"Oh cheese and crackers, they're naked!"
Judy was desperately trying to cover her eyes as what was happening around her finally registered in her mind.
There were tons of animals inside the complex, but the one thing Judy noticed about them was that no one was wearing a single article of clothing.
"Of course we're naked! We're animals!" said Yax, spreading his arms wide.
"But animals wear clothes! I mean…don't you see us two? Wearing clothes?" asked Judy, gesturing towards herself and Nick as she spoke.
"Well sure, but we believe in embracing our primal side here at the Oasis, and wearing clothes goes against actually doing so, at least in our opinions."
Judy sighed, realizing that she wasn't getting anywhere trying to convince Yax.
"So…can we go see that teacher now? I really want to get out of here." she said, the last sentence coming way quicker than she would usually speak.
"Oh, sure! Follow me! You're gonna love her. She's got a mind like a steel trap. I'm positive she's gonna remember where Otterton went off to."
Nick and Judy began following behind Yax as he led them to the yoga teacher. As they walked, Judy looked towards Nick, silently fuming as she noticed the smug look on the fox's face.
"Why didn't you tell me everyone would be naked here?"
"What, and ruin the fun I'm having? Seeing the look on your face makes this day so much better for me." said Nick, smiling.
This comment ended up earning Nick a punch in the arm from Judy, the fox wincing when he realized just how hard Judy actually punched.
"Ow! For a bunny, you hit really hard!" he said, rubbing at the affected area with his free paw.
"Well, that's what a year of training at the Zootopia Police Academy can do for someone like me." said Judy, a smug look of her own on her face.
Nick rolled his eyes before returning his focus to what was in front of him. As for Judy, she couldn't help but notice a panther on a bench, cleaning one of his hind legs with his tongue. Suppressing an involuntary shiver, Judy pulled her eyes away from the panther just as the three of them reached their destination.
"Ah, there you are, Nangi! I was wondering where I'd find you!" said Yax.
"What do you want? I'm busy." said a large elephant, who Judy assumed must be Nangi.
"Oh, I've got some friends here with me who are looking for Emmett Otterton."
"Who are you talking about?" asked the elephant as she performed different yoga poses, barely paying any attention to the conversation.
"You know…Emmett Otterton. He takes your yoga classes a lot. Very flexible for an otter."
"Doesn't ring a bell." said Nangi, standing up and stretching her torso between her legs, giving Judy a full-on look at her butt.
Judy predictably recoiled from the sight, shielding her eyes in a desperate attempt to maintain her dignity while Nick maintained his sly smile in the background.
"Well, either way, I heard him mention after one of your classes that he was heading somewhere."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." said Nangi flatly, adopting the lotus position as she spoke.
"You sure? I remember him mentioning that he was going back to his floral shop over on Third and Main. He owns that place. Didn't you know?"
"No, I didn't."
As Yax and Nangi continued to trade words, Judy couldn't help but stare in confusion, flicking her eyes between the two of them as she had no idea what to make of this situation. However, when she heard Yax mention the place where Mr. Otterton was going and its address (which caught her off guard considering she was expecting the elephant to know), she quickly pulled a notepad out of her breast pocket and noted the relevant information using her carrot pen.
"Hey, thanks you guys. I think we've got all of the information we need. We'd better get going." said Judy quickly, stuffing the carrot pen and notepad in her pocket once more as she spoke.
"Oh! Okay. See, I told you she's got a mind like a steel trap. Glad to be of service!"
Nangi simply rolled her eyes while Yax waved goodbye as Judy quickly made her way out of the courtyard, dragging Nick along with her in her desperate escape.
Once Nick and Judy made their way through the door and shut it behind them, Judy almost collapsed in relief.
"Oh god, I am so glad to be out of there!"
"Come on Carrots, it wasn't so bad." said Nick nonchalantly.
Judy immediately gave Nick the darkest glare she could muster, but this didn't faze Nick in the slightest, considering he was used to that kind of thing.
"Wasn't so bad? You have no idea just how uncomfortable I was in there, Nick."
"Well, now you're out of there, and you never have to go back. Doesn't that make things better?"
