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“I’m just saying that it’s a little ridiculous that the first fox officer had to be a plus one,” Nick was talking at Judy as she nodded absentmindedly, “This is obviously just some big political stunt Swinton is pulling for attention.”
“Whatever you say, Nick. I’m still attending because I feel like it’s the right thing to do,” Judy led the way through the doors of the building, “I’m only expected to show up, anyways.”
The ballroom had been set up for a large, elegant dinner, which Swinton was holding in honor of those who had excelled through the implementation of the Mammal Inclusion Initiative, her pet project as a councilwoman during Lionheart’s mayorship. Judy had received a specific invitation as a guest of honor for her status as first bunny cop, and moreover a hero to the city. She was welcome to bring a guest, and she figured her partner on the force and best friend was as good a choice as any.
“You sure nobody will misinterpret, you know, us?” Nick asked as they found a seat at one of the empty tables, settling in as the bustle of mammals entering continued around them. One or two noticed Judy and greeted her.
“They can misinterpret whatever they like. You’re my partner, and you deserve to be here just as much as I do.” Judy glanced away from Nick to smile and quietly respond to yet another mammal congratulating her on her accomplishments.
More and more mammals filed in as the tables began to fill, and Judy soon found another bunny sitting across from her. He was a very plain grey. “Oh, hello! I didn’t see you sit down,” she said to the rabbit, “I’m Judy Hopps. You are?”
The bunny across the table had been staring at her intently, and he seemed to shake himself out of a daze when she finally caught his attention, “Oh, you… You haven’t heard of me?”
Judy shook her head, “Sorry, no-” She was interrupted by yet another mammal coming up to greet her. “Oh jeez, sorry about that. As I was saying, I don’t think I’ve seen you on the news or anything.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to mammals coming up to talk to you like that eventually. Comes with fame. I would know,” he was very well composed in his speech, “I’m Jack Savage. You know, the movie star?” Jack offered the vague hint of a smile.
“Yes! That’s right! Nick and I have seen you in a film! I didn’t recognize you without those weird black stripes.”
The smile on his face brightened at the recognition, “Oh! Which movie was it? Goldenear? Or maybe it was-”
Judy pulled her attention away from the grey rabbit for just a moment to greet a cream-colored vixen wearing overalls despite the formality of the dinner. When she turned back, Jack was silent and scowling.
“Sorry. I didn’t expect I’d be this popular. You were saying?” she offered apologetically.
“No. It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” Jack spoke in a slow, measured pace, “It wasn’t anything important anyways.” He continued, “Would you maybe like to get some dinner with me? So we can talk without interruption.”
“Something about him just seemed a little off. Just be careful,” Nick looked down at her, his eyes meeting hers to drive home the message.
“I appreciate your concern, but you don’t have to worry about me too much, you know. ZPD’s best officer against a scrawny movie-star? Please,” Judy scoffed, laughing quietly.
“Fair enough. Hey, are we still on for Monday?” He asked as they began to part ways.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Judy waved a goodbye and called out behind her before returning to her apartment in the Grand Pangolin Arms. She’d considered moving to somewhere better once she’d settled into the routine of city life, but there was a certain nostalgia to the place now, a certain comfortability. It certainly wasn’t a ‘luxury apartment’ but the armadillo wasn’t lying about the charm.
The next day was a day off, and the day of her dinner with Savage. She spent most of the time beforehand attempting to make a dent in some very pesky paperwork that had been haunting her for more than a few days now. In preparation for the dinner, she selected the nicest dress she had in her closet, a mid-length yellow number, and used a very light complement of makeup.
She caught a cab just outside her building, gave the driver the address, and sat back, fidgeting with her phone. The ride felt agonizingly long despite the rather inexpensive fare.
Judy hesitated outside the rather imposing building. Staring up at it, it was definitely impressive to say the least, and more to the point, far more than she could ever afford. Pushing the main doors open and entering, there were several lagomorphs and mustelids of various species milling around in the lobby. All were dressed in clean, well ironed suits, leaving Judy thanking her foresight for wearing the dress, as it left her feeling not too out of place.
