FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Judy awoke later in the morning than usual. Her normal routine was to be up and dressed by 5:45 but today her body didn't even bother trying to rouse her until 6:30, likely due to her waking halfway through the night. The bunny stretched, yawning slowly, and cuddled up into the large seat that was currently her bed. She was never like this, a thought that dimly drifted through her mind, but something about this particular seat was just so comfortable that she couldn't bear to leave it for a few minutes. She drifted in and out of consciousness slowly. Soon enough, the rabbit's sensitive hearing detected a loud 'THUMP' and Nick emerged from his room, rubbing the top of his head.

"Morning Carrots," he mumbled out, making a beeline for the refrigerator and pouring himself a glass of something carbonated. The bunny could see in the light that made its way through the one window of the apartment that his eyes were still somewhat bloodshot, but looking a lot better than the scarlet before. The fox stumbled to the bathroom and showered quickly, and by the time he had emerged Judy had dressed in a spare change of clothes she had brought along from her own home in anticipation for the stay. Today it was a pair of jeans and a pink button-up, not unlike the outfit she had worn the day she had returned to Zootopia during the Nighthowler case. The lapin was about to suggest that they go out for breakfast when her phone rang, both of the partners' ears flicking to the source of the noise.

"Someone important?" Nick inquired, slowly padding into his room amd continuing the conversation by half-calling.

Judy bounced to her device, her brow darkening. "Yeah, actually," she called back, then picked up the phone. "Chief, what do you need?"

Bogo's rumbling voice filled the receiver from the other end of the line. "Hopps, are you still with Wilde?"

The bunny officer nodded, then after several seconds of awkward dead air realized that the phone couldn't detect the motion of her head. She had a bad habit of doing things like that. "Uh, I mean, yes Chief!"

"Good! I need you two to come in today, I don't care how high Wilde might be on whatever pain meds they gave him."

"Actually sir, he's doing it without med-"

"Quiet!"

Judy flinched, even on the phone the huge bovine could be intimidating.

"Just meet me here at ten o'clock. We've already got a PR nightmare what with the media swarming all over their favorite cops being injured, so don't be late," he growled out, slamming the phone down.

The rabbit winced again and frowned, her ears falling to her back. She could tell by her excellent hearing that Nick was still in his room doing... something? Probably changing, judging by the amount of cloth scuffling going on, and she was confirmed in her suspicion as he emerged in a pair of khakis, a pawaiian shirt, and a loosely-knotted tie that hung around his neck. Judy's face fell at his attire, and she hoped he was still blind enough to not see it.

"Something wrong with my face, Carrots? Cut myself shaving?" he padded towards her with a smirk.

The bunny's ears burned as she pushed her freshly-charged phone into her pocket. So much for that. "You haven't even tried, have you?"

The fox's brow scrunched up in confusion. "Tried what, fluff? Shaving? Not for me I gotta say, really doesn't look to great with the whole fur thing and all-"

"No, you dumb fox, your wardrobe! I thought I talked to you about this! I mean, Pawaiian shirts? What are you, a dad on vacation?" The bunny tapped her foot in frustration, she had been over this with her partner in the past, even got him to dress like he wasn't some sort of philistine for a few days, but it looked like that was over.

Nick sighed, exasperated. "Fluff, I just got fox-away'd. You can pick on my outfit some day where my eyes aren't still slightly burning. Plus..." he raised an eyebrow smugly, "I know that you love this look."

Judy's ears burned as he addressed her, he was right of course, how was he so good at this? Was she getting hustled somehow? Why was she so flustered suddenly? "A-Anyway! Chief Bogo called, he wants us to come in."

The fox immediately groaned. "Oh come on, I got a doctor's note and everything, it's like high school all over again."

The bunny cop rolled her eyes, grabbing her partner's paw to guide him towards the door. "It's just for an interview or something probably, apparently the public is worried about you, Nick." She smiled genuinely at that, but the fox only shrugged it off with his usual sarcasm.

"Great, paparazzi flashes are so great on the eyes." It got a laugh out of both of them, and that's all that mattered to him.

The pair took the bus to the center of the city, and Judy was surprised by how long of a commute it was from Nick's house to work every day, back and forth. The fox seemed not to mind, likely a symptom of his laid-back attitude. They stopped for breakfast at a cafe across from the police station that specialized in fruit of various kinds, exotic included. Nick picked something with starfruit, but found that it wasn't really to his liking when heated. Judy ended up eating most of it, offering him her blueberry pancakes as reparations. He didn't have much trouble downing those, but did complain that the heavenly taste of the meal was dulled somewhat by his only half-functioning nose.

