Chapter Text
Judy woke up bright and early as usual, removing herself from a heated tangled mess of limbs and fur and stretching her arms over her head. She took a moment to assess the dozing fox next to her. In his sleep, he appeared peaceful and quiet save for some gentle snoring. He looked almost boyish, both his guarded front and the underlying anxiety he tried to hide were completely removed. As Judy continued to stare, admiring him in the silent glow of early sunrise, she wished she could snuggle up to him again. Unfortunately, time was of the essence and they needed to get a move on. She recalled her mad dash out of the room just a day prior and felt an opportunity for revenge. This time she wouldn't allow Nick a single second to sleep in. She gave him a gentle nudge, then when he had no response, shook him a bit harder. He groaned in protest, opening one eye.
"Today's a new day! Let's go!" She chirped as he winced at her loud tone. He mumbled something incoherent in response beginning to turn away from the offensive sunlight and overzealous bunny, but she pounced on him, showering him with so much love in the form of fervent kisses, that he was forced to return the favor waking up in the process. Ultimately, with a promise of fresh coffee- a lot of coffee- he was able to get out of bed and moving with minimum whining.
They had a expeditious breakfast and were out the door, Judy leading the way, not even stopping to greet any Hopps family members. The town was within walking distance and Judy did her best to point out small details from her childhood to Nick. However, neither was in a particular talkative mood as Judy's mind was focused on something else and Nick was still barely awake.
There was a Christmas market today, and the small town bustled with an obviously large proportion of rabbits and few other prey. Predators were less common, and foxes even rarer, which Nick plainly picked up by the not-so-subtle stares he received. The attention was not unfriendly per se, but undoubtedly cautious like they were waiting to see what he would do. Nick silently wondered if this is what Gideon had to put up with every day. He felt a smidgen of understanding, but quickly dismissed it reminding himself not to commiserate with bullies. Judy may have forgiven him as she wore her heart on her sleeve and always saw the best in everyone. Nick wasn't so trusting. With his mind still a sleepy haze of these musings, he failed to register his partner's frantic mood at first.
Judy was on a mission. The sightseeing, berry tasting, hot chocolate procuring could all wait until later. She paid no mind to the stalls, moving at a rapid pace towards her destination. Nick had finally picked up on the urgency but didn't comment, all too familiar with the rabbit's tenacity. She was grateful as her mission was top secret and he was the last mammal she wanted to finding out about it. Seeing as the objective was in fact his Christmas present.
It wasn't as if she had put off his present to the last minute on purpose. In fact, she had been researching, investigating, and deliberating the perfect gift for months. Even before they started dating. It had to be something he would love, something that would express how much she got him. She considered another sentimental gift but…that was what she always did regardless of holiday. Clothing was out too. Half his wardrobe had been purchased by her, a fact Nick teased as much as he secretly enjoyed. No, Nick's gift had to be novel and interesting and unfortunately her mind was completely blank.
The solution came about two months prior with a unexpected moment of eavesdropping. Judy didn't mean to pry on the conversation, but with her hearing being what it was and his small apartment that carried voices throughout the rooms, she couldn't help it sometimes. Nick had been chatting with a gaming friend (he had corrected her on a previous occasion that he was definitely not a friend, more of an acquaintance really) about old gaming systems. Normally Judy would tune this out as she was less than interested, but she knew Nick liked them and well…
"I've been looking for one of those forever" he sighed and paused hearing the other animal's response.
"No it's the Omega Breamcast. I swear they only made a few. No one in Zootopia sells them anywhere. I've searched for ages."
Judy mouthed the unfamiliar name of the system silently - Omega. Bream. Cast. Puzzled, yet determined, she reasoned that if anyone could find it, she could. After all, she had found the missing mammals. She had found Gary. She found the old reptile neighborhood. She wasn't too humble to admit she was a pretty good detective, uncovering multiple conspiracies to save the city. She could locate this silly console that meant something to Nick, easy.
It turned out to be far from easy. In the weeks that followed, she scoured the city's pawn shops, gaming stores, second hand markets, anywhere that might sell it and came up complete empty pawed with no leads. She searched eBuck every day, must have made hundreds of phone calls and visited countless shops in her spare time (which was less and less once she and Nick became an item). It made no difference. Everyone she spoke to told her told her the same thing: there were only a few ever in existence and good luck finding one.
Finally after over a month of frustration, she discovered an online forum where a self proclaimed "gaming connoisseur" posted that he had a Breamcast in his possession and would be willing to sell it with a few games. The only catch was he could only do local pickup and he was well outside of Zootopia limits. Judy messaged him immediately asking how much and where he was located. It wasn't the price that sent her almost toppling out of her chair (not outrageous with her careful budgeting) but the location. He was in BunnyBurrow. Her BunnyBurrow! She couldn't believe it. She paid a small deposit for him to hold it for her, begging the universe that it wasn't a scam.
