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Disclaimer: This one isn't my fault! Really it isn't!
Chapter - 4 - First Moves and Unexpected Consequences
Judy stared at the letter in her paw, her gut seeming to twist in turmoil. She read it for the hundredth time since opening it up that morning, though she'd already memorized it, and still wasn't sure what to do about it.
Congratulations!
You've won Marriage and Mates Magazine's yearly Valentine's Day lottery!
Included is an all-inclusive package for you and your one special other!
Tickets to Zootopia's Valentine's Day Festival including VIP passes to Gazelle's Valentine's Day Concert
and Dinner at the famous Palm Tree Tower's Skyline Restaurant in Sahara Square.
Marriage and Mates Magazine thanks you for your continued patronage
and hopes you and your special other enjoy the best Valentine's Day…
The letter went on like that to outline everything and had contained the tickets for 'Judy Hopps plus 1' to all the events.
Judy didn't know whether to thank or curse Fru Fru for signing her up for the magazine's subscription. It was fun to talk about it with her friend on their girls nights out, but recently every time she'd seen the magazine in her mail box it had only depressed her. Now, it was only a reminder to her that the mammal she's finally admitted to herself that she'd fallen in love with, would never be hers.
This just made that painful feeling worse. She'd love to go to Gazelle's concert, but the thought of going alone…
She thought back to the concert she and Nick had gone to right after he'd graduated from the Academy. It was only when her mother had started asking some very pointed questions after having watched her and Nick that she finally started to admit to herself that she might be falling in love with him.
But she'd been too shy to do anything about it. She'd never felt this way about anyone else before and now she'd waited too long and lost her chance. Winter had come along and Nick had apparently found someone else. Judy had to fight back a sob as she stole a glance across the precinct's work room to where Nick was going through a file-cabinet, and cursed this stupid season for the millionth time. He was her partner, but now he'd never be hers. She'd thought at first that his change in behavior, his shorter temper with other males and the haggard worn experience was just the normal winter mating season affecting him; Her highschool sex-ed class had taught her the basics about the common winter mating season and how it affected many mammals, though this was the first time she'd really been around someone going through it. And from what Sasha had told her, this was worse than normal because he'd fallen in love with someone.
The corner of the paper crumpled in her clenching paw as she thought enviously of whatever lucky vixen had caught his eye. She had to remind herself that she was his friend, that as a good friend she was supposed to be happy that he had found someone special, that she couldn't go find that vixen he was courting and strangle her.
And then there was this stupid lottery she'd won all because of Fru Fru's stupid magazine. As much as she wanted to just go see the Gazelle Concert, she didn't think she could. She'd spend the entire time there wishing that Nick was with her, that he was-
Her thought was interrupted by a high pitched excited squeal as a spotted paw snatched the paper out of her grip.
"O M Goodness! Judy you got VIP tickets to GAZELLE's Concert!" Clawhauser said excitedly reading through the letter before Judy managed to snatch it back and stuff it back in her pocket.
"Clawhauser!" Judy said embarrassedly, but the enthusiastic cheetah couldn't be contained.
" *Squeeal*, Judy who are you going with? That sounds like so much fun! That's going to be the best Valentine's day ever! Come on, spill, I want to hear all about who you're taking and your plans for the night. Does that pass include a backstage visit with the angel with horns?! Are you-" Clawhauser was just gaining steam, so Judy quickly cut him off.
"I'm not going, Benjamin." She said glumly, "I'd give the tickets to you but they're no good if I'm not there."
Clawhauser's tongue seemed to trip over itself before he got out a surprised, "What?! Why not? You have to go. It's Gazelle, you can't just not go!"
Judy looked down at her paws, she could feel her ears dropping like they were loaded down by lead weights.
"I'm not going because I don't have anyone to go with, Benji. And I'm not going to go alone."
Clawhauser let out an exasperated, "What do you mean you don't have anyone to go with? Anyone would want to go with you to see Gazelle."
"It's a Valentine's day concert," Judy stressed, "I don't have any 'special someone' to go with and I don't want to go alone," Judy said glumly turning back to her work, hoping he'd take the hint and drop the subject.
