"Sure thing, Nick! Let's hop on to the next stage of case cracking!" Judy exclaimed with excitement as she light-heartedly pulled away from a seemingly brimming in cloud nine Clawhauser.
"Aw, come on, Carrots! That was a pun that only I am allowed to use," Nick retorted playfully, smiling. For a split second, Judy could have sworn that that was the first time after a long period that Nick had displayed not the usual fare of con artist smirk but a genuine, warm smile. His happy demeanor made her undeniably cheerful as well, for reasons unknown to her, she started to view him not just as a partner in the police force, but also as an older sibling. Seeing him satisfied in his life which he once had hated and shunned from was heartwarming. Staring at Nick, she looked away immediately when his eyes met up with hers.
"What's going on in there, Whiskers? Still stunned by the amazing crime discovery?" Nick asked with an eyebrow raised in question. His vision was as sharp as a blade refined by whetstone; She could almost never get away from him when she is not honest about a matter. Probably because one of the key requirements of being a professional con artist required him to be able to pick out even the slightest of exploits one could manipulate out of his victim. Not to mention that she was one of his many "Pawpsical" scandal scapegoats; Which she still holds a slight grudge on him for. She shifted her sight back on to Nick. "Probably; But more of looking at your rare case of warm smiles."
Nick's smirk dissolved into a thin line, eyes wide open as his face flushed a slight tint of red. "I uh, I just felt the need to - you know..." he rambled absent-mindedly as he searched desperately in his mind for words to say. For once, the bag full of jokes and cringe-worthy puns Nick drew a blank. "Is it wrong for a fox to show his feelings?" he muttered, conceiving that he had nothing clever to shoot back to save his dissipating suave.
"It's totally fine!" Judy laughed at Nick as she gave his neck tie a gentle yank. He blinked at her blankly with his lower jaw closing and reopening, forming soundless words. Nick grumpily frowned at his flustered state of mind. She chuckled at him, letting go of his tie."You are acting silly now, pull yourself together you dumb fox!"
"Ahem, back to the case shall we?" Nick faked a cough as he recovered from his embarrassing antic. Huffing, he sprang back up on his two feet from his former seating posture and sauntered casually towards the bedside cabinet; Retrieving the case file which he had placed before he climbed atop of Clawhauser. Nick's fluffy tail swayed lazily against gravity as he made his trip back to Judy. He flipped the single piece of paper in the folder for added measure, pretending to be intrigued by the written details of the report as he took a seat beside her. She giggled from his sarcastic body language. "Is the pen in your possession?" he inquired condescendingly, smirking as usual.
"Oh, yes I do, Officer," Judy replied as she pulled out the carrot pen from her utility belt.
"Good, because we will need to record and plan out a few things onto this report for future references," Nick explained keenly as he rested the file on the carpeted ground. Judy leaned forth, pen readied in her paw.
"You said that something small brushed past you, right?" Nick asked right after waiting for Clawhauser to simmer down, which took quite a moment. If that cheetah deserved a trophy of recognition, it would probably be "The most capricious animal award". He knew fully that Clawhauser was the kind that floats haphazardly on a barely buoyant raft down a lazy river packed full of emotions. One prod was sometimes more than enough to stir the tranquility inside of the chubby cheetah.
"Yes! Yes! I am certain of it!" Clawhauser piped with overwhelming anxiety, his paws driven firmly onto the floor.
"Could you tell us approximately where you were when it happened?" Judy questioned, seriousness set in her solid glance at the report as she skillfully spun the pen with her paw. Nick observed Judy as he placed a paw firmly on the corner of the file, keeping it firm for her to write. He smirked as he admired her impressive level of concentration and passion - one of the values which he had found rather amusing the first time they met; Which was why he had the urge to stick around with her throughout the case solving besides getting himself off of her hook. Her passion was an undying flame, and he was attracted to its shimmer like a fly mesmerized by a light bulb. Not to mention that her optimism and zeal reminded him of his past self - and also that she had outsmarted and outwitted him on multiple occasions.
"I was crossing the junction near Aspen street if I am not mistaken," Clawhauser answered thoughtfully as he glared apprehensively at Judy; who was currently scribbling down what he said onto the vacant lines of the report.
"Do you by chance, remember the time?" Nick added. Judy had finished her note taking, returning her glance at Clawhauser, eyes opened wide - pleading for an answer. "Give or take ten minutes, that will be splendid."
The chubby cheetah pondered hard. "I did check on my phone's clock as I was awaiting the order, it was uh, seven forty in the morning? Yeah, I think that was the time. Ducking doughnuts there is a well-known pastry restaurant, so it usually takes a moment to order. But the queue today was relatively short," Clawhauser blurted out as he ran through the memories of his fateful morning. "That would put me at around eight twenty-ish when I left the outlet!" he noted with confidence.
