The small fox standing in front of Judy glared at her past his droopy eyelids. "So, let me get this straight." He pointed at her with the pointy end of his half-eaten candy cane. "You two both got a day off work…" He jabbed the candy cane past his shoulder, towards the run-down shack behind them. "And instead of spending it helping Skye feel better…" He motioned to the crowd of animals that grew every minute out front. "You've decided to let her go back to interacting with hundreds of children…" Finally, he twirled the candy cane and pointed it straight at his own heart. "Leaving me to take care of her myself?"

Beside her, Nick let out an amused huff. "What's the matter, Santa? Is such a task beneath you?" He waved a flattened paw in the air, indicating Finnick's short size as he spoke.

Judy shot him a look, and he immediately dropped his paw, though he continued to smile at his own joke. She turned her attention back to Finnick and tried to speak more diplomatically than her partner had. "Believe me, we tried to convince her to stay home today, but she insisted on coming to work. She thought it would help distract herself from last night." She gave him a hopeful smile. "And she could really use your help."

Finnick snorted and bit down hard on his candy cane. "I'm a Mall Santa, not a babysitter."

"And what a jolly old St. Nick you are," the red fox quipped.

Finnick ignored him and continued speaking to Judy. "My days are already exhausting enough as it is. It ain't easy being Santa Claws when you're smaller than most of the kits who come to sit on your lap, you know? This job is a lot more stressful than most mammals could ever imagine, and now you want for me to add even more stress by…" He shivered and had to gulp before finishing his sentence with gritted teeth. "Being nice to her?" He sucked on his candy cane for a second, then once again pointed it at the bunny. "So I'll ask you a very simple question, Judy: Why should I?"

The grumpy little fox would have fooled most people with his indifferent attitude, but Judy knew better, and she also knew exactly what to say to convince him. She folded her paws together, stuck out her lower lip, and looked at him with pleading eyes. "Because I'm asking you to?"

He stared at her for a couple of seconds, completely unamused by her plea. "You don't have to be so dramatic," he pointed out quietly. Then he simply shrugged. "Okay. Consider it done." He popped the candy cane back in his mouth, shoved his other paw in the pocket of his black pants, and that was that.

Judy knew Finnick well enough to know that, behind that tough exterior, there was a compassionate individual who was willing to step up and help others whenever he cared enough, and she knew that he had grown fond enough of Skye to care enough about her. It was quite possible that she and Nick did not even have to ask him in the first place, but they had felt it important to inform him of what exactly Skye had gone through the night before, just so he understood if she underperformed at her job today. And thanks to his new promise, she was sure there would be no issues.

She smiled at him warmly. "Thank you."

"Yeah, whatever." Finnick glanced at Nick, finally addressing him for the first time. "And if you want a jolly old St. Nick at the mall, it will be my absolute pleasure to hire the rabbit to tickle you."

Nick's smile disappeared. "You wouldn't."

Finnick pulled his paw out of his pocket and shoved it into Judy's side, keeping his eyes locked with Nick's the whole time. "Twenty bucks, bunny," he stated. "Get to work."

Nick stared at Judy. "You wouldn't."

Judy smirked as she took the money from Finnick. "I might."

Finnick's mouth spread into a satisfied smile. "She would."

Judy raised her paws threateningly. "Come here, Nick," she taunted with an airy voice. "Bunny's gonna tickle you now!"

Nick took a step backwards and tried to smile at her, though it was forced and he had a hard time keeping it up. "Now, Carrots, let's be reasonable." He backed into a nearby bench, which forced him to sit down abruptly. "What would all of these people think?" He gestured wildly to the many passing shoppers, who unfortunately for him could not seem to care less about his predicament. "Think about how bad you will feel for torturing me!"

"Not even the slightest." She narrowed her eyes, revealed all of her teeth, and made a gripping motion with her paws as she towered over the helpless fox. "Any last words, Nicholas Wilde?"

Before she could pounce, however, the sound of a creaking door distracted her. All three mammals turned back to the dilapidated building behind them just in time to see Skye walk out into the open, wearing her elf outfit and looking around to try and spot them. Her eyes landed on the sight of Judy, inches away from tackling Nick, who sat on a bench with his paws shielding his eyes, while Finnick stood a foot away watching the scene unfold.