"Well, we can't have that!" Clawhauser said in an indignantly loud voice, "You, Judy Hopps, are going to go see Gazelle or I'll have to arrest you for slandering her reputation. Nobody refuses to go to a Gazelle concert, it's simply not right!" he looked back down at her, his big smile coming back, "You don't want to go because you don't have a boyfriend? Well then, how about if I go as your 'boyfriend' for the night?"
Judy stopped, thinking about that. She still didn't want to go, but she knew how much Clawhauser adored Gazelle. It might not be a completely miserable night with a friend like Clawhauser, and he'd at least enjoy it.
"You have to go Judy! You have to, I'll even do the entire fake boyfriend thing for the night if it'll make you want to go," Clawhauser said dropping to his knees pleadingly while taking up her paw.
Judy was about to agree just to get him to stop when Nick arrived back at their desk looking even moodier than he had been all morning.
"Clawhauser, what are you doing now?" he nearly growled as he looked pointedly at the cheetah's paws holding hers.
"I'm trying to convince our silly bunny here, that she can't skip out on a Gazelle concert. She won't go because she thinks she doesn't have any friends that want to go with her."
There was a moment in which Judy blinked and thought that a look of hurt might have flashed across Nick's face, but no, that must have been her imagination. Nick's fur did seem to bristle somewhat as he gave Clawhauser another moody scowl while the cheetah released her paw and got back up. Nick gave a terse reply after the cheetah had let go, "Judy has lots of friends, I'd certainly go with her to a concert if she wanted, even an overly popular fad music one like Gazelle."
Clawhauser gave a strangled gasp, and squeaked, "Blasphemy! You take that back!", right as Judy said in almost as startled of a voice, "You would?"
Nick ignored the Cheetah having a conniption over the idea of Gazelle being an 'overly popular fad'. And looked at Judy, his fur settling a little, "Of course Carrots. I'm your friend and partner," her heart jumped like it always did when he called her his partner nowadays, even though she knew he didn't mean it in the way she wished he did, "If you want someone to go with to a silly concert or anything else, I'll always go with you."
There was a squeal as Clawhauser hit the floor seeming to have a heart attack at the description 'silly'.
Judy crossed her arms looking back at Nick who was now smirking while looking at the cheetah in apparent pain, "She's a great singer, unlike you and your so-called 'dancing'!" Nick stiffened indignantly letting out a "Hey! Those were classic dance moves!"
Judy smirked back at him, "Well regardless, you seemed to enjoy yourself a lot at that last 'silly' concert."
Nick sniffed and grabbed his coffee mug from their desk, "That's because I enjoy being around my best friend not because of the concert." Judy's heart seemed to split in two, half jumping and half dropping. It made her warm inside to know that he considered her his best friend but she wanted so badly to be more than just his friend.
Clawhauser got back to his feet and gave Nick a disdainful glare before turning to Judy and pointing at her. In his most serious voice he ordered, "Officer Judy Hopps, As a righteous moral supporter of the angel with horns you are required to take this… this…" he glared at Nick again, "this uncultured barbarian to that concert. I want pictures of him enjoying himself so that he can never say anything like that again!" With a final indignant sniff, the cheetah turned around and with surprising speed for his size, left the room. Nick's huff was drowned out by a number of laughs and chuckles from the other officers who had stopped working at their desks to watch the spectacle.
McHorn called across the room with a snorting chuckle, "Better go stop him Hopps, before he tries to get Bogo to assign a police escort to make sure that you drag your partner to that concert!" and the room erupted in more laughs and thumping sounds as some of the larger officers pounded on their desk in amusement.
Judy grabbed Nick's paw and dragged him to where the cheetah had departed, muttering the whole time.
Unfortunately for her though, Clawhauser hadn't headed back to the front desk like she thought he would,
"Oh, no he didn't!" Judy snapped and dragged Nick along as she rushed off toward Bogo's office.
She came to a skidding halt in front of the Chief's open door so suddenly that Nick stumbled into her and they fell into a heap on the floor.
Nick quickly jumped up and off of her like he'd been burned, before helping her up. Judy had only a moment to feel a pang of hurt at the sudden jerk away from her before the Chief's gaze froze her.
