Chapter 1: Peace and Boredom
Author's Note / A/N: (Hello everyone! Welcome to this author's humble/doomed attempt at writing something comprehensible and entertaining. Let me know what you think!)
Zootopia was a nice place to work, especially as a police officer with the right mindset. Walking a beat was a wonderful thing to the right mammal. Nice and safe, sure, but for Nick Wilde, it just felt so dull sometimes. It didn't really compare to what happened a few months ago.
Sure, all of this was doing some sort of good, helping folk live their lives in safety. But, he couldn't help but think that after saving Zootopia from a sheep hellbent on getting predators and prey to come to blows, he and his partner deserved more than to work a beat in one of the calmer parts of town. Seemed like a waste of some very talented mammals, in his humble opinion. Detective work, busting up some gangs, that was more up his alley, not sitting in the patrol car and scaring the life out of drivers with his siren.
To keep things from getting too dull, that meant only one thing- annoying his partner. Nick took a glance towards the workaholic rabbit sat near him, putting on his best smile. I have another joke!" he said. " Really, this one is great, knocked everyone dead at roll call."
She was getting very good at ignoring him. But the trick to beating stubborn was to be either more annoying or more stubborn, and today he was feeling the former.
" So," he began, leaning back in his seat. " There's this great farmer down in Bunnyburrow, right?" He leaned his head closer to her ears. " He worked for years to build his farm up to be the most productive, really the best thing ever. He makes 1,000 bushels of wheat, 1,500 bunches of grapes, 1,354 snips of carrots, and a whole ton of corn- that's his cash crop." She had an ear perked up now- an improvement.
" He had this huge conspiracy around him- how did he do it, every year?" he said thoughtfully. " Was it some secret fertilizer, buying out the competition? Everyone asks his secret, and do you know what he tells them? " Nick leaned forward in his seat, eyes wide. He took a deep breath, letting the moments pass by as slowly as possible.
" Well, I have no idea," he said gleefully. " because I wasn't there to hear him. "
This would normally be the point where she'd complain about him wasting her time and telling a joke that wasn't really a joke, but she'd kept silent, same as she had for the past few days. He took it in stride, leaning back into his seat and fishing in the center console for his other distraction. Mentally, he prayed for the radio to start squawking, someone to try something stupid. All that happened was more free time.
Although he was getting very good at catching his stress ball with all this free time.
Bonk. Bonk. Bank.
He caught the ball solidly, tossing it one more time, a little more forcefully, and winced as it bounced off the roof of the car and out the window, rolling down the sidewalk and out of sight. Sighing, he turned his head back to his partner sitting in the driver's seat.
" You gonna keep ignoring me?" he said. " I told you, partner, I just want to hear about what's out there in the wide world of police work. I won't leave- this part of town would burn down with just you in charge." She didn't smile at that, but she did at least say something.
Judy sighed. " If you and me ever wanted to do something besides walk a beat," she said " We have options- Robbery, Gangs, Juvenile, Special Victims. You could work in the Canine Division, obviously. You might not have as good a nose as some of the other boys on there, but still- you get to track down the bad guys and bring them in. "
Nick tilted his head, leaning forward. " Shame that you don't want to work in any of those, though," he said. "Do special groups like those get good pay?"
Judy nodded, her eyes still focused outside the windshield. Would it kill her to look at him, just once? "More pay that you'd be used to, Nick. At least, I think so. I couldn't be with you in Canines, though... But, maybe then I'd get a partner who's actually good at their job. " she said it teasingly, but her smile wasn't reaching her eyes. They fell into silence for a while, and Nick went to looking back out the window.
He knew she hated the thought of him leaving, even if she never told him directly. That's why she had gone quiet today, and every other time he would bring this line of conversation up. The practical part of him knew that she would adjust if she had to, but she was growing on him, making him soft. He wasn't too happy with the idea of someone else becoming her partner- Judy would fall to pieces without him around. At least, that's what he told himself.
Nick glanced at the dashboard, noting the time- 1 o'çlock. " Hey," he said. " Mind if we talk about this over lunch? Maybe some food will let us think more clearly... and it beats sitting in this car any longer."
Nick wondered, as Judy steered the car over to a parking spot, if the mood was going to stay this awkward. She parked, and left the car without a second glance at him. He supposed that meant a firm yes.
"Hey, " said Nick. "I'm being serious, if you'd believe that. I'm not trying to be a beat cop for a whole year- it'd be nice to have something more exciting, more meaningful! Something where we're actually making a difference for everyone, you know? "
They (well, Judy) had decided to walk down the block towards the local coffee shop. Nick had to admit it was a nice day for it- it was sunny, and all the folk were walking about mixed in with the increasing traffic made for a good energy. Sure, they could be called off lunch any minute to answer a call, but the radio had been quiet all day.
