Judy rounded the bend toward her cubicle at the ZPD, freezing in her tracks when she saw her desk. The bunny drew in a huge gasp.
"Eeeeeeeeee!"
"What!? What is it!?" Nick started with a jolt and swiveled around in his own desk chair. He was greeted with the form of a smallish white furry thing being thrust at his face.
"Look! Someone left this on my desk!" Judy exclaimed.
The fox pushed his partner's encroaching paws and the plush they held away from himself and had a look at the toy. It had white fur, big starry eyes, exaggerated tufts of spiky yellow and blue fur near the ears, and a cute open-mouthed smile.
"Huh, didn't know you had a twin, Hopps," Nick remarked dryly.
"Ha ha," Judy smirked, lowering her eyelids. "This is actually-"
"A distraction," Chief Bogo snorted, walking up to the two with a sour look on his face.
"Chief, it's-!" Judy began.
"Hopps, next time you shriek like that at the office, you better be on fire," Chief Bogo warned, pointing at her.
"Yes sir, sorry sir," Judy grew a bashful grin. "It's just, someone got me this Serendipity doll and-"
"I could not care less," Bogo enunciated slowly, leaning in. "See that it doesn't distract you further."
"Eheheh..." Judy winced as the grumpy buffalo stormed off.
The arctic hare technical officer of the ZPD clicked here and there on her three-monitor computer setup. Over the side of her cubicle wall came a plush bunny face.
"Hewwo, Kawen. Whatcha doin'?"
"My work," Karen grumbled, barely sparing a glance to the face. When she did, she did a quick double take. "Uwa-!"
"Hehe!" Judy's face joined the toy's as she gave it a look and turned it to face her.
"Oh, of course," Karen grumbled, rolling her eyes. She looked back over at her fellow lapine officer. "That's a Serendittidoll, Serenidpt- a..." she scrunched her face in frustration. "Se-ren-di-pi-ty doll."
"Sure is!" Judy replied, rounding the corner and showing it off proudly.
"Can I see?" Karen held out a paw. Judy obliged by giving her the plush. It was a little less than half of the size of either of the two. Karen stared at it intently, eliciting a stifled chuckle from Judy.
"Huh..."
"Anything suspect about it?" Judy asked coyly, leaning in.
"It's really good quality," Karen noted, "Fur's good quality, amazing detail on the stars in the eyes, the fluff accents on the ears and tail are vivid, facial features are ideally cute and don't look off-model at all. Someone must have paid a small fortune for this."
"'Paid'?" Judy echoed. "I thought you could only win these dolls from Serendipiday, y'know, the holiday?"
"It's nowhere near the right time of year," Karen handed the doll back to Judy. "I know these things are exclusive; someone could have bought it online. The better ones do clean up."
"But it's... y'know, it's like bunny tradition to give someone a Serendipity doll as a surprise at a random time of year!" Judy pursued. "It just showed up on my desk."
"Huh, that so?" Karen tilted her head. "Maybe it wasn't bought or stolen then."
"Stolen...?" Judy considered. "Yeah, another possibility." She looked at the Serendipity doll, which stared back with its blank, vapid happy smile. "What secrets do you keep, li'l bunny Celestial?"
Nick and Judy stopped by Clawhauser's desk before they headed out on their rounds.
"Hey Clawhauser, check it out!" Judy showed off her toy.
"Ohh, that's adorable!" Clawhauser squeaked. "Um... what is it?"
"It'd take a little to explain," Judy replied. "Basically, a doll with a lot of bunny traditions surrounding it. Did you see anybunny come by you this morning?"
"Just you and Karen," Clawhauser blinked.
"Huh, that's not good," Judy bowed her head, rubbing her chin. "Someone got by our Clawhauser and dropped this off on my desk this morning? This is starting to get suspicious."
"Well, thankfully, this place is under 24-hour surveillance for just such suspicious activity," Nick said. "Clawhauser, can you look at the tapes from this morning and see if you can make heads or tails of this?"
"Oh, sure thing!" Clawhauser nodded, saluting with a paw that contained a donut. After a small delay, he popped the donut into his mouth.
"We're gonna go on our watch now, Clawhauser," Judy said, waving one of the paws of the doll. "Byee!"
"Bye!" Clawhauser turned his saluting paw into a waving one. He gave a happy little sigh. "What a silly bunny."
"Ugh!"
A male badger got tossed into the ZPD cruiser. Doors slammed as Nick and Judy got into either side.
"Run his license," Judy said to her partner.
"Yup, on it," Nick responded quickly, tapping into his issued ZPD computer.
"I told ya, I was just-" the badger struggled against his cuffs, "helpin' my friend open his car!"
"Right, a much larger car than your build would be comfy for, and you were alone at the time," Judy replied with airy skepticism. "Sounds plausible."
"Most smarter mammals wait to break into a car until nighttime, Bucky," Nick read off of his ID.