"Hopps, Wilde." He said, not sounding pleased. Though that might be putting it too kindly.
Judy saw Clawhauser in the room and quickly tried to explain, "Um, sir… Clawhauser just thought that-"
The Chief silenced her with a wave of his hoof. "Hopps, I don't like this kind of horsing around in the office. If you and your partner wanted the day off tomorrow, you two should have simply filled out the forms and submitted them, not asked Clawhauser to come pleading on your behalf while you two go running around the office like this was some playground." He gave them a stern look before picking up a report from the pile on his desk and pointedly glancing at it, "In fact both, you and Wilde seem to have been performing especially poorly lately. I don't know what's gotten into you two, and I don't care." He pulled out a form from his desk starting to fill it out, "It has also been pointed out that neither of you two have taken any time off since starting." He finished filling out the form and stamped it before holding it out to them, and Judy hesitantly walked forward to take it, "Therefore, you two will take the next two days off. I don't care what you do but get yourselves straightened out. I expect you two to be back with your usual level of teamwork afterwards," He gave both her and Nick one of his famous scowls making her shudder, "understood?"
"Yes, s-sir." Judy managed to get out and Bogo's glare shifted entirely to Nick who gave a quick, "Yes, Chief!"
"Good, now go finish up your report on your morning patrol and then leave for the day. I don't want to catch so much as a glimpse of you two around the precinct for the next two days." The Chief snapped with a dismissing wave and looked back at Clawhauser sternly, "Clawhauser, get back to your job. You have a briefing for the operations team in an hour."
Bogo went back to writing for a moment before looking back up.
"What are you all waiting for? Get going!" he said with a scowl.
They all unfroze and rushed out.
…
Back at the safety of the front desk, Judy gave her best 'Bogo' glare at Clawhauser.
"Benjamin! You shouldn't have annoyed the Chief like that! Look at what happened!" she said waving the approved leave form in front of him angrily.
The Cheetah though, instead of looking apologetic looked rather pleased with himself. He smiled just a bit too smugly down at her, "I think that worked out perfectly, now you don't have any excuse not to take Nick and show him the wonders of Gazelle."
"Benji! That won't work, Nick's going to be busy tomorrow, he can't go!" She said almost shaking with the mix of emotions she was feeling. She was having a hard time containing her anger, unhappiness, and jealously while thinking about who Nick would be with tomorrow and what he would be doing while she was all alone.
A finger flicked one of her ears that was standing on end nearly vibrating as much as her paw was shaking.
"I'm now off duty just like you Carrots, I don't know why you think that I'm going to be busy," he said tersely, sounding like he was trying to hold back his own emotions.
Judy turned to him and gaped, "But tomorrow's Valentine's day, of course you're going to be busy."
Nicks face locked up, his expression becoming a cold unreadable mask, and he replied in a stony voice with hints of unhappiness, "No. I'm not going to be busy."
Judy just stared at him. Had something happened between him and his girlfriend? Did they have a fight? She started to say something, to ask, but stopped. He obviously didn't want to talk about it and she could see the tiniest bit of pain leaking through that mask of his.
"Do you want to come with me tomorrow then?" she asked before she realized that she'd spoken, and was immediately horrified at what she'd said. Was she the kind of mammal to try and steal away someone as soon as their relationship hit a bump? That wasn't what a good friend would do, how could-
"Sure Carrots," Nick said interrupting her thoughts. He forced a smile through his mask, "Going to a silly concert with you sounds like fun. I'd lo…" he sighed and looked down, "I'd really enjoy going with you to do something besides work tomorrow."
Judy looked at him; her heart wanting to break. She couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of hate for the vixen that was hurting her fox's heart like this. But if Nick needed a friend, she'd always be there for him. It might make her own heart ache to have to go with him only as a friend but for him... she'd do anything.
"I'd… I'd like that too," she said and his smile seemed to grow ever so slightly, "It'll be nice to go with my best friend, I guess I could use a bit of fun too." She couldn't help but give him a quick hug, saying, "Thanks, Nick. I know I can always count on you to be my friend." Before turning and heading back toward their desk at a brisk pace so that he couldn't see her face.
