Nick had to laugh as he and Judy entered Jumbeaux's Cafe. It was a Saturday afternoon and both mammals had the day off, but as was frequently the case, the two found themselves hanging out together anyway.

"Are you sure this is wise, Fluff?" the fox asked.

"Maybe not, but it should be funny, at least," Judy smirked as the two got in line to order some ice cream.

Jerry Jumbeaux looked down at the two and his brow fell heavily. "Oh, it's you again. Been awhile."

"Afternoon!" Judy waved to the elephant. "Two dishes of your small size of ice cream, please."

"What, no jumbo pop?" Jerry huffed. "And where's the kid?"

"Ah, with a sitter," Nick responded quickly, smirking. Judy turned her head and stifled a laugh into her hand.

"What flavors ya want?" Jerry asked.

"I'll take vanilla," Nick said.

"Give me mint chocolate chip!" Judy said.

"Chocolate?" Nick blinked. "You sure?"

"Yeah, it's just a little bit!" Judy swiped her paw, but her brow fell when she saw Nick reach for his wallet. "Hey, you don't have to pay for my ice cream."

"Consider this a payback for the hustle," Nick wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, is that so?" Judy cocked her head, her ears lolling. "In that case, you'll have to take me back here a couple more times till it hits twenty bucks."

"Twenty?" Nick blinked. "As I recall, it was... ahem..." Nick dropped his voice to an annoyed sounding groan. "Fifteen dollahs." Jerry heard this and shot him a dirty look, causing Judy to stifle another giggle.

"Hey, I paid twenty and told him to keep the change like a good citizen," Judy said with an air of faux self-righteousness, placing her hands on her hips and tossing her head.

"Hmph," Nick said, then a poster caught his eye. "Ah, this is their chocolate warning." Nick mumbled to himself as he read it. "Know your limits on chocolate intake, ask your doctor if chocolate is safe for your species. Jeez. You sure about this? Sounds almost like a drug."

"Yeah, it's just a few flecks of chocolate, not a whole tub of chocolate ice cream," Judy shrugged. "Chocolate tastes so good it might as well be a drug." The two got their ice cream dishes and moved to sit down together at a booth. Judy started scooting in. "Almost everything mammals really like is bad for them. Caffeine, alcohol, chocolate. It's the dose that makes the poison."

"I guess so," Nick shrugged, looking down at his own small pile of ice cream. "Meanwhile, I have vanilla." He took a spoonful out and ate it.

"Vanilla gets a bad rap," Judy shook her head, taking a spoonful of her own and eating it, closing her eyes to savor it. "Mmm... chocolate is so tasty. But yeah, vanilla is good, too! I don't think it's fair to say it's the 'plain' flavor."

There was a small lull as the two ate their ice cream.

"So, you called Vivian yet?" Judy smiled.

"Not yet," Nick replied. "Thinking about it." Nick looked down at his ice cream and stabbed at it listlessly with his spoon. Judy nodded and ate another spoonful.

Nick looked up at Judy. "Hey, Fluff, you ever... you ever think about cows?"

Judy tried a third time to stifle her laughter, but this time it exploded out of her mouth, causing a few other animals to turn their heads and look.

"Pfff ahahahaha!" Judy burst out, setting her spoon down and hugging herself, slumping back and laughing. Nick had to grin; it was a delightful sight. She was almost gasping for breath. "Do I- do I think about cows, Nick?"

"I'm serious, Carrots," Nick tried to swallow his smile, but it was proving difficult.

"Oh yeah, you're serious," Judy said sarcastically, giggling as she sat back up in her seat. "Okay, sure. Yes. At least once a week. I'm just in my shower and I go 'I wonder about those cows... what's up with them'?" Nick rolled his eyes, the smile plastered across his muzzle getting larger.

Nick put his paw in his cheek as Judy had a few more giggling fits, watching the bunny. She wiped a tear from her eye.

"Okay, okay, whew..." Judy took a deep breath and exhaled, holding her paws up as she tried to calm herself. "Sorry, that just... caught me off guard. 'Do I think about cows'... okay. Where did that come from?"

