Todd sat at a table by the window of Grillon, a decently nice bistro aimed at predators in the heart of downtown Zootopia, painfully aware that he was the only fox in the building. Foxes who could afford the area were few and far between. Dakota had recommended the place, but Todd doubted she'd ever paid attention to the lack of vulpine clientele. Todd had already turned a few heads just sitting by himself. When he was joined by another fox, there would be no escaping notice.
Todd heard the door open, and turned to see Nick Wilde stroll in, hands in his pockets. Nick moved his sunglasses to the top of his head as he examined the restaurant, his cool smile betrayed by surprise in his eyes. He quickly spotted Todd and made his way to the table.
"Swanky place," Nick smirked.
"Yeah," Todd rose and shook Nick's paw. He continued somewhat hushed. "I can feel everyone staring at us."
"You get used to that as a fox in uniform," Nick shrugged as they took their seats.
"You shouldn't need to get used to it, though," Todd forced himself to keep his eyes off the other patrons. "That's why I'm running."
"The legislative process is well known for its ability to change hearts and minds," Nick quipped as he looked over the menu.
"Sure, it wouldn't happen immediately, but the more we integrate now, the sooner we will change hearts and minds," Todd said. Nick's smirk fell a bit, then became slight annoyance as he looked at the menu. "Is something wrong?"
"This is all fish and bugs," Nick said. "I'm a vegetarian."
"You are?" Todd's ears fell as his heart sank. "On no, you should have told us. I could have picked somewhere with better options for you and-"
"Breathe, Suits," Nick held up the menu and pointed to the salad section. "I'll just get one of these things."
"I'm sorry Officer Wilde, I-"
"Call me Nick," he leaned back in his seat. "I'm still not one hundred percent used to the whole 'officer' thing, myself."
"I'm sorry Nick, I just wanted to take you somewhere nice for lunch."
"Well, the decor is nice, but I'm pretty sure the waiter just took the order of that pig over there, and he came in after I did," Nick gestured to the pig's table. "What's a pig doing here anyway?"
Todd tried to flag down a server. After waving for a bit, a well groomed cheetah finally arrived at the table. "May I help you?"
"Yes, my friend and I have been here a while and we would like to order," Todd smiled with pointed politeness. The waiter subtly but not unnoticeably sighed as he flipped open his order notepad. Todd turned to Nick. "What would you like?"
"Carrot salad, please," Nick matched Todd's energy, sharpening the last word.
"And I'll take the salmon sandwich, thank you," Todd said. As the waiter walked away, Todd turned to Nick. "Carrot salad?"
"Hopps turned me onto them," Nick shrugged.
"Cool…" Todd trailed off. For about a minute, neither said anything.
"So I'm fairly certain you didn't invite me here to learn about my dietary preferences," Nick broke the silence. "I've seen enough movies to know that lunches with politicians are never just lunch."
Todd half-chuckled. "You're right about that. I wanted to ask if you'll endorse me in the race. It'd just have to be a quick public statement. I stand for-"
"I'm gonna stop you there," Nick said. "Bogo has 'encouraged' the ZPD to stay out of City Hall affairs after what happened last time."
"But-"
"Don't get me wrong. I'll be voting for you. I like your platform, and your giant ears remind me of a friend of mine," Todd's hands instinctively started moving to cover his ears, but he stopped himself. Nick's voice took a more serious note. "But I can't endorse you."
"Nick, your endorsement could be the game changer that keeps Turnbull out of office," Todd put his paw on Nick's arm. Nick shrugged him off.
"Look, I just can't, okay?" Nick's voice made it clear that this was the end of the discussion. At that moment, their food arrived. Nick's tone turned on a dime. "But hey, let's enjoy our lunch anyway."
The pig sat at a table with a good view of Renard and Wilde. He stood out like a sore thumb and he knew it. The server took his order shortly after he was seated: just a vegetable soup. He wasn't really hungry, but he had to blend in as much as possible for his mission.
For a moment, he thought he was caught. Wilde gestured toward him, and Renard looked over briefly. He considered leaving right then, but that would only confirm any suspicions they might have. He had to stick it out. He was just a normal pig who just happened to come to a predator restaurant for lunch by himself and…
He decided to stop that train of thought before he convinced himself to leave. All he allowed in his mind was observing the pair of foxes. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could read their body language. Though the two got off to a rocky start, after their food arrived they seemed to hit it off. His boss needed to move against this now. The pig pulled out his phone and sent a text. "To Turnbull: Wilde may endorse, get Hopps."
A limo had picked up Judy at her apartment and whisked her to one of the nicest restaurants in town for probably the strangest meeting she had ever been invited to. Andrew Turnbull had invited her to dinner out of the blue without saying why. Judy, though skeptical of the invitation and the bull who set it, had accepted out of a mix of politeness and curiosity. She wore the nicest dress she owned - a simple blue garment that stopped just short of hitting the floor - yet when she arrived at the restaurant she immediately felt underdressed. The men wore impeccably tailored suits, the women couture gowns nicer than Judy had seen even at weddings. She couldn't help but gawk at the other patrons as the maître d' led her to a private dining room in the back.
The room was bigger than her whole apartment. It would have been elegant if not for several gold statuettes and busts that put it on the border of gaudy. In the center of the room sat an ornate gilded mahogany table. At the end of the table sat Turnbull. He rose a moment after she entered. The bull strode toward her, saying "Judy, it's so good to finally meet you." He extended a hoof as big as Judy's head.
Judy hesitated a moment before returning his handshake. "I appreciate the hospitality, Mr. Turnbull. It's Officer Hopps, though."
"Of course," Turnbull gestured to the table. "Shall we?" The two took their seats, the attendant by the table helping Judy into her heavily boosted chair. "I've asked my chef to pull out all the stops for us tonight." As if on cue - and with Turnbull it was a distinct possibility that it was on cue - a pair of servers entered in perfect synchronization and presented two bowls of a wonderful-smelling carrot soup.
"Your chef?" Judy asked after the performance ended.
"Of course, I own this restaurant. My father built Turnbull Enterprises off the back of restaurants like this," Turnbull took a sip of wine. Judy couldn't make heads or tails of the bottle, but it was a white wine of some sort, and it looked expensive.
Judy nodded politely. She ate a spoonful of the soup. It was wonderful. Sweet from the carrots with a hint of exotic spices balanced perfectly with one another. Almost involuntarily she let out a small "Wow."
"It's good, isn't it? The carrots are from a local farm we work with closely, and the spices are imported from-"
"Mr. Turnbull," Just thought she saw Turnbull's carefully crafted character crack for a brief second. "You didn't invite me to dinner to talk about the soup."
"Very perceptive of you, Officer Hopps," a new hint of annoyance was carefully but not completely disguised in Turnbull's voice. "Getting right to the point, then, this is about the race for mayor. You're a police officer, Hopps. I'm sure you care greatly about the city's safety."
"Uh huh," Judy nodded hesitantly.
"And I'm sure you'd agree that some animals are more capable of violence than others. A mouse is less capable of assault than a tiger, for instance."
"I mean, I guess, but-"
"And since some animals are biologically more dangerous-"
"No," Judy interrupted Turnbull again, and his facade fell.
"Excuse me?"
"Capable of being dangerous and actually being dangerous are different. The most dangerous animal this city has ever seen was a sheep. I'm sorry Mr. Turnbull, but this dinner is over. The last time I got involved with an animal like you, bad things happened," Judy jumped down from her seat.
"You can forget about a ride back, then," Turnbull threatened.
"There's a train station two blocks west," Judy shot back before turning her back and walking out. From behind the now closed door, she could hear the sound of glass shattering.