The Chief's office was timeless, like a picture that was taken of itself, and had not changed much at all since the first time Judy had been inside. It had not meaningfully changed on this Friday or the last. The doe did notice that Bogo had a bottle of bourbon sitting on the table near the window. The desk also held some knick-knacks, family pictures, and framed commendations. It must have been a long and arduous process to make the press release happen in the fashion that it had. The buffalo in question sat before her, not having even looked up or spoken a word since calling her in, as he poured over the paperwork on the table.
The doe had been called in late on her off-day and it was uncharacteristic. Granted, she was going to head over to talk to Bogo about the time off regardless, but it was so late now that Judy was worried about making it to the stillhouse to see the band play.
"My answer is yes." Bogo said without looking up.
"Sir?" She asked, surprised by the suddenness of his voice. "I haven't even explained anything…"
"You want to use your PTO to take Wilde to the sticks for Christmas. You're here because he's not doing better, but he isn't exactly doing worse." Bogo explained, finally putting his pen down and looking up through his spectacles. "And, you need the time by the look of it."
"Sir?" Judy repeated, tilting her head in confusion.
"Hopps, you haven't looked well-rested in weeks. Probably due to your off-the-books investigation…" Bogo said, his mouth momentarily pulling into a knowing grin. "So, the two of you are off for Christmas and New Year's. Two weeks. Slightly more, actually, due to the way that I've structured it between the weekends. I assume you'll leave after shift on the Eighteenth and be back around the Fourth. And… I'm not scheduling you for Thanksgiving either. You should take Wilde for that weekend: from post-shift on the Twenty-Fourth to that next Monday. Both of you worked the holidays in the last two-years and we have several mammals who want the OT this time around."
Judy Hopps, who was normally acclimated to on-the-fly decisions, was extremely dumbfounded by all of this information. And, embarrassed that the Chief knew of her other "work".
Not that I should be surprised. Nick knows everyone and the Chief knows everything, Judy thought seriously.
"Thank you, Sir." Judy conceded awkwardly, eyeing him a bit.
Bogo sat back in his large chair while watching the doe, as well. The gears were turning in both of their minds and they both knew that it was not Judy's place to speak despite a rampant desire to ask questions.
"Hopps, I have three pairs of patrol-mammals that are my go-to teams. You should think of them as specialized infantry units in contrast to detective teams, SWAT, and TUSK. Patrol has a broader jurisdiction and detective units are refinements on that. You and Wilde are one of those three teams. Wolford and McHorn lead the other two," Bogo began, taking his hoof and removing the glasses prior to rubbing his face. "But, there's an entirely different dynamic with you and Wilde than with the other four. The experiences, background, drives, and histories compiled into something far less procedural than what I see from the other two teams. Unfortunately, I've seen you two burn-out far more quickly and often than them. Because, on top of what I ask of you both, you – Hopps – are capable of correctly reading into the smallest of nothings and find some of the biggest somethings. And, Wilde's knowledge of the Zootopian residents leads to the cases, which you unearth, being closed quickly. The two of you tie everything together. It prevents crime nicely, but it creates a vaster workload to deal with…
"The two of you act as if you need to take on the world by yourselves. And, neither of you have properly processed the incident in the pit... Despite the time that's past." The water buffalo said gruffly, leaning further back into his reclining office chair. "You, Hopps, have pushed it aside so completely that you don't even realize the magnitude of the truck that might be bearing down on you. On the other hoof, Wilde has seen things in his past and the issues he faces now are compounded by them. The paperwork has already been handled.
"You're both on standard patrols, assignments doled out in the mornings as per the norm, until Thanksgiving. Assuming there isn't a big case that comes up." Bogo finalized firmly. "And, Hopps… Any assumed criminal activity that you might see? It's to be reported to Clawhauser for retasking. I need the new officers as experienced as the rest of the department and their FTOs need the time in to stay sharp. You are not to pursue any hunches until I say otherwise. Am I crystal clear on that?"
Judy nodded firmly. "Yes, Sir!" She replied.
"Good. I'll see you and Wilde on Monday. Dismissed." Bogo said, waving a dismissive hoof.
Judy jumped off the chair and headed out of the building with a hustling vigor. Pulling out her phone, the doe fired of a text to her mother with the details and a promise that she would call the next day.
...
