Chapter Text
The first thing Judy noticed when she opened the rickety old apartment door that was slowly chipping away the paint, was the trash everywhere on the floor. At first glance if Judy had to describe Nick's apartment it was practically a living trashcan. And the smell that emanated from opening the door made Judy scrunch up her face and her nose twitched.
Yeah Nick is definitely a work in progress.
"Alright guys!" Judy called out, holding a grocery bag full of trash bags, "Let's get to cleaning!"
Behind her, Gary wore a cloth tied around his head as a makeshift mask, and Nibbles adorned a pink apron along with Judy. The two put on disposal masks to join Gary in protecting their nostrils.
Stage 1 of Cleaning: Pick up all the trash!
And they certainly were gonna have their work cut out for them.
Despite Nick's pleading to leave his place be, he ultimately gave in to the doe's wishes. So for the next few days Judy, Gary, and Nibbles promised to make the apartment spotless while also promising not to mess up or throw anything valuable away. But the stressed look from the fox in his bed said otherwise.
But looking around his place, it looked like that would be hard to tell. Scattered everywhere were cups on the ground and trash on the table and on the floor. Guess that means someone will have to be on dish duty (if Nick even had dish soap in the first place).
The three began their mission in Nick's apartment. The bunny, snake, and beaver started picking up miscellaneous and empty objects on the ground.
"Eugh! How long has this pizza been here and out in the open!" Nibbles groaned, picking the box up with leftover pizza slices that had rot.
"Maybe that's what made the smell?" Gary said, starting to slither around the place.
"Among...other things." Judy added.
Judy picked up two empty jars of peanut butter near the giant wide flatscreen TV and stereos. She noticed the alarming amount of lamps Nick had scattered around his apartment. Why does he have those? He has lights built in. Surely those would be enough to brighten up the place? But then again this is an apartment underneath a gym for elephants, which thankfully was closed for the day today. Unless it's a fox thing she doesn't understand? She looked up at the wall to see the hanging decorative lights that hung on it. Usually you would only see those during Christmas time.
His electricity bill must be terrible.
"No freaking way!" Nibbles shouted which caught both Judy and Gary's attention. "He has a limited edition Preyvengers comic! I used to collect these as a little wood carver myself back in the day!"
"Can I see! I love comics!" Gary excitedly said, slithering over while dropping the trash bag he had wrapped in his tail.
Nibbles opened a page. She hasn't seen a comic book in forever since her mom threw them away one day. "Ahh gosh, I miss when comics used to look like this! I don't like how realistic they try to look nowadays."
"Is that Iron Mammal in his Mark III?! I love that suit!" Gary said beaming.
"You like Mark III? Come on Gary, his best look was obviously Mark V."
"Really? But the colors look ugly."
"I will get you to take that back by the end of the day!"
"Guys can we focus!" Judy hollered picking up an empty fry bag from Bug Burger. "Besides, don't touch that, its probably valuable if it's old, and I'm pretty sure Nick would lose his fur if he saw you two messing with it."
She accidently hit an empty coffee mug out of god knows how many that for some reason was left lying on the ground. The doe grumbled in annoyance. It felt like she was going through some of her brother's rooms. "Besides I want to get this all done before Nick's discharge date gets officialized."
"Sorry..." Gary meekly said, going back to the spot where he was at first and picking up his bag.
Nibbles just rolled her eyes and put the comic book on the cluttered desk. Mama will be back for you...
Suddenly she noticed the plethora of objects on it. Yeesh that was a lot. She didn't know which ones would be valuable.
"Hey Judith, come over here." Nibbles called out. Judy walked over and gave a perplexed look just from seeing the amount of objects on the desk. "Which one of these would you consider...valuable?"
Judy scanned the desk. "Uhhh...well don't throw away that permit card." She was very familiar with it. "Maybe that pull-up bar hanging on the drawer could be useful later." He could use that once his back was good again for some training. "Keep that tie on the chair, he would kill us if he threw that out." Nick does love his ties.