Her anticipation rose as she couldn't take a break from work to get there until the holidays. Which of course brought her back to her current predicament. Worst case, the whole thing turned out to be a dead end and she wouldn't have any Christmas gift for Nick. A heartbreaking outcome, but hopefully an amusing one after she explained the situation. She decided to take the risk anyways. The only problem now was distracting Nick long enough for her to run in the small shop and pick it up. She zeroed in on the store in the distance, then looked around. They were coming up on Gideon's bakery. Perfect.
"Nick, there's someone I want you to meet."
Nicks ears immediately flattened at her tone. She was acting weird, and he had some guess as to who she wanted him to meet.
"Great." He said in the most unenthusiastic tone he could manage. It did nothing to diminish the grin on her face. The bakery was small and charming, and as it was still early, no one else was there.
"Hey Gideon!" Judy waved as they entered. The fox gave her a glance and then seeing the company she had almost dropped the muffin tray he was holding.
"Well I'll be! If it isn't Miss Hopps… and Mr. Nick Wilde himself!
Nick stared at him, a little stunned that the other fox knew his name. He supposed he shouldn't be so surprised seeing how both him and Judy had been elevated to near celebrity status after two city-saving adventures. Still, he wasn't aware that the news had reached everyone in BunnyBurrow. Or perhaps Judy's parents had talked about him. Hopefully good things. Gideon set the tray down and wiped his paws on his apron walking up to them with a friendly smile.
"Hi Gideon," Nick said curtly, sticking out his paw. Although Nick wasn't sure about the country fox, he possessed some manners and would be civil for Judy's sake. Gideon grasped it with both paws firmly and almost pulled Nick down with the hearty shake. Nick attempted to hide his wince as he took back his paw.
"Gosh, it's so great to finally meet ya!" Gideon gushed, "I reckon ya know this, but yer kinda a big deal to us fox folk."
Nick…didn't know that. He tried not to think of how his actions were interpreted by animals outside his small circle of, well mainly just Judy. He didn't care for their opinions which had almost always been negative. To think that he was serving as a role model to other foxes made him feel strange in a pleasant way. If he were to name the foreign emotion, pride would come pretty close. Judy gave Nick a warm smile, sensing correctly that he was enjoying this fact.
"Ah," he said slowly to Gideon, gracing him with some sort of response, albeit a dumb one, to the revelation he had given Nick. Gideon handed them both a blueberry danish, still warm from the oven, which Nick took greedily. Between the comment about how Nick was apparently revered among foxes and the free blueberry goodies, Gideon was making one heck of a good impression. Nick remained guarded though.
Judy's eyes roamed to the wall clock and she blanched. She was late.
"I need to…pick up a gift for my sister! Be right back!" She thrust her uneaten danish into Nick's paw seeing as he had already scarfed his down, and hoped he wouldn't ask too many questions or insist on going with her.
Nick narrowed his eyes, but nodded. It was increasingly easy to catch Judy in a lie. This time was so very obvious since she didn't specify which of her 100+ sisters the gift was for. She also didn't seem to have any guilt at leaving him alone this time, already making a break for it, so he had no choice but to talk to the other fox.
There was an awkward silence. The only things Nick knew about dear old Gideon Grey were that he had scratched Judy as a kit, he "changed his ways" most likely with the help of some therapy animals, and now he was a business partner with her parents. Not much to go off of. Nick finally settled on a safe conversation starter- an inquiry into why he decided to take up baking in the first place- when Gideon asked his own question, appearing a bit nervous.
"Er-how long have y'all been dating?" He looked like he regretted asking as soon as he asked it.
"Excuse me?" Nick choked. He almost dropped the pastry he was holding. The other fox seemed both confused and equally embarrassed.
"Pardon, I reckoned y'all were together."
Nick surveyed his options and decided his curiosity was greater than maintaining the lie.
"huh. And how did you reckon that?" he asked casually. There was no point in hiding it really, what was another person in this small town that knew their secret? And besides, he despairingly wanted to know what gave it away...again.
"Well uh… for starters ya keep lookin her way." Nick shot his head back to him. He didn't even realize he had been staring off in the direction of where she had gone. Dammit.
"An ya been lookin like ya wanna bite my head off since ya got here. " He spoke more amused than upset at the notion. Nick tried to relax. He had no idea his irritation had shown so plainly.
"An well.." he shuffled awkwardly, fidgeting with his apron.
"Go ahead."
"An yer scent's all over her."
Nick sighed, closing his eyes. On a break from work and away from other nosy predators, they had been less careful. Judy wearing his clothes, forgoing taking a shower first thing in the morning, not avoiding the intermingling of their bodies and lives. The scent was something bunnies wouldn't give a second thought to. Another fox though…
"Okay okay. You got me." He bit off a piece of the danish a bit more aggressive than necessary. For a moment neither spoke, the silence reaching an excruciating level.
"I uh…I'm happy for y'all…I uh well…I" He started wringing his paws together. Nick waited for him to continue, wondering in the back of his mind if the therapy he received replaced impulsivity with a irritating need to overthink his words. Why couldn't he spit it out already?
"I'm jus so relieved she could even talk to a fox after what I did. I mean, I messed up bad. Iv been trying to make things right for how I acted in my youth but I reckon some things can never be made right. I'm sorry." He hung his head low.
