Author's Note:
I'm serious, I'm making changes. I can't wait to get back into doing all of the things I have loved. My previous employment experience was so bad that it was like being in prison for the past two years. I will never do that do myself again, no matter what the financial promise is. I can do better. I will do better. For me and my family.
If you are just joining Guardian Blue for the first time, you will want to check out Season 1 and 2 first, and I would highly recommend Thanks for the Fox even before that as well so everything makes sense. ^^ Duke of Absolution will likely also be needed. This story is getting big.
Zootopia is owned by Disney. We have to wait until NOVEMBER?!
Also! Another HUGE shout-out to J. N. Squire for assisting with editing for Season 3. Also, I would like to extend a special thank you to a few others who are helping me to keep updating and keep the quality high even with my busy schedule, and my friend Alex who helps me greatly with beta-reading and constant support!
Guardian Blue: Season Three
Episode 21: Sand
Maybe they did work too hard. Judy didn't think much about it, but on weeks like this one it felt like they absolutely did. It was easy to take stock and realize that she needed a break when she found herself strolling along a sunny beach at the cape side of Sahara Square with her mate. Paw in paw they kicked through soft white sand and listened to the dull roar of waves rolling to the clean but sea shell-littered shore.
Nick wore a simple pair of lime green swim trunks and a pull-over white t-shirt, and Judy had selected a sleek black one piece bathing suit and, cheekily, one of Nick's signature green Pawaiian shirts.
"Have you been to the beach a lot, Slick?" the bunny asked as Nick appeared to really drink in the salt air, head tilted back, pointy fox nose high. The breeze was cooling and consistent. It was honestly what the bunny could label as perfect weather.
"Fin and I used to be out here every weekend while we were perfecting the pawpsicle thing," her fox explained. "Figured it would be the best place but we wasted a lot of time and effort in a place with a ton of competition. Turns out there are better places to sell treats in the city, but we still came back from time to time. When it wasn't too windy."
"Is today too windy?" Judy inquired. It didn't seem bad, but it was definitely windier than most of the rest of the city.
"Not too windy for me, no," Nick replied. "But just a little worse than this would be pretty troublesome for Finnick." Judy considered that, and glanced up at a wide golden kite being flown by a young moose cow. Oh. Right. The bunny chuckled lightly at that. She hoped he was doing alright. His schedule changed a little as his situation at the radio station seemed to be changing, but he didn't act at all unhappy about it.
"That looks good over there," Nick indicated a bench under a fixed canopy. They considered initially setting up for a picnic on the beach but an umbrella might not be a great idea with the wind. There were a few out on the beach but they were already populated with various mammals. It wasn't crowded, really, but there were plenty of other mammals enjoying their day off too.
Nick had a paper bag with food in recyclable containers that they intended to enjoy before relaxing and probably hitting water later. It had been at least five years since the last time Judy got into the ocean, so she was looking forward to that. They put out their food and sat together watching out over the sand and sea. Hip to hip, they enjoyed their wraps. It was a favorite food item because so often they had to pack up quickly and get back to work, or just needed to make quick and nourishing food, and these were easy and offered variety.
To celebrate the return to the sea, Nick packed his with buttery sautéed shrimp. Judy's was a Caesar salad fare, but she usually packed hers with a heavier variety of veggies. She just didn't want something too heavy if she intended to swim or get involved in some beach volleyball or something.
For a while, as they ate and just enjoyed one another's company, they discussed work things. They talked about Eddy. The goat wasn't helping where it concerned her kidnappers, but was absolutely going to be found responsible for the cheese all the same. That case was going to be put to bed, at least. The tiger suspect was in the hospital with serious injuries, so they were not likely to get much information from him. The boar legitimately seemed to know nothing about the cheese operation. He claimed vehemently that they were there to scare the goat and were not going to really kill her, and that kicking the chair out from under her was an accident. Multiple police witnesses would be stating contrary to that. Even if it was with the intent to delay police pursuit, it would still be attempted murder.
He was, of course, unable to give them any information about who ordered the goat to be terrorized, of course. The same had been true for the suspect who was caught before he could kill Lewis.
These were matters they touched on, certainly, even though they really wanted to discuss something other than work. As they worked together, and most of their time together was really spent at work, it was hard to talk about much else after the last few days. At least since they were out of uniform they could cuddle up on a park bench and decompress about it pleasantly. This was very much deserved, Judy felt.