Clawhauser watched as Judy hurried off, leaving Nick behind, his smile seeming to crack like a breaking sheet of ice. The fox looked back at the ground before mumbling, "I'll always be your friend if that's what you want me to be," before shuffling after her, looking like he'd been sucker punched. Three steps later though and he'd reasserted his mask and any hints of pain had disappeared.
Clawhauser watched Nick leave through the door, before shaking his head and picking up the phone and dialing a number.
"Chief… yes they're going… Yes, sir. It's dangerous but it's the best option we have, they've already decided to take the bait… Yes sir, we've got to be careful with them, we can't have anyone on the operation be seen tailing them. Any of them would be recognized and could ruin everything… Right, this is already risky enough for them… I'll be in the meeting room on time."
He hung up the phone and went back to reviewing his files with a determined face.
Clawhauser though, with his attention on Nick hadn't realized someone else had stopped to watch the bunny and rabbit. He'd missed the fact that they stopped when they overheard the start of his phone call and he certainly didn't see how their eyes had gone wide as they listened.
Fangmeyer hurried back through the building thinking hard. There had been a slew of rumors lately about something big going on. Everybody knew that Clawhauser had been brought in on some sort of top level and classified group. Some thought that it was an operation concerning corruption in the government or something to do with a leak in the ZPD or one of a thousand other rumors. The cheetah, usually the one everyone went to get their gossip had suddenly dried up and wasn't saying a word. There probably wasn't a more widely trusted officer, besides Bogo, than Clawhauser though. That along with the fact that the usually cheery and talkative cat, had been seen looking far more serious than anyone had ever remembered him being and wasn't saying a word about what was going on had everyone convinced that whatever it was, it was big.
And from what she'd heard, apparently dangerous, very dangerous. The brass seemed to be sending Hopps and Wilde out on some undercover mission with no backup, and that worried Fangmeyer. She'd come to really like Judy and even that snarky fox partner of hers. They were good, but every officer should have backup just in case.
She thought over everything she knew, from what she'd heard earlier in the workroom, that now seemed like a well-planned charade to convince everyone that nothing out of the ordinary was going on, to every bit of information she knew about crimes around the city.
Something was niggling at the back of her mind.
It was widely known that Judy was friends with Fru Fru Big, daughter of Mr. Big. There was wide speculation among the precinct that their friendship might be influencing the notorious crime boss. Many thought that was the reason why Mr. Big had been scaling back his more… questionable businesses. Sources had passed along information though that there had been some discontented grumblings in Mr. Bigs ranks about that.
Her mind was telling her that there was some connection there but she couldn't put her finger on it. That and all her police instincts were screaming at her that they shouldn't be allowed to go on such a dangerous mission without another team to have their back.
If that secret operations group couldn't give them any back up directly then maybe it might be for the best if another team, one completely out of the loop from the operation just happened to be there with them. If something went wrong, that other team would have just been in the right place at the right time to offer help…
Fangmeyer was so distracted with her thoughts that she ran right into her partner. Wolford had his head lowered reading something on his phone as he walked and smacked muzzle first right into the cleavage of her chest.
"What!?" He spluttered before quickly taking a step back and looking at her then at her chest before blushing slightly, "Nadine! Sorry, I ah… wasn't watching where I was going. Sorry, didn't mean to walk into your… um, sorry."
She looked back at him more amused than anything at his blushing and stammering; Here was Wolford, Mr. Alpha always in control, (at least when he wasn't pulling some sort of prank almost worthy of Wilde) blushing like a high schooler because he'd walked into her chest.
He glanced back at her chest again, before blushing a bit more.
"Males," She muttered rolling her eyes with an amused huff. He might not be interested in dating, she'd actually tried once a few years ago to subtly get him to ask her out, just out of curiosity, but he seemed determined to go on lone wolfing, though he sure didn't have an issue with appreciating certain aspects of females.
She pushed aside her amused thoughts, she needed to talk to him about everything she'd heard and what she'd been thinking, so she grabbed him and hurried down the hall, opening a door to a viewing room for one of the empty interrogation rooms before leading her confused partner in and shutting the door, making sure to turn the lock.
