-Nick and Judy's Aardvark Rise Apartment-
Nick Wilde groaned in annoyance. He was supposed to take a whole week off from work to recuperate from a severe illness he had barely survived. Despite this, he felt fine; he was fully recovered. He lounged about on the couch, taking his phone off of the table and flinging it into the air, catching it in his paw. He opened his phone and his conversation with Judy Hopps, sending her a couple of carrot emujis with a question mark at the end.
While waiting for her reply, he opened a rather prodigious folder on his phone entitled "Dumb Bunny". They were all pictures of the gray rabbit; now by far the largest collection of pictures on his phone. Some selfies with her, some candid shots, some where she was made aware of them. Nick flicked through them, noting how her expressions changed over the years. Early on, a lot of the shots had her making irritated faces, though mixed with a few pleasant ones. A year or so later, and Judy had been appropriating Nick's sly smirks into her shots. So proud, Nick thought, clutching his chest. Lately, though, a lot of her shots had outright fond looks. Nick smiled a bit brighter at these; a lot of them were after he had told her he loved her.
[Yes?] Judy finally texted Nick back.
[There a word that's beyond bored? Or do I just add on adverbs like supremely?]
[Stop whining. Just as boring here w/o you =:p]
Nick chuckled to himself. It was nice knowing they were both just as co-dependent on each other. His phone buzzed again.
[Dinner? =:3] Judy added.
[Sure thing]
[Let's go to one of my faves. Get ready, meet you after work.]
-Veggiepocalypse, Home of the Saladsplosion-
"Well! This place sure has an interesting name," Nick chuckled, taking a seat.
"Don't let that fool you; this place is great!" Judy bounced once in her seat. "There's more salad dressings here than I even knew existed!"
"U-um, are you two ready to order?" A nervous-looking ewe asked.
"Huh, the fruit and feta cheese saladsplosion looks nice," Nick shrugged.
"Ooh, I like that one too! Two of those, and a couple of waters, please," Judy nodded. The ewe bit her lip and walked off. Judy's enthusiastic mood waned a bit as she saw several pairs of eyes staring at her and the fox. Her eyes narrowed a bit and she sneered. "Rgh."
"It's the shades, isn't it?" Nick quipped, taking his sunglasses off. The stares didn't cease.
"It's not the sunglasses," Judy grumbled. Shortly, a middle-aged, snooty looking rabbit with a "tuxedo" color pattern walked up to their table. His name tag read "Derek Bunsworth, Manager".
"I'm afraid we do not serve... traditionally predatory animals here," Derek said, looking pointedly at Nick. Judy grew a large frown.
"Ah, no big deal, I'm a vegetarian," Nick said, waving his paw in front of his face. Judy's mouth was twisting; it looked like she'd snap at any time.
There was a small pause. Derek sighed. "Yes, well, I don't know if you're just trying to impress this young lady, but you're not fooling me. Please leave."
Judy slammed the table with both paws and rose up. She pulled out and flashed her badge. "Excuse me! Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD. Kindly refrain from harassing my fellow officer, Mister... Bunsworth." Judy's expression was full of barely checked rage.
Not intimidated, Derek cocked an eyebrow. "Unfortunately, Officer Hopps, I'm afraid you do not create the rules, you merely enforce them. So, as we are within our rights to refuse service, perhaps you should escort this fox off of our premises?" Judy looked infuriated; her teeth clashing together.
"Take me away, officer," Nick shrugged with a tiny, wry smile. Judy left in a huff, and Nick followed her, his hands in his pockets.
"Dumb bunny!" Judy spat as the two walked down the street.
"Ooh, no! No no no," Nick held up his arms in caution. "That's my name for you. Please don't sully it with the likes of him."
"Idiotic, moronic, speciesist trash bunny, then!?" Judy fumed, glaring at Nick.
Nick gave an easy shrug, remaining calm. "That's a bit more like it."
"Tuh!" Judy whipped her head to the other side, scoffing angrily. She scowled, pulling out her phone and starting to rapidly type.
"Ordering us a pizza, Fluff?" Nick folded his arms behind his head. "I'm still hungry."
"Don't distract me, Nicholas," Judy snipped, "I'm changing my review for this place. It's going down from four and a half stars to HALF a star. And, I'm marking down what a bunch of backwards, discriminating a-"
Nick suddenly started laughing, throwing his head back in amusement. His laugh was uproarious.
"What is so funny?" Judy asked him with pursed lips.
"You!" Nick wiped a tear from his eye. "I just love it when you get so mad."
Judy shook a finger at him. "Well, keep it up, buster, and you can have all of the angry bunny you'd like."
