I started doing some Rule 63 (gender swapped) sketches of Nichole and Julius to play around with some somewhat silly/erotic images without despoiling our best beloved Nick and Judy the way all too much Rule 34 (erotic version) content was doing on the interwebs. But, as I invested more into Nick and Judy to do the various fan fictions, it spilled over to these two as well. Not to say there won't be naughty bits later, but for now, have fun with this.

About the time Julius Hopps was doing his little Zootopia presentation back in Bunny Burrow, the teen Nichole Wilde was working the hard streets of that less than sterling city.

There was Finn, in position, and Nichole slid past, doing a perfect dip, a pass off to Finn, and then they were off.

A block later and no sign of discovery, they checked out their catch. Finn rifled though the wallet, tossing cards aside, looking for any tucked-in bills beyond the obvious main bill pocket. Enough marks kept an extra twenty or better stuffed away as emergency money to make the effort worth it. No luck there, but seventy-three in cash was not bad.

Nichole made a face and picked up the other scattered content and demanded the wallet back. Finn made his own sour face, "Really? You're actually going to turn it in?"

"Dropping it in a mail box is not exactly 'turning it in', and we're only after the bucks. Loosing all those cards and stuff can really mess with their life."

"Since when did you care?"

Nichole gave the little Fennec a hard look. It was uncaring moments that helped put her on the street, and she was having second thoughts about her own previous actions. "Needlessly hurting others is a mistake."

"You only now get that?" He snarked. She had been full of bitter rage early on and could get needlessly destructive or violent. But that didn't last; he would have dumped her in a hot second if she proved to be a psycho-chick.

As it was shaping up, though he might have age and experience over her, she had the creative brains. This pickpocket had been just a quickie for some working cash for a scam she wanted to try. And the beauty of it was that it was on the cusp of legal, or at least something tough to prosecute.

That was another change. She was pushing eighteen, and while she hadn't been caught yet in any of her more overtly criminal acts, she seemed to be very aware of how hard an adult felony conviction might hit. And anything that would keep him out of jail again would be more than welcome as well.

"So, what now?"

Nichole considered, "There's nothing more we can do tonight for The Plan, but we could hang out down on the Ave."

That sounded fine, many of the other street kids and their tales of woe were a source of schadenfreude for the cynical little fox. So much of their situations were so obviously self-inflicted. That's why he'd helped his Vixen; she had been screwed with and screwed over for no fault of her own. Simply being a fox was enough for the world to dump on her.

True, he had some thoughts early on about tapping that red treat, but she all too quickly became something more like a kid sister and he her big brother. No bigger turn off than that. But they were partners in adversity together for now.

He looked her over, still a bit skinny, but she'd be a real looker if she got into something other than her somewhat retro punk look. Pink, slightly ragged tights, massively oversize Def Bat t-shirt, in black, of course, purple tips on her ears and tail, heavy mascara. The multiple piercings kind of squicked him though, AN ear rings was one thing, a whole hardware store hanging off various body parts was very much something else.

Of course he was the epitome of classic cool, white T, poly-leather biker jacket, blue jeans, welder-goggle dark aviators. Perfect. Now, if he were only two or three times his current size. How he hated being dismissed, the double whammy of small and fox.

The walked down the Ave., the retail district adjacent to Zootopia University. There, students and student age mammals hung out; with plenty of things both up-scale and downscale to do. Finn and Nichole knew some of the regulars, homeless street kids who eked out a living, mostly panhandling or doing somewhat sketchy things to get by. A few they even considered friends. On the other hand, there were the wannabes; comfortably upper class types who wanted to go slumming for a little action.

Nichole took most of their ill-gotten cash to hold, but let Finn have ten, to play the wannabes in several little scams and such. There were all kinds of classic street action, and the suckers were easy to find and take. The locals knew Finn and played along, he'd buy them a beer or spot them some cigs later for their help. After a bit he had doubled their total, but was generous with his tips, at some point he might need a little help and they might provide if they could.

Nichole was learning, but for now refrained from doing too much. She found that being a vixen brought about unwanted attention of a rather more sorted type, as 'of course' someone like her was peddling something more. There were a few things that she might try, using her gender to distract, but for now, she really didn't want nor felt she needed to stoop so low.

True, The Plan depended on her being a bit of a distraction, but not at such a crude level.