Still, the work discussion led into a conversation Judy had wanted to have.
She swallowed a bite of her wrap and nodded to Nick. "So… Tora was obviously under... a lot of stress. You said you think you know what it might be about?" Nick took a bite of his wrap, a little shrimp bouncing onto his paper plate. He chewed for some time as he appeared hesitant to make a statement on that, but he might have just been enjoying his lunch. Judy needed to wait for a little while on an answer. The bunny felt that she knew what Nick suspected about their boss' increasing frustration. She wanted to know if he suspected the same.
He finally answered. "Mmhm… I think she's freaking out about the coin." Yeah, they were on the same page.
"You can at least share with me what your plan is for the getting, Nick," the doe expressed. "I'm not gonna sabotage it. I just… would prefer to know what kind of damage control we're looking at after."
"I'm gonna be honest, Fluff," Nick offered, "I was still trying to figure out something I could get away with and needed to get a better idea of the interim chief's limitations before I did. That sometimes takes time, you know? I was never gonna risk our livelihoods or the department's reputation. You gotta know that at least, right?"
The bunny smiled and nodded her support. She had not been so sure initially. Nick was really mad. "So… what is the plan, then?" Judy asked. "A prank? She clearly knows that the coin means, and now she clearly thinks everything we're doing is a joke or a prank or meant to drive her crazy."
The fox took a deep breath and responded. "Carrots, you shot the interim chief of police with a heavy tranquilizer dart in front of the entire department. Anything I do that could top that would absolutely pass the threshold of safe and reasonable. I'm in agreement that we could just… call off the getting, but she clearly knows it's coming! Would she still respect me as a fox if I gave her a pass?" queried Nick.
Judy laughed at that. "Well if she keeps thinking we're messing with her it's gonna get in the way of our work. Whadda think we should do?"
"You have a prank in mind?" Nick pressed. "She's more scared of you than she is of me."
"She's not scared of me," Judy laughed. Nick kept a serious expression. She wasn't. That was silly.
The fox continued. "We have had everything going on so relentlessly I haven't had time to think of anything that I could really get behind. You're a clever bunny, so don't be afraid to let me know if you come up with something. I do feel better getting to… talk to you about it. With what happened with Sam I at least feel like you better understand what this getting stuff is about." He sipped his drink.
"I was always willing to help you, Slick," the doe comforted.
"Yeah, but this feels like… I dunno… Fox work," Nick laughed.
Judy smirked. "Oh? Am I not foxy enough?"
"You never had to be. I like you just the way you are," her partner mushed. Judy flopped her ears back and smiled at her lover. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, that a jaguar wandering by snickered at the over-the-top sweetness of it. It would absolutely have embarrassed her back in high school. How had she come to this?
"So, what, too I'm just goodie-two-shoes?" the bunny pressed teasingly.
"Too predictable," Nick laughed, obviously not intending it as an insult. Judy did have routines and mannerisms that Nick could plan around and enjoy. It wasn't a bad thing. Still…
The bunny snatched his escaped shrimp and tossed it in her mouth. She figured it would be pretty awful, but it would at least sell the idea that she could be impulsive if she wanted to be. She liked the taste just fine but the texture was just deplorable to her.
"Alright, no, didn't see that coming," the fox admitted, staring at her wide-eyed.
"Mmhm!" the bunny nodded.
"How was it?" he pressed.
"Not a fan. I'll stick to tuna," teased the doe. Nick rolled his eyes with a laugh.
"Anyway, we do care about how this affects the chief and we want to make sure that it doesn't damage the department, so we can't go all out. We'll figure out something, and if she continues to devolve, we can call it off and I will have to apologize to the chief for failing to come up with an appropriate getting."
"Or an inappropriate getting like mine?" the bunny laughed, taking a sip of lime soda.
"Oh good gravy no," Nick laughed. "That was top tier," he laughed.
"So, I haven't asked yet, but I have been dying to know… it's just not come back up," Judy said, wrapping up her paper plate and napkin and such to be recycled, "How did you get my parents to help you get me back then?"
"Cash money. Small, unmarked bills. A lot of them," Nick deadpanned. Judy punched his shoulder.
"Stop it! They've got plenty of money!" she laughed.
"It was worth a shot!" the fox grinned, rubbing his shoulder. He always claimed that bunny fists were small and sharp so her punches were like being poked with a stick.
