Disclaimer: Zootopia and all Canon characters are owned by Disney. All other characters, product names, trademarks, and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

…..

"Wow," said Judy, looking gorgeous in a slightly less revealing red dress than the one she'd recently thrown at a store clerk.

Doing a 360, Judy took in the view of the nicest restaurant she'd ever been in, the Rainforest Riviera.

She'd only heard stories about the Rainforest Riviera, the most glamorous and exclusive six-star restaurant in the whole of Zootopia. And yes, six stars. The Riviera was so special and so hard to get a reservation for, an extra star was added to the scale expressly for the Riviera. It is truly a restaurant and dance club unlike anything else anywhere in the world.

…..

"You know, you're getting soft in your old age. You could have easily beat me in parking tickets this morning if you'd waited and given all those minivans from that church group tickets instead of explaining that they were parking in a construction zone and should move."

Judy hip-bumped her partner and, with a smirk on her face, said, "Like you weren't Mr. Holiday Spirit helping that family of lynxes find a special parking spot," and making air-quotes with her fingers, " 'only I know about,' right up front next to the toy store entrance instead of giving them a ticket for parking in a loading zone."

"What?" shrugged Nick, "so I know somebody, and the kit was on crutches. What's a Holiday-oriented fox like me supposed to do?"

Judy hugged Nick and said, "You're so cute when you're trying to be all by the book, but you don't really mean it.

"Oh, and your phone's ringing."

Nick felt for his phone, just in time to catch it vibrating on the softest setting possible, "How do you… do that?"

Judy shrugged and, letting Nick take his call, walked toward Clawhauser's desk.

"Hello?" said Nick, now standing in the middle of the lobby.

Alone and suddenly feeling like he was opening up a new episode of 'Mission Impossible,' Nick listened without responding.

Fortunately for him, his phone didn't self-destruct five seconds after he'd received his mission instructions. Or after he quickly emergency ordered the requisite gear he and Judy would need for said Mission.

…..

"I can't believe your grandmother wants proof of relationship so bad that she set all this up. Do you know how hard it is to get a reservation here?"

"Do you know how beautiful you look in that dress?"

Judy blushed, "Thank you, it fits much better than the one I tried on in the store, not quite as… backless. Should I be asking how you were able to pick out a more perfect fitting dress for me than I was?"

"No, no, you should not. Because it did not involve a guilty feeling store clerk or a requirement that not so much fur shows that your fake boyfriend has to fend off the jealous looks of every guy in here wishing they could be your real boyfriend."

Judy's ears pinked up again, and not used to being complimented on her looks, she reached up and adjusted Nick's tie by loosening it just a bit. "You look very handsome in that suit, too. I've never seen you wear it before. Is it new?"

Nick put his paws on Judy's hips and, leaning down a bit, said, "Thank you, and no, it's not exactly new. It's my dad's. Remember, I told you he was a tailor. Well, my mom reminded me he'd made himself a few suits and that we were the same size and build, so she dropped this one off."

Judy, enjoying the closeness of her fox, rubbed a lapel flap between her fingers and said, "It fits you perfectly, and the color complements your fur better than anything else I've seen you wear. I can see why your mom fell ears over tail in love with your father so quickly after they met."

"Yup," said Nick, looking deep into Judy's eyes, "foxes usually take their time falling in love, but sometimes, like in my parent's case, they just—"

"Excuse me. Madame, monsieur, my apologies for the wait, but your table is ready."

The maître d' guided Nick and Judy to a very well-apportioned table that looked out a wall of windows with a spectacular view of the city lights, and after pulling a chair out for Judy so she could sit, said, "Your waitress will be here momentarily. And please, if there is anything any of us at the Rainforest Riveria can do for you, don't hesitate to ask."

"Wow," said Judy.

Leaning over the intimate table he and Judy were sitting at, Nick chuckled, "I think you said that already once."

"Crystal chandeliers, huge windows, a balcony, a dance floor bigger than the Bunnyburrow soccer park, a live dance band, and, wow, real silver utensils and linen tablecloths. Seriously, how in the heck was your grandmother able to get us a reservation at this place with what had to be nearly zero point zero notice?"