Mimi's Stillhouse was a hive of activity, a stark contrast to the first time Judy had been inside the previous Wednesday. Predators of all species were in the establishment for a good time. The doe walked in with a slight trepidation, clenching at the hearing protection case nervously, as she carefully surveyed the room for Nick. The todd was not on stage, oddly enough, but at the bar. He was loading up a serving tray before slyly meandering up to the front. Judy hustled, while shooting a wave at the gray fox bartender who had spotted her, and caught Nick as he approached a reserved table near the stage. John Dempsey was sitting at the table and immediately dove for a duke of beer that Nick had brought over.
"Nick!" Judy said loudly over the noise.
The todd turned around with a big grin to find the bunny lass giving him a happy little wave. Judy was surprised when Dave Mingan and Randy Phillips began playing their instruments. It made the doe look to the todd for an explanation. She wanted to see him play…
"Don't worry, Fluff. Rory couldn't make it and Dave always plays this first one when she's working." He said quickly.
"My fault." John said, raising a quick paw while using the other to intimately assess the drink he had.
"It's a busy holiday season, Johnny. It's not your fault." Nick said firmly. "Look at the bright side anyway. We get to torment the public with our covers."
Of course, Nick tried to play it off as if he had not seen Judy glaring at him silently. Not everybody agreed that they played terribly, after all. The doe shot a glance up to watch the wolf on stage while taking a seat at the rear of the half-moon booth, so that she could see the stage perfectly. Dave and Randy synced up moments after the two finalized the tuning of their guitars: the wolf on an acoustic and the bobcat on the electric.
[ watch?v=fIdnpjceg9A]
"Ain't No Sunshine..." Randy drawled into his microphone. "One, two, three, fooour…" His indication gave way to the acoustic while the bobcat accented the tone with the electric.
"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone… It's not warm when she's away…" Dave sang lowly, flicking a thumb over the strings at the sound-hole.
Judy was floored by the sound of heartbreak in the wolf's tone and how it was complimented by a sad upbeat nature of Randy's electric guitar.
"Fuck," John muttered at the table. "We need a violin for this one."
Nick hummed in agreement, bobbing his head with the strumming of the electric guitar that he was usually on. It was quite amazing to watch the todd become enraptured by something.
Something that isn't you. It's annoying, but bless Serendipity because it's hot, Judy's inner Rebel sighed enthusiastically.
"You should have been on the electric. Randy should be on the drums." Nick admitted deeply.
"Fuuuuck..!" The otter practically snarled his admiration. "Can't you play the sax, Nick?"
Judy went round-eyed while her face snapped back to the conversation. The todd was face was encased with a fanged grin, such unobstructed happiness with the grimy din of the lights above, while those same lights accented his slitted pupils. This was the most that Judy had ever seen Nick alive since before the pit and it made the doe practically vibrate in her seat with happiness.
"They don't have one for us to use," Nick said softly. "I mean, are you imagining what I am? We'd need a fifth on a harm' though…"
"Bill Withers meets the lost, lovin' soul of Nawlins… mixed with that heart-broken angst of the Shawn James tones and guitar pickin' like that of Black Label Society. I mean, Lion Christ… That's just on least of the reactionary musical statements. Imagine if we had that setup and turned it loose. Just lost ourselves to it, y'know?" John muttered his thoughts.
The interactions were so interesting despite Judy having every right to be madder than a mammal whose movie was interrupted by a rude patron on a cellphone. The music was solid, and the argument made her head spin with interest.
"I know, I know, I know… 'Ey, Lord! Leave the young thing alone!" Dave nearly bellowed; the depth of loss so clear in his shout.
"He rarely gets to play this one, though. I mean, you don't need to justify the reason why I need to buy a sax, but damn. How often would I get to use it?" Nick complained wistfully, not even looking down to collect a folded piece of paper which he ended up passing to Judy across the table. She opened it quickly to find Nick's script in the groups setlist.
"So, you're telling me that that idea doesn't fuck in your mind?" John inquired drily.
The todd missed nothing when Judy's ears shot up in surprise. There was no doubt that the doe was not used to such emotions, being laid in their barest of forms, spoken off of one's tongue. To let something like that slip past the lips so blatantly was likely akin to heresy itself where Judy was from. It was not polite. It was not supposed to be either. The point was to convey sentiment and emotion. To specifically accentuate the stark contrast between both definitions even.
"No, John. I'm not saying that there isn't a ceaseless intimacy in the idea itself. I can see that you have this song set in seven different formats already." Nick chuckled. "You're talking about something of a twelve-minute song just in all the instrumental sections."