Her eyes were drawn to a big bucket of tennis balls. Why did Nick even have those? Surely one would be enough. "I don't even know about those tennis balls...I guess we'll keep them if Nick collected so many?" she shrugged. This was beginning to seem harder than she thought.
She spotted another mug left on the counter. Great another dish to wash. She picked it up and let it hang on one of her fingers. Let's see...tape. Maybe we should keep that. Another lamp, really? Well it is a desk lamp at least.
Perhaps focusing on just trash would be a good start before going into personal belongings without the fox's permission.
She looked up at the shelf with a bunch of books and a box that was labeled 'comics' in a black sharpie. "Maybe we can use that box for any comics we find?" she pointed. Nibbles nodded as she eyed the desk.
Until she looked to the side and saw a red electric guitar connected to an amp by her feet.
"Cool!" Nibbles gushed, inspecting the instrument. "I didn't know Nicholas played!"
Judy too was surprised to see the guitar. She did not take Nick to be the type of mammal to play an instrument. "Neither did I..."
Did Nick use to play in a band? Why didn't he tell her that? She looked around his apartment and saw the amount of posters for bands from the 80's and 90's plastered around. Clearly Nick was a fan of the classics. Maybe he tried to learn guitar to play some of his favorite songs growing up? She huffed to herself. Maybe Nick's place would reveal more than just a mess. "Let's keep the guitar then-"
"Oh, I am SO getting him to play a song for us one day." The beaver said with determination.
"Woah video games!"
She looked at the blue viper checking out the cartridges scattered near the table and TV. The bunny rolled her eyes. Of course, Nick would be into video games. Just like some of her other siblings. Especially in his "cave".
"You think Nick would let me play them?"
"Maybe he would?" Judy said with a smile. She put the mug hanging from her finger down on the desk in front of the couch. The console on the ground was older than she was. "If you ask him he might even play with you!"
"Yes! I love multiplayer games!" Gary bounced his neck. "I played them with my siblings all the time back at home!"
That little sentence piqued a question in Judy's head. "Where is your home...exactly?"
"Oh the Distant Isles!" Gary smiled. "Most reptiles went there after Ebenezer forced us out back then. It's a nice place! But my family always longed to go back to Zootopia and find our original home."
Suddenly those books she studied in World History class felt more gross than before. Distant Isles history wasn't much to study, since most mammals didn't go there and left reptiles to themselves, not much was recorded. But she remembered reading how reptiles moved there from Zootopia for a better life than the city could provide. But the reptiles that stayed in Zootopia eventually left after the "fanging" of the Lynxley's maid. The realization of not learning much about reptile history in class made all the more sense after these past few days. Gary noticed the sullen expression on Judy's face and gave a worrisome look with those sharp but kind eyes.
"Well, that's all about to change!" Judy said getting, herself out of her stupor. That's right. They finally managed to change things. She just hoped Winddancer could fix things on the political side of the spectrum. But she wasn't so sure about that given the stallion's...eccentric nature.
"Uhhh...Judy we got a problem." Nibbles called out from the corner.
Gary put down the cartridge, and the two made their way to the beaver and found her by...
"What the hell!"
The shout from Judy startled the beaver. Gary moved his long neck aside to get a better look at what had the two befuddled. Only to find...
"Is that...a bed?"
That was actually not a bed. The three mammals stared at a sad looking lumped up mattress that laid on the floor with a blanket over it. With a little table next to it where it had an empty takeout box and a little wind up kitchen timer.
"Would you even call that a bed?" Nibbles commented.
"That's not a bed, that's just a mattress!" Judy yelped. Now this was even more of a problem. "I can't let Nick sleep on just a mattress, that won't be good for his back at all!"
"He bought a fancy T.V. and not an actual bed?" Gary asked himself.
Judy huffed. Was this another reason why Nick was so embarrassed about his apartment? Not just because of the trash, but because he didn't have a proper place to rest his head? Cripes even her sardine can of a place had an actual bed frame!