Bogo was waiting for them when Nick opened the door to his office at 9:55, and didn't seem in the mood to delay until the official meeting time. "Hopps! Wilde! I understand this is a day off for both of you, and I apologize for bringing you in on it, but we need you to verify some details of Ms. Woolson's case." The chief had an open file on his desk, and both of the officers could guess whose it was.

Judy nodded, her partner slowly itching his nose. "Yeah, that's what I figured it would be about. That's the lamb's name?" Her eyes darkened slowly as she remembered that the girl in question was responsible for attacking her partner, but she kept her anger reserved for the moment.

Bogo looked through the file, as if he hadn't already several times in the past hour. "Indeed. Ms. Woolson or Lucy Woolson, daughter of architect Grant Woolson, was stabbed yesterday during an attempted mugging as you two know. Now, she has since recovered well enough and stopped panicking for long enough to give us some details, but they are sparse at best. I'm just going to-"

Nick's ears perked up, and he interrupted suddenly. "Wait, you just said that's Grant Woolson's kid?"

Bogo started to inhale in order to deliver what was likely a 'quiet', 'shut up', or 'can it', but stopped suddenly. "Uh, yes. Yes, that's exactly what I said. Maybe if you were listening-" he began to raise his voice but was cut off by the fox again.

"Like, the billionaire Grant Woolson, like, guy who designed this building Woolson?" Judy pursed her lips, Nick knew that the chief didn't enjoy being interrupted, the bunny had a feeling that maybe he was taking his friendly ribbing a bit too far.

"YES!" Bogo shouted at the fox, then, against his better judgment, "Why do you ask, Officer Wilde, do you have a lead?"

Nick frowned for a moment, then responded. "Honestly? No, I'm just kinda surprised I got fox-away'd by royalty," the chief planted a hoof against his own face and began to speak, but Nick continued, "But, it does give us some sort of motive for the mugging, or at least an explanation. I mean, the girl's probably worth a few million dollars. It would make sense that if you're going to mug anyone go for someone with more pocket change jingling around. Funny though, why was she even in that part of Sahara Square? I mean, it wasn't a slum or anything, but hardly the uptown that she'd probably spend most of her time in."

The massive bovine at the desk decided to let Nick's outbursts slide, a fact that made Judy lean back, somewhat impressed with the fox. Bogo nodded to him, settling back into his chair. "Those are some good questions, but you two are not detectives. All I want to do is cross-reference your story with the one that I have from the lamb, okay?"

Both of the officers nodded and the chief sighed, relieved. "Thank you. Now, at 10:34 yesterday Lucy claims that she was walking through a fenced off alley near the bazaar district in Sahara Square, is that location accurate?"

Judy nodded, and Nick followed suit after a moment of thinking.

"Good. At 10:38, she was approached by a gray Fox with hints of red coloration up and down his muzzle, wearing a black turtleneck. She could not confirm what he was wearing from the waist down, as she does not remember well enough to make a statement... you two?"

The rabbit officer pursed her lips, looking at Nick and then back to the Chief. "I'm afraid we don't know sir, we never actually saw the suspect. I investigated the alleyway that we saw her run out of, but by the time that I did no one was there, then, well, you know the rest." Judy bit her lip, of course the attacker had been a fox. If not, then why would she have sprayed Nick? Then again, the bunny had seen a plethora of dumber things done by panicked civilians. Nick, for his part, started slightly when the chief mentioned the species of the assailant. He shifted his feet, appearing decidedly uneasy.

Bogo nodded. "Understandable, you were busy helping the wounded lamb, I presume?"

This time the rabbit shifted. "Uh, yes sir," she lied. It really was stupid of her to worry about Nick before the potentially mortally wounded lamb, but at the same time, she could justify it. Nick was her partner, he did so much for her, and some crazy billionaire brat decided to pepper spray him. Of course she was going to worry about her friend before said brat.

"Good thinking Hopps, lives before arrests." The compliment felt dirty on Judy's ears. "Anyway, several minutes later at 10:41, Ms. Woolson was stabbed with a seven-inch blade hunting knife just under her ribs on the right side of her body. The wound, while only really a large scratch, resulted in significant blood loss. She claims that a minor struggle over her bag had occurred and in order to make her let go of it, the criminal utilized the weapon. She, of course, let go and stumbled toward the fence, bleeding from her side."

The fox and rabbit nodded, they hadn't been there for this part, so had to assume the victim's report was truthful and accurate until a more in-depth investigation could happen.