"I heard the owner's grandmother asked him for a favor," said a female voice.

"Sam?!" said Nick. "Carrots, I want you to meet a friend of mine from high school. Sam, this is Judy Hopps, and she's my fa—, my date for this evening."

Sam chuckled, then whispered out the side of her muzzle to Nick, saying, "Nice job, you're moving up in the world."

Judy rolled her eyes as she put her paw out, "Nice to meet you too, Sam. And we're just best friends and ZPD partners helping out Nick's mom by going on a date."

"And having your picture taken doing couple stuff," said Sam, patting the phone in her pocket, "so I was told by the owner, personally."

Judy groaned while Nick moaned out, "Great. I knew there had to be a catch to this whole free night out thing."

"Don't worry," said Sam, "I promise you won't notice me doing anything except taking your order and fulfilling your every dining need.

"By the way, I need an arrival picture, so scooch together and look like your boyfriend-girlfriend out on a date."

Nick moved toward Judy but kept a good paw-width distance from her as he awkwardly put his arm around her without actually touching her. Judy, on the other paw, kept herself closed up tight within the space of her body with her ears nervously up and on alert, nose twitching, and a look on her muzzle like she was going to throw up.

"Uhh," said Sam, "Can you guys, maybe, look a little more boyfriend-girlfriend having fun and a little less like you're both constipated."

Nick and Judy looked each other up and down, then shrugged and looked back at Sam with confused looks on their muzzles.

"How about you guys just hold paws and smile."

Nick nodded as he delicately took Judy's paw, holding it with just two fingers as if it were radioactive, and then they both smiled…

"…or maybe they both had something intestinal going on," said a stoat waitress friend of Sam's, looking at the picture she'd just taken.

"Yeah, I don't know," replied Sam. "I just hope whatever's making them look like that passes through their systems quickly so I can get some decent pictures of them being together for the boss' grandmother."

…..

"Alright, are you guys ready to order your appetizers?"

"Yeah," said Judy, "Sorry about before. We're just not sure how best to do the whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing."

"No problem. I was more worried that you guys wouldn't be able to eat anything because you weren't feeling well, and the specials tonight are to die for."

"Yum," said Judy. "To start with, Nick would like a blueberry seltzer to drink. For his appetizer, he'd like the grilled shrimp with the lemon-seasoned dipping butter."

"And Carrots would like a virgin strawberry daiquiri, heavy on the strawberries, and your house special salad loaded with everything except cucumbers because, as we know, cucumbers are the original form of a garnish that shall remain unnamed, and lastly, she'd like a double helping of your poppyseed dressing on the side.

"Oh, and some toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top," said Nick.

Sam wrote down the orders while mumbling, "You're not boyfriend-girlfriend, but you order each other's meals. Okay, that makes sense."

"Ready?" asked Nick to Judy.

"Yup, your fake girlfriend is totally ready for this."

Almost ready.

The band hadn't started yet.

Judy's foot started a slow tap. Nick's tail wagged in very short, very fast cycles.

'No pressure,' they both thought, 'it's not like if we screw this up, the whole hustle won't come crashing down around us.'

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemammals, we hope you've been enjoying your dinner, and for those of you ready for a little desert in the form of a dance with your sweetheart, we're going to start with a slow dance for all the couples out there."

With one last deep breath, Judy took Nick by the paw and led him onto the dance floor.

No pressure.

Nick took Judy's right paw in his left, placed his right paw on her waist and…

Smiled big, or as some mammals thought as they watched the fox and bunny position themselves, grimaced.

"1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2—"

"Ow," whispered Judy as Nick stepped on her foot.

"Sorry, you okay."

"Uh-huh, I'm okay."

"1-2-3, 1-2-3-4—"

"Ooomf,"

"Sorry."

In the middle of the now crowded dance floor, Nick let go of Judy and, taking a breath, pantomimed a quick dance, then stopped and, smiling bigger, tried again. He stumbled at a turn, growled at himself, then took another breath and concentrated on relaxing.

"Okay," said Nick, holding Judy dance-ready, "let me try again."

"Yeah," said Judy, "this time without all the oomfs."

"Sorry."

