thick as a brick but at least it could take pictures and even had a touchscreen! Seeing his cellphone on the rickety, old, plastic table beside his recliner made him remember that he wasn't alone. He could call and ask his friends for help if he wanted to. Judy did spring to his mind but he eventually decided against it. He'd lived like this for years and he didn't want to call her in the middle of the night to ask some stupid request of her. Besides, if she discovered that he'd been living like this and hadn't told her or asked her for help she'd scold him into oblivion. Well, he'd called Finnick at this hour before and was allowed to sleep in his van a few times. Still, he hadn't spoken to Finnick in months and didn't feel comfortable asking for any favors before breaking the ice with him, so to speak. His last contact was Chief Bogo and Nick decided that calling him at this hour was a no go, plain and simple. With that option seemingly expended he tried to take a page from his favorite bunny's book. Instead of dwelling on the things he wished he had he'd count his blessings and think of all the things he was thankful to have. He didn't have to sleep on the ground because he had his recliner, he still had a blanket, not matter how tattered and thin it was, and he had his cellphone which connected him to those he cared about. Despite the wind starting to chill through his blanket Nick found it in him to give a small smile. Yes, Nick had people in his life that he could shamelessly say he cared about. It didn't matter how small Finnick was for a predator or that his voice really didn't fit what he looked like because in some weird way he'd managed to take the roll of an older brother figure in Nick's life. If it wasn't for Finnik teaching him how to act and con he probably wouldn't be the same fox he was today. Even Chief Bogo, through all of his scowling and gruff demeanor genuinely cared for all of his officers, Nick included. Despite the flippant remarks that Nick made frequently, he did respect the Chief… not that he'd tell him that. If Nick had to put a label on Bogo aside from "Chief" or "Boss" it would be somewhere along the lines of "the grumpy uncle that cared" or some other obscure nonsense.
Then there was Judy. If Nick didn't know any better he would've figured that Mother Nature and Destiny made Judy just to mess with him. The two of them couldn't be any more different, really. That's why they got along so well, he supposed; after all, his mother always told him that opposites attract. The extent to which that attraction went was not something Nick felt on meditating on at the moment. It was bad enough that he wouldn't be sleeping; he didn't want to add that mess of awkwardness to his already exhausting night. He shook his head. What he really meant, as extremely cheesy and stupid as it sounded to him, was that he didn't feel like a whole person without her around. Judy was always so optimistic and happy and her happiness always seemed so genuine. Somehow, that little bunny had taken cloud nine and made it her own magic carpet. She believed she could be anything she wanted to be and while he was abashed to admit this, Nick needed her to be there to remind him that he too could be anything. Therefore it was Nick's duty, or so he felt, to protect Judy from flying too close to the sun and getting herself hurt. Judy had a habit of tackling problems head on without assessing them beforehand. It was Nick's job to remind her that while she could indeed still be anything, she couldn't do everything, at least not by herself. He was there to help her find more practical and less painful solutions to life's problems. Judy had saved Nick from sinking into depression and Nick had saved Judy from getting hurt by her own lofty goals. They may be on drastically different sides of the spectrum while they were apart but as long as they were together, they had everything they needed.
A harsh wind gusted onto him and the cold shot right through his thin blanket and straight into his bones. He gave a discomforted whimper before sitting up. Right now they were not together and right now Nick certainly did not have everything he needed. Nick was going to get up, walk to Judy's apartment and ask for help and he was going to do it right now, consequences be darned. After stuffing his cellphone into his pocket, he wrapped himself in his thin blanket and marched to Judy's apartment.
It was a rather uncomfortable walk there but he did not give up on his goal. Once he finally arrived at her door he hesitated. Once he knocked on her door, there would be no going back. He steeled his resolve and knocked on the door gently… no response. He cringed at the knot in his stomach as he knocked again. After what seemed like an eternity, he heard the shuffling of her bunny feet trudging towards the door. He almost wanted to run away as the door slowly creaked open. For what seemed like an awkward eternity, the pair simply stared at one another in silence. Nick wanted to say or do something but his body had stiffened and his snout remained clamped shut as he stood there in mute terror. What had he done?!
"Nick?" Judy weakly tested, rubbing her eyes.
He took a deep breath and cleared his throat, "H-hi Judy. I'm sorry to bother you at this hour but I was just wondering if you had a," he paused, "A blanket I could borrow or a pillow maybe? You don't have to give me both, in fact you don't have to give me anything but I would like it if you did… let me borrow a pillow or a blanket, I mean."
Nick hated the fact that all of his words spilled out of his muzzle in some stupid way. He was supposed to be cool and well spoken. If he wasn't here doing it, he wouldn't believe that he could make such in idiot out of himself. He watched as Judy eyed him incredulously before her gaze shifted to his tattered excuse of a blanket.
"You mean to tell me," She paused to massage her temples, "That you walked to my apartment in the middle of the night," her voice rose in exasperation, "Because you don't own a pillow?!"
"O-or blanket," He added weakly as he gestured to the tattered thing he was cloaked in.
"Get inside now," she commanded with a curt gesture and gritted teeth... She was not a happy bunny.
Her tone left absolutely no room for argument and excusing the offensive expression, there was no way he'd be able to weasel out of this one. He stepped into her apartment before she practically slammed the door behind him. She looked to him impatiently while tapping her foot, as if awaiting an explanation.
"How long?" She asked him.
"W-what?!"
She stomped over to him, "How long have you been living," She attempted to rip the blanket from him but ended up with a pawful of the cheap material instead, "Like this?!" She practically snarled at him while tossing the cheap fabric to the ground.
"A while…" he answered cautiously.
"I see, a while huh? And after everything we've been through, you decided not to tell me? Is that it?"
"I thought you knew!" He lied, "You've seen where I live!" That part was true.
"The bridge?!" She looked aghast, "Nick if I," She paused to take a deep breath before speaking in a softer tone, "If I knew you were living like that I would have done something about it a long time ago. You know that, right?"
Nick remained silent for an unsettlingly long time, "Yeah," he admitted "I know that."
"I'm sorry for yelling at you, you didn't deserve it. I guess I'm just upset that my best friend struggled to fall asleep every night while I slept cozily in my bed. I should've known and I should have been there to help you."
Nick swallowed his pride, it almost hurt to ask it this bluntly but he could see his friend was hurting, "You didn't know then but you do now and right now I'm asking for your help. Will you please help me, Judy?
She didn't say anything but she took ahold of his paw and guided him to the couch. Before he could even rest his head Judy had somehow managed to stuff a silky soft pillow under it. Judy reached for Nick's tattered sheet and this time he let her take it. He suddenly felt engulfed in a warm fluffy embrace as Judy wordlessly covered him with a thick blanket.
"Please, be good to yourself, dumb fox," She chided before wrapping him into a hug.
A monumental clap of thunder boomed outside of the apartment as a relentless wash of rain could now be heard colliding with building. The weather, it seemed, had taken a turn for the worse. Nick saw that when Judy had separated from him, she wore a small smile.
"I'm really glad you came over and asked for help," She told him.
"I," He paused awkwardly before a shy but sincere smile appeared on his muzzle, "I am too."