"I cannot believe that he wants to suspend us! After all I've been through to fight the prejudice, he still wants to get me out of the way-"
"Carrots, calm down."
"-And furthermore, he said we were two of his best officers. If we're being targeted, let us be targeted! Suspending us is put us in more danger-"
"Carrots!" Nick said a little louder. "Stop and think. Chief is only doing this for our protection. If we're on the front lines, we'll be subjected to harm and being followed. You need to stop being so dramatic." The fox chuckled a little as he finished explaining, the bunny's ears drooped down a little as she realised he was right.
"I suppose you have a point." She said, looking down. Judy felt so angry, but understanding at the same time. How could Chief Bogo suggest that they be suspended?! It didn't make sense… she wanted to help! The curiosity followed by the note in her gun holster made her anxious and her mind race. She needed to know what that was about, and the only way she could do it was by taking the case. But how was the bunny to take the case when there was no case to solve yet? That's what annoyed her the most about the whole ordeal.
"H-hey Judy." A familiar voice said. Walking past a set of traffic lights and about to enter Nick's apartment complex, the officers hadn't noticed a buck standing off to the side. The bunny officer immediately turned around toward the voice, Nick following soon after.
"Chris?" The buck chuckled.
"Yeah. Nice to see you both again." The rabbit stood away from a wall, still in his work attire, but no badge.
"Like wise." Nick replied, straightening his tie. "What brings you 'round these parts?"
"Oh, I live across the block from here." The buck explained, pointing across the street. The fox's ears perked up a little in surprise. He'd never seen the buck before until that morning, but he lived so close to him? Then again, it was possible that they missed each other. "Is this where you live, Judy?" He asked, gesturing to the apartment complex in front of them.
"Huh?" The bunny was a little confused, needing a few seconds to think his question over. "Oh! Oh, no. My partner does." Judy affirmed, glancing up at Nick who sent her a wink in return.
Chris stared at the pair for a few moments, silently watching them as they acknowledged each other.
"So…" He began, his ears bending forward a little in awkward confusion. "You two are… uh…together?"
Judy's ears fell behind her head, her cheeks flushing a bright red. Nick's ears folded back while his tail spiked up a little, his paws nearly dropping the cooler he carried. They were both stunned in shock.
"Oh Gazelle, no." Judy exclaimed with a small chuckle. The fox laughed along nervously.
"Not that kind of a partner." He explained. "We just work together."
"Oh! Oh man, I'm so sorry!" Chris's cheeks blushed lightly in embarrassment. "I shouldn't have asked, my fault. Although… I have to admit, seeing the way you two look at each other can be deceiving." The officers looked at each other and repelled away like two magnets of the same type.
"Thanks for the heads up, I guess." The fox said, giving the buck a small smile.
"Uh, no worries." Chris shuffled in place, embarrassed about what he had caused. "Well, I should get going. Sorry about all… that." Before walking away, the buck looked up at Judy and gave her a large smile. "See ya, Judy." The bunny waved lightly to Chris as he left.
The police officers stood at the front of the apartment complex watching as the buck entered his own apartment building. They were so confused and in shock to what had just occurred. Them? A couple? Yeah right. Nick, in an attempt to lighten the mood, smirked down at the bunny and knelt down close to her.
"Ya know… I bet he likes you." Judy blinked and frowned up at the fox.
"What? No-"
"Come on, Carrots. He keeps looking at you as if you're a meal."
"The only mammal who has looked at me as if I was a meal, is you. And I didn't like it." The bunny tried to shrug off the comment, entering the apartment complex without Nick. The fox stood outside, chuckling to himself before quickly following his friend.
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The pair reach Nick's floor, the fox grabbing his keys from out of his pocket.
"You know," He began, slotting the keys into the door. "You're welcome to stay."
"Oh, no it's fine. It's getting late. I should probably head home, soon." The fox cocked an eye brow, a small smirk appearing on his face.
"Soon? So you were planning to stay?"
"N-no, I just-"
"I have carrot juice~" Nick cooed, swinging the door open. The bunny stared at him. He knew exactly how to get to her. Carrot juice was her favourite thing in the world… well, not exactly; but it was high up there according to her.
"But… you don't like carrot juice." She stated, a little confused to why he would have such a thing in his apartment.
"What? I'm not allowed to have products my friend likes in case she comes around?"
"That's not what I meant." Nick stood in the doorway, leaning up against its frame with a smirk plastered on his face and his paws folded. He didn't look like he was moving until he got an answer. Judy sighed. "Fine. I'll come in." The fox's ears pricked up a little. "-But, after we finish hanging here, you're coming back to my place."