"Exactly!" John said with a gleam in his eyes, downing the dregs of the duke before him.
Judy was about to interject but stopped when Nick threw her a winning grin and stood from the edge of the booth. The otter practically slow-mo vaulted himself over the table, from the near center of the booth, without a care in the world. The doe had forgotten that the music was a timer of sorts and the song was not far from being complete. The otter rolled up onto the stage before Nick had even gotten close. The todd decided to take a smooth leap onto the right side of the stage, walking past the staged musicians to get to his instrument.
The crowd held a quiet confusion behind Judy and she, herself, nearly offered a resounding objection to the fact that Nick was taking a seat behind the drums at the rear-center of the stage. She wanted to see him on the guitars, dammit. Everybody else did not have a clue why random mammals were being allowed to "crash the party", so to speak. It had not clicked in their minds that the initial two band-members had resisted the maneuvers. And, the music slowed to a halt.
[ watch?v=uBVnfMn_GwA]
"Full Moon Risin'… Hississippi Bones." Randy's voice reverberated through the speakers.
Judy watched as Nick pointed to his ear with a kind smile, indicating that she had better hurry up and put her hearing protection in. She almost jumped out of her seat to get the case and buds out. Just as she had fitted the left module, Nick and Randy crashed into the stillhouse in tandem. Dave's voice accentuated the instruments with a level dominance: singing about an entity, of an ethereal nature, that was encircling a victim.
There was such a baser, animalistic nature about it. And, that did not even cover the fact that it seemed so speciest to wolves. Full moons, dead lambs, and transformations…
"Now I'm down on all fours,
As a I hit the floor,
Temperature's risin',
Blood's boilin' to the core!"
Dave Mingan held nothing in reserve as he sang into the microphone: matching the emotional sentiment to the heaviness of the instruments. The simple acoustic guitar had been slung behind him while he focused on the vocals of the tune.
"Woke up in a hospital bed, with a lump on my head,
And scratches up and down my chest,
Hallucinations of the livin' dead… They come to me and said;
They put a bullet in my head.
This transformation's such a terrible thing…
My body aches and screams as the beast is unleashed,
As the full moon rises!"
The todd's frame was ridged as his head bobbed ever-so slightly, arms slinging the sticks in a matched grip despite the firmness in his facial features. Judy swore that he had taken a split second to grin and shoot her a wink.
"Now, I'm on the prowl and, boy, you better watch out when you hear me howl!
I said, awwwhhooWHOO!"
All Hell broke loose in the stillhouse. Dave Mingan hunched over the microphone stand in an effort to convey every fiber of emotion in his howl while the other three band-members worked the back-up vocals. There had to have been several wolves and two dozen other canines in the crowd who all joined in on the howl within the bar. The poor doe could only hope that nobody, with a complaint, recognized her as law enforcement while she pulled on the ends of her ears in irritation. All the while, Nicholas Wilde had the sharpest of grins on his muzzle as he continued.
"Reports are coming in!
Cops are on the scene!
It's a hairy situation,
If you know what I mean!"
Judy was absolutely amazed.
And, embarrassedfrustratedGAH! She shouted internally.
Judy never thought that she would see the day where the todd would look smugger than the time when she walked into the wet cement. But, there he was. On stage, internally joking about law enforcement being on the scene of an illegal howl and how he was not going to lift a finger past assisting in the act itself.
A few moments later, the music stopped, and the musicians seemingly switched positions within any further prompting. The patrons within the bar were hooting and clapping for the band on stage to continue. Dave removed the acoustic guitar from his back and passed it off to John while Randy and Dave switched instruments. Nick began playing the electric in a methodically loop while he waited for the rest of the group to get set. Judy knew the song. It was Blackened Waters by Black Label Society. Less than 30-seconds later, Randy hammered on the tom-toms before Nick crashed in with the full whining depths of his guitar.
[ watch?v=GjtVDzNhh6o]
Nick had played the song on the Bluetooth within the cruiser on occasion, so it was a familiar tune. It was actually a song that had always seemed to be important to him… which made it easy to pour her focus into watching Nick as he played the guitar. The cuffs of the todd's black button-down shirt were undone and tightly rolled midway up his forearms. Judy had missed whether or not the top-most button on it had come undone in his elevating enthusiasm or if he had undone it earlier without her noticing.
