Chapter Text
It was a refreshingly quiet day at Precinct One, ZPD, and the Lynxley case had been recently wrapped up.
A bored, red-haired fox with green eyes sat on a wooden chair at his shared ZPD desk, submerged in a sea of paperwork. Seated across from him on another chair was Officer Judy Hopps, who furiously scribbled down the details of a new petty theft case in her register.
The sun shone warmly outside, the clouds played hide and seek and the trees spread their branches for perspiring mammals.
But for Judy, it was just another work day.
Perhaps this bunny didn't know there existed something called a "break".
But the fox sitting opposite her wasn't complaining.
Time seemed to fly by faster when he was with her.
And if declaring him her flufflé in front of Nibbles and Gary meant anything, he probably mattered to her more than she realized.
His tail wagged at the thought.
But still, some part of him wondered: if she really became his better half, would she understand and accept his history?
Would she understand why he was charming with everyone else and honest only with her?
Or why loyalty mattered to him so much.
Where had he even learnt it in the first place, given that Finnick was no role model, and his parents weren't together anymore either?
He had never told her about his family, expertly dodging the topic whenever it came up.
All she knew was that he lived alone.
And between solving adrenaline-pumping cases and carrying the pressure of proving herself to everyone, he wondered if she even had the time to think about him seriously.
And Judy Hopps was one stubborn rabbit. If she set her mind to something, that was it.
He remembered how she didn't even turn around when he tried to tell her not to take the red line while following Gary through the Tubes.
He sighed involuntarily as he thought about that moment, not realizing he'd been staring at the same page for three minutes, before Judy's chirpy voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Whatcha thinking, fox?"
"Nothing, bunny."
"Hey!"
"Just plotting my escape, before Bogo arrives."
"You can't escape paperwork, Nick. Nobody escapes paperwork."
"You don't know my powers yet, Carrots."
"Ooooh, for example?"
"The power to distract you from your work."
"Crackers! I didn't even realise you were doing that-"
"See? I'm a professional."
"Don't professionals need assistants?"
"They do."
"Can I be your assistant then?"
"I believe the process is more complicated than that.."
"What do I have to do?"
"I'll give you a mission: you have to steal two of Clawhauser's donuts. Without him finding out, of course."
"You're asking a police officer to steal?" Her jaw dropped.
"You wanted to be my assistant, didn't ya? Then this is the first round which you must pass in order to be eligible."
"Okay boss. I'll be back in a jiffy!" Judy said, getting up from her chair.
Four minutes later, she successfully returned with two donuts in her paws, and no cheetah trailing behind her.
"He wasn't at his desk?"
"Nope."
"Didn't he see you from afar then?"
"Oh he might've. But unlike YOU," she pointed accusingly at him, "I have a better reputation than that of a donut stealer."
Nick burst into peals of laughter, and put his paw forward to receive his donut.
Judy batted his arm away.
"Not until you accept me as your assistant!"
"Okay, okay, you're in! Now can I have my donut?"
“If you want it, come and get it!” Judy giggled as she held the donuts out of reach behind her back, as he tried to grab them.
"Fine, let me go tell Clawhauser then!" He smirked.
Judy immediately surrendered the donut, and watched as Nick licked off the sugar dusting on "his" donut, looking quite pleased with himself.
"You're a bad influence, Slick." She teased.
He laughed at that.
But as the sun glinted off his eyes, Judy noticed something unreadable momentarily flicker in Nick's eyes.
After they'd both devoured their donuts, she slid a stack of reports towards him.
“Nick, Chief Bogo literally threatened to write you up three times yesterday if you failed to complete today's tasks.”
“Fiiine. Let's get some work done now.”
Judy returned to her paperwork, ears flicking in concentration as she opened an intimidating-looking red folder. Nick opened another folder and leafed through it distractedly.
For a few minutes, the only sounds between them were the scratching of pens, distant chatter from another desk and Clawhauser laughing somewhere across the office.
Then Nick's phone pinged, grabbing his attention.
“Oh, come on!” he groaned, as if the notification had just announced that his favourite cafe was shutting down permanently.
Judy glanced up. “What?”
“They moved Wimblepaw to Monday.”
She blinked.
“...the what now?”
Nick plopped his phone on the table.
“Carrots.”
“Nick.”
“You’re telling me you’ve never watched the Wimblepaw?!”
“You watch tennis?”
"Every year." He held up a finger to prove his point.
"I didn't know that!"
"Dumb bunny."
"Sly fox. You never told me."
"I just did.”
Before she could retort, Chief Bogo barged in, with an even bigger stack of files in his arms, looking very agitated.
"Hopps and Wilde. Finish these files by tonight, or I'm keeping you two in here all night!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's a lot of files boss!" Nick blurted.
"No problem, sir. We'll manage somehow!" Judy finished, placing a firm paw over Nick's snout to keep him from protesting.
Nick freed himself from Judy's clutches as soon as the big buffalo left.
"You promised him an impossible task, Judy!"
"Nothing is impossible if we try, Nick."