There was an awkward moment where the group of mammals stared at each other, completely frozen, trying to decide what to do or say next. Finally, though, Finnick took the initiative. He cleared his throat, walked up to Skye, and patted her arm in affirmation. "Looking good," he mumbled. He strolled past her. "Guess it's my turn, then." He disappeared inside the filthy hut and slammed the green door shut behind him.

As Skye followed him with her gaze, Nick quickly jumped back to his feet and stood a safe distance away before Judy could finish her task. She was tempted to pursue him, but decided to allow him to get away so as to not cause another scene. She did, however, shoot him a menacing smile before he got too comfortable. "Don't forget, Wilde: I know where you sleep."

Nick smiled smugly at her. "Yeah, and I know where you work." He crossed his arms. "I would hate for you to receive an anonymous complaint for harassing a co-worker."

"If you lived long enough to file it," she shot back.

Nick gasped. "Such threats!" He turned to Skye with a desperate look on his face. "My dear Skye," he pleaded dramatically, "you must agree to be my witness to this injustice!"

Skye blinked, still very confused by the scene that unfolded in front of her. "Uh…" She glanced at Judy, then back at Nick, and took several seconds to form her response. "I…" The corners of her lips curled upwards, and her tone turned playful. "I'd rather not take sides."

The look of utter betrayal on Nick's face was enough for both girls to start laughing uncontrollably. Besides that, however, Judy was pleased to see the vixen in such a playful mood. The whole morning, Skye had been even more quiet than usual—still shell-shocked from the night before, no doubt. She had only said a few words after getting up to insist on going to work that day, though she did request that Nick and Judy drive her rather than taking the subway, which they agreed to without any hesitation. She had spent the whole trip between the apartment and the mall looking out the back seat window without saying a word, and even after they escorted her straight to Santa's Workshop, she had only quietly greeted Finnick before ducking inside to get ready for the day.

Now that she was in her elf uniform, however, she seemed to be in much better spirits, and Judy felt much better about leaving her alone now. She caught Skye's attention and looked into the fox's bright blue eyes. "How are you?" she asked, trying to add some gravity to her question.

Skye could only hold her gaze for a few seconds before looking to the ground and folding her paws in front of her shyly. "Better." She looked to the line of mammals that continued to grow in front of the hut, and her small smile returned. "I think this will help. You should see the smiles all those kits and cubs get when they meet with Santa." She looked back to Judy, and managed to keep her eyes locked this time. "It's infectious, like you wouldn't believe."

The door flew open again, catching the attention of all three animals. Finnick stood in the doorway, wearing his Santa outfit, and was just finishing off the last bit of his candy cane.

"Okay, Elf." He flicked a thumb over his shoulder. "Ready to make the world a better place?" His optimistic voice was sharply contrasted by his indifferent expression and tired-looking eyes, but Judy knew that the second he was visible to the children out front, he would be full of energy and joyfulness for the rest of the day.

Skye took a deep breath, stood up straight, and put on the strongest grin she could muster. "I'm ready, Santa!"

"Better get to it, then." Finnick waited for the vixen to walk around to the front of the house to make her announcement, then turned back to Nick and Judy. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Don't worry, I'll look after her."

Judy smiled, and she opened her mouth to once again thank the small fox, but Nick spoke up first and completely silenced her. "We're counting on you, Santa, so make sure you don't come up short."

Finnick glared at him and growled. "And don't forget, the rabbit's on my payroll." Nick's smirk disappeared immediately. Finnick finally exited the shack, slammed the rickety wooden door behind him, and strolled around to the front. "Ho-ho-ho, my red-faced friend!" he called behind his shoulder. A second later, he rounded the corner, and his laughter was drowned out by the many mammals who called out upon seeing him.

Nick quickly turned to Judy and raised a finger before she could say anything. "Whatever he's paying you, I'll double it."

Judy crossed her arms and grinned at him mischievously. "I'm already rich, Wilde. What more could you possibly offer me?"

"How about cinnamon pineapple?" Nick offered. He wiggled his eyebrows enticingly. "I can make you a batch this evening."

She had to think about it, but after a few seconds, she nodded at the idea. "Okay, it's a deal. You won't have to worry about me tickling you." She narrowed her eyes. "For now."

Nick's eyes widened. "For now?"

She chuckled at his reaction, then grabbed the end of his scarf and pulled him onto the mall's main walkway. "Come on, Slick, let's go buy a PreyStation."

The fear immediately left the fox's face, replaced by a look of excitement, and he fell into step beside the bunny.

