"That looks… glorious?"
The artwork on the side of Finnick's van seemed to jump out at Nick, threatening to overwhelm him. A giant, musclebound fox catching lightening in his paws while a volcano erupted behind him? It was quite possibly the most garish, outlandish thing he had ever seen. The little fox had really outdone himself this time.
Nick walked around to the back of the van and tapped on the door. He gave it a second, but heard no movement on the inside. I guess he decided to actually use his apartment for once. Nick strolled over to the side of the alley where the van was parked and knocked on the nearest door. After a moment, he heard a grumble inside and soon enough, the door opened to reveal Finnick, who was rubbing his eyes and had one of his large ears matted down.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" He blinked rapidly when he saw Nick. "Sup."
Nick forced his way past Finnick and threw himself onto the recliner in the middle of the room with a thud.
"I do have an idea what time it is. It's five o'clock. What are you planning on doing tonight that requires sleeping through the beautiful day?"
Finnick closed the door and eyed Nick suspiciously. "Is this guy Nick the officer or Nick the hustler?" he said bluntly.
"Let me introduce myself. Hello, I'm Nicholas P. Wilde. I come in peace."
Finnick snorted, looking at Nick sprawled out in his chair, one leg dangling over the armrest. "This is not what I thought a police invasion of my home would look like."
Nick glanced around while barely moving his head. "I like what you've done with the place." Finnick's apartment, in reality, was more akin to a motel room. The only furniture in the place was a bed in the corner of the room, a small nightstand, and the chair that Nick currently resided in. The place was drab and dusty and the armrest that Nick had his leg over was patched up with duct tape. Nick felt at home. Probably more so than Finnick, who had a habit of splitting time between sleeping here or in his van. Nick had crashed at Finnick's more times than he cared to admit.
He adjusted in the seat, trying to find the spot he had broken in a long time ago. "Is that a new calendar?" he asked Finnick.
The fox shrugged. "I needed something to cover up the hole in the wall," he said bluntly.
Nick chuckled to himself. That's resourceful, I guess. "Anyway, you never answered my question. Whaddya doing tonight?"
"Nothing illegal. Just taking advantage of the fact that mammals tend to be a little looser with money on Friday nights. For whatever reason."
"For whatever reason. Ha. Wait. You know that it's Thursday, right?"
Finnick blinked at him. "Huh. You woke me up earlier than I thought."
Nick rolled his eyes. "I'm glad to hear that you're working so hard."
"I take what I do very seriously." Finnick hesitated for a moment. "Do you want in?"
Finnick's words caught Nick off guard. Not the fact that he asked, as Nick had been expecting as much. Rather, it was the fact that he felt a pang of longing that was surprising to him. Saying yes was really, really tempting.
"You know I can't." Nick tilted his head back over the top of the recliner to meet Finnick's eyes. "I have a responsibility to more than just myself now."
Finnick huffed at him. "That doesn't sound like the Nick I remember." His voice dropped even lower than normal. "The Nick I knew would never pass up a hustle."
Nick rubbed his eyes. He was still tired from the previous day's events. He was having trouble formulating a response to Finnick's statement. All of a sudden, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Nick's eyes met Finnick's as he reached for it.
"It's her, isn't it? That bunny of yours?"
Nick hurriedly looked at his phone. It was, in fact, Judy. She had left him a text. Call me when you can! That was all it said. Nick turned back to Finnick, who was shaking his head at him.
"This is all her fault, you know," Finnick said, with an air of contempt in his voice. "You would never be a cop if it wasn't for her." Perhaps there was a hint of jealousy in his words as well.
"If I recall correctly, I have you to thank as well," Nick retorted.
Finnick was silent for a moment, his features caught in a mixture of emotions.
"Is this want you really want?" he asked, casting a cold stare in Nick's direction. "Working for them?"
"Yes. Yes it is."
"I don't believe you Nick. Not for one second. How long have I know you? You never once expressed a desire to help anyone but yourself."
