Chapter Text
Two things were unusual about Judy's morning.
The first thing was a text from her partner.
still meeting at coffee hut?
Considering she was about two steps outside of Coffee Hut, she frowned at the text. They always met at Coffee Hut before morning shifts unless otherwise stated. And she wasn't even late. She was a full three minutes early. So why would Nick be questioning their routine? Unless… was it about last night?
Which reminded Judy of the second thing about that morning that was unusual. That would be the very small and very new jolt that went through her at the sight of the text. From her partner. From her friend. From Nick.
Frowning further still, she stepped inside. She spotted Nick staring at his phone while waiting in line – even dwarfed by two hippos his red fur was hard to miss – and texted back look behind you. She watched Nick's ears flick back before he turned around. When he caught her eye his face lit up for the briefest moment – did he look relieved? – before it was replaced with a smirk. The warm, silly one that was reserved just for her. The one that made his whole face soften, save for the small glint of excitement in his eyes and wow, his fur looked really good this morning for some reason –
To Judy's extreme discomfort, she felt another jolt. A big one.
If she could have dismissed the first one as something she'd imagined in her very sleep deprived state, this one was real. An actual, swoop in her stomach that sent a small thrill up her spine and straight through her ears.
This could not be happening.
"You still with me, Carrots?"
Judy blinked. Nick was looking at her with a hint of wariness, and she realized she'd been staring. A single ear twitched before her brain kicked back into gear and she shook herself.
"Sorry, er – just thinking about what I wanted. I mean what drink! What drink I wanted."
Nick's wariness was rapidly turning into concern. He still watched her as she took her spot by his side. Suddenly terrified that he could somehow read her mind, Judy quickly sought a distraction. "Why didn't you think I was coming?"
He shrugged and became fixated on the menu, even though she knew he had to have it memorized by now. "Well, you know… didn't want to assume anything after your hot date last night."
Right. That.
Barry Quickfoot was perfect on paper. A bunny in his late twenties, he'd grown up in the tri-burrows before moving to Zootopia to pursue his doctorate. That's how Judy had met him, actually. A resident at Savannah General, Barry had been the one to sterilize the nasty puncture wound she'd received chasing down a perp ("You really need to watch where you're going when you run," Nick had sighed as he helped her limp into the ER). Barry caught her completely by surprise when he asked her out to dinner, and not just because he'd been packing her with gauze at the time. Getting asked out by a handsome doctor seemed like something that only happened on television. Plus, after the initial bout of admirers she'd received after the Missing Mammals case, Judy wasn't exactly overwhelmed with dating opportunities. If she wasn't working, she was probably playing silly card games with Nick at his apartment.
She'd almost turned Barry down. She'd wanted to go to the park after work, maybe trick Nick into running some laps with her. But her sisters' voices echoed in her head – "You're missing your prime carefree dating years!" "A whole city of rabbits who probably aren't related to you somehow!" – and she decided to take the plunge.
Judy gave Barry her number. He was already texting her while she was signing her discharge papers. Nick noticed, and she'd expected him to tease her about getting a date out of a puncture wound. But to her surprise he'd gone unusually quiet, and only started questioning her about Barry on the way home. When Nick "I know everybody" Wilde did not know Barry the would-be bunny anesthesiologist, he'd continued his assault of questions all the way to her apartment. Judy, who'd only just met Barry that afternoon, did not seem to have the answers that Nick wanted.
"Oh please," Judy scoffed, crossing her arms. "I don't know what your first dates are like Wilde, but it was not a late night."
"I'm nothing if not a gentlefox," Nick said, gesturing grandly to himself. She snickered. He continued to watch her though. "Saving it for the third date then?"
Judy rolled her eyes. "There's not going to be a second date, let alone a third."
His ears perked up. "Oh?"
"Not a love connection," Judy said lightly.
"Is this your first time at Misty's, Judy?" Barry asked over his salad.
Judy glanced around the restaurant. It was a perfect first date pick. Upscale, but not too fancy. Trendy, but not obnoxiously so. Lovely location in the Rainforest District. Lots of young mammals taking pictures of their meals with their phones. Nick always enjoyed her befuddlement over that phenomenon.
"It is," Judy said, smiling. "My partner talks about it, but we'd never gotten around to going."
Nick, having lived in the Rainforest District for some time, had naturally known about Misty's on the Vine. But according to him there were other "hidden gems" that only he, Nick "I also know everywhere too" Wilde, could introduce her to. And introduce her he did. Nick had been appalled to find out she'd never tried sushi before, so he took her to a place along that docks that only sat six mammals at a time. And there was the ice bar in Tundratown – it was literally carved right into the ice – and afterwards they'd gone ice skating just because she wanted to. Though in hindsight it maybe wasn't the brightest idea to go on a slippery ice rink while they were slightly tipsy, and they couldn't stop giggling as they tumbled into each other –
"So, you like your partner?"
