Author's Note:
Sorry for the delay in actually posting this chapter. This chapter and the next are quite bulky. I think I was right to make this a three-shot.
Anyway, thank you and enjoy.
Chapter Two: A Night to Remember (or Possibly Regret)
So it was planned: they would "hang out" the next evening at a place in Zootopia. Of course, Nick had neglected to tell her what the place was, or where it was, or why he was taking her wherever he had in mind. Judy was quite frustrated with his mind games.
All he told her was that he would meet her outside of her apartment and that they would be taking the train to get there.
That afternoon, after withdrawing some cash, he walked to her apartment wearing his sunglasses despite the weather being relatively cloudy. He leaned his back against the wall, placed a foot against a wall in a cliche manner, and waited for her. He quickly found out, though, that he hated waiting. So after a few minutes he invented a game.
While wearing his sunglasses, he would stare at a mammal walking across the block or an animal driving in a car on the street. As soon as he picked a target, he would look at them until they moved around the corner of the block or drove on the street up a hill and out of sight. He started with a short chicken and a mallard duck — maybe they were boyfriend and girlfriend? — who walked past Nick while blabbing on about something that the fox really couldn't care less about. Nick then stared at the vehicle in front of him. It looked … exotic, to say the least. Nick couldn't remember the last time he saw a puffer fish driving a fishbowl, or if that was a thing that ever happened at all. His next visual assault came upon a scraggly looking pelican wearing overalls. Nick had no clue where these creatures were coming from; it's as if they were not from Zootopia at all, but rather another world. All he knew for certain was that he enjoyed the pelican's perturbed expression when it realized a sunglasses-wearing fox was staring. The pelican looked back several times, and nearly tripped on the curb before making a hasty right turn.
Nick chuckled to himself. Cruel of him to say, let alone think, but there was satisfaction in messing with people's heads.
After what seemed like an eternity, Judy finally walked out the door. Upon seeing her, he stopped laughing, intentionally faced forward, and built a blank face.
She hopped some steps down to the sidewalk before stopping a few feet near his body. "So. Are you ready?"
He slowly turned his head and gazed at her. She was wearing a simple lavender dress, a shade lighter than her eyes. Around her waist she had a black waist bag. It looked nice, but not too fancy. Mature, but not too adult. An ambiguous outfit for an ambiguous outing.
He didn't say a word to her.
Judy looked side to side. She waited a few moments before waving her paw hesitantly. "Uh, Nick? You okay?"
Nick found it increasingly harder to stay silent while staring at his bunny comrade. His mouth twitched as he tried to contain his snickers.
Judy clicked her tongue. With a quick hop she snatched off his sunglasses, surprising him. "Nick, act serious for once."
He squinted his eyes as he got used to the brighter environment. "You took forever, Carrots."
She stamped her foot once quite roughly and grimaced. He heard her make a click of the tongue as she momentarily looked down. She must have realized her gestures were somewhat juvenile because she then inhaled a breath to compose herself. "I took as long as I needed," she said in a somewhat dignified manner, the sunglasses delicately hanging off her finger.
Nick missed none of her reaction, which is what then prompted him to remark, "Easy there, tiger, you might crack the pavement."
She sighed off his quip as she folded his sunglasses closed and handed them back to him. "Can we go now?"
He wasn't expecting her to give back his glasses, but gladly accepted her offering. "Sure thing," he said with a smirk. He then put on his sunglasses and started walking.
Judy groaned as she followed close behind. "Good godwit, Nick. It's cloudy. That means no sun. Which means you should take off your sunglasses." She extended her arms to grab his glasses once more.
He gently swatted her reaching paws away. "This is my aesthetic."
She puckered her cheeks in an odd manner. "Aesthetic?"
"I'm feeling, 'too cool to talk to fools' today."
She snorted. "But you're not cool at all," she said teasingly.
He grimaced down at her. "How about you try them on for yourself, then take back what you said?"
She shrugged. "Fine. Give them to me."
He slipped the glasses off and placed them directly on her face. "Enjoy."
