Hey everyone welcome to Chapter 7, I'm getting used to my new schedule so I was able to deliver this supersized chapter to you earlier than normal.
AN: Say Thanks to my editor SaberGatomon, who catches my errors and helps with the flow of the writing.
You want to storyboard for me? you like reading my chapters early and Sharing ideas for FREE you say? Well shoot me a message and we might have something to talk about.
Nobody had any questions, so I have one for you all. Are you or anyone you know a good artist? specifically an artist who would draw stuff for free(Or for the promise of getting your work seen) If so drop the name or where I can find them in the comments or in a message to me. line breaks aren't working again, sorry.
Much appreciated,
Lastly as always I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: After buying plane tickets and infuriating Disney World I was unable to find the Rights to Zootopia(Did Find a Cool severed head frozen in ice though). So Like Usual, I Don't own Zootopia or any of its Characters.
Chapter 7
If I were a betting Mammal
Grove Park, downtown Savanna Central, Sunday Afternoon 3:15pm
I'm late! I'm late! What's wrong with me I'm never late, then again, in my defense, today has been a rather strange day. Getting up early was strange enough, but then I get sidetracked, running into Finnick, at the library of all places. Then I pop a button on my shirt and have to go back "home" to sew it, then, realizing I forgot my phone, I have to go all the way back to the library to get it, luckily it was still there, and on top of all that I've had this strange feeling of dread all day. Nick thought to himself as he jogged down the sidewalk, almost to the entrance of the park. As Nick turned the corner and the entrance came into view so did Judy and what a view it was. She was only wearing a simple lavender sports top with plain black leggings, but Nick still couldn't take his eyes off her. The top complimented her eyes, while the leggings hugged her curves perfectly and showed off her "ass-ets." Nick also noticed a strange, almost primal, sense of satisfaction that he was getting from seeing Judy wear the clothes he had bought her.
"It's not like she had anything else to wear, plus she still doesn't know you sent them, so chill out." Nick's rational voice chastised.
As Nick got close he saw the look of irritation on Judy's face, and paired with the rapid hind paw tapping Nick knew he was in trouble. Slowing down his jog Nick made his way over to Judy.
"Hey Carrots, sorry I'm late. You would not believe the day I've had." Nick said, flashing a quick smile, hoping to placate the irate rabbit.
Judy stared stone faced, her icy glare and deafening silence sent a shiver up Nick's spine.
Well I guess she's really angry, note to self, from now on, don't be late. Nick thought to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck hoping Judy would speak soon. Time slowed under Judy's silent scrutinization and even though it had only been a minute to Nick it felt like a lifetime.
"I really am sorry Fluff, I got caught up in some stuff and lost track of time, it won't happen again, I promise." Nick said trying to calm Judy down with an apology. Judy wasn't budging however, and after a few more seconds of silence Nick spoke again.
"Alright, what do I have to do to get you to forgive me? If apologizing won't work, would begging for forgiveness on my knees be better, or will this apology cost me somehow? Either way you're not going to get what you want unless you tell me what to do."
After hearing Nick say that Judy almost asked him her questions straight out, but she decided against it. If she really wanted to get to the honest to goodness truth out of Nick, she needed to beat him fair and square, not force him to tell her as some sort of apology.
Dropping her glare while still maintaining a mask of indifference Judy spoke.
"Fine Nick, if you're really sorry, then I want you to make a bet with me, and I want your word that if I win you'll pay up,"
Nick felt suddenly uneasy, what kind of bet? And what would I lose if she wins? As Nick worried about it more he realized that this was Judy, not one of his former associates, even if he lost the bet there was no way she wanted anything bad. What does she want then? thinking about it wasn't getting Nick anywhere so he decided he was better off just asking outright.
"Sounds interesting Fluff, what exactly do you have in mind?"
"Oh, nothing excessive, just a friendly wager. The workout I have planned for today is more of a competition, and a bet makes it much more interesting don't you think?" Judy said innocently.
"I guess I can see your point, but what do I get when I win?" Nick asked smugly,
"When I win you will have to answer five questions of my choice, and you have to answer honestly, no half answers or avoiding the question in any way, and if somehow I lose you get to ask me any five questions. Sound good?"
Nick was hesitant, there were a lot of things he didn't want Judy to know, things he'd done wrong, things he'd done right, things he was embarrassed about, and things he didn't even want to think about, let alone discuss. Despite all that however, Nick decided to accept, what's the worst that could happen, Nick thought to himself it's not like she'll win, and even if she does I'm sure she just wants to know about my kithood or something, and I can tell her stories of the good times.
"Alright Fluff, you've got yourself a deal," Nick said holding out his paw.
"You're on Nick, and I want your word that you'll answer my questions truthfully, when I ask them. No walking away and hoping I forget, or saying you'll get back to me with the answer later. Ok?" Judy said extending her paw out to meet his.
"You have my word as a hustler, that if I Nick Wilde, lose then I will answer truthfully any five questions you ask, when you ask them." Nick said as they shook paws.
"Great!" Judy exclaimed as she hopped into the air, the stern look on her face vanished in an instant and was replaced by a joyful smile.
"Alright Slick move your tail, since someone was late we need to hurry and set everything up." Judy said as she took Nick's arm and dragged him towards the clearing they had stretched in yesterday.
After they both stretched out, once again secretly sneaking peaks at each other, and warmed up, Judy reached into her gym bag and pulled out a deck of cards.
"Cards Carrots? I thought we were gonna workout not play poker, but if you'd rather play card games then that's a workout I'm not opposed to." Nick joked, secretly wishing Judy actually wanted to play cards.
