Judy woke the next morning refreshed but still shaken. With a yawn, she slid to the floor and walked to the kitchenette.
She found Nick at the table with a small bowl of blueberries for himself and a plate of carrots for her. He grinned when he saw her. "Morning, Carrots. Sleep ok?'
Judy blushed a little, remembering how Nick's lingering scent in his bed had comforted her. "Yeah," she replied. "You?"
He shrugged. "Not really."
The bunny frowned. "Why?"
"I was worried."
"About?"
"You, of course."
Smiling a little, Judy thought, that's sweet, but he's just being a fox. It wasn't as if…no, she reminded herself. Don't be silly.
With a little cough, Nick changed the subject. "You had some leggings here, but you don't have any shirts. If you want, I have some old ones that may be small enough for you."
Smirking, Judy asked, "Are they as hideous as the ones you wear now?"
"Hey!" the fox protested. "My style is on point."
Judy rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say."
As Nick got up to put the dishes away, he added, "by the way, I got Bogo to give us the day off so you can recover."
"And so I can start looking for a new apartment?" Judy prompted.
"About that…" Nick turned away from her in sudden shyness. Had his fur not already been red, she would've noticed his blush. In a voice as casual as he could muster, he said, "I was thinking you could stay here. Permanently."
Judy raised her eyebrows. "We'll see."
A few minutes later, Judy emerged dressed in leggings and a too-big blue shirt of Nick's with the sleeves rolled up several times, still reaching her wrists. She noticed that the shirt, like his bed, smelled of fox. It was a little distracting. She coughed to get Nick's attention. "Thanks for letting me borrow this," she said shyly. Judy was not one to often accept charity.
Nick looked up and gulped, thinking, my god, she's adorable. Then, slapping himself mentally, he chided himself, she's still just your friend. Out loud, he said, "No problem."
She smiled her adorably toothy grin, then plopped down next to him on the couch. "So what now?"
He put an arm around her shoulder, a gesture normal to the two. "Well first we need to get you a bed and some clothes and stuff, and then I thought we could just hang out somewhere."
"Ok, sure."
Later, after tedious hours of shopping, Nick and Judy sat together on a park bench, watching the craziness that was Zootopia roll by. "Do you miss it?" Nick asked suddenly.
"What, my apartment?" the bunny asked. "It was awful!"
They both laughed, knowing it was true.
"So will you stay at mine?"
"We can at least give it a try."
Through the rest of the day, Judy noticed her friend being in an unusually cheerful mood.
