Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Childrens

"I think I'll quit this job," Nick mused aloud, staring at nothing in particular. His russet fur seemed almost golden, bathed in the radiance of a summer sun, soft pelt caressed by a gentle breeze.

"What?" Judy said, ears perking and eyes finally leaving her phone to scrutinize his face.

The fox looked down at her. "Well, that made you ditch the phone. Never call me one to hog attention, but a little notice is always appreciated, Carrots."

She kicked his leg and returned to her texting.

The park was aflame with the light of late afternoon. Green leaves lapped up the rays of a summer sun, drawing their life from the heat of contact. That same warm breeze sifted the grass and sent hard-working animals to sleep, whether voluntarily or not. At this time of day, the park was just beginning to lose its packed collection of picnickers, as they dispersed and returned to scheduled lives and the monotonous routine of employment.

Judy lay on her stomach across a white and blue crosshatched blanket, elbows supporting her and allowing for comfortable texting. She dressed casually on her days off, opting this time for denim jeans and a sky-blue shirt. Her wide-brimmed straw hat lay where it had been cast, the victim of a surplus of relaxation.

Today's picnic had been Nick's idea. He had said something about needing to discuss a more timely approach to updating case files. It was nothing new to them. They had come to the park many times on a casual basis, just to hang out. The first time had been the most difficult. Nick could still vividly remember the astonishment on the rabbit's face when he had invited her to accompany him, and it had taken a fair bit of effort to argue that it wasn't a date in work's clothing. From that first time, more outings followed. Today, the proposed conversation had lasted for seven minutes before being dropped and replaced by random quips about the weather, the time of year and how easily rabbits could be distracted. A phone call from Judy's parents had interrupted these musings and stretched on for half an hour. By the end of it, nothing noteworthy had been said and she felt compelled to text a friend about it all.

Nick had lost interest. The food was barely touched. The sparkling lemonade had lost its sparkle and now tasted closer to warm water. The dessert which he had carefully selected was being desecrated by ants. He now stood, paws behind his back, gazing out on the façades of smooth buildings and crystal-like spires which boasted the affluence of the central sector of Zootopia. A memory arose of the first time he had seen those artificial peaks. Although young at the time, the optimism that usually filled the hearts of newcomers to the city had been decidedly absent from his.

He smiled at the thought of his old self. It was a strange feeling. In some ways, he felt that his memory evoked a different animal to the one he was today, with barely any resemblance. Other times, he felt that the shift was less dramatic, more akin to the gentle development of a photo from the dark negatives of his past.

At least one thing about him hadn't changed by much - the look was the same as ever. Weeks of nagging from Judy had failed to convince him that the Hawaiian shirt he favoured was anything less than perfectly compatible with his black and purple tie. He had acquiesced on the issue of the trousers, and changed them for the occasion. Now he wore tan-coloured chinos and hated every moment of it.

Hearing a further jingle from the rabbit's phone, Nick began to question why he had even arranged for the meetup in the first place. She was a good friend. No - she was his best friend. But he saw her every day at work for extended periods. Why did he feel the drive to gain even more time with her alone? He almost suspected that it made her uncomfortable. Now that it came to it, the confidence and ease with which he normally tackled life, including his unorthodox partnership with a rabbit, melted away during these outings, for no particular reason, and it was only getting harder.

"Right," he said, turning round and gathering sandwiches and blankets, "that's me going home".

Judy glanced up again, this time stuffing her phone into her pocket and jumping to her feet. "No, Nick, don't go yet. I'm sorry. I was being really rude. You know how I get distracted!" she laughed self-consciously, brushing her ears to the side.

Nick raised an eyebrow and continued packing.

"Let's talk about those papers. That's what you wanted, right? How can I help?" she offered, paws open.

The fox raised a paw to his mouth and cleared his throat. "Actually, I've had time to think it over. I know what to do with them now." He smiled. "I'm all good, thanks. Just needed some fresh air after all."

"Was it something I said?" Her ears dropped further. Seeing her purple eyes filled with such concern set his heart beating faster. He could feel its rhythmic drumming, the same sensation he had felt when she returned to him after a season away. The feeling had reemerged when he had been stationed with her permanently, after he finished his academy training. In the first weeks of their partnership, he had placed it down to anxiety over the dangers they had faced together. Maybe that's all it meant. It was difficult to say, because it was not quite like anything he had felt before.