The two of them strolled through the mall at a leisurely pace, neither of them in any hurry to rush through their day off from work. Numerous animals scurried around them, hastily darting from one store to another in an attempt to get their last-minute Kitsmas shopping done before everything sold out. Very few of them took the time to admire the various window displays, or the holiday decorations gracing the ceiling and support beams, or listened to the cheerful music that played in the speakers overhead. But the fox and bunny did. They spent every seconds soaking in the atmosphere and ambiance, taking their time as they stepped down the concourse, appreciating every second of their day together.

For most of the trip, they were content with walking in silence, but at some point Nick decided to strike up a conversation. "We should hire some hype mammals." Judy glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. "I mean, that's what people do when they have more money than they know how to spend, right? They spend it on the most useless things they can think of, and I've just thought of it." He waved an arm behind him as he kept walking. "We hire two or three goons to follow us around everywhere we go. They make a big announcement every time we enter a room. And they agree with everything we say—even if we say the sky is green."

Judy rolled her eyes, but she still snickered at the idea. "Well, you can't spend money more uselessly than that," she agreed.

"What about you?" Nick looked at her with his usual sly smile. "What's the most useless thing you can think of?"

One idea immediately popped into her mind. "Probably book another meal at Le Bull l'Elise." Saying it out loud left a sour taste in her mouth, and she had to rub her tongue between her teeth afterwards.

Nick visibly recoiled. "Oh boy…" He nodded. "Yep. You win. That is definitely more useless."

"To be fair, a lot of people would say that buying a PreyStation is useless," Judy pointed out. "I mean, for how much one of those costs, we could invest the same amount of money somewhere else."

Nick's smug grin returned. "And what do we say to those people?"

Judy mirrored his smile. "'I don't care'."

A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination: a GameHop located near the mall's front entrance. The store seemed surprisingly empty as they walked inside, with only a few mammals browsing the shelves and the zebra employee behind the counter looking like he was bored out of mind. A television was set up near the ceiling in a far corner, playing trailers for new and upcoming video games, but otherwise it was completely quiet.

Judy led Nick up to the counter and caught the zebra's attention. "Hello! We'd like to buy a PreyStation!"

The zebra stared at her with a distant expression on his face. After an uncomfortably long silence, he finally answered, "Uh… okay?"

She waited for him to continue, but it soon became apparent that he was done talking. "Can you help us with that?" she inquired.

The zebra rolled his eyes, heaved a loud sigh, and leaned down to the ground. A moment later, he lifted up a giant box and set it on the counter. "This is the base PreyStation 5 model." He leaned back down, grabbed another box, and set it beside the first one. "And this is the PreyStation 5 Pro." He set his elbow on the counter, rested his chin in his hoof, and waved at them dismissively. "When you've decided which one you want, let me know."

His attitude left much to be desired, but Judy forced a polite smile and thanked him for his assistance. She turned to Nick and rubbed her paws together. "Okay, which one of these should we get?"

Nick began to look at her to respond, but before he could, his attention was caught by something behind her. His eyes widened slightly, and an amused smile spread involuntarily across his face. "Well, well, well, look who it is!"

Judy whirled around, and what she saw made her snicker in disbelief. A weasel was walking up to the counter, cradling a pile of video game cases that was taller than he was between both paws. His face was completely hidden behind them, but they had both dealt with him enough times in the past to recognize him by his sauntering form alone.

Upon hearing Nick's quip, the weasel poked his face out from behind the games. His eyes immediately landed on the two of them and spread open in panic. "Ah, crepes!"

Judy crossed her arms and smirked at him. "Duke Weaselton, what a surprise seeing you here." She eyed his pile of game cases, looking them up and down as she talked. "What lame-brained scheme have you got up your sleeve this time?"

"Trying to get GameHop credit for some games you swiped from a thrift store?" Nick suggested. "Or opening up games you haven't bought to snag the digital codes inside, maybe?" His eyes narrowed. "Oh, wait, don't tell me: you're trying to swindle some poor old grandma sheep into getting you the 'game you've always wanted for Kitsmas' again, is that it?"

Weaselton's expression morphed from panic to annoyance as Nick talked. "Wilde. I'm hurt. I'm crushed. I'm offended. I'm aggrieved. Do you really take me as the kind of animal who'd hustle a GameHop of all places?"