Nick flinched at the overload of information before taking it all in. He shouldn't have been on the receiving end of such an apology. But somehow it was exactly what he needed to hear. Another stark fact that animals could surpass their predestined stereotypes -that they (prey and predators alike) could change and grow. And so, he looked off in the distance and did something out of character. He offered words of support.
"I've done things in the past I'm not proud of," he admitted, still looking away. "I wasn't exactly kind to Judy when we met. In fact, I was a bit of a jerk." He finally made eye contact with the bigger fox who currently looked seconds away from tears.
"I think…what's important is that you learn from your past to move forward and try to be a little bit better than you were yesterday."
Nick held back a grimace. This kind of talk was not exactly what he had on mind for today. Gideon stared at him like he had just revealed that meteors were headed their way. Nick was about to say something to undermine the heartfelt moment -most likely a dumb joke- but he never got the chance before Gideon did something even more unexpected than Nick's heart to heart. He embraced Nick in a enveloping hug.
"What is this? What are you doing?" Nick all but yelled his thoughts aloud as he went rigid, but didn't push him off. Had he ever received a hug from a male fox in his lifetime? Certainty not from Finnick. And if his father ever had given him any affection, it must have been long before Nick had been able to form any lasting memories. That made Nick feel a strange sadness. But, then the presence of any other emotions than discomfort shocked him to his core. He needed to break free immediately. As he gently pushed away the emotional fox, he saw that Judy had returned and her expression was nothing short of disbelief.
Her shock morphed to smugness in an instant and Nick felt the need to stop it right there. "That wasn't what it looked like"
"Really?" She strolled up closer, holding a large box. "because it looked like Gideon was hugging you?" she said, with a hilt of confusion at the end as if pretending she didn't see what she saw.
Nick's ears flattened. "Okay, maybe it is sort of what it looks like."
"sorry bout that," Gideon breathed, composing himself by wiping away some tears, and stepping far back. "I guess I still got som work to do on m'emotional outburts and such." he spoke the last words as if he was repeating something his therapy animal had told him.
"hey, don't worry about it." Nick hoped to avoid any more of those. At least that's what he told himself. He didn't want to admit to anyone, least of all himself that the hug had been kind of…nice. He quickly switched the subject to a more casual chatter about his business (which was going very well). After a while, the pair left the bakery holding a box of blueberry muffins that was forced upon them. For a while neither spoke a word. Judy was the first to break the silence, as she often did.
"I'm just saying…I told you that you guys would get along."
Nick rolled his eyes. "And I'm telling you that I played no part in that…That was completely against my will! If anything, I was assaulted."
"Uh huh, you really looked like you were fighting for your life." She teased.
He decided it would be best to gain the upper paw. Right about now.
"So…who's the gift for? Because I know it sure as hell isn't for your sister." He smirked at her expression of fear of being found out. The tables had certainly turned.
"How do you know that?" Nick could point out that she was a terrible liar. Or the fact that she never specified which sister and why she was only procuring a gift for one of them when she explained the gist of their complicated gift process. Instead he just gave her a hard look and waited for her to crumple beneath the pressure. It didn't take long.
"Fine! It's for you, alright!" she shouted. Nick was surprised at that. He assumed Judy would have gotten his gift months in advance, over-preparing as she tended to do with all things. And from a random shop in BunnyBurrow?
"What is it? A book about farming?" He laughed, but seriously wanted to know.
"You can find out on Christmas. And stop guessing!" Judy scolded, clutching the box close lest he try to pry it from her. She was mostly sure he wouldn't, but Nick could be childish, especially when they were arguing. And on it went as Nick guessed more and more ridiculous items.
"A record player?" he eventually asked, which was getting dangerously close to the real present. If he figured it out before Christmas, she would kill him.
"Nick. Stop it" she was using her serious I am the law voice and Nick knew he had better knock it off before she became very pissed off.
"Okay Carrots, I'll cool it." he raised his paws in defeat and then a moment later asked "is it a board game?"She groaned, refusing to partake, and then a voice stopped them in their tracks.
"You call her Carrots? That's so offensive," an outraged voice interrupted. Nick turned to see a bespectacled brown hare behind a booth displaying various beaded jewelry.
"Uhh.." Nick trailed off, at a loss of how to explain that the offensive nickname in question was actually a term of endearment. Judy took the lead.
"Oh, he didn't mean it that way. It's kind of our thing," Judy waved him off with her paw. The other bunny was undeterred, doubling down.
"How can you let him-a fox-call you that?" the bunny asked her in disgust. Nick saw Judy's expression morph from surprise to anger in an instant. Uh oh. Normally he would have held her back, explaining it really wasn't worth it, and that the hick bunny's opinion of him was hardly any concern of his, but then he stopped. In a guilty kind of pleasure he wanted to see what she would say. She came up to the other bunny like a rocket.
"First of all, this fox is my friend and partner and I'm the one that decides if he's being offensive to me or not. Not you." She took a harsh breath, "I know your type. You think that I'm some kind of damsel bunny in distress needing saving from a big scary predator. Well, I'll just come out any say your views are rooted in bigotry. They couldn't be more wrong."
