As promised, Nick reserved the tickets for the Christmas lights that evening. Judy was still a little worried about the case—Bellwether had escaped, after all—and it took a few hours after she had gotten off to push it far back enough in her mind to really look forward to spending the time with Nick. She'd seen Christmas lights before, but Nick told her these were special. The way he'd said that gave her chills. Not because she was looking forward to the lights, though—she had been stirring a wonder in her mind what Nick had planned other than the lights. She knew him well enough to figure the lights and the donuts and the hot chocolate weren't the only part of that night.
It was a half hour before Nick was supposed to come pick her up, and she had already gotten out of the shower and had put on a pair of blue jeans and her favorite Christmas sweater. Earlier that month Nick picked it out for her when they went to the mall together, making sure Judy knew that she had to wear it during the holidays. It showed a carrot on the front, partially covering a red and green background. The word "I" was on the top, and below the carrot were the words "about Christmas." It took Judy a second to figure out the horrible pun, but it was supposed to read "I care a lot about Christmas." Originally, she had turned it down out of the horrible wordplay, but after some convincing, she promised Nick she'd wear it.
Once she was ready, she grabbed her Santa hat that was laying on her end table and stuck it on her head. Christmas hats were odd in Zootopia since everyone had different ears and head shapes, so it was a big project for companies to make them. Judy found a specific type for rabbits that fit on her head, though it pushed her ears down a little bit. It was weird to get used to, but after a few hours of wearing it, she barely noticed she was wearing it. Nick's hat was a bit different, since his ears didn't go as far back as hers, so he had to wear one that fit in between his ears, with the end of the hat resting behind his head.
Nick had told her only two things about the date: one, it was going to be lights, hot chocolate, and donuts; and two, 'make sure to dress Christmassy, Fluff,' he'd said, or, rather, texted, the message surrounded with a couple Santa hat emojis and paired with a laughing Santa Claws GIF from the movie aptly named Santa Claws. Despite Nick's apparent apathy towards everything, he still was a softie at heart for Christmas and made sure to dress both jolly and conservative. Conservative, of course, being a stretch, since Nick often still wore his tan khakis, a tacky yet stylish combination with his black Christmas sweater.
Judy was inspecting her sweater in the mirror when a catchy knock came from the door. Its beat was to a popular Christmas song and it made her smile. She stepped away from the mirror and opened her door. Nick stood in the doorway wearing his black Christmas sweater—it was a picture of one of his pawpsicles with the text "it's called a Christmas, Sweetheart," which he had custom made through a family friend—a Santa hat perched between his ears, and his pair of tan slacks hanging from his waist and cutting off at his furry ankles. Judy wrapped him a happy hug, taking a deep breath of his scent. "Is that cinnamon I smell?" she said.
"You like it, or do you want me to go back to oranges?" He touched her nose.
"I like the cinnamon for Christmas, Slick." She returned the nose touch. "You can go back to oranges when you go back to your old boring self."
"Calling me boring, eh, Fluff?" He brought a paw forward to her chin. "That's calling for more tickles."
"How about kisses instead?" She grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling his head down to her height and kissing him, pulling back confidently with a smug smile on her face. "I'm so glad I get a fox like you."
"Ditto, Rabbit." He reached behind her head and tossed the fluff ball at the end of her hat forward, making it cover her face. Judy giggled and tried to do the same to Nick, who just chuckled. "Now, Fluff, I say we get going."
"Agreed." She let Nick lead her out the door, and she locked it with her key. The two walked down the hallway and waited for the elevator. The doors opened, letting a few mammals out.
"After you," Nick said, gesturing into the elevator. Judy entered first and Nick second, and Judy hit the button to the first floor. Cheery holiday music played through the speakers while the elevator lowered to the floor and opened with a ding. Once they stepped into the lobby, decorated with a short Christmas tree and lights around the front doors, a smile grew on Nick's face.
"What?" Judy said, watching him.
"Wanna fly, Fluff?"
Judy frowned. "What?"
"Welcome to Nicholas Wilde airlines. We make sure your flight is as comfortable and peaceful as possible." He grabbed Judy by her sides and lifted her above her head. Judy was surprised by his strength; he lifted her form easily and quickly.
Judy promptly let out a scream, mixed with a few giggles. "Nick! What are you doing?"
He ignored her. "I hope you enjoy your flight." He made a childish airplane noise and ran out the door, keeping the noise up against Judy's giggles and playful begs to stop. Once they had reached his car, he lowered her to the ground. "Thank you for flying with Nicholas Wilde airlines. We hope you have an enjoyable holiday."
By this time Judy was in a fit of laughter. "What was that for?"
"Just having a little fun," he said. "And it might be a little payback for calling me boring."
"You're a riot, Nick," she said playfully. Nick opened the passenger door and let her get in, then rounded the car and got in his side. After turning the key in the ignition, the car started up. "I can't believe you actually did that. That's so unlike you."
"Still calling me boring, eh, Fluff?" he said, saying it with a similar undertone. He shrugged. "At least I'm making you laugh. That's one thing I like about you. Your laugh." He poked her nose. Ignoring Judy's awing gaze, he pulled the car into reverse and backed from the lot, then pulled onto the main road.
Judy was silent for a moment against the light jazzy Christmas music. She was just looking at Nick, thinking about what he had said. It was such a little thing, but she was feeling a unique warmth from it. "Nick."
"Huh." Nick said without looking away from the road.
"You complimented me."
"Yeah, so?" He shrugged. "It was true."
"But it's always…" She trailed off.
"Subtle?"
"Yeah. That's it." She smiled. "How come you did that?"
"Cause I love you, Fluff." He held out a paw and she took it. Just as Nick turned into a left turn lane, Judy began rubbing the side of his paw with her thumb. Nick let her stay that way until he had to turn, when he took his paw from hers and turned, then returned it.
The rest of the drive was uneventful, dotted with a few witty comments from Nick and some laughter from Judy. The music played on, keeping the two entertained enough. Once they neared the lights area, Judy looked out the window to find some colorful lights shining from afar. Nick glanced at her a couple of times, a smile forming on his face. Once they turned into the entrance, twilight had formed, letting the lights shine even brighter and more majestically than before. They passed a giant candy cane lit with white and red lights, then a giant Santa Claws, a giant two-dimensional statue of various colors of lights that formed the holiday figure.
One reason Nick scheduled this as a date was that he absolutely loved Judy's reactions to something as simple as Christmas lights. Even when on the job, she always awed at the simple lights strung from trims and fell for the lights strung around windows with glowing figures standing in lawns and on porches. They were everywhere, but Judy treated everyone like it was unique as the next. Judy's smile when she saw them was one of the cutest things he'd ever seen, along with her gaping jaw and dramatic gasps and comments like "Nick, look at that!"
And this one was no exception. At practically every strand of light she smiled, and with the moving ones she gasped. Nick had a smile on basically the whole time. Not because of the lights—though those were pretty cool; it was because of Judy, a smile plastered on her face and her excited movements in the passenger seat of his car. She had to unbuckle her seatbelt once because she was bouncing up and down in the seat, then clinging to the window in the purest awe he'd ever seen. All with her ears standing up straight.
Once they had finished, Judy was glancing at the lights behind them through the back window of the car, then slid back into her seat when Nick turned onto the main road. "Wow. Those were amazing, Nick."
Alright, that's it for part 1. Parts two and three will be out in the next few days! Thanks all for bearing with this crazy upload schedule. With that I wish all of you a Merry Christmas! Stay tuned for the rest of the story and more stories and edits to come!