Nick got a few looks here and there as he made his way down the street. He was unusually sharply-dressed, for him anyway; he wore a solid red collared shirt that brought out the orange of his fur, and his black slacks were complimented by a striking black tie, of course.
So dressed, and his ego boosted from some lingering impressed glares, the red fox gently knocked three times on the apartment door he was standing next to.
"Yes?" The familiar voice was unusually reserved.
Nick cleared his throat and answered in a jovial voice. "Ma'am, I believe there's a bunny in there in need of a date?"
Judy slowly opened the door, and instantly caught a smile from the fox on the other side. She was dressed in a soft, light-blue dress that looked to be made of cotton. The straps on the dress exposed a modest amount of her gray shoulders, and Nick hummed lightly as he took in the full sight of the lovely bunny. He felt his smile grow ever wider.
The bunny winced and hunched forward. "This is- it's one of the only dresses I own. Too much?"
"I think it's just right."
Judy deflated a little at the warm reply and finally gave the fox a once-over as well. Nick could tell the bunny liked what she saw.
"So, shall we?" Nick offered his paw to the bunny, bowing slightly.
"We shall," Judy replied in a light voice, taking his paw and starting to walk out of the apartment with him.
There was quiet between them for a whole fifteen seconds. Nick's eyes darted over to the bunny briefly and he saw her nose twitching.
Nick folded his hands behind his back as the two rode the elevator down. "Don't be nervous."
"Nervous?" Judy grit her teeth into a challenging smile. "Who's nervous?"
"Well, it's not me," Nick chuckled.
"Listen, buster," Judy's eyes half-closed with a wry smirk on her face. "You don't get to tease me for being nervous on our first real date. Not after I had to twist your arm so hard to get you to admit you had feelings for me."
Nick closed his eyes and tilted his nose up in a slightly haughty way. "Well, you have nothing to worry about. It's just me, after all."
"You don't think people will stare?" Judy winced.
"Maybe at how ravishing we both look," Nick's voice perfectly matched his leer.
"Oh, pff!" After a slight fit of giggling, Judy shook her head and sighed.
"Let me put your mind at ease, my dear," Nick cleared his throat. "Zootopia is a very relaxed place when it comes to interspecies relationships."
"Even between pred and prey?" Judy's eyes narrowed, her voice high.
"Oh, that doesn't matter," the fox shook his head. "We're both similar enough in height, build, and stunning good looks."
"Nick, stop," she said, but despite that and an eye roll, she had a smile on.
Instead, he kept going. "Now if you want to see the really 'out-there' couples, I could take you to Different Tails instead. I know the bartender there. Donna. She's a margay, and she has a sugar glider for a mate."
"A margay is a..." Judy looked apologetic at not knowing.
"A smallish feline."
"Sugar gliders are so small," she marveled, "and even a sand cat is only a bit smaller than I am."
"That's why the main rule at Different Tails is 'no judging'," Nick held an index finger up as the two walked down the street. "But no, we'll be fine. We'll be beneath notice; most mammals just won't care."
The black-tipped bunny ears lolled to the side as Judy's head tilted. "I guess apathy is kind of like acceptance."
"Also," the fox swiped his finger. "I'd like to say that some random mammal's opinion of me matters far less than that of the best bunny in the world. That's why I was so nervous about the whole 'telling you' thing."
"Nick..." the so-called 'best bunny' responded with a flustered brush of her paw through her ears and a nervous look around. She snapped back to her defiant, jovial mood. "Well! That's in the past now, and I'm hungry, so let's go find this place you were talking about."
"The Melting Pot?" Nick indicated upwards with his paw. "We're already here."
The facade of the building was simple enough, and true to its name, the restaurant seemed to house all manner of mammals. In addition to that, whether they were dressed casually or formally also varied widely.
A hippo regarded them, gathering a couple of menus. "Table for...?"
"Two, please," The fox held up two brown digits.
"Right this way," the hippo smiled, seating them. "Johnson will be taking care of you two this evening. Enjoy."
Judy swiveled her head this way and that as she took in the decor of the restaurant. It looked nice enough, but definitely wasn't overly opulent. Finally, her eyes rested on the fox's own as he clearly hadn't taken them off of her for awhile. He drank in her curiosity and the warm smile that followed it.
"I hope it's classy enough for my lady," his voice was clearly teasing.
"It's fine," Judy replied dismissively.