She retrieved the note from her handbag. Savage had a top floor apartment, so she made the smart decision and caught the elevator, despite a rather lengthy wait. All the more time to tap her foot and wring her hands together, glancing around at the mammals standing next to her. None of them paid her any mind. Even with the elevator following a general upward trend, the ride left her too much time to be alone with her thoughts.
Judy glanced once more at the note in hand, making certain she had the right apartment number. She was a bit daunted by the fact that the apartment was at the top floor of an already very expensive building, but this definitely was the right place. She placed the note back into her handbag, brushed her hands down her dress, and knocked on the door. Just a few short taps.
She could hear feet plodding towards the door inside, a lock clicking back, and the door swinging open, “Ah, there you are, come in, come in Ms. Hopps,” Jack said, opening the door wider and stepping to the side to allow her in. She smiled at him, quietly thanking him for holding the door for her. “I hope you came hungry, dear.”
“Of course,” Judy said, lying through her teeth. Somehow she felt nervous about being with Savage, be it from Nick’s warning, or some natural instinct about wanting to impress a male rabbit. Either way, her hunger had evaporated.
“It’s perfectly fine if you’re not, you know. Here, go have a seat, I’ll fix us some drinks. Is wine alright?” Savage gave her a light guiding push towards the couch, eliciting a shiver from Judy.
“Wine is fine,” She hoped a bit of alcohol would calm her nerves. She moved to the couch to take in the apartment as a whole. It was just as impressive as she’d expected a penthouse to be. It had a large, open floor plan. The view of the city out a rather imposing wall of windows was magnificent. The apartment building itself was considerably taller than the buildings in front of it for several blocks, affording an unimpeded view of the sky and the mammals below, all carrying out their own lives. The kitchen area had seemed to be well stocked with everything from oils for cooking to wines for drinking, plus the various implements needed to make a proper meal. The dining table was covered in folders and papers, shoved away from either end of the table haphazardly. At a glance, a few of them seemed to be scripts or screenplays. Everything else looked very freshly tidied, though it made sense he’d clean up before she arrived. The couch itself was far longer than a single rabbit could ever use, curving in a slight semi-circle.
Jack came back around holding two glasses of wine. Savage had poured himself a white wine, and handed her a red wine, “Sorry, I should have asked your preference. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m not very particular,” She replied. Anything to take the edge off.
“So, I didn’t exactly have a chance to talk in depth with you at the dinner,” Savage sat down on the opposite end of the couch, to her right, leaning back and lightly sipping his wine. Judy took a sip in response. She didn’t know her wine too well, but she was certain this was some fancy stuff. “I’d love to hear all about you, the bunny cop who saved the city.”
“Oh! Well… Huh. Where to begin…” Judy mulled it over in her head.
“How about you begin with the Nighthowler Case? I mean, I’ve read what happened in the papers, and the incident report, but I want to hear what you have to say about it personally,” Jack suggested, leaning forward in his seat now, staring intently into Judy’s eyes.
“Right. Nighthowler case. Of course. Well, it was my first day on the force when Nick and I met-”
Judy was interrupted by Jack, “Dear, I don’t want to hear about Nicholas. I want to hear about you, and what you did.” She could feel the blood rise to her cheeks, the blush only slightly hidden by her short grey fur.
“Right. Me. Well, I did find all the missing mammals at once, and I did figure out the connection between the Nighthowlers and the savage animals…” Judy soon fell into a rhythm of telling her tale, Nick omitted unless absolutely necessary. Occasionally Jack would interject with praise that made her glow, or a sly joke that made her double over with laughter. Everything about the evening, from his voice to the walls of his apartment, seemed to glow. And suddenly, hours had passed, and she needed to get home.
“Sorry to have to leave so soon. I have so much more I’d love to talk to you about. It’s nice having another rabbit who gets just how hard it is,” Judy rambled, “I mean, I can vent to Nick, but he doesn’t get it, not really. People might assume he’s shady, but at least they think he can do something on his own. People see me and they see a helpless rabbit and it just makes me so mad.”