"I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to afford a bedframe if his recovery shortens the discharge date." Judy said, pinching in-between her eyes while they were closed. She was a little bit irritated by this. "My rent already sapped out some of my paycheck this week, and I don't know if I'm gonna have to buy him stuff to prepare for when he comes home." This put a dent in her budget plans now.
"I'm sure we'll have enough time Judy try not to stress out too much okay?" Gary said softly. He noticed her ears had fallen back.
She appreciated the blue viper's words, but that wasn't just what had her upset.
"I-I know Gary it's just," she started to say after taking a deep breath. "Why wouldn't he tell me this? Or any of this?" She gestured towards the guitar. "I mean I know he's a grown tod and he can live how he wants but...this? I would've helped him get a better bed if he told me..."
"Perhaps he just wasn't ready to share that just yet?" Gary said. The deflated posture Judy gave off was something Gary didn't want to see from her. "I'm sure he would've told you eventually. I know you want to help him Judy, but sometimes mammals don't want to share everything about them all at once. He just needed a little bit of opening up is all!"
Judy wished she could believe that. But given that it took Nick great lengths to reveal his emotions she wondered if he would've told her at all if they didn't pursue the case. After all, he never invited her over prior to this. It really started to feel like the mess wasn't the only thing Nick wanted to hide from her. He wanted to hide himself, and not just emotionally.
But the more Judy thought about it, she started to feel a little guilty. It did take her the same lengths to actually tell Nick about herself as well. What right did she have to feel mad at him? But still...the least he could've done was invite her over at least once. Even if it was in a sorry state.
She shook her worries away. No use harping on the past right now. Nick is in the hospital and needs his place fixed up! Besides those words he said back at the wall...
Maybe I'll talk to him later about this...
"I can whip him up a bed frame easy peasy!" Nibbles enthusiastically said.
Judy broke out of her internal thoughts and her eyes widened up at Nibbles's offer. "You can do that?"
"Pfft, 'You can do that' she said?" Of course! I'm a beaver, we're good wood carvers!" Nibbles proudly said, puffing out her chest. "It's beave 101 Judith!"
"And you're sure it'll be sturdy?" Judy asked. She had no doubt that Nibbles was good at wood carving. The lump on Pawbert's head from her makeshift bat was proof enough. But she couldn't risk the bed falling apart if Nick were to sleep on it one day. She wouldn't take any risk even if the opportunity to cut costs came about.
"Judith," the beaver calmly said, putting her webbed paw on her shoulder. "I made my own place just from enough wood lying around the Market. And I've had that bad boy for thirteen years! It survived wandering rain clouds from the Rainforest District without a single leak and faulty piece broken apart. Plus, I know someone who can help laminate the wood fast enough before you can jump in another tube!" The beaver grinned confidently. "I'll make sure to prepare a sturdy bed for you both, I promise!"
The wink at the end of her sentence shot an alarm in the rabbit's head.
"Nibbles were not sleeping together?!"
The beaver's face fell flat.
"Oh...so you're sleeping on the couch then," She said lowly. "Well that's boring."
"Nibbles!" Judy yelled. A hint of red forming on her cheeks.
"It's no worries Judith," Nibbles said, starting to pick back up her trash bag and going for an empty bottle on the ground. "I'll let you both take yer time."
The bunny huffed. No point in arguing over this. She's wasting time when they could be cleaning Nick's place up. Even though they had the whole day to do it she didn't know how long the process would take.
The trio spent a few hours picking stuff up off the floor. Mugs, glass cups, wrappings, fast food bags, clothes, and some random empty boxes he kept for some reason. They made sure not to throw away any posters the fox kept up on his walls or that were wrapped up on the ground.
Nick clearly was a fan of Winddancer's trilogy.
Gary offered to wash and dry any dishes they found, and thankfully Nick was decent enough to actually have soap and a sponge by the faucet and sink. So Gary washed and dried away with a method that Judy found to be so odd that even she couldn't describe it. Guess reptiles had to improvise?
Nibbles started organizing Nick's belongings into the categories of keep or trash. Old receipts? Trash. New pair of ear buds? Keep. Random road sign by the wall? Debatable. Simple as that.