Nick looked away, holding up a palm near his head. "Let me rephrase. I love when you get mad for MY sake. You're my own, terrifying little bunny guardian."
Nick gave her a small, but rather adoring smile after declaring this. Judy felt herself defusing and eventually returned the smile.
It was good to be appreciated.
-Streets of Savanna Central-
Nick was sick, alright. Sick of remaining idle. The next day he had off, he launched out of bed and ended up on the streets, walking down alone with his hands in his pockets. He walked around until he found what he was looking for: a van with a wolf warrior carrying a dainty looking female wolf painted on the side. Slowly and after hesitation, he knocked a secret knock on the back door of the van so it's occupant wouldn't come out armed with a bat. Though, with his current relationship with him, he might come out with one anyway.
There was a short pause, but a small, angry-looking fennec popped his head out of the back of the van, then threw open the doors. He folded his arms and scowled.
"Well, look who it is," the fennec, Finnick, started in his unusually deep voice, "Nick-oh-luss Wilde. Whatchoo think you're doing next to my van? This ain't a sting, is it?"
"Just bored, Finnick," Nick said, shaking his head. A corner of his mouth moved upwards. "Sorry I haven't checked in on my favorite 'son' lately."
Finnick's eyes widened at Nick's audacity, scanning him with his eyes. "Well, you're brutally honest, ain't you? Maybe you should think of a reason to be here before I just get brutal." Finnick grabbed a small pawpsicle and shoved it in his small maw.
Nick had a pleasant smile. "How's the hustling going?"
"A lot slower, without a 'dad'," Finnick said, licking his pawpsicle. "Can't make as many at once, gotta make sure I buy from smaller vendors... least I can keep all the dough."
"Haven't thought of teaming up with anyone else?" Nick shrugged. Finnick narrowed one eye, pulling the pawpsicle out of his face and staring at Nick skeptically.
"You'n I had a good thing goin', Wilde," Finnick said. "You think I can just walk up to any ol' shady fox and ask 'em if I can pretend to be their elephant-lovin' son? You just walked away from me to be with that bunny broad so you could be 'legit'."
"Oh, so is it because she's a bunny?" Nick folded his arms, his smile weakening.
Finnick stared at him incredulously. "For real? Bunny, vixen, raccoon, mole rat, it don't matter! You left me, you sunnuva vixen! Whatchoo want me to say? 'Thanks for leavin' me by myself'?" Finnick crunched down on his pawpsicle.
Nick actually looked somewhat remorseful. He gestured with his hands a little, unable to speak for a few seconds, though his muzzle moved. "Sorry, Finnick, I uh... well... I love her."
Finnicks eyes went wide. He poked his head out of his van and looked around for cameras or microphones; he was sure a prank was being pulled on him. Seeing nothing, he narrowed one eye and tilted his head. "Did that fever you got fry more of your brain cells than I'd heard?" Finnick stood closer to Nick from the back of his van and knocked on his forehead twice. Nick just smirked. "I wouldn't think you'd admit that under pain of death, Nick! Not that I can't provide that." Finnick replaced his shrinking pawpsicle, cracking his knuckles.
"Listen, I know you've felt this way before, Finnick," Nick had his palms out, "you know that woman you fell for, Cass-"
Finnick folded his arms, his pawpsicle finished and the stick held between his teeth. "Oh, don't you bring up that little vix Cassandra!" Finnick sneered. "She just wanted to hustle me and leave me dry. That Hopps ain't nothin' like her. You lucky, Nick."
"Yeah, I am," Nick nodded seriously, his voice honest. "Every day."
Finnicks face finally softened. "So whatchoo really want, Nick?"
"I'll tell you what I don't want," Nick started, "I don't want to lose touch with you. I'm grateful for the time we helped each other make a living in this dumb city." He held his hands up to his face and closed his eyes. "I know it might not have been entirely legal, but we still kept things relatively painless."
"Far as you know," Finnick flashed his teeth in a grin.
Nick put his arms on his hips, leaning forward. "Just wanted to make sure you're keeping your nose and paws clean."
Finnick gave a terse, but still deep, laugh. "Aight, dad, I got this." He swiped his paw in the air separating the two. "Why don't you go home and get you summa dat BUNNY tail you like so much. Send pictures. You still got my number." Finnick flicked his pawpsicle stick at Nick, and it bounced off his muzzle. Nick bent over to pick it up.
"Ah ah ah!" Nick waggled the stick at him. "Littering!"
"Aight, whatever, boy scout," Finnick cackled and slammed the doors to his van.
Nick blinked, reflecting on that choice of works. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled, walking away and tossing the stick into a trash can. He guessed he kind of was, in a way. Took him long enough, he thought.
