Chapter Text
Nick had climbed into the police cruiser that morning with only one thing on his mind. Coffee.
“Judy… I swear, if you don't stop at the next Snarlbucks I might actually pass out.”
Judy sneered playfully at the older fox.
“Aww, did mister nocturnal stay up late last night?” She turned back to the road, adopting a more serious expression. “Seriously, though, no. We’ve already shown up late twice this month, you know the rules."
Nick huffed before flicking his mirrored aviators over his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, three strikes and all that. Gosh, who knew law enforcement would be so strict?”
Judy giggled to herself. “We’ll get some from the machine at the station. At least we don’t have to pay for it that way.”
Nick smiled slyly. “Mmmm. They do have the best black coffee.”
Now it was Judy’s turn to huff. “Yeah, but that’s all they have. You’d think they’d get the funding for at least an espresso every once in awhile.” She gasped conspiratorily. “Oh, maybe we can get Clawhauser to go on a Snarlbucks run!”
Nick chuckled. “Yeah, that’ll go down well. I can hear him now. ‘Oh Judy, I feel so betrayed! You would use me, an innocent bystander, for your menial labors? Oh, the heartbreak!’”
Judy giggled again, louder this time, at that lilting accent. “He does not sound like that!”
Nick’s smile widened. “You laugh because you know it’s true.”
A pause lingered between them. He glanced over to Judy.
The bunny was staring at him with a smile on her face, her bright purple eyes piercing his own. He noticed something in them, something he couldn’t place. It wasn’t pity, like he’d seen so often before, but-
“What? Is there something on my face?”
Judy snapped him out of his reverie.
“What? Oh, no, sorry, I was just… staring off into space.” Nick adjusted his sunglasses and faced the passenger’s window.
Judy turned back to the road as well, feeling slightly perplexed. Nick’s mirrored sunglasses made it impossible to get a read on his expression. It was a shame too, she thought to herself. She had always been good at reading faces.
The cruiser pulled into the only reserved spot left in the lot, and the two mammals hopped out. Judy hastily attempted to drag her partner into the station. She was unsuccessful.
“Come ON Nick! We need to get in there before the morning briefing!”
Nick scoffed, walking leisurely despite the bunny pulling him by the tie. “Listen, Carrots, we’re five minutes early. We're not missing morning roll call.”
Judy groaned and gave up her struggle. “I know it’s early for YOUR standards, but every other officer is here already! They’re probably all in the squad room waiting on us! I bet Chief Bogo’s lecturing them about punctuality, and the importance of arriving to work early, and-”
Nick placed his paw over her mouth, cutting her rant short. “Hopps, you need to learn to chill out. It’ll be fine. In fact, I bet they’re all gathered around good ol’ Benny’s desk, listening to the hot new celebrity gossip.”
As the two entered, Nick’s suggestion was quickly proven false. The stout officer sat at the greeting table alone, solemnly staring into his cup of coffee.
“Hey, Benny, what’s up? Why so glum, eh?” Nick flashed a sympathetic smile and pushed his sunglasses up onto his head.
Clawhauser sighed and absentmindedly stirred his coffee, unsettling sugar from the bottom of the cold cup. “Oh, nothin'... contemplating my inevitable lonely demise. No big deal.” He gave another dramatic sigh before sipping his drink and looking up to the pair. “Hey, Judy. Enjoy the time you two have as partners... before it’s cut short by the dastardly blade of heartbreak.”
Judy jumped up, to stand on the desk, and patted Clawhauser’s head consolingly. “Aww, Ben, you ok?” She lowered her voice and leaned closer. "Are you and Mikey-”
The cheetah reared his head up and turned away, swiveling his chair so his back faced the bunny. “Don’t say his name! It just makes me hate life more.”
Benjamin's "relationship status" had always been an open secret at the station. Judy frequently inquired into his personal matters, and Clawhauser was not a shy fellow. Nick was more tactful, and rarely pushed his co-workers to chat. To him, small talk was less of an appetizer and more of a plate garnish. Even so, it was readily apparent that this "relationship status" had been rather recently updated.
"Breakup blues, eh?" Nick leaned over the desk and slung an arm across the downtrodden cat’s shoulders. “Hey, pal, don't let that get'cha down. Believe me, Benny, there’s a whole lot more fish in the sea! Probably a lot less ugly lookin' ones too.”
Clawhauser sniffled and let out a small laugh. “You’re right." His teary eyes shine a bit as he looks back to Judy. "He did look a bit grizzly, didn’t he.”
Judy giggled. “Talk about a bear, huh?”
Clawhauser laughed harder, wiping a tear from his eye. “Aww, you guys! You always know how to make a cheetah feel better, don't’cha!”
Nick smiled warmly. “You bet, bud. Hey, listen, why don't we get you coffee and donuts later, back at our place, after you clock out tonight - our treat, right Hopps? We’ll talk about what an asshole ol’ Mikey was till the sun comes up, okay? It is the weekend, after all.”
Clawhauser beamed at the pair. “Guys, that is so sweet of you. Sure, your place, tonight. Sounds like fun!” The cheetah swiveled his chair around to look at his monitor. “And, um, not that I’m not enjoying this, but I think you guys should get to the squad room. It’s 6:57, and you know how much Bogo hates it when you’re late to roll call.”