"Seriously, Nick. I never would have believed they were in on it if I hadn't seen it myself!"
"You're right, they didn't need money, but I had something else I could offer and that was enough." He went to take his last bite of his wrap.
"Oh no you don't," Judy caught his arm. "You aren't gonna ruminate on your shrimp until I forget, I wanna hear all about it! How did you even approach them with something like that!"
Nick grinned at Judy and tossed the rest of the wrap into his wide maw anyway. At least he didn't playfully savor it forever. He finished it in a reasonable manner, took a sip of his drink and answered. "So… You need to know I already had your dad's number. He gave it to me when we were visiting them in Bunnyburrow so I could contact them if anything ever happened to you."
"Yeah, that sounds like Dad alright," Judy grumbled. She did not like that her parents imposed on Nick like that before they were in any kind of relationship. The department would have contacted them if something happened to her. But she supposed her parents would want to know about non-serious things too.
"Well, after you got me in front of my mom and Finnick," Nick began.
"… That was unintentional and you know it," the bunny countered with a grin. She was so embarrassed about that before, but it was genuinely funny now. Fortunately for Nick, she didn't go out of her way to tell others about it. Finnick, Jack, Skye, and Vivienne were the ones who initially knew, but Skye told Wolfard about it during a game night because cider-happy and Nick was antagonizing her. Wolfard was told to tell no one on penalty of fox getting.
"Technically true," Nick said with a grin, "but I digress. After you got me, I knew I needed something with some family weight to it, as your thing would have had zero effect if it were not for my mother and Finnick being there to experience it," he explained.
"Get to the how, Nick," laughed the bunny.
"I called your dad and explained what was going on," the fox offered.
"You what?!" cried the bunny. She then cupped her muzzle, having alerted several beach-goers to her distress. A pair of tall hares stood up, glaring at the fox who was obviously harassing a bunny. Judy grinned brightly and waved at the two would-be heroes to show she was okay. They continued to stare as Nick just watched his bunny smugly. The doe often forgot that not everyone would understand her closeness to the fox. She tried to just ignore the hares and looked back to her fox. "You didn't tell my Dad what I said, Nick!" she hissed, trying hard to grin to dispel the possible assumption that her mate was bothering her.
"No, I just said you gloriously embarrassed me in front of my mom," her partner reassured her. Judy exhaled heavily at that. His alarming her had to have been intentional. He loved that kind of reaction.
"Right. Go on, meanie," she accused.
"So, I told them I wanted to play a harmless prank on you to get you back for it, and I was trying to find someone to help me do it."
"… and what did they say to that?" Judy countered. She wanted to know their reaction and worried Nick might gloss over or omit that part. She already knew the result.
"They said I had a better chance fitting myself into a studio apartment in Little Rodentia than I had finding a rabbit in Bunnyburrow with the stones to prank you."
"Oh they did not!" Judy protested, turning around grumpily. She was not a mean bunny. Nick hugged the doe from behind.
"Oh but they did, verbatim!" the fox laughed.
"Let her go," came a voice off to the side.
Crap.
Judy glanced up at the pair of hares. They looked like they were probably brothers. Both were dressed in jean shorts and tank tops, blue and green respectively.
"It's okay, we're not fighting," Judy defended. "He's frustrating, not mean."
"And yet he's still grabbing you," green shirt said, a sour expression on his face.
"I appreciate your concern, but," Judy tried to assuage.
"… but I'm the one in more danger here, I promise," Nick joked jovially.
"We didn't ask you, fox." came the rather predictable reply. Great. Judy sighed at that. They had luckily avoided much negative speciest interaction over their relationship so far. It was in part because they were so recognizable whenever they were together. Today, however, they might not have been so easily noticed because of bathing suits or because these hares might have been out-of-towners.
"Fair," Nick agreed, getting up. The two bucks stepped back and clenched up, ready to fight. Judy tensed anxiously at that. Tora told them to stay out of trouble. It was the beach. They could stay out of trouble at the beach. Nick was surely not about to engage these confused hares. "… Calm down, fellas," he chuckled with a smile. "I'm just taking our stuff to the recycling bin up the beach so you can be sure I'm not intimidating her or something. I know you mean well. Sorry Judy, I know I was teasing you." He looked back to the other two. "… but that really is what your dad saaaaaid," he sang as he left down the beach.