"And-" she hesitated, taking a closer glance at the bunny. "I know you. And I know your mom Sally Mae raised you better than that. How would she take the fact that you are spouting this kind of nonsense at the market to would-be customers?"
The rabbits eyes went impossibly wide with fear. "I'm sorry I'm sorry. Please don't tell my mom!"
"Hmph…I won't this time. But you should think about your choices" she crossed her arms in intimidation. Nick who had been watching the exchange with bemusement couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. Judy dragged him away quickly so as not to ruin the moment of imparting a serious lesson on the other bunny.
As they walked, he wiped his eyes. "You threatened to tell his mom? What is he, a delinquent teenager?"
"You don't know how it is here. Telling someone's mom is about the biggest threat you can imagine." Judy explained.
He laughed again, and pulled her close to him.
"well, maybe Glasses over there had a point." He watched as Judy's expression displayed shock and continued before she could protest. "we need a new a nickname for you." He pretended to consider deep in thought for a minute.
"I know! How about…Spitfire?" He smiled at her, proud of himself.
Judy gave him an unamused stare. "I vote no"
"we'll brainstorm it," he responded and the two set out to enjoy the rest of the festivities. When the finally arrived back to the house, there was a whirlwind of energy, even more so than what was typical. Everyone seemed to be preparing for tomorrow, even the young kits were finding ways to help.
A flurry of them ran up to Nick and Judy immediately upon spotting them, holding out a large cluster of papers in various states of crumple.
"what…is this?" Judy began to ask, but her question was quickly answers after viewing just one of the drawings -a rough representation of her and Nick in their cop uniforms. She looked at the next one in the pile-Nick and Judy holding hands with a heart between them. The next- Nick and Judy and Gary smiling wide. All of them were drawings in various skill levels. Some with just Judy, some with just Nick, but most with both of them. She started to hand over some of them to Nick when she saw he was already holding a drawing tightly.
Nick was completely still, staring at it mouth open.
"Nick?" Judy asked concerned as she tried to view the drawing. She hoped it wasn't depicting him in a negative way. A few of the ones she saw warranted an explanation to her siblings that police offers did more than shoot at bad guys. Her fears were quickly assuaged when she saw the image was a red fluffy creature-Nick- and a small blob of a rabbit atop his shoulders. The words "Uncle Nick is my Hero!" surrounded the picture in clumsy childish script.
The artist, a young Molly Hopps stood before him, patiently awaited his reaction. She had obviously had some help with the writing, but the drawing was unmistakeably hers.
Nick didn't respond or even move, a statue with eyes fixed on the paper.
"Nick?" Judy asked again, hesitantly.
When he finally broke his gaze, looking to her instead, Judy was astonished to see tears in his eyes.
"This…I…my…this?" he sputtered.
Judy spoke softly to Molly "I think you broke him."
Nick shook his head, ridding himself of the belligerent state and bent down all the way to face Molly. "Thank you." He said sincerely and He welcomed the hug from the tiny rabbit with pleasure.
The next morning was the most chaotic that Nick had experienced so far. He didn't need Judy to wake him -the noise of excited kits, Christmas music at full blast, and scolding parents was more than enough.
Judy had attempted to explain the gift exchange to Nick on the night prior, but he tuned her out once he realized how needlessly complicated it all was. The scene that lay before him was a wonder and he was glad that older animals like him were excluded from these particular "festivities." There was die, timers, and trivia cards involved. There was some type of obstacle course set up. There was shouting from all directions -it seemed like several groups were involved in different activities going on simultaneously. He quietly slipped his coffee and sat back, casually observing Judy to see if she found this in any way reasonable or understandable.
Judy read his mind "they, uh…added a few more rules since last time." She chuckled nervously. He just shrugged.
The Hopps family had tried to do Christmas in a normal way. After a white elephant year that ended in tears and grudges to last a lifetime, everyone in her family knew they needed to create their own exchange. The result was a mix of everything: a little secret Santa, a touch of white elephant, a smidge of , lots of competition, and priority given to the youngest of the bunch. Nick had to give it to them, when all was said and done, everyone looked satisfied and content with their gifts-shared or otherwise. No tears or fights. While everyone was distracted with their new gifts, Judy pulled Nick aside. It did little to shield them from view, but no one was paying them any attention. After their disastrous attempt at privacy last time, he wouldn't complain.
Judy was noticeably nervous, catching herself starting to tap her foot, and promptly stop it. She didn't know how Nick would react to his gift. What if she had misheard completely and it was a different console he wanted? Or maybe he didn't want it at all and was just being sarcastic. It was difficult to tell sometimes. If it was a negative outcome, she would just have to grin and bear it. Best to get it out of the way.