Jack simply smiled, “You’re welcome to come back. In fact, how about tomorrow night? Same time?” That smile was so warm. Had he always been such a charmer? She hadn’t noticed at the dinner, but he seemed to have some hidden depth of charisma. She hung on each and every expression and word.
“Yeah… Should be fine,” Judy said, her focus lost in his eyes.
“Let me walk you down and get a taxi for you. I think that wine is hitting you a little harder than you expected, dear,” Savage said, placing his arm lightly across her shoulders and guiding her to the door. She didn’t quite feel drunk, but his touch was comforting, as she certainly didn’t feel all there. She blamed her body finally coming down from a long stressful week.
Judy arrived back to her apartment, the walls feeling just a bit closer than they had before after the luxury of Jack’s penthouse. Changing out of the dress and flopping down onto her bed, she was almost instantly asleep but for the buzzing of her phone.
“Remember. Eight o’clock at my place, Monday.”
Judy’s still-hazy mind read the text, but all she could look forward to was tomorrow, to spend more time with Savage.
Judy was grateful for her day off the next morning. She was almost certain she hadn’t gotten drunk, yet the hangover was killing her. Cracking her eyes, she saw the clock read 9:00 AM. She decided to enjoy her day off by sleeping a bit more. The next time she woke up it was the far more reasonable time of 2:00 PM, and she was parched, but at least her skull wasn’t attempting to kill her. Still, with at least 4 hours to burn, she returned to the pile of paperwork littering her desk. For a “day off” it wasn’t exactly glamorous, but better in her apartment than a stuffy office. Her thoughts wandered to the space of Jack’s apartment. It would be so much nicer to kick back and relax on his couch, even if she did so while filling out paperwork. Maybe…
It couldn’t hurt to call him and see if she could arrive a bit early, right? Her apartment was simply feeling too cramped now. Besides, maybe his perspective could help with the reports. That made sense. She pulled out her phone a little too quickly and hurriedly tapped out a message to his number. She felt guilt creep up her spine, but this was purely for work. She’d stick to water, even, just to avoid getting drunk again. Her phone buzzed in her hand.
“I can’t say I was doing much with my day besides waiting for you anyways.”
Judy bolted up and very quickly threw her pajamas off for more appropriate clothes. Nothing incredibly fancy, this was just for work, she continued to insist to herself. She also passed on makeup entirely. For work.
That was the phrase she repeated all the way to the building, up the elevator, and to the door, her bundle of files in one hand. Her free hand knocked at the door. Her heart pounded in time with the soft thudding of feet from the other side of door, quickening further as the latch dropped and the door swung open, revealing Jack with a warm smile.
“Judy! Come in, come in! Sorry, I’m a little bit underprepared. Didn’t expect your text, but I certainly won’t turn down company,” Jack smiled. Something seemed different about him from the night prior. Something colder. Maybe it had something to do with the bright midday sun, as opposed to the warm orange sunset from the night before. She shrugged it off, following his invitation into the room as he shut the door behind her.
“Sorry about that. My apartment was feeling a little stuffy. Made it hard to work on the mountains of paperwork I still need to get out of the way,” Judy said, motioning to indicate the papers under her arm to Jack.
He responded with a chuckle, “I can certainly understand that. Never been the type for desks, myself. Can I get you a drink?”
“Oh, just some water. That wine roughed me up more than I expected,” Judy said, settling onto the couch and selecting a few of the papers to begin with. Jack returned with a glass of water, and Judy took it with an appreciative sip. Jack took up a seat next to her, peering down at the papers as she worked, harping on her for minor misspellings, tending to make her laugh.
The afternoon sun sank into the evening’s glow, and Judy decided to take a break, mainly because she was starving. Dinner was a leftover carrot lasagna that Jack had prepared the night prior, and she never ate. It was good. Probably would have been better fresh, but she didn’t quite have any ground to complain. After dinner, Judy decided she was far too burned out to write any more paperwork. Instead she sat on the couch next to Jack, watching whatever happened to be on the TV at the time.
Jack slid a sly arm around her, and she leaned into him. Something about the position just seemed so right, being there in his arms. She closed her eyes as he began to stroke her ear. “So, same time tomorrow night?” He asked her.