"A fox has to be comfy, you know," Nick kicked back irreverently.
Judy scanned over the menu, trying to quash the smile that tugged at her face. She fell victim to his overwhelmingly charming aura, even when he was being silly. "Ooh, how is their soup and salad? I could really go for some tomato basil soup right now."
"Mm, pretty good," he nodded. "Get whatever you like tonight, okay? My treat."
"Your...?" She blinked. "Nick, you don't have to do that just because you're the male."
"I feel like doing it," he flashed an insufferable smile. "Especially knowing you still live in that closet."
"Tuh!" Judy tossed him another delightfully annoyed look. "Listen, I barely spend any time in that place. And... you know. Depending on how things go... maybe we could talk about other arrangements..."
"Oh," Nick was finally caught off guard, straightening in his chair. "Right, right." It was Judy's turn to soak up a bashful giggle from her partner. "I'm thinking about the chicken Parmesan tonight."
"Chicken, huh?" She gripped the menu a little tighter.
"Y'know, to be honest," the fox leaned over the table. "When I was hustling prey back in the day, I'd usually eat vegetables around them so they'd feel more comfortable." He gestured casually. "Perks of being omnivorous."
"Well I don't want any special treatment there," Judy's brow lowered defiantly. "You be you. Eat what you'd like. How about something with blueberries? That's definitely a carnivore favorite, huh?"
"Hey, fruits and vegetables are like night and day," Nick replied with a chuckle.
The two placed their orders and found themselves staring at each other in the meantime.
It struck Judy how odd she felt with Nick's eyes constantly upon her. It was no different than usual, really, but the thought that those looks of his, those eyes drinking in her details thirstily, and with such obvious affection... it made her feel warm inside. The fox was very pleasant to look at as well, so she gazed right back at him with half-closed eyes.
"You look very handsome tonight, Nick," Judy purred.
"Implying I don't look handsome every night," he coyly replied, tugging on his shirt.
The bunny's head sunk to the side and her smile twisted dangerously. "You're going to take that compliment if I have to shove it down your throat."
Nick barked out a laugh. "That's something I admire about you, Judy. You always speak your mind. That sort of honesty is quite refreshing."
Judy made a "rewinding" motion with her index fingers. "The Nick of a few years ago would have called that 'naive'."
He shrugged this off with a low, playful grunt. "Yes, well, I'm making an effort to be nice."
The bunny laughed, mostly in surprise of how cool Nick could keep his demeanor. She sighed pleasantly as their food was brought out, and the two began to eat.
Nick stole many glances at Judy while she politely chewed her salad. He knew he still didn't want to fall into the trap of paying her too many compliments, lest he end up waxing poetic endlessly about her features. If you'd asked him a few years ago, he never would have considered gray to be a very appealing color. But with Judy, he loved how her fur gave way to dark ear tips and white masking, creating a field of lovely accents that he deeply wanted to run his paws through. The bunny also tended to look amazing in whatever she wore, and the soft blue of her dress spoke to that amicably. It seemed to highlight her lithe, fetching form, and Nick found his next swallow rather difficult.
"Whew, and it's not even winter..." he muttered quietly, running a paw over his forehead.
"Are you too hot?" Her reply was honest and chirpy.
Nick decided to preserve her adorable innocence for now. "Something like that."
He got a small, if guarded smile in return, but Nick grew alarmed as her face began to morph into clear displeasure.
Uh oh.
Nick tried to rein in his thoughts before they strayed too lurid out of a sudden, irrational fear that Judy could somehow hear said thoughts with her large ears.
With an annoyed huff, Judy shot up from her chair and started to storm away. Nick's eyes flew open and he felt his heart in his mouth. A quick turn of her head showed she was rushing, not to the exit, but to another table. He briefly saw the flash of another bunny seated at the chair before a menu went up to hide their face.
"Violet!" Judy shouted.
His mild alarm waning, the fox's curiosity piqued and he took in a few sniffs in Judy's direction as he followed her.
A gray bunny face cautiously poked out from the menu. Nick could instantly see the family resemblance; the other gray bunny looked very similar to Judy, with softer purple eyes, glasses, and a sharp sweater and skirt combination. The fox could smell genuine panic coming from the other bunny, but she flinched as if she had just noticed Judy standing near her.
"Oh! Jh- Judy!" Violet let loose a clearly forced smile. "Fancy seeing you here!"