"I'll go first" Judy exclaimed, holding out the present. The present was a perfect cube. Nick resisted the urge to shake it as he carefully unwrapped it, and opened the box. Peering inside, he took a moment to comprehend what he was seeing. It looked like an Omega Breamcast. But…that wasn't possible. He pulled the whole thing out for a closer inspection, finding two games underneath: Hydra Adventure and Resident Weevil
No. way. He looked to Judy, her expression full of anxious giddiness and anticipation. He looked back at the console. It was in pristine condition, a little wear and tear, but otherwise perfect.
How did she know? How did she even find it? He halted his questioning with a resolute answer-it was Judy Hopps. Ignoring the fact that she had obviously been spying on him at some point, he admired the fact that she probably went to the ends of the earth to get this for him.
"How?" He just asked, hoping for an answer to both his questions. She shrugged. Suddenly he remembered their rendezvous yesterday.
"It was in BunnyBurrow?"
"Yeah, funny coincidence huh?" she laughed, but it sounded forced, guarded by nerves. She asked more quietly, "Do you… like it?"
Oh she had no idea. Because how could she?
"Yes!" He choked out "Yes, I love it. I-" She really didn't know how much it meant to him, and he decided he needed to explain the significance behind it -encroaching into his past- a sore subject he didn't like to get into, but one he often made an exception for Judy.
"I had one of these as a kit." He paused "go ahead and get out your ancient animal jokes out now."
She looked bemused "I wasn't going to say anything."
"Uh huh," he continued "I clocked days worth on it. This game-" he pulled the copy of Hydra Adventure. "..was one of my favorites." He smiled reliving the memories of beating the final boss with sheer perseverance.
"What…happened to it?" Judy asked cautiously, coaxing Nick into revealing more about his childhood like diffusing a bomb.
His face fell as he searched his memory. Where had it gone? Somewhere along the way, after the incident with ranger scouts, the magical whimsy of video games had worn off. His mother probably sold it for much needed cash after noticing he had abandoned it. He had more recently begun revitalizing the hobby slowly, but it never felt the same as it once did. Before he could register what was happening, he felt Judy hug him tightly. His face had told her enough and she didn't push for more. He squeezed her back then gently pushed her away.
He cleared his throat. "My turn now. And there's two." He felt better about that fact, perhaps two gifts would almost level with what she had given him, though probably not.
"Nick," she scolded "we were only supposed to-"
"One of them is kind of a joke," he interrupted holding up his paw. Judy gave him a withering look. As always, he needed to balance the serious with something less so.
He handed her the small package. She gently but enthusiastically opened it to reveal a rectangular case. She stared at it for a second, guessing what it was before she even opened it. Inside was a pair of rabbit-sized aviators with rose gold frames, lens tinted pink, similar to the ones she had worn undercover, but an exact style match of Nick's own pair. Her smile took up her entire face and she finally looked back to the sly fox. She understood why he had called it a joke gift as she had never been interested in sunglasses, preferring to take in scenes without the unnecessary barrier, but the way they had matched Nick made her feel a warmth in her heart nonetheless.
She put them on and beamed at him. "How do I look?"
Truth be told, she looked adorable. She frequently did. But since the glasses were meant to have the opposite effect. Nick decided not to tell her that.
"Almost as cool as me," he replied suavely. She rolled her eyes, but she was still grinning.
"And the second gift?"
Nick looked away. If she didn't know any better, he almost seemed shy. "That can wait for later."
"Oh c'mon you have to at least tell me what it is!" Judy sensed that this gift was either something that couldn't be physically opened or he was too cool to reveal it in front of her family. Perhaps both.
"Its something you've asked me about before and." He sighed taking a breath. "It involves a certain musical instrument."
Judy gasped loudly "you wrote me a song!?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down!" He exclaimed in a whisper, doing everything he could to avoid the nightmare scenario of her siblings requesting him to sing the highly vulnerable and pathetic song he made for her ears only.
She giggled hopping up and down like one of her younger siblings, so delighted that Nick would do such a thing. She wondered how long it took him, imaging him writing the words thinking of her. She hoped he would allow her to record it, for her own enjoyment of course.
When Judy had first spotted the guitar, an old electric instrument shoved into a corner of his apartment like an afterthought, she was brimming with questions. The most pressing one was: could he play? Followed quickly by: could he play a song for her now? The first he scoffed at because why would he have a guitar around if he couldn't play the thing? but then recalled the other purpose it had once served, helping sell the image of a band member in various money making schemes. As it turned out, animals would do a lot for you if they thought you were famous. Not that he would mention this to Judy.
Judy loved all things music. She would spend hours on the farm with earbuds in place listening to all genres -she didn't have a favorite. And she loved listening to people play music even more. She had tried a few times to pick up her own instrument but gave up on them all, not having the patience for it. So it was no wonder that discovering her favorite mammal in the world played an instrument sent her reeling. She begged him to play something, anything, until he reluctantly strummed a few chords he knew and was startled by her reaction. She had stared at him with reverence, completely awestruck, even ignoring his teasing.
"Yes, I wrote you a song" he confirmed in a tone barely above a whisper. "Stop it." He gestured to her excited half hopping. He voiced his insecurities in the form of a joke. "How do you know it's not really awful? Or full of terrible puns? You could end up hating it."