She fiddled with the position, as he had not carefully placed them on her eyes. She walked as she held his glasses much like a librarian would before reading text. She looked funny, wearing his glasses while in her get up.
She looked up at him. "Nick, I can barely see a thing out of these. They're too dark."
"That's the point!" Nick insisted. "You can't see the perps, so you sense them instead!" He knew he sounded somewhat bogus. He didn't feel like admitting to her at that time that he liked the sunglasses because it reminded him of the nighttime. He was always working during the day, as were most animals, that by night he was too tired to enjoy the ambiance. At least with his glasses he could pretend it was after sunset.
She removed the glasses from her face, folded them, and then handed them back to him. "I'll stick to my own eyes, thanks."
He put the sunglasses back on his own face. "Suit yourself."
Judy let out a long drawn out sigh.
With a bit of a rhythmic voice, he asked her, "Something on your bunny mind?"
She looked up at him with a raised brow. "Because if I wasn't a bunny, I wouldn't be able to have concerns."
"You said it, not me."
"Hmmm." Judy looked his way for a moment before returning to observing the outside world. "I'm just really curious where we're going."
"I told you, when we get there, you'll find out."
She didn't seem satisfied with that answer. "Yeah, but—"
"Look, Carrots." Nick paused on the sidewalk. "Part of having fun is going with the flow. Letting things happen as they occur." He slid down his glasses a bit with his paw. "You trust me on that, right?"
"...Yes?" she answered with an air of uncertainty.
He pushed up his glasses. "That sounded reaffirming."
She hopped a few steps ahead of him. "Yeah, well, it's kinda hard to be so faithful when you have no clue what's going on."
"Go with the flow, Carrots," he shouted, as she was quite the distance away now.
"Keep on saying that, Nick!" she yelled back. "You might make up a new song!"
He mockingly laughed at her.
Soon they were at the train station. Stampedes of mammals were exiting and boarding the trains. Nick directed the two of them to the Rainforest District Express.
"So it's somewhere in the Rainforest District," Judy remarked to Nick.
He pet her head with deliberate touches. "Smart bunny."
She shoved off his paws, but only a little. Still holding his fingers loosely, she tugged gently. "C'mon. The good views are on the upper deck."
The two of them stood side by side on the higher levels of the train. They were not alone; a few mothers and their kits (or cubs, or pups, as the cases would be) were similarly on the upper deck. The children, much like Judy, were wide eyed and excited to see the views. Nick noticed how Judy, much like the children, showed no shame to be here.
He gazed at her with mutual contentment. He couldn't help let a small smile loose.
She eventually noticed him staring and said, "...I haven't been on the train since I first arrived to the city." She paused then added, "At least, not in a casual, 'I'm-not-chasing-lawbreakers' kind of way."
He nodded knowingly at her. "I figured." He looked up as he heard them pass a waterfall. Droplets of water trickled on top of the glass ceiling, down the sides of the train, then proceeded to spread once the speed of the train reached dry air. "It's not a bad sight, though."
She nodded with a smile. "Yeah."
She returned to looking out the glass walls. He, meanwhile, continued to examine her expressions.
How jubilant and alive she was just then. And it was all just for their mode of transportation. He was happy to be in her presence. For once he didn't feel like a loser that he didn't have a car of his own.
Once they reached their stop in the Rainforest District, he directed her to leave the station. He led the route, and she closely followed.
The Rainforest District was an enigma of a place, but it was fascinating as well. It was late in the afternoon now, and the sun shone through the gaps of the tree tops in pretty patterns. A lot of wild cats and canines were in the vicinity. Made sense; those were the type of animals that would enjoy the mysterious forest.
Judy asked from behind, "So, um, where's the place? Are we there yet?"
Nick stopped in his tracks and turned about. "The last hundred times you asked that question, I said you would find out when we got there." He slid his sunglasses down his nose to stare into her eyes.
Judy looked distressed. "Sorry…"
He smiled as he took off his glasses and extended his arms to present the building behind him. "No need to apologize; here it is."