"8:20 a.m, Aspen street traffic junction," Judy repeated out the journaled notes, which Clawhauser nodded vigorously in confirmation. Affirmative that they had the right info, Judy looked at Nick and exchanged nods. Keeping her pen, she stood up, brushing the back of her pants and doing a couple of quick hops to work out the leg muscles; All that sitting had strained her thighs. Nick closed the file and rolled it into a tight cylinder, sliding it into his pant's side pocket. "We shall investigate further into this matter and update you if anything pops out," Judy said with a bright smile at Clawhauser as she made her way to the door with her back facing the mess without tripping over anything. Nick got up, lowered his head and gave the chubby cheetah a hasty salute before catching up to her.
Judy was already waiting impatiently at the entrance of Clawhauser's apartment as Nick exited the bedroom. She was tapping her left foot repeatedly as she gazed at him making his way carefreely towards her. He sighed mentally as he studied the antsy bunny cop. Even though she had many good qualities which he adored her for, Judy also had cons. Somehow, bunnies were the exact polar opposite of sloths; They were quick paced, sped up and sometimes impatient. But the good side was that they only acted like this if they are excited. Nick could not resist a chuckle; Now he has one friend who is abnormally slow and another good partner who is contrastingly fast. Now all he had to do to make this complete was to create a one-liner for Judy as well. Problem is, the name Judy does not rhyme with any words that symbolize slowness to make the phrase ironic. Attempting to mock her for the sake of having fun, Nick deliberately walked towards Judy like a sloth.
"I-might-take-some-time-to- reach-there-Judy," Nick exclaimed as he mouthed the sentence word by word in a low, awkward baritone. Judy stared at him in confusion, taking a moment to realize that she had unknowingly allowed her bad habits to resurface due to her uncontainable excitement. She giggled at Nick when he made his way to her as if he was reenacting the famous scene of a movie character "Thomas A. Anteaterson" in The Matrix; pretentiously dodging invisible projectiles in evidently faked super slow motion.
"Okay, okay! I get it, sorry for being impatient!" Judy apologized, smiling at Nick. Smirking, he stopped his act and walked normally, joining her as they proceeded down the dim hallway once more.
"I guess you know what's the next step, Whiskers," Nick commented, holding onto the wooden railing as they skipped down the flight of stairs.
"Parking Duty?" Judy replied with an innocent expression on her face. Nick eyed at her skeptically. "Of course to check the traffic cameras, duh!"
"Phew, I thought you had lost your shine, sly bunny," Nick retorted with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "You do have access to the ZPD resources now... right? Or just the same perks as a typical meter maid?" he questioned as the previous time they accessed the traffic cameras was via Bellwether's compact "Assistant Mayor" office. Or rather, just a claustrophobic and narrow room which was originally supposed to be a locker room but was furnished with a set of monitors to accommodate a petite sheep. But now that he came to think of it after they knew of the ex-mayor's true devilish nature, that room was absolutely befitting for such a villainous animal.
"Do not worry, ever since I was reinstated inside the ZPD after my upsetting leave, I had been granted full access to everything inside the headquarters," Judy noted as they exited the building. They had bid farewell to the receptionist, but the deer was too engrossed in his newspaper reading that he did not notice.
"Hope that is the case, Officer Hopps," Nick said, opening the car door for Judy. "You just need to track his facial features for me and I can source the suspect. I know everybody."
"Sometimes I do wonder what kind of business you deal with," Judy exclaimed as she buckled up her seatbelt. "Which means I still doubt that you only sell pawpsicals." she added flatly.
"I told you the truth, if you wish to not believe in a sly fox, I can't stop you," Nick replied with a disappointed frown as he climbed up the seat.
"I was just kidding, Nick. You know I trust you," Judy explained, stepping on the gas as she turned the ignition switch of the police car.
"Do I know that? Yes, yes I do," Nick chimed, locking eyes with her while closing the car door shut with his free paw.
"Did you just copy what I said before?" Judy scrunched her eyebrows into a slight frown as she asked, maintaining the stare.
"Well... you did steal a phrase of mine before, so why not?" Nick chuckled as he gave her a toothy grin.
"I guess you do have a memory like a steel trap," Judy exclaimed cheekily, prodding Nick playfully on the side of his head with her paw.
"And that was quoted from the naked Yak from the naturalist club, you thief," Nick scoffed, rubbing tenderly at the spot where Judy had poked him on the head.
"So what? Are you going to arrest me for that, Officer Wilde?" Judy joked, peering over at the rear window as she shifted the engine gear to reverse; Carefully maneuvering the matt black cruiser out of the tightly spaced parallel parking lot. "I do not think that there is a law which I am infringing anyway for stealing quotes from other civilians."
"Maybe I would Officer Hopps if you continue to mime out whatever I say," Nick replied diligently.