Judy smiles. "Arrogant, much?"
Nick shrugs. "If the boot fits, sweetheart. C'mon, Jim. Let's get you back to the station. I'll need your help to start the charity."
Clever. If McCartwright helps set it up, he'll know for sure that the ZPD fulfilled his promise. I must say, Officer Wilde does know how to keep criminals happy.
One thing is bothering me though. "Chief Bogo, are Officers Wilde and Hopps together?"
He looks at me in amusement. "You mean dating, right?"
I nod.
Bogo chuckles. "I wish. Then I could finally cash in all my bets. No, not as far as I know. But you'd have to ask Clawhauser for the details of their current relationship. Come by my office if you want to get in the pool." He walks off, shouting orders to his mammals.
-/- Time skip. Back at the ZPD.
I read the chubby responders name tag. Benjamin Clawhauser. How does one go about asking an officer about the relationship of his two colleagues?
"Officer Clawhauser?" Too late to back out now.
"Yes?" He looks above my head, catches sight of the tips of my ears, and manages to look past his double chin to see me. "Yep. Chief called it. You're Jack Savage, right? You want to know about our two lovebirds?"
"Y-yes, Bogo said you were the cheetah to see."
He quickly looks one way, then the other. "Okay, basically, they've been partners for a while now, and best friends besides, but lately the teasing and Nicks flirting have scaled upward without either of them noticing. It's gonna happen, it's just a matter of time." He winks at me.
Then his expression darkens for a moment. "If you have any plans on dating Judy, let me warn you that the last guy that tried to get that close to her, Nick pulled him aside for a little chat, and he was shaking for a week. I wouldn't risk it."
I rush to correct him. "Oh, no, I wasn't-"
He clearly doesn't believe me. "Uh-huh. I'm sure. Are you gonna join the betting pool?"
"I don't know. Thanks for the info." And I hurry away with such rags of self respect remain to me.
