Chapter Text
Nick's eyes slowly opened as the stunning sunshine from outside his small window very forcefully shot into his now very much exposed retinas. He recoiled from the horrible sight and raised an arm to partially block his vision.
"Ah geez, why does the sun always gotta be so bright?" he groaned, as he slowly got himself out of bed. He retrieved his phone from his bedside table and glanced a peek at the current time.
"Hey, look at that, I didn't sleep in that long today," he thought to himself.
It was around eleven o'clock, but Nick usually slept for way longer, especially on weekends (it was Saturday). If he didn't need to work today, why bother getting up at a reasonable time? Nothing important needed to be done.
He gave himself a good slap in the face to bring himself to full consciousness, threw on some... probably clean clothes, brushed his teeth, and immediately sprawled out on his couch.
He pulled out his phone again and opened up his direct messenger app.
"Let's give the ol' partner a text," he thought.
This partner in question was Judy Hopps, his best friend and partner on the force.
~good morning carrots~
Nick smirked to himself, fully aware that it was almost the afternoon at this point, and Judy would definitely bring that up in her response. However, Judy didn't have a response, which was odd because she was usually pretty quick at responding to text messages, especially from Nick.
He frowned, but tried not to think about it for too long, before turning on his TV to put on a film. His stomach started to growl loudly, so he quickly got up and poured himself a bowl of dry cereal. He had no clean spoons left, so he used his paws.
The glow of light that emanated from Nick's television set encapsulated him greatly as the movie began. He cranked the volume up as loud as his remote would allow and got comfortable.
The combination of his full-on immersion and the crunching sounds of him scarfing down his cereal made it so he didn't quite hear the sudden knocking at his front door. The loud knocking turned to even louder banging, and a startled Nick nearly spilled his cereal when he finally heard it.
"Hold on, I'll be there in a second!" he shouted as he jumped off his sofa. He swung the front door open, having no expectations. He looked down, and he saw... Judy.
In her hand, she held a tiny suitcase, her ears were droopy, and it looked like she was on the verge of tears.
Nick was concerned, but wasn't sure what to say, "Judy..."
Judy tried her best to put on a smile, but ultimately failed, "Hi, Nick..."
Nick stepped forward, "Judy, what's wrong?"
Judy couldn't seem to muster a single word.
Nick was quite a bit taller than her, so he knelt down slightly to look directly at her. "Judy, what happened? You can tell me..."
She hopped forward and grabbed Nick, pulling him in for a tight embrace. It was something she desperately needed.
"It's all gone..." she finally muttered, trying not to cry.
"What's all gone?" Nick asked.
Judy looked up at Nick, "My apartment..."
Tears streamed down her face, "The Grand Pangolin Arms burnt down..."
Nick was stunned... how could such a thing happen? Judy didn't deserve this at all.
She slowly let go of him and let out a small cough.
"Do you... wanna come inside?" Nick calmly asked.
Judy nodded, and the two entered Nick's apartment. They both sat down on opposite sides of Nick's couch. Neither said a word for a good thirty seconds, until Nick broke the silence.
He had some important questions to ask, "Were you still inside when it caught fire?"
"Yeah... I was still asleep," Judy sighed, "I woke up to the sound of the fire alarm. There was smoke everywhere, and I legit almost had a panic attack! Thankfully, it wasn't super thick, so I was able to grab a few important things from my room, and I booked it out of there before the smoke got any worse."
Judy looked down and slowly opened her suitcase.
"Did everyone in the complex get out safely?" Nick asked, as Judy looked through the items she managed to save.
"From what I know, yes." Judy said, "But I guarantee a lot of mammals who lived there don't have anywhere else to go now. I just so happen to be one of the lucky ones who has a good enough job to move somewhere else."
"Dang, even in the most dire of situations, Judy is more worried about others rather than herself," Nick thought to himself.
Nick scooched over to the middle of his couch. Judy noticed this and scooched closer too. The two made eye contact, and they embraced again.
"I'm glad everyone is okay, Carrots, but most of all I'm glad you're okay," Nick smiled.
Judy, for the first time today, let out a soft chuckle, "Okay, cornball."
"I'm serious," Nick replied, "I don't know what I would do with myself if you... died in that fire."
Judy wasn't nearly as downcast anymore, so Nick decided it'd be a good time to ask the next question, "I know this was super sudden for you, but do you have any moving plans?"
"No... not at the moment, I wish I could've planned ahead for something like this, but it's hard to predict stuff like fires," Judy replied sadly.
"Well, if you need a place to stay, you could always just crash here for the time being," Nick suggested.
Judy's eyes lit up, "Really?! Oh my gosh, I thought I was gonna have to convince you!"
She squeezed Nick tightly, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed.
"Anything for you, Judy," Nick grinned.
Never did Nick think that something like this would ever happen, and even though it wouldn't be permanent, he wouldn't mind if it were.
Judy let out another small cough.
"Do you need some water?" Nick asked.
"Oh yes, please," Judy replied, coughing again, "I think I might've inhaled some of the smoke by accident."
"Jeez, why didn't you tell me that sooner?" Nick said, rushing to the sink.
Nick filled up a glass and gave it to Judy.
"Better?" Nick inquired after she chugged the whole thing in one go.
Judy nodded, "Yes, much better, thanks."
Nick sat back down and put his arm around her shoulder.
"Now, to get back to my movie," Nick said as he picked up his TV remote.
"A-a-a," interrupted Judy, turning to face Nick, "Our... movie,"
"Who are you?" Nick asked slyly.
Judy rolled her eyes, and Nick pressed play.
"Wait a second..." Judy thought to herself, "Nick only has one bed... where am I gonna sleep?"
She would have to ask him later.