She could resist no longer and hugged him again fiercely. "Not possible," she mumbled into his chest. He sighed.
Writing a song for her had never been a part of his plan. For Christmas or otherwise. He had been lazing about one evening, not in the mood for watching yet another action flick but not tired enough to attempt sleep and his eyes landed on the guitar.
He started strumming random chords and before he knew it he had made something new, quickly jotting down the melody so he could remember. Then came the words, a barrage of thoughts unspoken, some words he wished he could share if he only had the courage. After removing some of the more cringey bits he finally had the workings of a real song.
It was so unlike him, so far removed from what he assumed himself to be -reserved, circuitous, unromantic- that he sat on the couch in astonishment at what he had just done. He went back and forth on deciding to share with her or not, but then after imaging her reaction, he knew he had to.
"Can I hear it!?" She begged, eyes pleading. He had prepared for this question. Sometimes she could be unfailingly predictable.
"Aw shucks, I didn't bring my guitar, Carrots." He shrugged.
She pouted for a second considering. "That's okay! You can just sing it to me."
She tacked on before he could bring forth another excuse "No. No, I want to hear the whole thing as intended." She gushed again, "oh Nick, I can't believe it. Wait…" she paused. Looking him up and down. "You didn't make this whole thing up to get out of getting me a real present, did you?" She didn't want to accuse, but she was so surprised by him actually writing her a song that this possibility didn't seem so far fetched.
Nick had expected this response as well. He gasped, "how dare you? To make such baseless accusations when I spent so many nights tirelessly working on it."
Judy rolled her eyes as others were starting to look their way. Wasn't he hoping to avoid garnering more attention? When he saw she was more than done with his melodramatic monologue, he pulled out his phone and quickly scrolled to a picture he had taken of his notes. Scribbled in a loose leaf notepad were the finalized lyrics. "See, all right here."
Judy squealed, a perfect imitation of Clawhauser getting front row tickets to a Gazelle concert and bounced to grab the phone. She caught a few words about "violet eyes," but couldn't make out anything else. A repeat of their earlier skirmish occurred, but this time they already had an audience so Nick put a rash end it, placing one paw on the exuberant bunny and one to slip his phone firmly back in his pocket. Judy decided not to push it, in case he decided against playing her the song one day.
So she kept the secret for the most part, aside from a large grin that was permanently affixed to her face, one she tried to pretend was for the sunglasses. Her parents seemed suspicious, but they didn't pry, reassured that whatever it was to leave Judy in such a good mood must not be anything concerning.
Later, after all the commotion had died down, a warm dinner with plenty of food, and a team effort putting the wound up kits to bed, Nick and Judy lay in their own bed.
"so?" Judy began after a long yawn. She hadn't done much of anything today, but she was exhausted. Nick already knew what she was asking.
"Christmas? I could take it or leave it, to be honest."
Judy visibly deflated. She had hoped after everything that he might have changed his mind. Granted, pretty much all the things she set out to do went off the rails. They didn't do half the things she wanted to show him. Or there was the possibility that nothing would ever replace the memories he had with his mom. Nick wasn't finished.
"Christmas with Judy Hopps, however" he finished snaking a arm around her and pulling her flush against him, "well that I can definitely get behind"
She shook her head in admonishment, but she was smiling softly. "Okay that was super cheesy."
"Can you blame me? I've been hanging around a bunch of overemotional rabbits all week." And Judy supposed that was true.
They left for Zootopia early next morning, her father bawling as if he would never see them again. With heaps of hugs and promises to return as soon as they had another break, they boarded the train. Nick was mostly silent, never a morning person.
"When we get there, we can unpack, freshen up, and then find Finnick."
Nick looked at her in disbelief. "Now!?" he asked. Surely she was joking.
Judy gave him and innocent look "do you have any other plans for today?"
Nick was about to reply that his plans involved watching trash TV, eating a whole tub of peanut butter, and crashing out on his couch to catch up on the sleep deprivation of spending so many days with her bouncing-off-the-walls family. But, he knew Judy wouldn't let it rest and at least when they got this over with, they would be finally finished with her imaginary Christmas checklist.
So, one coffee later, he found himself walking with Judy to Finnick's van.
They were almost there, the fantastical artwork in view. Nick wondered what the gift was going to be when he realized she wasn't holding anything at all.
"Did you forget something, Carrots?"
She looked from the van back to him blankly for just one moment. "Ohhh shoot! I forgot his gift in the car! I'll be right back." And as she ran, she shouted "go on without me!"
Nick shook his head and smiled. She could be more than a little hare brained when she wasn't on a case. As he walked to the van, he considered the fact that he and Finnick hadn't spoken alone in a long time -at least not since Judy had crashed into their lives. He knocked on the van softly hoping to avoid the small fox's wrath. There was no answer so he repeated the motion a bit stronger. Two seconds later the doors flung open causing Nick to stumble back and Finnick yelled, poised with baseball bat on hand "whattdu want!?"
"Woahh Finn. Put down the bat. It's just me," Nick placated.
