Chapter 2- Job Perks

While waiting for their clothes to wash, Judy had offered to make breakfast and the promise of country-style blueberry pancakes was not one Nick was inclined to pass up.

"Why do you love blueberries so much?" Judy asked as she pulled various ingredients from shelves and the fridge.

Nick frowned. He laid back against the couch and sighed. The blanket fell to the floor, but at this point the fox didn't really care. "Well… When I was way younger, my mom… We, uh, didn't really have much, ya know? It was hard where we lived, since everyone looked down on us for being foxes."

"Oh Nick…" Came Judy's concerned voice from across the room.

Nick looked down. He hated it when she sounded like that, when she was pitying him. He didn't want to be pitied, just like he didn't like reliving his hard childhood. It was why he always covered that all up with confidence and suave, but he'd lower the façade for Judy and Judy alone.

"Well, we managed. My mom was pretty resourceful by nature, and when we couldn't afford sugars and sweeteners, she'd use blueberries in her cooking. I grew to like them because they were usually the only sweet thing we had to eat."

When Nick finished, he was surprised to find Judy sitting next to him, holding onto his arm. He hadn't felt her there while he was talking, but her touch helped him regain his composure. Eager to lighten the mood, he flicked Judy's nose softly and chuckled when she scrunched it up and looked at him. "So, pancakes."

"Pancakes." Judy nodded, and hopped up to go back to her cooking.

Nick wasn't really the type to dish out compliments unironically, but he had to admit that the rabbit made really good pancakes. "It's my family's secret recipe," Judy said when she saw the satisfied look on the fox's face, wearing her usual wry smile.

Speaking of family, Judy's thoughts turned to them and imagined the looks on her parent's faces if they some glances at his fuzzy chest and imagined what it would be like to be nestled up against him… Judy shook herself. 'Why am I thinking like that?' she wondered to herself. Judy wasn't used to having those kinds of thoughts about anyone and it made her sort of uncomfortable. However, she chalked it up to all the craziness of her life recently and the fact that Nick was sitting in front of her, half naked. She could rationalize all she wanted, but the thought hung around in the back of her mind, subdued but not gone.

The rest of the morning was uneventful. The laundry finished and Judy made Nick take a shower in her bathroom, something he didn't protest much once he took a careful sniff of his own fur. Fresh and clean, they watched TV together and made idle conversation for a few hours until there was a knock at the door. Judy got up and answered it, revealing a puma limo driver in full uniform. "I'm here to take you to meet Gazelle," he explained. "When she learned of your, uh, 'strong' taste in drinks, she had the limousine stocked with extra bottles for your pleasure." Judy started giggling and Nick just rolled his eyes, got up and clicked off the TV.

"So why exactly does the super-famous Gazelle wanna see us?" Nick asked as the pair followed the driver out to the limo.

"She admires the bravery of Miss Hopps and yourself in solving the case of the missing citizens and clearing the names of predators everywhere… I think," he responded, politely opening the door for them once they reached the car.

Once the door was shut and Judy and Nick were alone again, the first thing Nick wanted to do was test out his theory about Judy. He let her sit down first, then flopped down next to her and carefully slipped his arm around her.

"W-What are you doing?" she asked, but Nick just smiled. It was obviously having an effect on her. Next, he flipped on the TV and browsed through the channels until he found a commercial with a bunch of models in swimsuits. When the camera focused on a bunny, Nick nudged her. "Bet you'd look better in one of those than the model does."

"Nick?!" She exclaimed, a bright blush seeping into her grey cheeks. This wasn't Nick's normal type of teasing, and she didn't know why it was having such an effect on her.

Nick grinned widely. He was nearly sure of it now: Judy had at least a little crush on him. As he toyed around with the thought in his head however, his smile faded. He felt giddy every time he repeated the line in his head. 'Judy loves me.'

Nick wasn't used to the feeling of being loved. In fact, since he was a fox, Nick hadn't ever really had any good friends. The more he thought, the more he started to realize just how much he liked being around her. He thought that he'd grown content being alone after all those years of being a con, but it hardly took the rabbit a week to break down all his defenses. He'd let her in without even noticing it. But was this a good thing?

Nick's mind started racing. What if he was wrong? What if she didn't like him like that? What if he made an advance on her and she rejected him? Would it make their relationship awkward? He thought of her as his best friend, his only true friend and confidant in Zootopia, in the whole world even, but what if she didn't hold in such high regard? He quickly slid away from her and turned off the TV, scared that his careless little experiments might have pushed her away.

"Er… Nick? Are… You alright? You've been acting really weird since we got in here…"

"I'm… I'm just fine, Carrots. Sorry."

They started talking again, but Judy Noticed that Nick couldn't hold her gaze for more than a second until the limo stopped in front of an upscale hotel in a richer part of the city. They had arrived.