"We're not playing cards Nick, these are for a workout game, It's called catch 52, and it's pretty simple, you get into the starting push up position and I'll throw the cards one at a time, you catch as many as you can while staying in the push up position, after all 52 have been thrown we'll count up all the cards you caught and any cards that were deemed uncatchable, that will be your score, then we switch," Judy explained as she pulled out the jokers from the deck.
"Alright, sounds interesting, so whoever catches the most wins the bet?"
"Not so fast their Slick, that's only the first of three games, best two out of three, that way there's no whining when I beat your fluffy tail."
"You know Carrots I think you might have a thing for my tail, the way you keep mentioning it." Nick said as he wiggled his tail and winked at Judy.
"W-w-what, n-n-n-no, it's just a saying, I do NOT have a thing for your tail, no matter how amazingly soft it is." Judy stuttered out, as her face turned beet red.
"I think red is a good color for you fluff," Nick said, starting to laugh as Judy attempted to cover her face with her ears, which only caused Nick to laugh even harder.
"I think I'm just gonna go find a hole to crawl into now," Judy said from behind her ears.
"Don't be like that, I promise I won't tease you anymore today," Nick said as his laughter slowly died down.
Peeking out from behind her ear, Judy looked up at Nick with one of her big lavender eyes and asked, "Really, you promise?" in a small voice.
Looking down at Judy and seeing the look she was giving him Nick felt a pang in his chest, and in that moment, she could have asked him to do almost anything and he would have agreed without a second thought, that being said teasing was in his nature.
"I promise I will refrain from teasing you for the rest of the day … unless you give me something else to tease you with. A mammal only has so much restraint,"
"Alright Nick I'm holding you to that. Anyway, let's get started. I'll go first, but remember, if the card is uncatchable it's a freebie, and if I drop from the push up position the catch doesn't count." Judy reiterated as she handed Nick the deck of cards.
After getting down into the push up position Judy took a moment to get herself ready, laying her ears flat along her back and lifting her head up, before telling Nick to start. As soon as Nick started tossing cards Judy became like a mammal possessed, grabbing almost every card thrown and by the 20th card Judy had only missed five.
Nick was impressed, he knew it couldn't be easy maintaining balance and holding a push-up, but Judy made it look so simple, snatching cards out of the air like a frog catches a fly. As Judy continued catching card after card Nick started to get concerned, if she keeps this up there's no way I'll beat her, maybe it's time I a add a little flair to my throws, Nick thought to himself mischievously.
Judy was in the zone, focused only on catching the cards and holding the pushup, there was no room in her mind for scheming foxes. As the next card came into view Judy reached out to grab it, but right as her paw was centimeters away from the card it suddenly curved inward and hit her supporting arm. Confusion broke through Judy's concentration, but she quickly shook it off and refocused on her task as another card came flying into view, only to again curve out of her grasp again. Judy started to get frustrated, and instead of trying harder and getting angrier, Judy decided instead to stop and take a moment to observe. Watching as Nick threw Judy noticed the odd way his wrist flicked, and how he seemed to change the way he threw the card each time. The slight change in throwing style combined with the odd flick of the wrist was making the cards flight path change ever so slightly and throwing Judy off. That clever fox, changing the way he throws to make me miss, well done, but this game is far from over. Judy spent the next few throws not trying to catch the cards but just observing Nick, and after a while Judy felt she was getting used to it and started trying to catch the cards again. Catching some and missing others Judy started to feel the strain in her arms and as the last card was thrown Judy didn't even try to catch it but instead just collapsed into the grass.
"I gotta say Fluff, 38 out of 52 isn't half bad, but I think I'll be able to beat that." Nick said confidently as he jogged over to Judy's sprawled out form and started picking up the cards.
Judy just laid there for a moment catching her breath before propping herself up and sitting cross legged. A smile on her face as sweat dripped down it,
"I'm sure you can Slick, but to make it fair I'll let you have a few throws to practice if you want, it might hurt your little fox ego if you were to lose too badly." Judy mocked as she started grabbing cards too.
"I'm gonna make you eat those words Bunny, just you wa…" Nick suddenly froze as his paw which had been reaching for one of the last cards grabbed a warm, soft, and surprisingly small paw, instead of the, cool, smooth, waxy texture of the playing card. As Nick looked up he locked eyes with Judy and was frozen in place, it was as if Judy's touch was electric and locked his muscles in place. Time seemed to slow down as Nick's heart started beating uncontrollably, and he started to take in every detail of Judy's face.
The way the light shimmered on her grey fur, or the way the grey fur gave blended into the snow-white fur around her mouth, the beautifully deep lavender color of her eyes that sparkled like a polished gem, Nick took every detail in down to the slight twitching of her cute little nose. Getting caught up in the feeling of the moment Nick started leaning forward slightly, closing the already small distance between him and Judy. As Nick's muzzle inched closer and closer to Judy's, Logic gained control once more, and Nick suddenly realized exactly what he was about to do and quickly jerked his paw away and turned his head to the side thankful his fur color would hide his blush.
"Just… Just you wait, ha ha," Nick finished trying to play off what just happened.
"You're vastly underestimating this game Slick, and I'm going to enjoy watching you flail around like a fish out of water trying to catch cards." Judy said as she stood up and walked over to Nick.
"Now are you going to hand me the cards or are you going to keep stalling for time?" Judy asked, paw outstretched waiting for the rest of the deck.
"Stalling for time. Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Those delusions will come crashing down around you soon enough." Nick said as he very carefully handed Judy the deck, making sure not to touch her paw accidentally again.