Judy fumed for a few moments, ready to give Nick a piece of her mind, but she soon realized that he did have a point. Unless her police work brought her to this place again (which she found very unlikely considering most animals who weren't already spending time there wouldn't be caught dead there), there was no reason for her to actually go near this place.
"You know, you're right. For once."
"It's too bad, though. I was almost getting to like that yak." said Nick wistfully as he reflected a bit.
"Come on, you sap. Let's get back to the van before your friend leaves us behind."
"Wait, did you find out where we were supposed to go? I kind of zoned out after their conversation was starting to go nowhere." said Nick.
"Yeah, I made a note." said Judy, patting the pocket where she kept the notepad.
"Great! Hopefully Otterton will actually be there this time."
Nick and Judy quickly made their way over to the van, which thankfully was still there and hopped into the passenger seat, closing the door behind them.
"Finally! What took you so long?" asked Finnick, a surly look on his face.
"Otterton wasn't there. We had to ask the locals where he went." said Nick.
Satisfied with the answer, Finnick turned the key to start the van again, but before he pulled out of his parking space, he quickly turned towards Nick, a noticeably brighter expression on his face.
"Hey Nick, how did Whiskers over there take the surprise?"
"Just like you'd expect."
This caused Finnick a great deal of joy, as he couldn't resist laughing as hard as he could.
"Oh man, I love messing with people sometimes." he said between bouts of the giggles.
As Finnick's bout of laughter continued on, Judy was forced to sit there, fuming. She really wanted nothing more than to throttle the both of them, but she couldn't actually do so.
For one thing, she couldn't actually reach Finnick from where she was sitting considering she had Nick to go through. And even then, she'd probably just end up getting even more in trouble with Chief Bogo than she already might be after swiping the handcuffs.
Eventually, Finnick's guffaws subsided, and Judy sighed, finally glad that the fennec fox was able to shut up.
"Can we go now? I've got the address right here."
"Alright, alright. Keep your tail on."
Judy passed the page she had the address written on to Nick, who handed it over to Finnick as the small fox scanned through the notes.
"Flower shop on Third and Main. I haven't been over that way in a while, but it shouldn't be too hard to find."
Judy couldn't help but be a little nervous at the fact that Finnick wasn't completely sure about where he was going, but unfortunately she couldn't really do anything about it considering this was only her second day in Zootopia and she was still learning the roads.
So, as much as she was reluctant to do so, she chose to trust Finnick and hope that he could get them there in a timely manner.
"I think we're going around in circles!"
Judy was beginning to regret placing her trust in Finnick, as she began to notice that they were passing by a large building multiple times over the last fifteen minutes.
Now, to be fair, most of the buildings in Savannah Central were pretty large, but the one Judy noticed them passing by tended to pop out a little more than the others, mostly because of the large neon sign poking out from the canopy above the door which most anybody would see within a mile radius.
"Shut up, cottontail! I've got it covered!"
"Seriously, Finnick. I think we really should be asking for directions." said Nick, surprisingly beginning to agree with Judy.
"I've told you. I've…got…it…handled." said Finnick, trying his best not to fly off the handle.
Unfortunately, keeping his cool proved to be a bit of a challenge, as both Nick and Judy were trying their best to convince him to stop and ask for directions. Finnick, however, being the man that he was, refused to do so, considering he was essentially riding his entire knowledge of the city on finding where they were going.
Almost as if by sheer luck, though, Judy's sensitive ears managed to pick up the sound of a bell ringing thanks to the windows being down.
"Wait! I think I heard something!"
"How? I can barely hear anything going on outside thanks to the stupid engine!" said Finnick, giving the general area where the engine was a death glare.
"Never mind how, just stop the van!"
Finnick still wanted to find out exactly what she managed to hear over the noise of the city, but he reluctantly obliged with Judy's order, pulling the van over next to the sidewalk and parking it.
"So? What kind of wild goose chase are we being led on now?" he asked, annoyed.