Well, that's not exactly true. Nick sat up in the recliner. "I guess you haven't known me long enough." His mind flashed to the handkerchief in his pocket. "This is what I've always wanted to do. Deep down"
Finnick studied Nick closely, his eyes working up and down like he was looking for a tell or a giveaway that he could call Nick out on. Finally, he spoke. "You know I make more money than you now, right?"
Nick smirked back at him. "Before or after taxes?"
Finnick walked over, threw himself back on the bed, and stared at the ceiling.
"Hey Finnick." Nick suddenly remember what Judy had asked him to do earlier. "Do you want to come over for dinner sometime? To check out the new place. I have a kitchen now, can you believe that? I can make really good seafood. I know how much you like that."
Nick trailed off and Finnick still stared at the ceiling.
"You finally made it out, you con artist."
"What's up?"
"You. You have a real job. A real place to live. Someone that cares about you. You've conned them all, fox."
Is… Is Finnick jealous? Of me?
"I haven't done anything. I just made a choice." Nick sat up and put on his best serious face. "You can make that choice too."
Finnick snorted. "Wow. Working for the police really has made you out of touch. You didn't always have a choice. It fell into your lap. Me? I don't have your luxury."
"What? What luxury" Nick was puzzled.
"Your precious Judy." Finnick practically growled the words. "You wouldn't be an officer without her. You couldn't be one without her!"
Nick felt a pang of guilt deep within himself. Finnick was absolutely right. There was no way the ZPD would have accepted him without her recommendation. They had overlooked more than a few things when they hired him.
"Me? I have no options," Finnick continued. "No education, no experience, no credit…" He was getting more emotional than Nick had seen him in a long time.
"Hey, hey, hey, big guy. I can help you now."
"Help? I don't want your help. I don't need your help." Finnick stood up on the bed – Nick had to admit that he looked pretty adorable – and began pacing about. "I like what I do. I'm good at it." He stopped and glared down at Nick. "You're going to need my help."
Nick glared back at him. "Oh yeah?"
"No matter what you do, no matter how you try to act, you're still a fox. This city doesn't like you. The people you help. Your cop friends. Your Judy. It's all a façade." Finnick laughed to himself and Nick gritted his teeth. "It'll come crashing down sooner or later. And you're going to come crawling back here."
That was it. Nick had had enough. "Probably not before this building comes crashing down on your head." He got up and stomped toward the door.
As he stepped outside, he heard Finnick mutter something behind him.
"You've changed Nick."
"You're right," Nick called back over his shoulder. "You wanna know why I really came here?" He spun around in front of Finnick's van. The diminutive fox was now standing in the doorway, glaring at him. "I needed help on a case."
"So you did come as Nick the officer!" Finnick hissed under his breath.
"I figured that you just might know something, being the upstanding member of society you are."
And with that, Nick turned and heard Finnick slam the door behind him.
Nick stormed off. He paid no attention to where he was going; he couldn't think straight after what had just happened. Nick squeezed his eyes shut and let out an internal shout of anger. The next thing he knew, his feet flew out from beneath him as he tripped over a curb. He careened into a light post, and just barely caught himself, narrowly avoiding face planting into the sidewalk. Huff. Huff. Nick listened to the sound of his own labored breathing. It was enough to bring him back to his senses.
Nick, you idiot.
Nick worked his way upright, visibly shaking.
I went way overboard.
Nick thought back to what had happened. The conversation had swung so fast that he barely had any time to process it while it was happening. One thing was certain: Finnick had touched a nerve.
Am I really that insecure?
Nick sighed. He was. He worried every day. He worried that the kindness his fellow officers showed him was just an act they put on. He worried about what they said behind his back. He worried about his relationship with Judy. What would everyone's reaction be if they knew? Would Judy treat him differently? It had gotten to the point that he would get headaches. He worried that one day, everyone would snap to their senses and start treating him like the shifty, untrustworthy fox that he used to see himself as.
