Chapter Text
Nick pressed against a street corner and peeked into the alley. Sure enough, there she was. Judy Hopps, rabbit con artist, was up to her old tricks with a shell game.
She presented a red ball and a turtle shell to a wide-eyed bear and beaver. “Here’s the ball, and here’s the shell it’s under! Now watch close, keep your eye on this shell!” And while they watched the shell drop, she palmed the ball. Nick sighed; it wasn’t even hard to spot once you knew where to look. But she had a way of…diverting attention.
He’d certainly gone out of his way to find her again.
He tapped his baton against the brick wall and sauntered in. “Well, look who it is. My favorite bunny.” The bear and beaver grabbed their money and scampered.
Judy groaned. “Hello there, Fuzz. You got a reason to bother me? That was my meal ticket you scared off.” Her stomach growled on cue.
Nick sighed. “I’ll buy you something.”
“Buy me some freedom from cops, would you? I helped you crack the missing mammals case, I thought we were done.”
He frowned. “I thought we were just getting started. I thought you were going to be my partner.”
Judy scoffed. “I march to my own drummer, Fuzz. Don’t you respect me enough to let me choose?”
“I did respect you. You did great work for the city. Then you went right back to conning again. I don’t know how I feel about you now.”
“No? I’ve got some idea. I see how you look at me, when you think I don’t notice.”
Nick tilted his head. “Oh? How do I look at you, Judy?”
“Well, it’s a mix. Half is easy to figure out: you want to throttle me.” Nick gave an accepting shrug. “The other half, though, not so sure what you want. Maybe you haven’t figured it out yourself.” She flicked a finger under his chin.
Nick’s tail whipped in annoyance. “What I want is for you to use your skills for something other than sleight of hand in alleys. It doesn’t have to be the ZPD, just do something worthwhile! I know how smart you are, Judy.”
She considered him, and rolled the red ball across the back of her paw. “Well then, want to play a game?”
“If I win, you’ll go legit?“ He extended a paw.
She shook. “Ha! Sure, slick. Now, watch my paws.” She set the ball on the table, and put a shell on top slowly.
Nick watched her like a hawk. He didn’t believe her, but at least he could bring her ego down a peg.
Judy sat the other two shells down, moving slowly and letting Nick see her paws at all times. “Not gonna go easy on you for being cute, Fuzz.”
“Bring it, Hopps.”
Her paws moved in a blur, swapping the shells back and forth. But Nick anticipated the trick–she did a wide flourish with one paw, and two shells on the other side of the table touched and lifted briefly. He tried to hide a smirk.
She spun the shells around a few more times, then lifted her paws away and stood.
He picked up the shell he knew it was, triumphantly. “Nice trick, but I know you too well, Judy. Now who’s the dumb–”
Under the shell was a note:
GOOD TRY, FUZZTAIL
-Love, Hopps
A red ball bounced off his head, and she was standing at the entrance of the alley.
Nick gaped. “But…I was watching…”
“Uh, yeah. Watching my paws just means I know where your eyes aren’t.” She grinned. “Still not too bright, copper. Catch me if you can!” She took off.
He ran after her. “Why are you running?”
“Because I want to be chased, duh.” Judy was jogging in reverse, easily outpacing him. “Try hard enough, and I might let you catch me.”
Nick was already getting winded. It had been a long time since academy. “Might, huh?”
“Yeah…I’m curious about the other half of that look.”
He sped up. He was too.