Judy stepped a few feet forward, closer to where Nick stood. She looked to be examining the building. He still held his back to the building, but craned his neck to follow her example.
The entirety of the structure's outside walls were tree trunks closely grown. The bark pillars were intertwined both with the branches at the tops of the trees and the vines that weaved to and fro. Vivid flowers of bright red, blue, yellow, purple, and pink were growing in a beautifully chaotic pattern. A bright marquee above the wide entrance flashed the name of the place to the duo.
"Yep," Nick remarked. "The Rainforest Cabaret."
Judy looked at him with astonishment. "This-Nick, this is…"
He dropped his smile, but still held onto a light tone of voice. "Spit it out, Carrots."
She folded her paws and looked up once more. "Beautiful."
He folded his glasses that were still in his paw, and then hung them off of his shirt's collar. "I knew you were going to say that."
She leered at him. "No you didn't."
"Sure I did. You know how?" He placed his paw on his chest. "Because I am a clever fox."
"You had a lucky guess," Judy insisted.
He made a paw wave. "Wanna get a seat inside?"
"That would be swell."
The two of them entered the doorway. They were eventually seated inside.
"This place is really beautiful," Judy said again. She twitched her nose once. "And probably also very expensive…" She immediately reached for her waist bag to take out some money.
Nick saw this and shook his head. "Oh, no, it's on me tonight."
She looked uncertain. "Why?"
"It was my idea that we go here, right?" He smirked slightly. "So I'll take care of it."
She slowly tucked away her money. "You're being hospitable tonight."
"Why?" He glared at her. "Foxes can't be generous?"
"I'm questioning if you specifically could be generous."
Nick grabbed a cobra shaped shaker from the center of the table. "Salt in the wound, Hopps," he said while shaking the object.
"Except," Judy said, "That is clearly pepper."
Nick paused, wide eyed for a second. He glanced down to see that, yes, he had the pepper shaker in his paw. He quickly replaced the shaker with ever so slight puffed cheeks. "No wonder; Carrots is salty enough as it is."
Judy chuckled. She looked at her paws before reaching for her bag and pulling out her phone.
He raised a brow. "Talking to mom and dad?"
"Oh?" She looked up from her phone. "Yeah, I am. I'm letting them know I'm gonna be out with a friend for the next few hours, so they won't call during."
He pointed a finger at himself. "Did you name drop me?"
Her ears drooped slightly. "See, I think with my parents, it's best if I keep as many details as possible to myself." A beat. "They've gotten better, by a lot, since I've started working here. But I kinda want to avoid them making judgements."
"They'd think you're on a date with a fox," Nick said bluntly. "Like me."
"Exactly!" Judy nodded eagerly. "But it's not like that at all. We're just hanging out so you can show me a good time tonight!" Judy's smiled melted into a frown. "Cheese and crackers, that sounds so bad…" She looked at their table for something. "Now where's that water?"
He gave a small smile of understanding. "The water hasn't arrived yet."
"Oh." She looked incredibly uncomfortable. So unlike her just an hour ago.
He looked aside. He felt somewhat concerned she was acting this way. She was supposed to be enjoying her night, not worrying what her parents back home would think.
"Let's talk about something else," Nick said. Going off her nod, he continued, "So this place is actually kinda special to me."
"Why do you say that?" Judy asked.
"This is where I had one of my first cons ever."
"...You don't say?"
"Save the enthusiasm, Carrots," he said monotonously. "You're overwhelming me."
"I'm sorry," she said. "So what was the gig?"
"So when I was a teen - 14, 15, whatever - I was a bathroom attendant. "
"Well, that doesn't sound too—"
"And I charged $5 a mammal," Nick finished.
"Oh!" The bunny stared at him with bewildered eyes. Her expression soon transformed into one of questioning. "Wait, wasn't that an episode of Elks and Recreation?"
He leered at her. With emphasis he said, "Look, I invented that con before that show ever came out, okay?"
"Sure you did." Judy merely nodded. "So, what was your reasoning?"
