Judy winced and sucked in air as the poorly applied handcuff bit into her wrist again, taking off another little patch of fur and leaving a red line behind. Nick quickly realized what he had done and dropped the cuffs, letting go of Judy's wrist.
"Sorry! I keep doing that."
Judy sighed, wiggling her hand free and pulling out her own cuff key, removing the dangling chain from her wrist.
"Sweet cheese and crackers, how many times do we have to go over this? I am not made of glass, I don't care if you catch my wrist, but you have to finish the rep, don't just let me go."
Nick's ears dropped "Sorry. I just don't want to hurt you."
"And is that how you're going to react when you actually have to cuff a suspect? Are you going to let go of them and apologize? You need to train properly, you're starting at the academy in two weeks. Now try again."
Judy passed the cuffs back to Nick then turned around to face away from Nick, putting her hands behind her back and leaning over. Nick prepared his cuffs before approaching Judy, quickly slipping the first onto her wrist.
"You're under arrest."
Nick switched to grab her other hand, pressing the cuffs down, and mashing the wrong side of the cuff into Judy's wrist. She flinched and grunted, Nick paused for a moment and Judy was about ready to berate him again, but to his credit Nick flipped the cuff and applied it the right way around instead of stopping. After tightening the cuffs as much as they could be, he let go and admired his handiwork.
"Sorry, I did better that time though, right?"
"Did you manage to get them on me? Yes, you did. But you also hit me with the double bar, so load your cuffs better next time. And stop apologizing."
Judy slipped one of her cuffed wrists free and unlocked the cuffs as Nick just stared at her, mouth open.
"Oh right, also make sure you have the right size cuff for your subject, but I did that intentionally."
Nick frowned at her wrist as she passed him the cuffs back "Do you want to take a break, Carrots? Your wrists don't look like they're in the best shape right now."
"This is nothing, Nick. Your wrists will feel like Bugburga after your first practical lesson in control tactics. Mine sure did. We'll do a few more reps, then we can switch to learning some blocks, how about that?"
"Nick, you have to show up on the first day with a shirt and tie."
"Come on Carrots, I have a shirt and tie already. It's all I ever wear."
"A white shirt with a black tie?"
"Well, not as such, but does the colour really matter that much?"
"If you don't want to be punished before classes even start, then yes it does."
"What about my uniform?"
"You'll be getting it at the academy, but until then you need to dress respectably."
Nick couldn't help but notice their argument was drawing attention from the other shoppers around them.
"I'm just messing with you Carrots, come on, lets grab this stuff and get out of here. Head somewhere for supper. My treat for all the help you're giving me."
Judy nodded, she also noticed a few odd stares her way, but they were decidedly glances of sympathy. Something felt odd about it, and she didn't like it. She pushed it to the back of her mind though and helped Nick pick out a decent looking shirt and tie.
As Judy waiting behind Nick at the cash register, she realized that Nick was also getting funny looks. Specifically, the doe at the cash was giving Nick one of the nastiest death glares she had ever seen.
Once Nick had paid, Judy hurried the both of them out of the shop.
"Hey Nick, was it just me, or was the atmosphere in that place really weird?"
"No, it wasn't just you. I've gotten used to the looks I get in public, but that seemed excessive even to me."
"Well, just forget about that place. You promised me supper, didn't you?"
"Yep! And I know just the place: The Rabbit Hole. It's not far from here. Never been in there myself, but I hear they make really good uh, well rabbit food I guess."
"Sounds good to me, lead the way slick!"
The Rabbit Hole had a feel of being a real burrow right in the centre of Zootopia, but smaller. An entirely rabbit staff, and a mostly rabbit clientele, with a few other small prey animals mixed in. Nick was the only fox, and definitely the tallest mammal there. The rabbit waiting at the front desk looked up to see the two walk in and seemed about to greet them when her eyes went wide and she covered her mouth.
Before the rabbit at the front desk could put her foot into her mouth, Judy stepped forwards.
"Table for two, please."
The other rabbit looked between Judy and Nick a few more times before clearing her throat and grabbing two menus "Right this way please."
The restaurant wasn't overly full at the moment, and Nick and Judy were led to a table a little distance away from any other customers. The rabbit smiled nervously at Nick and Judy, telling them "Your waitress will be right with you." She then quickly walked into the back towards the kitchen.
Before either Nick or Judy could look at the menu, a different rabbit walked out of the kitchen and over to their table, looking just as nervous and flighty as the previous rabbit had been.
"Hi, my name is Sable. I'll be your waitress today. Can I start you off with something to drink?"
Judy smiled up at Sable, trying to reassure her "Carrot juice for me and…" she looked over at Nick
"I'll have a coffee, thanks."
The waitress nodded rapidly, writing their drinks down "Sure thing, I'll be right back with those."
As Sable headed back to the kitchen, Nick stood up "I'm going to go find a restroom, order me something good, I'll trust your judgement on rabbit cuisine."
Almost as soon as Nick was out of sight, Sable returned, without any drinks in hand and kneeled over by Judy's side, looking around nervously.
"Are you in trouble? Do you need me to call the police?"
Judy gaped at Sable, unable to come up with a response at first until she managed to get out "Excuse me?"
"You're–" Sable started but was quickly cut off
Judy stood up in a huff "I'm leaving is what I'm doing. I know we're not exactly known for being the most open-minded. But you just jump to what, think I'm being kidnapped or held against my will or something?"
Judy's foot thumped angrily against the ground before she walked away in a huff, leaving the waitress in shock—only to find that she now had to wait by the entrance for Nick to get back from the washroom. As soon as he was out and walking by her, she grabbed his arm and pulled him out.
"Hey, Carrots, what? Where are we going, what happened?"
Judy continued to angrily pull Nick for about a block before he pulled his hand away from her and knelt down
"Okay no, stop. Tell me what happened, Carrots."
Judy took a breath and turned to Nick. "The waitress came up to me as soon as you left and asked if she needed to call the police for me. Asked If I was in trouble."
Nick took Judy's hand "Judy it's alright—"
Nick slowly trailed off as his eyes passed down over Judy's arm. A slow breath out turned into a chuckle, which slowly transitioned into a full on laugh as Judy stared at him in confusion.
"Wha-?"
"Judy, do me a favor. Look at your arms."
Judy glanced down, her face slowly feeling quite hot as the realization dawned on her. Around her wrists were quite a few red lines and missing patches of fur, and further up on her arm were red bruises that were just starting to show through her fur.
"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers."
"Yep. Guess we can never go back there. But come on, I know a few more places we can stop. It's still my treat."