"Not that it would have helped in your case," Judy added cockily. "Nick can see a dirty dime from clear across the street during a new moon."
"What kind of analogy is that...?" Nick narrowed an eye.
"You know, I just kinda thought..." Judy giggled. "When a dime's shiny it kind of looks like the moon, so-"
"No, never mind," Nick rolled his eyes. "Ah yeah, here's a hit. Mr. Bucky here's been a little busy with the car theft thing before."
"Rgh..." Bucky squirmed in his seat.
"We're gonna have to take you down to the station," Judy stated confidently, revving the engine. "Unlucky for you we showed up when we did. But lucky for us, right Serendipity?"
The badger looked at the doll, which was sitting in the median console of the cruiser, seemingly staring back mirthfully at the suspect.
"Tch," Bucky narrowed his eyes. "What's with that, anyway? You guys confiscate that from some kit before you happened by me?"
"Ahem," Judy cleared her throat. "Serendipity here is part of an ongoing investigation."
"Hopps..." Nick grumbled.
"Are you guys really cops, or is this some kinda prank...?" Bucky looked around for hidden cameras.
"What? She is!" Judy seemed happy about this, but gave a quick, stern look into the rear-view mirror.. "Also, even though she's the Celestial of fortune and fun, you better not get on her bad side, or she'll tell Karma on you, and then you'll really be in trouble!"
Nick sighed, pinching the bridge of his muzzle and massaging it.
"Hopps? This is base," the radio cut on. Nick grabbed the radio and clicked the button.
"This is Wilde," Nick replied. "Find anything on the 'big mystery'?"
"No, actually," Clawhauser said in a mystified tone. "The doll just kinda... shows up one minute. A few of the larger officers went by your desk, then it's just there."
"Oh, you know?" Judy grinned. "I bet someone's teasing me, then. Who do you think, Nick? Probably Fangmeyer? Wait, she wouldn't give a rat's tail about bunny traditions..."
"Thanks for looking, Clawhauser," Nick said. "We're bringing a suspect in, badger, was breaking into a hippo-sized car."
"10-4, good foxy," Clawhauser replied. "See you when you get here."
"Hope there's nothing weird going on at the office," Judy frowned. "I checked the doll for any devices inside, but she's as soft as can be. No note or anything with her either way."
Nick shrugged. "We can do a little more research, see if any of these... you said it was expensive? Any of these expensive-class Serendipity toys have gone missing." He smirked. "Or, you can just go back to the toy store you came from and ask around."
"Ha ha," Judy pronounced. "Hilarious. That one never gets old." She took a peek at the doll while she was at a red light. "Serendipity, where exactly did you come from?"
The doll just sat there, smiling.
Evening had fallen at Judy's apartment, and the Oryx-Antlersons had finally stopped arguing. Judy gave a stretch and smiled at her mysterious Serendipity doll. She scooted over and gave it a hug, then took out her phone and started a muzzle time call. After a few rings, a figure in a dark room picked up. It was a gray bunny, who blinked her eyes.
"What's that? Judy? Did you get your fur dyed?"
"Hey, Violet!" Judy greeted. She waved the paw on the doll. "No, I didn't get my fur dyed. This is a Serendipity doll."
Violet rubbed her eyes and placed on some glasses. "Oh, so I see."
"Did I wake you?" Judy gave a guilty smile.
"No, I was just- uh..." Violet took in a breath, her eyes looking around her dark room. "Taking some time for myself."
"Oh, sorry, so sorry...!" Judy winced. "I can let you go."
"No, it's fine, it's fine," Violet smiled, barely. "Good to hear from you, Judy. So what's going on? I assume the doll has something to do with it?"
"Yeah, I was just, uh... wondering," Judy giggled bashfully. "I know you're not supposed to really hunt down who exactly gave you the Serendipity doll, but traditions shmaditions, right? I was hoping you could help me."
"Uh, how's that?" Violet blinked.
"Well, you keep track of who all in our family comes to Zootopia and stuff," Judy shrugged her shoulders, "so I thought you'd know. Someone put this on my desk at work. I'm wondering who could have snuck it there. Our parents? Maybe Sam? Hm... Brad? Or even Sassy?"
"Judy..." Violet sighed. "None of us has gone to Zootopia in at least a month. Trust me, else I would have had to make substitutions in the duty roster."
"What?" Judy fumbled at her lips with her fingers. "This is getting weird. Who possibly could have left this doll at my desk then? I figured if it wasn't one of my big fellow police officers playing a joke on me, it must have been a sneaky bunny who used them as cover to place it."
Violet raised an eyebrow. "Or... a sneaky ?"
"Pff, what?" Judy laughed. "Nick? I mean, he could have done it, pretty easily even, but why?" She jostled the plush and stared at it. "Why'd Nick give me this cutesy wootsy Serendipity?"
"Oh, I haven't a clue," Violet said dully. "Aren't you supposed to be the detective?"