"My reason for charging $5?"
"No, for being a bathroom attendant."
He sighed. "Long story short," Nick said while rubbing his neck awkwardly, "I can be very convincing when I want to be. Except I hadn't learned my limits back then."
"Did anyone ever catch on?"
"Well, yes." He coughed. "I, uh, got discovered the first night in."
She chuckled. "Yeah, I doubt that gig went well with the staff."
He flattened his ears against his head and looked to the side. "Well, technically, it wasn't the staff that found me out." He looked her way before adding, "One of the mammals that came that night was a large moose. Yeah, moose, they don't like being threatened." A beat. "He felt I was being threatening when I asked him to pay for getting him a dry towel."
Judy folded her paws as she gave a look of sympathy. "Were you hurt?"
He made a paw wave. "Don't worry about it, Carrots. The only thing that got bruised that night was my ego. And even that healed relatively quickly afterwards."
"What happened after you got caught?"
"I got banned for a few years. It was a shame, too; I actually don't mind the food here."
"And how much did you make?"
He squinted his eyes in suspicion. "What's with all the questions? Are you planning to book me?"
"I would never have you arrested," Judy replied softly. "I'm honestly just curious."
He stared at her, taking in her kind words. "Maybe fifty," he answered. "It wasn't worth the con, though."
"You…" She seemed to be calculating her words carefully. He felt she wanted to poke fun without being dramatic about it. He was surprised, then, when she continued with, "Nick, you tried, at least." She bit her lip before continuing, "Most teenagers would be too scared to try. I mean, I did so much embarrassing stuff when I was a teen, but at least I tried…" Her voice slowed down when she noticed Nick giving her interrogative eyes. "Actually, let's not go back to that, it's boring and cliche and altogether a waste of time."
He grinned down at her. "Uh, no, we will go back to that, thank you very much."
She scowled. "Great…"
"Let me guess," he said while patting his fingers against his cheeks. After a few moments, he pointed at her and said, "You really wanted to join the cheerleaders, and made a fool of yourself at tryouts."
"No, I was too busy studying, I had no time for cheerleading." Judy shook her head. "No, I had a thing for a rabbit back in school."
"A thing?"
"Fine, a crush," Judy amended. "He was kinda quiet and studious. We were in the same chemistry class and-"
"You had chemistry with another bunny," Nick said. He gave a goofy grin at Judy when she looked his way.
"Yes, Nick." She propped her head on her elbow. "Exactly."
He motioned her to continue.
She straightened her posture. "Well, I learned his birthday was coming up. Me being the cute bunny I was… I gave him a birthday cupcake."
Nick looked confused with her explanation. "What's wrong with that?"
She puffed her cheeks. She seemed twitchy once again, although Nick was too curious to let her stop talking. "I made our family recipe for carrot cake into cupcake form. Flour, sweet carrots, sugar, yeast, cinnamon, the works."
Nick held out a paw in confusion. "That sounds perfectly—"
"He was allergic to cinnamon."
He paused and stared. "Oh." A few seconds passed, the cabaret music playing in the background. "So you killed an innocent rabbit with food?"
She glared at him. "No, thankfully. He just had to be rushed to the hospital."
"I'm sorry you blew your chance with a cupcake, Carrots."
"Actually, I never really had a chance with him." She raised her head high. "I went to the hospital to say sorry, and I…" She couldn't seem to grasp the words to conclude the sentence.
He wanted to throw in a crazy guess during the quiet lull. "He was making out with his boyfriend."
She straightened her ears. "That- how did you…" She look astonished at him.
Nick recoiled. He didn't think he would be right. "Wait, he really did have a boyfriend?"
"You said it yourself," Judy said slowly.
Nick held back a chuckle. "How did you not know?"
She mumbled something under her breath.
He perked up one of his ears. "What was that?" he asked while leaning his head closer to her chair.
"He had nice ears!" Judy stated with hastiness.
Nick smirked. "Well, good for him." He turned his head to face her again. "Don't go chasing your tail around, Judy. Trust me on that."