…..

Sam lowered her phone and grimaced.

Sam's stoat coworker stopped to see how it was going and, looking at what Sam had just taken a picture of, said, "He still looks constipated, except for the smile, that looks more twisted or demonic than like he's having any fun dancing with his girlfriend."

"Yeah, no kidding."

…..

"1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3—"

"What's with all the counting?" whispered Judy. "You've never done that before."

"I've never had a girlfriend before," whisper-groaned Nick.

"But we've gone out dancing plenty of times before. You're a great dancer. You've never had to recite numbers before, and if anyone steps on anyone's foot, it's me on yours."

"I know," complained Nick. "I love it when we go dancing together, but tonight, I don't know. The whole boyfriend-girlfriend hustle, the pictures, and having to look romantic, it just…"

"How about we call a time-out on being boyfriend-girlfriend and just enjoy the evening like we normally do, as best friends?"

Nick nodded as he said, "Sam's already got that picture of us at the table, and I think it was pretty good. So, yeah, let's call a time-out on being a couple and have some fun."

Judy waved toward Sam, who was trying to conceal herself behind a curtain, and pantomimed Sam putting away her phone, followed by a cut signal with a finger across her neck saying they didn't want any more pictures taken.

Sam nodded and, giving Judy a thumbs up, made a show of putting away her phone.

Returning Sam's thumbs up, Judy turned back to Nick and said, "So, now that we're best friends again, what do you want to do?"

Nick put his paw out and smiled.

Judy smirked as she put her paw in his.

Bowing, Nick brought his lips to Judy's paw and kissed it, saying, "Your beauty captured my heart from across the room. And if this fox may be so bold as to presume that you are not spoken for, would you let him honor you with a dance?"

Judy flipped her ears back and then curtsied, "Oh, Mr. Wilde, I'm all a flutter that a fox as handsome and debonair as you would seek a dance with little ol' me. It would be my great pleasure to spend the rest of the evening with someone as wonderful as you."

Judy giggled.

Nick laughed.

They hugged out in front of everyone, not carrying who saw them or who might be taking pictures, and then, without further ado, they danced.

And danced.

And ate. Danced some more, hugged a lot, enjoyed the City lights from an expansive balcony with a few quiet couple spaces. Then danced an amazing slow dance.

They might as well have been one mammal with two hearts the way they fit together. Figuring out where rabbit ended and fox started was a fool's errand that almost no one in the restaurant cared to contemplate.

Almost.

Paw in paw, this time not just holding fingertips, and with his tail around his bunny, Nick and Judy made their way back to their table for dessert.

Pulling Judy's chair out for her, Judy was about to sit when…

"Oh please, give us a break and go sit somewhere else. Watching you two perverts galivant around the dance floor was disgusting, and I'd like to enjoy my dinner without having to smell filthy pelt and desperate rabbit."

Nick paused his motion, then reversed it and pushed Judy's chair back in. Turning to face a smaller-sized gray wolf and his she-wolf mate, Nick cleared his throat and said, "Excuse me, were you talking to me?"

"Both of you," said the wolf, taking a hefty swig of his drink. "Damn fox, hasn't anyone ever told you not to play with your food?"

The she-wolf barked out an obnoxious laugh before adding, "Not that the rodent would make much of a meal. Look at her trembling in fear, looking for somewhere to run. How pathetic. And how pathetic of a canid are you that you'd consort with an animal that digs in the dirt for a living."

"Foxes aren't real canids. They're bottom feeding pelts who live in the muck, too. Maybe that's why he's so desperate for attention that he'd sully his already mange tail with a rabbit."

Judy cracked her knuckles, opening and closing her paws.

"Alright," said Nick, holding his claws in, "I'll take that as a 'yes,' you were talking to us.

"First off, I think it's important to clarify, for the low IQ members of this conversation, that my girlfriend, ZPD Officer Judy Hopps, is not a rodent, not that I'm throwing aspersions at one of the largest mammal groups here in the City. Still, my partner is technically in the family group Leporidae, which is one of two families of mammals that reside in the order Lagomorpha. And as I'm sure even animals such as yourselves, with severely limited intellects, would know, rodents are part of the order Rodentia, which, when compared to Lagomorphs by even the most braindead wolves from, as your signet ring indicates, the near disbanded pack Graypaw, would have to agree they are different."

