The hard fluorescent ceiling lights dimmed while a quite gust of stale cold air flushed through the room. The sound of it flowing through the vents drowning out ambient sounds of the office. The sounds of a few keys on a keyboard clacking, a single hushed conversation, and an occasional phone ringing being remnants of a once busy work day winding down for the evening.
Judy was squaring away her workspace while waiting for her terminal to shut down. Working the beat the past five days, she did not see anything exciting beyond routine traffic stops. The slow work week did allow for her to catch up on writing reports that began to back up, however, she found herself spending more time with that than on patrol, resulting in her being mentally drained.
"Thank God it's Friday," she mused. After double checking for her phone, keys, and wallet, she left her cubicle and made her way to punch out for the weekend.
As she walked out of the precinct building, her mind shifted to the new task of looking for something to do to unwind. "Maybe Nick's free this evening." She stopped herself mid-thought. "Oh course he's not, dumb bunny," she mentally scolded herself. "He's enjoying his day with his girlfriend."
Like Judy, Nick did not take personal days very often; saving them for important events or emergencies. This meant the two of them usually had a few too many days saved for the chief's liking. So Nick chose to use one and spend the Friday with his girlfriend.
Six months ago, Judy managed to persuade Nick to join a dating website. It took no time at all for him to find someone to start dating; Clarissa was her name. Nick and Clarissa's relationship had made it to the six-month mark and Nick chose to do something special.
Judy remembers Nick babbling on about his plans for the weekend when they were sitting in their patrol car in the middle of the week. The sight of Nick being so excited about it all made Judy happy, knowing that she did something good for her friend that she cares for so much. Him being in a good mood always put her in a good mood.
"He better make his personal day worthwhile," She thought, chuckling to herself. Though she had no doubt that he would not have any trouble doing so.
His day may be going well, but her's was a drag. She spent no more than half the morning on patrol, and the rest of the day was behind her desk. She believed she would enjoy a day of peace and quiet away from all his jokes, comments, and general peanut gallery mouth. This could not be farther from the truth. She discovered that his constant talking and their conversation made the slow days bearable. "Next time he takes a day off, I'm going to follow suite. Better than sitting in that office all day by myself. As for today, I think I'll go down to Clancy's for a few beers."
Clancy's is a small rustic tavern on the edge of Savanna Central. The building itself dates back to some of the first developments in Zootopia. Now it is on the city's list of historic buildings, hence why the small two-story building still stands among the larger, newer developments. The establishment of Clancy's has been around for thirty years, founded by a female coyote of the building's namesake. In more recent years, it has been taken over by her husband after she lost her battle with cancer.
Nick is the one that introduced her to the bar, thinking that its rustic feel might remind her of home, which in her opinion, it did, and she was grateful he did. While Bunny Burrows did not have a nightlife, it did have a large local bar on its town center's main street; and it is the center of social activity for the place. Judy also liked Clancy's for its relatively close proximity to the police station. This meant it is a short walk away, and it was generally a safe place to hang out at.
Nick popped a quarter into the jukebox and scrolled through the assortment of song titles. He needed a sad slow country song that matched the mood he was in. After making his selection, he slinked back to his booth in the back corner of the bar, away from any social interaction with the other patrons of the bar, and allow him some time by himself.
Popping off the cap to his next beer, he was in his own world, oblivious to the chime of the bell at the front of the bar as the door opened. He was facing away from the door, so he could not see who was entering, not that he cared in his state of mind.
"Nick?" He heard a quiet voice but did not really make an effort to figure out who was calling his name. "Nick, is that you?" The voice was a little louder. This time, he recognized it as his partner's. He slowly swiveled his head around to see her approaching him.
"Hey, Carrots." He greeted in a meek voice.
"I thought I recognized that tail hanging out of that booth. I thought you were supposed to be enjoying your day with Clarissa." She trailed off as she moved closer to him to see the depressed look in his eyes. His eyes were wet and bloodshot, and the fur on the top of his head was matted from when he grabbed it as he tucked his head into his arms.
