A/N: Leon here. I'm finally back, although I've been EXTREMELY busy as of late. I swear I'm going to try to keep this updated and finished before Valentine's Day. If I don't, I apologize ahead of time. Cheers!
The month of February had just begun, and love encompassed everything around Zootopia. Anywhere a mammal could look, there were hearts and flowers decorating nearly every business front, no matter what style of wares were contained inside. The hundreds of thousands of inhabitants of the sprawling city were getting drunk on all the pink that had surfaced nearly overnight. Some enjoyed the Valentine festivities, others, not so much. Nicholas Wilde, the Zootopia Police Department's very first fox cop, belonged to the latter group of mammals. Even before he had met and fell for a certain grey bunny, the vulpine had hated the lovey-doveyness of the holiday, especially since most mammals were too distracted by the scents of their significant others to be hustled. He did, however, acknowledge that this Valentine's Day would be strikingly different than any other: not only was it his first Valentine's on the straight-and-narrow, he also had a beautiful, fluffy-tailed girlfriend this time around.
Nick racked his brain nervously as he walked through the front door of ZPD's Precinct One, nodding at Dispatch Officer Benjamin Clawhauser as he shuffled by. Even though him and Judy Hopps, also the first cop of her species, had been dating for over six months and would undoubtedly go on a Valentine's Day escapade, he had no idea how to ask her to spend Valentine's with him. He thought it still proper to ask her out, rather than assume they would go out for the love-centric holiday. He just had no idea how to, or even what he would ask her to do. Sure, they had been on numerous dates before, but nothing overly fancy. This, he thought, required some extra class that a simple movie date or walkabout the park could provide. Nick grumbled to himself as his mind raced from dead-end idea to dead-end idea. However, his mind was cleared when he walked into the Bullpen, the clamorous noise of his fellow officers and detectives echoing around the walls. The cloud of aggravation that had come over him cleared in an instant when he saw the wide amethyst eyes of his bunny partner staring at him from across the room. He smiled sheepishly as he made his way over to their usual chair, located just behind the Chief's podium. "You're late," she huffed indignantly in her beautiful singsong voice he had become so accustomed to hearing.
Nick's smile turned to his typical snarky smirk. "Traffic," he responded.
"You don't drive, Slick," Judy said.
"What? There was a huge sidewalk jam. Got caught behind a pileup between a sloth and a snail," he smarted off, his smirk never fading. Judy merely rolled her eyes, having become more than accustomed to her boyfriend's smart-aleck attitude. It was one of the many reasons she loved her fox, nevertheless.
"TEN HUT!" Officer Higgins suddenly bellowed from the front of the Bullpen, having finished his rollcall with Nick's arrival. The entire room went eerily silent, a stark contradiction to the din of noise coming from the room just a moment before. The door on the side of the room opened swiftly as the hulking stoic frame of the water buffalo known as Chief Bogo stomped through.
"Good morning, Officers. I trust you're well-rested," he said huskily with a small snort. "We have three items on the docket. First up, as we all know, Valentine's Day is upon us. Assaults are likely to rise in frequency. Pay special attention to the signs on patrols. Second, training applications for the Sahara Square and Meadowlands TUSK units are being accepted. Experience IS required, new officers need not apply." Bogo looked directly at Nick and Judy with the last comment.
"Oh, sure. I wouldn't want those big bad TUSK officers being too scared of the mean newbie recruits," Nick quipped.
"Shut your mouth, Wilde. You're not mean or scary, by the way," Bogo snapped.
"Oh, I wasn't talking about me. I was talking about the bunny here," Nick responded, ruffling the fur between Judy's ears. The entire Bullpen erupted into a knowing laughter, as it was commonly accepted around the ZPD that Judy Hopps was a tiny bundle of fluffy fury when provoked. Judy glared daggers at her vulpine partner.
Bogo, much to everyone's surprise as well as his own, smiled a little. "I'm sure that stipulation was put into place expressively to keep Officer Hopps's… 'determination' away from TUSK," he said, nodding at her to show his admiration, regardless of her instinctive need to do things on her own agenda. He hushed the still laughing crowd of officers as he continued the morning briefing. "Thirdly and finally, something no one in this room enjoys, myself included. Paperwork is falling behind, so someone needs to volunteer to get it caught up the next few days."
Nick's mind began to work quickly. If he and Judy were to be stuck on desk duty for a bit, it would give him plenty of opportunities to ask the beautiful bunny on a Valentine's date. But, at the same time, he knew Judy would be beyond furious is he purposefully put them off the beat, and would likely shut him down completely. Nick looked over at the pensive eyes of his girlfriend, who had sunk down into her seat at the word "paperwork". He grinned at her as he jokingly started to raise his hand. Judy was one step ahead of him and smacked his hand down quickly, her glare returning.
"No volunteers? None? Then I'm picking someone," Bogo snorted. "How about… ah. Our mean little bunny and fox. Officer Hopps, Wilde. Desk duty for the next three days," he said with a glare at his two newest cops. Despite his baleful exterior, Nick swore he saw a gleam in the buffalo's eyes as he laid down his judgement.
Judy acted like she was completely destroyed by the Chief's decision, sinking even further into her seat in despondency. She knew better than to argue with her boss, as previous experience had taught her how much worse that made things. Nick, on the other hand, tried to hide his excitement at getting some relative alone time with Judy. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Hey. Boyfriend-girlfriend bonding time?"
She hushed him quickly and quietly, reaching down and gripping his thigh just above his knee. They were both well aware of the repercussions that knowledge of their unorthodox relationship could bring. They were careful to hide their affection in public, as interspecies relationships were strongly frowned upon to begin with, let alone a predator and prey relationship. Plus, officers were strictly informed that romantic involvements were forbidden between two ZPD members within the same Precinct. They knew that they could face relocation, or worse, termination if word of their relationship were to get out. They thought they did well in hiding their romance, despite their little shows of affection in public, both on and off duty. However, the prying eyes of a certain hardboiled Chief saw everything, including their relationship. As Bogo finished assigning the rest of his officers, he noticed that Nick and Judy had begun to hold hands underneath the table. He dismissed the briefing, thinking to himself as he walked back through the side door. Might as well give the two lovebirds some time to bond….
A/N: So, that's the first chapter. I'm not sure at the moment how long I intend to make this. Let me know what you guys think so far!