The lights above accentuated every bit of his russet fur that could be seen despite the shirt. And, now that she was close enough to the stage, it could also be seen that he was quickly becoming inundated from the heat. Little beads of sweat were glistening off of the tips of his facial and chest fur. He hated that because it was accompanied by a heavier fox musk. On the other paw, he looked so happy dealing with it to play the music.
Of course, one particular fluff-butt adores that scent of foxy predator and violets, the Rebel heckled from the back of her mind.
[ watch?v=gRBzcggoWl0]
It was embarrassing to admit that she ended up missing the next song entirely:This Night by Black Lab. It was not until Randy gave the call out for the follow-up that she had noticed at all.
"Sail into the Black… Machine Head." The bobcat said deeply, slicking his headfur back.
[ watch?v=ZfIPD6zieCo]
Judy's eyes had blinked quickly, refocusing on the todd standing on his left-side of the stage. He was not far away physically, but he was on an entirely different planet due to the music. Standing close in front of his microphone, Nick was clearly listening to Dave's guttural chant while unfastening another button on his shirt. Quickly, he re-rolled his sleeves and swung his guitar to bear. Judy could tell there was a missing instrument or two, but John was doing a good job covering with nothing more than an acoustic guitar while Dave gently led the crowd through the lyrics.
The backup vocals faded and so too did the instruments, Dave's work was done for a moment and he took up a bottle of water to drink from it while the other three lowly sang the chorus repeatedly. Nick eventually began strumming deeply on the B-chord while Randy and John assisted, as necessary. It came as a surprise when John began snarling into the final verses. The song eventually wrapped up and the four mammals slammed more water while listening to the roars – some very literally – of approval from the slowly thinning crowd.
The four all gathered up in front of Randy's drums to quietly speak to one another. They were all grinning and laughing, playfully exchanging instruments, as Judy watched Nick greedily drink another bottle of water. He tossed the empty plastic off behind the stage as he began panting again. The todd aggressively rubbed his head to disperse the beads of sweat that were mounting. Something ended up grabbing his attention off to the doe's left and he deftly caught two more full bottles that had been tossed. The group dispersed and Nick took a seat behind the drums again. Randy went up to the lead mic stand and grinned out at everyone. The lights dimmed promptly so that he could see better.
"Ladies and gentlemammals. It's quite a surprise the see this many at one of our practices. I'd just like to say that if you'd like to see more, you should see if we're here on our usual Wednesdays. Y'all make sure to tip the waitstaff and Gerard generously, and thank Mimi for letting us cut loose in their establishment!" The bobcat said, arms spread wide. "And, now that big and tall has relinquished the stage… I'm Randy Phillips and I'm going to lead us in closing out the night. Please, give a firm round of applause to Dave Mingan, whose been running point tonight, as well as John Dempsey and Nick Wilde. We don't have a band name. Now, without further ado, here's Wounded Mind by Cody Lynks."
[ watch?v=9rlCbmVplME]
The song was somewhat of an alternative country hit, which Judy recognized, and she smiled warmly. It was usually played with an electric keyboard or piano, but the crew had carefully worked through it with precise guitar and drum playing. Randy had picked up a spare electric to provide a limited accentuation of short solos: other than that, he simply sang the sad song. It was amazing to watch him take one portion of the chords, and expect it again, only to have Dave take the next bit in a rotation. And, Nick… He would sway a little as he tapped out the beat. He was marvelous to watch. What's more, they were all in tune with one another.
When they finished the song, the transition was smooth. The group did not even converse on what was going to happen next: they just committed to it. Dave and Nick handled the intro while Randy and John swap positions and instruments. With the bobcat taking his place at the lead microphone, Dave waned out on his guitar to let Randy act as the point-mammal. The song ramped into high gear as Nick took the beat louder with the toms while the dusky bobcat followed him on the guitar. With a short breath, closed eyes, and pinned ears Randy was ready.
[ watch?v=wHrRPLHRgDA]
He let loose a harshly-toned voice as he sang.
"Sweet mountain river, come take me away!
Way out west of the prairies,
Is where I'm going to stay,
Yeah!"
The whole group crashed and thrashed through the first verse as Randy sang jovially. Judy knew that Dave and Nick were from the city, but Randy and John struck her as being more from the rural areas. She was unsure where because she could not place their accents.