"I dunno," Nick looked back down at his ice cream, finally managing to fade his smile away. "I just think about them sometimes. After they've had a calf they can get into the whole dairy industry, yeah?"

"Thankfully for the rest of us," Judy nodded. "I mean, where would we be without milk, cheese, milk chocolate, or any other dairy product? Milk cows do us all a great service, and it's not even hard work!"

"Do you think they feel pressure to get into it, though? The milking?" Nick stabbed lazily at his ice cream again, taking a small spoonful. "Do you think they feel like it's expected of them? To just be 'normal' and do the job a cow is 'supposed' to do?"

Judy sat silently for a few seconds, her eyes wide as she considered. She looked down at what was left of her ice cream and frowned.

"Nick is this... is this about us?" Judy blinked.

Nick felt like he had a dagger thrown straight into his chest. He looked very slowly from his ice cream over to Judy.

"I mean, Nick..." Judy shook her head. "I think we're both pretty far off from 'normal', don't you?" She chuckled. "Is that what you're worried about? Is that why you were worried about the whole traffic rounds thing?"

"Uh, well, you know," Nick shrugged noncommittally. He slowly breathed out through his nose, trying not to huff.

"We're both doing great for Zootopia," Judy smiled pleasantly. "We just did all of our big good first. We can't be superheros all the time." She pointed her spoon at Nick.

"Guess you're right," Nick said, nodding.

"Hey, Carrots," Nick's voice said in a tinny timbre.

Nick flinched. "Huh?" He chuckled. "Oh, have you not changed your text message sound from when I last pranked you?"

"Nope!" Judy smirked, grabbing her phone and looking at it. "You text me so frequently anyway that it might as well be your voice reminding me of- oh sap of a birch, come on!"

"What's up, Fluff?" Nick finished off the last bite of his ice cream.

Judy slumped back in her seat, staring at the ceiling and groaning. "Ugh! It's my parents again. They're trying to get me interested in this Ted Placid character."

"Ted? Teddie?" Nick considered. "Is he a bear?"

"Very funny," Judy smirked. "No, he's a bunny, of course." Judy pulled up a picture of him. The bunny in question was a black bunny with medium-blue eyes.

"Looks handsome enough," Nick shrugged.

"I just wish my parents would stay out of my personal life...!" Judy rolled her eyes. "They tried to talk me out of becoming a police officer, you know."

"Well, they were probably just worried for your safety," Nick shrugged. "You did almost get killed like half a dozen times in your first few months of life here." Judy huffed. Nick's jaw dropped a little and his eyes widened.

"Hey, wait, I know what this is," Nick smiled devilishly. "You're not into bucks, are you? Hmhm, I've never exactly seen you with goo-goo eyes over one." Judy looked confused. "Are the does more your speed?"

"Oh, you're turning this around on me now, are you?" Judy half-closed her eyes and smirked.

"How about Skip, huh? How about you and her?" Nick wiggled his eyebrows.

"Karen?" Judy's face scrunched up at the thought. She held up a hand in caution. "I dunno Nick. I don't think I'm quite her type. She needs someone with a lot more patience than I have, I think."

"Oh come on, opposites attract, right?" Nick was in full smug swing. "A little fire on your side, a little ice on hers... then the reaction! Tssss!" Nick flitted his fingers as if indicating rising steam.

"I'm pretty sure you just want to see some bunny does kiss, you big hornball," Judy said dryly, shaking her head.

"Me?" Nick placed his fingers of one paw on his chest delicately, closing his eyes. "Perish the thought, Miss. Besides, there's internet sites for that kind of thing."

"Nick," Judy continued flatly.

"What?" Nick grinned at Judy's dry look. "So what's with this Teddie guy?"

"He's just..." Judy looked at her phone laying there on the table. "He's just some buck. From what I hear he's nice enough. He works at the farm occasionally; he's working with them on pesticide and irrigation solutions now that Night Howlers are illegal."

"You don't think he'd be the right guy for you?" Nick asked.