Nick staggered forward for a couple of steps before he found his balance. He ignored the handful of stares that were directed his way. He tried to not give them any thought. All he could do was keep moving forward.
"Next stop: Savanna Central," came the automated voice over the intercom.
Nick stared down at the floor of the subway car. It was just about the only thing that he could do. He was sandwiched in between a rhino and horse. Looking up would probably be a less than pleasant experience for him. Mentally, he was still in the midst of processing exactly what went down at Finnick's. He racked his brain for anything to take his mind off of it. He reached into his pocket for his cellphone, remembering Judy's message from earlier.
"Hello?" Just hearing Judy's voice instantly made Nick feel a little better.
"Hey Carrots. You told me to call?"
"Yeah." In the background, Nick could hear the clinking sounds of her moving plates around. "How was Finnick? Did he have any ideas?"
Nick hesitated. The last thing he wanted at the moment was to make Judy worried about him.
"Oh… uh… he was fine. You know him. He didn't have any leads."
"Is something wrong, Nick?" Judy's concern oozed through the phone and threatened to suffocate Nick.
Oof. Is it that obvious?
"What? Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired is all."
"Nick, be straight with me." Wow, I can't con anyone anymore. "Is Finnick involved in something? I'll be understanding, I promise!"
"You have a really active imagination. Nothing's wrong, I swear."
Judy was silent on her end and Nick just knew that she wanted to press him on the issue further.
"So what did you want me to call about?" Nick asked, anxious to change the subject.
"Oh, I probably could wait until you got back to tell you this, but I'm getting a little antsy."
"What is it?"
"So my parents called today. They're going to be in town tomorrow." There was an uncertainty in Judy's voice that caught Nick's attention.
"That's great! Are they going to check out the apartment? You should be excited."
"I mean, I am…"
"I'll just get some work done at the office and stay out of your way."
Judy sighed loudly and Nick imagined that she was rolling her eyes at him. "See, that's the thing." She paused. "I need you there, Nick. I want to formally introduce you to them."
Nick had actually met Judy's parents, Bonnie and Stu, a handful of times. First at his own graduation. Then when Judy had dragged him to visit Bunnyburrow for the carrot festival. There was also that time that Judy had a simple fever and they had felt compelled to see her, despite the fact that she didn't even end up missing work. They seemed nice enough, if a little uptight, but then again, Nick had never been introduced to them as anything more than a fellow ZPD officer. He doubted they even knew that he was Judy's partner on the force.
"Introduce me? As what, your boyfriend?"
"Well… yes, actually."
There came that dull little ache in his head again. Nick rubbed his temple. The floor vibrating underneath him was not helping matters.
"Alright, Carrots. I'll do it if you insist."
"Oh Nick! Thank you so much!" Nick smiled softly to himself. At the very, he would make Judy happy.
"It'll be fun," he said, trying to convince himself more than anything else. The train lurched to a halt, and Nick almost had his phone knocked out of his paw as everyone around began jockeying for position to get off. "I'll be back soon," he was able to say as he was pushed forward.
"Sounds good," Judy said, followed by "you know that I love you, right?"
Nick's smile grew.
"Of course I know."
Judy sat the last moving box down and took a step back to inspect her work. The apartment looked a lot more lived in now. She had managed to get almost everything unpacked and in place. It had taken some time, but all the silverware and dishware was cleaned and put away in the kitchen. Nick's TV was plugged in and working. The bed in her chosen bedroom was all freshly made. She had organized all the toiletries in the bathroom. A card table and folding chairs were setup in the middle of the main room where a proper dinner table would probably go. That'll have to do, for now.
