Work Text:
Nicholas P. Wilde hated waking up bright and early. He hated the way the sun would peak into the corner of his bedroom window and hit him in the face just right and he hated the loud creaking of the pipes above him when he started up the shower. He hated combing his almost unruly fur and putting on a fresh yet stiff police uniform.
The only good part about waking up was seeing his partner, Officer Judy Hopps, pull up to his door at precisely 6:15 AM with a cup of hot coffee.
“Good morning!” sang the eager bunny when the red fox opened the car door. Nick just grumbled in response and climbed into the police cruiser.
“Coffee first. Idle chit chat second.”
“Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Judy spoke as Nick took a huge swig of coffee.
“Yeah, well two pipes nearly burst last night and I was up ‘til 3 fixing them.”
“Why don’t you just move out of that terrible apartment Nick? I know that the ZPD pay doesn’t start off too well, but surely you can afford something better,” Judy frowned, looking at her best friend before pulling away and driving toward the main ZPD office.
“No can do Carrots,” the red fox just shook his head, “Like talk, rent is cheap and there are better reasons for me to spend money.”
“Look Nick, if you need some help, I don’t mind splitting the bill-“
“No way!” yelled Nick, almost causing Judy to slam on the brakes in fright, “I’m not letting you pay for… I can manage this just fine.”
Judy remained silent for the rest of the car ride to work while Nick quietly finished his coffee. When the car pulled into the ZPD parking lot at 6:30, the grey rabbit couldn’t stand the silence a second longer.
“I’m sorry for yelling Carrots,” said Nick, “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I know you’re just trying to help. I appreciate the offer. No really, I do. But it’s fine. It’s just that it’s been rough these past few weeks, with my mom’s injury and everything at her nursing home.”
“I know,” Judy smiled softly and place one of her paws on Nick’s shoulder.
Nick smiled back at his partner before quickly shaking his head and grabbing his sunglasses. “Welp. Time to save the world.”
---------------------------------------------------------
“I swear! I didn’t kill ‘im!” a reddish-brown bobcat yelled, “All I saw was Davie layin’ there! I thought he’d passed out or somethin’!”
“And what did you do after you saw Mr. Coffman ‘just laying there’?” Chief Bogo questioned the young teen.
“I went back to my dorm room and studied. I had a sociology exam the next mornin’! With Mr. Dahl. Please, that’s all I know!”
Nick and Judy stood behind the one-way mirror that was located behind their chief. Judy was vigorously taking notes while Nick was sipping on another cup of coffee while looking at his phone.
“The roommate can agree that Mr. Lynx here was back in the room by 12:30. And that he left the next morning at 7:45,” Judy mumbled, nibbling on the top of her carrot pen while looking up from her notes and towards the suspect.
“That may be, but that still gives him plenty of time to kill the victim and get back to his dorm,” Nick spoke, not even looking up from his phone, “Forensics placed the time of death at around 11:40 P.M. Plus, notice how shifty his eyes are. And how he keeps touching his nose. He’s obviously lying. Even if he didn’t kill David, this guy’s still keeping something from us. I wouldn’t even be surprised if there wasn’t a Mr. Dahl at the school.
“I always forget how good you are at reading people,” Judy smiled at Nick.
“Well, when you play the game long enough, you learn to notice the little things.”
---------------------------------------------------------
“Another day, another criminal soon to be behind bars. Good work you two,” Benjamin Clawhauser called out to Judy and Nick who had just finished their paperwork on the David Coffman Case. “Do you two have any plans for the night?”
“Not really,” Nick shrugged, “How about you Ben? Do you have another date tonight?”
“Unfortunately no. My date got food poisoning last night and they’ve been throwing up all day,” the big cheetah pouted.
“Well wish them the best of luck from us,” Judy nodded toward the cheetah.
“Will do!”
The two partners then left the building and headed towards their car. Grinning, Nick suddenly took off in a sprint towards the car, declaring a race between himself and Judy who could only shake her head and bolt after the red fox. When Nick reached the police cruiser first, he let out an excited yelp.
“Dinner’s on you tonight!”
“That’s not fair Nick. You had a head start!” Judy pouted before unlocking the car so she and Nick could get in.
“Sometimes life isn’t fair Carrots,” Nick smugly grinned, climbing into the passenger’s seat. “Besides, I’ve paid for dinner the last two times. It’s your turn.”
“Well,” the grey bunny mockingly scoffed, “I thought that you were just being a gentleman.”
“Nope. It’s the 21st century Carrots. The man doesn’t have to always pay for the date.”
