Ch. 3: Winter Storme
The air of Tundra Town was cold and crisp, small flurries danced across the air and stuck to Judy's fur as she and Nick walked through the town. They were on the way to Jingle Studio, where the world-famous Sven Jingle wrote the hottest hits.
"Are you sure you can get us in," she asked Nick. "Sven Jingle's almost as hard to get to as Gazelle."
The fox was walking around, side-ways and spinning, like he was trying to draw a picture with the treks he made in the snow.
"You wound me, Carrots. I told you I have an in so that means I have an in."
"And yet I still worry," Judy clasped her paws together and looked up in thought. "I wonder why that is, Nick? Maybe because all the "in's" you have are animals you've conned?"
When Nick stayed quiet she let out a groan, "What did you do to this one?"
"Nothing that will get us iced," Nick assured as he returned to her side, his paws in his pockets, "…Mainly because this particular mammal isn't in the mafia."
Well, that's good at least, Judy thought to herself but was hardly comforted.
"What'd you do?"
Nick sucked on his teeth and Judy waited for the worse. "Jingle's assistant and I were pretty good buddies, almost as close as me and Finnick, and I was helping plan out some big fancy party he was throwing and my assistant friend gave me the money to bug a large load of very expensive caviar. You know, for the predators."
Judy held back another groan, "Did you take the money and run away?"
"Judy Hopps I may have been a con artist but I was a con artist who delivered results. I went to the seafood store where they sold that caviar and decided that was way too much money for some fish eggs, so I thought I'd save some money and went to the lake to fish out my own caviar."
"And," Judy pressed.
"… I don't know, I was gone by the time they found out that pound of free caviar was mainly tiny little rocks and a couple of tadpoles."
Judy face-pawed, "And you expect this assistant to listen to you?"
"Hey, we were pretty tight," Nick argued. "And no, not Nick Wilde the con artist, but Nick Wilde the cop has better persuasion skills."
"Then work that persuasion, Officer Wilde because here we are." The two stopped and stood before a pair of sliding glass doors.
"Ladies first," Nick offered and Judy rolled her eyes but went first anyway, Nick following after. He stood so close he nearly tripped her up and she realized he didn't have as much confidence in Nick Wilde the cop as he let on.
The lobby was covered in light blue carpet, muffling their footsteps as they walked to the polar bear secretary who was busy typing away on his computer.
"May I help you officers," he asked, giving them a second long glance before turning back to his screen.
"Is a Winter Storme in?" Nick asked, standing on his toes to rest his arms on the counter.
"Yes. Why?"
"I need you to call in a message. Nick Wilde is here."
Without turning his eyes from the screen he leaned forward to press an intercom button to speak through the mic. "Winter Storme, you have a Nick Wilde to see you."
"It was a pleasure conversing with you," Nick told the polar bear before stepping back to stand beside Judy. "Now we wait for the Storme to come," he told her.
"Are you nervous?"
"Absolutely not."
"You liar."
"Such language, Carrots."
"It's perfectly normal to be nervous, you two haven't' seen each other since you conned him."
"Yeah, that's-"
"Nicholas P. Wilde."
Judy whirled around and her jaw dropped. Out of the elevator came a gorgeous arctic fox who wore an expensive looking amethyst dress with an even more expensive looking diamond necklace.
Nick held his arms out as if expecting a hug, "Winter!" His voice cracked, "It's been so long, you haven't aged a day, lovely as ever!"
Judy looked at him in shock, this was Winter Storme? The assistant he had been good buddies with? Who he had been tight with? An uncomfortable feeling welled up in her chest.
Winter strolled over with an easy grace, "A part of me had always hoped you would come back so I could kick your tail good and properly. My mother always said good things come to those who wait!" She bared her teeth, she looked ready to tear Nick to pieces, and Nick looked ready to tuck his tail between his legs. Judy quickly jumped in front of him, wanting to protect him from Winter's reasonable rage.
"Miss Storme please," Judy spoke in her best authoritative voice. "I'm Officer Hopps and my partner and I really need to talk to your-"
"Partner," Winter echoed in dismay. "I heard Wilde became a cop but I didn't know they forced some poor officer to be his partner."
She took Judy's paw in her own and gave it a gentle pat.
"Hey, she asked me to be her partner," Nick said, no subtly in his pride.
Winter's face told her she didn't believe a word he said; Judy found herself really wanting to explain their relationship in detail but remembered they didn't have the time.
"Miss Storme, we need to talk to Sven Jingle."
"Call me Winter," she said with a friendly grin. "And why do you need to talk to my boss?"
As quickly as possible Judy explained their case and their possible solution, making Winter frown thoughtfully, "My boss is all for co-existence…" She glared at Nick, "But just because he didn't blame me for the caviar incident doesn't mean he wants to see him again."
