Chapter 12: An Old Friendship

By the time Judy was talking to her family Nick and Finnick had been talking to each other for a good 3 hours, they hadn't even realised the time had passed so quickly. It had been a long time since they had talked to each other so frankly and bluntly. It had been a while since they had last seen each other and during that time quite a lot had changed for both of them and they alternated between telling their stories. Finnick talked about how he'd quit the icebreaker job, after Nick had left them to pursue some meaningful fully legal work and found it! Admittedly, it was a fairly simple job, but as Finnick usually said, you have to start somewhere. That's what he said when they sold ice-cream together and earned barely 10 dollars per hand. Over time, however, the business grew and it got to the point where this income was enough to support themselves in Zootopia.

"All right, but enough about me. Tell me something about you and Judy...You said you guys...are..."

"Shhh! Quiet, please!" he was interrupted by Nick abruptly. Finnick showed slight surprise on his face, but stopped his rant by looking into Nick's eyes, which were wandering around the room.

"Listen Finnick" sighed Nick stopping his gaze on Finnick. He showed him with his hand to bend down to the middle of the table, he himself did so too speaking in a whisper so no one would hear.

"I love Judy and we are happy together, but relationships of different species...are quite...original. There aren't many couples like that in Zootopia, you know?"

Nick asked, at which Finnick nodded with a movement of his head as he leaned back from the centre of the table picking a comfortable position in his chair. A moment later he raised his right eyebrow, looked around the room and moved closer to the edge again.

"I mean...I don't want this to sound bad...but you're ashamed of her ?"

"What, no, of course not! Ugh I beg you, but you could think sometimes..." He sighed with resignation waving his head gently from side to side.

"We need to prepare ourselves for the fact that we might be criticised for being with each other...it takes time" countered Nick.

"No well that's a given, although I've seen a few couples like you before and it's unlikely anyone paid much attention to them"

"Really?" asked a surprised Nick.

"Look Nicki, if you really love each other and want to be together, why can't you just be together without hiding? You know, just because you're different species shouldn't limit you, you decide everything, it's your life" replied Finnick. Nick felt more confident after hearing those words. It was the first time he had heard such words about their relationship outside. He had broached the subject a few times with Judy and only with her because he wasn't supposed to talk about it with anyone else. He smiled warmly at Finnick showing that it was a good choice of words on Finnick's part.

"Yes...only her parents are left "

"What about them?"

"They don't know we're with each other...the worst part is probably that I'm a fox...it complicates things a lot, you know how famous we are..."

"Foxes...just, have you heard what's going on in the fox district?" asked Finnick, to which Nick lifted his head up dragging a hand across his elongated muzzle stroking the fur on his chin.

"No, you know I haven't maintained any contact with anyone there since we escaped from there." replied Nick coolly straightening up in the chair that gave him comfortable support.

"Yeah, but listen. Apparently something bad is going on over there. They've brought in the military on the shores of the city, no one can leave or enter there now! " said Finnick which partly interested Nick, although at first he wanted to hide it by looking at the diner guests, but he couldn't pretend that Finnick's news was boring.

"You know who lives there. There's probably been some kind of fight and that's what the army is. Nothing new to be honest."

"Nah, are you still going to be grating to the place you grew up in?" asked Finnick frantically. Nick didn't answer. The question made him a little nervous, but it was too true to offend Finnick. He hated the foxy neighborhood. Ever since he'd left the place he'd tried to think of it as negative as possible without thinking about the fact that she'd lived there when he was younger. He hated the place because when he discovered the possibilities of Zootopia and now, the job of police chief he realized what a bad place to live the fox district was. It was a place where there was filth and disorder everywhere. There was a thief or other crook lurking on the corners, waiting for someone vulnerable to be robbed. Nick, despite having talked about the place several times, still defended his opinion.

"Listen, you know perfectly well what our situation was there and what it is here. I hate that place and I don't keep in touch with anyone from there." replied Nick after a moment's thought.