"No, nothing," he stated honestly. You said nothing at all. "It's getting late. See you tomorrow, Carrots."

Nick paused, half turned away, sneaking a glance at her from the corner of his eye. "…unless, you need me to walk you home?" His ears pricked almost imperceptibly.

But Judy had already returned to her phone. "I'll be fine!" she laughed over her shoulder. "No need to worry."
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Nick trudged home through a street which showed none of the signs of wealthy living displayed by the buildings he had recently admired. He stuck one paw into his pocket ruefully, while the other grasped the wicker picnic basket, swinging it dangerously with each step.

Seven picnics. He had counted. Each and every time, Judy had seemed distant. If she wasn't texting friends, she was being overly professional in their exchanges.

Did she do it on purpose? Was she uncomfortable around him? If she didn't enjoy his company, why keep accepting invites to spend time together? When he was honest with himself, he wasn't really sure why he did invite her anyway. They made good friends and effective partners.

You know you love me.

It certainly wasn't love. The only reason he allowed himself to think about that word in relation to her was so that he could laugh at the unlikeliness of the idea. He had seen enough TV shows and cinema flicks to know that love bursts out on you with butterfly-in-your-belly jitters and lingering eye contact. What he was experiencing was something more akin to slow-burn attraction. It wasn't that he necessarily felt rapturous around her, he just hated time away from her. The beating in his heart could be placed down to social unease. It had been a long time since he had been on genuinely friendly terms with anyone.

The fox kicked an empty can, sending it ricocheting down a side-alley, the metallic clicks echoing between the close walls.

Their friendship was good. It brought them close, but had unspoken boundaries of its own. She was the optimistic paragon who breezed through life with a rosy view on the world. He was the lovable teaser, the insufferable rogue who sweet-talked her without meaning anything by it. Truth be told, he was getting better at it, although 'dreamy staring' was a no go. That tactic had already been tested as a practice run for embarrassing Judy, and it merely received a brusk reprimand and some indelicate words. Admittedly, he had practiced on the chief. In retrospect, that had been a mistake on his part. Nevertheless, it confirmed in his own mind what he always suspected – people found the staring tactic more creepy than endearing. It was best avoided.

Stepping into his apartment block, he faced a dimly lit hall with a plain flight of stairs. Each step creaked as paw met wood, and clouds of dust began their migration from the surface of the stairs to more private corners of the hall. The corridor above led to his room. As always, it smelled slightly musky. A fox's scent was distinct, and no amount of odor control ointment could entirely eliminate the pungency. It was one reason he had failed to sell his old, unneeded bed sheets.

Once the key was slipped snugly into place, the wooden door creaked open unsteadily. Stepping over a tangle of clothes, books, food packets and CD's, Nick dumped the basket unceremoniously on the floor and flopped onto his bed, not bothering to shut the door. He rubbed his face with his paws, yawned loudly, then rubbed his face some more.

Despite initial excitement over acquiring somewhere new, he now preferred his old basement room. This place was claustrophobic, creaky and smelled of mothballs. He had moved into this apartment just before leaving for the ZPD Academy, letting the force pay for his rent.

The fox watched the dust drifting above his head. The tiny specks were only visible in certain shafts of light, and spiraled in micro-whirlwinds every time he lazily swished his paw in the air. The room grew darker as his lids fell over his eyes.
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"Nick?"

He turned over.

"NICK!"

The fox yelped and leaped up, perching on the side of his bed and blinking rapidly. A foggy morning vision made his sleepy mind worry that he would never see again. Of course, the mugginess cleared in seconds. Judy was standing in his open doorway, fully dressed for officer duty and tapping her foot on the dusty floorboards. It was at that moment that he became aware of his phone's alarm blaring out a cheesy love song. Finnick always teased him for keeping that sort of playlist on his phone...

"Carrots," he grinned, eyes heavy, "can I help?"

"Nicholas P. Wilde-"

"Piberious."

"Excuse me?"

"Piberious. It's my middle-name," he explained, flashing another smile calculated to disarm.

