Chief Bogo's right ear bat the air as he heard a familiar-sounding "oh!" coming from the bar. Nick hurriedly moved up to the buffalo's table, regarding him with a large grin and a mug of beer in one paw.
"Chief Bogo!" The fox waved. "B-O-G-O! Buy one get one! Buffalo of great awesome- oh uh, wait a sec-"
"The night is young, Wilde," Bogo snorted, "are you drunk already?"
"Oh no, definitely not," Nick gestured with his mug, sitting down across from the much larger mammal, "getting that way, though!"
Bogo didn't respond, huffing with his nose and nursing his own beer.
"God, it is so weird to see you in casual clothes," the fox continued, wagging his head. He indicated Bogo with his paw, "I wouldn't have guessed you'd go for a pink polo, but it looks good on ya."
"What do you want, Wilde?" Bogo twisted his mouth.
"Just relaxing here at the Wet Wolf Whistle," Nick swept his hand across the air. "The ol' W3. How about you?"
"Same," Bogo replied tersely.
"Hard to believe you'd ever need a drink to chill out," the smarmy fox slapped the table, then leaned his free arm on it as he slurped his beer noisily. "Here I thought you were some sort of bovine demigod."
"Got a lot on my mind, Wilde," Bogo replied, weathering the fox's obnoxiousness better than he thought he would. Must have been the beer. "Not the least of which being that cheetah serial killer that's in town."
"Ah, right," Nick seemed to sober up a notch or two instantly. "I've never seen you pull us out of a case so quickly. Carrots was not happy about that."
"Well, she can be unhappy about it," the buffalo swallowed a draft and firmly set the mug on the table, "my word is law in the ZPD."
"Yeah," the fox shrugged. "You know how she gets, though. She's been filling my ears full of whining for the past couple of days. 'Chief Bogo still doesn't think we can help with this case? After all we've done for Zootopia'?"
"Ugh," Bogo slapped his face with his hoof-hand and sloughed it off. "I trust you understand?"
"Because every time that bunny gets excited about a case," Nick smirked, "there's explosions, death-defying vine bungees or other kinds of ridiculousness?"
"We can go with that."
Nick's brow fell and he looked thoughtful, taking a quieter sip of his beer. "Okay, pretend I don't understand."
The buffalo's face became grim, and he scratched at his chin with one finger.
"There's little more dangerous than an unstable cheetah," he said finally. "They're the fastest animal around, and they tend to be one of the most anxious."
"I thought that was a stereotype," Nick interjected curiously. "Benji's certainly not-"
"Don't speculate about things beyond your ken," Bogo warned with sudden command in his voice. "When cheetahs snap, when they go off the deep end... well, they put all that anxiety and paranoia to terrifying use. I'm not risking my two most fragile officers on this case."
"Ooh, good thing Carrots didn't hear that," the fox rolled his eyes.
"I'm not even risking Fangmeyer," Bogo grit his teeth. "She can fight almost any mammal to the ground, but a cornered cheetah... it'd just take one slash across the throat, and I'd be down my best scrapper, even if she is a tigress."
"So what do you do, then?"
"The TUSK unit," Bogo mused, "mostly rhinos. Thick hides, can take a hit. Exhaust the cheetah. A confrontation would be messy, but less fatal for my mammals."
"Mm," Nick took the last sip of his beer. "Meanwhile, I have to try to keep Officer Fluff happy with crime scene barricade duty." He sighed, then looked up at Bogo inquisitively. "Hey Chief, can I ask a dumb question?"
"You've never asked for permission before," he returned dryly.
"Heh, good one," the fox pointed a finger at him. "I uh, I was wondering. I don't suppose you had anything to do with my getting assigned to be Judy's partner, did you?"
"Of course I did," Bogo replied with barely a pause. "Wouldn't dream of having you apart."
"Really," Nick seemed interested.
"You two are less than impressive on your own, after all," Bogo smirked with a teasing tone.
"Uh?" The fox's eyebrow went up.
"Objectively," Bogo continued. "However, you two are each others' catalysts. You increase each other's potential, both contrasting and combining your abilities to great effect. But let me be frank-"
"I always wondered what your first name was," Nick interrupted.
"-I don't really care for you, Wilde."
"Oof," Nick blinked, sobering up a bit more.
"But, I do respect you," Bogo gave the tiniest of grins. "Hopps, too. I know it took a lot of guts to stand up to a mammal three times your size and tell them where they could shove their half-promises."
"Guessing you don't really like Carrots either," Nick huffed, "else you wouldn't have stuck her with parking duty."
"Her inclusion on my team was an insistence from the former mayor," the buffalo ground his teeth tightly. "He forced her onto my team for that blasted 'Mammal Inclusion Initiative'. Mostly to increase its visibility and make him look good."
Nick opened and closed one hand. "Karma bit Lionheart pretty hard."