Judy coughed awkwardly on an artichoke. "I – what?"
"Your police partner? You like working with him?"
"Oh, you mean like professionally," Judy said hoarsely, hitting her chest with her fist to clear it, "Like as work partners. Professional ones."
"Um… yes?" Even Barry's confusion was polite.
"Right. Of course. Nick… Nick's great. I couldn't imagine having anyone else for a partner, really. We have a great back and forth. And he keeps it fun, too. I mean, I love my job, but it certainly has its dull moments. But Nick always finds a way to keep it interesting. Oh, like just the other day, we were catching up on paperwork and he was doing these impressions of the other officers and it was just so funny and then he… um…"
Barry was watching her with a slightly bemused expression. Judy supposed he should be, given that she was spending a good portion of their dinner date gushing about another male. But Barry couldn't know that it didn't mean anything. Nick was her partner, her friend. It was natural that she should speak highly of him. Nick wasn't someone Barry should feel was any type of competition. After all, Barry was the one who'd asked her out on a date, Nick had simply taken her to all those other places because, well…
"So, to summarize, you like working with your partner?" Barry prompted with good humor.
Judy breathed out a laugh, feeling some of her tension release. Why she was starting to feel tense, she had no idea. First date jitters, perhaps? "Yes, I guess I made that pretty clear. What about you? How are the other residents?"
"Ah," Nick said sagely, "I see, I see. What was it? Bad table manners? Did he forget to change out of his scrubs? Try to talk epidurals over the candlelight?"
Judy laughed. "No! Barry was nothing if not a gentlebunny."
"Throwing my words back at me, very clever. Usually means you're hiding something, but still, clever. You know, for you."
Judy flicked an ear to swat his shoulder. Even that brief, silly amount of contact was enough to elicit another jolt. This one had that same ear reddening, and without thinking she threw a paw up to sweep her ears down and out of sight. Nick frowned at her.
"Seriously, what happened at this date?"
"Nothing!"
"Carrots, you're acting… weird. Weirder than normal."
"I'm not weird. And I told you, there's nothing to tell. He took me to Misty's, we had dinner, and then I went home. There you go, that was my thrilling evening."
Nick snorted. "Misty's. Of course he took you there."
"It was good!"
"Sure it was, if you like an overpriced crouton for dinner. Oh, I'm sorry, I meant deconstructed salad."
Judy stepped forward in unison with Nick as they edged closer to the front of the line. "Okay, Mr. Salad Snob. If Misty's isn't good enough, where do you take your first dates?"
Her intent was to fluster him, to put them on more equal ground. But to her annoyance he merely shrugged. "Depends on the date."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning I do my research, Carrots. I find out what she hasn't tried, what she wants to do. And then I plan accordingly. Make the evening about her and you're guaranteed a second date."
A snarky comment was forming itself but it caught in Judy's throat. She'd never tried sushi. She'd wanted to go ice skating. And now she was staring at him again, and new details were popping out at her like fireworks in a night sky. How soft and subtle blend of red fur was into cream. How his ears turned to her even when he wasn't looking at her.
Now Nick was most certainly was looking at her too, and if her goal had been to fluster then she'd certainly achieved it. He looked distinctly uncomfortable, though if it was from the intensity of her focus, her odd behavior, or the fact that maybe he might have said just a teensie bit too much was hard to say.
"You two lovebirds gonna order or what?"
Both Nick and Judy jumped, breaking eye contact to look at the annoyed zebra behind the counter. Neither had noticed that they had made it to the front of the line.
Judy knew she should be listening to what Barry was saying. It would be rude not to, and besides, he'd come across as nothing but charming and intelligent. Her sisters would be all over him. But her mind kept slipping into wondering what Nick was up to, and she wasn't sure why. It wasn't like they spent every waking moment together. There were plenty of off-work hours where they went their separate ways.
Then why did she feel so strangely guilty about being here with Barry now? She was a single mammal. Nick was her friend. A very good friend, but it wasn't like she was cheating on him or anything. To be cheating she would have to be his mate, which she most assuredly was not.
Nick was probably just at home, catching up on Aardvark or some other show. Or maybe he was out with Finnick. Maybe they went to a bar. Maybe there were vixens there, who knows. Maybe he'd meet a nice vixen at that bar and then tomorrow night he'd take her to Misty's and then she'd be at home still wondering what he was doing and good dog, what was wrong with her?
Judy gave her head a small shake as though that would rattle her odd thoughts right out of her head. Twisting the napkin on her lap in her paws, she put a heroic amount of energy into focusing on the words coming out of Barry's mouth.
