AN: Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.
So this is the space I will use for a quick shameless plug. I have published a new story called "One shot: Songs" It's just a collection of one shots based on the names of songs and the rest is completely up to me to interpret.
I have finally got an AO3 account under the same name "TW14" but because I screwed up and deleted the work for this story as I published it and doesn't allow you to import stories from , this story is now exclusive to this site.
Also, this chapter was a pain to write. Not because of actually having to write it but more the fact that I had to write it all a total of three different times because I never saved it and kept getting logged out during the process of writing
Review:
GhostWolf88: Thank you for your kind words, that was probably the easiest chapter to write since it just seemed to just flow out and connect together
Boissey: I don't think Nick was thinking about all the explanations he would have to give at the time.
Zootopia Stereotypes
Chapter 10: Date Not Date
Judy waited in the cruiser in silence with a happy smile on her face. While she was able to apologize to Nick it didn't exactly end in the way she was expecting.
She had expected some words traded to each other, Nick talking about how he was badly affected and Judy saying how sorry she was.
But instead what had happened was she willing gave herself in to be arrested on terms of hate speech and because of this, she was now waiting for her date to get changed and take her to wherever they were heading for dinner.
Judy's mind came to a standstill as she realized what word she had just used to describe the fox. Then her mind just stopped working when she realized that she wasn't the first mammal out of the two of them to say the word "date"
Just when Judy wished she had more time to think over, the door opposite opened and the fox climbed in and for the first time, Judy saw him out of his uniform. As Judy looked over his new his new attire she wished he kept the uniform on.
His shirt was untucked and Judy was surprised the collar wasn't standing up straight. The designed was a green with darker green paw prints which seemed to be in random places over the shirt. It looked like what you would see mammals wearing unbutton on a tropical beach while they lay down on a blanket or in a chair. Judy was Thankful it was mostly buttoned up except the button at the very top. The tie looked completely out of place. It was a simple navy blue with dull pink strips running down it at a diagonal angle and looked loose enough for him to just lift over his head.
His pants were the only piece of his outfit that seemed to match with anything else. The khakis were a simple light brown but despite somewhat matching his shirt it didn't improve his look for Judy and overall she found the outfit a bit humorous.
Judy held her paws up to her mouth to try and quiet her laughter but brought more attention to herself from Nick.
"What's wrong? is some of my fur sticking out?" He asked as he began to flatten his already flat head fur before moving down to his muzzle and doing the same.
Judy took a few deep breaths to try and compose herself before she spoke "no you dumb fox, it's your clothing I mean who wears anything like that anymore?" Judy asked before she covered her mouth and started laughing again.
Nick's arms dropped into his lap as he repositioned himself in the same manner as Judy, with his back against the closed door and legs crossed in front of him with a lazy smirk across his face "and what is wrong with this?" Nick asked as he gestured to his clothes "I will let you know that bak in Zootopia the ladies are all over me"
"Trust me slick, the only ladies who would even step close to you while you wear that is the blind" Judy snapped back as she gained control of her laughing.
Nick quickly place one over his chest and put on a face of hurt "ouch, you wound me Carrots"
"Do you not have anything else you could wear? I would even prefer it if you wore your uniform over that" Judy asked more seriously as she began to sit in the correct position for when the vehicle would be in motion
Nick followed much in the same and started the vehicle as he spoke "you bunnies, always wanting something, first you ask me to change out of uniform and now you want me in uniform, what else do you want?" his voice gave away how serious he was trying to sound and made it clear that he was only saying it in jest.
When Nick started to reverse the vehicle and started driving, Judy found herself wanting to ask Nick a question that would most certainly change the course of this 'date' for the rest of the night. Trying to find the courage to ask, Judy took a few deep breaths "Hey uhhh Nick... is this a...would you call..." When Judy couldn't find herself to ask the question slowly she took a deep breath and spoke it out as fast as she can in one breath "Nickwouldyoucallthisadate?"
To Nick's credit, If he was shocked he did not show it. Instead, he turned his head to look at Judy with a neutral expression before talking in a gentle voice "I don't know Fluff, what do you think it is?"
Judy was surprised at the turn around of her question and actually took a moment to think about it. She didn't know if she wanted this to be a date or not. "I don't know" she answered honestly before continuing in a frantic mess of words "It's like a date but at the same time it's not..."