Judy noticed the extra care Nick was taking not to touch her but filed it away for later examination, just like she had done with the moment before, as taking a trip on that train of thought might take an hour or longer to complete and she had a bet to win.
So, with only a few more words spoken between them they started Nick's turn of catch 52.
Nick had been confident when he got into position and even as the first card flew he figured he'd be alright, but as the fifth card flew past his outstretched paw and he lost his balance and crashed into the ground again Nick felt nothing but dread. As Nick picked himself up and got back into position he could hear Judy trying to stifle her laughter.
"You're really showing me Slick, I never knew eating my own words would taste so good."
I deserved that, Nick thought to himself, but there's gotta be a way I can do this, I just gotta think my way to the win. As Nick thought about it a few more cards had past him by, but by the time the tenth card had landed Nick had his plan. Focused entirely on the card as it was thrown Nick tracked it as it got closer to his left side. Lifting his right leg and reaching out with his left arm allowed Nick to better balance himself, stretch his arm out further, and grab the card out of the air easily. Armed with this new technique Nick started to catch almost every card that came his way and as Judy's card pile started getting lower and lower she figured a change in tactic might be in order. Seeing how Nick was catching, Judy decided to start throwing the cards as close to in between Nick's arms as possible.
Nick was quick on the uptake however and devised a new strategy. As the card flew in between his arms Nick would push up launching his upper body into the air and grabbed the card with a clap, before landing back in position. The new strategy was somewhat effective, but Nick wasn't always able to time it right or even get himself high enough into the air. So as the last card came flying towards his left Nick reached out as far as he could, but as he was about to reach it, a stray breeze blew in out of nowhere and carried the card out of reach. Finished Nick let himself fall to the ground exhausted.
Looking up at Judy as she approached, Nick in his exhaustion forgot his embarrassment from before and just focused on regaining his breath. After a few minutes of heavy breathing Nick was able to ask about the results.
"So Carrots, how'd I do?"
Judy, refusing to look at Nick, just mumbled a reply.
"What was that?" Nick asked, having heard what she said but wanting her to repeat it.
"I said you won, 39 to 38, alright? You smug jerk." Judy said trying to sound angry.
"I seem to recall someone offering me practice time out of pity. It seems you should have been more worried about yourself, too bad. One more win and you have to spill all your secrets to me." Nick joked, seeing through Judy's attempt at anger.
"You only won because of that gust of wind at the end, if it hadn't come, you would have missed the catch and it would have been a tie. Also, don't get to comfortable the next game won't be so easy," Judy said defensively.
"Sure, sure, sure, so while I lay here trying to coax breath back in my lungs and feeling into my arms, wanna explain the next challenge?" Nick asked as he continued to lay in the grass flipping himself over to look at the sky.
"If you insist." Judy said as she sat down next to Nick.
"The next game is called "catch the criminal," it's a workout you'll do in the academy as well, but I had to modify it slightly because of my injury. We will both start at the same place, when I say go you will have to do 20 sit ups I'll do 10, right after the sit ups you stand up and start running around the cones that I'll set up. Because of my leg injury I'll be walking and the distance I'll walk will be about half the distance of your run, whoever reaches the end first wins, best two out of three. You can just rest up for a bit while I set up the distance markers." Judy explained as she stood up and walked over to her bag.
Judy took out 7 little traffic cones from her gym bag and started to place them. She set out the first four in a square shape, each cone was roughly 50 meters from the other, then taking the remaining 3 Judy created a smaller square within the big square. With the smaller square sharing the start and end point with the bigger square. Each cone in the smaller square was roughly 25 meters from the other and with the cones in place, the stage for the next challenge was set.
"You ready Nick?" Judy called out to the still prone fox.
"If I have to be," Nick grumbled as he peeled himself off the cool refreshing grass and made his way to the starting cone.
"Alright, let's get this started," Judy said as Nick appeared at her side,
"Once I say go, get into the sit up position and start going as fast as you can, and remember first one back here wins the round."
"Alright Fluff, bring it on!"
With both Nick and Judy at the starting line ready to go, Judy began the countdown.
"3, 2, 1…GO!"
As soon as the words were out of her lips both Nick and Judy nearly threw themselves onto the ground and started their sit ups. Judy form was a gray blur and in less than 15 seconds she had finished her sit up and began walking.
Nick was astonished at Judy's speed, quickly finishing the rest of his sit ups, Nick went right into his sprint. Going full speed Nick quickly reached the first cone, only to overshoot it and nearly fall as he tried to take the turn. Continuing his sprint no longer at full speed Nick rounded the second corner with ease and made his way to the third cone. As Nick rounded the third cone and entered the straightaway he saw Judy was nearly back to the starting point already. Putting out one more burst of speed Nick ran like a mad mammal to the finish, but he was too slow. Nick reached the cone only a few seconds after Judy, disappointment evident on his face.
"Hey not bad for your first time, those sharp corners are killer, aren't they?" Judy asked, deciding Nick could use some encouragement instead of taunting
"You can say that again," Nick said in agreement, "take them too fast and you waste time as you overshoot the turn, take them too slow and you're out of the race."
"Yep, that's the point of this exercise, when chasing a criminal knowing how to take corners without losing too much speed is key, and there's a trick to it. You can figure it out I'm sure, you're a smart guy after all." Judy said, trying to help Nick without handing him the answer, and by extension the game.
As they rested, Nick spent the time thinking hard about the problem at hand. I could slow down right before the corner… nah that would take too much time and I'd lose too much speed, maybe I could do a type of jump and sorta push off and change direction faster… but I doubt that's possible, UUGGHH what should I do, I need to win this race. Before Nick was able to find a concrete solution to the problem at paw it was already time for the next set.