Just as all four of the males started singing the chorus, a waitress approached the table with a serving tray full of drinks. Judy carefully helped the dingo arrange the dukes of beer and water, not missing the look of surprise on the canine's face. The doe smiled happily in response as the tray was reloaded with the empty glasses and the dingo melted back into the room.
They act like they've never seen a rabbit before, the Rebel chided in annoyance.
Judy refocused on the music before her and it eventually drew to a close. The four played out the last of the tune with a furious vigor just before the lights dimmed out. And, with that, the Saturday's practice was over. The crowd, including the diminutive rabbit doe, began clapping and shouting encouragements in earnest while the males put their instruments away. Randy jogged back up to the microphone with a grin.
"No!" He shouted to even more applause."Thank you!"
Nick quickly dismounted the stage and approached the table to take a seat. He was again in search of water to quench his thirst and could not wipe the grin off his muzzle as he took in the sight of Judy Hopps beaming at him. When the lights came back on, Judy noticed how much more fluffed-out his fur was. And, because he was drenched in sweat, the todd looked as if he had just gotten out of the shower. The other three slowly made their way over and crowded into the booth so that Dave had enough room to join in. Randy and the larger wolf received slaps on the back the whole way down from the stage.
"Was that our first gig then?" Randy laughed before downing a beer.
"Holy smokes, that was great!" John stated in agreement.
The todd and the wolf, while smiling, remained quiet in an effort to focus on rehydrating. Judy wondered if it was because of the medication that Nick was taking: he looked more tired than in the previous days. And, now that she thought about it, Dave was also merely drinking water. It made her wonder if he also taking PTSD preventatives. The large wolf also looked distracted. It was highly likely that he wanted to get back to Rory now that the practice was over. It was extremely endearing to see.
"Alright, guys. I'm going to square up on the drinks. It's time to bail before we get swamped by our newly founded fanbase." Dave said as he took a look around.
"Seconded," Nick said quickly. "I don't want to have to deal with another attempted kitnapping case. Right, John?"
The otter balked hard at the memory of nearly being drug off – during a bathroom visit – by an otter gal that had not taken her Chill Pill for the day. His friends had nearly not been able to save him because they were laughing as hard as they were at the table now. Judy was clueless about what was so funny, but Nick's face told her that he would explain later.
"That's fucked up…" John muttered in embarrassment. "Alright. Let's boogie."
Judy quickly followed Nick as everyone bailed out of the booth and split up quietly. The nighttime air was muggy as it had been over a week prior. It meant that the natural winter would exacerbate the normal effects from the Climate Wall. The sun was down, and she had initially expected it to be colder. The todd walked next to Judy while setting a slower pace to match her shorter gait. The doe noticed that Nick's paws were shaking.
After a quick glance around at the streets and nearby businesses, Judy took his paw and led him down a side-street. The todd made a noise of surprise at the doe's suddenness but did not argue as he was pulled along. Judy knew that he was wondering what had caused the determined look to cross her face. Eventually, Judy led him into another small diner that they usually frequented. The waiter immediately took note of them and Judy flash two fingers for their usual orders. It was not often that they came in while wearing their plainclothes. Judy pushed Nick into a booth and sat down across from him with a determined stare directed towards the kitchen.
"You haven't eaten today, have you?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah… I forgot this morning." Nick sighed, being completely honest.
Not even four-minutes later, the kudu waiter slid their usual orders down the table and placed their drinks nearby. Hearing no request for additional condiments, Marcus left without a work. The kudu was extremely dedicated to his work and also nearly silent at all times. All he ever wanted to do was work hard and it was extremely commendable.
Judy watched as Nick began to eat methodically, still trying to remain professional about the whole issue even though he had his free paw balled up. The todd must have realized how bad the presentation was.
"Nick. Eat." Judy said firmly, starting to dig into her salad. "Just don't choke yourself out."
The todd's eyes flicked up at her for a moment before reassessing his portions of the fish steak and potatoes. Nick looked as if he was trying to gauge how mad the doe was. Of course, Judy was not angry, so she found it somewhat adorable of the fox. Forgetting to eat happened on occasion, so it wasn't too big of a deal. She was merely adamant about making sure Nick was taken care of.
"So, Slick…" Judy said nonchalantly. "You were amazing tonight. You didn't sing though."
Nick smiled a little, keeping his eyes on his food while manipulating the fork and knife in his paws. "I had a song, but I was just feeling the instruments tonight. Sorry, Carrots." He explained shortly.