She looked up at him, probably because he had used her first name, a rare occurrence. "You went after someone who couldn't like you back?"
Nick shook his head. "No, the tail thing." He stared at her bamboozled face. "When I was younger, I'd throw tantrums by chasing my tail around for hours. It was a huge waste of time. Don't throw a tantrum over a failed rabbit romance."
"You chased your tail?" Judy snickered a bit. "That actually sounds kinda adorable."
"It was dumb. And I'm not a dumb fox."
"Of course not."
"Although," he added, "If you are offering cupcakes to anyone, I'll gladly accept."
She folded her arms and looked coy. "I only give cupcakes to people on their birthday."
"What do you know?" He sat back and pointed at himself with his thumbs. "I just remembered, it's my day of birth today."
"Oh, yeah? How old are you now?"
"Twelve," he answered with an air of silliness.
"Hmm…." Judy looked contemplative. "Aren't you a bit old for cupcakes?"
He pondered for a moment before realizing he had run out of witty retorts. "I'm older than you," he said with a matter-of-fact tone. "Doesn't that count for something?"
She seemed surprised that he suddenly dropped the teasing. Tilting her head in acknowledgement she said, "I'll think about it."
He eased himself back into his seat and smiled in response.
A waitress then came along. She was a fluffy looking goat. She was carrying a couple of menus and balancing a tray of water glasses. "Welcome to the Rainforest Cabaret. I'm your waitress for the evening, Suzette." She handed them their menus and carefully slid the glasses onto the table. "Take your time looking over the menu and I'll get back to you two in a few minutes, alright?"
"Okay," Judy said. "Thank you."
Suzette nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Enjoy your date." And with that she promptly scampered away to the kitchen.
Judy perked her ears when she realized what the waitress just said. "Wait! We aren't technically on a date…"
Nick looked bemused as he sipped water. "Let it go, Carrots."
She sighed, picked up her glass, and took a healthy gulp of water.
"Anyway." He smugly smiled. "I did become the best at what I did. You know, after those lame years."
"I'm feeling lame myself right now," Judy quipped in a low voice.
He flattened his ears and let out his own sigh. She was so easily distressed. In a way it was charming how open with her emotions she was. There was no way to say she was a liar, unless that creature was a jackass with no sense of manners. But on the other paw, it was slightly annoying how open with her emotions she was.
Nick wanted to shake off his complicated feelings. He gazed around the interior of the cabaret. He hadn't been here in many years, yet not much appeared to have changed. There were still the hanging floral vines and the tasteful crackled glass decor throughout.
"You want fun?" Judy said all of sudden.
Nick hitched up his ears at the sound of her voice. Looking back at her, he said, "I'm listening."
Judy oddly smirked at the fox. "Let's make this a fun night for the both of us."
He gave her a bewildered look. It was not so much what she said as much as how she said it. If any other animal would have said that to him, he would have deduced coy flirting. A mixture of sultriness and playfulness was in her voice, something he was not adept at hearing from her. Yet because it was coming from Judy, it was likely to be her way of teasing. How could a bunny be so confusing?
"Go on…" Nick said.
The rabbit shifted in her sit so that she better met his eyes. Leaning forward, she moved her paws in an animated manner as she spoke. "You know everyone there is to know in the city, correct?"
Nick rolled his eyes. It amused him how she still asked him this question even after all this time she had known him. "Oh, no, I know absolutely zero people in Zootopia. Especially don't know any bunnies who think of me as dumb."
Her response was to make a paw wave. "Look, hear me out. I want to see if you really do know everyone, and see if you can say at least 10 words about each animal I point to. If you can…" She paused. Nick saw her hold a look of hesitance that she erased with an inhale a second later. "If you can do that, I take a drink. But!" She leaned forward closer to his face, her pointer finger being held close to his face. "If you cannot say enough in a few seconds, you need to take a drink." She sat back down in her chair with a smile, her arms folded with contentment. "Yup, that's the game!"
