What does the Fox say?, a zootopia fanfic

AN: Hello! It's been a LONG time since I posted anything, but when I saw this movie I fell in love with the characters and got a bunch of ideas! Then, I heard 'What does the fox say?' again and it got me thinking: what would Nick think of this song?

EDIT: A kind reviewer pointed out that I misspelled 'sing' at a few places (thanks, I hadn't noticed!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia nor "What does the Fox say".

One uneventful morning, a pair of unlikely partners were patrolling the streets of Zootopia. With no big case to crack, Officers Hopps and Wilde were tasked with patrolling for the day. It wasn't the most exciting job, but there were worse things they could have been doing, like parking duty or paperwork. Plus, there was always the possibility that something might happen, not that they would wish that of course.

"Why can't someone get robbed already?" Nick sighed from the passenger seat. He was keeping his eyes out for trouble while Judy drove.

"Nick!" Judy exclaimed "That's a horrible thing to say! We don't want there to be any crime"

"Maybe you don't Carrots, but I'm bored. We've been on patrol for hours and nothing's happened" Nick continued to look outside with a blank expression behind his shades.

"Well... I guess that means we're doing a good job" Judy started hesitantly and finished with optimism.

Nick looked at her from the corner of his eye and a smirked formed on his face. She was restless too, he could tell. The fox had gotten to know his partner enough to be able to read her. She was drumming her little claws on the steering wheel and had slightly tensed shoulders while her eyes darted all over the place as she drove.

"You want something to happen just as badly as I do" Nick remarked, taking off his sunglasses.

"What?" The bunny cop spared a glance at Nick "No I don't! That's ridiculous"

"There's no point in denying it, I know you wish you could be chasing down a criminal right now"

"Am I sick of being stuck in this car with you? Yes, yes I am." Judy joked.

Nick put a hand on his chest and faked a sad expression "You hurt me, Carrots!"

Judy chuckled "How about some music? That should help pass time" Usually she wouldn't put music or at least not too loud since it might distract them from their job and they needed to stay alert, but since today seemed very dull and both Nick and Judy were bored, she made an exception.

The rabbit plugged in her iPaws and hit shuffle. Music started playing and Nick turned up the volume.

"Now this is more like it" He smiled.

At first they just listened, then head-bobbed, then hummed and whistled. Before long both animals were singing their heads off along to whatever was playing –while still paying attention to their patrol of course. They were having a blast, until one specific song came up.

"Wait, is that-" Nick started to ask as he recognized the opening to a song. He already knew the answer though. He knew what this song was.

"Yup!" Judy grinned widely. She had to admit, she was looking forward to singing this one with Nick.

For the song in question was a song that had been popular a while back. It was all over the radio. The song was, of course, 'What does the fox say?'.

"Haha, no. Next please" Nick said simply.

"What do you mean 'next'? That song's awesome! And it's so much fun to sing too"

"Well I think it's offensive" Nick shrugged, not insulted by the song at his very core, but still annoyed by it.

"What do you mean?" Judy asked, curious. Nick shot her an 'are you serious?' look to which she answered "Okay, I get that there are some funny sounds, but it's all in good fun, right? And the song actually compliments foxes, doesn't it?"

"Oh yeah, suggesting that we talk like that is really heartwarming" Nick said sarcastically with half lidded eyes.

"What about the part about the 'beautiful red fur' and the 'guardian angel'?"

"Both outweighed by how dumb it makes foxes sound" Nick deadpanned.

"Technically it makes the singer sound dumb" She kept defending the song.

"Well I still don't like it" The fox said stubbornly.

The chorus came up and Judy interrupted the conversation to start singing.

Nick rolled his eyes and reached for the iPaws to skip it himself, but Judy beat him to it and put the device out of his reach.

"You're really not gonna skip it?" He asked.

"Nope" Judy said simply "Driver picks. Besides, I know it's not really bothering you"Judy was able to see right through Nick and she could tell when something got to him, despite his efforts to hide it. Obviously, the rabbit saw that this wasn't one of those times, otherwise she would have skipped the song immediately.

Nick wasn't about to be a party pooper and turn off the music, of course. He just wanted to skip it, but since that wasn't an option he put his shades back on and endured the song instead. However, the fox couldn't help tapping his foot to the beat. Say what you will, but the song was still catchy. Nick was a bit annoyed that his friend wouldn't skip the song that he said he found offensive, but she was right. He wasn't truly offended, mostly just annoyed.

A smile made its way back to Nick's face upon hearing Judy sing. The song really did make the singer sound dumb and he had to admit that the second verse was a bit flattering. In the end, Judy sounded like she was having fun singing that and the fox supposed that was all that mattered. He still didn't like the song though.

The following day, Judy knocked at Nick's front door. She was there to pick him up before going to work, like she always did, since his place was on the way from her apartment and the station. There was no answer, so she knocked again. Still no answer, Judy let herself in wondering if Nick had overslept again.

When she got inside, she could hear the shower running, so that explained it. The rabbit was about to go flush a toilet to mess with his shower so they could leave when she heard something else coming from the shower.

Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!

Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!

Nick was singing the song he'd claimed he despised. A huge smile broke out on Judy's face and she didn't waste a second to get her carrot pen out and hold it near the bathroom door. She hit the record button.

Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!

WHAT THE FOX SAY?

Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!

WHAT THE FOX SAY?

The water stopped running and Nick was still singing as Judy heard him step out of the shower. She stopped recording and rushed back to the front door and, as quietly as she could, she got out of the apartment.