"I'll get to make a special request at some point then?" The doe pressed with a cheeky grin.
The corner of Nick's maw pulled back enough to reveal his carnassial and he gave a conceding nod without so much more as a word. Judy, on the other paw, hummed happily as she watched him take larger portions of his food. Judy could read him like a book and chuckled quietly to herself. Nick had always lived with a distraction to keep other mammals from peering at him directly. Unfortunately for the todd, Judy was happy with keeping him in her eye to make him feel embarrassed about it all and it was working. His hackles were starting to raise along the back of his neck and shoulders under his shirt. Nick was not mad. Merely uncomfortable.
"Well, I've got some really good news." Judy continued after a few moments. "Bogo gave us a lot of time off. Nearly all of our PTO for Christmas and New Year's, and he's also signed off on an extended Thanksgiving. You get to go to Bunnyburrow twice, Slick."
"You're assuming that I live past Thanksgiving dinner prep, Carrots." Nick said with a sly wink.
Judy adopted a large, semi-innocent grin to her face. "Why wouldn't you? I have to fatten you up for Christmas dinner after all." The doe muttered offhandedly.
Nick laughed a bit while polishing off the last of the food on his plate, eyeing the female sitting across from him all the while. The todd didn't think that she would go so far to black-bag him into the back of a van. It was funny, nonetheless.
"Weelll… If you're going to keep feeding me like this… It may be worth my while to stick around. Just make sure when it's time to, y'know… Make it quick." The todd aimed a couple of fingers at his head and clicked his tongue to emphasize the point. "It's worth it too, when I take into consideration that I forgot my wallet."
The look on Judy's face was priceless, of course, while Nick merely continued to grin. The doe was debating on how honest Nick was being: considering their original meeting. He looked sincere enough while emptying out his pockets, so Judy threw some bills down on the table before they made their exit out of the diner.
"Next time, make sure to eat, OK?" Judy reminded him politely.
Nick huffed with a grin, shrugging deeply as they stepped back into the warm evening air.
"But, then, how would a todd ever get a lovely young mammal, such as yourself, to take him out for dinner?" He asked with a mirthful expression.
Judy rolled her eyes while taking a shot at his shoulder with a balled paw.
Ever one to deflect attention off the situation at paw… Judy thought to herself.
"So, tell me about what happened to John. Did he get kitnapped?" She decided to inquire.
Surprise turned to a loud roar of laughter that came straight from Nick's belly. The memory alone was simply too much sometimes. The todd shoved his paws into his pockets deeply while walking down the sidewalk to their residence.
"Very nearly," He finally said.
When it did not seem like Nick was going to elaborate, Judy looked up at him in prompting.
"Long story short. Awhile back, we finished up a practice. We were getting everything back in order, putting the instruments away, and cleaning up. The works, right? Well, after we finished that, everybody was relaxing with some drinks. Of course, John needed to take a piss and wandered off to the can. It was no big deal… or so we thought. The rest of us weren't really paying attention when, suddenly, we hear a commotion coming from the back. At least they were polite enough to wait until after the set, right?" Nick explained with uncontained glee.
"Well, this goes on for several minutes and we're even starting to get upset about it. There's snarling and screeching, and Gerard – the gray fox – is bellowing at whoever it is to shut the hell up… But, finally, Dave picks out some choice words through the shouting and he takes off without a word. Alright, then, game on! So, we take off and find Dave watching this otter gal with her paws all over John. He's clawing up the walls trying not to get drug off, shouting all kinds of obscenities, and we're just standing around. He's calling for help and we just lost it, laughing, and doing a terrible job at removing John from the grasp of the dastardly sow. We eventually figured out that she had forgotten her heat pills and we escorted her out while exfiltrating John out the back." Nick finalized, tipping his shoulders randomly during the story-telling.
Judy shook her head in silent disbelief and tried not to grin all that wide at the tale. He could see the tip of Nick's tail flickering in amusement behind them both.
"Well, you're a great friend…" She teased.
"A shield doesn't do a good job of belaying a hospital visit due to a hostile heat casualty, Carrots. Even Dave was wary of the wee, little otter who was pillaging Mimi's patrons." Nick chuckled with a full-bore shrug.
The todd was not lying about that kind of issue in the slightest. The fact was that she could not imagine accidentally forgetting to take her biweekly dose while being around Nick as often as she was. That would never be lived down: even if the news did not go wide.
