Judy left some time after we'd eaten breakfast, saying she had some errands to run on our day off. That suited me just fine.
I had errands too.
To any number of debt collectors, angry ice-cream salesmammals, booting companies, and jilted exes, Finnick was a hard fox to find. For me, however? Absolute child's play.
Honestly, though, the number of boots Finn has removed on his own from his van is appalling. He used to keep them in the van before he ran out of space. We're talking high double digits, here. Maybe even triple at this point.
"Get yo pawpsicles!" came the sound of his surprisingly deep voice boom ahead of me. While the constant heat in Sahara Square made it difficult to maintain supply, it also drove more customers to seek sweet, chilled relief in the form of high-fructose corn syrup and red food coloring.
"I'll take one of those, if you don't mind," I said as I strolled up to his cooler. Snagging one between two fingers, I bit away as the shorter fox glowered at me.
"You better be payin' for that, Wilde." Without missing a beat, I passed him a fat envelope of cash. Too fat, in my opinion, though evidently, Finn did not agree.
"You're short."
"So are you," I shot back, chasing a drip of artificial cherry before it could hit my paw, "but I don't mind." He let out a low growl, to which I held my paws up. "You skipped out early on the job yesterday. I think that warrants a smaller payout." Grumbling to himself, he stuffed the envelope into his pocket.
"Your boys are decent. Not great, but they got close to spotting me a few times." He pulled the lid over his cooler and jumped up to take a seat. "What'd they do?"
"It's not important," I said a little too quickly, waving him away. He gave me a look.
"You don't wanna tell me, then I won't tail 'em anymore." I groaned. I'd forgotten how stubborn he could be.
"Look, the thing is…I don't know exactly what they did, but Judy—"
"Judy? You finally on a first name basis?" I peered down at him.
"What's it to you? That's her name."
"That you never use." A look of smug, dawning comprehension stole over his face. "Aha ha, you finally woke up and smelled the carrot cake, huh?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said stiffly, looking determinedly away.
"Nah, you know now. You figured it out, huh? Musta been recent, if you're still all sensitive about it." He gave a gleeful laugh I'd honestly never thought him capable of, let alone heard before. "Nick and the bunny cop, finally gettin'—"
"FINNICK!" I'd snapped the flimsy balsa wood stick in my mouth in half. Suddenly aware that our conversation was getting louder and drawing more attention, I struggled to allow my mask of indifferent laziness to fall back into place. "Why don't we talk about this more in the van?" He laughed, wiping a tear away from his eye.
"Boy, I knew you had it bad, but seems like you figuring it out mighta made it worse!" He hopped down from the cooler and began dragging it to a nearby alleyway. Once we were settled into the back of his van, I shot him a baleful look and began again.
"Officer Hopps mentioned in passing the other day that they'd cast some aspersions on her due to her species. As her partner, I decided that the best way to deal with a problem like that would be a real prank, something that needed planning and information." I gestured to Finn, who still seemed a little too amused by his observations. "That is where you come in."
"Damn," he said, retrieving the stack of cash I'd given him to thumb through it once more. "I thought I was getting paid to be a…uh, what's the fancy term for a snitch?" He tapped the edge of the stack and secured it in a lockbox.
"Confidential informant. And no," I replied. "I figured you wouldn't take kindly to dealing with me in an official capacity, what with my new penchant for blue." He threw back his head and laughed.
"Wilde, if it pays, and I don't get killed doin' it, and more importantly, I don't get seen doin' it, I'll do it."
"Alrighty. I'll keep you in mind the next time something goes down at Jumbeaux's. Maybe another health code violation, huh?" I'd already riled him up quite a bit today. Hopefully all I was doing now was getting his mind off of my…newfound situation, and not just pissing him off. Opening the door, I made to leave. "Let me know if the old long-nose skips the gloves!"
"Nick." I stopped in my tracks, turning back to face him. He seemed uncomfortable as he continued.
"I know we ain't ever been, y'know, good friends or whatever, but…I am happy for you. You always were too good for this life." He rubbed at his neck with a paw. "And…I hope it works out between you and the bunny cop." I stared. All I could do was stare.
