Archive of Our Own ^beta

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, "My apartment complex 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 in the building 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.

Chapter Text

The movie Nick had picked to watch was called "I Can't Bear This Anymore!", and it was... interesting to say the least.

Once it was finally over, the screen faded to black, and the movie's credits began to roll.

Judy quickly hopped off Nick's couch to stretch.  

"Wow," she laughed, "that was really bad."

"C'mon, why are you pretending you didn't enjoy it?" said Nick, "I heard you laughing multiple times."

"Well, I guess it was a little funny," Judy admitted, "but it still wasn't good."

"Y'know I kinda liked it actually," Nick replied with a smug grin, "All the plot holes made it a lot more enjoyable."

"Are you sure you don't have any holes in your brain?" Judy responded playfully.

Nick laughed through his teeth and turned off the TV, leaving the room quite silent without the awful credits music perpetrating their ears.

Instead, a new sound entered the room, as Judy's ears perked up. It was a growling noise, and it was coming directly from Nick's stomach.

"I don't know about you, Carrots, but I'm starved," he said.

"Oh, I know," Judy replied, pointing at her ears.

"Bunnies..." Nick sighed.

Judy glanced at the time on her phone, "Oh sweet cheese and crackers, it's almost one o'clock!"

"I mean, I was gonna suggest we go out to eat, but we can have cheese and crackers if you want," Nick chuckled.

Judy groaned, "Very funny, Slick... wait, you wanna go out to eat?"

"Only if you want to," Nick replied.

Judy pondered for a second, "Ok, sure, let's do it!"

"Cool," Nick said, grabbing his keys and some sunglasses.

Judy walked over to the front door and held it wide open for Nick.

"So, do you have any restaurants in mind?" Judy asked.

"Nah, I say we wing it, and just walk around until we find one," Nick responded.

Judy gave him a stern look while crossing her arms and tapping her foot.

Nick smirked, "Kidding! I do know this one place. You remember my friend Flash, right? He told me about this place."

"I swear if all the servers are sloths..." Judy muttered.

Nick chuckled, "Don't worry, Carrots, from what I've heard, the service is top-notch!"

The two of them made their way to Savanna Central Station, and got on an extremely packed train to the Rainforest District.

When they arrived, Nick strolled off casually, while Judy followed close behind.

After taking some guidance from GPS, Nick and Judy stepped into Rainforest Riviera, which thankfully wasn't as packed as the train.

Judy was intrigued by how fancy it was.

"This place looks amazing," Judy said in awe, "I feel... underdressed,"

"Eh, I wouldn't worry, you don't look any worse than I do," Nick replied reassuringly.

Judy looked at Nick. He was wearing his usual Hawaiian shirt and tie combo, but his fur was slightly disheveled. 

"What are you talking about, Nick? You look great." Judy said.

"Yes, I know I'm quite stunning, Carrots," Nick replied jokingly, "But you look great too, you always do."

Judy was touched, but felt like she could be wearing something a little nicer. They both made their way to any empty table and sat down. In almost no time, a waitress came up to greet them.

"Hi there, my name's Sam, and I'll be your waitress for today," she said enthusiastically.

Sam was a tiny river otter who, similar to Nick, sported a tie, as well as some prescription glasses.

"Can I start you two off with some drinks?" she asked, while giving Nick and Judy menus.

They both took a look at the available beverages.

"Uhh... I guess I'll get an Arctic Spritz." Judy said.

Sam beamed, "Lovely choice, ma'am."

She turned her head to Nick, "And what would you like, sir?"

Nick eyed Judy for a split second and formed a stupid smirk on his face that Judy was all too familiar with.

"I'll have what she's having," Nick said.

Sam wrote quickly on a notepad, "Excellent, I'll be right back with those drinks. Hang tight!"

Once she was gone, Judy looked directly at Nick. She was trying her best not to laugh.

"How did I know you were gonna say that?" Judy sighed.

Nick chuckled, "I'm just that charming, I guess."

Judy leaned forward and said, "Oh yes... you are very charming," in the most sarcastic tone possible.

Although she couldn't help but think that he actually was quite charming. 

A few minutes later, Sam came back with their drinks. As she placed them on the table, Sam made several quick back and forth inquisitive glances at Nick and Judy.

She squinted, "Sorry... this is gonna sound weird, but you two look really familiar."

"Oh! No, not weird at all," Judy replied reassuringly, "You probably saw us on the news a couple weeks ago, we're police officers."

Sam gasped, "That's what it was! I knew I recognized you guys from somewhere, I just couldn't place it. Judy and Nick, right?"

"That is accurate, yes." Nick input.

"Well, I thank you for your service," Sam replied.

Judy smiled, "And we thank you for your service."

"Oh, right!" Sam exclaimed, "Are you guys ready to order?"

There were more than a dozen food choices on the menu, so Sam gave them a few minutes to decide.

Once they had looked over everything, Nick decided to order a quesadilla, and Judy chose to get a Shrub Salad with extra carrots.

"Excellent choices, we will get you your food as soon as possible!" Sam said and rushed over to the kitchen.

Nick turned to Judy, putting his elbow on the table, "I don't think you had to specify extra carrots... Carrots."

"Hardy-har. Let me live my life, fox." Judy smirked as she leaned back in her seat.

it wasn't for though, because a few seconds later she felt a slight buzz coming from her pocket.

Of course, it was her phone, and someone was calling... her parents.

"Hold on Nick, I gotta take this," she said.

Nick gave her a thumbs-up as she answered the phone.

"Hey Mom, Dad, what's happening? ..."

Judy's expression went from relaxed to a bit saddened.

"Oh... you heard about that?"

Even though Nick could only hear one side of the conversation, it was very clear to him what they talking about.

"Yeah, I'm okay... just a little shaken up still, but otherwise I'm fine."

Judy took a deep breath and regained her composure slightly.

"Of course I've got a place to stay, remember my partner? ... Yeah, I'm staying with him for right now."

Judy looked at Nick for a brief second as she said this.

"Don't worry, he's being very accommodating, he's gonna let me stay as long as I need to... there's no need to worry... You guys don't have to come check on me... I'm fine!"

"Uh oh." Nick thought.

If Judy's parents came to check out his place, he would have to... clean up.

"Okay, okay... bye!" Judy groaned and fell back in her seat again.

"So... what's going on?" Nick asked.

Judy sighed, "My parents want to come check out your apartment."

Nick was slightly worried, but tried his best to take it on the chin, "You know what, no biggie, you might have to help me clean up a little bit though."

"Gladly!" Judy exclaimed.

Nick didn't really mind having a messy apartment, but he was glad that he at least had an excuse to tidy up now.

A few minutes later, Sam showed up with their food. They thanked her, and she went to take some other mammal's order.

"How's the quesadilla, Mr. Chomp Chomp?" Judy teased.

Nick, who was chewing very loudly, swallowed quickly and patted his throat to get it down, "Ow hot, hot, very hot, but very good."

Judy giggled, "You know you're allowed to wait for it to cool down, right?"

"Carrots, I am starving. I need this in my stomach as soon as possible." Nick said, as he took another bite, "How's your salad?"

"I wish it had more carrots, but it's good," Judy replied.