Zootopia: Where The Wild Things Are

Chapter 4 - Serenity

The apartment complex was dead quiet, its inhabitants subdued to sleep. The old drywall walls were smelling musty, the wallpaper was crackling off in the lobby, and the wood paneling running along the door ways through all of the stairways was stained and old. The complex, in its obviously aged fashion, was what Judy called home. Her eyes turned to the main desk, in which the old armadillo who ran the place gave a gentle wave.

The wrinkles under her eyes cascaded to just above cheeks, they were sad and tired, but that elderly, warm smile burned through her age. Judy remembered her first encounter with her as a little aggressive, but soon, she became used, and even cared to see her around more.

Her lips, cracked and aging, moved with her hoarse vocal cords. "Late nights, mm?" Her voice was sweet, and it reminded Judy of her grandma.

She was a not only feeling stressed by the case, but awfully homesick. It all lead to her mind being a jumbled pile of heat and strenuous activity.

"Yeah, heh, they really kill me." She paused in front of the desk, smiling tiredly. The armadillo readjusted her glasses, still keeping her smile.

"I know your situation very well, the feeling is mutual. Goodnight, enjoy your pizza dear." She chuckled a little, pointing at the oversize box she held in both paws.

Judy gave a chuckle back, nodding her head. "Thank you, goodnight to you as well."

The armadillo nodded, then shifted her gaze down to her papers, becoming lost in financing information, followed by her age catching up with her mind. Dementia.

Judy let her ears take in the silence of the old, sleepy complex, before taking steps across the tan carpet, into the elevator on the far end of the lobby. Pressing the fifth floor button on the building with her elbow, the rabbit waited impatiently for the doors to close. After a few rounds of thumping her foot in tired frustration

Judy pressed the door to her apartment open, box of pizza larger than her in one paw, her other dragging a heavy box of case information from the D.P.C.U., and her body slumped with absolute exhaustion.

Her bloodshot, heavy eyes gazed around the room, only to see Nick was gone. She let out a frustrated sigh, stepping into the room, and kicking the door behind her with a loud crack.

She tossed the box of pizza onto the table, and turned around to lock the door.

The rabbit stepped back, and sighed happily, knowing that work ways over, and she had a day off tomorrow.

Her attention turned back to the dim room, with only the lamp on her desk spreading light into the old apartment.

Her eyes continued to search for Nick. He wasn't buried in the bedsheets of her bed, or under the blankets of the makeshift bedding on the floor.

She bent down and checked under the skirt of her bed, Nick wasn't there. She opened the closet, and Nick wasn't there.

Her heartrate quickened, and she stood still, fidgeting her paws together. Her foot drummed on the floor.

"Nick?" She finally decided to call out, and waited for a return of sound. All that was heard was the ticking of her analog clock, and the wash of train outside the iced the world in black water of the night.

"Nicholas?" She raised her voice in alarm, beginning to stamp her foot a little more worried.

This time, she heard the churning of water from the bathroom, and her ears rose up with caution. "I'm in the bath tub Judy," He called back, and Judy bit her lip a little, placing her paw on the door.

"C-can I come in?" Her voice was tired and fragile, which held a small edge of lust behind her tired, half lidded eyes.

"If you want to," She heard his voice call back, and it trembled for a reason Judy thought she might have known.