The second set started out just like the first one, with Judy taking the early lead with her 10 sit ups. When Nick finished his sit ups he began his sprint he decided to try out the ideas he had come up with.
At the first cone Nick tried lowering his speed and taking the corner as sharply as possible. Even with the decrease in speed however, the momentum was still too much, and Nick almost fell over. Sprinting to the second cone Nick tried springing off his outside foot to round the corner faster, but found that between the jump and the landing it wasted too much time to be practical. As Nick rounded the second cone with his jump a brief flash of inspiration came to him, and Nick headed to the third cone at top speed. Coming up to the third and final corner Nick tried widening his turn and starting it earlier and found he was able to retain most of his speed while going around the cone. Even though the move had worked it hadn't been enough. As Nick enter the final straightaway he saw Judy was just finishing, deciding not to give up Nick once again pushed himself to top speed. Despite the effort Nick put out he was unable to pass Judy and having won two out of three, the game was over.
"You almost had me at the end there Slick, we can go on to the next challenge if you don't want to do the last set," Judy offered, trying to give Nick a break. Judy had expected Nick to take the offer and move on to the next event but was surprised when she heard Nick say "No, I want to finish," in between gasps for air.
"Are you sure Nick? There's no need to, we've worked out quite a bit already, and missing out on one set isn't gonna kill us," Judy reasoned.
"That may be true, and normally I'd be all over stopping, but I think I might be on to something and even though I've lost this challenge I still think I can win the next set." Nick said confidently.
Judy smiled, Nick really is something else, then again that sounds like something I would have said if I was in his position,
"Alright, let's see what you're made of then Mr. Equestrian bolt,"
So Nick and Judy lined up for the third and final set of "catch the criminal." On Judy's mark they began, and after finishing his sit ups Nick started his sprint. As he reached the corner Nick set his plan into motion, maintaining his speed Nick started to take a wide turn, way outside the cone and leaned his body into the turn to counter the momentum and slingshot himself forward. Nick continued this tactic at each corner and found himself getting faster and faster, and as he rounded the last corner Nick saw Judy rounding her last cone as well. Pushing himself as hard as possible in the final stretch Nick flew by Judy, reached the finish line, and threw his paws into the air victoriously.
Judy walked past the finish line and as she walked over to Nick, Judy couldn't help but smile at his display.
"Congrats Slick, it seems you figured out how to run around sharp corners, like I said before that skill will come in handy when chasing a fleeing suspect," Judy said as she started picking up the cones.
"Let me grab the cones Carrots, considering you set them up and all. And thanks, I just wish I had figured it out sooner, then I would have won the bet, but whatever we still have one more challenge," Nick said, as he jogged over, grabbed the other cones, and handed them to Judy.
"Thanks," Judy said, taking the cones from Nick's paw and putting them in her bag.
"And we'll see if you still be able to beat me once my leg is fully healed and we play this game for real, but that will have to wait. The third and final challenge is a simple one, but a grueling one none the less, and will not end until one of us give up, so prepare your body and soul." Judy said, pausing for dramatic effect.
"Oh, get on with it, drama bun," Nick said mockingly
"I'm a drama bun? Then you're the Dali Lama of drama, and fine. The last test will be a plank off, whoever drops first loses, and I'll have you know I can hold a plank for at least 10 minutes on a bad day," Judy said defiantly.
Nick gulped, "T-That's not that impressive, I'll beat you for sure." Nick said trying to sound confident but failing.
"Alright if you're so confident then I'll start a timer and we can get started," Judy said smugly.
Getting into the plank position both Nick and Judy had victory on the mind, both determined to win but for different reasons. For Nick the questions were secondary, the bragging rights were a far more important prize. Judy on the other paw wanted her questions answered and wasn't gonna stop until she found out what she wanted to know. So with their minds set on their respective prizes the plank off began.
The first few minutes went by with relative ease, with neither mammal budging, but as time wore on Nick could feel the burn of strained muscles and no matter how much he tried to distract himself, the pain would always come back to the forefront of his mind. Nick decided to lift his head and check to see if Judy was fairing any better, only to regret it instantly. The bunny in front of him was a vision of stability and grit, seeing her steadily planking with apparent ease made Nick want to drop on the spot. But as Nick watched Judy a bit longer and a bit more closely, unable to keep his eyes off of her, he noticed a slight tremor that shook Judy's frame. Seeing even a small crack in Judy's plank, gave him the confidence to push forward. Nick continued to watch Judy's plank rationalizing that if he did he would be able to keep motivated. In the back of his mind however, Nick knew it was a flimsy reason, but it was easier to keep going when watching the mammal, he… loved? No, don't go there, I just… ahhhh admire her, and care for her like a friend does, yeah that's it, admiring a friend and NOTHING ELSE.
"I gotta stop thinking to myself, it's dangerous," Nick said quietly through his clenched teeth. As he refocused on Judy, Nick noticed the sweat droplets on the side of her face, were running down in an odd pattern. As the fell from her forehead and reached her cheek, instead of continuing straight down like they should have, the droplets of sweat would stop, change direction and move horizontally for a short time, before continuing their trip down to the dirt. Straining his eyes to look closer, Nick noticed three little raised lines under Judy's left eye, those look like claw marks, Nick thought to himself angrily. Who and what would dare claw Judy, it didn't happen during the Missing Mammals or Nighthowler case, or I would have seen it, but no matter when it happened when I get my paws on whoever did it they'll be begging for mercy, maybe they need to see how it feels to get clawed. Nick thought as the anger started to cloud his thoughts, and a low growl escaped his chest, hearing it caused Nick to calm down slightly. Get a hold of yourself Wilde, Nick chastised, relax and put your claws away, they aren't going to be doing any slashing today. Looking down at his paws, Nick was shocked to see his claws were not retracted like usual, but instead were digging into the soft cool earth. Embarrassed, Nick quickly brought them back and tried to clear his mind and forget the anger that had suddenly bubbled up out of nowhere.