Judy kneeled down, opened the last moving box, and took out a small stuffed bunny dressed up in a ZPD uniform. She closed her eyes and drew it in close to her chest. When Judy had first arrived in Zootopia, she had felt more than a little homesick. In order to ease the adjustment process, she had brought along her stuffed mammals from her childhood. Early on, snuggling with them had helped ease her nerves and helped her sleep. Eventually, it had just become a habit, to the point where Judy now wondered if she would even be able to sleep without them. But there was no way that she was going to let Nick know that she still cuddled with stuffed mammals. Now if only she could think of what to do with them…
The handle on the door turned and Judy quickly hid the stuffed bunny behind her back.
"Bunny, I'm home!" Nick walked in and chuckled at his own pun. Judy put on a smile and tried to look as un-guilty as possible.
Nick cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" His gaze shifted downward. "What do you have behind your back?"
Why, why, why didn't I just put it back in the box?
"N-nothing! Ahhh!"
Nick pounced forward suddenly, catching Judy by surprise. She fell backwards, still clutching the stuffed bunny behind her back.
"Lemme see it!" Nick said as he tried to reach under her but she blocked his attack.
"Nick! What do you think you're doing?" Judy said, giggling as she tried to slide backward away from him.
"Oh, nothing…" Nick faked a move to the right and went left, reaching around Judy's back and pried the poor stuffed bunny from her paws.
"What do we have here?" Nick asked to himself as he rolled away from Judy.
"Hey! Give that back!" Judy cried, getting to her feet.
Nick also got up and held the stuffed bunny up above his head and beyond Judy's reach.
"A little bunny! And it's wearing a ZPD uniform! Aww, isn't that adorable!"
"Nick!" Judy jumped for the bunny, but came up empty.
"Now, Carrots. Why were you trying to hide this from me?"
Judy hid her face with her paws and peered up at Nick from between her fingers.
"I-I didn't want you to know."
Nick glanced over at the lone box in the middle of the room. An assortment of stuffed mammals peered out from beneath the cardboard flap.
"Are these all… yours?" Nick wasn't paying attention and lowered the stuffed bunny slightly. Judy took advantage and skied for it, coming down with the bunny wrapped tightly in her grasp.
Nick stared at his now empty paws. "Nice one."
Judy walked over to the moving box and gently set the bunny inside. Judy turned back to Nick, crossing her arms. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes.
Nick chuckled to himself and ambled over to Judy. He promptly pulled her into an embrace.
"Were you worried that I would judge you for having those?"
Judy looked up at him and nodded. "Not just for having them…"
Nick worked the inside of his cheek, thinking. "I know where this is going. For sleeping with them, right?"
Judy nodded again and laughed nervously. "That's my detective."
Nick steered Judy to the couch and they sat down together. Out of the blue, Nick started laughing.
"What?" Judy asked, the worry apparent in her voice.
"I'm just picturing you sleeping surrounded by those things. It's so incredibly adorable…"
"Incredibly… adorable? So you're not going to make fun of me?"
Nick looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I don't care about anything like that. Don't you worry," he said with sincerity.
Wow. I was way too insecure about this.
Nick sat back and relaxed. After a moment, Judy followed suit.
"I probably should have mentioned this sooner, but I like what you've done with the place."
"After everything you've done for me the past couple days, this is the least I could do."
"Did you get everything unpacked?"
Judy nodded. "Well, almost. I didn't know what you wanted me to do with your clothes."
"A pile on the floor is fine." After seeing Judy's expression, he hastily added a "just kidding!" He looked around. "Where are they?"
"In a box on the bed."
Nick got up from the couch and walked toward the back bedrooms. "I see you made your choice on the bedroom."
"I figured that having a window facing the road might be a little too loud."
Judy watched from the couch as Nick walked back and forth from the bed to the closet, hanging up clothes as he went. He sure did own a lot of green Hawaiian shirts.
"So what exactly is the plan tomorrow?" Nick called out to her.
Judy took a deep breath. Now was the moment of truth. "I had this idea in my head. I think we all should go out for dinner."
"Oh? What did you have in mind?"
"Um, I was thinking that we could go to Gusteau's."