Judy's arms immediately folded tightly. "Yes, how entirely random to see one of my sisters in Zootopia, a couple hundred miles from home!"
"Ah, well you see..." Violet's eyes darted around before continuing her sentence. Nick chuckled to himself; this bunny was an even worse liar than Judy. "I was in town... and thought to do a little urban research-"
"Right, spying on Nick and me."
Said fox walked up next to Judy. "You told your family about our little date, huh?"
"Not my whole family," she replied, "I just told my parents... and they sounded so into it and so supportive-! Wait a minute." Judy's brow furrowed. "Sweet creamy peanut butter. Of course! They were being facetious! They put you up to this, didn't they?"
"No! No no no," Violet's head shook rapidly. "This was all of my own accord, I promise."
"That still doesn't make it right," Judy replied acidly. Her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here, Violet?"
"I'm just- I'm worried about you Judy... that's all," Violet placed the menu down, daring her eyes to glance at Nick briefly. "I mean... you know he's a fox, right?"
Judy looked crestfallen, and allowed her eyes to briefly flit back to Nick as if to reaffirm this fact. "Yes. I'm aware."
Violet uncomfortably adjusted her glasses, avoiding meeting either of their eyes. "I thought- well, I had thought with your history with foxes... that your dalliance with one might be a... an- I don't know, a cry for help?"
"Vi-!" The upset bunny squeezed a hand shut and placed the other to her temple. She took a steadying breath before she flew off the handle. "Listen. Nick saved my life, okay? I don't-"
"That kind of hyperbolic talk just makes it all the more worrying," Violet interrupted, her brows tilted up.
"No, Violet," Judy held her palms up. "He literally saved my life. Like, from the machinations of- you know what? I don't want to go into this right now."
The owner of the establishment, a donkey, walked over to the scene of the kerfluffle. Nick noticed that they had now actually gathered quite a lot of attention from the surrounding mammals.
"Is there a problem here?" The owner was curt and looked at Judy with an especially critical eye.
"Yes, there is," Judy responded.
"Ah, Nick Wilde, ZPD," Nick quickly babbled, flashing what he hoped was his badge and not just his wallet. "We were just wrapping this up."
"Nick...!"
"Listen, Violet?" Nick placed himself between the two bunnies, a smooth look spreading over his face like butter. "How about we all continue this little discussion tomorrow, okay? We can get a bite to eat at this great cafe I know."
"Tomorrow- but I-" Violet started to babble, looking down. "I have to get back to the compound... I have things to do! I-"
"Just a couple blocks away, there's a wonderful little hotel called the Forty Binks," Nick placed his thumbs and forefingers together and moved them in a circle. "Bunny owned and operated. You'll feel right at home, I promise. Mention my name, you might even get a discount!" To finish off, he clicked his teeth and pointed at the flustered-looking bunny.
"I, um..." Violet looked to Judy for confirmation, but she looked nearly as confused as the taller bunny; her face had lost some of its anger and was replaced by awed bafflement. "I'll- I guess I'll see you two tomorrow?" She set her menu down and scurried out of the restaurant with her head low.
"There we are, problem solved," Nick said smoothly to the remaining bunny's skepticism. Louder, he repeated: "Problem solved!"
As the two moved back to their table, Judy was amazed at how everyone else seemed to lose interest in the little altercation.
"Nick..." she breathed out, "you don't have some sort of compelling voice or anything, do you?"
"Just a quick read to know what I needed to do in that situation," he smirked. "Nothing special."
The two returned to their meal, and even the owner seemed to be satisfied that there wouldn't be trouble from them any longer.
"You really want to actually subject yourself to more of my nosy sister, huh?" Judy piped up with a grumble.
"I figure showing her my overwhelming charm should allay some of her fears," the fox replied casually.
"Pff," the bunny finally half-smiled. "Maybe. ...Anyway, let's not talk about her anymore tonight, okay? I can't believe our first date's gone this way... ugh. Okay, okay, forget all this. Let's talk about you, huh? You must have a bunch of juicy Zootopia stories about yourself, huh?"
"Oh, tons," he agreed with a nod.
Judy narrowed one eye. "Like why you of all foxes might get a discount at a bunny hotel?"
Without so much as an errant ear flick, Nick smoothy replied: "We can skip that one if you want." He leaned in a little bit. "What I'm curious about is this 'history with foxes' that your sister mentioned."