She threw up her paws and turned a full circle. By the time she was facing him again, she could no longer hide a smile of her own. "Fine. Nicholas Piberious Wilde, what do you call this behaviour?"

He glanced at his phone. 10:35. Should he be concerned about that?

"I…simply thought it was my day off. I worked all throughout the night, fighting sleep with pills, typing reports until my alarm-"

She held up a small bunny paw, raised her chin and adopted her most professional tone. "Not that, Mr. Wilde. Your lateness does not concern me. That is a matter for our chief to address. I'm referring to the offensive state of your room. It's repugnant."

His head slowly scanned the apartment, eyes darting over heaps of half-dry clothes - the debris of last week. The fox's ears lowered in embarrassment. Any facetime communication they had exchanged on their iCarrots had been preceded by careful positioning of the camera so that she couldn't see the rest of his room.

He blinked a few times. "I suppose, to someone who hasn't seen it in a while, it might seem...what did you call it?"

"Repugnant, yes."

Judy was clearly enjoying herself. Normally it would be Nick who got to tease her. For once, she had the high ground.

"Look at this mess!" she continued, "Unwashed T-shirts, unread books, food packets squashed underfoot, and I do believe that smells like mothballs. Tops, pants and I wouldn't be surprised if I found some dirty winter socks and et ceteras laying here somewhere."

She hopped across the room to open the far window and allow some air inside. Nick decided not to point out that he never wore socks anyway, even in winter, but did take the opportunity to kick some 'et ceteras' under the bed before she confirmed that suspicion with evidence.

"There!" She breathed in the fresh air from the open window like a diver inhaling from a new tank of oxygen. The rabbit turned to the disgraced fox and shook her finger at him. "Don't let me see you like this again, Nick Wilde. You may be my professional partner, but that doesn't mean I can't spread news of this at the office. Would you like Clawhauser to know how messy you are? Would you like it aired on daytime television? Hundreds of children throwing action-figures of Officer Wilde into bins and crying 'that's the fox who taught me that dreams don't really come true'?"

Nick gulped. To his knowledge, no one made action figures of him anyway, but the picture she painted was certainly distressing.

"Well, do you?!"

He shook his head meekly.

The triumphant rabbit breathed in deeply, passing off a spontaneous giggle as a brief cough. She bounced to the door and turning on her heel to face him.

"You have five minutes, then I want to see you outside, ready for morning patrol. And who knows? If you promise to clean up this mess, Chief Bogo may even end up thinking you were helping a distressed old beaver find her car keys, rather than lazing in bed."

His partner disappeared down the corridor, leaving a gaping fox trying to collect his thoughts and reason out how to take it all. There was one thing for certain - he would have to work hard to reclaim the daily title of being the teaser for the day.
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The ZPD headquarters was a sorry place to spend your day if you didn't have a colleague beside you. Judy's short excursion to Bunnyburrow had evolved into a full length placement until the case was resolved. For the first few days, Nick received calls from her every afternoon. Then she texted. Then she missed a couple of days. For the last four days there had been nothing. This meant a typical day for Nick Wilde consisted of working through both his own and his partner's paperwork and case files so the department could keep on top of the system. Judy had been uncharacteristically falling behind of late, and although she had tackled a full seven day's worth of work prior to leaving, her trip looked set to last at least two weeks. When dealing with crime and the safety of Zootopia's citizens, you couldn't afford to be sluggish in the turnaround time for investigations and reports.

It was a tired and red-eyed fox who sat slumped at his work desk, scribbling his pen across endless sheets of paper. He should really be using a pencil, as otherwise mistakes were difficult to correct. Bogo hated the sloppy look of numbers and words with lines slashed through them almost as much as he disliked seeing two sheets stuck together by the residue from corrective white paste. Nick didn't care. Pencils required sharpening, which was surely a waste of valuable time. Besides, the graphite always managed to snap in half, no matter how delicately he tried to sharpen it. So boxes were ticked, dates noted and signatures given in thick blue ink. He wasn't required to do half of this workload, but he wanted to surprise his partner when she got back. A smile flicked across his face as he imagined how relieved she would be when he broke the news to her that she could forget about that accumulated week. As the pen returned to the crisp paper, the smile slowly disappeared.

