Downtown, Zootopia: Nick's Point of View
Judy and I stood outside my apartment and waited by the road, we were waiting for Finnick to come by, I texted him earlier to come meet up at my place.
While waiting I thought about what I told Judy before, she asked me if I still loved Nicole, and I told her that I wasn't sure. I knew that I certainly missed her, she wasn't just some fling, some vixen for a fun night, she was my mate, my other half.
But do I still love her? I thought about the few exes I've had in the past, and how the heartache with them would fade away with a few drinks.
Unlike my previous exes, she wasn't the one that did the breaking up, I was. For once, it wasn't my heart that got broken, it was hers.
The bitter memory of that night was still fresh in my mind.
Flashback Seven years ago, Downtown Zootopia
"What's wrong with you? Why are you acting like a total bitch!?" I shouted, anger flowing through my veins.
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? Why can't you just get a job like a normal mammal!" she shouted back.
"I do have a job, Nikki!" I replied, trying to calm down.
"Hustling is not a proper Job!" she protested.
"I don't understand, why are you complaining? Why now? You never had a problem with it before!" I asked.
"Before? Well before, you didn't try to hustle Mr. Big! I can't believe that you sold him a Skunk Butt rug, after everything he's done for us!"
"It's just a rug, Nikki! And besides, maybe Mr Big has a thing for Skunk butts" I joked.
"Nick! I'm serious, how could you do it? He trusted you!"
As Nicole continued on with her ranting, I slowly thought to myself 'these past few weeks have been torture, she's been nagging and whining, and doesn't even want to get intimate anymore. It's like she's gone mad, I need a break from her bullshit'
"NICK! Are you even listening to me!?" screamed Nicole.
I looked back at her and smiled as I thought to myself 'I don't have to deal with this shit anymore'
"I'm done" I spoke slowly.
"W-what?" she queried, confused as to my sudden change in tone.
"You heard me, I'm done. I'm sick of this" I confessed.
"Nick, what are you talking about?" she questioned, with a worried tone in her voice.
"I'm sick this, all of this!" I shouted as I gestured towards the entire room "I'm sick of everything, I'm sick of us and I'm sick of you!" I pointed at her.
She just stood there, shocked as to what I had just said.
I continued even further "You know when I first saw you; I thought that I had finally found someone to spend the rest of my life with. Clearly, I was wrong" I growled.
Nicole suddenly had a fearful look upon her; she stretched her paw towards me. "Nick?" she whimpered in fear. Though before her paw even touched me, I pushed her away, she fell onto the floor, clutching her stomach, tears streaming down her cheeks.
I took one last look at her "Pathetic" I mumbled to myself, as I walked out the door.
Flashback end
I shudder at the unpleasant memory; I went back to our apartment the next day, but she wasn't there. She left before I could realise my mistake, and that was the day of my biggest regret.
I glanced down Judy and thought how this whole situation could have an impact on her. That whole conversation from before seemed to have changed her, she wasn't her usual optimistic bunny self, something seemed to be bothering her, but I couldn't figure out what. I decided to ask her about it. "Hey Carrots are you okay?"
Nothing, she wasn't responding, I started getting worried, she wasn't usually this quiet "Judy?" I asked again, as I gently nudge her shoulder.
She suddenly seemed to snap out of her thoughts "Huh, what?" she blurted out, as she looked at me.
"Judy, what's wrong?" I asked concern for the well-being of my partner and friend.
"Nothing Nick, just uh…tired, that's all" she chirped, with a smile plastered on her face. As I studied her face, I noticed how her eyes were shifting to the side, trying to avoid direct eye contact, even the tone of her voice was filled with uncertainty, it was obvious that she was lying.
I gave her a sceptical look "Okay…" I replied as I continued peering down the street, hoping to spot Finnick's Red Van. 'She's hiding something, just what is she hiding' I thought to myself.
"Are you sure Finnick knows where she lives?" she asked.
"Probably, he probably knows. If not, then he probably knows someone else who does" I replied.
"That's a whole lot of probabilities" she stated.