'Get to the squad room' had no sooner left his mouth before Judy sprinted off for her life. Nick lingered until Ben finished, but promptly set off at a reasonable jog to their assignment room, flashing Clawhauser double finger-guns on his departure.
The officer sighed again, sipping his stagnant coffee, before remarking to himself, “Oh, well, there they go. Bogo’s always the latest anyway. They’ll be fine.”
In the squad room, officers of all shapes and, admittedly, mostly large sizes, had gathered. Nick and Judy arrived with time to spare, so the room was chaotic and disorganized. The hum of conversation filled the air, and no one even noticed the two officers’ arrival. Well, except for Officer McHorn, who sat grumpily in the chair beside them, and deemed it far too early in the morning to engage in small talk.
Judy breathed a sigh of relief and ran over the previous conversation in her head. Suddenly she looked up at the fox next to her. “How did you do that?”
Nick looked down at her quizzically. “Do what? Look this hot in uniform? Its not that hard when you’ve got my smokin’ bod, hun.” He adjusts his tie and waggles his brows.
Judy giggled softly again. “No, not that, dumb fox. I mean what you did earlier, with Clawhauser. How do you brighten someone's whole day so fast?” Nick smiled, but Judy noticed a harshness behind it. Discomfort. A forced smile.
“Well I am quite the charmer, Carrots. I don’t think you give me enough credit!” He laughed to himself.
Judy was puzzled. “Nick, are you-”
“LISTEN UP LOUDMOUTHS, IT’S TIME FOR ROLL!”
Chief Bogo burst into the room, strolling to his podium with an air of intimidation and authority. He carried himself with such poise that Nick often wondered if he'd practiced. Taken posture lessons, maybe. He did a headcount quickly, muttering names to himself as he scribbled names onto his clipboard.
“Alright, jabberjaws, looks like everything is in order where roll is concerned. No one showing up late with frappuccinos.”
The room heard a hearty chuckle from the officers, as Judy pulled her ears down in embarrassment. Nick, on the other hand, puffed up his chest and adopted a face of bewilderment.
“Chief, sir, you surely don't mean to accuse me, a dedicated officer, of running late?”
Bogo smiled, uncharacteristically so. Judy found it rather unnerving.
“Can it, Wilde. Today is looking to be another leisurely one, but there's no excuse for wasting time.”
“My apologies sir, but-” Nick let out a strange yelp as Judy kicked his leg under the table.
Another round of laughter filled the air.
The buffalo rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses.
“Now, if we're done with the backtalk, on to business. Just patrol assignments for today, people, but keep your eyes and ears open for anything suspicious. Its summer, and young punks are always looking for trouble when they’ve got nothin’ to do. Officers Fangmeyer, Grizzoli, take upper Tundratown. Wolford, Snarlof, the downtown district. Hopps, Wilde, Little Rodentia. Anderson, McHorn…”
The day passed uninterestingly for the two officers. Dealing with local security forces turned into a hassle, as always, but Nick managed to work things out for the day. Unfortunately for the pair, that meant no cruiser.
The two strolled around the little city's size-inclusive walkway quietly, both deep in thought.
Judy ruminated on her partner’s strange behavior. She had decided he was hiding something, but could only wonder as to what. He'd seemed fine this morning, behind those reflective aviators. The conversation with Clawhauser had been the only notable event of the morning, and afterwords, he was all fake smiles and disarming wit. It was frustrating, feeling that there was a connection but not seeing it. Eventually, she'd told herself that it was up to him to tell her, and not up to her to find out. This decision comforted her enough to relax and enjoy the warm summer day.
Nick thought back to their morning together. He hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary before the ride to work. He hadn’t noticed anything quite like that for a while, in fact. What was that little bunny thinking? Did she look at him like that often? Did she find out about…? No, she couldn’t have. He’d been very careful. Always, very careful. And yet, that curious look...
He sighed to himself and sipped the bitter black cup of joe he had snagged from the station earlier. He never had been good at reading faces.
They patrolled Little Rodentia on foot until their shift was up, when they reclaimed their cruiser from the entrance to the small metropolis. Aside from the disappointing lack of driving, the two reported in nothing out of the ordinary upon their return to the ZPD station that evening. They clocked out and met in front of Clawhauser’s desk, much to the apparent surprise of the cheetah.
“O. M. Goodness, is it the end of the day already? Geez, I must have lost track of time! I still have to put the finishing touches on this completed case file…” Ben looked longingly at the manila folder emblazoned with the ZPD logo.
Nick flashed his signature smile. “Hey, Benny, no sweat. Why don’t you finish up on that and catch us back at the apartment later? That’ll give us time to get some donuts and clean up, right Judes?” He nudged her gently.
Judy grinned. “Nick, I told you not to call me that. My dad calls me that. The fact that you’re so close in age just makes it weirder.”
Nick furrowed his brow mockingly. “I beg your pardon miss, but last time I checked, your old man has quite a few years on me.”
Clawhauser giggled. “Come on you two, get movin’. If you don’t leave now I’ll never get this done! That would really give Bogo something to complain about.”
Nick and Judy departed, bickering into the night. Clawhauser watched them leave with a goofy smile on his face. “Those two… hmm.” He turned back to the overstuffed file next to him. “Oh geez, better finish this up quick!”