"I never met the guy," Nick snapped back. "I just knew him from you. Plus, I'm a cop now."
"I'll make sure he doesn't cause trouble," Judy promised.
"He's not something that can be contained."
"I can contain him."
Winter blinked, giving her an odd look which made Judy realize how forceful she had sounded.
"This way then," she ordered as she turned and led them into the elevator. Going up she explained they would treat Sven with respect, speak only when spoken to, and as far as Sven was concerned Nick and Winter had never met.
"Awfully strict," Judy whispered to Nick as they exited the elevator and followed Winter down the hall.
"What do you expect," Nick whispered back, "He's one of the richest animals in all of Zootopia."
Winter stopped at a large set of ornate oak doors and told them to remember the rules before entering the room.
A reindeer was sitting cross-legged on a fluffy pillow, breathing in an odd way through his nose. Judy was temporarily reminded of Yax in charge of the naturalist club but thank the heavens this reindeer wasn't nude. He was dressed in a finely tailored blue suit with fancy bells of all kinds of shapes tied to his antlers.
Judy realized this was Sven Jingle.
Winter cleared her throat and Sven's eyes popped open and he beamed at her. "Winter, did you hear that!? I was whistling through my nose!"
Winter gave him a patient smile like he was a child, Nick clapped softly, and almost immediately Judy forgot rule number two.
"I didn't hear you whistle."
She could feel Winter's terrified eyes on her and hear Nick face-paw himself and see Sven's eyes locking in on her. The reindeer stood up, his bells jingling as he moved and marched over to bend down to be at Judy's eye level, she held her ground.
"So you're saying I wasn't whistling through my nose?"
"Uh…" Judy began awkwardly, "No? Sir?"
There was a long, tense-filled, moment of silence… Then Sven threw his head back and let out a booming laugh, startling the three smaller animals.
"Blatant honesty, I love it," Sven cheered, shaking both of Judy's paws. "I like you, bunny. You're not afraid to speak your mind and keep to it, just like me!" He stood up straight and ruffled the fur on Winter's head, "Always bringing in the best, huh Winter?"
"Yes, sir," Winter replied, looking ready to faint with relief.
"Come sit with me, bunny," Sven offered and Winter immediately ran over to the corner of the room to grab three extra pillows, placing them next to Sven's.
"Super efficient my servant," Sven nodded, jingling. "She's going to make some animal super lucky."
"Uh-huh," Nick agreed. That weird feeling crept up into Judy's chest again before she squelched it down and sat on the pillow closest to Sven. Nick and Winter joined her.
"My name is Judy," she introduced herself to the reindeer, "And this is my partner, Nick."
"Big fan," Nick told him.
Sven's eyes were alit with a sudden interest, "Partner?"
"Police partner," Winter spoke up.
"Ah," Sven seemed oddly disappointed by the words. He shook his head, "What can I do for the ZPD?"
Once again Judy explained her plan. "I have been hearing about these random fights," Sven admitted. "Do you really think Gazelle could help? She's a sweet girl but I wouldn't call her that intimidating."
"Having her speak out against the violence can't hurt," Judy pointed out.
Sven seemed to think for a moment before finally nodding, "Alright. As I said before I like you, Officer Bunny. I'll get you that phone call to Gazelle. She does love this city and wouldn't forgive me if I kept your plan from her."
He stood up, "Follow me to my office, Officer Bunny."
She stood up but stopped when she noticed Nick not doing the same. "Nick?"
"I'll stay here with Winter," he told her. "I don't think I'll be able to be of much help, my charm only works when I'm face to face with the target."
Sven laughed and Winter snorted and Judy tried not to let it bother her that her partner wanted to stay with this pretty fox instead of her. She followed Sven out of the room.
Judy had expected to have a simple phone call with Gazelle, not talk to her via web cam, which was how she ended up staring dumbly at Gazelle's face from the other side of the laptop.
"Gazelle, dearest, this is Officer Hopps," Sven introduced, sitting beside Judy who was still gawking.
Gazelle smiled kindly, "I know you; you're that brave bunny who helped saved Zootopia. How can I help you?"
"Y-you know me…well, I…uh…" Judy struggled to find the words. "I am a huge fan." She resisted the urge to yank her ears; she was acting as star-struck as Clawhauser.
Gazelle chuckled softly, "Thank you."
"I-I mean, I needed to ask a favor. You see I-uh, the thing is…"
"Fights have been going on around Zootopia," Sven interrupted; apparently he had lost patience with Judy's rambling, "Violent fights that have been happening over basically nothing."
Gazelle's ears lowered, her eyes going wide with dismay. "That's awful!"
