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The Pursuit, Chapter 1.1 - Contemplation

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June 10th, Friday – Zootopia Savanna District

    Buildings rushed by as the car made its way through the city, passing animals that only barely registered on his consciousness as familiar. He could easily have put names to nearly every face, but his thoughts were a muddled mess. Mostly, he wrote it off as lack of sleep due to his new schedule. Mornings were particularly difficult, yielding at least two hours of daydreaming unless a call came in that required his full attention. Generally, until there was enough caffeine in him to force a rhino to stay awake, he could have slammed his tail in the car door and hardly noticed.

    A singular moment had occupied more than its fair share of his daydreams of late, with Nick largely trying to make sense of it. He usually did not let himself think too deeply on the things that happened around him, but understanding himself was of special importance to a hustler, even a retired one. He had to, at all times, know exactly what others were thinking or how he presented himself. Taking a position with the ZPD changed nothing. He was now hustling criminals and leads, tricking them into telling him more than they intended to, which was not so far a stretch from what he did before taking the job.

    What had changed was the company and it was her actions that seemed to most confuse Nick. Nothing between them had changed since his graduation, especially given that Judy had been off her feet for a few months of leave while her leg healed and her strength returned. She had come back to the force only shortly before his graduation ceremony and had still been favoring her leg when she had taken to the podium to speak. She was his truest friend and honestly the only reason he had taken the job in the first place. That part was not even a little confusing for him.

    Instead, Nick found himself going over two specific situations with her where he no longer understood himself. If he were entirely honest with himself—something he tried never to do—he had acted oddly and could not even say why. Understanding why he was reacting the way he was would be essential to keeping it from happening again.

    The first had been such a simple act of kindness and friendship when they had taken the skytrams in the Rainforest District. Judy had thanked him for being truthful with her and speaking up for her to Chief Bogo and in doing so had touched his arm gently. That casual expression of trust and acceptance had rattled him, of that he had no doubt.

    Finnick had been his friend for twenty years, but theirs was a friendship of two criminals, each benefiting from the other. They drank together, hustled together, and occasionally chased tail together—usually badly. Never was there the type of gentle trust that Judy had shown in that one moment. The kindness in Judy’s touch had startled Nick at the time and he had flinched from her paw, which was something he still regretted. She was his friend and partner. No reason for such a reaction, but it had happened and she had avoided physical contact since. Somehow he felt guilty about that very simple flinch and its effect on their friendship. Eventually, that one would be easy to mend. Judy would need to grow comfortable again around him and the poor reaction would be forgotten. Easy enough.

    The second incident was entirely on Nick, as he was certain that he was imagining things and that bothered him more than anything else. He liked to know that he understood situations and this seemed so straightforward on its surface that he could not fathom why it was continuing to bother him. Each time he went over it, he could not find a single logical reason that it was even on his list.

    At his graduation, Nick had been among the last of the cadets to step onto the stage and receive his badge. They had ordered them by height for the sake of the animals watching, allowing all of the elephants and other large mammals to take the stage one by one, clearing out the seating area so that the smaller mammals could be better seen. Nick was arguably the smallest of those graduating at only four foot tall, so he got to watch as two dozen animals were given their badges by their class’s teacher. As he had walked up onto the stage, Nick had searched the audience for his mother, knowing she was out there, but unsure where. All thoughts of her were forgotten as he reached the podium and Judy had stepped in front of him, holding his badge. Such a small thing that she had wanted to pin that badge on his uniform and how her paw had lingered on his chest. The look of pride in her eyes…

    “Nick,” Judy called out and Nick snapped to attention, thinking for a moment that she was likely to slam on the brakes to get him out of his daydreams. It had happened more than once and he desperately did not want to spill another Snarlbucks coffee on the cruiser dash. “I’ve been talking at you for ten minutes. Did you hear anything I said?”

    “No, Fluff. Not a word,” he admitted, shrugging and giving her a smirk. There was no sense in hiding anything from her.

    Judy rolled her eyes and huffed. “That’s Officer Fluff, Nick. You do know I can have you put on desk duty, right?”

    Nick actually had not realized that and his smirk fell away instantly. “You…what? Chief Bogo never said…”

    “Chief Bogo said that we can assign duties to our trainees,” she answered, grinning slyly as she pulled the car away from a light as it changed. “Hours and hours of paperwork. I might have you do all my paperwork, too.”

    “You’re lying. You’re not even a good liar, Carrots.”

    Judy scowled at his continued use of nicknames for her, but that was nothing new. Thankfully, she had given up on seriously trying to stop him on the job days earlier. “Ok, maybe that’s not exactly what he said…”

    “Right. So you were saying?”

    Sighing, Judy focused on driving again. “Fine. I was just saying that Chief Bogo offered to let us do some overtime this weekend if you wanted. I was thinking of picking up an extra day myself. I’d love to have you out there, too.”

    Nick stared at Judy, trying to gauge whether she was messing with him or serious. Serious, he realized. “Didn’t you do that last weekend?”

    “Hrm,” she grumbled under her breath, apparently recognizing his tone. “Some of us want to see the city change for the better, Nick.”

    “Never said I didn’t, Carrots. I just have other things to do.”

    “Like what?” A motorcycle cut close across their bumper and Judy’s curious expression momentarily faded into wheel-clenching annoyance. “What does the illustrious Nick Wilde do on his weekends?”