Judy continued to mumble but it fell on deaf ears as the fox smiled lightly at how panicked Judy was over something so simple. Clearing his throat loudly so that Judy stopped talking and he could start "How about we call this a 'date not date'?" Nick asked as Judy looked at him expecting him to say more.
When he said nothing else Judy just nodded her head slowly and went to look out the window for a moment. The more time that past the more uneasy and awkward the silence between them came until Judy spoke up
"Hey Nick"
"hmmmm" he hummed in response and turned to meet her gaze
"You turned the wrong way"
As Judy's words reached his ears he turned back and faced forward before letting his head fall onto the steering wheel and muttering under his breath "Just my luck"
When Nick had found somewhere he could legally turn around and be driving the correct way towards the town centre with help from Judy, Nick started up a small but very important conversation.
"So Ms. Travel Guide, anything you want to eat?"
Judy turned in her seat after seeing that there were no turns insight that she would have to help the fox with "that is all up to you, your the one who has never been here before"
When Judy got a hesitant head nod she turned back to looking forward and saw the collection of crops they were about to pass "Ohhh the Punny family has a nice looking harvest"
Nick turned to Judy with a look on his face that seemed to say 'are you crazy?' which caused Judy to explain what she saw while gesturing out the window "The punny family, their the owners of them crops out there and from the looks of it they have a good harvest"
"And how do you know that is the Punny families farm?" Nick question with true curiosity
"Well laws in Bunnyburrow state that all land used for farming must have a fence surrounding it with a sign on each sign saying the family that owns it and what is grown in there" Judy stated as if she was reading the exact law from an imaginary book as she looked at the fox "And the sign should be visible right about...now" she said not even bothering to move her head to make sure she was correct instead looking at the fox.
Just as Judy said now, a sign that did detail the crops and owners did pass by and Nick was impressed. Sure back in Zootopia he could walk through the streets with his eyes closed and go to just about anywhere without hitting anything but he wanted to test how much the bunny knew
"Ok then Carrots, let's make a little friendly bet, If you can name all the owners of the farms we pass then I will personally do one thing for you, no matter what it is"
"What happens if I get one wrong?" Judy question as she settled back into her seat
"Then you have to personally do one thing I want you to, no matter what it is" Nick stated as he took a hand off the wheel and held it out to Judy "Deal?"
"Deal"
A few hours later and the cruiser as being driven around the town centre with one slightly annoyed fox and one happy bunny. Turned out that Judy could name every farm owner and now Nick was in debt to her.
They had been driving around for a while with Nick looking for somewhere to eat. Judy on the other hand was looking at the fox with a little interest. No matter how comfortable he seemed in his clothing he seemed slightly tense.
Nick slowly pulled the vehicle to a stop outside a small and colourful building. Just above the door hung a little sign with a picture of a pie "Hey Carrots, you want some Pie?" Nick questioned as he turned to face Judy and found her already looking at him.
Judy's ears fell over her face as a blush slowly showed through her fur "uhhh yeah sure" she said before quickly getting out the cruiser to avoid any possible questions from the fox.
When Judy walked past the front of the cruiser and saw the exact building that they had stopped in front and she stopped dead in her tracks.
The building was the same one that she and many of her friends had a bad experience with and an even worse experience with the owner. Not wanting to see said owner again Judy quickly tried to make up some excuse "Nick... are you sure you want to eat here?...I mean you might not enjoy it because you know...you're a predator"
"As long as they have blueberries I will be fine" Nick said as he reached out towards the door but turned around to see how far away Judy was "What's wrong Judy? if you want we can go somewhere else" he offered and made a start to walk back before Judy started walking towards him
"Ohhh no don't worry about me Nick, I just remembered something I have to do back at home" she said as she walked up to Nick and gave him a nod of her head towards the door
Nick hesitantly opened the door and let Judy walk in before him as he followed behind.
The building was just as colourful on the inside as it was out. Along the left and right were a row of booths and straight forward was a counter with a bored looking wolf messing with his phone.
Nick and Judy walked side by side up to the front counter and it wasn't until Nick gently rocked on the counter with one of his paws that the wolf put his phone down and acknowledged them.
"Hello and welcome to Gideon's bakery, my name is Matt and what would I be able to get you today sir?" he asked showing as much professionalism as he could.