Judy waited breathlessly for Nick's response. Gusteau's was right up there with the fanciest restaurants in Zootopia. She hoped that it wouldn't turn Nick off to the idea.
"You're probably going to need a reservation for that place," Nick said, seemingly unaffected by its mention.
Judy smiled nervously, even though Nick wasn't looking her way. "I already have one," she said, almost apologetically.
Nick stopped what he was doing and rejoined Judy in the front room.
"This is going to be the real deal, isn't it? Is it going to be a black tie event?"
Judy laughed. "No, nothing like that. Just be yourself. They'll love you!"
"I'm not so sure about that," Nick grumbled to himself.
Their eyes met and Judy was struck by how weary and anxious Nick suddenly looked. She tried her best to put on a comforting expression.
"You told me not to worry, remember? Well, I'm telling you not worry about this. Mom and Dad are really sweet. They won't bite, I swear!"
Nick turned away from her. "Will they be worried that I might? Bite them, I mean."
Judy's eyes widened. "Is that what this is about? They aren't going to be scared of you because you're a fox!"
"No?"
"Of course not! There are foxes in Bunnyburrow, after all. They're even in business with one right now," Judy said as her mind flashed to Gideon Grey.
"And they're also going to fine with their daughter dating a fox?"
"Well…" If Judy was being honest with herself, she wasn't entirely sure. They might actually have reservations, but they wouldn't be the type to be vocal about them, especially with Nick there. Or that was at least that was what Judy hoped.
"Don't you think that you should let them know before hand? Just to let them digest it?"
"Everything will be fine! Just trust me on this! Judy looked at him with the most begging eyes that she could muster. "Please?"
Nick sighed. "Who could resist that look? Alright."
Judy grinned. Thanks, Nick.
"But I will have to take the Ewehaul back tomorrow, so I'll meet you there. Deal?"
"Deal!"
Nick came over and sat back down the couch next to Judy. He crossed his legs and put his arm around her shoulders. He reached for the remote that Judy had set on the coffee table.
"Wow, you took care of everything," Nick said upon seeing that the TV had already been set up. "Oh look, there's a game on tonight. Is this fine with you?"
Judy nodded and settled into the couch. Nick turned the volume up on the TV.
"It looks like they're going to try and ice him here, John," one of the announcers said.
Judy giggled as Nick involuntarily shuddered at the phrase and tightened his grip on her.
It was late by the time the game had finished. Nick covered his mouth as he yawned.
"I really need to catch up on sleep."
"One more day and then you can sleep in as long as you want," Judy replied.
They both got up to get ready for bed, with Judy going to brush her teeth first, while Nick went to go get changed.
Eventually, they both found themselves lying side by side in bed, staring at the ceiling.
Judy decided that she needed to do something before things got too… well… awkward. She wiggled closer to Nick until her head was right up against his shoulder. Nick tilted his head toward her. "Let me guess. You need a cuddle buddy."
In response, Judy wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself even closer. Judy closed her eyes. Everything was bliss.
"So… uh…what happens after dinner tomorrow?" Nick spoke up, breaking the serenity.
Judy opened one eye at him. "Oh, I completely forgot to mention that," she said. Whoops. "I think my parents will be staying here tomorrow night. Maybe for the entire weekend."
"It keeps getting better and better," Nick said, doing a poor job of hiding the irritation in his voice.
"They'll be out and about doing their own thing. I think they're treating this trip like a mini vacation."
"Do you want to go with them?" Nick gulped. "I guess I can go too," He said, sounding pained.
Judy tightened her grip around him. "Don't worry," she whispered.
Nick was a quick sleeper, and soon his light snores sounded softly next to Judy.
Judy took a lot longer to fall asleep. As she lay awake, her mind wandered. She wondered whether Nick's concerns were valid. No, Judy convinced herself. Her parents were going to be fine with everything. She could hear their congratulations ringing in her head. They were going to have a nice dinner. More than that, they were going to have a great weekend.
Judy could only hope for the best.