Judy seemed to be lost in thought during their walk, her paw absentmindedly fiddling with her radio volume, and he was sure with her ears perked like that she was listening intently. Not to him, but with a little more persistence…
They made it to the coffee shop fine, and getting through the line and ordering didn't take as long as he feared. Nick ordered his usual muffin and coffee, and seeing that Judy was still off somewhere else in her own world, decided to get her something he hoped she'd eat. She was out of it enough that he paid for both orders without her raising one word of complaint.
He waved her coffee under her nose. " Hey, you know I'm not good at ordering for you. Don't blame me if you don't like the coffee."
She took the coffee with murmured thanks, eyes glancing up at him before wandering back outside. Nick shook his head, and focused on finding them a place to sit and enjoy what little lunch they had.
Finding a table outside, he took sips of his drink hoping for his partner to come out of her head for a while. Normally, she'd be talking his ear off- he still had nightmares about the time she'd talked his ear off for thirty minutes straight about a new book series she was reading, and that conversation had gone on after work. He could still remember the wide-eyed look she had, the constant tapping of feet, when she had gone on about the main character tracking down some kidnapper. Or was it a thief?
But no, there she was, staring off into space and absentmindedly sipping her coffee.
"I'm not that ugly. " he chided. "You can at least look at me and pretend you like talking to me. I do that all the time. You want to tell me how that new Jack Savage book is going? You're on, what, chapter 30 of book 19 or whatever? "
Nothing. Whatever was going on in that head of hers, he hoped it was important.
Judy found herself lost in thought, for what felt like the hundreth time that week. Some excitement, Nick said. Talking about considering other divisions, getting into the real heavy stuff, potentially.
Tracking down the bad guys, bringing them in, big hero, lots of medals. Good.
And she'd be with a new partner and probably in a whole other division. Not good.
Judy bit her lip, brow furrowed- Nick was his own mammal, and he could do whatever he wanted. But she didn't have to like it, and at this point, she was sure something was going to happen soon if she kept giving him basic answers. She would have to put a foot down.
"Nick… " she began, hesitantly. His ears perked, and he turned his head from the view across the street.
"You know…" she said. "There'll be plenty of excitement if you waited just a bit longer, just a year. " He had opened his mouth, but she spoke over him, rising in her seat a little. " One year, and you and me can become detectives, do the real heroic police work and get to use those same skills that got you into the force in the first place. Pay's pretty good, I promise, and wecanalwaysdowhat-"
She caught her breath, saw him watching intently. She unclenched her paws, realizing they had dug into the coffee cup.
" It'd… be interesting in stuff like Canine, and Gangs, but just remember that you've got a good partner already, who can't go into Canine with you. Gangs, sure, but there's so few spots open that I'm not sure they'd take both of us- they've always asked for you, and when I try to show interest, it's-. "
Nick managed to speak over her this time. " A year with you?" he said teasingly, tapping her paw. " That might be fun, maybe. But I have conditions- can we actually try for something more exciting than this, work in a busier district until then? I'm going to get fat sitting in that car all day, and I have to keep the admirers happy, you know." He chuckled. " All five of my fans."
Judy felt her shoulders relax, and leaned back into her chair. " I'll look into it," she said. " One year, and you and me can get into the investigative stuff together- those street smarts of yours will get to shine." She gave him a small smile, and squeezed his paw lightly. They sat there a moment, quietly, until Judy took a glance at the time. Lunch break was over. " Come on. Back to work. " She got herself out the chair, and Nick followed her back up the street, paws in his pockets. Walking side by side, she could see Nick looking … satisfied?
She didn't think it'd be that easy to get him to wait a year- that was a very big relief. But, she had to admit he was right about the lack of excitement. Their beat had always been quiet, and a part of her (well, a whole lot) enjoyed the adventure they had gone on. She wasn't quite ready to have her life threatened again, but she did like the idea of doing some more exciting than passing out tickets and watching Nick chat up vixens on their walks.
"You know," Nick said thoughtfully. " I've actually got some ideas about the whole excitement thing... It may involve going to someplace a farmer like you won't quite be used to…" Nick was grinning in a way that meant trouble, and she repressed the urge to roll her eyes. " But, I promise it'll turn into something interesting! Maybe might get Miss Police Supervisor promoted!"
One day, she would eventually stop listening to him. But that day wasn't coming up anytime soon.