"Thanks, Finn." Once again, I turned to leave, but I stopped. "And…you're right. We didn't used to be friends."
…
In all honesty, I was not, not, not looking forward to roll call. I'd already had to deal with Finnick yukking it up over my predicament; I knew Bogo would somehow see immediately with his weird cop sense. Not to mention Grizzoli, who'd made the initial joke that had brought my attention to the Robin Hood movie. He already thought we were a couple.
In fact, I began to feel as though everyone already knew, somehow, about how I felt. So, I went to the mammal who knew every bit of gossip in the station.
"Benji, pal, how are you on this fine, fine day?" I swept my paw out from behind my back to reveal a baker's dozen of the city's finest doughnuts. I knew a guy.
Clawhauser gave a squeal at the sight of such high-quality confectionery.
"Better now that you've brought me these!" Without a moment's hesitation, he plunged a paw into the box and withdrew several. These immediately disappeared into his muzzle. "Buh whers Judee?" he eventually managed to choke out. I raised an eyebrow.
"Ah," I replied, lifting myself up to the counter to lean in closer to his ear. "I actually wanted to get the scoop on the rumor mill around here, and I'm not sure Ju—Carrots would, ah, understand." His eyes widened immensely, and he swallowed the pastries.
"Did you two finally get together? Oh, I'm so happy I get to close out this bet!" In an instant my paw was around his tie.
"What. Bet." His pupils, which had previously filled nearly his entire eye in awe, shrank to pinpricks.
"Uh, nothing," he replied, giving a nervous giggle. "There's no bet, none at all. Betting amongst the officers is prohibited, Nick, you know that—"
"You better spit it out quick, or I'm taking these doughnuts to the break room to see what kind of nasty old sauces and leftovers I can use as a garnish." His eyes darted down to the remaining doughnuts, then back to me.
"A few officers in the precinct, ah, might have placed some bets on when you and Judy might get together. That's all! That's all. No harm meant." He swallowed again, though this time for very different reasons. I sighed deeply, releasing Clawhauser and sinking back to the floor.
"Was it really that obvious?" I asked, my face in my palm. The big cat shifted in his seat.
"Nick, believe me. Most of the precinct here likes you. They can see how much you care about Judy."
I felt more naked than any mammal at the Mystic Springs Oasis. My ears were burning something fierce. Breathing deeply, I plastered a lazy grin on my face.
"Would you be able to keep this from her? I'm still…working things out for myself." He nodded vigorously.
"Of course, Nick! You know how good I am at keeping secrets." Plunging his paw back into the box of doughnuts, he waved a fistful a pastry at me as I made my way to the bull pen.
"That's what worries me," I muttered.
Wrestling with the pit in my stomach during roll call was quickly becoming a routine, much to my chagrin. I mean, the knowledge that the whole department had suspicions, to varying degrees of certainty, of my feelings towards Judy was enough to make my lose my breakfast. Couple that with sitting directly next to her, hip to hip in a chair too big for either one of us, and it was a recipe for one frazzled fox.
Part of what ate at me, however, was the jarring realization that I actually had no idea what to do about Judy. I had no idea if she felt the same way—if she even could feel the same way. Inter-species relationships…weren't the most common, nor were they typically well-received. And Judy came from about as deep as you could get into the ol' "bubble" of Bunnyburrow. Sure, she left there for a reason, but as we'd both discovered last year, that didn't mean that prejudice couldn't be buried deeper down.
As much as I hated baring my soul to anyone else, I wished I had someone I could talk to that knew what I was going through—the uncertainty, the unfamilarity that came with attraction to another species. How to tell your best friend that you loved her.
Bogo, unfortunately, looked right at me at that particularly lovesick moment, and I'm absolutely sure I saw the corner of his mouth twitch upward. Much to my relief, he didn't single me out or call me back for another "chat" today.
"Hopps, Wilde. You'll be accompanying Wolfard and Fangmeyer, they can give you the details of their case themselves. Dismissed." I hopped down about as fast as I could and followed after Wolfard and Fangmeyer, Judy in tow close behind.