Nick waited anxiously as Judy considered his offer. However, as he glanced over to where she was sitting in the driving seat, his eyebrows raised a bit when he realized that she hadn't moved from where they originally were sitting, on the way out of the precinct to begin their patrol.
Reaching over, Nick lightly nudged Judy with one of his fingers, successfully managing to bring her back to the real world.
"You still in there, Carrots? We've got a line, and you're zoning out on me."
As soon as Judy realized what Nick was saying, she quickly glanced into the rearview mirror and noticed that, while there was enough room for the other cruisers to maneuver around her, she was still getting some weird looks from her fellow coworkers.
Nervously clearing her throat, Judy looked away from Nick as she finally pulled out of the parking lot, hoping that her partner didn't notice the slight blush that appeared on her face thanks to the embarrassing moment.
"So, uh…what were we talking about again?"
Nick glanced over after hearing Judy's last question, slightly surprised that she'd forgotten about what they were talking about so quickly. Thankfully, though, he kept it to himself, not wanting things to get more awkward between the two of them considering how things have started out.
"I wanted to see what it was like for you out in Bunnyburrow. What's wrong with me being a little adventurous for once in my life?"
"No, there's nothing wrong!" said Judy, quickly trying to calm the slightly riled up fox. "It's just…where did this come from all of a sudden? You don't seem like the type to rough it out on the farm."
"I'm not talking about moving there permanently, Fluff. It's just for a week…maybe more if things go well."
"You still haven't answered my question."
Nick paused, realizing that Judy did have a point, even if he didn't intentionally try to dodge the question.
"Remember back when we nearly got iced by Mr. Big?"
"Only too well." said Judy, suppressing a shiver. "I wouldn't be sitting here right now if it wasn't for you."
"Anyway…" said Nick, quickly moving on before he did something awkward. "I doubt you remember this part, but after I pulled you out of the river, I mentioned wanting to visit Bunnyburrow with you after we dealt with the Bellwether case. Well…I didn't forget, and here we are."
Judy let out a 'hmm' noise, pleasantly surprised that Nick was able to remember something that happened over six months ago when even she didn't have that great of a long term memory.
"So…are you up for it?" asked Nick, looking expectantly as he waited for her answer.
The two of them had just pulled up to a red light when Nick asked his question, so Judy took the opportunity to have a little fun, placing a finger on her chin as she pondered whether to take him up on his offer.
"Uh…sure, why not? I'm willing to show you my home…that is if you're willing to show me yours."
Nick was admittedly a little caught off guard by Judy's proposition, not expecting to get it thrown back at him. Still, being the smooth talker that he was, he was quickly able to pull himself together and come up with a reply.
"Didn't we already do that last night? I mean, if you want to spend some more time at my apartment, I'd be happy to uh…show you around." he said, making a show of readjusting his tie.
"Nick, seriously! Not while we're working!" scolded Judy, her face turning an even brighter shade of red than before. "Besides, I wasn't talking about where you live. I was talking about where your parents live."
Nick had a feeling that this was what Judy had in mind when she spoke about it, but hearing it come from her mouth was something he really wasn't thrilled about.
"How does after we come back sound?"
"Not happening, Slick. Either we go before we leave, or we're not going to Bunnyburrow."
Judy had already decided that she was going to remain firm in her decision and refuse to compromise, but as Nick looked away to consider her counteroffer, she couldn't help but notice the slightly worried look that her partner had on his muzzle.
"Something wrong, Nick?" she asked, her expression softening as she realized that this was a big thing considering how good he was at hiding his emotions.
Nick briefly considered just going out and telling her, but with how open he was in telling her the Ranger Scout story a while back, he really wasn't ready to be any more open than he already had been.
"It's nothing. Yeah, I'll take you."
Nick's dismissive tone failed to relieve any of the worries that were nagging Judy at the moment, but with her currently being behind the wheel of a high-powered police cruiser, she felt that it probably wasn't the best time for her to confront Nick on that fact, so she decided it was best to leave it alone for now.
The two of them were silent for a little while, as they had reached the beginning of their patrol route not long after finishing their conversation. However, it wasn't too long before the silence was broken by an unexpected source.
