Chapter 2 - Change

As the sun peeks above the horizon, illuminating the landscape in front of it, warmth intercepts the cool breeze of the night. The light of this gigantic star beams through the small apartment window, not conspicuous among the other high buildings in that region. Judy sits on her bed, awake, watching Nick's relaxed chest balloon and shrink with each participating breath. She switches her eyes from the sunset, then again stares at her best friend slumbering on the makeshift bed.

Seven-o-clock came and went, and then Judy again glances at the clock - 7:32. She lies about a foot from him, wondering when her day would soon begin - as soon as her friend wakes from his torpor.

Finally, after a moment, a heavy groan arises from him. He opens his eyes and blinks, then turns his head to face her, still lying down. "Good morning, Carrots," he says softly, a yawn interrupting his greeting. He stretches his arms above his head, then sits up on his homemade bed, crossing his legs so that his right ankle lies over his left.

The way he sits – with a black shirt and with a pair of grey sweatpants on – and the look of his baggy eyes and ruffled hair makes her smile internally. She quickly pushes the thought away, but her mind replaces it with another incessant thought. Having trouble admitting it to herself, she pushes the thought away.

"How'd you sleep?"

He yawns again, scratching the back of his arm. "Pretty good." He gradually stands from his spot on the floor, staggering over to his suitcase and fumbling his uniform in both hands as he retreats to the bathroom to change.

He exits a few minutes later, finding Judy sitting on the bed eating a donut. He sits next to her, looking at the snack in her paw. He smiles and extends one of his arms. "You get one for me?" He laughs awkwardly, following the gaze of Judy's outstretched finger, pointing at a donut and a coffee. Nodding, he collects his breakfast, moving the donut to his mouth, noticing her already in uniform. "Looks like someone took advantage of time." He takes a generous bite of his donut.

She smiles. "Is that a backhanded compliment?"

"You're your own judge." The food in his mouth muffles the words exiting. As he bites into his donut, again Judy runs her paws up through the fur atop his head. He hovers his paws above his head. "Carrots - what are you doing?"

"Looks like someone didn't comb his hair or brush his teeth."

His eyes widen. "How did you -"

"I may not be Mr. Articulate like you, but I can definitely tell you haven't. Obviously, as I can see, you haven't combed your hair. I know you didn't brush your teeth because I didn't hear it from the bathroom, and it wouldn't make sense to do that anyway," she says, gesturing toward his donut. "Imagine how disgusting coffee would taste after brushing your teeth."

"Everyone has hygienic problems, Carrots. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," he takes another bite of donut and sip of his coffee. "Now, I'm just going to savor the moment."

Finishing the morning routine, the partners scramble to their police cruiser. Judy looks over at Nick, smiling. She reaches over to him and brushes a portion of his uniform. "Got a bit of donut there. I really wasn't thinking I'd say that anytime soon."

A casual drive later the two arrive and park; then walk into the station. It smells of the usual donuts and coffee consumed by the staff, and an occasional conversation now and then, echoing throughout the inside of the station replay the same conversation, blending into the other indistinct conversations. Clawhauser sits at the desk, slowly consuming donuts. He smiles and Nick and Judy approach him, setting down his donut. "Good morning, guys."

Judy smiles, and Nick does the same. He nods and walks slowly away as Judy continues to quickly chat with Clawhauser. After a moment, she politely leaves her conversation and walks toward Nick, tapping him lightly on the back of the arm.

He turns his head to her and grins lightly. "Hey again, Carrots," he pauses. "I just got word that my apartment's price grew overnight. You wouldn't mind allowing me to stay a little longer, would you?"

An ear-to-ear grin spreads across her face. "Sure." Her response is not as heartfelt as her imagination – she imagines him being with her the next two months.

He looks at her, his eyebrow slowly rising to the point of almost receding onto his scalp. "Carrots? Earth to Carrots..."

Her smile fades and she pops back into reality. "Oh, sorry. Daydreaming right there," she says, chuckling awkwardly.

His eyebrows fluctuate, and his paws curl into fists and he places them on the top of his hips. He stands for a minute, examining her. He shrugs and moves his hands to his side, face relaxing. "C'mon, Carrots," he gestures to the bullpen, slowly heading that direction.

She follows him into the crowded room, the familiar scent of donuts and coffee increasing. Nick likes the smell, and it reminds him of the bakery he'd gone to before he met Judy. He joins Judy on the large chair, eyeing her, who looks ahead at Bogo, who he never noticed enter the room. Despite her gestures, his head still faces her.

"Wilde," he calls, and Nick looks at him. "I need you to focus. If you want to stare at somebody, stare at me."

Nick nods quickly, showing an awkward smile, and he can feel his cheeks redden beneath his fur. Judy, who notices his embarrassment, quickly raises her hand.

