Stakeout! At least I tried. lol It was fun either way. This was a request so I hope the requester especially likes it. Enjoy!
It is in the dead of night as the pair sit in an inconspicuous car outside of a bar. Judy sits with her legs drawn underneath her and her body as well as her ears erect in anticipation. Nick, on the other hand, stretches out with his feet propped up on the dashboard and his fingers laced together behind his head. He didn't start out like this. There was a time he was just as attentive as Judy, but that time has long since come and gone. Now his mind wanders, a marginal amount of his attention going towards watching for their suspect. "Hey, wanna play I Spy?" Nick flops his head over in her direction and grins.
Judy's ear flicks as she narrows her eyes and scowls at him from the corner of her eye. "Nick, we are on a stake out. That means we have to actually watch for the suspect."
Nick snorts. "Let's see," He hums thoughtfully. "I spy something fluffy and gray and no fun at all." He smirks.
Judy rolls her eyes and hits him in the arm. "I'm serious. We have to focus. This is important." A string of abductions have happened over the past month and this guy is the prime suspect. Unfortunately the evidence is circumstantial at best. So they have to follow him everywhere and a bar is definitely a prime spot to pick up women and take them home, innocent enough until the girls never return home even after a week.
"Look Carrots, it isn't like we have to wait with baited breath. He could be in there for hours – already has been in there for hours. Heck, maybe he's dead from alcohol poisoning." He throws his hands in the air and then crosses them. Under his breath he mumbles, "God knows if he's been drinking this whole time he should be."
"Nick," Judy scolds. "That's not funny." Especially not if he really is innocent. Sure, an abductor probably deserves it, but there is no concrete evidence yet.
"Sure it is." He grins. "You just have to have a broader sense of humor."
"A cruel one." She shoots him a sharp look.
"Ah, lighten up Carrots." He turns his head away from her. He scans the area, his eyes lighting on something that in any other situation would hold no significance whatsoever. "I spy something green."
"I swear to God Nick." An inflection of amusement colors her tone and as hard as she presses her lips together she can't keep the corners of her mouth from twitching up into a tiny smile.
Nick snickers as he returns his gaze to her. "Come on, betcha can't get it."
Judy shakes her head. "I am not playing this game."
Nick blows out a breath. "Aw, come on. If you don't like this game, then we'll play a different one." He drops his feet off the dash and sits up straight. What's your favorite game?" He leans over, his head inches from hers. "Huh?"
Judy pushes his face away from hers. "It's called Catching a Suspect. Now pay attention." She emphasizes each syllable as she tries to force his head forward toward the scene at hand and so it's not focused on her.
"Juuuudy," His ears fold back on his head. "I'm booooored. We've been at it for hours and nothing. We can pay attention and play a little game at the same time. Come on."
Judy blows out a breath and rolls her eyes. "Fine." He isn't wrong. Spotting him when he comes out won't take much perception or skill. Dealing with a bored Nick is in all likelihood is far more distracting than participating in one of his games. But that doesn't mean she has to conform to his standards.
Nick's face lights up. "Cool." His tail swishes back and forth in his excitement.
"But we're playing Hangman." Her eyes gleam with mischief.
Nick eyes her with uncertainty. "Ooook." That game should not cause such a wicked look in her eye. There has to be a catch. She is going to do something to torture him.
"Only, with a twist." She smirks. "I pick the word."
Nick makes a face. "That makes literally no sense Carrots. The whole point is to-"
Judy holds a hand up. "I choose your middle name. So you give me the length, and when I guess letters, you fill them in if they're right."
Son of a…. Nick grumbles beneath his breath as he stares into space with pure exasperation. He knew it was too good to be true. She had to ruin everything. True, he could lie, hand her a name that wasn't his at all, but she has gotten scarily good at telling when he is lying to her. She says he has a tell or something ridiculous. Him? A tell? As if. Still, he might as well just give it up. She is going to find out sooner or later anyway. "Fine." Might as well make a game of it. He holds up a finger. "But I get to do the same. I'm gonna figure out your middle name."
Judy chuckles. "Sure, it's a deal. We'll take turns." She kicks the compartment open and digs through it, dragging two bent up pieces of paper out. "Alright." She closes it and shoves a piece at him. "Here's yours." She snatches a pen from a cup holder and throws it at him. "And we'll have to share the pen. But you're first."
Nick fumbles with the pen, but manages to grip it before it falls to the floor. "Hey, no fair." He scowls. "Why do you get to guess first? I should get to guess first."
"Oh yeah?" Judy plants her hands on her hips. "And why's that?"
"This was my idea. Obviously." He holds his head a little higher.
"Pssh, your idea? You wanted to play I Spy. This was my idea. So I get to choose who goes when." A self-satisfied look settles on her face. "It's called a hustle sweetheart."
Nick grins from ear to ear as he hears his age old adage. It's been way too long. The last time was when they tricked Bellwether. "Fine, fine, Carrots." He splays his paper out on the steering wheel and draws the stick gallows with eight lines out to the side to fill in with letters. "So what's your guess?" He twirls the pen between his fingers.
