blizzardbox | I won't give up, no I won't give in

[The sound of Judy knocking on Nick's door has the fox's ears perk up with curiosity. He had been laying around in his bed for the last couple of hours, honestly. Feeling.. a little lost at what to do. With another death -- not even caused by another classmate, things felt.. well. Hopeless, honestly. Like they were all just going to slowly die one by one and it'll be the same song and dance until there's no one left, kind of hopeless.

So the knocking he actually welcomes, better getting distracted by whoever this is than sitting around being depressed.

He hears her knock again, more urgently as he hops off his bed and he opens the door with an annoyed expression on his face.]

Alright, alright. What do you wa--

[...and he's faced with Judy.]

...what do you want, Carrots?

[Judy is pretty short with Nick, but not because she's irritated. ...okay, maybe a little because she's irritated, but it's not the sole reason. Mostly, she doesn't want neighbors like Orihime to overhear.

Either way, her words are familiar.]

We need to talk. Will you come with me to my room?

[Oh this should be good, he thinks. He'd offer some kind of quip first but he did come to her saying they should work together in the first place... and it looks like she's actually willing to give it a shot. So Nick just gives her a shrug and steps out of his room, closing the door behind him.]

Lead the way, cotton tail.

[Oh good, he's cooperating. For now. Judy wastes no time turning around and heading back to her room, the door having been left open. When Nick follows her inside- with a request to "close the door" as he comes in- he'll see that Judy's room is in a state of sorts. There are notebook pages and papers formerly from the mailroom strewn all over her bed, as well as a lot of junk from the vending machine. Nick might notice, if he hasn't already, that something of her own had been given back to her: a pair of handcuffs clipped to her belt.

She zeroes in on her notes as she jumps up onto the frame and then onto the bed proper, stacking them up so she can have them for easy reference as she sits down on the edge of the mattress.]

Okay, first thing's first. Have you had any more memories come back to you this week?

[At the request to close her door, Nick rolls his eyes as he complies and he folds his arms over his chest afterwards, and leans his back against said closed door as he watches her jump on her bed to look over her notes.]

I have. and before you ask it did have a featurette from a certain bunny cop again.

[He still feels on edge from it honestly, even if it's only been a couple of days.]

I take it you have too.

Correct. On both counts.

[She just means you were in her memory, Nick, so that much you're both still on the same page with.

Speaking of pages, Judy writes two quick checks in her notebook beneath "Memories", then puts it aside to return to the loose sheets of paper. These, it seem, haven't been traveling around the building with her. They've been staying right here in her room when she can come back and write at night.]

I think that it's safe to say that the Wordsmith is somehow influencing these "dreams". I don't know how, but it always happens right after a trial, right? That can't be a coincidence.

[She taps her papers against her knees to get them all lined up.]

Either way. That isn't why I needed to talk to you.

[AS Judy starts to go off, Nick listens with his ears perked as he looks around her room, a little... impressed, admittedly, at all of her notes strung about everywhere. She looks small and weak, but if she's been keeping such a close eye on everything this entire time... well, maybe she's more of a professional cop than he originally thought when he first saw her here.

Either way, he nods a little to himself with her explanation. It's definitely suspicious that they keep getting memories every night after a trial, that's for sure.]

Then what's the deal? Want to learn my secret on yearly tax evasion?

No...

[Judy folds the papers down on her lap neatly for the moment, leveling Nick with a direct look.]

I want to get us out of here. And you're going to help me.

[Nick's smirk pretty much immediately fades, at Judy's words. Replaced with a look of confusion, that soon shifts to exasperation.]

Get us out of here? And how do you plan on doing that, huh?

[He gestures towards the walls with one of his paws as he speaks.]

There aren't any windows or doors, and you might be pretty small Fluff but I doubt even you could fit in the vents.

[She'd been expecting to be questioned, which is why she came prepared with notes. Lots of them. And as she answers Nick, she starts flipping through the pages.]