Bogo sighs, placing his tiny reading glasses on the bridge of his nose, and looks at her. "Yes, Hopps?"

"You mind if Nick and I be excused for a minute?"

He hesitates, filing through the thick stack of papers attached to the clipboard in hand. "No. Sit down. I don't have time for nonsense."

"Sir, this isn't -"

"Don't care. Sit."

Judy rolls her eyes and plops down on the chair, just as Bogo speaks. "Alright, everybody. Shut it!"

Silence.

"We have two items on the docket," Bogo pounds the clipboard with his finger. "First, I'd like to acknowledge that there will be a cookout next Monday. Seven PM sharp. Don't miss it. Next-" he flips a page over the clip on the clipboard, "- we have received reports of incessant squealing coming from a densely populated part of town, a half mile from here. This, along with the case we have not solved since last week, are both a high priority," he steps from the podium, "Grizolli, Fangmeyer, Delgato - investigate the squealing," he holds out a folder, which a well-built tiger takes from his grasp. "Wilde, Hopps, you will be investigating the suspicious noises in Savannah Central."

Judy receives the file from Bogo, opens it quickly, scans the page, nodding as she closes it. She stands after the chief concludes the assignment distribution.

"Chief?" Bogo looks back quickly, again donning his glasses. Judy walks up and fiddles with her hand. "You told Nick to sit down, and he got embarrassed for a reason. I think he's tired. Do you mind just, I don't know, toning down the anger just a bit? He normally doesn't have these anomalies."

The chief frowns. "That's his problem, Hopps. Tell him to get to bed earlier." He turns back to the open door, walks through, and shuts the door behind him.

Grand Pangolin Arms Apartment Complex (GPAAC), 5:11 PM

Nick sits before the four-pane window, running his fingers through a deck of cards in his paw. The blue, cloudless sky contains no visible sun. He picks out several cards and slaps them down on the windowsill, messily organizing them, then collecting them back into a pile and inserting them back into his main pile in his paw. He sets the pile down as neatly as possible down onto the windowsill. He gathers his uniform, before strewn in the corner of the room, and attempts to fold his pants.

Judy holds her paw out to him, grasping the waistline of the pants, folding the garment successfully, and delivers the garment to his paws. Nick manages a smile and sets the garment down on the nearby desk. He paws his shirt and holds it up to her. "So, Carrots, I've taught you a couple things before. I think it's time you help me with something."

"Why not?" Judy walks over to her dresser and holds up a pink, long-sleeved shirt. "I'll show you how to do it," she lies it flat on the bed. "Bring the arms in, fold it in half, like a book. Then, grab the lowest part and fold it over all of it. If you want, you can fold it over again."

"OK," he smooths his uniform, buttoning the buttons one by one. "So, I bring the arms in, then fold it over like a book?"

"Yep," she watches him closely. "Now, you fold – nope, not like that," her paws intervene, fixing his error in folding. "Like that. Now, you fold–"

"–From the bottom and over the rest, right?"

"Yes, that's right. Yours is a little big, so fold – actually, don't fold yet. Do you have your tie?"

He nods and places his tie next to the shirt. "Okay," Judy takes the tie, folds it, and places it into the middle of the shirt, running straight up the line where the buttons connect. "Now, you fold it." Nick folds the shirt up from the bottom, and he lifts it up from underneath.

"Look at you, Nick! You just did that!" Judy yells in appreciation.

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"When you're getting ready tomorrow, I'll teach you to iron."

"Carrots, I don't know why, but it's such a weird feeling. Normally, I know a lot, and now, you're teaching me things. They're the simplest things, but I've never learned them. It's great to have you do that, I gotta give you that. There's probably a few other things you could teach me – like cooking, for example."

"We'll see about that. Maybe we can squeeze in a few minutes at the station – there's a kitchen there." She smirks and paws the playing cards in her paws, which she had taken from the windowsill. "I can't play cards. How about you teach me how to play?"

"I got those from my great uncle. He's known as Mr. Speedy because of how fast he could deal," he takes the cards from her and moves the table from the corner of the room. Judy walks over to him with a chair in paw and places it on the end of the table facing the far wall. Nick deals the cards to her and himself and she sits. "However, I'm not Mr. Speedy," he finishes dealing the cards within a minute. "Okay, I only know one game, and I shouldn't say the name, but fortunately, when I played the game for my first time – I was probably ten or eleven – he called it 'Up'. The name stuck, and I've called it that ever since."

As Nick silently prepares his own cards, Judy mirrors his actions, and Nick begins to speak as she mirrors him. "Four cards face down – don't look at them. Then you place four of them face up – yes, you can look at those – on top of the facedown cards.

"Feel free to replace the face-up cards with the highest value in your hand. Now, pick three cards at random to use as your hand, then put the rest of the cards face-down in a pile next to your eight cards. This pile will be your deck."

