The Long Game, A Zootopia Fanfiction

Games and Trucks

Disclaimer: Zootopia and all Canon characters are owned by Disney. All other characters, product names, trademarks, and copyrights, belong to their respective owners.

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Nick wandered down the hall toward the kitchen, yawning wide, and stretching his arms. With a quick double-take, he looked around to make sure no bunny saw his wide-mouthed, full-fang stretch. Fortunately, he was in the clear.

It was waaay too early in the morning to be up, especially after dinner last night. Smoothing out his carrot print pajamas, he started to devise a way for nocturnal mammals to take over the agency that controlled daylight savings time and get them to start the morning around noon.

Passing the common room, he saw that the tables were about a third full of bunnies eating cereal, pancakes, and fresh fruit. Almost to the kitchen, he caught the whiff of something he didn't think was possible here, fresh coffee.

"Good morning Mrs. H., that coffee smells delicious."

Bonnie watched Nicholas enter and chuckled at his pajamas. "Good morning Nicholas, trying to fit in I see – love the pattern."

"Yeah, these were Sunni, Sasha, and Susan's idea. I figured they'd get a kick out of me actually wearing them."

Grabbing a mug, Nick poured himself a cup of joe and blew on it to cool it off. "Although it'd probably be in my best interest if Judy doesn't find out about these, I'm not sure I can handle the teasing."

"Your secret is safe with me. Not so sure about the kits, though."

Bonnie nodded her head toward the common room, and Nick turned to see a couple of young does taking pictures with their cell phones, giggling, and comparing images.

Nick smiled and took a tentative sip from his mug, testing the temperature, "Oh yeah. My dignity is a small price to pay for a good cup of coffee."

"I'm glad you like it. Janae picked up a package of coffee from Gideon's and told me that you had a 'thing' for it, so I pulled our coffee maker out of storage."

"Thanks, Mrs. H., I'll have to thank Janae too when I see her, this is good."

Holding the mug, Nick warmed his paws and savored the taste while the caffeine started coursing through his veins. He broke away from his reverie as Bonnie slid a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of him.

Looking up at Bonnie, Nick said, "Has anyone ever told you that you're an angel?"

Bonnie chuckled as Nick took a deep whiff of the tall stack of deliciousness. "Only when they want something."

"Definitely, I would love a peek at your recipe book, specifically the blueberry section."

Bonnie could tell that Nick was a charmer, so she retaliated with a big smile, "No can do, Officer Wilde, that book is filled with Hopps family secrets too special for mortal mammals, especially the recipes that involve blueberries."

Nick smiled himself and broke out his best puppy dog look, wide, sad eyes, head tilted to the side, bottom lip trembling. He even threw in a quietly pleading, almost injured whine. He'd conned many a mammal with this look.

"Pleeeease, Mrs. H."

Bonnie rolled her eyes at his antics and asked, "Has that look ever worked on Judy?"

Nick dropped the face and sighed as he replied, "No, not really."

"Well, it's not going to work on me either."

Nick slowly picked up his plate, and with rounded shoulders hunched over and his tail dragging dejectedly on the floor, he very slowly shuffled toward the dining room. Only a few feet away, Nick took a deep breath and let it out in a loud, stuttering, emotional way, and then with one last sniffle, he stepped across the threshold into the other room.