"Well," Judy pointed out, "there was that time when we arrested you for selling resealed games as brand new—"

Weaselton quickly brushed past her and plopped his pile of games down on the counter. "Look, I ain't here to cause trouble! I'm just buying some video games!" He peeked around the pile to look at the zebra employee. "Which I will gladly do as soon as you get the discs for all of these." He flashed a courteous smile. "If you don't mind."

The zebra exhaled again, as if the very thought of doing his job was an inconvenience to him. However, he reluctantly turned around and walked to the back wall so he could retrieve the discs Weaselton wanted.

Judy cautiously stared at Weaselton for a few seconds, not quite sure if she believed he was as innocent as he claimed. The weasel glared at her in return, but otherwise seemed perfectly content with waiting on the zebra. He really did seem to be behaving himself, at least for now, and she decided to focus her attention back to what really mattered.

She turned back to Nick. "I say we get the Pro."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He examined the two boxes in front of them, which looked nearly identical to each other. "Why the Pro?"

"Because for once in my life, money is not an object."

"Well, sure, but what actually makes the Pro better?"

Judy studied the two boxes for a second. "Well, this one says Pro on it," she stated.

"It doesn't even have a disc drive. If you want to play all your old discs or use it as a movie player, you'd need to buy one separately." Nick raised his head and addressed the zebra. "Hey, do you guys have disc drives in stock?"

The zebra was still gathering up Weaselton's game discs. He barely turned his head and looked at Nick with sleepy eyes. "Huh?"

"But it's two hundred dollars more expensive. That has to mean it's worth the upgrade." Judy turned one of the boxes around, trying to find more specific information. "They wouldn't just charge more for no reason, would they?" Nick gave her a look, and she quickly shook her head in defeat. "Okay, fine. But I still want the Pro."

"The base model is perfectly fine as it is," Nick grumbled. "They only released it four years ago. How outdated can a piece of tech be after just four years?" This time it was Judy's turn to stare at him, and he groaned. "Well, it can't be that bad, can it? I mean, they're still making games for the PreyStation 4, for crying out loud."

"Yeah, and imagine how good those games will look on this thing."

"Assuming you buy the disc drive so you can play them." Nick looked at the zebra again. "Hey, bud, how much do those cost, anyway?"

The zebra once again barely turned away from his drawers of discs. "Huh?"

"I don't mind buying one," Judy assured him. "It's not like the cost matters right now, anyway."

"Sure, but the base model comes with a disc drive already."

"And only one terabyte of internal storage. Look: the Pro comes with two terabytes instead!"

"I have a hard time justifying two hundred extra dollars just for an extra terabyte."

Finally, the zebra walked back to the counter with Weaselton's games. "Here you go, sir," he grumbled. "Shall I put them in your cases for you?"

"Nah, that's okay," Weaselton assured him. "I'll take care of it." He took the games from the zebra. "I'll take good care of it," he added in a low voice.

The zebra blinked slowly. "Why did you say it like—"

Faster than anyone could react, Weaselton turned on his heel and ran to the exit. "Sayonara!" he called over his shoulder. "It's been a—"

Less than a second later, he slammed straight into the glass door head-first. He bounced backwards and fell to the floor, knocked out cold. A hundred discs went flying in all directions, littering the ground with games. All eyes in the store turned to witness the scene, and as if on cue, the game trailer currently playing on the television—an advertisement for a fighting game—sounded a bell from a boxing ring, and the announcer proclaimed "K.O."

Nick and Judy stared at Weaselton's lifeless form for several seconds before they were positive he really was knocked unconscious. Then Judy casually turned back to the two boxes on the counter. "Just think about how good Zootopia Fantasy VII Rebirth will look on this thing."

"But the base model has interchangeable face plates," Nick countered. "We can customize it however we want."

"Oh yeah? Are there any green face plates for sale?" Judy asked the question rhetorically, but the thought peaked her interest, and she turned to the zebra. "What face plates do you have for sale?"

The employee was still staring at Weaselton's body with a look that somewhat resembled mild concern. "Uh…" He slowly turned his attention to Judy. "You guys are cops, right?" He eyed the sleeping form of the weasel sprawled out on the floor. "Shouldn't you, like, do something about him?"

The bunny and fox both looked at Weaselton, who had not moved an inch since running into the door.

"We're kind of off-duty," Nick mumbled, clearly trying to find an excuse.

"And since he didn't leave the store, technically he never committed a crime," Judy added.

"Yeah, but…" The zebra scratched his head in confusion. "I don't think you should just leave him there. I think that's against store policy or something."