"What do we do now?"

"Well, I'm going to place down a card," he places a 3 of hearts. "Now, with the three cards in your hand, find one bigger than the one I placed down, in this case, it is a three of hearts. If there isn't, see if you have a two or a ten – those count as wild cards – and if you don't, pick out of your pile there," he points to his own pile next to the eight cards, "and wait until you get a two, ten, or a number higher than the card I placed down," he points to the 3 of hearts on the table. "Also, make sure you always have three in your hand at all times. Pick up from your pile, and then when you run out you play the four cards you placed face up, then play roulette with the ones you placed down. You try."

Judy studies the three of hearts, then places a four. "Great, Carrots," Nick congratulates. "Now I place a higher card," he places a Jack. "See that? You can either play a two, ten, queen, king, or ace. See?"

"Yeah," she places an ace, and Nick sighs, gathering up the small pile. "If you don't have a card higher or equal to the one I placed down, or a two or a ten, then you pick up the whole pile."

Twenty minutes later, Judy places her paw on her last facedown card. "Okay, this is it. A giant pile in front of me, and if this isn't higher than a Jack, or a two or a ten, then I get the whole pile, right?"

"Yep. Now, let's see." Below, he has a facedown card and a card facing up atop the facedown card.

Judy pulls the card up to herself, sighs, then pulls her hand over the top of the large pile of cards. Her face curves into an expression of disappointment. A grin starts to spread across Nick's face, then fades into apprehension as a smile appears on Judy's face, and she slaps a ten down on the large pile. Nick leans his head backward, smiling at Judy's ability to overawe him. He examines his facedown card. "Oh, I would've lost anyway. I had a jack as my face-up and a three as my face-down. You did great, Carrots."

"Well, thanks. It was beginner's luck, really."

"I'm sorry to disagree with you, Carrots, but the way you played was impressive. You seemed like an old hand instead of a novice. You beat me, the grand-nephew of Mr. Speedy, the greatest card player I've known. If he was still alive, I bet you'd beat him in the first few tries."

She smirks. "Well, you want to get pizza for us? Or, how about a fancy restaurant or something?"

He raises his eyebrows, curving his mouth down. "Carrots, you know I c-"

She interrupts him. "I was kidding. I'm just as fine with a pizza at Zominos."

His slight face of displeasure fades. "Your choice. I'm fine with it."

"So, who's getting it?" She says, eyes widening as she watches him stand.

He smiles. "I can get it. It's just I haven't driven in what?" He taps his chin. "Ten years?"

She laughs. "You drove yesterday. Wasn't that your first time driving in a while, though?"

He shakes his head. "Yes, that was," he takes out his wallet and shows her his license. "I may look young, but it doesn't expire for a while."

She didn't focus on the date. She looks at his picture, Nick in his early twenties with the fur on the top of his head neatly combed back, wearing a nice red tie neatly tucked into the collar of a clean, done up white shirt. Her eyes then trace to the date, which expires two years from the current year. "'A while,' huh?"

He laughs. Two years isn't that bad," he frowns. "Do you want pizza or not?"

She moves her head back from his wallet. "Sorry. Go ahead. Don't crash."

He laughs. "I'll be okay, Carrots."

Twenty minutes later he arrives back with a box in his hands, knocking on Judy's door.

"Who is it?" She says from inside.

"The mayor," he smiles. "Who do you think it is?"

Judy laughs lightly and opens the door. "Hello again. My guess is you didn't crash since you came back in one piece."

"Sure, I guess you could say that. I'm not the best driver in the world, but I'm still alive."

"That's good," she says. "Do you want to eat now?"

"Sure."

After devouring the meal in ten minutes, Nick sits on her bed. "That was good."

"Good," she says, picking up his plate he had left on the nightstand and disposing of it, sitting next to him. "At least you enjoyed it."

"Well," he says, picking up his phone and quickly looking at it. "It's 6:10. Do you want to watch a movie, or play spin the bottle..."

She looks at him, squinting. "What?"

"I was kidding, Carrots. We can watch a movie, or go downstairs and hang out, go to bed... there are countless things we can do."

"Well, I'm not going to bed at six. I guess we can go out for ice cream or something. I'll pay."

He nods. "There's one across the street from here. We can walk."

Judy paws her keys and reaches for the door, but Nick beats her to it and gestures outside. "Go ahead, Carrots," Nick says playfully while she rolls her eyes and exits. Nick walks after her, and after she locks the door they descend in the elevator to the first floor.

Outside, Nick shoves both paws in his pockets and looks about the street. He had seen this street many times since Finnick had driven him through many of the streets of Zootopia before he became a police officer. The sun, to his left, is about fifteen degrees from the horizon. Despite this fact, the cool air from the surrounding ocean penetrates his fur. He tries to refrain from shivering, but the urge to shiver overpowers his ability to resist, and Judy happens to look over at him the same moment he shivers.