-Mezzo Park-
Judy and Nick approached Vivian Reddish's frozen fruit stand on the weekend. The friendly vixen waved at them.
"Thirsty?" Vivian asked.
Judy nodded. "Yeah, but I'm kind of a little bit sick of not paying for your drinks, Vivian..."
Vivian grinned, shooting a look to Nick. "Okay, you can pay for it. But I'll only let you pay for one cup. This size." She put a fairly large cup, from their perspective, in front of them. Judy rolled her eyes and they ended up looking at Nick. "What? I'll give you two straws...!"
"I'm down," Nick shrugged. "How about we share an orange-blueberry swirl?"
"Now we're talking!" Vivian giggled, pouring the refreshment. Nick took out his wallet and paid for it before Judy could. Vivian handed over the drink and the straws. "Okay you two, have fun and stay fresh!" Vivian stood on one foot, dangling her paws in front of her face and wiggling her fingers.
Nick and Judy stood motionless, baffled; one eyebrow on each of them slowly moved up almost simultaneously.
Vivian showed her teeth in embarrassment. "A bit too much? I was trying to think up a slogan; guess I'll keep at it..." All three of them chuckled a bit.
The two shared a walk through the park as they attempted to share their drink. Both of them seemed to move in at the same time for their straws. Their noses tended to rub together, and furtive kisses were shared as a result. Judy squeaked at one such opportunistic kiss; Nick's lips were cold. Nick smiled at her.
"You know, I think you keep moving in when I do on purpose," Nick accused. Their drink was about half-way finished.
"That's my line!" Judy shot back with the same expression.
"Fluff, you get the feeling Vivian just had me pay for an elaborate scheme to get a fox and a bunny to kiss?" Nick tilted his head at her.
"What's the matter, feeling hustled?" Judy bat her eyes at him.
"Well, I can live with it, as long as my reward is a cute bunny," Nick said playfully.
"Nicholas!" Judy's brow furrowed, but she was grinning. She shoved him away from her. "'Cute' is for when we're not in public!"
"Sorry, officer, guess you'll have to punish me...!" Nick said teasingly, approaching her and wrapping an arm around her, hugging her close to his side. "You know you love me-URGH!"
Both of them were so caught up in their flirting that they didn't notice the horse. He came up behind Nick and shoved him with both hooves impacting on his back. Nick fell to the ground, the drink he was carrying tumbling alongside him. Judy was stunned into motionlessness for several seconds.
"Hey!" The horse exclaimed, shaking his hoof accusingly at the fallen fox. "You get away from that rabbit, predator! You think just because you're bigger you can mess with her!? Not in this park! I'm calling the police!" He took out his phone.
"I'll save you the trouble!" Judy was livid. The horse flinched from her fiery stare. She whipped out her badge. "You've just assaulted a police officer! You're under arrest!" The horse gasped and ran off at full speed. Judy took a few steps after him before Nick called out to her.
"Judy!" Nick groaned in pain. "Leave him. Not worth it."
Judy's arms indicated the horse, sputtering in disbelief. "What!? Of course you're worth it. You were just assaulted!"
"Agh...!" Nick got to his knees. "No, I mean, he's a horse. You're probably just as fast as him, but he'd have more stamina. And we don't have any of our gear."
"Nick...!" Judy rushed over to him with concern. "Do we need to get you to a hospital?"
"I don't think so," Nick tried to get up to his feet, but groaned and stayed on his knees. He adjusted to sit on his haunches. "Boy, that smarts. Can't say I've ever caught horse hooves in the back before." Judy looked at the overturned drink on the ground; the straws in the dirt. She thought the drink could still be useful, so she salvaged what she could of it.
"Maybe this will help?" Judy took the now grass-infused drink and gently, softly placed it on Nick's back, trying to lay it over where the small indents of the impact marks looked like they were.
"Sssgh... aaagh..." Nick slurped and groaned.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Judy said, panicky. "I'll try to be more gentle..."
"It's okay, I think it's helping," Nick mumbled.
"S-stupid horse," Judy's eyes started to water a bit, even though she wasn't the one injured.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Nick said reassuringly. Even though he couldn't see her, he heard her voice catching and knew she was upset. "From his view it probably looked like I was forcing myself on you."
"Why doesn't anyone understand...?" Judy asked softly, rotating the drink to keep the cold on Nick's injuries. She gave a shaky sigh.
"Eh, they either don't know or don't care," Nick said, his voice as blank as his stare at the ground. "I'll just have to be more careful about what I do with you in public. Besides just calling you 'cute' that is." He gave a soft huff of amusement.