Judy watched him a moment, actually thankful that he appeared to know exactly how to extract himself from the situation, then a little regretful that he probably spent time considering this exact scenario and how to handle it long before they got into their relationship in the first place. Nick planned. It was very much his thing. Judy shot a glance back back at the pair who suddenly appeared concerned, as the foxes actions did not square with what they thought was going on.
The one in the blue shirt put his paws together. "I'm Cody. Is it… Is everything really fine? It looked like he was irritating you, and..."
"And because he's a fox and I'm a bunny," Judy said, trying to hide the grit in her voice. She and Nick were having an important conversation and he somehow magically got out of telling her what she had been kind of wanting to know for more than a year because random crap always happens to make it go his way. Not this time. She would find a way to make him fit into that mousy studio apartment if he tried to pretend he forgot what they were talking about when he got back. But she wasn't a scary bunny.
Her accusation made both hares back up just a little. "No, not like that, just… you know… a bigger guy, and he seemed so…"
"Predatory?" Judy asked, her expression cold. It had been the way green shirt hare said 'fox'. She'd heard it so many times already and it turned he stomach every time.
"We were tryin' to help, dudette," Cody countered.
The other one continued. "Yeah… guys like that go around like they're the masters of the beach. It happens. They..."
"Inject themselves in other mammals' personal conversations?" the doe implied with a gesture.
"Okay, we get it, you didn't want help, but it's not cause we were… that way!" Cody insisted.
The other one seemed less apologetic. He narrowed his eyes at the bunny. "Yeah, chill, it ain't about that. This is our beach. We're like… its protectors. Ladies really need help sometimes." Judy sighed. If that was the mentality, this would absolutely end up as something the ZPD would have to deal with sooner or later. How involved did she want to try to get here?
"Again, well-intentioned, but if you don't know how to deal with something like that and escalate it like you did a moment ago, you both could make the situation way worse, or actually get hurt. If you're concerned, you can always observe and call ZPD. Officers patrol the beach all day looking for the exact thing you're worried about." Judy had first-hand experience about what could happen if you confront a bully and aren't specifically trained in dealing with the situation.
"Hah! As if! The cops here are worthless," huffed the green-shirt hare. Judy arched a brow.
"Oh? Why do you think that?" she inquired. Now she was curious.
He rolled his eyes and answered. "They just go around nicking people's stuff, hasslin' folks for music bein' loud, and slobbering all over people's nice clean towels."
Judy gritted her teeth at the slobbering part. That would be directed at wolf officers, obviously. Judy tried to remain calm and not make this personal. A lot of citizens hated the cops if they had ever run afoul of them, and this hare made it evident they certainly could have once or twice in their youth. The fact that they had a strong opinion about the police and still didn't recognize the city's only bunny officer made her feel even more certain that they were from out of town and did not, as they said, control this beach. Maybe they were trying to impress a doe. Maybe they just liked feeling like they were important. Smaller mammals struggled with that sometimes.
"Yeah, and they'd probably just arrest the bunny for causing a disturbance. You know how they are," grumbled Cody. He did seem to share the opinion on that, at least.
"I do know how the police are, yes," Judy deadpanned.
"But you and the fox, yer cool? Really?" asked the green shirt hare, providing a tone of disbelief.
"He's the coolest fox I know," Judy crooned, watching the hares' ears fall back.
"Known him long?" Cody interrogated. "Trust him?" Judy tilted her head a little. What were they even playing at?
"Should I not?" Judy countered.
"Again, not knockin' no species or nothin," the green shirted hare started.
"… but there's reasons for some of the stereotypes exist, right? You gotta know that." Cody tried to play it off with a casual shrug.
"True, but based on gender stereotype, I would be inclined to believe you two were only interested in me just to get my number, right?" Judy had used this argument before against stereotypes. Both hares seemed taken aback.
"Whaaaaaat?" drawled Cody. "No, we both got girlfriends and stuff," he dismissed.
"Yeah, but you're pretty fine, don't get us wrong," green shirt guy corrected just to keep that door open.
"Carrots, we gotta go," Nick had come up to them from off to the side, a little breathless, his tone serious. Judy snapped her attention to him.
"Carrots? Are you frickin' serious?" Cody insisted with sudden disgust.
"What's up?" Judy asked, getting up from her table.
"Commotion up the beach," Nick answered.