As Nick closed his eyes and focused on quelling this newly discovered rage, he failed to notice the pair of amethyst colored eyes that had been watching him intermittently for the past few minutes.
Judy had spent the first few minutes of the plank off, eyes closed, and mind focused on the task at hand, but after some time had passed Judy, needing a distraction decided to peek over at Nick, just to check on the competition Judy assured herself. But after checking on Nick and looking away quickly, Judy felt her eyes drawn back to him again and again. Eventually Judy got control of her wandering eyes and focused back on the plank that was getting rather hard to keep up. A few more minutes passed in silence as Judy fought to hold the position and sweat began to drip down her face. Then all of a sudden Judy's concentration was broken again by what sounded like a low growl. Looking around trying to locate the sound, Judy couldn't find anything, and as she looked back at Nick Judy saw his face scrunched up, teeth partially bared and his claws digging into the ground in apparent agony. He's trying really hard to win, but sorry Nick I have some questions that I need answers to, so you're going down, Judy thought to herself as she continued to watched Nick struggle.
Nick, having calmed down, decided to look over at Judy again, just to check on the competition, Nick reasoned with himself. Looking up from the ground Nick's emerald eyes locked on to Judy's amethyst eyes and instead of looking away both mammals held their gazes. As the burning in his muscles got worse and worse, Nick realized he wasn't going to be able to keep this up for much longer and decided to end it. Taking in a deep breath, Nick scrunched up his face, puffed out his cheeks and let loose a long wet raspberry.
"THHHHBBBPPPPPPPPPPPPPTTTTTTTTTTTT"
Seeing the ridiculous face Nick was making combined with the sound that followed, caused Judy to burst out laughing, before immediately regretting it. As laughing not only hurt immensely but made her lose some of what little strength she had left. Well two can play at this game, Judy thought to herself as she tried to hold back her laughter at the new face Nick was making. Fighting fire with fire Judy quickly puffed out her own cheeks, crossed her eyes, raised one of her ears, and tilted her head slightly, causing Nick to burst out laughing; and with that the race to make the other lose by laughter was on, and as Nick and Judy tried their hardest to hold the plank and make the other lose they both found themselves face down and gasping for air, having fallen milliseconds apart. After taking a few minutes to compose themselves Nick and Judy got up, grabbed their things and headed back to Judy's apartment too exhausted to speak. Checking the timer Judy was impressed, Nick had been able to hold the plank for 15:36.
Judy's Apartment, Sunday Evening, 6:45pm
"Wait, which one of us won the bet then?" Nick asked. Suddenly realizing as they entered the apartment that they hadn't discussed the outcome.
Judy thought hard about it for a moment, I can't say for sure which one of us fell first, and even though I really want to ask my questions, I shouldn't lie.
"To be honest Nick, I don't know which one of us fell first, so I'm ok with calling it a tie if you are." Judy said as she walked into her apartment and threw her bag onto her bed.
"Sounds good to me Fluff," Nick said as he leaned up against the wall of the apartment and slid down, sighing in relief as his butt reached the cool wood floor, "That just leaves the question of the bet, since it was a tie do we both lose?"
"Well we could both lose, or we could both win?" Judy suggested nervously as she twiddled her paws.
Nick looked up at Judy curiously, "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, since neither of us won outright we could both get a partial reward for winning, that way the whole bet wasn't for nothing," Judy explained, hoping Nick would go with it.
Nick thought about it for a while and well a small voice in the back of his mind was yelling out to him "It's a Trap," desperately in an attempt to get his attention, Nick ignored the voice because he also now had a question he wanted the answer to.
"That sounds like a good idea to me, a win-win of sorts, but since we both also lost let's have a penalty of sorts as well, like we each only get three questions instead of five, sound fair?" Nick suggested, thinking if Judy only had three questions, he might be safe.
"Sure!" Judy said happily.
"So, for my first question…..."
"Hold your carrots their Carrots, let's shower and change first, I don't know about you, but I don't like sitting in smelly gym clothes."
"Oh, hahaha. Yeah, you're right, let's shower first," Judy said, slightly embarrassed that she had jumped the gun.
Luckily more than one shower was free and both Nick and Judy were able to shower without having to wait. Nick spent his shower reveling in the warm water again, enjoying the experience for all it was worth; but even as Nick enjoyed the shower a cynical voice in the back of his mind warned him, don't get too used to this, remember friends can and will leave you in the blink of an eye.
"I know, I know, but Judy's different," Nick replied.
"Don't think like that or it'll hurt even worse when it happens, NOBODY sticks around, you know better than to think otherwise." The cynic shot back.
Nick decided to ignore the voice in his head and went back to his shower taking his time to soak though his fur and really get down to the skin.
Judy spent her shower deep in thought, she had intended it to be a quick in and out shower but found her mind wandering to what happened at the park. Judy tried to ignore the thoughts wanting to examine what happened later but found herself unable to stop playing the scene when her and Nick's paws touched over and over again.
"You were about to kiss him, weren't you," a voice asked.
"I-I- ah… Maybe, but I just got swept up in the moment, that all" Judy replied.