Just as Judy spoke, a familiar Red Van cruised down the street "Speaking of Finn, here he comes now" I stated, as the Van came to a halt in front of me and Judy.
The Van window began to slide down, revealing Finnick in his usual black bowling shirt and sunglasses "Hey Nick, ready for that Drink?" he boasted.
I walked closer towards Finnick and leaned on the van door "Actually, Finn, I wanted to ask for a favour"
Judy's Point of View
As Nick was busy talking with Finnick about the possible whereabouts of his ex, I began to return to my own personal thoughts.
I thought about how with the Kit involved, Nick would have to take responsibilities and go back, right back into the arms of that Vixen.
The thought of Nick being reunited with some mammal that he cares about is sweet and wonderful, except that it gave me this strange feeling of uneasiness. This feeling was very similar to my police intuition, yet different enough to feel like a stranger.
'Something isn't right with this whole situation, I got a bad feeling in my gut I can feel it'
Throughout their seven years apart, she could have returned to him at any time, but it happened now, now when Nick is a cop with access to the ZPD.
'Slight chance it could be a hustle' I thought, I instantly thought back to when I first came to Zootopia and the Ice cream incident with Nick and Finnick, 'If those two could trick me into believing that they were a Father and Son pair, then what are the chances of that Vixen doing the same to Nick?'
'Something is definitely fishy with this Nicole White'
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I hated that Vixen, me and Nick have been partners for at least a year, suddenly this Vixen from his past pops up and he goes crazy 'What does Nick see in her? What makes her so special? ...Wait, what am I doing? Why the heck am I thinking like this?'
The realization was slow but I eventually caught on 'Sweet Cheese and Crackers, I'm not jealous, am I? No, no. Judith Laverne Hopps, you cannot be jealous of your partner's ex' I had to stop myself from thinking like this any further.
"No, no, no this can't be happening!" I blurted out, burying my head into both of my paws. I started breathing rapidly, trying to calm myself, once calmed I lifted my head out of my paws and saw Nick and Finnick staring at me in confusion. I smiled and did a little wave, pretending that nothing happened. Nick continued to stare at me, before ultimately deciding to ignore my little outburst.
I sighed in relief 'Okay Judy, focus, how can I get Nick to see that she might be using him' I thought to myself, burying the prior thoughts of jealousy aside.
But before I could continue my train of thoughts, I felt a towering figure standing before me, it was Nick. 'If I wanted to prove my little theory to him, I need proof' I thought. With that I continued the little charade of being interested in that Vixen, only until I can get some proof.
"So… how did it go?" I asked, trying to sound concerned.
"Finnick says that he has absolutely no idea as to where she lives or where she might be" he revealed.
"Oh" I blurted out, though in my mind I was happy as Larry 'if this lead is a dead-end, then Nick would be forced to give up and forget that vixen, and then everything will go back to normal, just me and Nick' I thought, though what I didn't know was that Nick was not the kind of Fox that would give up, no, he was far from it.
"Finnick does, however, know someone else who might help us, emphasis on the word might" stated Nick, a smirk on his face.
"Who?"
"An old friend" revealed Nick.
Downtown Zootopia, Wilde Suit-topia: Paul's Point of View
'Boy, things here sure are boring' I thought to myself while leaning on the counter. I glanced at my watch 'Only 30 minutes left to go' usually working here was not a problem, steady job, alright boss and alright pay, the only problem was, there weren't any customers.
Being in the mindset of being bored, I thought about Nick and Finnick and how they were doing. We were all close friends back then, very close friends before...the incident.
Although, I still occasionally meet up with Finnick for a few drinks once in a while. Nick, however, not so much, when he left my sister with a broken heart and a Kit in tow, I broke all contact with him. Come to think of it, the last time I saw him was years ago.
I glanced back at my watch, the numbers started to become fuzzy 'Damn eyes' I mumbled to myself, as I took off my glasses to rub my tired eyes.
Suddenly the shop keeper's bell was rung as the door was pushed open. I glanced towards the door to see a small brownish-gold black and a gray pink blur, followed by a bigger red and green blur.