Time alone was time to think, and Nick had done a lot of thinking. What was it that really galled him about Judy's absence? Why was he feeling so awkward around her? Then he thought of Jordy and somehow couldn't shake the impression that there was an unspoken rivalry between the two of them. Two weeks. His partner was showing Jordy the sights of her childhood while Nick was confined to the office with a backbreaking workload and impatient colleagues breathing down his neck.

Nick leaned back, throwing the pen to the side in disgust for the third time that day. Maybe he was just being possessive. He had been feeling unusually irritable of late, without really understanding why. This job should provide enough excitement to keep his interest piqued. This job, and his partner...

Once again, the fox was lost in thought.
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After fifteen days, Judy returned. When she bounded into the ZPD headquarters for Precinct 1, she displayed all the signs of freshness, refueled batteries and rejuvenated spirits which are brought on by spending some quality time away from the urban slog. Nick waited patiently for her to find him and fill him in on everything that had taken place. He wanted to hear her report of the last few weeks. Wanted her to tell him about the silly things her parents had said and the clever ways she had undoubtedly corrected them.

But Judy didn't go to Nick first. Glancing across from where he sat in the office he had claimed as his own, staring out through the door he had purposefully left open, Nick watched the bunny as she raced from room to room carrying files, making calls and nodding to co-workers. He felt a fresh jolt in his stomach every time she flitted past his door, almost rising from his chair, before slowly lowering himself down again. Perhaps he should wave to her? He continued to work instead. It was lunchtime before she found time to scoot into the office, out of breath and wiping her paws against her thighs.

"Hi Nick! How are you doing?"

"Great!" he beamed at her, eyes wide and all fatigue suddenly banished. Overplaying it. Seeking attention. He quelled the thoughts.

"Good, good," she said, smiling in accord. "Busy week for you, huh? I heard you covered my paperwork. That was so sweet of you!" The rabbit stood halfway in the office, looking like she was ready to go bounding off down the corridor at a second's notice.

"It was a little more than a week actually. No problem." Nick felt a shade of disappointment at how quickly the issue was passed over. It wasn't the response his imagination had painted with vivid strokes in his mind. For some reason, he had been hoping for her to do something embarrassing, with the exaggerated emotion she sometimes displayed. What was he expecting? A hug? He felt foolish.

Judy frowned. "More than a week? Are you sure? Anyway, I need to run! The chief wants to see me straight way. Everything's going so fast all of a sudden! I think it's important." She shook with excitement and raced down the hall.

Nick sat still and watched her go.

"Bye…" he muttered aloud.
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Judy was having what must have been the best day of the last six months. Chief Bogo actually shook her paw when she entered his office. He complimented her on her "efficiency, insight and determination". The ZPD's only bunny liked that appraisal, and had already committed those words to heart, thinking that Nick would probably like to hear them sometime. It could almost be a slogan spread across recruitment posters. Still, she knew she mustn't let it get to her head.

The rest of the day seemed to visibly glow. Colleagues were chatting about her achievements even when they didn't realise she was there. The case that was cracked without a single arrest!

The culprit had turned himself in. Judy had been invited to give a motivational talk at the town hall where she related her experiences during the night howler case and answered questions, most of which were related to her determination and willpower in getting to where she was currently. It had been nerve-racking for her, as she was not one to seek out opportunities for public speaking. Jordy had helped her, being a solid presence she could rely upon for support. They had managed to avoid revealing that they were currently on a case. Her words had been so inspirational, they even convinced the counterfeit dealer, who it turned out worked undercover as a security guard at the birth records office for Bunnyburrows, to recognize that he too was worth more than what he was currently doing. Crime was no life. He would start anew. So long as he paid back in full everything he had earned to those whom he had cheated, the ZPD agreed to overlook his conviction, as none of his customers would press charges.

Judy wasn't just finding the criminals, she was changing lives. Nothing could be more fulfilling than that. Admittedly, she regretted not having time to explain it all to her partner, but really, duty called.
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"So, sweet bunny of mine," Nick drawled, "what's it like up there at those dizzying heights?"