Instead of answering, Judy shushed him, which struck a nerve with the fennec fox, but thankfully Nick managed to put himself in between the two of them before Finnick could do what he threatened Nick with to Judy.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Lead the way, Carrots." said Nick after making sure that Finnick wasn't trying to sneak by him to get to Judy.
As the three of them hopped out of the van and began walking along the sidewalk, Finnick turned towards Nick, who was busy being led by Judy.
"You know, I think I deserve sixty-forty for putting up with her."
Nick sighed, rolling his eyes.
"She's not going to be here for much longer. I think fifty-fifty's still fine."
Finnick grunted in annoyance, but thankfully he remained silent.
"Wait, there it is!"
Both Nick and Finnick turned to where Judy was looking to find that they were standing in front of the exact flower shop that they were looking for.
"Wow. That was convenient." commented Nick.
"Yes! I told you that I can find my way here just fine on my own!" said Finnick.
"Yeah, I don't think that counts. We only found the right road by sheer coincidence, partly thanks to Carrots here." said Nick, bursting Finnick's bubble before he could begin to rub it in Nick's face.
Once again, Finnick grumbled in annoyance, but this time he actually did remain silent as the three of them stepped in to the flower shop.
As the three animals made their way inside, Judy managed to get a look around and see what kind of place this was.
"Wow, this place is gorgeous!" she said breathlessly.
The store was filled to the brim with all kinds of flowers in bouquets, pots, and tons of other containers. As for the flowers themselves, they were in all kinds of different colors, which not only brought a lot of color to the store, but it also reminded Judy of being back home in Bunnyburrow.
Finnick, meanwhile, noticed the wistful look that Judy had on her face, and he opened his mouth to make a snide comment. However, before he could do so, he caught Nick's expression out of the corner of his eye and noticed that the larger fox was shaking his head.
"Just let her have this, alright? She deserves it for what she's been through today."
Finnick stared at Nick for a few seconds after he finished speaking, giving him a weird look.
"Man, I hope you're not getting soft on me."
"Don't worry, I'm not." said Nick, slightly exasperated.
Finnick emitted a slightly dismissive noise, showing that he didn't completely believe Nick, but thankfully he dropped the subject right there as the three of them were standing right at the front counter just as the customer in front of them finished purchasing their flowers.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" asked the clerk, a female otter wearing a purple wool jacket with small clam patterns on it.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, we're not actually here for flowers." said Nick, taking charge of the conversation.
"Well then, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We don't allow loitering inside this store."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we won't take up much of your time." said Judy, stepping forwards before Nick could continue on.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, officer! Are you taking this man back to the police station?" asked the otter, having noticed the chain trailing between her and Nick.
Judy glanced at Nick, unsure of how she should answer that question, but after a reluctant nod from the fox, Judy took it as a sign that he would be alright with whatever she said.
"Actually, yes I am. I do have one thing that I need to do before I take him in."
"And what's that?"
"I'm looking for an Emmett Otterton. I was told that he owned this place."
"I'm his wife. Is Emmett in trouble?"
"Oh, no, Mrs. Otterton. Your husband…has some important information that will help us with another case. We would appreciate it if you would tell us if he's here."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I really wish I could help you out, but Emmett's not here right now."
"He's not?" asked Nick, confused.
"No, he stepped out about ten minutes ago."
Both Nick and Judy glared at Finnick, knowing that he was the reason they missed seeing Mr. Otterton, but the fennec fox remained unfazed.
"Did he say where he was going?" asked Judy.
"No, I'm afraid not. It's very strange, though. It's not like Emmett to not mention where he was going."
Judy sighed, realizing that they weren't getting anywhere with trying to find a way out of the cuffs.
"Thank you for all of the help, Mrs. Otterton." she said, trying her best to remain courteous despite how aggravated she was right now.
"You're quite welcome. Oh, and if you do happen to run into Emmett, please tell him that his wife is worried about him. I'm sure he'll understand."
"We will. Have a good evening, Mrs. Otterton." said Judy.
As Mrs. Otterton waved goodbye, Judy took the lead again as she lead Nick and Finnick outside once more, both Nick and Judy hoping that the trail hasn't gone cold.