Nick took his time observing the wolf in front of him. If it wasn't for his slightly high pitched voice it was his lower than average height that gave away the fact that the wolf was still in school and was trying to make a few extra bucks. His white fur shined in the bright lights above them and it was well kept and looked like someone else had done it for him. His muddy brown eyes gave off how gentle he was but also gave away the fact that he was a little on edge which caused Nick to do some thinking while he responded.
"Well I'm out here for business and my friend here" He said while gesturing to the bunny next to him and continued as the wolf tried to see who he had gestured at "said that I should take some time off so we..."
"You need to leave right now" Matt interrupted Nick and despite what he said and how he had just said it before letting Nick finished made it obvious that he didn't want to do this.
Wanting more information as Judy started to take a few steps back without offering an argument but she quickly stopped when Nick spoke up "Why?" he questioned gently and curiously
Matt took a deep breath and checked over his shoulder at a door that was slightly ajar before he leaned forward a little and spoke in a quiet voice "The boss doesn't sell to any prey"
Judy again started to walk but stopped when Nick spoke up again "Why?" He questioned again but in a firmer voice
"Nick it's fine we can go somewhere else" she offered and placed her paw on his arm to get him to look at her
"But why should we go somewhere else because one mammal can't put behind what a mammal is born is" He spoke in a gentler voice than what he had previously but went back to being fully firm when he turned back to Matt "Why? why doesn't your boss like serving prey?"
"Because they are small, weak and make life harder for us predators" a fourth voice spoke out loudly as the newest figure stood at the once nearly closed door that was now wide open "What prey is trying to buy food that they don't deserve Matt? all I see if a fine specimen of fox"
Matt stayed quiet and Nick was the one who spoke up and took a step back so that Judy was visible to the larger fox and took his place at Judy's side again "That would be my good friend here sir" Nick spoke formally
"Judy" the larger fox spat out as a snarl escaped is muzzle
Judy winced as the large fox spat out her name like venom "Gideon" Judy responded putting on an act of trying to sound tough
"I thought I told you never to step foot in here again" Gideon said as he started to make his way out from behind the counter and slowly started walking to the bunny, ignoring Nick completely "now tell me Ms. I wanna be a cop, why should I serve you? why should I take my time to make you food?"
The mention of being a cop made any comeback Judy had ready say disappear as she realized that Gideon was correct all those years ago. Bunnies were not meant to be cops, they were meant to stay at home and have large families so that their family name can continue for another couple hundred of years.
"excuse me sir but..." Nick spoke gently trying to get Gideon's attention. He got it but didn't keep it for long
The larger fox turned his attention to Nick and spoke in a professional voice "Please hold on a minute and I will be right with you" and he quickly turned back around to Judy and spoke in the same intimidating voice he did before Nick interrupted "So little Ms. Anyone can be anything where your shiny little badge? wheres your little toy pawcuffs? ohhh wait let me guess, you're not a cop, I told you no sane mammal would take a weak little bunny as a cop, esspecially In Zootopia"
Seeing how Judy was putting up no effort to fight back and how affected she was at the other foxes words, not to mention that what Gideon was making Nick even more curious about the lost dream that Judy had to be a cop. Nick stopped standing around and stood in between Gideon and Judy, his tail wrapping around Judy's legs as he began to speak "Ok sir I've heard enough"
Gideon took a small step back and looked the fox over before talking in his professional business mammal voice "Sir I shall be with you in a minute so please..."
"Well you see Gideon, I'm here on business and I guess I should make it clear what type of business it is: Police business" He said while reaching into his pocket for his wallet and pulling out his ZPD ID card.
Gideons eyes widened at the sight of the ID card and opened his mouth to talk but no words came out so Nick continued
"And like I said before my friend here thinks I need to have some time to myself so I decide to come to this fine establishment in search for some fresh pies, but If who I choose as a friend is a problem to you then me and Judy can just take our business and money elsewhere, and let's not mention the fact that I could arrest you right here, right now on terms of hate speech along with a pretty hefty fine. If you do go to jail you will have to give someone your business and I know that Matt over there is no family relation to you and I know that you most likely don't trust anyone to give the business to so you will have to sell the business and the only reason you will get some money for it is the location because if this is how you treat the majority of your customers then I'm pretty sure that no one would be willing to buy it off you for a lot of money"
As Gideon seemed to become frozen from what Nick said, the smaller of the two foxes turned to Matt "Hey Matt could I have two slices of blueberry pie please, Carrots what do you want?"