"Nadine, what the hell is up?" Wolford nearly yelped, now looking at her with an expression of confusion, alarm and a hint of something else. He glanced at her chest again, where he'd run into her, "Um… Nadine? I, uh…" he looked around the empty room, at the locked door, at her chest, then at her eyes, before hurriedly looking away, "Um, Nadine, I like you, I really do, but isn't this a little, um… fast? I mean…"
Fangmeyer's entire thought process wrecked like a derailed train.
Wait, Wait, WAIT. Back up. Did he just suggest what I think he suggested?
She looked around at the room she'd dragged him into, the empty room, alone, just the two of them. With the door locked.
Oh no, Oh Gods, He thinks that I want to…
Her face seemed to spontaneously combust and she face palmed, "Sorry, Sorry. This is not what it looks like Ralph! I just overheard something and needed to talk to you, privately. Oh gods, that must have looked like I was… Sorry, I'd never do that to you," she said waving her paws in emphasis and trying to recover from her faux pas.
There was a slight, almost disappointed, "oh."
Her head whipping back up to stare at him. There was a lot of meaning and emotion packed into that little 'oh' of his.
That didn't sound like I think it did. Can't have. No way. Impossible. Not a chance.
…could it?
"Oh?" she asked, staring at him. He looked at her and blushed more before looking away, his tail dropping.
But, But… he's never…
"Oh?" she repeated with emphasis, her mind suddenly seeming to malfunction. They'd known each other since the Academy. Sure, every now and then he'd get a bit embarrassed around her or some she-wolf, especially when he was caught giving admiring glances; he'd certainly learned to look at more than just her chest in the academy boxing ring, but for as long as they'd known each other, she couldn't remember him ever seeming to have more than just a passing admiration for someone; he'd never had a serious interest in anyone as far as she knew. And Especially not in her.
Her pinwheeling mind suddenly started repeating what he had just said.
'Um, Nadine, I like you, I really do, but isn't this a little, um… fast?'
'Um, Nadine, I like you, I really do'
'I like you, I really do'
Oh, gods did…
"Did you just say that you, 'really like me'?" she blurted out not in control of her mouth.
"Um…" he glanced at her, now more embarrassed than she'd ever seen him, "O-of course I like you, you're my friend, my partner, have been for three years. Why wouldn't I like you" He said trying to smile like it was nothing but not looking her directly in the eye, just like every time he tried side-stepping something.
No, he can't, could he? He's always been so damned adamant about not wanting to date, always had that lone wolf thing. Otherwise I would have gone…
Another part of her brain suddenly kicked in, overriding her embarrassment as she remembering the time of year, and her eyes narrowed.
"Define 'Like', is that like, 'like, like' or just 'like' or is that, it's mating season and I 'like' anything that's female?" she asked trying to pin him down with her glare.
I am not going to be just some winter snuggle!
If he actually liked me he could have asked me out on a date anytime,
Hell, I've wished he would have…
She backtracked her thought process ignoring those spurious daydreams, still a bit peeved at the situation.
He never did ask me out, and some winter urge and a run-in, in the hallway isn't going to change that!
"What?!" he asked looking up startled at that last part, "I'm not like that! I don't just like you because it's winter…" his eyes met hers, and then immediately tried to flee but failed miserably like they were now trapped, "I… ah…"
His eyes went a bit wide and he now looked a bit desperate and scared, like he was cornered, like he'd screwed up royally and was expecting to get utterly crushed.
But He's never said anything… he's never… why would he have not said…
Her mind seemed to be stuck on repeat as they stared at each other. Part of her was terrified at what that look was saying, terrified and elated,
but mostly terrified.
Supremely terrified. And the fact that there was a part of her that was elated just terrified her more.
"Um, y-you know what, forget I a-asked," she said and reached back with a shaking paw to the door, "You d-don't need to a-answer that q-question."
Wolford's nose twitched and she froze with her paw on the lock. Her gaze seemed to narrow, tunneling until all she saw was his nose. His wolf's nose. His very good nose, one of the best noses in all of the precincts.
It twitched again.