"You could've just said no to him, Carrots. Why did you accept it?"
"I don't know. I guess.. I just feel like if we turn it down, he'll think I'm not competent enough. But if you don't want to stay up late, I'll finish the work. Don't worry, you go home on time." she sighed.
"You already ARE competent enough, Carrots. Believe me.
And I know you'd probably have overworked yourself even if I was not here, but I'm not going to let you do this alone." He said, standing up.
"Thanks Nick, you're the best!"
She smiled at him with a fondness that was hard to hide.
Nick barely managed to keep a straight face after that, and he suspected his wagging tail had already betrayed him anyway.
"But first, I'm going to get some juice to get us through this busy afternoon, Carrots."
“Yeah, it's so hot in here!” She agreed.
As Nick passed by the front desk, Clawhauser offered him a sympathetic glance.
"I heard Bogo gave y'all extra paperwork today?”
“Yeahh, he did.”
“But don't take it to heart, Wilde. Boss has definitely been behaving a lil’ crazy lately. Oh, wait, how about I bring you two some donuts to cheer you up after my shift ends?!” He squealed.
“That'd be lovely, buddy. Thank you!” Nick said, saluting him.
Paws in his pockets, Nick exited the building and crossed the road.
One thing he liked about the city was that Zootopia never lost its hustle-bustle.
A group of baby elephants played soccer beside the sidewalk, and new parents showed their kits the world by pushing them around in strollers. Some young mammals skateboarded, while others bought fries at McDingo's.
He kept walking, until he reached a store selling fresh juice.
"Lime, carrots, blueberry, watermelon! Pineapple, cherry, radish, bamboo!"
The juice vendor called out to passing mammals.
"Which flavour will you have, Officer?" the panda behind the counter asked Nick.
Nick laughed internally. He was an Officer now. Not just a fox in a navy blue uniform trying to pretend he was a cop.
And no matter how many times it was said, he never got tired of hearing "Officer" before his name.
“One carrot-ginger, without ice." He replied.
The panda offered him a brief nod of acknowledgement.
“And for you?”
Nick stared at him for half a beat before responding.
This was what, his second time here? And the juice seller already knew his life choices.
"Blueberry, please. Also without ice." Nick finally answered.
Another realization dawned upon him.
Ever since he had met Judy, he had slowly started taking care of his health.
Earlier, he'd never have bothered about what was good for him in the long run.
But now he skipped fewer meals, and ate food he thought Judy would approve of.
Not that he completely stopped binge eating or eating out. But he felt fitter than he had for the past three decades.
He paid the panda and began walking back to the Precinct, when he spotted a familiar white van.
Finnick casually leaned against the side of the van, adjusting his sunglasses lazily as Nick approached.
“Well, well. If it isn't Wilde.”
“Still alive, I see.”
“Barely. Scamming alone builds character.”
Nick snorted, as Finnick’s eyes landed on the drinks in his paws.
“Carrot-ginger?”
“It’s for Judy.”
“Hm.”
Nick knew that sound. It was Finnick’s version of judgment.
“And the blueberry?”
“That one's mine.”
Finnick peered at it closely.
“No ice in ya drinks anymore?”
Nick shrugged. “Just trying healthier stuff.”
“Woo.” Finnick whistled lowly. “She got you drinking rabbit food now.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “It’s juice, Finn.”
“Today it’s juice. T'morrow you’ll be voluntarily jogging at dawn.”
“I'm a nocturnal mammal.”
Finnick chuckled faintly.
“Still weird seeing you like this.”
“Like what?”
“Domesticated.”
“Didn’t know having one friend counted as domestication.”
His tone carried confidence, but with an undercurrent of something more.
“Nah, seriously.” Finnick pushed himself off the van slowly. “You got the badge, the desk job, matching coffee orders-”
“We do not have matching coffee orders.”
“You know what I mean.”
Nick went quiet.
Finnick tilted his head toward the drinks.
“You used to laugh at mammals who changed. Didn’t think you’d end up one’a them.”
Something defensive flashed in those green eyes.
“I didn’t change for her!”
“Hah.”
“I mean it.”
Finnick shrugged.
“Sure you do.”
“She didn’t force me into anything, Finn.” Nick placed both paws on his waist.
“Nevah said so.”
“But you’re implying it.”
Finnick looked at him for a moment before speaking again.
“At least back then ya knew who you were.”
“Yeah? And who was that exactly?” Nick snapped quietly. “A hustler living off selling popsicles illegally and committing parking scams till we died miserable?”
Finnick’s ears twitched slightly.
“Thought makin’ your own money was the whole point.”
"It still is. But that was temporary income."
"For the last 20 years?"
"Why are you blaming me? I didn't grow up rich Finnick. And neither did ya."
"I'm just saying you gave up on a twenty-year successful scheme."
“I ain’t hustlin’ just to survive anymore, son.”
"Whatever, daddy. Go enjoy your little cop life."
Finnick turned around and got into the van.
Nick watched, rooted to the spot, as the white van drove off leaving behind only a trail of smoke.