Maybe not. But every building has an exit. Even if you have to make an exit.

[She raises a brow as she turns one of her papers around for him to see. It's a crude diagram of every floor, with every hallway drawn out and rooms primitively labeled. It's not the most artistic thing, but it works well enough.]

Nowhere in the rules does it say we can't investigate this building. In fact, the Wordsmith seems to encourage as much with the way they're written. I've combed this place from top to bottom, and I've come to the conclusion that the only way we're going to be able to get out is the hard way.

You and I have the advantage of being smaller than everyone else. It doesn't take a very big hole to get out, Nick. If we can even just break through to the outside, any outside, then we might be able to find help. And after what happened Monday...I can't sit by another week and watch more people get killed.

But I can't do it alone.

[Nick looks.. not convinced, really. The more she explains the more it makes sense but.. well, he can't exactly say it's a solid plan or even a plan he really wants to partake in.

But he does want to get out. He doesn't want to be trapped here, especially after what happened to Mercy and what happened in his memory. Animals trapped in cells, clawing at the glass trying to get out... that's kind of how he feels here, and he hates it.

So he lets out a very large sigh, before pushing himself back off the wall.]

Okay, what's your plan? We take a couple of spoons and try to dig our way through the walls?

[He walks over to her bed, snatching up one of her notes to look over idly.]

[She doesn't stop him from picking up the paper, which he'll find has little blurbs about items she's gotten from the machine, making note of things she might think belong to others still alive here. She does, however, watch as he walks over, her nose twitching briefly.]

...so you're going to help me. Just like that?

[The fox looks over at Judy from the corner of his eye before he looks back at her notes, silent for a moment as he mulls it over.]

Look, Judy.

[He's using her first name... just to prove he's being serious for once.]

Everyone is dying, okay? And it's not just people getting the great idea to murder their new little friends for gold, but people are dying for absolutely no reason and it's a miracle the two smallest animals in this school are still alive at this point.

[Nick moves to put her notes back down, but he doesn't lift his head from her mattress.. his ears pinned flat to his head as he continues.]

I want to get out before our luck runs out, and I'm pretty much willing to try anything at this point. Even if I have to dig at a wall all night with a plastic spoon and a little bunny by my side.

[Judy's expression softens a bit as she listens, her perked ears drooping back against her head. Honestly, she'd not been expecting this sort of response, at all really. Sure, Nick would work with her to an extent, but she knew what she was planning would be dangerous. Sure, no rules against it specifically, but...trying to get out without murdering someone probably wasn't on the list of allowed things.

But everything the fox says hits home with Judy. People are dying left and right, and they- she- are powerless to stop it from continuing. She'd be remiss if she didn't try at least something more proactive in trying to get them all out of this.]

...If we're working together, that means you're an officer now. Officers are supposed to serve, and protect. And if we can't protect, then we'll serve.

[She suddenly tosses Nick a new page, one that looks like it was just pulled out of the mailroom that morning. It's not deliberately marked ESCAPE PLAN or anything, but it's obvious given the few things she's written down that that's what it's supposed to be for.]

I don't think we'll have to use spoons, either.

Edited 2017-02-14 06:57 (UTC)

[The corners of Nick's mouth turn up into a more genuine looking smile at Judy calling him an officer, and he takes that page she tosses at him to look it over.]

Alright, partner. What's the plan?

[He's kind of surprised she's even thought this far ahead, to be honest.]

[Judy's been thinking about this for a week now, actually. But she hadn't really gotten the drive to seriously put anything into motion, lest she get someone else hurt for her efforts. But the events of this week seem to really have put her on the move.]

Honestly? I didn't have one, not before. Just the idea that, maybe, there could be a way out. I've been talking to Jasper about it, and I was going to look for clues the week before last, but got sick and couldn't.

This week...wasn't looking much better on the ideas front. At least until I visited that vending machine.

[Here's where her expression turns a bit more. Apprehensive, perhaps.]