"He wasn't the only one," Bogo rolled his eyes. "I would have to get stuck with the rabbit with the most indomitable spirit in the universe. Oh well, everything turned out for the best. She has what it takes to be a good officer, and so do you. The caveat to that is that it takes you both together to have what it takes to be on my team."
"What are you suggesting?"
"Don't expect any promotions unless she gets one too," Bogo warned. "I'm keeping you two together as long as I can."
Nick looked subtly pleased at this news, but then his face took a more serious tone and his mouth spread across his muzzle. "You mean I could hold her back?"
"Or she could hold you back," Bogo's shoulders bounced up. "I'd like to have you undercover since you look like just about any average joe fox in the world, but she got a little bit more visibility than you when you two 'saved Zootopia'. I'm not sure she'd be up for an undercover mission."
"Oh lemme tell you, she can act," Nick clicked his tongue. "That was part of what made Bellwether fall for our little scheme."
"Hmph," Bogo allowed himself a small half-smile. "You two are something special, indeed."
"Aw, Chief," the fox's smile became devilish. "You ship us too, huh?"
"What?"
"You know, like you want us to get together?" Nick chuckled.
"No, definitely not," Bogo's brow lowered. "To be clear, I do not care one bit about what you two do in your private time, as long as it doesn't interfere with your work ethic together." He finished his own drink. "In fact, I find all this 'will they; won't they' gossip around the workplace to be insufferable."
"I'm thinking it's definitely going to be a 'will', Chief," Nick almost sang with assurance. He kicked back in his seat and rested his arms behind him.
"Really," the buffalo replied with clearly feigned interest, "so why are you hanging out with the grumpy Chief tonight and not your little bunny?"
"It's not a done deal yet, but as good as," the fox shook his head. "Heck, the very first day we were together on the force she told me she loved me."
"Uh huh," Bogo didn't look convinced. "In that jokey, teasing way that you two are always talking."
"Ah ah ah," Nick waggled his index finger. "You weren't there. You should have heard the tone of Carrots' voice. Her bedroom eyes. She's definitely into me."
"Don't you wag your finger at me, Wilde," Bogo spat in annoyance. "You think you're Sonic the Echidna?"
Nick instantly lit up. "Oh my God. I grew up with those games! Did you ever play them?" He pushed up from the table slightly with both hands. "You got a favorite? They kinda just got really crappy after they went to 3D, huh?"
Bogo ignored him. "Let's see. It's been about a year since you signed on with us. And you're still not a 'thing'. What's stopping you?"
"Eh!" Nick shrugged flippantly. "Figure she'll make the move when she's ready. You know, give her some time. She might still not realize just how in love with me she is."
"Why don't you just ask her out?" Bogo's eyelids fell.
"You know Judy," Nick smirked. "She goes for what she wants. Does the guy always have to ask the girl out? That'd be like... like assuming you an' Clawhauser were going out just cause you're the big tough guy, he's the sweet kind guy, and you both share a love of Gazelle!"
Bogo aimed Nick a look that could bore through concrete, but the slightly inebriated fox barely flinched.
"Here's what I know," Bogo pointed dangerously close to Nick's nose. "You may think you're 'way past cool', but I respect action. Hopps does not fear me. You showed me you do not fear me either. So if you care about her, what's stopping you from making the first move, regardless of your 'role'? Are you telling me you don't respect her enough to let her know? Or do you fear her more than me?"
"I uh-" Nick's wide opened eyes spoke much more than his suddenly paralyzed mouth. "Wh-well... she can be pretty scary."
"That's all I'm going to say, Wilde," Bogo placed his debit card down to pay for his drinks. "I couldn't care less about what bed you two end up sleeping in, so long as you do your job."
"Uh, if we do get together..." Nick looked uncharacteristically nervous, "you want some sort of warning or something? You know, before the news gets to Clawhauser?"
"I've gotten used to his shrieking."
"Oh, you have," Nick found a tiny smirk, which got beaten back by Bogo's calm but unamused glare. "Ah, I think I'm gonna go back to the bar and pay my tab."
"Splendid."
Nick got up and started wandering back to the bar, but half-turned and looked back at Bogo.
"Hey Chief?" Nick started.
"Mm?"
"Believe it or not... this guy named Christian Whitehorn made a kind of 'retro-revival' Sonic the Echidna game, and the guys at Serval actually helped him publish it! It's really-"
"Goodnight, Wilde," Chief Bogo grumbled.
Without another word, Nick hopped back up on the bar and waved for the bartender.
Bogo huffed and gave the back of the fox a somewhat contemptuous look, but then pulled his phone out and went to his browser, hunching his massive frame over the phone to hide as much of it as possible.
The buffalo's eyebrow piqued as he read a few review scores.
There was no way that a Sonic game was good again... was there?