“It’s not a date Nick. It’s take out.”
“And a cheesy B movie. That’s basically a date.”
“Only to a dumb fox like you would that be a date,” Judy chuckled.
“Great! It’s a date! 10 o’clock at your place.”
---------------------------------------------------------
Later that night, Nick finally arrived at Judy’s apartment. The fox was wearing a red button up shirt with little sloths on it and black slacks. Judy stood at the entrance of her apartment tapping her foot rapidly. She was wearing a light blue button up shirt and black shorts.
“So tell me Carrots, what have I missed so far tonight?”
“Well first off, you’re late. It’s 10:05.”
“What?” Nick said, mockingly shocked, “I’m sorry, but it takes a while to look this good.”
“Riiight,” Judy rolled her eyes. “Anyway, the food’s been here for a while. But the delivery boy thought I was eating all this by myself,”
“That must have been a sight to see. A bunny, eating a veggie pizza, a cricket and grasshopper pizza, and a large pan of chocolate brownies,” grinned Nick, following Judy to her kitchen.
Once a significant portion of the movie had played, Judy quietly looked at her partner, who was looking at his phone and had one arm draped over the loveseat they were sitting in. The grey rabbit told to herself that she really enjoyed the nights where she and Nick could just sit back and relax, probably a little too much. She would never admit it to Nick, but just being near the fox allowed Judy to relax and have fun. He felt safe. He felt like ho-
“Is everything alright Whiskers? You’ve been staring at me for a hot minute,” Nick spoke while still staring at his phone, causing Judy to jump slightly.
“Huh? Oh, I was uh, just thinking.”
“Mmhmm,” Nick looked up from his phone to stare at his friend, “What were you thinking about?”
“Well since I’m going to Bunnyburrow on Sunday to visit my family,” Judy stammered out, a slight blush forming on her cheeks. “I was thinking that it would be nice if you came along. But I know that you don’t like big crowds.”
“Yeah. Me and a bunch of people don’t mix well. Especially bunnies,” Nick nodded slightly.
“You know what, just forget that I brought it up.”
“But for you Carrots, I’ll make an exception. I’ll go visit your family,” Nick sighed and smiled. Judy hopped up excitedly.
“Really?!”
“Yeah.”
“Oh! Thank you Nick,” Judy grinned and punched the red fox hard on the arm.
“Oww.”
“Oops. Sorry.”
---------------------------------------------------------
"When you said 'Let's visit my family', I didn't think you meant 'I agreed that we would babysit for my 3 sisters'," Nick grumbled. Both he and Judy were sitting on a small picnic table in Bunnyburrow. Surrounding the duo were dozens upon dozens of little bunnies running around.
"Would you have come if I had told you that we were going to babysit?" Judy asked, picking up one of her nephews and placing him on her lap.
"No. Carrots, you of all people should know how bad I am with kids," pouted the red fox. "They are tiny, little soul destroying abominations wrapped up in what looks like an adorable package.”
Judy chuckled and shook her head. “They are not evil. They are cute.”
“Aunt Judy,” the bunny on Judy’s lap looked at the bickering pair, “What does abominations mean?”
The grey bunny looked at her partner who was trying to hold back a chuckle. “Well Jules, why don’t you ask Nicky here.”
“No way, they are not gonna call me-“
“Mister Nicky, what does abominations mean?” Jules asked again, turning to look from her aunt to the fox.
Sighing, Nick looked at Judy who had a huge grin on her face. “It means…annoying, like when your Aunt Judy steals the last slice of blueberry pie.”
“Aunt Judy! You can’t just steal the last slice of pie. The last slice is the most important slice,” the small bunny exclaimed, her eyes widening in horror, and her ears drooping low.
“That’s what I tried to tell her kid, but your aunt still ate it anyway.” Nick placed a paw on the tiny bunny’s head, “So Jules, what do you think her punishment should be?”
“Punishment? Oh no, if anyone should be punished, it should be you Nick,” the bunny cop chortled.
“When did I do something that deserved punishment?”
“How about last week after work, when you-“
“Aunt Judy. Do you and Mister Nicky like each other?” questioned the young rabbit, causing the two adults to stop and look at her.
“What do you mean sweetie?”
“Do you like each other?”
Nick quickly glanced over at his partner, his best friend. Did he really like her? Well, yeah of course he liked her. She was the only person to care about him besides his mother. But did he really like her, like the way this little bunny was implying? That was one question the red fox had been trying to avoid answering for a while.