The bunny waited a few minutes to give he fox friend time to dry off and get dressed, then she knocked at the front door as if nothing had happened.

Nick and Judy were on patrol once again.

"Well I can already tell that today's gonna be just as action packed as yesterday" Nick said after only 10 minutes of looking out for trouble.

"Oh come on, you can't possibly know that" Judy answered "Someone might actually need help today"

"Uh-huh, sure Carrots. If we're lucky, we might get to help someone's kit get out of a tree. In the meantime, let's hear some music" Nick suggested

"What's the matter Nick? You thought being a cop meant everyday would be full of excitement like with the Night Howler case?" Judy asked with a chuckle.

"No, but I was hoping for some excitement. Now how about some music?"

The bunny rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat "Fine, I'll put some music on again, but we really need to pay attention. We slacked off yesterday"

"Whatever you say boss" Nick teased.

The rabbit put on some music, but kept the volume low. The fox didn't waste a second to turn up the volume, which only made Judy turn it back down. Nick turned it up, Judy turned it down, Nick turned it up, Judy turned it down, Nick turned it up, Judy turned it down. Every time he turned up the volume, Judy got increasingly frustrated whereas Nick's expression didn't waver from his usual smile.

"Nick! Stop it!" Judy eventually snapped.

"This isn't bothering you is it Carrots?" He turned up the volume with a smirk.

Suddenly, Judy got an idea. She composed herself and said "Nope! You win Nick. I don't care anymore"

Nick chuckled "Okay then"

A smile appeared on Judy's face when she reached for her iPaws and picked a song.

'What does the Fox say' started playing.

"No, no, no" Nick's smile fell "You already made me endure that song yesterday, change it"

"This isn't bothering you is it Nick?" Judy shot back the same comment Nick had told her.

"Sly bunny" Nick muttered. "Fine, if I turn it down, then will you change it?" He bargained.

"No, I think I'll leave it. You know you love that song" Judy gave Nick a knowing smirk.

"What? I already told you I hated this song" Nick turned down the volume.

Judy pretended to think for a second then said "Nope, I think you like it"

Nick looked confusedly at Judy "What do you mean? Why would you think that I-"

Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!

WHAT THE FOX SAY?

Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!

Nick's face rose in alarm as Judy made him listen to the recording currently on her Carrot pen and it took all of Judy's self-restraint to not burst out laughing. She hit pause and pulled the pen back right when Nick tried to swipe it from her paw.

"Oh you really hate that song, I can tell" Judy laughed. No longer able to contain herself.

"You listened to me shower!?" Nick exclaimed. Judy just kept laughing. "You recorded me in the shower! You creepy bunny!"

"Aren't you missing the point?" The rabbit said between giggles "You like that song!"

"No I don't" The fox stubbornly looked outside.

"Oh come on, you're not really gonna say 'it's my word against yours' are you?" Judy waved around the pen.

"Well you're gonna erase that in 48 hours. Those are the rules right?" Nick reasoned. He turned to Judy, alarmed when she chuckled "Right?"

"Yes, you're right." Judy said, keeping her eyes on the road. Nick sighed in relief. "However..." Nick's face snapped in her direction. "48 hours is plenty of time to show everyone at the station"

"You wouldn't" Nick said, trying to hide his anxiousness.

"Of course I would" Judy answered, perky as ever "But I'll erase it if you admit to me that you like the song"

"Fine" Nick sighed then he said flatly "I-Like-That-Song."

"Nice try Slick-Nick, but I don't buy it"

"Of course you don't. Because it isn't true" Nick smile returned.

"Say that to 'morning shower Nick', because he obviously loves to sing 'What does the fox say'" Judy replayed the recording which made Nick glare slightly in annoyance.

"Ooh, I wonder what it would do to your 'cool' rep if this got out" Judy teased her fox friend.

"You are evil" He stated.

"Come on, I'm not that bad. Tell you what, I won't show everyone. Just... Clawhauser!" The rabbit suggested.

"Then Clawhauser will tell everyone!" Nick stated the obvious.

"Hey, I can't control what he says" Judy defended herself, then she asked, tentatively holding the carrot pen "So what will it be Nick?"

Nick glared at the pen while he weighed his options. He wished he also had something he could use against her, but that wasn't the case. Eventually, he regained his cool and slouched back in his seat.

"Well played Carrots, I can't win" The fox said, so he went with the least worse option "Fine. I admit it, I find the song insulting, but it still has a good beat and it's kinda fun to sing"

"You still think it's offensive?" Judy asked, confused.

"Yeah, call it a guilty pleasure. You happy?" Nick looked over to his partner, hoping that was the end of that.

"Yup, good enough" Judy smiled and put away the pen.

"Carrots, the pen?" The fox asked, noticing that she hadn't erased the recording.

"Now let's sing it!" Judy said, either ignoring or not hearing Nick.

"No, I did what you asked! You can't make me sing it too. Come on, erase that recording." Nick complained.

The bunny looked confused for a second, then her face lit up and she remembered what she'd forgotten. She got the carrot pen out and gave it to Nick to let him know that she wasn't blackmailing him anymore and she really did just want to sing.

"Let's sing, please?"

Nick erased the pen and looked at his partner. Then he rolled his eyes and said "Fine." What was the big deal anyway? He would never admit it, but he kinda wanted to sing it too.

"Yes!" With a grin, Judy restarted 'What does the Fox say' on her device.

Thank you for reading :)

~Roxyjaws