R/Zootopia Anthology Volume I: Gritty Zootopia

Wick and Balefire

They collapsed at her doorway, falling onto the carpeting of her living room. She's giggling and he thought she enjoyed that too much but couldn't help but join her. And when the mirth has left their lungs, she sat up to smile at him, reveling in the joy he brings her.

And he mirrored her, returning the sentiment as his features soften almost uncharacteristically at her, a simple jubilance he's certain he'll never find with anyone else.

Then the smile turned sad as he looked away, not wanting to see her reaction. "I won't be able to join you today..."

She huffs, breathing a relieved sigh that told him that she was worried he had terrible news. "Jeez, Nick, I'm a big girl. I can handle myself out there, thank you very much."

He sighed wearily as she scampered off to collect the rest of her breakfast. He shook his head, more than a little worried for her. She's certainly no damsel-in-distress type but one woman against the world was a frightful thing, regardless of one's mettle.

"Take a partner with you today. A temporary one, at least," he cautioned, but she has none of it.

"Nick, I'll be fine. I can handle whatever this city can throw at me."

She's so stubborn, he thought, wishing he could say it aloud. He didn't know yet if it's pride or if she simply refused to take anyone but him with her, but he's left with little choice... which was what he would say if he wasn't Nick Wilde.

He stood up then trapped her arms in a bear hug. She thought he was just being silly until she told him it wasn't not funny anymore. He then told her that he'll let her go when she decides to at least take that rookie Ansel Mason with her. She resisted but didn't find much need to argue, his insistence winning her over.

They part ways when she had realized that she was late for work and so she bolted out of the room. She then drove off into the city on that listless spring morning, where the world seemed to stand still along near empty streets and the muted, stagnant sky. And there she finds the cusp of some stray thought lingering in her mind's eye a little longer than it should have: If Nick would be okay today.

~o}{o~

Fanfare mixed with almost every letter in the mail, her dream job etched into a golden badge, a fancy apartment at the tallest building she could find, her own car big enough to hold a whole host of bunnies, and a salary big enough for two cops. Judy Hopps has all these things and yet she couldn't help the gnawing feeling at the pit of her gut that something was missing, giving her pause as she stared into the sunset hiding behind towers of concrete and steel through the ZPD's window.

As a woman who should want for nothing, she somehow managed to entail some. But she does not quite know what.

She ponders the question of what it is, long enough to chew her lip, and her visible display caught the attention of the rambling Ansel Mason, a capybara officer new to the force who pushed down his starry-eyed glee at the sight of his idol as he sinks back, unsure of what she'd do to him if he interrupted her thoughts.

To him, her sigh was an omen of grave things, that her dejection might mean something has gone terribly awry, but when she spots the woe in his eyes against the window's reflection, she thinks he's being quite silly. Because her problems do not belong to the world, and her every being was not dedicated to her job, but the hyperbole romanticized by the media has clearly won its way through the young man.

Her first thought was to, perhaps, change his mind, but there was some merit to the mysticism surrounding her. Avatars of hope were a dime a dozen, but so few were so regularly out in public like she was, amongst the people every day.