The last time Nick sat in the back of a limousine beside Judy, he was being driven to his death - more or less. This situation, though arguably not quite so dire, still filled him with anxiety - formal dos were not his forte.
The vehicle came to a stop outside the entrance to a large entertaining space, coincidentally the same space used for the wedding of Mr Big's daughter, Fru Fru.
Koslov, standing nearby, stepped forward and opened the passenger door. Nick hesitated and tensed up, easing off when he felt a paw on his shoulder.
"Try to relax, Nick. This'll be fun," said Judy.
Nick nodded, and, taking a breath, he put on a brave face and exited the vehicle, Judy following behind.
Inside the building was incredible, lavish decorations and luxurious bouquets of flowers. Glorious chandeliers lit the room with a bright golden glow, perfectly illuminating the scores of suits and dresses that filled the floor, complete with a full band playing jazzy tunes.
A polar bear silently waved Judy and Nick over to a table over by the band's stage. On said table was Mr Big, who grinned from ear to ear when he saw them.
"Judith, my dear girl. You look absolutely beautiful!" he said warmly as Judy came closer.
"Oh, thank you! I can't take all the credit, Nick picked it out," said Judy.
"Did he now?" Mr Big said, pausing when he saw Nick approaching. Taking note of the fox's suit he added, "after so long, it's good to see that you still shine up like a new penny."
"Hm? Oh. Right." said Nick, evasively.
As the band took a turn towards bossa, Nick and Judy parted ways to touch base with other officers who were critical to tomorrow's operation. Nick only had a pawful of individuals to greet, so it took little time.
As Nick weaved through the crowd, someone bumped into him from behind. The sandy colored creature turned around to apologize but hesitated when he saw Nick - it was that cat from two weeks ago, here, serving drinks.
"S-sorry sir," he started, "actually, I'm glad I caught you…"
Nick expectantly waited.
"I just want to say how sorry I am for that little altercation we had when we met."
Nick paused before responding, "I accept your apology."
The cat nodded, he turned away and continued serving drinks, seemingly satisfied. Himself going about his business, Nick couldn't stop thinking, wondering why he was here.
It came to the time that he linked up with Judy again.
"Everybody on my list is on board," said Judy, subtly.
"Same here," Nick said.
As Judy and Nick spoke, the band was quiet, discussing what they should play next. After some conversing, they returned to their instruments to play Hoggy Carmichael's 'Heart And Soul'.
"May I have this dance?" asked Nick with a subtle grin.
"Do you even know how to dance?" mocked Judy.
"My mother was the type who could not abide her son not knowing how to dance. Do you know how to dance?" Nick asked.
"Well, I… I erm, not really, no," said Judy.
Nick locked arms with her and started pulling her along to the dancefloor.
"Hey! Nick, I-I'm not so sure about this, aren't you worried I might stand on your toes? Bunnies have big feet!" cried Judy.
"It's education time. Just like you said in the car, Carrots: 'Try to relax, this'll be fun,'" explained Nick.
"Okay. What do I do?"
"Just follow my lead. You put your left paw on my right shoulder, and hold my other paw out here," he explained.
Judy did just as Nick said, he had his left arm out to the side to hold her right paw. She had to stifle a nervous gasp as she felt Nick place a firm yet gentle paw on her waist. Going along with Nick's movements, the two began to sway in time with the music.
"Look at that," said Nick, "you're a natural."
"You're just saying that to make me feel less awkward," said Judy, constantly looking down at her feet.
"No… I'm saying that because it's true. And hey, look at me, stop worrying about my toes," said Nick.
"Yeah but…"
"I'll say it again, Judy. Focus on me," said Nick, his voice a little firmer this time.
Judy complied and looked into her best friend's eyes. Nick's wonderful green eyes. The tension in her shoulders eased off, her breathing steadied and her nervous expression gave way to a warm, genuine smile.
Nick smiled back. That warm contented feeling he'd felt earlier that day flooded back.
Eventually, the musical number ended and their dance drew to a close, though it took a moment to part themselves.
The sound of a silver spoon tinking on the side of a stem glass drew the attention of those present. The holder of the aforementioned spoon was none other than Mr Big himself, standing upon a table.
"I would like to thank my many guests for being present for tonight's very impromptu function. Sadly though, it must come to an end. Our new benefactor prefers we do not stay up too late," spoke the shrew, the latter statement tinged with malice.
"Must be talking about Bisonhower," said Judy quietly, to which Nick nodded.