Judy suddenly snapped out of her trance while she was looking down at the tail around her legs and spoke up in a slightly shakey quiet voice "Just one slice of carrot pie please"
Matt stayed quiet and hesitantly took their order as he looked over at his still frozen boss.
As Judy and Nick walked over to the furthest booth on the left hand side Gideon moved for the first time and quickly moved back behind the counter and through the door. Everything was quiet for a few seconds before there was the sound of multiple objects falling and being thrown about.
"So much for those anger management classes" Judy muttered as she took her seat directly opposite Nick "Thank you" she said to Nick as he turned back to face her after turning around at the sounds of Gideon's meltdown.
"What for?" Nick questioned innocently as if they had no trouble at all from anyone
"For standing up to Gideon" Judy clarified to Nick as she laid her paws on the table
"Ohhh that? That was nothing, just a simple hustle" Nick said nonchalantly as he put his paws on his lap and drummed his digits against his leg
Judy looked at him quizzically and opened her mouth to ask Nick but he was already explaining before she uttered a single syllable
"A hustle is when you create yourself an advantage through someone's mistakes slash misfortune, for example, his mistake was not serving prey mammals and committing a crime in front of an officer of the law and the advantage it gave us was a meal but it can also be used to gain you some extra money"
"Had to bust a few hustles?" Judy asked once is explanation had finished
"Promise you won't judge or tell anyone if I'm honest?" Nick asked seemingly out of nowhere and surprised the bunny before she gave a nod of the head
"Before I became a cop about...10 months ago I use to be a street hustler" Nick said and let his words hang in the air "Me and my friend scammed people out of their money through simple acts like card tricks to trying to buy a jumbo pop for my son who is from the orphanage and wants to be an elephant and I ended up forgetting my wallet, I'm not proud of what I did but I did what I had to"
Judy was taken aback by the sudden truth bomb from the fox across from her and it only made her want to know more information "But why did you have to do it?"
Nick took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he prepared himself to explain all about Zootopia and it's prejudice "In Zootpoia, foxes are one of the least credible species, it doesn't matter who you ask, all foxes are sly, sneaky, cunning, conniving, up to no good and who knows what else is said behind our back. After one too many job positions refused to me just because of who I am I gave up and started to express the stereotypes"
"But that all stopped when you became a cop right?" Judy questioned hopefully
"Just because one mammal is different doesn't make up for a whole species, people still don't believe that I went through the whole academy, instead they think that I either slept with someone in power to get the job, threatened someone in power to get the job or just cheated my way through the academy"
In truth Nick was surprised himself at how honest he was being but didn't see the harm in doing so, it didn't feel like he was sharing the information with a stranger, instead it felt like he was sharing the information with someone he could truly trust
"Nick I'm so sorry" Judy said gently and slowly got out of her seat and mover to sit next to Nick before he even realized that she had moved. When she took he new seat she rested a raw on his arm in attempts to give him some comfort.
They stayed in silence for a moment and when Nick opened his mouth to speak Matt came over carry two different plates "Here you go, sorry for all the trouble you had to go through for this, if you want I can give you a discount"
"ohhh no it's fine Matt, I wouldn't even be able to accept a discount because of my job" Nick spoke as he turned to look at the wolf
"I can though" Judy spoke up as she looked into Nick's eyes with her own purple ones
"Yes but I wouldn't be a gentlemammal if I let the woman take the bill would I" Nick said to Judy and was happy to see the light tint of pink growing in her fur before he turned to the wolf "Thanks for the offer Matt but I think that old Grinch back their needs the money"
"Are you sure?" Matt asked with a look of surprise as his offer was denied
"100%" Nick responded
When Matt had made his way back to the counter Nick reached for one of his slices and put it back down when he noticed a little piece of paper under it. Slowly picking it up as Judy seemed to stand up next to him to try and see it for herself as Nick read the piece of paper quietly but loud enough so Judy could hear "Be careful with the carrot slice"
Nick and Judy looked at each other, both showing looks of confusion before Nick slowly picked up the piece of carrot pie and gave it a few sniffs, moving his snout closer each time until it was mere centimeters away from it. Suddenly he pulled his head back with a look of disgust as he pushed the plate away to the other end of the table "Yeah you're not eating that"
"What's wrong with it?" Judy asked as she looked at the slice of pie before turning her attention to Nick as he piked the slice up and moved the plate back to between them
"Carrots were expired and could have made you seriously ill" he said simply as He picked up one of his blueberry slices and put it on the second plate before pushing it towards Judy "Don't try and argue about it, I had my suspicions he might try something" He stated before Judy could even start to protest "I wouldn't be able to eat two slices anyway" Nick said as he took the first bite of his pie.