"Well, it turned out she had other plans," his started. His voice wavered in his drunken, depressed state, "so my day opened up. Well, the rest of the weekend did too as a matter of fact. So now I have plenty of time on my hands to kill and chose to do so, here. Alone. In Broken-hearts-ville."
Shocked, Judy took a seat across the booth from him. "She- she broke up with you?" He weakly nodded in response, not bothering to make eye contact with her. Instead, he opted to look down at the bottle he was fiddling with in his hands.
"You two looked happy together, I thought things were going great between you two."
"I thought so too," Nick said, "but apparently she didn't think so. We were supposed to meet here at noon for the day I had planned out, and we did, but she came to tell me that she never really felt a spark between us and that she had met a guy a week ago that she really liked. To really rub the salt into the wound, that stud of her's pulled up in his car. She got in and they drove off, and I've been sitting in this booth since."
"So you've been here all day? How many drinks have you had?" She asked with concern.
"Lost count," he leaned his head back as he took another swig. "Can't believe she'd drag our relationship on for that long. I'll tell you what, that angle really did me in."
Judy extended her paw out to Nicks and grasped in. She now felt guilty as it was her idea in the first place to hook him up with a vixen. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made you go on that dating site."
"It's not your fault, Carrots. This wasn't something that either of us could have foreseen." He said not wanting her to blame herself for this mess.
Nick was glad to have someone like Judy here to help him when he was down. She is always there for him, no matter the circumstances. Caring for his wellbeing, his safety, his state of happiness, and much more. He knows she has his back, and he has hers. Thinking about her brightened his mood a bit.
"Though," he continued, "I don't think I'll be doing any more online matchmaking for a while, if ever. I just get this impersonal feeling from it, you know? Just a bunch of people who sign up for it, hopelessly looking for love. I don't think I can do the whole 'meeting a stranger and hope we like each other thing.'"
He did not like the idea of these dates, since they involved opening up a little bit to show who one was, and he did not like opening up to strangers like he could with Judy. "I could trust her with my feelings. Hell, I could trust her with anything." He then got an idea in his head. An idea that he was a bit apprehensive about, but chose to give it a try anyway.
"What do you think about giving us a shot?" he asked.
"What?" She was taken by surprise with his sudden change in direction.
"Well, I was just thinking, since we spend so much of our time together, both on and off work. Even when I was dating Clarissa, we still did stuff together off duty. We're always there for each other, and well, you know." He was looking for words to say. "And I can also trust you to not screw me over like she did." He then started to regret asking her this in the first place as the look on her face seemed to say that she was not completely on board. "Well, if you don't want to, then that's fine by me. I mean, I don't-"
"No, no, Nick, it's fine," she cut him off, "I think I'd be willing to give it a try, and see where it goes. You're my best friend Nick, and I think I like the idea of being closer to you. And if it doesn't work out, then we'll still be best friends and partners, nothing is going to change that. At the very least, it'll shut my parents up about finding a boyfriend." The both laughed. "So, yeah, let's give us a try.
"Well, as long as you don't go driving over some hill and off into the sunset with some stud."
She rolled her eyes, "As long as you don't turn into a stud yourself, Slick."
With a sly smile he picked up his bottle and toasted, "Here's to the past, they can kiss my glass. I hope she's happy with him. And for allowing me a chance with my best friend." He then pressed the bottle to his lips and polished off the rest of his beer.
"Alright, dumb fox," she giggled, "looks like the pool table opened up. I want to play around, so why don't you go rack the balls and I'll go get myself a drink, I've been needing one all day."
"Can you get me another too?" he asked as she was leaving the booth.
She snorted, "I think you've had enough, but I'd be more than happy to get you a glass of water. Now get to it, those balls aren't going to rack themselves." She started beaming, happy to see a smile on his face again, then walked off to the bar to order their drinks.
If you enjoyed this story, please take a moment to glance at my other Zootopia stories. They are all in the same respective timeline, but they can all be read as stand-alone, and they are all based on one country song or another.