Finnick sighed and threw the bat back in the van, then grumbled repeating in a much calmer but still annoyed tone, "what do you want, Nick? I got no time to help the fuzz right now." He took a second to add "And you couldn't pay me enough to wear that ridiculous bunny costume again. In fact, you didn't pay me at all. You owe me." He remained on the van platform so he could be eye level with Nick. Nick decided not to remind him that blackmail was their currency and put up his paws in surrender.
"Relax Finn. I'm not on a case. I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by."
At that Finnick gave him a most incredulous look and Nick's grin faltered. Yeah that sounded dumb as he said it. Instead of calling out his blatant lie, Finnick asked bluntly, "Where's your girl?"
"My…what?" Nick blanched, not expecting both the change of subject and the possessive term.
Finnick gave him a hard, serious look. For a small fox who often played the role of a toddler, he could be menacing when he wanted to be.
"The rabbit," he growled slowly as if Nick's comprehending was the issue here.
"She has a name, you know."
"Hard to remember when you call her pet names all the time," Finnick shot back immediately.
"Wh…what?" Nick stammered again. Finnick didn't show it but he must have been so delighted. It gave him great pleasure to throw Nick off his game. Or to see others do so.
"Sweetheart. Darling. Babe. Fluff." He punctuated each word as Nick grimaced. He started to explain that these were not affectionate names, but knew it was no use. Finnick was just messing with him anyway.
"She's not my….girl. She's my partner," he lied.
"Your partner you pretended was your wife," Finnick responded in turn.
"H…huh?" Nick stammered for the third time, eyes bulging out. "That was…" he took a breath and glared at him. " We we're undercover for a case."
"Oh yeah? and was dressing her up in some tight getup necessary for the case too?" he mocked.
Nick flushed, eyes even wider with embarrassment, his standing completely gone once and for all, as he looked around. Thank God Judy was still missing. While the whole sting operation and clothing choice had been completely by his design, it wasn't as if Judy had no say in what she ultimately decided to wear. He had thought the leggings would be more geared toward a sporty active mom look, not that it would highlight her curves in bright neon. Again, Finnnick was less than likely to believe that. Nick looked down in utter defeat.
"She's getting your gift." he mumbled.
Finnick burst out laughing "aw Nick, you are too easy now, dude"
Nick glared. The whiplash between embarrassment and rage was beginning to get old. Before he could say anything else and potentially make an even bigger fool out of himself, a familiar voice broke out.
"Well if it isn't my favorite two foxes!" Judy smiled, holding a small rectangular present under one arm, the other paw resting on her hip.
"Ouch, should I break the news to poor Gideon?" Nick responded, but he couldn't help but smile back at her. She noted the tension from Nick.
"What were you guys talking about?" she asked.
Before Finnick could speak up with what would surely be a humiliating comment, Nick answered, "we…were discussing Finnick's love life!" That earned an impressive glare from the smaller fox. "how is Veronica?" Nick continued, ever the expert at remembering names and faces.
Judy's interest was instantly piqued wondering who this Veronica mammal was. She had garnered that it might be a long-term partner based on the sneaky smile Nick wore.
"We're not on speaking terms at the moment," Finnick responded sharply, clearly not wanting to elaborate. But, Judy being Judy, she was curious. And when she was curious, nothing stopped her from finding out more.
"Why?" Judy prodded with a slight sympathetic tone.
"Ugh, I sort of bailed on her after an argument."
"About what?" Judy asked innocently. Finnick looked like he wasn't going to answer, already pulled too far from his comfort zone revealing his personal tale of woe. Then, against all odds, he actually explained. Nick could relate to that. Judy had a way with getting people to open up to her, even the most reserved. It was all in the eyes, Nick thought. They made you want to spill all your secrets for some unfathomable reason.
"We had a…scare." Judy looked at him in confusion, but Nick understood immediately what the small fox was implying.
"Ah, not ready to be a father yet, I take it?" Nick said with a shit eating grin.
"What do you think, Nick? You know damn well I'm living in this van," Finnick growled at him.
"Why did you leave?" Judy asked him. She knew in the back of her mind she was prying too much, but her wonder was often overwhelming and demanded more answers.
"Let's just say I got the sense that we'd be on different pages and I didn't want to find out."
Judy finally stopped her inquiry into his personal life, but felt that he was being a little silly. He ran away before getting any explanation about how Veronica was truly feeling. Typical foxes. Although, she wondered if vixens did the same, or if this was strictly a male thing.
Anxious to take the heat off himself, Finnick said bluntly, "I guess you both wouldn't have that problem." Judy and Nick glanced at one another then back to him.
"Can you two-" Finnick paused, considering them, "-even have kits?"
It was a complicated and controversial topic, inter-species reproducibility, wrought with prejudice and bigoted zealots claiming the whole practice to be highly unnatural. The general consensus overall seemed to be: reproduction did happen every once in a while between similar enough species, but there wasn't enough data to prove that for distant species reproduction was impossible. Nick sure as hell wasn't going to explain his research on the topic. Not in front of Finnick or Judy. So he settled for his M.O.
"No, believe me we tried." the pausing for emphasis with a smirk, he added, "a lot."