"Huh?" His paws dropped as he stared at the bunny with a questionable look. "And why can't I sleep here?"
"Nick, look." The bunny pointed straight past the fox and into his apartment. From the door they could just see the rustic arm-chair that Nick had been using as a bed for the past few weeks. "You can't continue sleeping on that, I won't allow it. It's bad for you-"
"Ahem. Dianna, Thank you." He corrected with a sly tone.
"Sorry~" The bunny cooed. "Dianna is not good for you. She's a bad influence and is making you cranky all the time." Nick chuckled a little.
"Cranky?" He scoffed. "Is someone jealous?" The fox knelt down to Judy's height, puckering his lips in a dramatic way.
"It's an arm-chair." She said back blankly, clearly not reacting to his actions.
"Point taken." He rolled his eyes, standing back to his full height. "Alright, I'll come around… but, just like you bargained with me, I'm paying for lunch tomorrow." Judy sighed a little. She hated when other mammals paid for her food, especially Nick out of all of them. But if this was going to help him get some decent sleep…
"Deal."
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After two glasses of carrot juice and a long chat, the fox and bunny sat on the rustic armchair and watched the sun begin to set behind the buildings of Zootopia, Judy sitting on Nick's lap. Despite the window's in Nick's apartment being a little smaller than he would have hoped, the pair was still able to see the glossy reds and purples that lit up the sky, as well as the ball of light that kept them warm.
There was something what was playing on the fox's mind, however. In the event that the pair were suspended from the ZPD in order to protect them, would they be sent home to relatives? If so, where would he go? He hadn't seen his mother in a fair few years, let alone knew of her location. The circumstances in which they were separated were some of the foggiest of memories for him. But even so… that would mean that Judy would head back to Bunny Burrow, whereas he would be stuck in Zootopia, alone. Nick shuddered the thoughts from his mind. He didn't like being alone… not any more at least.
"Hey, Whiskers?"
"Mmm?"
"What is it like? In Bunny Burrow I mean." Judy looked up at him, curious to what led him to the question. But neither less, she answered.
"It's… surprisingly quiet a lot of the time, now that I think about it. Everyone is like family; we're a close community." The bunny sighed, gazing into the sun dreamily. "Watching the sunset like this reminds me all too well of the times where I'd watch the sun duck down behind the farms back home. We have a large swing set out the back that looks over our crops, made of an old tractor tire. I'd sit on the edge of it and just watch as the light faded and the sky turned to black."
"That must have been really nice to do that every night."
"Yeah… while it lasted at least."
"Hmm?" Nick raised an eye brow. "While it lasted?" Judy sighed again, looking back up at the fox.
"When I was younger, there used to be a group of mammals who weren't very friendly. I'm pretty sure they were all predators too… not a very good example for the younger generations of Bunny Burrow to learn from, huh?" Nick agreed, nodding. "Anyways. This group, around twilight, would start setting off fire crackers and fireworks way too close to the ground. Some morning's we'd wake up to find the remanence of a firework in dad's carrot fields… The worst of it was that this one fox wouldn't leave me alone." For a few moments Nick thought she was referring to him, but of course he didn't know her back then.
"Oh?" He muttered.
"Yeah. Gideon Grey. He uh…" The bunny's ear's drooped. "He did some terrible things to me when I was younger. He's a brilliant fox now, don't get me wrong… but Gideon was the specific reason to why my parents began to dislike fox's even more than they were already brought up to be; hence the fox-repellent when we first met."
"What did he do that was so-devastating."
"You really wanna know?"
"Sure…"
"Okay, uh… this one time, the most important event I think that tipped my parents over the edge to being more vigilant around foxes, there was a Fair in town. At this Fair, I had been asked to do a play for my school. It involved all the mammals in the production to share their hopes in dreams for what they wanted to be in the future."
"Let me guess." The fox shifted a little in his seat. "You wanted to be an elephant." The bunny giggled, nudging Nick softly in the side.
"Yes. I wanted to be an elephant. Now, like I was saying. After the play, which Gideon attended, I came outside to find him and a weasel bullying my friend's for their tickets. Mind you, I was still in my officer-get-up… and I strolled over and confronted him about it. He pushed me to the ground and threatened me, so I kicked him in the muzzle-"
"Ooooh. That's gotta hurt." Nick winced.
"I hoped so, but it ended up biting me in the tail. In reaction he… he swiped at me. Three claw marks scarred my face for a few years following." Judy sighed sadly, Nick lending a comforting paw on her shoulder.
"I… I never knew."
"I know."
A touching moment between the two. Is this a filler? Is it really? :3