Judy giggled, then put her serious, 'Punisher' look back on her muzzle.

"What?" said the wolf, working to get out of his chair. "What does a mangy fox know about my pack or anything else?"

Judy growled as she squeezed her fists tight.

"This mangy fox knows that Miss Hopps here holds three titles in the last ZPD's large mammal takedown tournament. Fastest takedown, most surrenders, and of course hottest Miss Takedown photo shoot, ever…"

"Nick," whispered Judy, "you taking pictures of me in the ring doesn't count as a photo shoot."

"Be that as it may, this fox also knows that your soon to be ex pack leader, Vander Graypaw, is negotiating a merger with the leader of pack Strongfang, Joshua Ironpelt, whose youngest pup would have been hit by a car and almost certainly been killed if it weren't for Miss Hopps' drawing on her almost supernatural abilities and plucking young James right out from in front of a speeding drunk driver."

"James' dad is a pack leader?" said Judy. "Why didn't you tell me? That explains why all those really big wolves at James' birthday party were all so nice to me and kept thanking me for saving him, telling me they thought of me as family now and if I ever needed anything, just to call."

The wolf gulped.

His mate went wide-eyed.

Nick growled until the wolves' heads jerked his way, then he said, very clearly, "Now would be a good time to apologize to Miss Hopps and make a quick exit before the wrong wolves hear about how you disrespected one of their own."

"Yes, sir," said the wolf, moving much quicker to kneel before Judy and expose his neck.

The she-wolf was equally as fast in taking a very Omega position in front of Judy, too.

"Miss Hopps, our behavior was inexcusable, and we both sincerely apologize for everything we said. And I promise you on the name of my family, nothing like this will ever happen again."

"And," said Nick.

Glancing at Nick, the wolf returned his gaze to Judy's feet, bent lower, saying, "On my ancestors and on my kin, I do swear that I will abide by and uphold the tenets of my pack and any future pack I may be a part of, so help me god."

Both wolves held their muzzles close to the floor.

Judy glanced at Nick, who nodded.

Judy straightened up and said, "Your apology is accepted. I will hold no malice towards you or your mate, but I believe it would be best if you both left so that my… Mr. Wilde and I can finish our evening in peace."

"I agree. The wolves will leave," grumbled a deep voice from behind Nick and Judy.

The wolves looked up to see a trio of Kodiak bears in dark suits ready to escort them off the premises, and hopefully no further.

"Of course," said the wolf, "My mate and I won't be any trouble, and please charge Miss Hopps' and Mr. Wilde's entire evening to my bill."

-/-/-

"So, how'd it go with your picture taking?"

Sam chuckled as she showed her stoat friend a few dozen pictures.

"Whoa, is that the same fox and bunny? They look so happy, and wow, they sure can dance."

"Yup, and did you see them handle that wolf couple without extending a claw? It was genius-level teamwork."

"I heard. I also heard the wolf call them a limo with instructions to take them anywhere they wanted for the rest of the night. Where do you think they went?"

Sam looked out the large windows at the streets below and wondered the same thing. Where would Wilde take Hopps after a night like they just had?

-/-/-

Nick stood with one arm on the gondola railing and the other around Judy. His tail was also wrapped around his bunny to help keep her warm.

Judy squeezed closer to Nick and relaxed into him.

"You know this gondola is taking us away from your apartment, not towards it."

"I know. I sent the limo ahead."

"We haven't ridden a gondola since you stood up to Bogo and kept him from taking my badge."

Nick pulled Judy into an almost hug as he held her close between his chest and the railing.

Judy fixed that by turning around and hugging her fox.

"Are you okay?"

Nick smiled, then dipped down and kissed Judy on the top of the head, "Yeah, I am now. Thanks for tonight. Knowing it was you that had my back meant everything to me."

Judy stretched up on her tippy-toes and kissed Nick on the cheek, "We're partners, and we've got each other's backs, now and forever, right."

"Yes, ma'am," said Nick. "You and me, now and forever."