Nick didn't show any emotions on his face. Which was pretty damn hard, considering just how many emotions he was feeling. Had she really just made that game up on the spot? Had she really made up that game period? The opportunity to see a drunken bunny was far too enticing for him. The idea of seeing Judy drunk was even more amusing. Plus he would get a chance to show her how cruel she was for doubting his intelligence, even if it was all in friendly teasing.
He looked over to Judy who was still holding her pose of pride. When he finally opened his mouth, he said, "What kind of drinks are we looking at here?"
Judy just shrugged. "The ones that get people drunk?"
Nick faked a scolding look. "Carrots, have you drank booze before?
She moved her head around. "Not technically…"
Nick held in a laugh as he said, "So then, tonight would be your first time?"
"I guess."
"You want to spend your first time with lil' old me." He draped an arm over his chair's back. Nodding to no one in particular, he added, with a slower, smoother voice, "I feel so special."
"Only Nick could make things perverted…" Judy remarked as she looked aside.
Nick let out a few chuckles. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," he said. She gave him a bothered expression, so he continued, "But your family has a farm. Don't they grow barley and grapes and stuff like that?"
"Next you'll be saying my family grows drugs." Judy perked up her ears, probably realizing Nick was about to correct her.
Nick couldn't resist correcting her. "Well, technically, the Nighthowlers were—"
"Yeah! I know, I remember!"
"Whoa. Bunny on edge." Nick raised both of his arms up, his goofy grin still present. "Don't shoot me, officer."
Judy sighed. "Luckily for you, I'm off duty." Her smile returned. "You still haven't agreed to the game." A beat. "Do you need to check with your secretary?"
He tilted his head as he spoke. "Nope. I'm all yours for the night." He waited a few seconds before adding, "And then some."
"Then to answer your question, yes, my family grew stuff like barley and grapes. But as far as I know, no alcohol was made."
"That's what they want you to think."
Judy puffed her cheeks. She looked like she wanted to laugh. Instead she said, "What drinks do you suggest we have?"
He pondered on this for a few moments. He would love to give her the strongest drinks he ever had in his life.
But he felt slightly guilty for wanting to subject Judy to that. She wanted to have fun, not to regret ever leaving her work behind for one night. What kind of animal would let her do that?
Nick didn't want to be that animal. Not tonight, anyway.
"Let's start us off easy and go for beer." He pointed at her. "Sound good to you?"
Judy thought for a few seconds, then nodded. She stood on her chair and extended her arm. He met her gaze and realized what she wanted. He extended his own arm to meet hers.
They shook paws.
"Maybe the best mammal win!" Judy declared while shaking vigorously.
"I intend to," Nick replied. Once his paw was released, he shook off the grip he still felt. While soft and fuzzy, her paws held tightly when she meant it to.
"I said 'best', not 'worst', Nick."
His response was to glare at her with annoyed eyes and grab the shaker from the middle of the table once again to sprinkle out some pepper. Judy laughed at this.
Suzette returned to their table. She smiled cordially as she asked, "So, are we ready to order?" From her skirt pocket she pulled out a note pad, and from behind her ear she reached for a pen. She was preparing to write down the order.
Nick rested an arm on the table as he faced the waitress. With his own smirk he said, "We most certainly are. Get us a round of beers."
Suzette looked skeptical at what he had just requested, or perhaps suspicious of his intentions. This prompted Nick to point to Judy and say, "Don't look at me, it was her idea."
Judy meekly nodded. "For once, he's not lying."
Nick gave a pout to her. "For once?" he asked.
Judy then added, "Oh, and can we also have some cheese fries, please? And not the straight cut, but the cute curly ones?" Nick shot her a glance, which prompted her to add, "Well, they are cute."
Suzette shrugged. "Well, uh, I guess I'll get right on that…" She collected their menus and looked at them again before saying, "I'll be back in a jiffy." Her hooves made clicking noises as she sped walked away.
Nick turned up his snout at Judy. "Who's paying for that?" he asked with a joking tone.
