Judy's ears twitched at the sudden sound of her phone's ringtone. At first she thought it was just the alarm she set to wake up for work, but when she opened her eyes to check, she saw that it was only 12:00 A.M., and that it was actually someone calling her.
Sly Fox was the contact name, and she knew exactly who it was. But that didn't explain why he was calling her in the middle of the night. She contemplated just ignoring him and going back sleep. If it was important he would just leave a voicemail and she could listen in the morning. But her more protective instinct kicked in and figured it was better to answer just in case it was an emergency. With a small yawn, she pressed the answer button.
Before she could ask what he wanted, she was immediately greeted with the fox smiling and exclaiming, "Hey, happy birthday, Carrots!"
Suddenly Judy was happy she answered, and a small grin spread across her face. "Aww Nick, thank you! But why'd you call me at midnight? You couldn't have waited until later?" She asked with a chuckle.
"Well, I wanted the be the first to tell you." He shrugged.
"I'm surprised you even remembered." She raised a brow.
Nick gapped at her, which earned a small laugh from the rabbit. "Of course I remembered! I'm not that shitty of a friend." He said defensively. "In fact I've got something really special planned after work."
"Is that so?" Judy tilted her head curiously. "What is it?"
"It's a surprise, Carrot cake." He winked. "You have to wait and find out."
Judy rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. Although she loved surprises, sometimes her best friend was a little too predictable when it came to giving her gifts. Normally he just gave her a gift card or one of his homemade "pawpsicles". But regardless she enjoyed anything he did for her. She honestly considered getting to spend everyday with him as something special.
"Well, I look forward to it." She said, yawning quietly. "Okay, I'd love to stay up and chat but we've got work in six hours."
"Yeah, I wasn't meaning to keep you up, anyway." He said as he stretched his arm up in the air. Judy could tell he clearly had woken up recently as well, since he was in his sleepwear and still laying in his bed—which just made her appreciate his surprise video call even more, considering he woke himself up just for her.
"Alright, goodnight Nick." She said, slowly laying her head back down on the pillow.
"Goodnight Carrots. Love you." Nick yawned.
"Love you, too." She said just before they both hung up.
Judy sighed, resting her phone against her chest while her gaze fixated on the ceiling. "That fox..." She chuckled to herself. Sometimes it astounded her how Nick went from wanting nothing to do with her to making midnight phone calls just to wish her a happy birthday. But a lot could change in less than a year, and these two knew that better than most mammals.
When they first met 10 months ago, they had quite a rocky start, but thanks to one of 14 missing mammal cases they were able to work together and actually get to connect on a deeper level. If it weren't for Nick, she never would have solved the case and be taken seriously as a cop. And if it weren't for Judy, he wouldn't even be on the force, and he probably wouldn't be as happy as he was now.
They truly had changed each other's lives for the better, and Judy felt as though it was only just the beginning.
(A/N: ahahaaaa sorry for this super cheesy and shitty and short opening, but it's the first Zootopia fanfic I've written in like, 4 years so I need to find a way to get back into it. Anyway, it'll get more interesting later on I promise)