Sure the duo had joked about loving each other, but isn’t that what best friends do? And sure, Nick tried to tell himself that Judy only liked him as a friend, but after the one Gazelle concert and the multiple movie “date nights” they had had, he wasn’t sure. Did she like him more than just a friend?
“Well sweetie, it’s complicated,” Judy spoke, a small frown appearing on her face and her ears drooped slightly.
‘Oh,’ Nick thought to himself. I guess that answers that question.
“How’s it complicated? Grandma says that if two animals really like each other, they should just admit it to everyone.”
Nick smiled at the little bunny. She had the same kind of bright optimistic attitude that her Aunt Judy had and the red fox found that a little cute. Not that he would say that out loud to anyone. He did have a reputation to uphold.
“Well,” Judy started before being interrupted by Nick placing a paw on her shoulder.
“Hey kid, get the rest of your siblings and cousins. I’m gonna show you guys a magic trick.”
“Okay!” the little bunny happily exclaimed before racing off to tell the others.
Judy quickly turned and looked at her red partner. “Nick?”
“Carrots.”
“Is everything alright?”
Nick grinned and nodded slightly, “Everything’s fine Cottontail.”
“Are you sure? You know you can tell me anything.”
“I know. I just thought that you would like it if I try to bond with these abominations.”
Judy smiled, “You won’t regret it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the red fox stood up and stretched, “Why don’t you go help your parents with lunch? I promise to look after this fluffle until then.”
Looking back and forth between her partner and her nieces and nephews, Judy frowned slightly. “Are you sure? It’s about 95 little kids running around.”
“Come on Carrots. If I can be your partner, I can handle a few little bunnies,” Nick smirked.
“Well don’t come crying to me next time we have to chase after a fleeing perp,” the small cop spoke before getting up to walk towards her parent’s nearby farmhouse.
“Wouldn’t dream of it!” called back the grinning red fox.
---------------------------------------------------------
“Hey Jude the Dude,” Stu Hopps walked over to his daughter. “Is everything alright between you and Nick? Normally the two of you are inseparable when you guys are down here.” While the old rabbit had initially been cautious around his daughter’s partner when he first met him, Stu had happily accepted the red fox as basically another child.
“Yeah dad, everything’s fine.” Judy slightly sighed, grabbing a large box of carrots on her way to the kitchen.
“Come on Judy. Tell your old man what’s got you more hot and bothered than your Aunt Lucinda on a Sunday morning after her poker game.”
Judy quietly set down the box she was carrying. “It’s nothing dad. Just… Just some work stuff.”
“Are they tryin’ to put you and Nick back on parking duty?”
“No. It’s just,” the grey rabbit frowned and looked past her father and out the nearby window, “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated? What’s so complicated that you can’t tell your old ma-,” suddenly Stu stopped talking. He knew that look on his daughter’s face. He knew that look well. “Oh.”
“Dad, are you okay?”
“You like him, don’t you sweetheart?”
“Who are you talking about dad?” Judy asked, a huge blush appearing on her cheeks in spite of herself.
“Nick. You like him.”
“Well yeah. He’s my best friend and my partner. Why wouldn’t I like him?” Judy stammered quickly and turned her and looked away from her dad.
“No. I mean you really li-“
“Stu!” Judy’s mother called out from the next room, “Can you come in here and give me a hand with setting the table?”
“Yeah, be right there Bon,” Stu called back. The old brown looked back at his daughter and said, “We will finish this conversation later okay,” before leaving to go help his wife.
“Unhuh, okay sure!” exclaimed Judy, quickly turning back to the box of carrots.
---------------------------------------------------------
Eventually Stu, Bonnie, Judy, and two of her sisters had finished making lunch. They called over Nick and the kids and told them to wash their paws before eating.
“So Nick,” Mary, one of Judy’s older sister, smiled at the fox, “How are you and my little sis doing at the ZPD?”
Nick swallowed a mouthful of his salad, “It’s actually been kinda boring lately. No big unsolvable cases or anything. Just some routine investigations here and there.”
“So have you had to interrogate anyone yet?” asked Jane, Judy’s other sister.
“Nick’s the best lie detector the ZPD’s got,” Judy adamantly explained, “He’s able to tell if someone’s lying without even looking.”
“It’s just picking up on visual and auditory ticks,” Nick spoke quickly, scratching the back of his head. “It’s just some things I picked up on a while back.”
“You’re also a lot better at filing paperwork than me and half the ZPD.”
“No, you just hate filling out the paperwork,” Nick grinned poked Judy on the shoulder, “But you are way more suited to apprehending the suspects than I am.”