Immediately Judy frowns, looking at her friend. "You're cold?"

"It's just the ocean, Carrots. The sun's still out," he says, his paws and arms weaved across his chest.

"We can go back and get your coat if you want," she turns toward the building. She produces her keys from her pocket.

"No, no, no. You're not wearing a coat either. Besides, it's a short walk."

"Are you sure-"

"Yes, Carrots. I'm fine."

"Okay. You will get a little bit colder after we eat, though."

"Which is understandable."

Judy rolls her eyes as they continue down the cracked sidewalk toward the ice cream parlor, being surprisingly silent. After a moment, they walk through the doors of the olden-style ice-cream parlor, decorated with antique paraphernalia. Various scents, especially those of caramel, chocolate, and mint, linger in the air. The line leading up to the counter is little, only a pig standing in this line. Nick and Judy stand behind her as Nick produces his wallet.

"Wait. I said I would pay-" Judy begins.

"Up-up-up-up," he says quickly, putting his finger to her mouth. "I'm paying, and that's final."

Judy sighs, putting her wallet back into her pocket. The pig steps off to the side and Nick looks at Judy. "What do you feel like?"

"Vanilla with caramel and chocolate sprinkles, with a maraschino cherry on top."

Nick repeats her statement to the cashier, but a call from her uncle prohibits her from attending to the rest of Nick's order, so she assumes he had ordered two different sundaes because she knows he prefers chocolate or strawberry ice cream. She watches Nick closely after he pays and steps off to the side, waiting. Shortly after Judy finishes her call he leads Judy to a table with two chairs and sits.

The waiter walks up with one bowl in paw and sets it down on the table. Judy looks at it in confusion. "You only got one?"

"Good examining, Hopps. Now see how many spoons there are."

She examines it quickly. "Two."

"Now put the information together, and make an inference."

"Since you got one sundae and this sundae has two spoons, we are both sharing this. But I thought you hate vanilla."

"It sure isn't my favorite, but it's okay. I'll eat it. Now, let's eat," he picks up one of the spoons and takes a bite of it.

She does the same. "Good."

He stands on his second bite. "I gotta go to the bathroom," he says, the spoon still in his hand, full of his third bite of ice cream.

He walks right past her, looking the other way and deliberately tipping his spoon right above her head. The cold sweet falls directly between her two stalky ears.

"Oh, c'mon," she says, not looking at him. "Was that really necessary? Go get some napkins."

She expects a dry, rough, papery material to touch her fur. Instead, a wet, muscle-like organ wipes across the top of her scalp.

It took a moment, but she recognizes the feeling. "Eww! Did you just lick the top of my head?"

He nods at her enraged, but playful eyes. "Yes. I was too lazy to get napkins."

She rolls her eyes. "C'mon. You know how immature that is."

"Compared to you, yes."

She laughs as she turns her head away, back to the ice cream. "So, are you actually going to the bathroom?"

He sits down. "Let's just say that it was worth spilling ice cream on your head."

After finishing their meal, they return home to the apartment and Judy flops onto the bed. "I'm bored."

He ignores her. "Want to hear a joke? What do you call a cow lying down?"

She rolls her eyes. "What?"

"Ground beef."

With a smile, she shakes her head. "Oh, Nick. I don't know if that joke was degrading or innocent."

"It's your judgment."

She smiles and rolls her eyes. "Anyway, what do you want to do?"

He smiles. "The joke really didn't impress you," he puts his finger to his chin for a moment, then shoves his hands to his side in exhaustion. "I've got nothing."

"Well, we might as well just get to bed, then."

He shrugs. "Alright," he says, bending down next to her. Her eyes shrink in confusion before Nick plants a kiss on her cheek. "Goodnight."

Incredulous, she blushes. She jumps onto her bed, joyful. "Goodnight. Thanks."

She lies in her bed, wondering about him. He'd paid for their ice cream when she had said she would, he'd driven to get the food when she volunteered, and he kissed her on the cheek. He bought the food and the ice cream out of his own wallet after he only had two-hundred-and-something odd dollars in his bank account.

He's changing. He admires me, she thought. He admires me and doesn't want to lose my trust. That's why he's acting so strange. He didn't suddenly have a personality change.

He loves me.

And I'm gonna find a way to love him back.

Hello, guys, CrazyWriter here. I thank anybody who has read this chapter. The next chapter will be written within the time period of one day and two months from the time the previous chapter is written. If you want to give me suggestions, please do so, and anybody who also wants to ask me a question, wants me to add something to this current chapter, wants to suggest something for a future chapter, please PM me or send me an email (address is in my profile) and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Any constructive criticism is appreciated, but please try to avoid flares, as they will not be tolerated and will be immediately removed/reported. Thank you for your cooperation.