Judy puffed a breath but grinned. "I don't think your wallet is going to cry. Plus, I thought we would share? I doubt drinking beers and nothing else would be the best idea for either of us."
He groaned. "You make too much sense sometimes, Carrots."
"Sometimes?" Judy mimicked the pitch from when he questioned her when she implied he lied a lot.
"Don't give yourself too much credit," he said as he took another sip of water.
Judy changed the subject. "She's nice." She glanced towards the kitchen. "Make sure you tip her well."
"Of course I will," he said. "We're all trying to survive here."
"Good," she said. "I was afraid you might," she bit her lip as she looked to the side. "Give a rainforest check on that." She then covered her mouth in a poor attempt to conceal her laughter.
It took him a few seconds to get the joke. He glared at her once he realized what she said.
"Well, you are a master at cons," she dramatically said. "I need to make sure you're not masterfully cheap."
He purposefully sounded flat as he laughed. "Ha ha ha. You're really funny, Carrots."
She smiled.
In a few minutes, Suzette came back to the table carrying a tray with a few beers, and another tray with cheese fries. "Here are your drinks," she said while swiftly sliding the glasses onto the center of the table. The fries were quickly placed down as well. "And here are your fries. Enjoy, and let me know if you need anything else."
"Thank you," Nick said while grinning at the waitress.
"Thank you," Judy said, prompting Suzette to nod and then walk away.
Judy slowly pulled a mug closer to her. The damp glass left condensation marks along the table.
"So." Nick folded his arms on the table, placed his head on them, and focused on Judy.
"So…" Judy repeated.
"So, I think this is your game, Carrots." He raised his brows. "You need to be the one to start it up." He sniffed the cheese fries near his face, gave a content expression, and reached for a fry with the cheese gooey all over. "Don't mind if I do," he said more to himself than to Judy.
"Oh. Right." She seemed a bit twitchy. "Alright then." She glanced around the room to look for someone to point to. Nick watched her intently. She held a finger up to her chin as she looked for their unsuspecting target.
"It can be anyone, Carrots," Nick added after some time passed. He grabbed a few more fries and stuffed his mouth. "It's all gonna be the same result anyway."
Judy sneered. She stood on her chair, leaned forward, and grabbed a fry of her own. "First of all, half of these fries are supposed to be for me." Nick responded by nonchalantly taking a few more fries while he was still chewing the last couple. "And secondly, I want to start us off with the perfect mammal."
Nick swallowed his food. "There's no such thing as perfect."
She seemed surprised by this. She dropped her paw and tilted her head at a slight angle. "You don't consider yourself perfect?"
He was about to eat another fry, but his paw stopped in mid motion. He felt slightly offended by her assumptions. "Of course not." He raised his head and sat up straight. "I do consider myself near perfection, though." He bared his teeth with a cocky smile. He then chewed off half of the fries in his paw.
Judy sighed and shook off his words. Sitting back down she said, "Ugh, fine. How about that one?" She pointed to the far edge of the cabaret.
Nick swallowed and followed the point, which ended up leading to an aged bull. "Dr. Carimoo. He went to Bovine University, graduated, then moved on to Stampford University out on the coast where he got his medical degree. He's an outstanding member in his field."
She made a "wow" sound to herself. It was soft, but even with the surrounding music Nick heard it. When he looked back at her, she automatically presented an indifferent expression. He smirked at her, then roved his eyes down to the glass in front of her, then looked back to her face.
With a sigh, Judy tentatively held up her mug of beer. She sniffed its contents before swiftly backing away a few inches. She peered at Nick. He was giving her a smoldering look.
He raised a brow. "Well?"
She smiled uncomfortably. "It smells … different."
"Luckily for you, you don't need to smell when you drink." He then added, "Unless you want to, but I wouldn't advise that; you'll just end up with a runny nose."
"I don't know when to quit," Judy muttered to herself. Inhaling a breath, she took the mug to her lips and took a heavy sip.
He looked impressed as she swallowed at least half her glass. "Well done, Carrots!" He applauded loudly. He then lifted the basket that oozed of melted cheese closer to her. "Fry?"