If Judy was honest with herself, she didn't really want to deal with Weaselton. She and Nick were used to dealing with him all the time, usually when he was up to much more mischief than now, and it had turned into a bit of a chore over the past few years. She had lost count of the number of times she and Nick had arrested him, and it seemed hardly a week went by without him getting himself into trouble.

However, Weaselton's flattened body in the middle of the store was rather unsightly, and a few wandering eyes outside had already done a double-take when they spotted him through the glass door. Even if he had not actually performed a crime—despite his best efforts—Judy knew the zebra was right. They had to do something about him.

And by they, she meant Nick.

"You should take him outside."

Nick stared at her incredulously "Me? Why me?"

She flattened her ears against her back, looked at him with big eyes, and puffed cheeks. "Because I'm too small to carry him myself!" She spread her arms out as far as she could. "Look at me! I can barely even carry my own coat!"

Nick's eyelids drooped, unamused. "I bet you're gonna have no trouble carrying that PreyStation out of this store, though," he mumbled.

"And how will I be able to carry a PreyStation if my arms are full of second-rate weasel criminal?" Judy folded her paws together and stuck out her lower lip, making an identical face as she had to Finnick earlier. "Please, Mr. Big Strong Fox?"

He continued to stare at her for a few seconds with the most humorless frown she had ever seen, but he eventually let out a sigh and began walking over to Weaselton. "Okay, but you need to buy me a copy of Dog of War for this."

Judy flashed him a satisfied grin. "Done!"

Nick grabbed the collar of Weaselton's winter coat and dragged him to the front entrance. "Dukey, Dukey, Dukey…" He opened the door and pulled the unconscious weasel outside. "How many times are we going to do this?"

As soon as the door closed, Judy whirled back around and faced the zebra. "I'll take the Pro." She pushed the appropriate box forward. "And a disc drive to go with it."

The zebra blinked slowly. "A disc drive?"

"Yes, a disc drive, so I can play game discs." Judy excitedly hopped from foot to foot. "Oh, that reminds me: games! I need games, too! What are the best exclusives on this thing?"

The zebra stared at her. "Exclusives?"

The door opened back up, and Nick walked back inside, brushing his paws together. "I don't envy that headache when he wakes up," he said under his breath. "But at least that bench is padded." He walked back up to the counter. "Okay, so, where were we?"

Judy looked at him with a smug grin. "We were just about to buy a PreyStation 5 Pro."

Nick nodded. "Right, the PreyStation 5…" His voice trailed off. "Pro?"

The zebra grabbed the box for the base model and put it back underneath the counter. "Disc drives are in the back." He turned around and walked to the small employee door behind him. "I'll go get one."

Nick's eyes briefly followed the zebra before he returned his attention to Judy. "When exactly did we agree to this?"

"About ten seconds ago, when you were laying Weaselton down on the bench outside." Judy leaned against the counter and wiggled her eyebrows. "It's called a hustle, sweetheart."

He leered at her for a moment, but a smile of his own soon crossed his face. She knew he would not be mad; she had outwitted him, fair and square, and if there was one thing Nick Wilde appreciated, it was someone else outsmarting a fox.

"Okay, you win." Nick patted her gently on the top of her head. "Consider this a Kitsmas gift."

"Oh?" Judy chuckled. "Me, buying a PreyStation, that I picked out, with my own money, that I earned by myself?"

"Absolutely. Merry Kitsmas, Carrots." Nick turned around and started walking to the other end of the store. "I'm going to go pick out some games," he called behind his shoulder.

Judy felt her smile turn more and more warm as she watched him. She cherished moments like this—small moments where she and Nick could just enjoy life, without having to worry about anything. There were a lot of things in her life that she had to worry about right now. Having to return to work tomorrow, the shooting last night, Steve Hoppkins, Skye, whatever Marble Jade was…

But right now, she was perfectly content. Even though Nick was her husband, he was also her best friend, and even though they would banter and poke fun of each other, she would not trade it for the world. To most passersby, it might have seemed as if they were merely arguing about which video game system to buy. But to her, it was a precious moment that she tried her best to carve permanently into her memory, so that no matter what the future brought, she would be able to look back on this day with happiness.

The zebra emerged from behind the employee door, holding a new box. "Here's your disc drive," he grumbled. "And you do know that you need to buy a vertical stand for this thing separately, right?"

Judy chuckled at the loud groan that Nick gave from across the store. Merry Kitsmas, indeed.