"Why does he have paint?" Nibbles said, baffled. "Does it look like he has anything worth painting here? No brush either."
Judy mused.
Probably for hustling.
Judy helped clear the tables of any trash or remaining dishes that were left on it. Some of the leftover stains in the bowls and cups had Judy wondering how often Nick would actually wash his stuff up. Not to mention the amount of junk food he clearly used as his diet.
Cripes if her mom saw any of her siblings eating and living like this she would smack them a new one.
She's going to make that fox have a balanced nutrition even if she has to force him to give up those cheesy fries!
Judy was at least happy to see that Nick had a bathroom unlike her place where everything was communal. And thank the bunny angels above it was the one clean place she found in the apartment. And by clean, the bunny meant that the only mess she found was the abundance of fox fur left in the sink. Probably from the brush on the side.
Not only that but there was just a random piece of underwear lying on the ground.
Charming...
Judy ignored it and walked around the undergarment.
She inspected the shower and pulled over the curtain. And her eyes lit up. There was a bathtub! And it was clean too! This would make giving him baths way easier! She looked up at the shower head and her hopes died down a little. The shower head looked fine. But it wasn't one she could just take off and put it back on while the water could still run. Sponge bath it is then.
Though the doctors would have to give her the status on his back before she could celebrate. After all, if Nick wasn't well enough to sit down in a bath tub then it might be even more difficult than it seemed on the surface.
I'll figure it out later I suppose.
Once she exited the bathroom she decided to inspect the closet for anything that could be thrown or kept. When she opened the door a smile formed on her face. Of course Nick would have nothing but Pawaiin themed button-up shirts of a different color variation. She looked behind her to see if Gary and Nibbles were occupied with their task, and thankfully they were.
With a mischievous smile on her face she inspected each and every shirt to see the design. She took the first one in her hand and looked at it. Dark blue with purple and aquamarine shapes on it. Not bad. Next one, her face tightened. Ugh...light green with polka dots? You can do better than that Nick. Next one, the bunny's tail wagged. Ohhh I like the red. It might look nice on him. The next one she pulled aside was a purple shirt with no particular pattern on it. She simply tilted her head and gave a humph.
Then she realized something.
Where are his ties?
She looked into the closet and saw nothing. Well at least he doesn't put them on the bottom of the closet.
They were probably in a dresser somewhere, but she wasn't that much of a snooper to go through his belongings. The last thing she wanted to stumble upon was more of Nick's underwear. That's a breach of privacy she's not willing to cross.
The bunny concluded that she had done enough feeding into her curiosity towards Nick's fashion choices, and went back to cleaning.
By the time they were almost done they had about four trash bags worth of stuff to throw out. Mainly trash and nothing important to the fox. But that wasn't the real opponent in this mess. Because the next thing the trio had to tackle...was the refrigerator.
As soon as Judy opened up the fridge she was met with what she expected. A bunch of containers with leftover food, jars of condiments, peanut butter, bread, some sodas, and blueberries. But whether or not they had expired yet was still up for debate.
She took note of the lack of produce in the fridge. Come on Nick...you can eat more than just blueberries.
But then again she wasn't better off herself with her 'Carrots for one' meals.
At least Nick had an actual kitchen too, while she could only work with a microwave. But having a kitchen to work with meant she could actually practice her cooking skills. Maybe even surprise the fox with a meal too. But she also needed to figure out what Nick liked to eat first. She'll give Finnick a call later. On someone else's phone of course, since Nick smashed hers to oblivion.
The rabbit felt more annoyed now. I got to get a new phone too, great.
As she and Nibbles looked over the dates for some of the items, Gary went back over to the couch to inspect it. It had some degree of being wared down but no odd stains thankfully. He tested the plushiness of the couch and found it to be a little rough but serviceable to lie down on. The viper wiped his head. He was glad Judy wouldn't have to stress over getting Nick a new couch. She's been stressed out a lot lately.
"Hey Gary," Judy called out. The viper looked back over to see the bunny holding up a bag of clearly moldy cheese slices. "Can you check to see if Nick has any cleaning supplies? We might have to clean this fridge out."