"Then maybe you should just caw the poweece and let them handow it!" crooned the green-shirt hare, obviously directing it at Judy. Nick looked at him with a confused expression. Yeah, the conversation wasn't going great. "Like, don't inject yo'sewf into other mammals pwobwems." he said with an angry sneer.
"Uh..." Nick stared at the pair.
"We are the police," she snapped back. "You wanna help, watch our damned towel!" She and Nick grabbed their phones and she dropped her towel on the chair beside her, ZPD logo side up. She didn't even bother to look at their expressions as she took off with her partner. Yeah, they weren't on duty, but sometimes the city didn't wait for them to clock in. They did a brisk quarter mile down the sand. Running in sand was always so much more tedious, so they crossed down closer to the water where the sand was moist and firm.
There were about 20 mammals pointing out over the water calling for help. There was what resembled a yellow inner-tube-style float a good half-mile out to sea. Two small dark shapes were clutching to it.
"Rip current," Nick called, showing the furrow creasing the waves. "Kits it looks like." Judy winced. At least they had a float. Judy immediately called it in to the local precinct dispatch. The lifeguard would be somewhere on the beach. She searched around for a place to stash their phones. She and Nick were pretty strong swimmers but that was a long way to haul someone back. Judy found an unoccupied lifeguard stand and she and Nick tucked their phones in the drink holder on it. They'd just have to hope no one messed with it.
The pair then ran for the water. They would certainly get their exercise in for the day. It was astonishing how all the mammals that were aware of the issue were still on shore, but water rescue really was pretty dangerous, as Nick knew all too well.
Just before the officers could get their feet wet, however, a shape rocketed past them so fast that Judy nearly rolled from the surprise and the wind. She and her fox reached the waves as her brain was able to piece together the shape now far ahead of them.
A cheetah in red shorts and a white shirt hit the water on a red body-board so hard and fast that he skipped probably eight times, making it more than a quarter of the distance out to the wayward float, easily past the cresting waves. Then, on his knees, the cheetah began paddling himself along on his knees on the body-board. It was certainly way faster than the fox or bunny could have done.
"Yeah, he's got it," Judy said rather flatly.
"Ya think?" Nick asked, noting the cheetah was more than half way.
"Kinda sucks the wind outta your sails, huh?" Judy laughed. Judy and Nick held off on diving into the surf to determine if additional help would be needed. If the cheetah had problems, they would at least be able to update dispatch and get a police boat out there.
"Seriously, Nick, what did my dad really say?" If they were stuck just watching a rescue, Nick didn't have an excuse to dodge this.
"It really is what he said," Nick offered in as un-smug a fashion as he could manage. The cheetah arrived where the kits had been swept out. He took a rope that was attached to the float already and looped it around himself and began to paddle back. The kits looked okay, but it was hard to tell how upset they were as they were really far out there. There was cheering on the beach.
"Okay, but then how did you end up convincing them to help if they really said that?" the bunny asked.
"I offered them compensation, of course," Nick answered.
"My mom and dad did not take money to help with a prank, Slick," Judy countered with a smirk.
"No, your family is fine on money, Fluff," the fox laughed. "But I had something your mom wanted and I had something your dad wanted."
"Oh?" the doe asked, crossing her arms. "Do tell."
"Your mom wanted pictures of you doing 'not dangerous things' on duty. Lots of them, to help ease the impression that we are always inches from certain death." Judy sighed. That sounded about right, honestly. And, as she thought back on it, Nick was snapping selfies a lot when they were doing parking duty during a charity event at the palm hotel, and when they were waiting to stand witness for a breaking and entering arrest they made that ended up not even going to trial because the nutria rat changed his plea that morning to land a lighter sentence.
"What about my dad then? Knowing I was safe should have been what he was after more than my mom, honestly.
"Your mom also wanted to know you were having fun out there, so the shots had to be candid mostly. I couldn't blame her. She cares," Nick elaborated.
"Right, she and I had a discussion about that. What about my dad, Nick," the bunny patpatpatted her footpaw on the sand.
"To protect you," Nick said softly.
"You're my partner. You already did that," the doe argued.
"He meant all the time. He wanted to know you had someone here who'd never let you down. They got to know me well enough in Bunnyburrow to know I'd have agreed to that. And I did. And here we are!" Nick drew a circle around his heart.
"You did not marry me because my dad told you to!" Judy barked with a punch to the fox's shoulder. He rubbed it and laughed.