"No!" Judy lowered her brow. "Do you see me as the kind of bunny who's going to get with a buck and have a few dozen kits? I don't think I could even take care of one litter with the job I have. Not unless he was a stay-at-home buck..."

"Who says you have to have kits?" Nick shrugged. "Maybe he's just got a nice personality."

Judy sucked at her teeth, looking away. "I feel like it's my parents last-ditch effort to get me on the path of a 'normal' bunny. Like you said, what's 'expected' of me." She looked at her phone and cringed. "Ugh, and he's going to be in Zootopia in a week for an agricultural convention and everything..."

"Do you really think your parents want you to be miserable after all this?" Nick wondered, leaning forward a bit. "I'm not accusing; I'm genuinely curious."

"I dunno, Nick," Judy slumped in her seat, but she slowly half-smiled. "I mean, they have decent enough taste; they do like you." Judy picked up her phone and looked at the picture of the black bunny again. "He is cute-ish..."

"Color me a bit jealous that you can just fling 'that word' around like it's nothing," Nick said dryly.

Judy stared at Nick sternly, then her expression softened. "I dunno... you really think I should give some bunny hick a try?"

"Did you seriously just ask me that question, Carrots?" Nick straightened up and adjusted his tie. "I gave 'some bunny hick' a try, and look where it got me."

Judy's face seemed to melt as she grew a pure smile. "Aw, Nick, you're so sweet."

Nick got up from his seat. "Yeah well, don't tell anyone."

Judy bounced out of the booth and followed him. "You really think it won't be weird?"

"Hey, what you said to me goes double for you, Fluff," Nick said, shrugging one hand flippantly. "You should be happy."

Nick got the door for Judy and she gave him a lingering smile before the two went back to their apartments.

Nick almost felt like his feet were dragging as he got home. He took in his surroundings when he entered his apartment. Nick still had a damp, leaky apartment in the Rainforest District. It was one of the last remnants of his "old life" out on the streets of Zootopia, where he hustled to make a living.

More like a SURVIVING, Nick thought to himself.

Nick's heart felt heavy. He couldn't believe that he'd acted so casually when it came to the subject of Judy dating someone. To act otherwise would have been suspicious, though, and he didn't want that.

He looked at himself in the mirror, frowning.

"What do I want...?" Nick grumbled. "As if I have to ask..."

Nick rubbed at his chest, feeling a dull ache in his heart. If he'd said something different on one of about a thousand different occasions, would things be different for him now? Would he not be standing there alone in a crummy apartment? Would he be cozied up to a little gray ball of fur and fluff? Or, would that bunny not even be in his life at all anymore if he messed things up; if he went too far?

The fox felt his breath catch, and his eyes darted to his reflection angrily. His teeth burst into a grimace as he tried to master his breathing; he felt as if he was on the verge of tears. There was no one around to put his facade on for. No one but himself.

"Look at you, you idiot," Nick gripped his dresser firmly, approaching the mirror and scowling at it. "Getting so worked up over a bunny. A bunny! Do you really think it could have worked out? I guess you think the bunny goddess Serendipity herself graced you in fur form to pull you out of your misery. Grow up, Nick! Stupid fox."

Nick angrily tossed himself away from his dresser, turning away from it and balling his fists. He scoffed, groaning. It was a dirty trick; whenever Nick felt like he was about to cry, he could always count on a burst of anger to save the tears for another time.

Foxes can be counted on to learn a BUNCH of dirty tricks, Nick thought.

"Hmph," Nick looked at his phone and sighed. His lock screen still had a ridiculous picture of him being what he could only describe as "tackle-glomped" by Judy from behind. Unlocking his phone, his thumb hovered over the call app as his eyes darted to his photo albums. He knew there was one full of pictures of that gray bunny, and the thought filled him with shame and self-loathing. "You ridiculous, obsessed, hopeless mammal. Just...!"

Nick's thoughts became wild again, but he grit his teeth and the tightness in his chest subsided once more. He let out a shaky breath, navigated to his contact list, and pressed the button to make a call.

"Hi, Vivian? Hey, it's me, Nick. ...Yeah, Nick Wilde."