"Please make your way to the exit - and don't forget your favors," Said Mr Big, all the while discreetly drawing his eyes over the guests who were also ZPD officers.
Judy watched the favors - gift bags, being handed out. They seemed like unremarkable totes, handed out with little apparent discretion.
This was, of course, until Officer Wolfard (dressed in an unfortunate looking corduroy two-piece), approached the exit. The polar handing out the totes paused and made sure to give him the right one.
Soon enough it was Judy and Nick's turn: they both resisted the urge to open them right up, instead heading immediately outside and try their best not to give away the suspect weightiness of the bags' contents.
Taking the quietest, most disused, and unsurveilled routes, our heroes made it back to Judy's apartment at the Grand Pangolin Arms without drawing any attention.
Reaching her door, Judy unlocked it and went inside. Nick unthinkingly tried to follow and was immediately shoved back into the hallway.
"Wha- hey! What gives?"
"I need to change out of this dress. As if I'm going to do that in front of a peeping fox!" said Judy in good humor, slamming the door in Nick's face.
"For the last time, that was an accident! I didn't look on purpose! I swear!" cried Nick, clearly taking it personally.
The fox shook his head and turned for the bathroom on that floor. As he did so, he caught sight of Bucky and Pronk Oryx-Antlerson eyeing him through their door which was open just a crack.
"What are you two looking at?" Nick demanded.
The two horned mammals exchanged glances, declared "You" in perfect unison and abruptly shut their door. Nick skulked away to change.
Back in his trademark attire, Nick reached for the door handle of Judy's apartment. After a thoughtful moment, he opted to knock on the door instead of just barging in.
"Come in," Judy said from inside.
Pushing the door open, Nick could see Judy sitting cross-legged on her bed, idly reading through her phone. She wore a sleeveless top over some kind of underthing to cover any gaps and a pair of shorts - in other words, a lot more casual than Nick was used to.
"So. you ready to check these baggies out?" asked Judy.
"Am I ever," said Nick, sitting beside her and peering into his goodie bag.
He pulled out a jacket-esque garment that unfurled as it escaped the bag, revealing itself to be a black trenchcoat in his size.
"Neato," said Judy, pulling the same out of her own bag.
"Uhm, Carrots… Take another look," said Nick, reaching back into his bag.
"Ooh! What is it?" asked Judy excitably, clambering closer to see better.
Nick pulled his arm back. In his paw was some sort of funky tranquilizer with "MOUSER MACHINENPISTOLE T96" stamped into the side.
The T96 was a gas powered, clip fed, semi-automatic tranquilizer gun designed in 1996 by Prussania Waffen und Munitionsfabriken for the Prussanic military police.
"Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day."
Ezra Bisonhower idly swiveled around in Chief Bogo's chair. He knew that not getting Hopps the other day would prove to be a considerable speed bump.
The bison got up and leisurely sauntered down the steps of ZPD headquarters, coming to a stop by reception. One of his lackeys immediately greeted him.
"Evening, sir."
"How is the free city of Zootopia faring, Leslie?" asked Ezra.
"A few complaints about the 'toilet papers' is all," said Leslie.
Before a dull moment could be had, a nearby 'deputy' stepped forward, frazzled as anything.
"It's not all sunshine and roses! Somethin's been going down in Tundratown!"
Ezra Bisonhower remained dead silent.
"It's that Mr Big! Apparently Hopps was spotted there, they must be planning some sort of counterattack! Should I get some folks together and hit it?" said the deputy, rambling frantically.
"That's funny, 'cause I don't remember askin' you a Goddamn thing!" Ezra roared.
Leslie and the deputy shrunk in fear.
"S-sir?" asked the deputy sheepishly.
"Do nothing. Let them have their fun… I have it all under control. If they come… Let them! I am not afraid of them."
End Notes
I had fun with this when I wrote it. It wasn't easy transcribing it to Google Docs.
Enough about me. Even though it's short, I still love this chapter!
This was one of those ones, like Catalytic Encounters, that was heavily influenced by music. The pieces I imagine playing are Nina Simone's My Baby Just Cares For Me as they walk in, a bossa cover of Maroon 5's Sunday Morning through the middle and obviously, Hoagy Carmichael's Heart And Soul during the dance segment.
I more or less feel that Sunday Morning is sort of the theme tune to this novel as a whole. Genre-wise it matches the neo-noir spin and the emotional beats match some character arcs - in my mind at least. In fact, the working title for this chap. was "Sunday Meow-ning".
Until next month, I bid you adieu.