"Oh wait, Judy… Do you recognize that cheetah?" he pointed as the lifeguard fought his way through the breakers near the shore, able to get off his board and tow the kits in on foot at that point.
"Huh..." Judy peered.
"He was shirtless last time we saw him, too."
The bunny scrunched her nose. "That does not look like Reggie Swift," the bunny stated firmly. She'd never forget that cat.
"What? No," Nick back-peddled. "Well, yeah, I guess I did take Reggie's shirt, didn't I. No. Other shirtless cheetah," the vulpine laughed.
"Wait… the one from the park!" Judy tilted her head. "You think so?"
"I'm good at remembering folks. You know that." Judy pondered that. He seemed to know everyone, maybe it was just because he was really that good at remembering. He waded out to help with the kits.
"Where are their freakin' parents?" the cheetah asked. "Oh, what, hey! It's you two!" he laughed.
"Told ya!" Nick smirked at his mate. "Looks like you really do enjoy jumping into the water, Greg!"
"You remembered me!" he laughed. The two kits, shivering but seeming happier to be back on land, plopped down on the sand. They were jackals, as best Judy could tell. Most canids looked pretty much the same if they were soaking wet.
"I don't think I saw any other jackals on the shore over that way," Nick explained.
"No telling how far the kits got carried along the rip current, and if their parents weren't watching they might have gone looking up the north shore and woulda never seen them." He knelt down and addressed the sniffling canids. "Hey, I'm gonna radio my pals along the beach to find your parents. Wanna watch some cartoons at the lifeguard office up there and have some freezypops until they get here?" he asked in a kind tone. Judy smiled at that. Her first impression of this cheetah was rough but maybe she had him completely wrong. Peer pressure sucked sometimes.
"This your occupation now?" asked Nick.
"Yeah, second summer for it. First one sucked because it was all the lost and found and equipment maintenance. All the first years get to do that. But I'm official now!" He slapped his proud red board.
"Well, we're gonna hit the waves too, I think," Nick laughed. "My phone's in the life-guard stand there. Is that okay for the moment?" he asked.
"Sure thing! I hope I see you guys some more. You two deserve to relax and have a little fun. You're both maniacs!" He laughed and ushered the kits who just quietly towed their float up the beach. The girl jackal explained that their mom was probably asleep on the deck by the fish place, which narrowed it down a little at least. They'd find her for sure.
Judy and Nick went to get their towels. The fox chuckled and mentioned casually, "He's not doing bad for himself. I hope his friends who goaded him into dunking me are likewise less jerks on their own."
Judy nodded thoughtfully at that. "He did stay to help so maybe he was just the most responsible one out of the group, even if he was the one who dropped you."
"Yeah, maybe. Especially since all of his friends bailed and left him there," Nick laughed. "Though I suppose it's important for us to always remind ourselves that many of the mammals we deal with we might be encountering on their worst possible day. I like to think we are compassionate, but there are some mammals that… don't leave a whole lot of space for it," Nick grumbled, nodding to the fox-bashing, cop-hating hares still standing by the table. Judy was surprised to find them guarding their towel.
"You coulda just said you were a cop," the one in the green shirt said. "We're just tryin to help keep the peace on our stretch of beach, that's all." Judy sighed. Would it be too much for them to just admit they embarrassed themselves and walk off?
Nick fired back, "You coulda said you worked for a landscaping company, but you didn't lead in with that either." His eyes went big and round.
"Woah," Cody responded.
"How?" green shirt asked. The fox gestured down.
"You weed-eatered your ankles and you smell like lawn-clippings," he said with a grin. Judy smirked. She missed that.
"Huh," he inspected his legs. Yeah, they had a few red lines over them.
Cody pointed out, "The cover came off of it. He gets in a hurry." The one in the green shirt looked irritated at the other hare for that. It didn't need explained. Nick explained his point. The pair being cops didn't excuse their assumption that the bunny was in trouble just because he was a fox.
"Still, we weren't tryin' to start nothin," the other remarked. "You were tryin' to bait us is what it was." He crossed his arms, glaring at the fox, as if it were Nick that had the conversation that made him look like a goon. This one really didn't like cops.
The fox calmly regarded the defensive hare. "I'm pretty sure I set a good example of keeping your beach clean by taking our lunch stuff over to the recycle bin, Bud," Nick explained. It had been Judy leading the earlier conversation.
