Birds Don't Just Fly

The tickets to the Gazelle concert had been a congratulations gift from Judy for graduating from the police academy. Although Nick usually preferred not to do anything potentially embarrassing in public spaces, Judy's contagious energy and persistent attitude eventually persuaded him to loosen up and start enjoying himself. He was never going to admit it of course (especially not to Judy), but Nick was having the most fun he had had in years. This was interrupted as the second song began to play when a yelp startled Nick out of his calm state.

"Ow!" Nick had barely turned to see the source of the sound when a slightly smaller mammal fell into him. "Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"No worries," Nick replied with a smile, as he steadied the cape fox in front of him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," the fox looked away nervously. "Someone just stepped on my tail is all. I fell when they stepped off. Thanks for the help Mr....?"

"Wilde. Nick Wilde," Nick offered the other a sweet smile as he hesitantly shook Nick's outstretched hand. "It's really no trouble, Mr...?"

"Greyson. Vincent Greyson," the other fox replied, his voice so quiet Nick could barely hear him over the music despite their close proximity. 

Nick opened his mouth to continue the conversation but was interrupted by Vincent who had spotted Judy watching them from Nick's other side. "I'm so sorry! You're here with a friend, I shouldn't be interrupting!"

Judy shot Nick a knowing look, which Nick chuckled bashfully in response to. "No, it's okay. The more the merrier." He replied.

"Oh," Vincent's ears visibly perked up at this, as he gave Nick a shy smile. "Thank you."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The smaller fox sat across the table from him at the back of the cafe, his paws gently wrapped around the cup of tea he was drinking. Nick gave him a warm smile and outstretched a paw, which Vincent took in his own, giving his own smile in return.

"Nick?" Vincent asked as if to get his attention. Though his voice sounded strange as if it was someone else's.

"Nick!" Judy's voice snapped Nick out of his daydreams. 

"Yes, Carrots?" Nick asked, trying to sound as if he hadn't been in la-la land for nearly the entire conversation.

"Did you hear anything I said?" Judy replied, a look of annoyance clear on her face.

"Sorry, must've missed it," He grinned, trying to maintain his usual cool attitude. "Would you mind giving me a recap?"

"Bogo wants us to take part in a workshop for at-risk youth. It's this afternoon, so we better get back to the station," Judy explained as she turned the cruiser around in the direction of the station. "And you better stop daydreaming about Vincent."

Shocked by her statement, Nick nearly choked on the coffee he was drinking. "Who said anything about Vincent?" 

"You did," Judy smirked. "You've been talking about him all week. You should ask him out already."

Nick sighed. "Oh, Hopps, you know I can't do that, we forgot to exchange numbers after the concert."

Judy chuckled. "Dumb fox."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When they arrived at the station, Bogo ushered them into the bullpen, outlining them on the program they were going to be educating the youth on. It was a simple one, aiming to get at-risk teens out of doing dangerous and potentially illegal activities by getting them to work with the police to alert them of any misbehaving peers. Soon after they were finished running through the program, the teens were ushered into the room, followed by their teacher, who Nick instantly recognized as Vincent Greyson. Nick shot Judy a nervous look, which caused her to give a small laugh and shrug.

Throughout the program, it was obvious something was up with Nick. His normal cool and calm demeanour changed to nervous and flustered whenever Vincent looked his way, much to Judy's amusement. When they took a break so that the teens and Vincent could go and get lunch in the cafeteria, Judy turned to him with a grin.

"Why don't you just ask him out already?" She asked. "There's no denying your crush now."

"Oh, common, Carrots! You know I can't do that," Nick replied, his distress quickly becoming apparent.

"Nick, you're being ridiculous," Judy sighed, "It'll be fine, he likes you!"

Nick forced himself to not be distracted by that statement and the happiness it caused, needing to make sure his point was understood." It's not him I'm worried about."

"Then what is it?" Judy asked, her ears drooping slightly in concern.

"I'm already looked at as the first fox on the force, you know the kind of flack I get for that," Nick sighed. "Now imagine me also being the first openly gay officer on top of that. Doesn't paint a nice picture, does it?"

Judy frowned. "It'll be okay, Nick. I doubt people are that homophobic nowadays."

Nick calmed down a little bit, thank's to Judy's unwavering optimism though he was still visibly nervous as the teens came back in with Vincent to finish the program.

At the end of the day, as Nick and Judy were bringing the teens back to the main entrance, Nick had started up a conversation with Vincent, and the pair seemed to be quickly getting over their nerves. As they were saying goodbye, Judy gestured to Nick to ask Vincent. As she watched Nick ask and the pair smile happily before exchanging numbers, she knew that even if Nick did get picked on for being the first openly gay officer, he was going to be much happier with Vincent than without.