"Nick!" Judy exclaimed, hitting him hard in the gut and causing him to let out an "oof" and clutch his stomach. He absolutely deserved that one and would likely get an earful later going off her mortified and angry expression. Finnick was also doubling over, but with laughter at the crude joke.
"How do you know what she really feels if you haven't spoken to her about it?" Judy said loudly over their amusement, doing her best to shift away from the stupid joke.
He stopped laughing and glared. "Like I said. I got a pretty good impression."
Nick, having almost recovered, spoke up too. "Look Finn. I don't know your whole situation." He straightened up and let go of his stomach. "But if you really like this girl and still want to be with her, open and honest communication is the key." It was spoken like a therapy animal. Maybe he had a fallback if this whole police thing didn't work out.
Finnick stared at him as if he were an alien, which was understandable. Nick had never been one to impart such sensible and personal wisdom. Judy looked at him with tenderness and he hoped he had been forgiven for his fun earlier (at least for the moment).
"Hmm. I'll consider it." It was about as successful one could be with Finnick. "Now if you're finished, could you guys leave me the hell alone?" he growled, about to turn around.
"Wait!" Judy shouted before he could enter the van again. "Your present!" She held up the rectangular box for him to see. He stepped back down and grabbed it from her, not wasting another second to begin unwrapping it. Nick was equally curious as she never revealed what it was she had gotten him.
Inside was a bunch of wires, a screen -no, monitor? and a couple of cameras?
"What is it?" The smaller fox voiced Nick's own question.
"It's a security system for your van. I already made sure if can work with your model and it should be relatively easy to install. This way you can see who's coming from miles away. there's even an alarm." Judy pointed to each of the components.
Finnick stared at the contents of the present, not speaking a word.
Judy nervously continued "I couldn't help but notice…" she chose her next words carefully. "You are a bit overprotective of your van, so I thought this might make you feel safe" she immediately corrected, "-er that it's safe."
Now both foxes were staring at her in astonishment. She felt incredibly uneasy under their scrutiny and began to second guess herself. Did she screw up? Was he offended? Why were foxes so hard to figure out? She was used to mammals showing their feelings plainly on their face or at least being more direct about them. Finally Finback responded.
"It's…great." She caught a small smile. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Nick said to Finnick's outrage.
"You know damn well I wasn't talking to you, Wilde!"
Judy couldn't help her giggles escape at the exchange. There was another moment after Finnick had set down the box on his van, where he silently sized them up looking back and forth. It was times like these Nick remembered Finnick was older than the both of them, an amusing fact considering the role he played. As he continued to stare, a horrified thought crossed Nick's mind. If Finnick gave him a hug right now, he would question if something was seriously catastrophically off balance in the universe. But of course, the smaller fox just stood there awkwardly. "I didn't get you anything, but uh-if you need me to help out again, just ask."
Then without warning, Judy pounced on the two foxes pulling them into an clumsy embrace of three small but differently sized mammals. In a way, he had gotten a hug after all.
The day was late as the sun hung low, and they made it back to Nick's apartment, seeing as it was closer. Judy had been spending more and more time there now that he had cleaned it up. Her neighbors had been increasingly annoying and despite the occasional earthquake from elephants above, Nick's place was objectively warm and cozy.
"Whats next?" Nick yawned, paws behind his head. He knew she had more planned and as much as he complained about her "railroading tendencies" he could admit it felt kind of nice to have his days all planned out.
"Next stop is the old reptile village and then Marsh Market!" Judy sang.
He registered the locations realizing what it meant and groaned.
"You got them gifts too? Christmas is already over, you know."
"Yep!" She beamed, ignoring his last comment. Then she said more shyly, "I wasn't sure if you wanted to tell them about…us." Nick looked nervous too now, avoiding her gaze. Even though both of their friends were more than aware that Judy and Nick cared for each other deeply, having heard enough of their heart to heart, he didn't know if it would be wise to reveal to them the true nature of their relationship just yet. After all, Nibbles was still diligently recoding her podcast which had become exponentially more popular following the reptiles case. All it would take was one slip of the tongue for the entire public (and ZPD) to find out. And Gary was the most open animal he had met, oversharing was not a big deal to him as it seemed to be with mammals.
"mmm better not" Nick said simply. He thought he saw a flash of hurt in her eyes, but it was gone in an instant. Now she held a firm glare.
"Fine, at least you cant make any more jokes about our sex life." He grinned wide. So she was still angry about that. Before she could start lecturing or give him the silent treatment, he pulled out the guitar resting in the corner wordlessly and began to tune it.
Judy squealed as she made her way to the couch opposite him, all touch of anger completely vanished. Nick smiled to himself at discovering a new secret weapon to end all arguments. He stopped tuning , placing the guitar down temporarily.
"Ground rules: no recording devices allowed. No laughing. No telling anyone about this." He held up his paw to emphasize his points.
Judy made a zipping gesture across her mouth and showed him her phone, placing it on the coffee table face down. The carrot pen was safely resting on the entrance table where it belonged. He picked the instrument back up, took a sharp breath and began.