"Okay, so this is where you two come in. She passed the fence, not being pursued by her attacker at around 10:42. She noted the two uniformed, on-duty ZPD officers. However, upon seeing Nick, she mistook him for her attacker and began to flee, pulling her fox-away out of her pocket. Both officer Wilde and Hopps began to pursue h-"

"Wait a second, if she had fox-away on her that whole time, why didn't she use it?"

Bogo actually stopped speaking, and Judy's head shot to watch her partner. "You're right Nick, did she mention that at all, Chief?"

Even the Buffalo looked confused now. "No, no she did not..." He frowned, pursing his lips as he closed the file on his desk. "You know Wilde, these cross-examinations are supposed to be routine, but I think you might have just managed to make one halfway interesting."

The fox took the praise in stride. "Well, that is if she wasn't being held down by her assailant in a position that she wasn't able to reach her pocket, but in that case I would've thought she'd be dead. Then again, it likely wasn't the perp's motive to kill her, just get her bag. Why use such a big knife then-? You know what Chief, I'm really not liking this story much anymore."

Bogo stroked his chin slowly. "And neither am I. Well, either way it's not like she's going anywhere for a few days, so we've got plenty of time to iron out those kinks. Who knows, maybe she's still delirious. This kind of emotional and even physical trauma can do that to some mammals."

Nick shrugged, and Judy finally found it possible to drag her gaze away from her partner's visage. If she wasn't impressed before, then she certainly was now. Her face twisted into a grin. "Sly fox..."

Nick raised an eyebrow, peering down at her smugly. "Dumb lamb."

Judy punched him in the arm on the way out.

"Ow! What was that for this time, fluff? I mean, keep at it and I'll have a broken arm too!" He pouted, rubbing his bruised limb.

"Good work in there slick, I think you made an impression on the chief," she nudged him again.

"Ow, Yeah, well don't be too certain, Bogo's as stubborn as a rock," he deflected, mumbling slightly.

"Well, if it counts you certainly made an impression on me..." The bunny trailed off, smiling gently at her partner.

Nick walked with her in silence for a few moments before saying anything, his mouth opening and closing a few times without success. "Thanks, carrots. I appreciate it." He smiled genuinely, and for once his usual smug grin of his was only the second the brightest part of Judy's day.

"Mr. Wilde, are you recovering well after the attack?"

"Well, do loud noises and camera flashes still hurt? Yes, yes they do." The pair of officers shared a knowing smile as they managed their way through the paparazzi. Since they were technically off duty they didn't have any real authority to claim that the group was obstructing justice, but luckily they were only famous enough to have a relatively small group of cameramen and women around them.

That is, or maybe they were famous enough to have more but several were scared off in some capacity by the occasional snide quips from Nick about their current legal standing.

Judy pulled her partner along, and once they had finally managed to separate themselves from the crowd she spoke again. "So, what do you do for fun around here?"

Nick had to think for a moment on that. "Well, I mean I play cards with Finnick sometimes..." he mentioned, scratching an ear.

The rabbit chuckled at that, ribbing her partner with an arm. "I mean like out here on the town, like average Friday night stuff, etc.?" she inquired as the pair wandered into the small park across from the police station.

Nick pursed his lips, tugging on an ear. "I mean it carrots, I know a lot of people but well... I'm usually busy with you on Friday nights watching a movie or something. And plus, I don't know them like I know you, Fluff."

Judy felt her ears heat up at that, looking away embarrassedly. "I uh... sorry." She felt bad, suddenly realizing that maybe she had been smothering her partner a bit. Once again, she got the sinking feeling that she had been interrupting his social life. Had they really been hanging out that much? Probably, she admitted. She had other friends, maybe she could lay off her vulpine partner for a little while... then again, all of those friends either lived in Bunnyburrow or she met through Nick and were more friends through association.

"Don't worry about it Carrots, I like doing that stuff, never been a huge pawball fan or anything like that." The fox shot her a reassuring smile that helped a little bit, but not enough to put her totally at ease. "How about we just head back to my place and watch some dumb show or something, okay?"

Judy nodded at that, her ears returning to a chipper position above her head. "Okay!"

The team of officers made their way back to Nick's via the nearly hour-long network of bus routes. Upon returning to the dim den, the rabbit couldn't help but comment as she moved to the wall outlet near the kitchen, plugging in her phone. "How do you deal with that commute every day Nick? I mean, I'm sure you could afford a nicer place, we do make a pretty good salary after all."

The fox shrugged, simply plopping down onto the couch in front of the television that Hopps had been using as a bed. "I mean, I didn't really plan on being a cop until an unintentional job shadow left me just aching for more..." he noted smugly.

Judy rolled her eyes, checking her phone quickly for messages. There was one from her parents and she took a deep breath, remembering the state that she had left that conversation in. She could deal with it later, she decided, putting the phone down and scrambling onto the couch with Nick.