"Yeah, but your whole argument before, I mean," the green shirt guy argued. "You knew it'd get the attention of decent mammals… they would see it and would have to correct the issue. Just so you could hassle us. You won't admit it but that's what you intended."
"Let's just go, Marc, they're cops," pressed Cody. Marc definitely seemed to be the 'not Greg' of the pair.
"I'm just callin' it out, man. They're out here messin' with us and tryin' to start crap," he countered.
"They're," Nick corrected. Judy tilted her head at him.
"What?" Marc verbally stumbled.
"You said 'there', I was just pointing out," Nick gestured at his grammatical correction. "T-h-e-y-appostrophe-r-e is what you use for they are. You said t-h-e-r-e, which is for denoting a place."
"Uh..." Cody's mind was blown.
"How the heck do you… I didn't… I said it, I didn't spell it!" Marc snapped.
"But I clearly knew which one you intended," Nick stated with a bored expression. "So, since I knew your intent… well… I figured that being the decent mammal I am, I should correct you."
Cody stood slack-jawed. Marc absolutely fumed. Judy stared at Nick blankly. The idea of a fox lawyer was suddenly terrifying. Marc looked like he was about to fly apart at the seems.
Nick gave his absolute most deadpan expression and leaned back, gazing down his pointy snout at the offended hare. "Would it be fair for me to assume what your intent is right now?" Judy remembered being on the opposite side of arguments with Nick when she first met him. It was impossible if you were losing your cool.
"You… you said it yourself, dude, they're baiting," Cody cautioned his friend. Marc glared hard at Nick a moment longer, then looked at Judy. His expression relaxed, and he sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Whatever. But you better be careful out here. It can get pretty nasty." The doe arched her brow. He was still trying to play the hero, the great guardian of the beach after how obviously in the wrong he was. She had to give a nod to his tenacity. If he wasn't sorry at least maybe he might be more careful in the future. That's about all she could ask for. "I hope you guys don't get eaten by a shark or anything," he grumped. Oh. Never mind then. He strode off. Cody turned back a little and gestured a roughly apologetic sign to make it clear he wasn't… as bad, maybe?
They would definitely be someone's problem soon, but there wasn't a lot the pair could do about them without something more actionable. For now their little game blowing up in their face non-violently was the best the officers could offer them. If they injected that kind of self-righteous and likely speciest toxicity into a real domestic situation the pair might have better luck with a shark.
Towels in paw, Nick and Judy headed for the water.
Judy had honestly only ever been swimming with Nick for work. There was that time she flushed him down a toilet, too, but that didn't count. They'd never really just been in the water together. Somewhat distressingly, Judy considered that times where they might have been able to relax and swim together they could not because they were, one or the other, injured so badly that they really couldn't. She was glad to finally add this to the list of activities she enjoyed with her mate.
It was thrilling to play in the waves with her fox. They stalked each other through the breakers, pounced, splashed, taunted, and teased to their hearts content. Both were strong swimmers and playing in the salt air was good for their spirits. Soon the rather negative treatment by the hares was pretty much forgotten. Some mammals just didn't like the police. Some just didn't like foxes. Judy's job was to protect them and others, not change their mind. She could do her best. Today, her job was to rest and have fun with Nick. As she got picked up in his larger paws and chucked playfully over a breaker with a laughing shout, she congratulated herself.
They were staying out of trouble. Sure they met some possible cop-hating vigilantes with a species-supremacy issue and sure there was a water rescue, but they managed to come out of that without it causing more hassle for Tora. And what was better, they were on the same page that they needed to resolve the getting in a respectful, safe way, so that was a bit of weight off of the bunny's conscience.
She did respect the tiger, if not everything she'd done.
She hoped that, in the end, when they got Bogo back, Mayumi Tora would leave with a good impression of the effectiveness and spirit of Precinct 1.
For today, as the sun passed the midway point in the sky and the sound of kits bantering on the beach and rock music blaring from someone's wireless speakers, all attention was on what the city really needed most of all right then.
Zootopia needed their fox and bunny officer to relax and spend some happy time together.
This was honestly one of their duties, taken just as seriously as saving troubled teens or recovering stolen property.
If Nick and Judy wanted to make the world a better place, they needed to save a spot in it for them. Today, the beach was that spot, and the fox and bunny enjoyed it together as a fox and bunny and nothing else.
They would get to be cops plenty tomorrow.