Her first instinct was to moan, “God yes,” which was quickly followed by her more rational mind kicking in stating, “Wait, no, I have plans.”
“Oh? What sort of plans?” Jack pulled her closer, both arms around her, pressing her into his chest.
“I, uhh, Nick and I, we- We have this thing, every Monday, we hang out and watch a movie,” Judy explained, tripping over her words, not wanting to bring up Nick in front of Savage and sour the mood.
Jack moved his head next to her ear now, whispering into it, “Why don’t you just forget about that fox?” Judy’s eyes became unfocused, the contact and the soft whispering mixed with that same glowing warmth from the night before taking their toll. “Do you have some kind of thing for him? Hmm? Do you fancy yourself a bit of a meal ticket?” His whispering grew more forceful.
“No! No. We- I don’t have a thing for him,” Judy said, strong at first, but less sure of herself by the end of it.
“You sure? You seemed very close at that dinner,” Jack pressed his chin against the top of her head, rubbing his scent against her. He was marking her. Marking her as his.
Judy pushed herself into his rubbing, “I swear I’m not interested in him. Are you…”
“Interested in you? Am I that obvious?” Jack placed a hand against her cheek, turning her head towards his. His eyes were such a lovely shade of blue, and they had such an intelligent shine. Really everything about him was perfect. He kissed her and her eyes shot wide open from the haze she had slipped into. It was quick, and then it was over, but it confirmed everything she ever needed to know about him.
Pulling him back with a greedy hand for another, longer kiss. The pair slipped between kissing and making contact with their chins in a flurry of impassioned movement. In all of this, Judy felt the buttons of her shirt being undone one by one, and then the button on her pants, and then the zipper. “Wait,” she mumbled breathlessly into the side of his neck as he ran his chin along her own neck, “Wait, Jack, please.”
He stopped, thankfully, “Right. Of course. This is only the second time we’ve really been together. That was too forward of me.” Judy slowly reaffixed the buttons, edging away from him slightly. She still felt safe, despite what had happened, but it had soured the mood nonetheless.
“I think it’s time for me to leave,” she stood, finished her drink, set it down and headed for the door. She caught a cab back home, silently kicking herself for letting it get that far. Or maybe it was for not letting it go far enough.
Judy woke the next morning abruptly and groggily to the blaring of an alarm. Her head was pounded in rhythm with it, yet she hadn’t even had any alcohol. Had she come down with something, maybe? She rolled out of her bed, dragging herself to her mini fridge less than a step away and grabbing a bottle of water from it, then a bottle of aspirin from the drawer of her desk. She offered a silent prayer that the combination would relieve her of the headache.
Her phone buzzed and beeped, having received a text message. It was from Jack. She quickly opened it and checked the message, hoping he wasn’t too angry about the night before. ‘I must apologize, Judy, my behavior last night was entirely uncouth. I hope you’ll humor me again. Maybe Tuesday?’
Relief washed through her as she tapped out an affirmative reply. She didn’t feel he’d done anything wrong, but the apology certainly didn’t hurt anything, at any rate. She begrudgingly slid into her uniform to get ready for the day.
Work passed by quickly, a rather busy day, giving her little time to chat with Nick as they tend to do on slower days. Additionally, Judy wasn’t looking forward to spending personal time with Nick as much as she usually did. Something about the thought seemed dull in comparison, but she certainly wasn’t the type to stand somebody up, especially not her best friend. Nick was waiting at the door as she texted him, informing him of her arrival. He greeted her with the same smug smile that he always did, inviting her in and offering her a drink and snack.
She sat down on his couch, still feeling slightly on edge. Something about him seemed different. Colder. Maybe even more distant. While she was pondering this, Nick settled in next to her and turned on the movie. Conversation should break whatever ice had settled between them, right?
She snacked absentmindedly at her popcorn as the film went through it’s opening scenes. It took her a moment or two to process the main character shown on screen seconds later. It was Jack Savage.
“Wait, Nick, what are we watching?” Judy looked over at him as he sat there, a wide smile spread across his face.