"So, any preference on the show, Carrots?"

The rabbit officer nodded. "Paw and order, please."

Nick smirked, raising an eyebrow in one of his favorite expressions at his partner. "First of all, we're cops, so I don't know what gives you such a desire to watch something like that. Second, you forgot to invite me to your seventieth birthday party."

Again, the lapin rolled her eyes. "We can watch Special Vixens Unit if you really want to ya big lug, I know you have a crush on that one SWAT arctic that makes a cameo every few episodes."

Nick felt his cheeks heat up. "Do not! Plus, it's a little hard to have a crush on anyone when every episode is about some kind of sexual assault, ugh."

Judy wouldn't let this one go, smiling smugly as she ribbed her partner. "Oh really now? I guess I should have taken a picture of your face when you first saw her! You looked ravenous, slick."

The fox's ears fell back, and his tail curled back behind him slowly, away from the rabbit. "Really Carrots, it's not like-"

"Did you know that the actress who plays her lives a few blocks down?" Judy interrupted, smirking.

"She does?" Nick's eyes widened and his ears perked up instantly, his tail starting to slowly swish back and forth.

The lapin punched him in the arm, laughing. "No, but don't you wish she did!" The fox pouted and rubbed his battered arm as the bunny continued, letting her voice drop to a mock flirt. "I mean, she's probably all lonely between shoots, and just around this time of year I'm sure she'd just be begging for some big, strong, handsome fox hunk like you Nick..." She fluttered her eyelids in mock seduction.

Wilde rolled his eyes, still half-pouting. "Yeah, not like me at all. Plus, most foxes go for witty and agile over giant bodybuilder," he managed to save some of his pride with that.

The bunny nodded, then frowned. Nick probably was a hunk then by fox standards, he certainly had the wit, if it was a bit dry for some tastes, and police training had shaped him into quite the agile specimen. She had always wanted to touch his side to see if he was as toned as he looked. Then without thinking did, poking his abdomen. There was some significant resistance after the fur gave way. The bunny nodded gently. He was extremely well muscled, really.

"Uhh, something you need, Hopps?" Nick was staring down at her, his cheeks looking a little pinker than the usual red as Judy prodded his abs.

"Oh! Sorry!" she squeaked, pulling her finger back and scrambling to her side of the couch, "just kinda spaced out." She laughed nervously, kneading her paws.

The toned fox kept right on blushing, turning back to the TV as he couldn't stop his tail from gracefully gliding back and forth slowly. "We can watch Paw and Order: Special Vixens Unit if you like Judy, and I promise not to gawk at Rachel."

The rabbit seized on the opportunity to deflect her own embarrassment. "You know her name?! Nick, she shows up for like twenty seconds a season!" Judy laughed, making Nick go an even darker shade of red.

"At least I pay attention to the show..." he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So do I, they never have even said her name to this point!" The rabbit was grinning, she was enjoying this thoroughly, especially on how well it had deflected her unintended violation of the fox's personal space.

"They say it in the credits!" Nick shot back, then realized that wasn't really a good thing to admit.

"Nick, that's actually kinda... cute? I guess?" Judy was still laughing, but she held back from making fun of the vulpine any more about it, knowing he was embarrassed already.

The fox sighed, frowning. "Yeah, or just weird and creepy. I mean, not like I'd actually meet her or anything..."

I hope not, thought a part of Judy suddenly. She had a feeling that meeting would go better than Nick anticipated, and something in her desperately wanted that not to happen. "Well I think you'll meet someone like that at least, someone who's pretty and makes you happy. Maybe you already have even and just don't know it," she offered in support.

Nick looked at her strangely, his lips parted slightly. "Judy..." Then, he shook his head, sinking back into the sofa, grabbing a brush from nearby to groom his tail with. His eyes dropped, ears going with them slightly. "Maybe I do know, but it would never work..." he mumbled.

The rabbit's ears perked slightly at that, easily catching his speech that, to most, would have been inaudible. "Oh Nick..." Judy leaned over, crawling back to her partner and putting her hand over his. He jumped at that, not noticing her approaching, and let her after a moment of trying to pull away gently. "Who is it...?" Her eyes were wide with worry.

The fox started to open his mouth, but then closed it again, sighing. He looked almost physically in pain as he finally pulled his gaze away from her. "I can't tell you." He finally spoke after the painful silence, staring at the blank TV screen.

The rabbit nodded not wanting to push her partner too hard, but at the same time that made it hurt all the more. Why couldn't he trust her with it? She bit back the question, gently squeezing his paw, prompting him to look at her again. She was still worried, he could tell, if not more so than before, but he couldn't risk everything just for the sake of ending this torturous moment, as much as he wanted to. The alternative could be so much worse.