Fangmeyer suddenly became aware of a nervous but warm butterfly feeling in the pit of her stomach that had cropped up at some point during this conversation, that and a warmth a bit lower too.
no, no, No, No, No
His nose twitched again and her narrowed tunnel vision shifted up to meet his eyes. Eyes that now instead of looking frightened looked… hopeful.
She couldn't see anything but the gold of his eyes, but she heard his voice, soft and scared but suddenly with a thread of desperate hope say, "Nadine, do… do you like me too?"
The warmth increased.
She heard an audible sniff, then the sound of his tail starting to wag.
This time his low voice was filled with a near wild hope, "Nadine, would… would you go out with me?"
She tried swallowing, speaking, doing anything but her body wasn't working.
She heard him take a few steps closer, her gaze still locked on his eyes.
"Felines and canids usually don't get along very well but Nadine, I've liked you since we met at the academy. Now after getting to work with you, know you… well to answer your question, I don't just 'like' you," he stopped right in front of her, looking right at her, looking at her like he wanted her to see right down into him and understand exactly what he meant.
Her paw was shaking on the door handle, making it rattle; She'd faced Major Friedkin at the academy without nerves, had faced the dreaded environment course without fear, she'd taken in dangerous criminals without issue, she'd been on the sharp end of some of the hardest SWAT team actions and never felt afraid. But in that moment looking into her partner's eyes, what she saw terrified her more than anything she could have imagined. It terrified her because something in her she'd only thought a passing whimsy was completely ecstatic and desperately wanted to respond to it.
He was right in front of her, looking up at her, holding her frozen with his eyes. He leaned up standing on his toes so that they were only inches apart. Her heart was pounding so loudly that she didn't think she could possibly hear anything else, but she heard what he said next clearly despite it.
"Nadine, I like you."
The next thing she knew she was leaning down, kissing him.
Her eyes went wide as her brain kicked back into gear. She, Nadine Fangmeyer, tough as nails officer of Precinct 1, full on panicked.
She left the door with a broken hinge and its handle embedded in the wall as she fled.
Clawhauser closed the door to the empty meeting room, locking it and turned on the computer on the table.
A minute later the screen was showing a dozen small windows each showing a different mammal.
"Benji!" squealed the small shrill and excited voice of a tiny female shrew, "Did they get it? Did they get it? The magazine editor was soooo helpful after I told him who I was and what I wanted to do… and paid him, but he was worried that it wouldn't get there in time."
"Are you sure that the concert was the best idea?" came the voice of an older vixen, "He's never been very interested in concerts and he hates dancing."
"I already told you Vivian," replied another voice, this one from a matronly bunny, "You should have seen them at the concert last year after Nick's graduation, that's when I talked to Stu and we started planning for her wedding-"
A younger bunny that looked surprisingly like Judy broke in, "It was a good idea to get them to go to the festival, but to get them to actually get together, well it's going to take more than that, Judy's soooo stuck up and prudish. She wants to rut him silly but she's too scared to make a move. And he seems to be just as stupid..."
The first bunny broke back in, "Jessica watch your language!"
There was the sound of a throat clearing and the image at the top of the screen, one that had a bright light behind the figure so that only a large horned outline could be seen, shifted.
"Everybody, quiet down. We've already discussed all of that. From what Clawhauser already told me it seems to have worked; They're going. Thanks to Mrs. Fru Fru, we'll have some of her small friends tailing them and reporting how it's going. If things don't go as well as we want that's why we have contingency plans. We won't use those plans unless necessary, understood Miss Jessica?" the doe gave an eye roll and a huffy 'yes', "Now, we need to go over the plan and the contingency plans one last time before things get rolling tomorrow, so let's get started."
It was close enough to the end of her shift that Fangmeyer had beelined straight to the front desk and clocked out for day, before nearly sprinting to the parking lot and diving into their assigned cruiser. She quickly readjusted the seat since Wolford had been driving earlier and then reached into her pocket to grab the key and get the hell out of there before he tracked her down.
She needed to get some space to think, to try and deal with the pandora's box of feelings he'd opened up, though considering her mortifying reactions she might just be better off going and finding a hole to hide in. That sounded like a reasonable option, probably her best option.