"You know, now that I think about it, we are going to have to run this whole trip by the Chief. I'm not sure he's going to like us taking a week off."
"What do you mean? I'm sure Bogo would be more than willing to be accommodating." said Nick, looking more confident than he had any right to be.
"I hate to break it to you, Slick, but I think you might be barking up the wrong tree."
Nick opened his muzzle to make a snide comment, only to pause when he registered the last part of her sentence.
"Oh, ha ha, Carrots. Very funny." he said sarcastically.
"What?" asked Judy, looking innocent despite only having just connected the dots and realized the pun.
"'Barking up the wrong tree'?"
Nick fell silent, but after noticing Judy failing to suppress a giggle at the mention of the phrase, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit himself, Judy's actions looking incredibly endearing to the fox.
"Well, either way, all I have to do is turn up the charm a bit, and I think we're golden, Fluff. Besides, what makes you think Buffalo Butt will say no to the duo that cracked the Bellwether case?"
"No."
Nick's expression faltered, the two of them standing in Chief Bogo's office as they had just attempted to get that week off so they could head down to Judy's home.
"Come on Chief, can't you just make an exception this once?" he asked, failing to come up with anything more convincing.
Sighing, Bogo closed a file that he had in his hooves, placing it down on the desk in front of him before affixing his eyes on the two officers in front of him, more specifically Nick.
"Wilde, you've barely been on the force for twenty four hours officially. Did you really think I was going to let you take a week off when you've barely done any work in the first place?"
Nick opened his muzzle to say something, but before he could do so, Bogo held up a hoof to silence him.
"I don't want to hear it, Wilde. Talk to me when you've actually put in some work, and maybe I might reconsider."
"And how long would that take, sir?" asked Nick, his voice coming out a little timid considering he was relatively sure that Bogo wouldn't like it.
Nick's prediction was in fact accurate, but instead of berating his subordinate, Bogo instead gave Nick a dark look before answering.
"Six months. No more…no less. Same goes for you too, Hopps."
Judy nearly jumped, her ears shooting up into the air as she did not expect to get pulled into the conversation so quickly.
"I know that you've been here longer than Wilde, but due to your…temporary leave of absence…the time that you've built up has been reset, so you're back to square one."
While Judy wasn't exactly the happiest girl in the world to know that she was basically starting from the beginning in terms of vacation time, she was willing to go along with it considering she was only there for a few weeks before her spell back home.
"Now, I don't want to hear another word out of you two about time off until you've built up enough to use. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir." said both Nick and Judy, the latter speaking crisply while the former had a more lackadaisical attitude when replying.
Bogo grumbled in displeasure as he clearly noticed the tone that Nick had, but the file he was reading was for an important case, so he decided to let that transgression go so that he could get back to finishing it.
"Dismissed."
With a pair of salutes, Nick and Judy took their leave from Bogo's office, shutting the door behind them before finally relaxing.
"See what I mean, Nick? Chief Bogo can be a bit of a hardass sometimes, but he's not entirely cold hearted." said Judy, a small smile on her face now that her warning to Nick was proven right.
"Okay, okay…I'll give you that one for free, Carrots. Now…let's get something to eat. I'm famished."
"Oh come on, Nick. You barely even had to do anything this morning." said Judy playfully.
"Hey, don't blame me if it was a slow morning. Besides, I've been looking forwards to lunch time since this morning."
Judy opened her mouth to say something, but held her tongue when she realized that he was completely right. Their morning was in fact incredibly slow, the only real action being a pair of traffic stops, and even then it only led to a pair of tickets for both drivers.
While she wasn't exactly thrilled with how the day was going so far, considering it limited the amount of on the job experience that Nick would receive, she also didn't mind getting an easy day for once, especially after what she'd been through.
As for Nick, he looked down at Judy, who had adopted a questioning look on her face as she remembered what he had said prior to her small moment of thought.
"I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast, alright? I was barely awake this morning, not to mention the fact that I was running a bit late."
"Well…at least you made it to lunch time, right? I'd hate to have to patrol on an empty stomach." said Judy.