I pulled something out a few days ago that I haven't shown to anyone. Something I've never seen before, but...can make a guess as to what it might be. You could probably give me your thoughts on it too, once you see it.

[She looks up at Nick out of the corner of her eye.]

I think it's an explosive.

[Nick looks up from the notes in his paw, his eyebrows far above at the mention of an explosive.]

Well, that's one way to get the job done. Sure beats chipping at a wall with a plastic spoon.

[He sets the paper back down again, and uses the same paw to hold up towards Judy.]

Let's see it.

It's, uh. ...over there.

[Judy points to a corner of the room where she seems to have taken a spare towel from somewhere and tossed it over a small, soft-ball sized thing, possibly so she wouldn't have to look at it.

But why, though.]

[Nick looks over to where she's pointing, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the towel tossed over it. Why is it covered with a towel... does he really want to know..

But he goes over to it anyway, slowly and cautiously.... reaching out..... veeeeeeery hesitantly.... until he just pulls the towel off, flinching in the same motion and freezing with the towel in his hand as if he's worried it's going to just burst right then and there.]

[AND THEN IT BLEW UP IMMEDIATELY-

Actually, it just...sits there. Looking pretty unassuming, all told, but it is pretty weird...it's shaped and looks a lot like a little grenade on wheels, like a tank of some kind. It could probably be mistaken for a toy if it weren't for the skull on the front of it, one that Judy could swear had been watching her since she got the thing.]

I haven't seen anything like it. Maybe it belongs to someone, but I'm not going to ask even if it does. What do you think?

[Judy can just hear the audible sigh from Nick as he remains un-exploded, and he moves over to look it over a bit more closely. Not.... goin to touch it though.]

Yeah.. looks like some kind of explosive alright.

[Why does the skull look vaguely... cat-ish?]

That or some kind of fancy bottle of reaaaaaaaaaaally spicy hot sauce.

[Judy rolls her eyes a little, but having that confirmed is good, at least. For better or worse.]

If that's the case, then it just might be able to get us out of here. Assuming we're fast about it. An explosion isn't going to be missed.

No, it definitely is not.

[Nick stares at the little tank for a couple of seconds more before he sets the towel on the ground next to it and saunters back over to Judy.]

So... any idea where we're going to put this thing to the test? Or should we just pull the pin right here and see what happens?

...absolutely not.

[No???]

That's what I've been doing this week. I've been looking in every hallway and room trying to guess what might be the best place. I'm still not entirely sure...there are advantages to doing it somewhere we won't be caught as quickly, but it might lead us to a dead end. You're going to have to come with me tonight and give a second opinion.

Wherever it is, though...I'm thinking we should do it tomorrow.

Tomorrow? In broad daylight, Carrots?

[Nick shakes his head at that, moving to fold his arms over his chest.]

I'm not doing it while everyone else is awake. Not a good idea.

[He.. admittedly. Doesn't want to put anyone in danger... especially a certain red-haired girl who would definitely get hurt if something happened.]

Didn't I just stress us not getting caught? Tomorrow morning, Nick.

[Judy flips through her notes again, one of her feet tapping anxiously at the air.]

Before anyone wakes up if we can. Maybe even earlier...it just depends on what we decide.

[The fox rolls his eyes, nice and able to be seen by Judy with her response and he moves to lean his back against the frame of her bed.]

The sooner we do it, the better. We have to figure out a place and time that'll be safe from Smithy or anyone else strolling on in and ruining the whole she-bang.

I think we should be okay. The rooms are soundproof, so we won't wake up anyone...and you and I should be able to hear someone coming long before they get there.

[Judy looks down at her bed, covered with papers as it is.]

...this has to work, Nick. We can't keep living like this.

Hah. That's something we can both agree on.

[Nick says this bitterly, his ears flattening against his head again and he shifts his gaze towards the small tank.]

...my uh, latest memory.. the one from a couple of days ago.

You and I had just solved your case. We found those mammals, all of them in an old Asylum in Cliffside.