Yesterday's return to Zootopia had been tiring for Judy, but she was still breaking out into warm smiles every time she thought about her sudden rise in her colleagues' esteem. After her string of achievements over the last few months, it seemed that up was the only way to go.

She flashed Nick a coy smile. "What do you mean?"

The fox fixed his green eyes on her. "If you looked any more like you were floating on clouds, you'd be at risk of getting run down by a jumbo jet. Just sayin…"

"Okay," Judy laughed, "I'm pleased with my success. What more can I say?" She adopted a sly grin which she had begun to copy from him, nudging his arm with her paw. "What's wrong? Jealous?"

He turned away and continued typing on the computer, while she darted around the room rummaging through drawers.

"Jealous of what?" Nick finally asked, after minutes had passed.

"Ooo, let me see. Someone cracking another case?" She giggled and spun his chair around. The look of frustration on his face caught her by surprise. Judy took a step back, confused. The anger was gone in a second, replaced by a contented and superior smirk.

"You did good, rabbit. You did good. One day, we'll make something out of you after all."

Her ears relaxed. He was on form today. No hard feelings over her busy schedule yesterday.

"You know," she began, "there is something you could do for me..."

"Shoot."

"Bogo wants me to fill in a lengthy questionnaire about my experience in my current role. I need another officer to approve it, to confirm that I'm telling the truth."

He snatched the paper that she had raised in her paw, and pulled a pen out of his top pocket, grinning energetically. "An interview! Oh, you sweet darling. Dave, get the cameras rolling!" he called out to an empty room. "Now," he crossed his legs and sat back, "welcome, Judy Hopps. Is this your first time on our program?"

She was long gone, laughing so hard she had to fight for air.

The show was saved by the presenter's quick thinking. "Overwhelmed by the feeling? Sweetheart, I don't blame you. Give her a paw, folks! Isn't she swell?!" He clapped repeatedly, moving his paws in a clockwork motion around his chair. Judy gradually gained control of herself again.

"Now, Judy..." The paper was snapped into a clipboard and the pen stood ready. "Let's be serious. Where were you born?"

"Ahem." She cleared her throat and sat up, putting on a professional expression. "Bunnyburrow. It's a quiet place with-"

He raised his eyebrows. "Single statement answers, if you don't mind."

"Okay, single statement answers." Judy frowned with concentration. "Got it. Bunnyburrow."

"Age?"

"25."

"Gender?" he sniggled at this. She shot him a glare.

"Female."

"Current place of work?"

"ZPD headquarters in Precinct 1."

"Length of employment since academy graduation?"

"Twelve months, including my hiatus."

"Now, we have some yes and no questions, understood?"

"Understood."

He threw his head back and slapped his paw over his eyes. "Yes or no! Yes or no!"

"Yes!" she sighed.

He nodded again, pretending to tick that imaginary box before moving on to the real questions.

"Do you possess a criminal record?"

"No."

"Do you have any health conditions which would make your job impossible 'slash' unattainable?"

"No."

"Do you have a valid driver's licence, in date and verified?"

"Yes."

"Are you available for full time work and short notice shifts when required?"

"Yes."

"Will you marry me?"

"Ye-what?!" she looked at him, purple eyes wide and nose twitching rapidly.

The fox started shaking with amusement. "Gotcha! Fooled ya! Wouldn't want to be ya!"

She stared, puzzled. It took a little time to bounce back. "Oh…that was a…a joke? You were just, erm…" she cleared her throat again.

His giggles gradually subsided, or at least slowed down. "Well, yeah, slow bunny! I know you're not into that kind of thing."

"Do you?" she said before she could stop herself, brow furrowing.

"Don't I?" The fox's green eyes sparkled and a wide smile spread across his face.

Judy crossed her arms. "Nick, is this a roundabout-"

"Officer Hopps! Officer Wilde!"

They both jumped. Chief Bogo stood leaning into their doorway. "Meeting. Now."

"Sir!" They saluted in unison and waited for him to leave. The fox leaped up, collected his papers, slipped on his jacket and glided past Judy. His tail brushed her paw as he passed. The contact sent a tingling feeling down her back and caused her to shudder involuntarily. She watched his back as he walked out, paws in pockets. What was really going on in that head his?