The introduction of these three blobs quickly brought two familiar and one horrifying, stranger scent to my snout; I could identify the two familiar scents as foxes, while the other belonged to a rabbit, the smell of rabbit quickly brought up my instincts of fear and danger into mind 'Damnit, not now' I thought to myself.
I brushed aside my instinctive thoughts, and put on my glasses, and glanced back at the blurs, only to see Nick and Finnick and an unknown gray bunny.
Finnick then walked up towards me "Eh Paulie what's up?" he asked.
"Finn! I don't suppose you're here to pay me back for last time?" I asked.
Suddenly I heard a yell from the back of the shop "Hey Paul, have you seen my Pinking shears?" yelled John, John was my boss and Nick's dad. I escaped working under a hustling Wilde to find myself, working under another Wilde.
"I've got them right here John" I replied, holding the special scissors in my paw. John came rushing towards the front of the shop, holding a scrap of fabric and measuring tape in both paws, but upon seeing Nick, he stopped dead in his tracks, dropping the tape and piece of cloth, he paced himself towards Nick.
John then flung himself towards Nick, both paws wrapped around him "Nick! My god boy! I haven't seen you in ages!"
"Hey, Dad, still clingy as always" joked Nick.
"And you, still wearing those damn Pawaiian shirts" joked John.
While John and Nick were busy in their little conversation, I glanced over at the bunny, 'Just who is she? She looked quite familiar' she then turned in my direction, staring directly at me, my instinctive thoughts began to build up, even more, my heart started beating rapidly and I began to feel lightheaded. The memories began to flood back, the trauma, the pain, the hatred, and the damn stares.
I began hearing voices in my head 'Get that white freak! Fox-away, Fox-away, spray the fox, spray its eyes!'
"No, no, no!" I muttered to myself, I began clutching my head as the memories came flooding in.
"Eh bro, you okay? You don't look too good" asked Finnick, concern in his voice.
I stared at him and felt reassurance, reassurance that I was with someone familiar, someone trusted, a fellow Fox. I started breathing slowly, calming the ongoing storm in my chest, feeling a great burden being lifted from my shoulders. I took off my glasses and began to rub the bridge of my nose.
"Yeah Finny I'm fine, j-just haven't been sleeping well lately, heh-heh" I lied while chuckling. Trying to find humour in the sorry state I was in.
"Seriously bro, something up?" he asked, starting to get worried.
"No, it's... nothing" I replied, steadying my nerves. I looked over at Nick and John, who were now a blur, the blur which I presumed was Nick, turned his attention towards me.
'Oh no what now?' I thought to myself.
"Hey Paul, long time no see" joked Nick.
"What are you doing here?" I grunted, putting on my glasses.
"Is it so much of a crime to visit an old friend?" he said.
"I didn't know that we were still friends" I joked "So what are you here for exactly? Something tells me it's not for a suit" I asked.
"Well, I thought maybe we'd get the gang back together," he replied.
"Don't lie to me Nick, you don't roll that way anymore, you're a cop now. So, what do you really want? Money? Information? Spit it out" I asked again, trying to keep the mood light.
Nick then lifted his paw to rub the back of his neck sheepishly "Well…uh…actually, I was hoping that you could possibly, maybe, tell me where Nicole lives?" he asked.
I couldn't believe what he was asking, it was a bloody joke. I started laughing hysterically "Don't you think you've done enough damage already?" I asked, he already broke her heart once, and I don't intend to have him break her heart again.
I glanced down at my watch, five o'clock. I glanced over towards John, who was chatting with the rabbit "Hey John" I beckoned; he turned towards me as I pointed at my watch.
He waved me off and returned to chatting with the rabbit. I started packing away the cash register and other items on the counter; I walked past Nick, towards the coat hanger and picked up my coat and scarf.
"Hey, where are you going?" he asked.
"It's Five o'clock, my shift's over" I replied, as I put on my coat and scarf. I then felt someone nudging my knee, I looked down to see Finnick with a smile on his face.
"Come on Paulie, the whole gang's here, how about a drink? For old time's sake?" he asked.
I looked back at Nick, remembering how we were all friends at one point in our lives.
"I suppose one drink couldn't hurt" I replied.
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