"I take it back," Judy's voice was still upset, "call me 'cute' whenever you want. I just... rgh... I just wish you didn't feel like you have to guard yourself around me..."
"Shh, it's okay," Nick shook his head, giving another huff, "hey, I've had a lot of practice with that, though."
Judy looked away from Nick's back, her eyes squinted shut; her eyelids trembling. Her teeth were clenched tightly and one tear managed to flee down her cheek. She felt like a small part of her soul had been stepped on by an elephant. She tried very hard to restrain herself, but her next breath was a shuddering gasp.
"Judy, c'mon, it's all right..." Nick held one of his hands out to his side. Judy reached out, firmly clutching his paw and squeezing it.
"It's not..." Judy insisted.
"Look at what I've got," Nick rubbed his thumb over her paw. "As long as I have this, it's okay."
"...It's okay," Judy finally agreed, giving a wobbly smile. Nick gave a relieved smile as he felt a kiss sneak up on him and land on his cheek.
-Zootopia Police Department Headquarters-
A day later, Nick was finally back at work with Judy. They walked out of the briefing room together.
"You know, I think I'd have felt better if I could have come to work a few days earlier, actually," Nick grinned wryly.
"How's your back?" Judy asked in concern.
"To tell you the truth? Hurts," Nick nodded, then shook his head. "I'll live."
"Tsk," Judy sucked her teeth at Nick, staring at his neck. "Honestly, Nick, your tie is a mess. Come here, dumb fox." Judy grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the break room. She began fixing his tie, looking up at him, one side of her mouth in a long, wry line of disapproval.
"As you wish, sly bunny. Boy, you're out of work for a week and you forget all about how to tie a tie," Nick shrugged.
"You wore a tie every day you were off, you dingbat!" Judy chuckled, though she tried to keep looking annoyed.
"Hey, you know that's offensive to bats," Nick said mockingly.
"Yeah? Well I'm sick of being the offended one," Judy challenged. "There, now your mother wouldn't have to disown you if she saw what an awful knot you tied." Judy smiled happily, cinching up the knot and leaning in. Their noses were dangerously close. Nick grinned. It'd be so easy to steal a little nose kiss...
At that moment, Chief Bogo walked by the break room and froze, seeing the tender look the two were giving each other. Nick's eyes widened and his pupils shrank, and Judy cautiously followed his gaze, her face making the same expression. Chief Bogo took his clawed fingers and pointed at his own eyes with two of them, then at both of them. He looked down the hall for any movement, then leaned his head into the room.
"Keep it out of the office," Chief Bogo warned in a low, flat voice. "I will not tell you again."
"I was just... f-fixing his tie..." Judy explained weakly. Chief Bogo's mouth was in a line, and he stormed off. "S-sweet cheese and crackers, I almost got us written up, or worse!"
"Eh, you were just straightening my tie," Nick said evenly. Judy looked dazed.
"I did... I did almost kiss you," Judy admitted, wringing her hands and staring at the floor.
"So we'll be more careful," Nick went on easily, feeling the tight knot in his tie.
"I don't want to have to be," Judy grumbled with no emotion.
"They're getting to you... never let them see, remember?" Nick walked past her and brushed past her side with his own roughly. "'Oops'. Sorry, Officer Hopps."
Judy smiled at the contact, feeling herself calming.
-Nick and Judy's Aardvark Rise Apartment-
Judy slammed the door to their apartment, folding her arms and scoffing.
"Uh oh, the bunny's grumpy again," Nick teased.
"So! Let's review," Judy gestured with her paw. "We can't be ourselves in public, nor the workplace, and we don't even know about our families yet! Is this really how it has to be?"
"Maybe until the world catches up with us crazy hipsters," Nick wiggled his eyebrows. "But hey, I liked bunnies before it was cool, just want you to remember."
Judy sighed, tilting her head back and her eyes searched the ceiling. "Nick, do you really always have to joke about things like this?"
"You know me by now, lovely bunny," Nick started to frown. "I joke when I'm anxious."
Judy frowned as well, and rushed over to hug him. He gratefully hugged back. After a moment, he released the hug and slowly pushed her away from himself.
"Speaking of things we have to do in private anyway," Nick smirked, "I've been coming up with some ideas. Think I could write a whole book about 'em, actually."
Judy's mood lifted instantly and she gasped. "Ooh, I'd love to read that book!"
"I think you'll especially love the end," Nick's teeth showed.
"Now now, I'll be sure to take in all the yummy details in the middle, too," Judy sang angelically, though her expression was growing devilish.
"I'll have to hope I'm a good enough writer for you, then," Nick wiggled his eyebrows.
"I'm sure I'll be reading a magnum opus," Judy whispered, drawing close.