“Goldenear. I figure you’d want to see your boyfriend in action.” Nick prodded her with his words, as he often did, but this time instead of making for playful banter, it somehow irked Judy.
“He’s not my boyfriend.” Judy said firmly, shooting him a look full of daggers.
Nick snickered, taking it just a little further, “Oh come on, tell me about your lovely da-”
“Not a date, not my boyfriend.” She interjected, turning back to the television screen with a glare.
The movie had progressed to a shirtless Savage fighting off a band of predator henchmen. He looked good. Really good. Did he do his own stunts? She didn’t think to check, but he definitely seemed pretty muscu-
Judy was quickly brought back out of her thoughts by a light tap from Nick. He didn’t say a word, just looked at her with a grin and a cocked eyebrow. She shoved him in return, her mouth too full from unconsciously stuffing it with popcorn to make a response.
Nick pulled back at the shove, “Are you actually mad about this, fluff?”
Judy swallowed the popcorn in her mouth hard. “Do you always need to tease me so much, Nick?” She stared into her bowl, the food looking wholly unappealing at this point as she let her anger get the best of her.
There was a sudden, palpable level of concern in his voice, “Does it bother you? You’ve always handled my banter pretty well.” So why did Judy feel so bored of him, so agitated?
“Sorry, Nick. I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I’ve been waking up in a pretty sour mood these past few days, and I think this is just a reflection of that. I think I’m gonna head out early, get some sleep.” Judy moved the dish off her lap and hopped off the couch, heading for the exit, “Thanks for the food, we can do this again next Monday.”
Nick hesitated for a moment, just a moment, before rising to follow her and getting the door for her, “Have a good night, Carrots. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
A few thoughts floated around in her mind as she laid in bed later that night. The foremost was that she was very glad the rest of that movie, and a few more of Savage’s, were available to stream. In the back of her head, however, it nagged at her that tomorrow at work would be miserable.
And it was. The pair was frigid with each other the next day. They barely spoke, and when they did it was only when necessary. They’d had arguments before, but never to this extent. By the end of the day, Judy was fuming, and she was not about to be caught in a cramped apartment doing paperwork.
Changing out of her uniform and grabbing a bottle of water, she ended up on a run, just to let off some steam. She eventually ended up in front of a building that was quickly becoming familiar to her. Jack’s apartment building. She felt like she was on autopilot, or somebody else was controlling her body, as she made her way to the top floor and knocked on the door, silently praying he was there just so she could have somebody to vent to.
“Who is it?” Came the muffled call from the other side of the door.
“It’s me, Jack. It’s Judy.” She called back.
There was a quick rush of feet and the door opened, “Judy! I expected you back, but certainly not so soon.”
“Sorry. I’ve just had an awful day. I went out on a run and I ended up here,” She motioned to her running outfit.
“Well come on in, I’d love to hear about it,” Judy followed Jack inside as he spoke, “Could I get you a drink?”
“Ah, no, thanks,” Judy held up the still relatively full bottle of water and shook it. Jack turned to look at her. There was a flash in his eyes. Just the slightest twitch. She should have thought it was nothing, but something about the movement stuck with her.
“Are you sure? Isn’t water a little boring?” He insisted.
“I’m fine. Really,” Judy insisted slowly. There was that twitch again. Jack had a good pokerface, but it wasn’t good enough. Judy made her way to the couch, glancing around the apartment. The atmosphere was all off. The sun was setting once again, and yet there was something more sinister to it.
There was no warmth. There was no glow. Was there ever?
One after another the signs clicked in Judy’s head. The first thing he did was offer her a drink. The glow only came after a drink. The hangover the day after.
“Give me just a moment,” Jack said, breaking her line of thought, “I need to grab something from the bedroom.”
“No problem,” Judy replied, careful to keep her nerves out of her voice. After he had gone down the hall to his bedroom, she began to wander about the room, poking into things she probably shouldn’t be. Part of her screamed to get out, but maybe it was her instincts as a cop trying to find evidence.