"Not yet," Judy chuckled. "But hm..." she shook her head. "He seems to be annoyed that I actually kind of like it a lot. Plus, it's an expensive one, unless of course he won it at some point. And what would he know about bunny tradition?"
Violet tilted her glasses down at gave an incredulous stare to her sister. "Really...? Judith, there's this thing called the 'internet'. Maybe you've heard of it. I could Zoogle 'Serendipity traditions' right now. Click over to images, and there'd be a ton of Serendipity plushies."
"I mean, that's not wrong," Judy giggled nervously, digging her front teeth into her lip.
"And what does it exactly mean to get a Serendipity plushie at a random time from someone?" Violet led, rotating her paw at the wrist.
Judy let out a sigh, staring up at the ceiling. "That the mammal that gave it to you feels lucky to know you, and would love to surprise you with something pleasant and cute. Cause that's what Serendipity is alllll about." She said it in a droning way, like she was reciting to a teacher she didn't care for.
"Very good," Violet smirked.
"I'm such an idiot, of course it was Nick," Judy slapped her face, sloughing the hand off. "Why didn't you just tell me?" She glared at Serendipity, who continued to smile back at her.
"He does seem to think the world of you," Violet adjusted her glasses. "From everything I've heard about him when you bring him up. Which is... pretty much every time you call."
"Okay okay, message received," Judy rolled her eyes. "Tell everyone I love 'em, but I gotta go and read Nick the riot act real quick, okay? I was about to launch an investigation over this."
"Okay, love you too, Judy," Violet said in a slight sigh, but grinned.
"And... um, do take care of yourself, okay Vi?" Judy's voice quieted up considerably.
"I'll try," Violet nodded, then ended the call.
Judy quickly mashed the buttons to get to Nick's phone number. Muzzle time took even longer to connect him.
"Yeah?" Nick grumbled. He was laying in his bed in his apartment, which looked pretty well-kept.
"Oh, what are you doing in bed already, you silly!?" Judy spoke, leaving only the plush in the frame and animating its paws. "There's so much more fun and surprises to be had out in the beautiful world-!"
"Kay, I'm hanging up," Nick brought the phone closer.
"No, wait!" Judy tossed the Serendipity doll onto her bed. "Nick, let's talk for a sec, okay? I know you gave me the plush."
"Oh, do you?" Nick raised his brow. "News to me."
"C'mon, it had to be you," Judy smiled softly. "You're the only one s-... clever enough to get away with a stunt like that."
"You were going to say 'sneaky'," Nick replied in monotone.
"No!" Judy winced. "No no... listen, I just... y'know, sorry for acting like a goofball about it today, okay? She's just... really cute, and I appreciate the gesture!"
"You're still assuming I'm the one that did it," Nick grumbled, sitting up on his bed.
"Oh, c'mon, Nick," Judy looked away briefly. "It had to be you. You even asked Clawhauser to see if he could find out it was you, because you're so confident and cool and charming and all that."
"Flattery, huh," Nick half-smiled. "Trying to coax a confession from me, bunny? I thought you usually played bad cop."
"Not with you!" Judy blurted. Somehow, saying that made her feel a flutter in her stomach, and she drew back a little, embarrassed.
"Okay then, what if I was the one that gave it to you?" Nick blinked. "What then?"
"Then..." Judy seemed unusually shy. "I know you feel really lucky to know me..."
"Wow, that is just so sappy," Nick said, balancing his cheek on his paw. "Would I ever say something that corny?"
"Probably not," Judy shot back, puffing her cheeks up a bit. "But you know, we adult mammals can actually talk about our feelings sometimes, without resorting to elaborate schemes to convey hidden meanings!"
"Hi, I don't know if we've met," Nick placed his paw out towards the camera. "I'm Nick Wilde. Your resident charming, scheming, crafty fox."
"Nick, just tell me it was you," Judy deflated slightly.
"If you promise not to bring it in to work tomorrow," Nick chuckled gently. "Serendipity caused a lot more trouble than I thought she would."
"Yeah, she's good at that," Judy smiled, flicking an ear of the doll.
"Besides, isn't Serendipity supposed to tease Karma all the time?" Nick shrugged. "I thought I heard that somewhere."
"Yeah, but... I mean, are you the bunny in this situation?" Judy tossed back playfully.
"You're right, that would be ridiculous, what am I thinking?" Nick smirked.
"I just... wanna know one more thing," Judy nibbled at her lip again. "How on earth did you get such a high-quality Serendipity doll at this time of year?"
Nick's grin grew very broad. "Night, sweetheart." He abruptly ended the call.
"Aaaaa!" Judy tossed her phone onto her bed. "What an infuriating mammal." She was smiling, despite her words. She turned to her newly-gifted doll. "How'd he get you, huh? C'mon, tell me, Serrie!" She shook the doll.
The mischievously cute and happy face of the doll, however, refused to give up its secrets.