Thinking back to Nick's rough paw pads on her fur, the look in his brilliant emerald eyes, and the things she had felt in that moment, Judy was unable to deny that if Nick hadn't pulled back she would have kissed him back.
"So, there's your answer then right? You definitely have feelings for him and judging from his actions he must have some for you too."
"I don't know," Judy said uncertainly, as she started shampooing her fur.
"What's there not to know, you find him physically attractive, and you definitely enjoy spending time with him and want to know more about him, what else is there?" the voice asked impatiently.
"Well… What if that's not love, though. What if I just happen to find my friend to be an attractive male. If we tried to date and it failed that would ruin our friendship, and I don't want that," Judy said as she watched the water pour over her and rinse the suds down the rain.
"You can't be sure it's love right away, but dating is the first step to finding that out. Also, you don't know that it will end badly, and are you really ok with wondering what could have been?" The voice argued.
"No, I don't want that, but there's no guarantee Nick feels the same, I could end up looking like a fool."
"He was about to kiss you. What more do you need?"
"He pulled back, then he wouldn't even touch my paw afterwards, maybe I just thought he was gonna kiss me because that's what I wanted to see." Judy said as she started putting in her fur conditioner.
"You'll never know unless you try," the voice said as it faded away.
"One step at a time. First let's find out where he lives, then I can worry about these feelings I seem to be having for my best friend later." Judy said firmly. Having settled that, at least for now, Judy finished her shower quickly, dried off, and then headed back to her apartment in clean clothes.
A few minutes later Nick was back in the apartment as well wearing his signature shirt and khakis. Seeing Nick in that awful shirt again Judy couldn't hold back a comment.
"Nick, how can you keep wearing that same awful shirt day after day?" Judy asked jokingly.
"Well Carrots, since this is one of your three questions I'm obligated to answer, but I promise you the reason isn't nearly as exciting as you might expect,"
"whoa, whoa, whoa, that's NOT one of my three questions, it was a joke, nothing more." Judy argued as she walked over to her bed and sat down.
Nick walked over to the bed as well but instead of sitting down next to Judy he grabbed the chair next to the nightstand, spun it around and sat down resting his chin on the back of the chair and pointed at Judy.
"You should have specified, an unintentional question is still a question, but it's still a pretty good story, so I promise you your question isn't going to be wasted, alright?"
"Fine," Judy huffed, "But so help me Wilde, if this story is lame you're going to get such a punch, you won't be able to move your arm for a week"
"Such a violent bunny." Nick said chided playfully as he leaned forward on the chair causing it to tip slightly.
"It's not a terribly long story but it is worth it I promise. So, a few years back I happen to get a job from some poor retail mammal that had ordered a few hundred shirts by accident. These shirts were as tacky as they come, and even though they were 100% silk and amazingly comfortable, nobody touched them for months. So, the mammal wanted me to break into his shop and "steal" the shirts, he was gonna pay me a decent amount because once they had been "stolen" the insurance company would cover the cost and then he wouldn't get fired."
Before Nick could continue he was cut off as Judy jumped up ears up in agitation and shouted incredulously. "Those shirts are stolen! Nick you shouldn't have taken that job. Even if it helped that mammal out, it was still wrong,"
Nick chuckled at the outburst.
"What is so funny about stealing, Nick?" Judy asked angrily.
"Well Fluff, it's the fact that you should really let a mammal finish his story before you cry out in righteous indignation. If you had, you would have found nothing to shout about" Nick explained.
"Oh, sorry, continue," Judy said meekly, ears folding back as she sat down quietly.
"Don't worry about it, I find that side of your personality cuuuuu- endearing," Nick edited quickly.
"Now, back to the story. After taking a look at the shirts and I saw some potential in them, and offered to buy them, all at a severely reduced price I might add, and with the shirts purchased legally both I and the retail mammal walked away happy."
Judy scratched her head thoughtfully, "I guess that makes sense… sort of, but what potential did you see in them exactly, and why wouldn't you just take them, get paid, then wear them anyway? You could have made even more that way," Judy asked
"Well Carrots I had a similar thought myself, but since I wanted to use them for hustles I couldn't have them being reported stolen. The shirt itself is very recognizable. So, if they were reported stolen and I was seen walking around in them it would be way too easy to get pick up by the ZPD. Also, I do like to stay on the right side of the law as much as possible when I hustle. As for the protentional it's really simple, most mammals I dealt with in the past, were people I don't want to recognize me if the hustle went bad. When I'm wearing the shirt they focus on that and not my face, I can change a shirt quickly and easily, my beautiful face, not so much." Nick said, flashing Judy an award-winning smile with a wink to go with it.
Judy's heart skipped a beat when Nick flashed her his smile, but she recovered quickly.
"I guess that makes sense, and I'm glad you didn't try to break the law when you hustled, even if you did bend it until it screamed," Judy joked,
"So, what's your first question for me?" Judy asked.
Nick thought about it for a moment, trying to decide whether to get straight to the point or save the big question until the end.
"If you could become any mammal you wanted right now, but you couldn't change, back would you? And if so, what mammal would you choose and why?" Nick asked, deciding to hold off on the bigger question until later.
Judy thought about it for a moment, Would I change myself if I could? I'm sure my family would still love me even if I suddenly wasn't a bunny and becoming a cop would have been a lot easier if I had been born a tiger, but as Judy thought about how different it would have been as a tiger she came to her conclusion.
"No, I don't think I would change my species permanently. Even if police work would be a lot easier, and I'd probably get more respect if I was a large predator, it would diminish everything I've done until now, and I'm proud of all the hard work I put in to get to where I am today," Judy said confidently.
