When the moon had taken its course and dusk passed without a hitch the day walkers of the brilliant buzzing city started to awake one by one, starting with none other than a well known Benjamin Clawhauser. Most might be surprised to find the pleasingly plump cat to be an early riser, but to him it was only second nature. Rolling himself out of his queen bed, discarding a corner of blankets to the other side as he made touch down with the floor with his sizable feet.

"Oooof! It's cold, brr" The hardwood below only made it worse as a chill ran up his spine causing him to quickly slip on a pair of overly cushy slippers as he padded his way to the adjoining bathroom within his cramped apartment, but always wanting to make the best of things the cheetah would exclaim, "Cozy is apart of the charm!"

After a quick shower and brush of the fur our lovely spotted friend made his way out his restroom and proceeded to finish getting ready and within in a few minutes he was already locking up his appartment and making his way to a tiny hole-in-the-wall cafe taking up the lower floor of his seven story building.

"What'll it be, Benny-boy?" The kind old elephant, Mrs. Margie, asked with the usual juvenile youth that not even old age could sap.

"Oh just the usual! One buttered croissant...and uh" The husky cat paused to take a look at his belly and chuckle to himself "And maybe a banana for the road! Gotta make sure I'm still able to see the good old walkin' paws" The two shared a giggle before Margie produced the food.

"Now you have a good day, sweetums! Oh, and say hello to Ed for me!" the good hearted woman called out over the chime of the front door as Clawhauser started his relatively short walk to the precinct. Luckily the cheetah had checked the weather and remembered to grab his cozy yet smart looking uniform jacket, and as he continued making his way further into the heart of the city he noticed the long glances and stares.

'Geez, I know it's a nice jacket, but this seems a little ridiculous' Benjamin couldn't help but blush a little from all the positive attention, definitely a nice change from his high school years.

-_-_- Time break -_-_-

Having arrived so early he was able to catch up on all that had happened during the night, after giving the poor moose who normally took his position during the night the go ahead to abandon his post for much needed sleep the cheetah picked up some case files and memos and walked towards the break room. Knowing he was the only one here he began to sing quietly one of his favorite Gazelle songs, perusing over the files and even swaying his hips enough to eventually reach the handle to the break room and butt it open. This pleasant start always reminded him why waking up early made all the difference.

-_-_- Time break & POV change -_-_-

While at least one of our favorites seemed to be having a good morning, the opposite could be said about the poor Chief of Police. After being scared half to death by his alarm clock and falling out of bed in a mess of sheets and duvet, the morning looked to be the start to one of those days. With no coffee beans left, and no edible food in his fridge the buffalo stopped by a small cafe owned by a pleasant elephant, and while her kindness soothed some of the rough spots for the morning, burning his tongue on the pipping hot joe certainly didn't. Truly, he shouldn't even have had to wake up as early as he did, but seeing as he got home so early last night he thought that waking up and getting a start on the day would be a good way break his overtime habit.

Arriving before anyone, not surprisingly, he made his way back up the stairs and into his office, fumbling with the keys and dropping them to the floor. To almost make matters worse as he reached down to retrieve the metal annoyance all the papers he had brought home and back almost went spilling all over the floor, but his one lucky moment arrived and fortunately he didn't. After checking in and doing the necessary preparations for the day he made his way down to the first floor break room, knowing he had time to grab another cup of coffee and eat his breakfast sandwich he had picked up.

Some time passed, and his second cup of coffee was already gone. He almost got up to get yet another when he heard singing from outside, once more he was going to get up but the opening of the door he'd been sitting behind stopped him, taking another moment to see who it was he found it was none other than Officer Clawhauser. To the english buffalo's surprise the cheetah hadn't noticed him and he continued humming a tune Bogo recognized instantly. Not wanting to scare the poor cheetah to death again like last night, the taller one stood up and silently made his way to the door opening it and closing it again as though to make it seem as if he had just come back from the restroom. However the sudden noise still made the stout cat jump a bit and whirl around. Suddenly the eye contact between the two took a different turn for the buffalo as he took a moment to study the cheetah in front of him, something was different and he couldn't quite put his hoof and what it was. Meanwhile Clawhauser was still trying to figure out why he was suddenly so self conscious, it was only his boss and fellow Gazelle fan, normally he would've giggled and made some sort of comment about how much of a fan he was but for once the portly cheetah couldn't think of anything and noticed how intently the Chief was looking at him. Coughing slightly and glancing away, which again was weird for the bubbly cat, he decided to break the silence.

"Ahem! Oh em goodness...I didn't expect anyone but the night crew here, it's good to see you Chief" And with that he found himself right back in his usual grove, his sudden stupor ending but not without an underlying feeling of nervousness even an unexpected giddyness.

"Oh! Yes, morning to you too Clawhauser." The buffalo said a bit fast as he too broke out of whatever trance he had been in. Clawhauser could swear he saw a very faint dusting of pink on his superiors cheeks but dismissed the notion as simply being the cold air from outside.

Another few moments passed as the two turned away to get back to why they had originally come in here to do, letting a semi-comfortable-silence settle between them. "Well, I better head up to my office, I'll see you in an hour for the usual staff meetings." The buffalo huffed out, packing up his breakfast and heading towards the door making it halfway out before turning back and making eye contact with the soft cheetah once more. "Oh and Clawhauser, I like your glasses. They suit you." And with that he left leaving a slightly flabbergasted cheetah to subconsciously blush and bring a hand to touch the metal frames he didn't even know he had on.

AN: Heya everyone! Thanks so much for the initial support on yesterdays chapter, honestly I felt so inspired I decided to work on another chapter. Feeling super proud right now, guys!

Stay lovely my lovelies~!

MAP