[...]

They were all.... trapped. Or-- no, maybe caged is more like it. They were each in their own cells, clawing and lashing out at the glass whenever we got too close.... they probably would've been muzzled too, if anyone really felt like getting that close to them.

[His tail sways slowly behind him while he explains this, and there's a nice pause before he inhales an awkward sounding breath.]

Savage or not, no animal deserves to be locked up like that... and I kinda get what they must have been feeling, now.

...I'm willing to bet the humans are feeling it, too.

I...

[She opens her mouth to agree, because yeah, she...vaguely remembers that, too. Her own memory is a bit fuzzier, overshadowed by that press conference, but the meaning came through well enough. Something is stopping her from saying more right away, though, her paws causing the paper between them to crinkle.]

I need to...there's...a memory. The thing I remembered week before last, when I got sick.

[She decides to skip the part where Bellweather is pretty much trying to kill them for now, because that's not the part she feels like the biggest heel about.]

I said some pretty awful things at...a press conference that happened after that. I didn't mean it like the way it came out, I just...I froze, I didn't know what else to say...and when I started I just kept going, and going-

[And you might want to stop her now, actually.]

Edited 2017-02-15 06:27 (UTC)

[Oh... he didn't actually expect her to want to share one of her memories back with him when he admitted that, to be honest. It has his ears perk back up a little bit, but he keeps his eyes on the tank for now as he listens.

....and it sounds like she's going to keep going and going and going, so he lets out another more frustrated sounding sigh.]

Stop right there, Carrots.

[Nick looks back over at Judy, holding up a paw to stop her before she babbles on and on and on.]

You're going to tell me that you said something terrible about my tie on live television, right?

[It's half a joke to try and calm her a little, and half a serious question... he definitely looks a little worried about what she did say that could have been so awful..]

[...for some reason, that actually gets a laugh out of her. It's a little shaky, all things considered, but his response is absurd enough to warrant it.

And yet.]

"Predators might be reverting to their primitive, savage ways."

That's what I said. And I...pretty much ruined everything from there.

[That actually... stuns Nick into silence for once. Judy can see the same, familiar expression on his face hearing that now that he had hearing it then, a look that reads that it... stings to hear. And he has to move his gaze away from her again, while he mulls that over.

The difference between back then, and right now is that he doesn't have the full story, so he can't really make full judgements. On top of that, the situations are vastly different and well... she looks like she has legitimate remorse over saying something so stupid.

So after a moment or two, Nick moves over right next to her and nudges her arm with his paw.]

Scoot.

[Judy blinks, moving without really thinking about it. By the time what she's done has caught up with her, she's made room for Nick beside her, having to push away some papers and things in the process.

She doesn't say anything, though. Now that she's stopped, she's not sure...what, if anything, is appropriate.]

[Now that Judy's made room for him on her bed, Nick clambers up there and takes a nice seat next to her. Maybe his legs were tired, maybe he felt awkward standing next to her bed while she sat on it or maybe he wanted to have a moment with her or something... he won't make it obvious as to why he wanted up here, though. As he never does with anything, honestly.

He wants to say something about it, though. Maybe he could ask for more details or tell her that she's wrong or awful for saying something like that.. maybe he could accept her apology even though she hadn't out-rightly apologized... but well. Honestly. He's not sure what to do without the full context.. he's pretty upset to hear that, but he can't really afford to show it at this point and time, either.

So he just.. starts to drag some of her papers over to look them over, as if that was the whole reason he wanted up there in the first place.]

Wow... that badge isn't fake after all, huh? If a piece of cheese started growing mold, you'd probably be the first to know.

[What an...unsurprising response.

Judy exhales like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, lifting a paw to rub at her forearm.]

It pays to be thorough. But I still don't feel like I have enough. It's like there's something always missing.

I won't give up, no I won't give in

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OH YEAH UH Zootopia spoilers from here on I guess

OH I FORGOT ABOUT THAT WHOOPS

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