"That makes sense, but if you could change species, for let's say a week, what mammal would you pick?" Nick asked, curious to see what Judy would pick.
"A fox." Judy blurted out before she even had the chance to think.
"W-wh-why in the world would you want to become a fox?" Nick asked.
Judy froze for a moment, sweet cheese and crackers, what did I just say? I gotta think of a way out quickly, think, think, think, Brain Blast! I got it.
"Well, I figure from what you've told me, being a fox is harder than I thought, and if I really want to change myself for the better, I would need to understand how the more disparaged species feel, and there's no better way to do that then to walk a week in their paws, or something like that…" Judy said nervously. Looking up Judy found Nick just staring at her and she found herself pinned under his gaze, only able to squirm slightly under the scrutinizing look he was giving her.
"I guess that's reasonable," Nick said shrugging his shoulders, "but I definitely would have chosen another mammal if I were you, but then again I'm sure you'd make a fine fox…" Judy raised an eyebrow and Nick realized how what he had said could have been taken,
"Ah I-Ah, um, meant that I'm sure you'd be a good fox, like that you're sly enough, not that you'd be attractive…err… not to say you wouldn't be, I-I-I'm sure you'd look great… ugh I'll just stop now." Nick said flustered.
Judy couldn't contain her giggling, "It's not every day I get to see a flustered Nick Wilde, it's nice to see even you can lose you're cool sometimes. Anyways that's two questions down for you, use your last one wisely."
"Don't expect to see it too much cotton tail, and what do you mean two questions, I didn't…" Nick trailed off as he realized he had in fact asked more than one question. Throwing his paws up into the air dramatically Nick cried out.
"Oh, come on, you can't count that, it was a follow up question to my first one not a stand-alone question."
Judy just chuckled, "I'm playing by your rules Wilde, "even an unintentional question is still a question," and it was still a pretty good answer." Judy said smirking.
"Fine, it counts," Nick said crossing his arms and pretending to pout.
"Oh, you're such a kit. My second question is. what mammal would you become if you could change for at least a week, or longer if you wanted to?"
A bunny, Nick thought to himself suddenly, what the hell is with that answer, I can't say that,
"You're going to lie, even after giving your word? A mammal's only as good as his word, that's the code you've lived by for most of your life," a voice asked mockingly
"Fine," Nick said under his breath.
"What was that Nick?" Judy asked curiously.
"If I had to choose it'd probably be a bunny, go ahead laugh it up," Nick said bitterly.
"Nick, I would never laugh at you when you're being sincere, but if I might ask without losing my last question, can you elaborate on that for me?" Judy said as she reached out and put a paw on Nick's forearm.
Nick sighed, "I won't make you use your last question. There are a few reasons for it, one big one is perception. Even if you bunnies get looked down on for being cute, in my humble opinion that's better than being seen as a dirty criminal, or just a lowlife with no future, hell I could use being seen as cute to my advantage in some situations, but there is nothing good at all about being seen as a shifty criminal even when you're only a kit."
Judy squeezed Nick's arm trying to show him she was there for him.
"And the other reasons?" Judy asked gently.
"Community, comradery, or something like that, it would be better if I explain I guess. I doubt you've had the chance to observe foxes much, so you'll just have to take my word for it but, foxes tend to be solitary mammals, even if we live in the same area with a bunch of other foxes, we still maintain a respectful distance from one another, keeping to ourselves as much as possible. We are usually close with relatives, but I'm not that close to my family anymore. From what I've seen of the few bunnies in Zootopia however, is that they stick together, form little communities wherever they are, and being a part of something like that seems nice. To know there are other mammals to watch your back, not because they want something from you, but because they just care about your wellbeing." Nick said flatly as he looked down and started tracing the lines on the wooden floor, in an attempt to keep his emotions in check.
"Oh Nick," Judy said softly, "I couldn't imagine not having anyone around to support me, but I promise as long as I'm around, you won't be alone, and my support comes no strings attached, guaranteed" Judy said, giving Nick's arm another reassuring squeeze.
"Thanks Fluff, Now I guess I should ask my last question," Nick said trying to shift the conversation away from himself.
"If you want to Nick, I'm ready to answer whatever you want to know." Judy said, deciding if Nick wanted to move on she wasn't going to push the issue any further right now.
"Alright, tell me about your cheek,"
"What about it?" Judy asked nonchalantly, hoping Nick wasn't asking about what she thought he was.
"What happened to cause these?" Nick asked, in almost a whisper as his paw gently caressed her cheek running over the small bumps of the scars.
"How did you notice those?" Judy asked, "They are hidden really well by my fur and I thought they were unnoticeable unless you knew about them beforehand."
"They are definitely well-hidden Carrots, but when we were planking I just happen to notice the unusual way the sweat droplets moved down your face, and after looking closer I noticed the scars, so my question is simple. What happened?" Nick asked, his voice still gentle and soft but suddenly very serious.
"Oh, it wasn't anything serious Nick, some bully was picking on my friends and stole their ride tickets on Carrots Day, when I stood up to him he pushed me down, then I kicked him in the face. He didn't take to kindly to that, and he slashed me with his claws, but it wasn't that big a deal, I got the tickets back and it strengthened my resolve to become a cop and never give up. Honestly I haven't thought about it in years." Judy explained hastily, hoping Nick wouldn't dwell on it or ask any other questions.
Nick was angry, really angry, who would dare claw another mammal, especially Judy. Even though Nick's mind was clouded slightly by anger he did notice how Judy had tried to breeze through the story, giving almost no detail at all, and it only made him more curious.