“That just because you’d rather watch All About Ewe with Clawhauser,” Judy lightly punched Nick on the shoulder in response.
Nick chuckled, “Can you blame me? That cheetah could probably convince anyone to watch one of his beloved soaps. And speaking of which,” the fox quickly pulled out his phone, “I need to remind him to record the next episode of As the Wool Turns. I also need to check on my mom.” Nick quickly looked at the tables other occupants. “If you’ll excuse me.” When the fox received a quick nod from Stu, he stood up and walked away, his fingers flying over the touch screen.
“Alright Jude, spill,” Mary sternly spoke to her younger sister as soon as her partner was out of earshot, “So are you two dating or not?”
“What? No, Nick and I aren’t dating. We’re partners,” the cop shook her head and waved her arms in front of herself.
“Oh come on Judy. He OBVIOUSLY likes you. You told us that Nick hates crowds, but here he is with a hundred young kids just because you asked him to be here.”
“Yeah,” Jane agreed, “Plus he one of the few people to survive meeting our entire family, not once, but twice. And he volunteered to be there both times.”
Judy couldn’t help but chuckle at memory from about a year ago when Nick had agreed to go with Judy to her family reunion.
“I haven’t been properly introduced to your siblings yet Carrots. Besides how bad could it be?”
The short answer: bad.
Nick had nearly fainted when he and Judy had first arrived in Bunnyburrow. There were bunnies almost as far as he could see.
“I thought you were kidding when you said that you rabbits were good at multiplying. But this goes beyond regular multiplying!”
“I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but you’ll have fun. I promise.”
“You’re lucky that you’re cute Carrots.”
“Thanks Nick.”
“Nick’s just a good friend, that’s all,” Judy said, waving a hand in front of her face, “Besides, even if we did start dating, it’d be weird.”
“How so?” Bonnie asked, her face puzzled.
“Well, he’s a fox, and I’m a bunny.”
“That didn’t stop your Uncle Franklin from dating your Uncle Louis. I remember when I first saw them together, my first thought was ‘Well Bonnie. Your brother is dating a porcupine. Better get used to it’.”
“Right,” Stu agreed, “Look Jude, if you really like Nick, don’t let anything stop you from settling for less than the best.”
---------------------------------------------------------
Later that evening, both Nick and Judy were back in Nick’s apartment, watching another sappy melodramatic soap opera. Nick looked at his partner and frowned. Judy had been quiet for most of the train ride back to Zootopia and she hadn’t much since then either. It was starting to bother the red fox. But before he could say anything, Judy stood up and stretched.
“Well, it’s late. I’m gonna go home. See you tomorrow Nick,” the bunny gave Nick a quick wave and started to leave the apartment.
“Hey Carrots just wait a sec,“ Nick called out, standing up quickly to follow after his friend, “Is everything okay? You haven’t said much since we got back. Normally you’re a million words a minute. So what’s up? And don’t say ‘It’s nothing’.”
“I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.”
“About what?”
“Us.”
“What about us?” Nick’s eyes slightly widening and suddenly the fox found it hard to breathe.
“I was wondering what we would do if something about us were to change? Like, what if we stopped enjoying each other’s company? You’re my best friend Nick, and I’d hate myself if something happened to our friendship.” Judy quietly mumbled the last part while looking down at the floor. Suddenly, the rabbit felt two arms wrap around her shoulders.
“Dammit Judy,” Nick chuckled softly, “You’re my best friend as well. And not matter what happens between us,” the fox grabbed Judy’s cheeks and forced her to look straight at him, “We will always be best friends. Through thick and thin, for better or worse.” Nick grinned wildly. “Besides, not all change is bad. Except for pennies, of course. Pennies are the worst.”
Judy snickered and wiped a tear that had started to form. “Yeah. And some change can be good right?”
“Yeah Carrots, some change is great. Necessary even. As long as everyone involved wants there to be change.”
“Do you want there to be change Nick?”
“Only if you want there to be change Carrots.”
“I think I wouldn’t mind some change.”
---------------------------------------------------------
Nicholas P. Wilde still hated waking up bright and early. He still hated the way the sun would peak into the corner of his bedroom window and hit him in the face just right. He still hated the loud creaking of the pipes above him when he started up the shower and he still hated combing his almost unruly fur and putting on a fresh yet stiff police uniform.
The only good part about waking up was seeing his partner, his girlfriend, Officer Judy Hopps, pull up to his door at precisely 6:15 AM with a cup of hot coffee and a bright smile on her face.
---------------------------------------------------------