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

[officerhops]

[8. 8 people were dead. Three victims, three killers, and two rule breakers.

By now, late Tuesday night, Judy had had about enough. It wasn't quite curfew, maybe about a half hour before the clocks would chime, but a lot of people seemed to go to bed early these days. Either exhaustion from everything catching up with them, or fear that they'd be next if they didn't stay in their rooms. If Judy was smart, she'd do the same.

But she didn't know when to quit.

With purpose, Judy slipped out of her room and went to room number 7. Soundproof rooms meant that no one would hear her knocking on the door a few times, then knocking again with urgency if Nick waited too long to open up.]

Comments

[officerwilde]

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?

[officerhops]

...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.

[officerwilde]

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.]

[officerhops]

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.

[officerwilde]

[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.

[officerhops]

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.

[officerwilde]

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.

OH YEAH UH Zootopia spoilers from here on I guess

[officerhops]

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.]

OH I FORGOT ABOUT THAT WHOOPS

[officerwilde]

[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..]

[officerhops]

[...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.

[officerwilde]

[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.

[officerhops]

[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.]

[officerwilde]

[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.

[officerhops]

[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.