"That doesn't sound like nothing, can I ask you to elaborate a bit more?" Nick asked patiently.
"Too bad you're out of questions Wilde, plus I still have one for you and it's a doozy," Judy said quickly, trying to push past Nick's line of questioning.
Nick could tell something was off and decided he wasn't ready to let it go just yet.
"I think it's only fair you elaborate a bit, I mean I did it for you without costing you a question," Nick argued.
"Your right Nick, you get ONE extra question, use it well." Judy said, holding her breath for what she feared was coming next.
"Thanks Carrots, it's a simple question I promise you, I just want to know what type of mammal was this bully." Nick asked calmly, biting back on the anger he was feeling.
"He was a jerk, that's the type of mammal he was," Judy said instantly, knowing what Nick was really asking but hoping in vain that he would accept the answer.
"Judy," Nick said gently as he put a paw on her shoulder, trying to mimic what she had done when offering him reassurance. "That's not what I meant, and you know it, what species of mammal was he?"
Judy's breath caught at the sound of her name and then her heart skipped several beats at the contact on her shoulder, if Nick ever knew how much power he had by just saying my name and grabbing my shoulder, I would be done for, Judy thought to herself.
"Fine," Judy sighed, resigning herself to what would come next.
"I'm going to be totally honest with you, since that was the agreement. The bully's name was Gideon Gray, and he was a fox."
Nick felt like he had been punched in the gut, even though he had suspected as much hearing it for himself changed everything. Letting his paw fall from Judy's shoulder Nick sat back in the chair.
"I'm sorry," Nick mumbled, as his head fell to his chest.
"What did you say Nick?" Judy asked, having been so focused on Nick moving his paw away she hadn't heard him speak.
"I said I'm sorry," Nick repeated.
"Nick what are you apologizing for, you didn't slash me, and it happened 15 years ago I don't even remember it that well anymore," Judy explained trying to cheer up the suddenly sullen fox.
"That's not what I'm sorry for," Nick said still keeping his head down.
"Then what Nick? Because I can't see anything you should be apologizing for," Judy asked frantically.
"For what I did at the press conference and how I ran out after. I regretted doing it almost immediately after it happened, but I felt justified because of what you said and how you reacted, but now I find out that even my flimsy justification was wrong, so now all I can do is apologize. So once again, I'm really sorry Judy,"
Hearing the genuine sadness in Nick's voice was almost too much for Judy.
"Nick it wasn't your fault, I was the one who was wrong. I said a bunch of stereotypes with no basis in reality, because I was flustered, and I definitely didn't have any reason to reach for that fox repellent. I was just being a dumb bunny, so you have nothing to apologize for." Judy said trying to make Nick see that he really didn't need to apologize.
"Judy, you were attacked by a fox when you were only nine years old, he clawed your face and left you with scars, and then another fox bears his teeth and claws at you, no wonder you reached for your repellent, hell I'm surprised you didn't spray me," Nick said angrily.
"Nick I shouldn't have even had the repellent, let alone reached for it. No matter what happened in the past I shouldn't have let it affect me. You were right, carrying that repellent would have shown every fox I met that I didn't trust them, and if I don't trust them, then why would they ever come to me for help. That's not how a good cop should make their citizens feel, and I definitely shouldn't have even tried pulling it on a friend, so I'm sorry." Judy said as she stood up and walked over to Nick, placing a paw on his shoulder this time.
"That all sound's good Judy, but the past affects us whether we want it to or not, and after learning all that, I will be saying sorry to you for a long time." Nick said, trying to shrug of Judy's justification for his actions.
"How about this then? I'll forgive you for what you think you did wrong, and you forgive me for what I think I did wrong, and that way we can both forget about it and move on, alright? Because I don't know about you but saying sorry back and forth for hours sounds exhausting." Judy suggested kindly.
Nick sighed and turned toward Judy thinking to himself, I don't deserve a friend like her.
"Alright, if that's what you want to do, then for the last time, at least on these subjects, I'm sorry, and I forgive you."
"Thank you Nick, and I'm sorry, and I forgive you, too," Judy said before pulling Nick into a deep hug.
Nick froze in the hug for a moment but decided he could let it happen, at least this time, and wrapped his arms and even his tail around Judy, enveloping her almost completely in fox.
Feeling Nick's arms around her Judy burrowed deeper in the hug, pressing her face into Nick's chest trying to suppress the tears that were fighting to come out. As Judy tried not to cry she took in a deep breath and caught an oddly calming scent, it was a musky smell with a hint of flowers and something akin to the smell of the forest after rain, and even though it was strong, almost overbearing in its intensity, Judy found she liked it none the less.
After a few blissful moments Nick dropped the embrace and both Nick and Judy felt much better, about the press conference, and where they stood with each other.
"Alright Nick, are you ready for my last question?" Judy asked as she sat back down on the bed.
"Sure Fluff, hit me with your best shot, there's no way it could be worse than what just happened," Nick said confidently.
"Yeah, you're right Nick, it's nothing big, I just want to know the answer to one simple question, and I will accept nothing less than the truth," Judy said, as she stared down the fox in front of her like a predator that had finally cornered its prey.
Seeing the look in Judy's eyes Nick suddenly felt the room get lot colder as the voice in his head returned to shout out one final time, though it was too late to stop it now, IT'S A TRAP.
Judy mischievous smile lit up the room as she delivered the question she had been waiting to ask all day.
"Where do you live?"
Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed it feel free to drop a review down below, tell me what worked, what didn't, what you want to see, ect. I love hearing from you all, also the validation from your comments feeds my soul.