    Nick opened his mouth and then closed it, scrunching up his brow and flattening back his ears as he thought. “I know what I’d do before the academy…not sure now. Maybe check up on Finnick. He has to have found some kind of trouble in the last few months.”

    “Trouble?” Judy demanded disapprovingly. Cocking her head to watch him from the corner of her eyes as she drove, she added, “Am I going to have to arrest you two on your day off? Bogo won’t like that. Then again, maybe he would.”

    “Not that kind of trouble,” he answered quickly, but knew that there was likely no other kind with Finnick. “Maybe go out drinking. You should come.”

    Judy eyed Nick skeptically, clearly not believing him. Those violet eyes narrowed as she watched him, as though waiting for a punchline.

    “Seriously, Fluff! You’ve been working six or seven days a week since you got back. I’m not sure you’ve seen sunlight outside of your uniform. I’ve only been on the job a bit over one week and I’m not about to work an extra day if I don’t have to.”

    “You expect me to go out drinking with you and Finnick? I don’t think he even knows my name, Nick. That would be really awkward. I’ll pass. I just don’t want to hear about anything you two did when I get in on Monday, okay?”

    Nick shrugged and returned his attention to the passing buildings. He lifted his Snarlbucks cup to his muzzle and found it empty, though he could not remember having finished it. It was going to be a very long morning if he was out of coffee before ten. Still, it was Friday and that would go a long way toward mollifying him until he could escape, even if escape merely meant going home and sleeping for two days.

    “What do you do with your time off?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. “I sort of picture you hiding away in some corner of the station with case files, obsessing away until you’re on duty again. Maybe a bag of carrots and a gallon of coffee at your side. If you aren’t in the precinct…probably some trashy bunny romance novel on a beach.”

    Judy pulled the cruiser over to the side of the road, near one of the Snarlbucks they frequented—clearly she had noticed he had drained his cup already. Ears straightening up as though she meant to be serious, she told him, “Nick, some of us can’t afford not to work. I don’t know how you’re getting by with rent prices in Zootopia…”

    “Tax evasion, mostly.”

    Judy winced as though she had eaten something distasteful. “Internal Affairs said you were cleared for duty after you paid back what you owed.”

    “Paid everything they said I owed, Carrots. I’m joking. Go on.”

    Judy grumbled under her breath, likely not entirely believing him. He would have to work on convincing her that he was being a good fox before he made more jokes about his past. “Why don’t you talk to Bogo or Clawhauser? They’re going to the Gazelle concert tonight. Maybe you can join them and pretend like you actually want to be a part of the force. It could be good for you and Bogo to get on similar footing.”

    “Have you seen the size of his hooves, Fluff? No similar footing there.”

    “Nick, I’m serious. You should meet up with some of the other officers after shift. Maybe then they won’t be quite so…you know…”

    “Distrusting of a fox?”

    “Distant with a new recruit,” she corrected, scowling down her muzzle at him. The only reason she could do that was due to how far she had raised her seat and he knew it. Idly, he wondered if Judy preferred driving because it was her one chance to always look down at him. “Bonding with your fellow officers means a lot.”

    “I don’t hear you saying you’re going to the concert. They’d probably rather have their star rabbit show up than some sketchy fox, anyway.”

    Judy threw her hands in the air as her ears fell back. “Clearly you aren’t paying attention, Officer Wilde. Rent and medical bills. I’ll probably work all weekend.”

    “Seriously, Carrots?”

    The stern glower she gave him left little doubt about sincerity.

    “Gazelle has personally thanked you for what you’ve done for the city,” Nick went on, sitting up straighter. His ears were perked in shock at this point. He had honestly assumed Judy wanted to work so many hours, not that she had to. “I’m sure there’s extra tickets if we ask…”

    “Officers don’t take bribes,” Judy reminded him firmly. “I won’t ask.”

    “Right, right, officers don’t get to have fun of any kind,” he mumbled, sitting back in his chair, the coffee forgotten entirely. Judy was working far too hard to not have a night out once in a while.

    “Bribery isn’t fun, Nick…”

    “Then you’re doing it wrong,” he answered, smirking. Sliding his sunglasses down the long bridge of his nose, he watched Judy’s face carefully as he added, “Maybe I will go to the concert.”

    “Good,” Judy answered, sounding smug as her ears went back up. Clearly she thought she had won some kind of battle. That alone let Nick know that he had to find a new angle to torture her…he certainly could not let this bunny win. “I’m sure you’ll have fun. The city will still be here on Monday. You can tell me all about it then. Maybe that’ll keep you awake through traffic patrols.”

    “Maybe it will, Fluff. Maybe it will.”                                                   

    Nick already had a plan forming. Judy would both hate and love it, which meant it was wonderful. He truly wondered how she had managed to put up with the doldrums of the work day before he was around to throw a wrench into her plans. He just needed to make it until the end of the day and he could truly torment his favorite bunny. The allure of finding a new game was more than enough to overcome the hour of paperwork that Judy managed to shuffle his way that afternoon, without wiping the smile off his face.

Chapter One, Part One of Three

Introduction: (Here)
Chapter 1.2: (Here)

Usual disclaimer applies. All rights to story and movie characters belongs to Disney. All praise Disney. All OC and settings are copyright me...unless Disney asks nicely in which case, so be it. Everyone else, please credit accordingly.
© 2016 - 2024 LagardeRhoade
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SandTori's avatar
KingofSomething sent me here. I'm always on the lookout for more Wildehopps :3