And evidence she found. The piles of papers, while a few were screenplays, were mostly logs, pictures, maps, phone records. All of them of her. She almost lost control to terror, but barely managed to hold on, calmly removing her phone from her pocket and opening the camera, snapping photo after photo of every map of her day, her call logs, her texts, everything. She whipped around to the padding of footpaws and was met in kind with the blunt pain of wood connecting with her head. Everything went black.
Her eyes opened sluggishly, her brain felt like it was pushing through molasses to reach any thoughts at all. She processed the physical first. She was laying down, looking at the ceiling. Lurching upwards, she came to be staring at Jack, who smiled fondly.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” His voice did no favors for her struggling mind, but there was something so soothing and warm about it. Judy pressed a hand to her head, trying to remember. There was something about warmth, right? Whatever it was, it couldn’t possibly be important as Jack spoken again, “How are you this morning?”
“I feel good. Just really, really good,” she touched gingerly at the lump on her skull, “Except for this. What happened?”
“You had a nasty fall, I’m not surprised you can’t remember.” Was that right? Did she fall? Where could she possibly have fallen to cause- “But you don’t have to worry now. It’s alright. Just relax and have a drink.” Of course it was fine. He said it was, and worrying was difficult with her mind all muddled. She nodded thankfully and took the glass he held towards her, taking an appreciative sip and closing her eyes, letting the joy wash over her, wiping away her cares.
Judy was sitting on the couch as Jack nuzzled at her and whispered into her ear, setting the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzy with every word when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
“One second!” Judy hopped up and went to get the door, opening to the face of a familiar fox, “Nick! It’s great to see you!”
Nick hesitated for just a moment, Judy noticed, as if surprised to see her so chipper, “Ah, hey, Carrots. You didn’t come into work today, and I was just concerned you got…” He trailed off, and Judy saw him glance towards Jack, who was sitting there watching intently. “Well, you’re obviously fine then.”
He stepped away from the door and closed it with him, the sound of his footsteps retreating at a casual pace down the hall, and away. Judy returned to the couch with Jack, “We should invite him for dinner some time.”
“Maybe, sweetie. Maybe.” Jack murmured, brushing a hand down the length of her ear.
It was a week or so later that it happened again. Another knock, Judy answered, though this time Jack stood and placed his hands on her shoulder, greeting the mammal at the door with a smile. “Nicholas Wilde, it has been a while since we spoke, hasn’t it? Come in, come in, have a drink,” Jack says, pushing the door wider, simultaneously pulling Judy out of the way. “Go fix us some drinks, dear.” Judy nodded in response, wandering towards the kitchen area as the boys made their way to the couch and chairs. Nick sat across from Jack, looking him dead in the eyes.
Judy grabbed two different bottles of wine. She poured two glasses of red, a drop from the blue vial in each, and a glass of white. Meandering back over, she distributed the glasses, taking a sip from her own, settling in next to Jack.
Nick was going to drink. She was sure of it. He was going to drink and he’d be Jack’s too and they could all be happy. And then he spoke, “You know, Savage, I have some friends in pretty low places.”
Judy felt Jack’s grip tighten on her leg, just slightly, “I’m sure you do, street trash-turned-cop must keep far worse company than somebody of my status.”
“Ha,” Nick remarked dryly, “My point being, mammals do talk. Especially when a moviestar isn’t so careful about who he’s buying from. I’d give up quietly if I were you. It won’t end well otherwise.”
Judy slid down onto the couch cushion as Jack stood, “Wait, Jack, dear, what are you-”
“I know when I’ve been caught. Go to the bedroom. You don’t need to see this,” he sounded resigned. Judy felt her heart tear.
She started to stammer out, “Nick, Nick you can’t do this. He hasn’t done anything wrong, I want this-”
“I said go to the bedroom.” Jack interrupted her again. She stood and hung her head, walking as slowly as she could down the hall and into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She laid down on the bed, and sobbed until it was interrupted by the sound of fighting, muffled. It seemed to stretch on, the sounds of breaking and falling. And then it stopped. Footsteps plodded towards the bedroom, and the door clicked open.
Standing there was the familiar face of Nicholas Piberius Wilde. Once again, Judy began to sob.