Nick shrugged. Instead of saying anything more, he led the way while the two of them headed down to the first floor and through the lobby, notifying Clawhauser of their lunch break before finally heading back out into the city.
Despite Nick making multiple attempts to bother Chief Bogo about their vacation time, the cape buffalo surprisingly never heard a peep from him or Judy about the subject, thanks mostly due to the latter preventing Nick from bringing it up in various ways, including having to resort to tranquilizing him. Unfortunately for him, the shot ended up in his behind, so he wasn't actually sleeping in the most comfortable position in the world.
Needless to say, he wasn't exactly happy with Judy's methods, and neither was Bogo, but his annoyance was tempered a bit thanks to getting some freedom from the irritating fox.
Thankfully, though, the wait did give him more of an opportunity to get experience like Judy wanted him to. Surprisingly, the two of them managed to pull off a not too shabby arrest record, which while it was very commendable for them to do, their methods were a little unorthodox.
One of the most infamous cases which ended with them getting chewed out by Bogo happened to involve a burglary ring within the confines of the Rainforest District. While all of the culprits were arrested, a majority of the evidence was destroyed thanks to Judy accidentally dumping a table full of the stolen items into a large pot that was being used to melt the gold and silver into bars.
Luckily, there was still enough to convict them, but Bogo certainly wasn't happy about how close they came to walking free.
This incident was pretty early on during the period, though, so this gave Chief Bogo an opportunity to cool off.
Eventually, the six months since Nick's first day came and went, and the two of them once again found themselves in the chief's office, eagerly awaiting the good news.
As for Bogo, while he was still annoyed at being bothered by the two of them, he could find nothing to berate them about considering how well the two of them have been doing since they became partners.
So, with a reluctant sigh, Bogo tucked his reading glasses into his shirt pocket, interlacing his hooves as he rested his chin on them, staring at Nick and Judy as he considered what to say.
"Well…as much as your methods are going to give me a migraine on day, you two have done well over these past months. I find no other reason not to let you take your time off if you still wish to do so. You have put in the required work to get it."
Even though Chief Bogo had left his last sentence open to interpretation, both Judy and Nick had already made their decision.
"Thank you, sir." said Judy. "We appreciate that you're still willing to give us the chance even though…things have happened."
Despite Judy's vague answer, Bogo knew exactly what she was talking about. Still, he remained silent, allowing her to continue.
"Isn't that right, Nick?" she asked, having turned her head to face the fox cop in the interim.
"Right, of course!" he said, slightly caught off guard by getting pulled into the conversation.
Bogo glared at Nick, slightly miffed that he didn't appear to be fully honest, but he decided that it was probably best to move on before a headache started to come in.
"Go speak to Clawhauser. Considering this is the first time you two have had time off, you are required to fill out a few forms. Thankfully, though, they don't take too bloody long." he said, the last sentence being spoken under his breath.
Even though their excitement was tempered a bit due to the impending paperwork, Nick and Judy were still more than happy to get it over with so that they could go.
As the sun set on yet another day, Judy and Nick quickly filled out the required paperwork, heading towards the door as they prepared to finally go on their trip.
"Have fun, you two!" said Clawhauser, waving as the door swung closed behind them.
As they headed down the steps, Nick sighed in contentment before turning towards Judy.
"So Carrots, I think I'll go home and pack up, and we'll meet at the train station tomorrow morning. How does that sound?"
"Try the afternoon, Slick."
Nick's eyebrows quickly rose, not expecting this kind of answer from her. As she explained what she meant, though, his eyebrows went even higher, as he was reminded of something that he was really not looking forwards to doing.
"Don't think I forgot about what you promised me. We're going to see your home tomorrow morning, and then we'll get the train that afternoon. Sound good?"
Surprisingly, I actually did a fair share of research into this chapter. Most of the officers I've read about accrue vacation time based on how long they have been working. One example was that a year's worth of work would lead to 14 days of vacation time, so that is what I based it on, with six months equaling a week. I'm not sure if that would apply in real life, but for the purpose of this story, that's what I'm going with.