Judy slowly followed after and took a smaller bite. They both sat in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each others company and closeness until Nick finally spoke up as he whipped his mouth with the corner of one of the napkins they were given "Judy, please be honest with me" He stated and was about to say more but Judy quickly spoke up
"I always am Nick" she said before she too whipped at her mouth with a napkin
"I wasn't finished" Nick said and when Judy gave him an apologetic look he continued "What happened to your dream?"
Judy became as still as a statue at the unexpected question but released a sigh as her arms and ears dropped down "I guess it's only fair that I'm honest with you since you were honest with me"
"I have tried to sign up for the ZPA through their websites online applications for about a year now and have been rejected every time because I'm a bunny and they say they don't need someone my size" Judy's eyes started to become teary as she started to rub her eyes with her paws
"You don't have to tell me now if you don't want to" Nick offered gently as he took a hold of her wrists and set her paws down and wiped away at her tears himself
"No Nick, It's only fair" she stated as Nick wiped her tears away and laid his hand over hers and took a hold of them gently to provide comfort "A few days ago they denied the last application form I sent and the chief of precinct one, I forgot his name but anyway, he said that if anymore forms sent under my name were sent they were just going to ignore them, not even bother rejecting them"
With what Judy was saying Nick felt even worse. He had been able to get this pore does dream job just because he had been kitnapped by the mafia and forced to join the police to be their mammal on the inside. The fact that Nick knew she would be better than him in every way needed to be a cop gave him an uneasy feeling.
"What are you going to do now?" Nick asked and started to regret asking as thought of her answer went through his head
Judy took a moment to respond "I have no idea" was all she said before she picked up the little remains of her pie and started eating again, Nick following in the same fashion
"Tell me about your family" Nick piped up as they both finished their pie in silence
"What?" Judy asked surprised at the out of nowhere question
"I want to know more about your family, I'm sure if they gave birth to someone so cheerful and generally good there must be so many other crazy characters"
"You want to know about all 354 members of my family?" Judy asked with the same amount of shock evident in her voice and on her face
Nick's eyes widened at the reveal of how big Judy's family was "354? I mean I knew there was a lot just at the size of your home but jeez, maybe we could just start with your littermates and slowly work our way up"
"Well In my Litter was me, Jack, Jake, James and Jasmin" Judy stated as she counted on her finger "that is from the youngest to the oldest, Jasmin is off with some buck married with last time I hear 20 or so kits, James is married to some doe with 13 kits last time we were informed, Jack still works on the family farm and Jake works for 'FoxAway' making...anti...fox...equipment" Judy said as her voice slowly dropped at the realisation of what she was saying
"Well then, tell both Jasmin and James that I wish them luck with their families, Tell Jack that I wish him luck in his harvest or whatever, just make it sound like I know what I'm on about and tell Jake to stop giving his dad equipment to use against us poor defenseless foxes" Nick said trying to go for humour to lighten the situation
"Nick I'm sorry, I didn't even realize what I was saying and it all just came out and..."
"Fluff, I have had more encounters with a FoxAway product than I care to remember, don't worry about it, tell him good luck in finding a doe or something like that" Nick said before he stretched his arms and placed his paws against the table "you ready to go?"
"Yeah" Judy responded as she slowly slid out of the booth "I think my legs have gone dead from sitting on just so I could see the table"
"You go wait in the cruiser, I'll go pay" Nick said as he stood up in front of Judy and stretched his legs a little
"Are you sure? I can give you some money to help pay" Judy offered as she began to reach into one of her pockets
"I'm sure carrots, it's the least I can do" Nick said as he walked up to the counter where Matt leaned against it while playing on his phone again
Judy had left and gone to the cruiser as she let her thought run, how she had just told a fox about her crushed dream, how she had listened to the same fox tell the story about his past and how she had held hands with the same fox.
When Nick reached the counter he pulled out a $10 dollar bill and placed it next to Matt "Thanks for the tip" He said while gesturing towards the bin which the slice of carrot pie now lay in "the change is yours, use it however you want" Nick said before turning around and walking back to the cruiser after exchanging goodbyes with Matt
"If I find a way out of this situation, she will be a cop if it's the last thing I do" he muttered under his breath