"Damnit! Where'd I put that key?!" she growled out loud checking her other pocket desperately, "Gods, I need to get out of here before he finds me. How the hell am I supposed to ever face him now? And how the hell has Ralph never showed any signs of how he felt before I bumped into him today?"
She stopped searching her pocket for a second as her mind suddenly recalled memories from back at the academy and every winter afterwards and connected a few subtle hints. Wolford had always had a lot of self-control, but thinking back on it, each progressive winter, especially this year, seemed to have been more taxing for him than the previous year.
Oh gods, if he's liked me for that long why the hell didn't he ever say anything?! And now I've made a complete fool of myself!
She resumed her search with even more desperation, as that butterfly feeling that terrified her grew at those thoughts. The smart thing would probably be to talk to Ralph, sort this out... but the smart thing scared her and running felt so much easier.
If I've already made this much of a fool of myself, might as well go all the way, might get a discount on that hole to hide in if I do.
"Stupid wolves and their damned sense of smell, I won't be able to get within fifty feet of him without him knowing how I feel." she muttered now checking her belt, the idea of simply running and hiding was becoming more and more appealing, "maybe I can use Scent-Away, a lot of Scent-Away. Maybe that way he won't track me down to whatever hole I find to live in. Now where did I put those godsdamned keys?!"
The pair of keys appeared hanging over the center console of the cruiser and jangled, catching her attention. More actually the gray paw holding them out from the backseat of the car jangled them. The gray wolf paw holding them.
Fangmeyer stared at it for a solid 3 seconds before frantically trying to yank open the door. Unfortunately, someone had hit the car lock and her wild effort to escape only managed to rip the handle right off the door.
She looked at it stupidly for a few seconds before Wolford's voice spoke up.
"You told me to hang onto the keys earlier, oh and Scent-Away doesn't actually do that great a job of neutralizing scents. Musk-Mask does a better job. Though I'd still track you down, if nothing else you're my partner, though I'm really hoping you'll give me a chance and let me take you on a date."
Fangmeyer leaned forward groaning, with her paws on her head holding down her ears, hoping that she could curl into a ball and disappear.
"Just kill me now." She muttered.
There was an amused snort and she heard the sound of Wolford climbing over the center console and into the passenger seat.
He just sat there until she finally peeked over at him. He was grinning with a dopey smile looking at her, his tail wagging slowly next to him.
Seeing her peek, he finally broke the silence, "Nadine, you've always said that I'm stubborn and slow to change, and you're right." His voice lost it's happy tone, sobering as he continued, "I used to think that there was something wrong with me for falling for a tigress, you know how stupidly prideful wolves are and I've told you about how we think and feel, especially about fitting into the pack. It's taken me a while to get over that, hell compared to Wilde and Hopps falling in love, me falling for you looks normal by comparison."
Her heart was beating like a drum again, was that how he felt about her? He'd fallen in love with her? She could feel herself starting to shake again.
"I'm sorry Nadine, I should have asked you out long ago, but I'm asking you out now. I like you and I think you like me." She felt his paw gently touch her arm, "I'd like to see if we can be more than friends, so will you give me a chance?"
He waited there for a response but when she finally tried to speak, her throat was too dry to make a sound.
Wolford sighed and removed his paw. "Okay, I'm sorry for bringing it up then, just remember, I'm still your friend," She glanced over and saw him place the keys on the center console before he turned and opened the door dejectedly. "I'll see you day after tomorrow for our next shift then, partner." he said and started to exit the cruiser, tail limp.
The sight sent a sharp jarring pain through her somewhere deep in her chest and she reached out grabbing his arm, stopping him.
"Wait." She croaked.
He looked back at her questioningly, hopefully, and she felt another wave of that unfamiliar warm feeling wash through her next to the roiling terror and quickly looked forward through the windscreen trying to think of anything to say.
"I… I… uh, I never got to tell you why I pulled you aside earlier, " she started and then found herself rambling out loud about everything she'd overheard from the workroom and Clawhauser's call, about her thoughts and the nagging feeling and her worries, even about her hair-brained idea to try tailing Hopps and Wilde so that if anything happened they could back them up. Wolford patiently waited, listening until she ran out of stuff to say.