She twists her body so she better faces him, her gaze fully leaving the bar for the first time all night. She studies the sheet for a long moment. Eight letters. Names fly through her head a million miles an hour. But she's getting ahead of herself. One letter at a time. "A!"
Nick makes a sound of a buzzer on a game show. He draws the rope on the gallow. "My turn." He tosses her the pen.
Judy squeaks as she fumbles with the pen and completely drops it.
Nick laughs. "A+ reflexes Carrots. Sure you can handle it when the guy comes out of the bar? He might be too slippery for ya as he wobbles to his car."
"Oh, hush." Judy waves his words away. "Pick a letter." She scribbles her gallows and the spaces for her middle name.
"Huh." Her name is shorter than his. Don't know what he expected, but somehow it still surprises him. "Well, how about an I?"
Judy huffs. She fills in the second space with an I.
"Haha!" Nick pumps his fist in the air. "That's what I'm talkin' about."
Judy rolls her eyes. "Yours." She tosses the pen. "And I pick e."
Nick catches it and sighs as he is forced to scribble an e four letters in.
Judy beams.
They go back and forth, tossing the pen each time and yelling out their next letter. Eventually they reach a point they have used half the letters in the alphabet. Nick gets Judy's name down to _il_n while Judy manages P_ber_.
Judy groans. "What is wrong with your name? It's not even a real name!" She throws his hands in the air. "What is it? A Y?"
Nick snickers. He adds a second ear to the stick figure. "I think you're about dead there Carrots." All that is left is her fluffy bunny tail.
"No! No fair! I've got to get this." She clenches her fists.
Nick chuckles. "Well, it's my turn now. And I piiiiick…e."
"Fuck." The curse slips out without her thinking and she slams her hand over her mouth as if to recapture the word. Her cheeks turn bright red.
Nick throws his head back and cackles. "So that's-that's it?" He says through his laughter. "That means…Eileen." He grins from ear to ear. "Judy Eileen Hopps. Nice."
Judy runs her hands over her ears to bring herself down. "Well, guess that means you win." She purses her lips and crosses her arms. "No fair." She huffs, looking pointedly away from him.
"Ah, come now Carrots. Don't pout." He nudges her. "You still have one try left." He grins like a maniac.
Judy swats at him. "Yeah, yeah." She grumbles. "I."
Nick fills it in. Piberi_.
"Judy peeks over at the paper. "Your name is getting dumber by the letter."
"Gee, thanks. Make me feel so bad for never just telling you my name."
Judy snickers. She faces him again, the smile returned to her lips. "Right, right, I'm sorry. S." Why had she waited so long to guess that?
Nick nods. "One more." He poises his pen to draw her tail and finish her off.
Judy chews on her lip. She quivers slightly as her nerves peak. She can do this, she can do this. She can so totally do this. She cringes away from her choice as she says, "U?"
Nick lets his hand fall to his side. He sighs, long and dramatic.
Judy blinks. "That's…that's it?" A smile slowly spreads over her face that reaches all the way to her eyes. "Yes." She clenches her fists and bounces in her seat. "I'd like to solve the puzzle now." She giggles.
Nick stares at her in disbelief. "You don't get to do that if you fill in all the letters Carrots."
Judy waves his words away. "Says you. And it's…" She makes a face. "Piber…Pie-bur…" Her brows furrow and distress etches across her face. How the heck do you pronounce this stupid name? It really is ridiculous.
Nick sighs. "Piberius. You say it Piberius."
"Um, wow." Judy presses her lips together. "That's a, uh…interesting name."
"Yeah." There is no amusement to his tone. "My mom thought it'd be funny. And boy was it." He rolls his eyes.
"Aw, come on Nick. It's not so bad." She lays a hand over her mouth to conceal the bubbling laughter. "It's unique."
"Uh-huh." He frowns and shoots her a sharp look. "And I don't even get the comfort of a partner with an equally 'unique' name. Yours is perfect – on its own and the way it flows with the rest of your names."
"Don't be such a sad sack." Judy snakes her arms around his and leans against him. "At least it isn't your first name."
Nick snorts. "Yeah, yeah." He supposes it is one thing to be thankful for. He perks as he sees their target exit the building. Unfortunately there is no girl on his arm. "Hm, looks like the bar is a bust Carrots."
Judy pops her head up. She too sees the suspect and deflates. "Ugh." She flops back against him. "Oh well. We'll just have to keep trying."
"See?" Nick pokes her in the side. "I told you playing a game was a good idea. Otherwise we would have gotten nothing done tonight." He grins.
Judy shakes her head. "Whatever you say." She refuses to admit it, but it's true. More importantly she discovered his middle name. This night was more worthwhile than he'll ever know.
Yes, that is seriously Nick's middle name. Crazy, right? Apparently it's a play on Captain Kirk's middle name. lol However, that is not Judy's middle name, not as far as I know. But I wanted to give her one so I settled on Eileen cause I think it's a really pretty name and flows well with the rest of her name. I didn't expect to return to the middle nae deal so soon, but it just worked really well. Hope you liked it. Please review!