She coughed a little before looking at him. A few drops slid down her chin. "We're just getting started," she said as she wiped her mouth clean. "And yes," she said, taking another fry. She nibbled on the edge as if it were a carrot. Perhaps she wanted to get the taste of beer out of her mouth.
"Hmm." He blunk deliberately and took another fry from the basket. "Next one," he said as he popped it into his mouth.
She looked to the front of the room on the stage. A splendorous looking doe was singing a sweet serenade. The front row bucks were ogling her intently.
Judy pointed to the doe.
Nick turned his head and gazed for a second. He then looked back at Judy. "Jane Doe. Was a member of the Doe Rey Me music group. She played place to place for her gigs."
Judy seemed impressed, but forced a frown. "Okay, then." She took another sip of beer. She smacked her lips, the taste still stuck to her mouth unpleasantly. She looked briefly at Nick. She then pointed at a passing alpaca who was similarly wearing a showgirl outfit.
"Emma Woolcoat. Went to A capella for Alpacas School for the Musically Gifted. She's also a spoiled show-off."
"Jane!" Emma screamed near the front stage. "How dare you take my spot on stage without asking me!"
"Cheese and crackers…" Judy muttered to herself.
"You mean cheese and fries, right?" Nick asked as he helped himself to more food. He was probably eating too much, but he couldn't help it. The Rainforest Cabaret always had the best fries. Back then they were amazing, and tonight was looking to be more of the same.
Judy drooped her ears as she looked back at him. He gave the typical snarky look she had come to expect from him. He offered her the basket of fries he still held in his paws. Sighing, she drank the last of her first glass of beer and grabbed more to eat.
"Wanna call it quits, Hopps?" he asked her teasingly.
"No!" she barked. She rubbed her face with her paws and composed herself. With a sweeter voice, she then said, "No, I do not."
He chuckled. "Oh, Carrots." He admired her tenacity. Most mammals would have given up by now. He shoved forward his glass of beer closer to her. He then placed the basket of fries down on the table and said, "Next one."
Judy, with less energy, pointed to a sitting duck. A crested duck, to be specific. It sat in a portion of the building with a small puddle of water, and was drinking something green. Other ducks were sitting nearby.
Nick knew exactly who that duck was. It was Alfred the Duck. He was a car insurance mascot of sorts, where Alfred would shout his name to random mammals whose cars broke down in the most absurd of situations. Once the duck yelled his name, everything would be hunky-dory. Those commercials were always a bother to watch, but then again, maybe it was Nick's own fault for watching so much television when he wasn't conning someone. Nick had conned Alfred, ironically, by running an off-the-books car repair service. That was a pretty fun summer, Nick reflected in hindsight.
A random thought suddenly popped into Nick's head. He didn't know why he had such an idea. Maybe Judy was turning him to a softy.
He looked quickly at Judy before looking back at the duck. "Oh, really Carrots, that duck?" He purposefully sounded annoyed in a whiny way as he raised an arm motioning towards Alfred.
Judy looked at the fox and perked up her ears in intrigue.
Nick dramatically sighed and continued, "Well, I need a few seconds…" And then he purposely stopped talking, letting the ambient noise fill the silence. He fought the urge to suddenly say all that he knew. He knew he could have done it, too; he was always a good fast talker. He could just talk fast and take her by surprise. But for some reason, he held himself back.
The longer Nick took, the more excited Judy looked. After a few seconds passed, she pointed at Nick's face and made a loud buzz noise. "Ah-ha! You don't know! I knew it!" She slid back the drink he had given her. "Drink up!" She bounced in her seat, watching him with eagerness.
Nick faked an annoyed look. "Take it easy, Carrots. Like you said, we're just getting started."
Judy looked at him with her half lidded eyes and a smirk. "And you said you knew everyone." She proudly reached for the fry basket and pulled out a few soggy but nonetheless cheesy pieces. She ate them quite merrily.
He took a sip of his beer, smacked his lips, grabbed yet another cheese fry, and then said, "Next one."