That morning Judy and Nick arose early at around 8 AM, although neither one of them had set an alarm for that time. The morning, which seemed transcendently beautiful, was just becoming overcast, with a steady wall of clouds advancing towards the city of Zootopia from the bay. Nick, being the first to wake, immediately got dressed and made coffee, a morning routine that he followed strictly. While preparing his morning cup of java, he happened to notice how the clouds encroaching on his beloved city gave an unprecedentedly ominous look to the otherwise bright and upbeat metropolis.
Realizing that Judy was finally stirring, about five minutes after he had gone to the kitchen of the apartment, he came to the bed and sat by her, admiring her sleek, elegant fur which was unsullied by a night's sleep. Sitting there, enjoying Judy's athletic figure, he contemplated caressing her soft ears; however, he refrained and with an internal air of forbearance, thought to himself that it would not be right for him to disturb her peaceful slumber; instead, he let her rise by herself, which she ultimately did about a minute or so later.
Seeing that Judy was now seated upright on the bed, stretching and yawning multiple times, Nick asked:
"So, how did you sleep last night?"
"Just fine" she responded, not taking the time to ask Nick the same question, as Nick was a notoriously heavy sleeper.
After waiting for a reasonable amount of time, Nick continued the conversation, casually asking, "Would you like some coffee, pumpkin?" as this was his everyday sobriquet for her.
After politely refusing Nick's offer, Judy stood to regard the majesty of the city in which she maintained the law and order. From their small apartment, Judy was able to see over avenues and entire communities having a clear view of the bay of Zootopia.
Finding himself staring at Judy from the kitchen, once again admiring her soft fur and the undoubtedly optimistic perspective Judy possessed when viewing her new home, although it was at times rife with crime and internal conflict, he was happy to know that he had the honor of working with her on a daily basis.
As he stood there, passively beholding her, he remembered that her fervently optimistic view of the world was what organically attracted him to her, for his cynical outlook on life needed to be countered by an individual whose beliefs and ethics were in direct contravention to his own.
Although Judy did not know it, Nick also fostered deep feelings of love and enamourment towards Judy, not being able to properly express it due to his naturally nonchalant and surreptitious nature. Day after day the torture of these deeply masked feelings caused him to act in ways that were not characteristic of his natural behavior. Instead, Nick felt compelled to act oddly, for maybe he hoped that Judy would one day realize his unusual attitude and question him, leading to a serious conversation about his undying and perpetual love for her. This, however, was a forlorn hope, for Judy, being a judicious and upright character did not often probe into Nick's personal emotions.
Attempting to break away from the sight of Judy's figure, Nick decided to focus on his coffee, but the warmth and satisfaction that it gave him immediately reminded him of Judy and the emotional love and contentment she provided on a daily basis.
Upon looking down, Judy turned around and asked a relatively odd question:
"Nick," she asked plainly, "do you ever wish that you had one wish that could just be granted on a moment's notice, in some magical way?"
"Of course," he responded, "I think everybody wishes they had an opportunity like that!"
Although Nick was trying to conceal it, he felt the urge to exclaim that his wish would be for unconditional love to exist between them; in spite of his desire to tell her, he prudently refrained.
Silently, Judy also wished for the exact same thing, hoping that in some way love could be magically brought to their stagnant relationship. Seeing Nick's attention drift back to his coffee as he leaned against the kitchen counter, Judy attempted to revitalize the conversation, not allowing this brief moment of spontaneity to go to waste.
"So is there anything that you want to do together today?" she asked, "We have the entire weekend to ourselves, I feel that were are seldom given such a luxury."
"It's true," acknowledged Nick, "the bosses down at precinct headquarters do put a lot of weight on my shoulders, especially because we are both rookies."
"So what do you say? Do you want to go for breakfast or go down to the wharf for lunch, what do you want to do?" inquired Judy encouragingly.
Never given such freedom or power in any conversation before, Nick thought about potential prospects for leisure for the day while he looked around absentmindedly; suddenly, the fox realized that he had left his wallet at the station. After relating this fact to Judy, he decided to walk down to headquarters to retrieve it, luckily the station was only five minutes or so from their apartments and the day was not yet hot or humid.
Dressing for his upcoming journey, he waved goodbye to Judy and began walking down the quiet, empty streets of their residential district.
"Seems awfully quiet today," remarked Nick, "it's probably just average Saturday foot traffic." Dismissing any concern, he continued to the station and after an uneventful walk, he made in through the doors of the station of Zootopia Precinct No. 1. Upon his arrival, Nick noticed the presence of Officer Benjamin Clawhauser, the affable and easygoing cheetah who was the face of the precinct to the general public. Being cordial and offering his greetings, Nick passed right by him, as Clawhauser was watching a Gazelle music video, and retrieved his wallet from his work locker. On his way out the door, he stopped by to start a casual conversation with Clawhauser.
"Hey, Ben!" Nick called out, "How are ya'?"
"Oh just fine, and how are you and Judy?"
"We're just fine," answered Nick, "but to be honest, our relationship has kind of been slowing down, I feel that the amount of emotion and support I commit to this relationship isn't getting me anywhere, you know?"
Being a close friend and Nick's trusted confidant, Clawhauser offered some advice.
"You know Nick, I have just got my hands on some highly potent stuff off of the Internet, it might really help your marriage."
Somewhat curious by the vague, ambiguous offer, Nick quietly inquired, "What kind of 'stuff' are you referring to?" not wanting to say anything explicit in the highly monitored environment of the precinct office.
"Well, I have just bought a small case of highly potent ZP-170 animal pheromone," brandishing a small capped vial of semi-opaque indigo-colored liquid from underneath his desk. "This ostensibly ordinary container of liquid has the power to effectively make you appealing to any animal immediately, regardless of if they are a tiger, lion, rhinoceros, crocodile, or bunny!"
"You must be kidding, there couldn't be such a powerful substance!" objected Nick.
"Au contraire! This drug was made in a special lab; in fact, it was made illegally by extremely rich, subversive mafia members. That's how I was able to get it. I bought it through the online evidence program that we have with precinct No. 3."
"But you could get in a lot of trouble for that Clawhauser, you might just be putting your career on the line!"
"It's fine, but as a friend I want to see you happy. So I am going to entrust this to you. Now be careful, this substance is highly potent, here I'll show you, take a whiff," after which Clawhauser removed the small stopper from the vial and held the liquid towards, Nick's face.
Upon breathing in the fumes from the ZP-170 pheromone, Nick almost passed out, as the fragrance, although pleasant, was one of the strongest that he had ever smelled.
"This stuff is truly amazing, it can work in nearly any situation with practically any kind of animal. If you were really willing to, you could try it on Judy, but there is one catch," Clawhauser said with a slight grin, "if you are to use this pheromone effectively, the female must breathe it in while it's in its vaporous form, this usually works best in an extremely hot and extremely humid environment. From what I have read small steam rooms or saunas usually do the trick. Luckily men are at no risk because this version of the ZP-170 pheromone is specially designed for female animals."
Realizing that he had already scheduled a sauna reservation in Tundra Town, Nick was more than eager to try this out on Judy, nearly disregarding his own moral limitations and concerns for her free will and well-being. Taking the vial and promptly thanking Clawhauser heartily for his gift, he hurried out of the precinct headquarters eagerly considering what this amazing pheromone concentrate could do.