"Oh Nick... that's-" Judy cringed. "That was nothing... just a little- it was a long time ago and- ugh..." Her head sank.
"Hey, I think it's nice that your family cares for you so much."
"It's not 'care' so much as 'concern'," the bunny's voice turned darker and her head turned halfway.
"What's the distinction?" Nick looked confused.
"'Concern'... as in," Judy sighed deeply. "'This bunny isn't doing things the normal way! We need to see what's wrong!' That sort of concern. The outliers attract that sort of attention." She lowered her forehead into her hands. "Why oh why did I have to mention this to my family at all?"
"It's like I said," he shrugged. "You're honest with your feelings. You were excited about it; about being with me. Pretty charming, if you ask me."
"Still..." her eyes swept over to make sure no one else was staring. "If I had kept my big bunny mouth shut, I would have saved us all this trouble and- y'know, we could have had one of those perfect first dates..."
"Is that what you were after?" Nick chuckled, to her non-committal shrug. "Not me. I knew what I was getting into here. Being your partner may be many things, but it's not going to be perfect. But that sort of wild unpredictable stuff you seem to inject into every facet of your life is what makes you fascinating and appealing."
"Really?" Her smile was bright, but somewhat pained.
"Well, that and you're smokin' hot," his voice was a warm rumble as he returned to his food.
That finally got a genuine laugh from the bunny.
Nick was sure to leave a generous tip for the extra fuss they'd put the staff through. He did want to come back there someday soon, after all.
It seemed like no time at all until the two were standing in front of Judy's apartment door. She folded her paws in front of her in a rather charming, somewhat childish way, swaying her hips forward and back.
"So um... I don't suppose you'd want to do anything else tonight...?"
"On a first date?" Nick replied with half-lidded eyes, looking her over. "Mm... I don't know. I think your place might be a little small for me."
The bunny's pupils suddenly became pinpricks and she jerked as if shocked. "...Oh. Oh. You meant- haha- you meant my apartment is small."
A wicked grin slithered across the fox's face. "Of course I did. What kind of predator do you take me for?"
"Hahahaha...!" a forced, high-pitched laughed squeezed out of Judy's throat.
"So... see you tomorrow then, I suppose?" Nick smiled.
"Yeah, with Violet, the worry-wart overbearing Hopps Family Organizer," Judy rolled her eyes. "I told you she once rushed a dozen of my siblings down here because I hurt my hand, right?"
"I'm sure it'll be fine," he replied easily. "Good night, Judy."
She felt uneasy as he turned to leave. Judy wanted this evening to be about them, yet it ended up scattered all over the place, disjointed. Judy deeply desired to do something, anything-
"Nick, wait."
He turned around, and barely got out a half note of alarm as Judy leaped at him and firmly hugged him. Nick warmly chuckled as his arms were suddenly occupied by an impulsive gray bunny. Even his laughter was cut short by a kiss, as she darted her head in to kiss him with no small amount of fervor. Nick felt his paws twitch as they instinctively moved to squeeze her closer to him.
"Whew..." the fox gently set the bunny down, allowing his paws to wander over her face and ears and no farther. "I thought we said we'd be taking it slow."
"I can't give you a goodnight kiss?" The reply was beyond coquettish.
"You don't do anything half-hearted," Nick chuckled nervously.
"Mm-mm," Judy shook her head softly. "Never."
Alone and dressed down for bed, the bunny finally felt that fleeting, fanciful feeling she had chased all night. The feeling of being deeply in love with someone. She snuggled warmly into her bed with a serene smile as the fullness of that sensation washed over her, but her smile soon turned mischievous as she imagined pounding that point home to Violet the next day. With a hammer and nails if necessary.
"...So, uh, bunny?"
It was Bucky or Pronk's voice coming through the wall. Honestly, Judy had a hard time telling the two apart just by voice, especially when they were yelling.
"Mmmm...?" She was in too good of a mood to be annoyed.
"You have a good first date with that fox guy?"
"It wasn't perfect..." she admitted, "but that's what made it so perfect."
"Uh..."
Judy flopped onto her back, the mental image of Nick still heavy in her mind. She sighed wistfully, suddenly glad she'd see him again as soon as tomorrow.
"Did you like, make out?"
"Yeah, how does that work with your muzzle sizes n' all?"
The bunny rolled over and closed her eyes, a big smile still plastered on her muzzle.
"Goodnight, boys."