"And that's what I like about anesthesiology," he said pleasantly, "It's like math and chemistry combined, really. You need to have just the right dose of anesthetic for the mammal, and every mammal is unique. I mean, to be honest, that's what I'll miss about doing rounds when this is fun. Meeting the different mammals, I mean. There's just so many little things you start to notice when you see new patients every day."
Judy nodded. Little things. Right. She'd been noticing little things too.
Like how her normally laid back partner had snarled at that badger who had kicked her in the stomach when she was cuffing him. How, when Delgato brought his newborn cubs into the precinct for a visit, she'd caught her partner staring at her as she cradled one in her arms. Or how lately her partner seemed to initiate casual contact more and more. A tail swishing her legs when he passed her in the kitchen of his apartment. His chest brushing against her shoulder as he leaned over her to examine some paperwork. His strong forearm grazing her smaller one when he reaching across her steal some of her beet chips.
She wondered what he would do if she initiated some of her own. Would he ignore it? Would he pull away? Or would his tail do that bristling thing it did in the rare event he was caught off guard –
"… Judy?"
She startled, dropping the piece of broccoli she had speared with her fork. "Yes, here!" she sputtered. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
Barry gestured to the fallen broccoli. "I was just asking if your food was okay? You were just… staring at that piece of broccoli for a long time."
Judy picked it back up again. "It's delicious," she assured him.
Their perfectly pleasant dinner ended and became a perfectly pleasant stroll back to her apartment. In a way straight out of the movies, Barry walked Judy to her doorstep.
Barry was saying something to her, but Judy was barely registering it. She hadn't checked her phone in a while – maybe Nick had texted her? She nodded at whatever Barry said, and the next thing she knew Barry was leaning towards her.
Oh. She must have just agreed to a goodnight kiss. Judy contemplated backing out of it for a fraction of a second, but then, well, maybe this was the kick she needed to get out of whatever weird stupor she had found herself in tonight. And Barry had proven himself to be kind, intelligent, and courteous. He was attractive by bunny standards – nice feet, proud ears, white buckteeth. What was the harm? Judy closed her eyes and felt Barry press his lips chastely against hers. And then, unbidden, a single thought, very plain and very clear:
I wish this was Nick kissing me instead.
Judy jerked backwards as though an electric current had run through her. Lips still puckered, Barry blinked in surprise. "Judy? Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?"
She realized she was breathing heavily considering she was just standing there. Swallowing, she shook her head. "No," Judy said, feeling as though she was coming out of a dream, "No, Barry, you're fine… perfect even, my parents would love you, you have no idea… it's just… I… I think I just realized something."
"Realized something?"
"I think. Maybe. I don't know." Judy squeezed her eyes shut. Opening them again, she took in Barry's concerned, bewildered face. She sighed.
"Look, Barry, I'm so sorry. Tonight was lovely, you're lovely, but I don't think… I don't think I'm as available as I thought I was."
Barry let out a little huff of a laugh and exhaled. "Ah. I gotcha."
Judy's stomach twisted. "I didn't mean to lead you on like this. Here, let me pay you back for dinner – "
Barry waved his paw. "Don't worry about it. I had a nice time. Just give me a ring if you find yourself available again, yeah? Or if you need some more gauze?"
Judy laughed weakly. "I – yes. Of course."
They waved goodbye. Barry hopped down her stairs and didn't look back. Judy didn't even remember the walk back up to her apartment. She didn't remember getting changed or plugging in her phone. The next thing she knew she was laying on her bed, staring at her ceiling, spending the night thinking about her partner in a way that she never had before.
She was about to hand the cashier her credit card when Nick's paw covered her own. Judy barely swallowed a small squeak. Gently, Nick pushed her paw down and handed the cashier some cash.
"My treat, bunny."
Judy's ears shot up straight. "What?"
"Your coffee. It's on me. Least I can do after your terrible date."
"I never said it was terrible."
"Please. You didn't have to. I can see it in your face. You're looking at me like you've never seen a fox before."
He was nearly correct. In many ways she felt like she'd never seen this particular fox before. In this new, thrilling, terrifying, wonderful light. Judy tried to regain control of her face and reached for one of Nick's tactics. Distraction via light ribbing. "What kind of dates do you go on where you recognize the look of terrible one, hmm?"
Nick grinned down at her. He paused for a moment to give her an appraising, fond look, almost as though he too was seeing her for the first time. "Oh Carrots, wouldn't you like to know?"
He handed her the coffee so that their paws brushed. And suddenly most-determined-first-bunny-cop Judy took over, and she let forefinger trail over his ever-so-slightly on the release. Nick's eyes snapped up to meet hers, and in them was the question she had been asking herself all night. She held his gaze, knowing what her answer was, wondering if he did too.
Nick smiled.