"We were hoping you could cut your tour short and head on home," Sven continued. "The public may be able to calm down if their favorite pop star comes back to share some words of peace and encouragement!"
"I'll talk to my manager," Gazelle promised. "See what I can do, and then I'll call you back."
"That's my pop star," Sven cheered.
Gazelle smiled, "Nice talking to you, Sven. And nice meeting you Officer Hopps."
"You can just call me Judy," she insisted with a quick wave of her paw.
Gazelle nodded, "It was nice meeting you, Judy."
The two returned to Nick and Winter who seemed to be having a pleasant conversation. Nick stood up when he saw the two and walked over to Judy's side, "How did it go?"
"I was awful," Judy buried her face in her paws. "I told her I was a big fan!"
Nick patted her on the back, "There, there, Carrots. Look on the bright side, if you had been Clawhauser you would've fainted."
"Sven told her our plan and she's going to try and make it back," she added and Nick nodded.
"Well I say that calls for a celebration," Sven declared, "Winter, do we have any hot cocoa left?"
"Of course, sir," Winter said, rising to her feet, "Should I make a cup for everyone?"
"Absolutely," Sven said, sitting back down on his pillow. As soon as Winter had walked out of the room Sven tried his nose whistling again.
"So," Judy started, putting her paws behind her back. "Why did you need to stay with Winter?"
Nick shrugged sheepishly, "I thought I should give my charm a run for its money and apologize."
"Did it work?"
"More or less…I don't think she wants to chop my tail off now."
Judy nodded, trying to be happy for him but couldn't help adding, "She's very beautiful."
Nick nodded, "Yeah, I know. Why do you think I was friends with her?"
She frowned, she didn't like that answer, but it was her own fault for saying something she supposed. "Wait. Does that mean you befriended Finnick because of his handsome looks?"
"I befriended him for his van," Nick sat down on his own cushion. "Have you seen that thing?"
"Then why did you-" she cut herself off. She wanted to ask him why he was friends for her but really didn't want his answer to be "Because you blackmailed me with tax evasion."
"Why did I what," Nick asked.
Judy however was saved from having to answer by the secretary polar bear's voice blasting over the intercom: "Mr. Sven Jingle, one Charlie here to see you."
Judy could not recall an animal as big as Sven jumping up so fast, the reindeer's antlers jingled merrily as he raced out of room. Nick and Judy shared one look before dashing after him.
They found Sven in the lobby just as he wrapped his arms around a pretty cheetah and spun her around, both of them laughing ecstatically.
"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie," Sven nuzzled her neck and she giggled, "My world has been black and white for too long, how long of an eternity did I have to wait before I was once again blessed by your goddess-like image!"
"Three days, Sven," the cheetah told him as she was placed back on her feet; her voice was both exasperated and adoring. "I had to make sure you would work without getting distracted."
"You are quite the distraction, my spotted dearest," Sven smiled lovingly and Judy suddenly felt like she was watching a scene in a romantic film.
Nick cleared his throat, drawing the two animals' attention.
"Oh, oh, where are my manners," Sven declared, "Charlie lovely, this here is Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde. This is Charlotte Spotwood, my mate."
Judy's ears perked up in surprise, she had heard of interspecies couples but had never met one, especially not one where the two animals were from completely different habitats.
"Nice to meet you both," Charlie greeted with a cheerful smile.
"Nice to meet you too," Judy smiled and Nick nodded with a wink.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming over, I would've picked you up," Sven spoke. He held his mate's paws as he spoke, Judy didn't think he had let her go since he had hugged her.
"I wanted to surprise you," she replied, her tail mindlessly waving to and fro, at one point it was loosely shaped like a heart. "It's not a bad time, is it?"
"It's never a bad time, dearest," Sven assured, "Excuse me a moment."
He released his mate to walk over to the two cops. "Am I lucky or am I lucky," he whispered to them with a devilish grin.
Judy giggled while Nick looked like he was resisting rolling his eyes, "She's very pretty."
"Gorgeous, actually," Sven corrected her. "Can you two tell Winter that I'm off on a date."
"Sure," Judy replied easily. Sven slipped a hoof into his suit and pulled out a business card and handed it to Judy. "Call me if need be, I'll keep you posted on Gazelle."
Judy barely had time to say thank you before he was dragging his mate out of the lobby. Judy held the card to her heart, "That was the sweetest thing."
"I guess," Nick replied doubtfully, "Kinda too mushy for my taste."
His words left Judy wondering if he agreed with interspecies couples and that uncomfortable feeling rose up once again.
"Come on," Nick walked back to the elevator, "Let's go tell Winter she doesn't need to make four cups of hot cocoa."
Judy frowned as she followed him, muttering under her breath, "Can't keep Winter waiting…"