"Sure thing!"
And with that Gary went over to inspect the cabinet underneath the sink. He smiled when he saw that Nick actually did have cleaning supplies. Another thing Judy won't have to worry about buying!
"He's got some stuff here!"
"Thank birch! At least he has some decency." Nibbles commented checking the freezer underneath what seemed to have frozen pizza bagel bites tucked away inside.
As Judy rummaged through the fridge she attempted to lift an empty plastic case left in the fridge from the sticky substance that held it there.
"Seriously," she grunted after finally pulling it out. "Why do you keep an empty container in your fridge?"
As she went over to the now filled trash bag something caught her eye behind it.
She saw a singular drawer in the corner of the room. With the only thing on top of it was a framed photo and a pedestal. Her nose twitched. She recognized that pedestal...
The rabbit left the fridge and walked over to the area. The bunny admittedly felt dumb inside. It was right next to the entrance. How could she not have noticed this before? It must've been the abhorrent mess and smell that the group stumbled upon from arrival. That must've distracted her from noticing.
She spotted a little light shining above it. Almost as if it was highlighting something important. She looked at the only photo she found in the apartment. It was a newspaper with her and Nick on the front page.
Hopps and Wilde:
New Duo Cracks a Major Case
Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde Bring Change at City's Largest Police Precinct!
By Franklin Molesworth
Her ears drooped.
She remembered taking that photo. Both her and Nick were in their formal blues. He looked good in that outfit. The professional getup from the fox made him look handsome. The smile on her and his classic smirk looked so cool and inspiring at first glance. And that day was full of hope for the pair. It was the start of their brand new life together as partners. The bunny felt fondness with a hint of melancholy deep inside. They were partners alright. But back then she had such naive hope that they would have smooth sailing back then. And now look. Both stronger together and did the city another good deed. But at what cost and sacrifices that were made along the way.
She saw the object of that sacrifice in the photo. In her hand joined by her bright smile was the carrot pen. Her look became somber. That pen is gone forever now. The gift she had given Nick as a symbol of their friendship was broken because of them. She liked that pen.
Her eyes latched onto the pedestal in front of it.
Our First Case
To a Sly Fox From a Dumb Bunny
Her mind instantly recalled the sound of the pen hitting the ground from its long fall. The echo of it breaking was the same as her heart shattering when it fell down. She sniffled feeling her eyes burn up. She remembered feeling really hurt back then. Really upset by Nick's antic. Upset and hurt by him.
But he was probably just as upset and hurt like she was too. But she ignored that and moved on from him. She didn't want to be anywhere near him during that moment. A tiny bit of guilt flared inside her chest.
Her eyes wandered to the side to see a hook hanging on the wall. She recalled what was there when she barged in that night when they infiltrated the Gala.
The night howler themed tie she gave him as a gift. That was the only tie she could remember seeing out in the open back then, and it was actually neatly placed too.
She looked back to the drawer.
The photo they first shared as partners, the pedestal where he used to place the carrot pen that he took everywhere with him, and the hook he placed the special tie she gave. The only part of the apartment that was neat and tidy devoid of any messes. Nothing stacked or messy about this spot. The lone spot about them. No, to Nick this was a lone spot...about her...
Oh Nick...
He always did care. Even if she didn't see it at first. And it was always about her. Even if he couldn't say it.
"Because no one else in the world matters more to me than you do."
She took a deep breath to avoid feeling sentimental. That same fox of hers was now laying in the hospital. He needed her right now. There's no point in dwelling in the past at this present time. She had work to do for him!
"Hey Judy I think I got most of the freezer cleaned out!" Nibbles shouted.
"Alright let me finish up the fridge." she replied.
She looked back over to the once cluttered desk on the other side of the apartment. The abundance of tennis balls suddenly felt more interesting to her than before.
So Nick likes toy balls...
Perhaps that information and another jar of his favorite brand of peanut butter would be of some use in the future.
Tomorrow would be Stage 2 after all!
"Umm, so I call not taking out the trash." Nibbles said, raising her paw.