"I understand. However, I've heard rumours that strange things have been happening there lately, that there's some military activity going on there, but no one knows what it is," Finnick said mysteriously, to which Nick nodded, signalling that he was listening to his friend.

"Hm...actually interesting...have you been there recently?" asked Nick.

"No, I haven't had time. I was delivering a pizza for a guy once and he told me all about it. When he was telling it he got terribly upset, eventually the boy got so upset he had to sit down. I don't know why he got so upset, maybe there was something he hadn't told me yet..." Finnick replied.

"Hm, maybe I'll find out more at the police station...in the meantime, I'm going to go home" replied Nick getting up from the table. He was followed by Finnick, who also decided to go home. Nick picked up his scarf and hat that he had left on the hangers earlier.

"Do you have any plans for Christmas ?" Nick asked before he was about to press the door handle.

"No, you know, I'll be home all the time. What about you ?"

"Judy's gone to visit her family and I have to keep an eye on the flat...Hey I have an idea!" popped out Nick suddenly, which surprised Finnick, who already had an expression on his face asking what the idea was.

"Maybe you want to spend a few nights at my place until Judy gets back? We can live a bit like old times " suggested Nick, which he didn't have to insist on because Finnick immediately agreed by nodding vigorously.

"Oh, what a great idea! Just maybe let's go to my place, I'll get some clothes..."

"We can tomorrow, I'm going to pick up some things in town, then I'll give you a lift home" Nick replied, to which Finnick nodded with a motion of his head. Soon they both left the premises. It was already dark outside and there was a piercing frost that unpleasantly attacked everyone outside, even despite their proper clothing. They both got into Nick's car and then left the car park of Caffe Maestro.

When they arrived at their destination, Nick stopped in the underground car park and they got out of the car trying not to fall, the pavement was terribly slippery, making it no mean feat to fall to the ground. Nick could already see the excitement of the garage on Finnick's face, he imagined in his mind the reaction to them living together.

"I can see a policeman's job paying off," Finnick pointed out, to which Nick nodded with a light laugh.

"Well, a policeman deserves a bit of relaxation too" laughed Nick hailing the lift. Once it arrived they boarded it and Nick chose floor 10 where their flat was located. It wasn't the highest floor in the block, the highest was floor 12, but Judy was already afraid of living higher up, so this floor was just right for them. When the lift doors opened again, they both turned right where there were doors on the corridor left and right. Nick took the keys in his pocket and then opened the door with the number 55.

"Enjoy the view my friend" said Nick opening the door for his friend. Finnick immediately made a sound signifying his slight bewilderment at what he saw.

"Hehe, well! Quite a nice flat! Who picked it?" laughed Finnick looking around in awe. Modern architecture, modern furniture, white walls combined with black elements, a kitchen with an island and in front of it a living room was something that made Finnick delighted. And of course the view of the skyline illuminated in the gloom of Zootopia.

"We chose together. I wanted to live on the 12th floor, but Judy was scared so we chose that."

"Great choice! I like it!" said Finnick looking around the flat.

"The only question is, where will I sleep?"

"Great question, because it's probably bedtime. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." replied Nick leading Finnick into the bedroom showing him the room where he and Judy sleep.

"I know you miss Judy, but I'm not going to sleep with you," laughed Finnick, at which Nick had a slight grimace on his face, but he let out a light laugh.

"Relax, I can handle it. You'll sleep on the couch in the living room" replied Nick. They walked to the larger room where Nick showed him how to unfold and fold the couch. After that they both decided it was the right time to go to bed. The clock showed 11p.m. and tomorrow was going to be a tough day.

"Ok, let's get to bed already, tomorrow there are some errands to be done. Good night "

"Thanks for the idea...that's nice of you" said Finnick stopping Nick.

"Come on you're my friend, by the way. Better to spend Christmas together than apart. Good night" said Nick with a warm smile on his face. He switched off the light in the living room and then went to the bedroom to start a conversation with Judy.