"Nick, I'm sure that whoever it is probably feels the same way, deep down. You're a very attractive fox you know, and under that one of the sweetest people I know." Much to Judy's dismay, her partner didn't perk up at that. In fact he sucked in a heavy breath, blushing an even deeper shade of scarlet as he tugged his paw away from the bunny.

"Thanks Carrots, really... I'm gonna... I gotta take a shower real quick, okay? How about you start without me?"

Judy's ears fell at that, dropping to her back as she whimpered. He still looked miserable, if not even worse than before. Did she say something wrong? She quickly bounced off the couch, following Nick as he started to the bathroom. "W-Wait n-no Nick!" She saw flashes of the police department, the sight of that fox walking away from her for the first time back during the Nighthowler case, and her eyes filled with tears against her greatest efforts.

The vulpine spun around as he heard her voice break and his eyes widened, ears also falling back when he noticed the mess of a bunny behind him. His warm, fluffy tail slowly curled around Judy's back as he reached out for her, holding her head to his chest as he pet her slowly. "Come here... there... Judy... I'll be okay, alright? I'm fine, just... remember that I'm gonna be acting a little weird for a bit, okay?" The fox almost purred out his words, his paws slowly stroking the back of the bunny's tiny head.

Judy sniffled, hiccuping as she nodded. She wiped her tears on his front again. "I'm sorry I... I don't know what came over me..." She wasn't only surprised that she remembered that horrible moment of losing her friend so well, something that she had hoped to bury as a distant memory, but she also didn't remember just how strong of an emotion was tied to it.

Nick nodded, dropping to a crouch to look into her eyes. He carefully placed his hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to apologize Fluff, and don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." He finally smiled as he said that and Judy blushed, nodding in return.

"Thanks... Sorry..."

The vulpine ruffled her ears with one hand. "Ah, no 'sorry's, remember? And I'm gonna go shower now, I'll be right out afterward."

Judy nodded slowly, her ears gently picking back up as the fox got back on his paws, moving to the bathroom. She wasn't really sure why he needed to shower again, but her ears picked up the sound of running water after some time. She blushed a bit guiltily, it was odd that now that she was more awake she could pick up more of what was going on in the bathroom, not wanting to invade the fox's privacy. Oh well, not like he really had anything to hide from her in there that wasn't visual. Or hopefully even that, some unconscious part of her body offered, but she viciously stomped that thought out quickly.

The rabbit busied herself making the two of them lunch, not wanting to start the show without Nick. Again, she pouted at the poor selection of food and ingredients available, the fox must eat out a lot or something. Either that or the meals he was eating would have been the meat on the shelves above, but she wasn't really comfortable with cooking that. This time she decided upon a fruit salad, thinking for a moment that maybe she should learn to make more than various salad varieties, then shrugged after a moment. She could always learn some other time.

Her ears twitched suddenly as she thought she heard something, then settled, then a moment later again perked. She sniffed at the air, not detecting anything out of the ordinary, and went back to preparing the salad.

"Judy-"

There, she was sure she heard it that time! Her eyes shot to the door of the bathroom, that was Nick's voice. It was hardly detectable over the sound of running water, and seemed to be almost panted out.

"Nick?" she called out, and it took her a second to hear any answer.

"Yeah Carrots? Kinda busy!" he called back, considerably louder.

"You okay? I though I heard you say my name or something?" She prepped a few dishes with the fruit she had arranged, setting them on the table. This time it took much longer for the fox to say anything. "Nick?"

"Uh yeah, just was... showering, thinking out loud I guess!" he finally responded, and the bunny heard the fox shuffling quickly. The water turned off again after a few minutes and he came out, drying the fur on his head with a towel. His ears looked lopsided as they were uncovered from under the cloth and they twitched quickly, trying to right themselves.

"Feel free to shower by the way, forgot to mention that yesterday. What's mine is yours and all that for the time being."

Judy rolled her eyes, chuckling slightly. As if that didn't come a little late to mention. "Well I'll be sure to take you up on that before I leave, are you feeling good enough to not need me poking around your stuff anymore?"

Nick seemed to think for a moment, nodding finally with some hesitation. "I guess I am, Fluff, but I gotta say it's been wonderful letting you eat all of my food."

The rabbit clapped her hands together. "Of course! I'd do it anytime, and if you get lonely over the weekend you know what to do! Which means I expect a call by Saturday, Mr. Wilde. Also speaking of food, perhaps we could have a final meal together?"

"I think I would rather enjoy that, Hopps."