She looked over to him, half expecting to see him looking skeptical, but he had a thoughtful expression on his face.
"I'd heard some rumors that there were a bunch of mammals related to Mr. Big's organization that are involved in this year's Valentine's day festival at the pier and stadium, that and there was a group of nastier mammals that broke off from the Bigs thinking that he'd gone soft. If something were going on at the Festival, especially with a dangerous group of those kind of malcontents, sending in two mammals that are so obviously ears over tail in love with each other is a perfect cover."
Fangmeyer tried listening but her attention was distracted slightly when she realized that the paw she'd grabbed his arm with had somehow ended up holding his hand.
How the hell did that happen?
Her attention was pulled back when he turned to look right at her, "I'll go with you tomorrow on one condition," he smiled that big goofy grin of his with his ears perking up, "We'll go to the Valentine's day Festival and keep an eye on Hopps and Wilde but at the end of the night, if you've enjoyed yourself being there with me, you'll agree to at least try dating me."
After a moment, she nodded back.
Hopps and Wilde need someone backing them up on a dangerous undercover op. Anyway, what's the harm in going out with Ralph afterwards, maybe… maybe… we'll kick it off, I've always liked-, well even if we don't work out there's no harm in trying, right?
"D-Deal," she managed to say.
"Great!" he said and squeezed her paw before letting go and getting out, closing the passenger door. Fangmeyer just looked at her now empty paw before she was startled by the driver side door opening.
"Scoot over, Nadine. You always complain about driving and I've got the feeling you don't want to right now, so I'll drop you off at your apartment."
She scooted over the central console and buckled the seat belt while Wolford adjusted the driver seat forward before starting the cruiser.
They didn't talk the entire drive back, though Fangmeyer kept glancing over at him still feeling mortified at dragging him into the room like that, then kissing him and fleeing.
That moment, though, the moment she'd come to her senses to find his muzzle against hers kept playing through her mind, over and over again. After only a few minutes of driving, she noticed that Wolford was taking subtle sniffs of the air and that his dopey grin was growing bigger and bigger along with the sound of his wagging tail beating against the door was getting louder. She hurriedly tried thinking of something else, anything else.
Food, dinner, what are you going to have for dinner, it's way too early to have wolf …
She shook her head,
Forget food, I need to just relax tonight, not think about anything that happened today. Just sit and vegge out on the couch watching tv.
Perfect. Nothing's a better brain killing activity than watching tv. I can grab a bowl of ice cream, or maybe just the whole tub of ice cream and sit on the couch watching tv and movies. Comfort food and the junk box, the cure to anything.
Isn't that new Sherlock Holmes movie on Nutflix now too? I've been wanting to see that movie, though that actor who plays Watson could be better. The wolf that plays him wasn't very good in the previews, hell, Ralph could have done a better job, he's more attractive anyway…
Shit, damnit,
forget movies. Ice cream, what flavor of ice cream am I going to eat? Chocolate or vanilla or both?
A less subtle sniff and the sound of Wolford's tail banging against the door got louder.
…
Wolford pulled over in front of her apartment looking happier than she thought she'd ever seen him.
"I'll do some extra research tonight, see what I can find out about Hopps and Wilde's plans for tomorrow but I'll swing by to pick you up at noon, alright? The festival isn't supposed to start until 2 so that will give us some time to plan."
"Um… okay, sounds good, I'll, ah… see you tomorrow at noon then." She said as she hurriedly got out and closed the door.
She made the mistake of looking back to see Wolford staring back at her with a smile that made him look like a kit on Christmas morning. She flushed and hurriedly turned and ran inside and up to her apartment before slamming the door behind her and leaning against it.
She was one of the hardest, most badass cops in all of Zootopia, how had her partner made her resolve, her ability to stand up to anything fold like a house of cards? "What the hell have I gotten myself into?" She mumbled as she tried to slow her racing heart and think about tomorrow.
A/N
All blame for spawning the Wolfeyer fleet can be directed at MinscLovesBoo
Blame Him!
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Thanks to the WildeHopps Navy for their quick deployment of the GoneKrazy3000 anti-typo defense system.
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Conspiracy Count Down: 12 hours
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