Choosing to distract herself from those thoughts, Judy became enamored with the moonlit buildings and the milky reflections from the nearby windows. The streetlights glittered further down the streets while storefront lights illuminated much of everything in between. The sight made her wonder when the first snows would fall. The previous two-years had gone by so swiftly that she had only considered the phenomenon sometime after-the-fact. And, the year before was tinged with a lot of time spent in Tundratown. It had likely diminished the awe factor, at the time. It was going to be nice this this time around because she would see the initial snowfall of Zootopia and then get to see the snowfields of Bunnyburrow twice. The thought brought forth a gentle smile.
"So, Carrots?" Nick said aloud, considering his words. "Seeing as you managed to swing me all this upcoming time off, it's my turn to ask you what you would like for Christmas."
"I thought we weren't getting each other gifts like last time?" Judy asked in confusion.
"You broke the rules. I get to go to your hometown this year. Twice." Nick explained again.
"That doesn't count!" The doe exclaimed.
She jabbed a finger at the todd while he simply began to laugh in a semi-condescending manner. It was clear to Judy that Nick was going to ignore all efforts to not give gifts this year. Hell, it looked as if he was already scheming.
Which means I'm going all-out now… Judy thought.
Nick continued to laugh while watching her. He was clearly hoping that Judy would be open to the idea of presenting a few ideas for him. Unfortunately, and because that was not going to happen, Nick could already be seen to be relishing the thought of doing the leg-work for the task.
With a singy-songy tone and the shuffle of paws on the sidewalk, he stated gleefully. "Just remember, Carrots. You broke the rules."
The doe merely rolled her eyes: thinking about the first holiday that was a little less than a month from then. Not too terribly worried about spending Halloween behind the glass of a cruiser.
When the duo had arrived at their residence, Nick had given his goodnights abruptly. He was exhausted. But, Judy was stuck in a state of invigoration from the mix of good news and the band practice that she had finally been able to witness up close. The doe's frame buzzed from the excitement, hearing the water pipes groaning from Nick beginning his shower routine, and she decided to pour herself some blackberry wine before calling her parents. The news could not wait until the morning.
Bonnie and Stu had lots of talk about before Judy could interject with her own news. There was lots going on with the harvest season and the accompanying Harvest Festival. Some of the kits were in trouble, two of her younger sisters were getting married in the late upcoming springtime, and a lot of preparations still needed to be made on the business side of the Hopps' Farms. A level of indifference had tinged Judy's mind over her family's thoughts of bringing Nick home and there was no small bit of surprise when her father informed her that there was not a problem with him coming along. It did not stop the look of concern on her parents' faces when Judy explained how severe Nick's issues were and how reserved the todd felt about potentially spooking her family members, but the two elder rabbits still supported the idea behind the trips. Maybe partially because it was also an order from Chief Idris Bogo himself. Her father looked pensive; all things considered.
Once Judy wrapped up the video call, the weight of the day crashed in and her mind started to wander. Bogo's concerns replayed in her head. The heartfelt concern and seriousness of the words weighed heavy. It made her think back to the aspects of the pit that she had tended not to think about. As she quietly sipped her wine, the doe's ears fell back, and her nose began to twitch erratically. Judy remembered the fear of potentially being killed by a savage Nick Wilde. Of course, she had been scared at the time. There were so many unknowns about the whole scheme, at the time.
But, that look of fear in his eyes... Optimism whispered mournfully. We were his first proper friend that Nick had probably had in years. He was more scared than anybody that night.
Judy's face scrunched up in anger as tears began to well-up in her eyes. Everything had worked out for the best that it could, she guessed, and she had no fear now about it. The mocking laughter and hatred spewed from Dawn Bellwether brought on the emotion of fury within the doe. The ewe had harmed and scarred her best friend deeply. Nick had more trust for the world due to the last two-years of service to Zootopia, but at the cost of trust in himself. That made Judy furious to the point of having to set the wine glass down on the coffee table. Fury because she did not know how to fix that part of the fox yet.
Ignoring the glass, Judy made her way up the stairs and to her room. Silently, the doe closed the door as the tears began to stream down her face. Judy walked over to her dresser and withdrew the secret plush fox that she had put away before carrying it over to her bed. She curled up around it without changing and the mental wall, that she had unknowingly created for herself, crumbled.
In the din of the nighttime sky outside, Judy Hopps cried herself to sleep thinking about the past and the turmoil that chaos had caused.