As they were feeling a bit flush for cash, the two indulged in some awful greasy pizza. Then, heading back to their crash space, Finn picked up a six-pack. The little fox could get moody, and would knock himself out by chugging them all down.

"You don't need them tonight do you?" She didn't like him doing that to himself. She didn't know what his problem was, only that, whatever it was; his reaction was to slap it down fast and hard with way too much alcohol.

"Just stocking up for the future, Ruby-Butt."

Later, while Julius is in High School

"I can't believe she did this to me!" Nichole pointed to her laptop. Finn shrugged and trotted over to see what the ruckus was. He refrained from laughing, but instead gave an impressive whistle. There she was in her altogether, a sequence of nude photos.

For Finn, it was too much. All rather artsy rather than the kind he preferred, but he just had to make a scene of it. "Dang, Hot Stuff, you got it going. But ya ought to show some pink, ya know."

"FINN!" Nichole was shocked, but only for a second as she saw how he was just ribbing her. Then she grumped, "Why did I ever trust her?"

"Yeah, as I was sayin', ya know, back when you got into that with her." Finn had smelled trouble from the first. Nichole and that Arctic Fox had gotten rather friendly, and his natural suspicions about her and her intentions appeared to have been justified.

Nichole went though the sequence of images again. They were pretty good, classic art school type poses, technically well done. And she did look good in them. Her lean form and well-groomed coat were clearly being loved by the camera that day. And she was glad she hadn't agreed to any, more girly, poses. Nothing too 'pink' as Finn had put it, but shots that would have been a bit much for her if made public.

"But why did she put them on line?"

"Pro'ly 'cause she couldn't sell them." Finn pointed out. "Artsy snaps are a tricky market, or so I'm told, especially for this kind of subject." He gestured to her, a fox. "And they aren't showing enough for the skin rags. And, again, 'cause its just a fox bitch."

Nichole didn't mind the words; it was just his bitterness in how the world viewed their kind.

"So, what's the plan for the day?" Finn conceded to Nichole. He was the boss, obviously, but grudgingly had to admit that, though never out loud, that she was very much the brains.

Nichole gave him a look. For once, Finn was simply asking, rather than playing at alpha male. He could be such a dick at times. She had to get her own living space when he got his new van, as she couldn't stand to stay so close to him 24/7. That, and while the van was tricked out to function as a studio apartment for the tiny desert fox, it was just too small for the two of them.

"Well, we're pretty flush at the moment, so how about simply scoping out new territories?" Nichole now routinely held the money, as Finn could get a little stupid sometimes. Though the pair were now well-practiced con artists, Finn was still a sucker for get-rich-quick schemes that had a veneer of legitimacy, as though advertised on TV meant something.

They sauntered across Savanna Central plaza, as it was the bustling heart of the city, and with the influx of rubes coming out of the train terminal, could be a great potential for action. Or might have been, as Nichole noticed the security cameras and conspicuous police presence all around. They'd been working less populous locals before, in no small part due to less surveillance.

"So much for that. We wouldn't have a chance with all the coverage here." She pointed out the issues, though Finn wasn't paying all that much attention.

"What you lookin' at?!" He snapped at a passing antelope of some sort, and grabbed Nichole's paw possessively. He'd been paying way too much attention to all the looks they had been getting from passersby. Though Nichole was wearing a perfectly conventional outfit, well, the Pawhiian print blouse as a bit gaudy, the skirt and tights under were the very model of modesty, she was still getting the stink eye from many. Especially in combination with Finn and his crisp polo shirt and slacks. Obviously a Fox whore and her Fox pimp to all too many there. "Let's get out of here."

Nichole looked down to the distressed Fennec, While she had been able to work up a facade of 'never let them see that they get to you', Finn was still more volatile, and she could tell he was as much hurt as angry at the negative attention. "Come on. This was a mistake. Let's go down to the garden district and get you a cold one."

As they changed course to leave, they both noticed the ZPD officer angling for an intercept.

"Finn, be cool."

The officer was an Elk, who eyed the pair with obvious suspicion. "Going anywhere in particular?"

"Just enjoying the vistas of our wondrous city, Officer." Nichole said brightly.

"Uhuh. IDs?" The Officer was under impressed.

Nichole and Finn pulled out their identity cards; Finn barely contained a growl as he handed his over.

"Careful, cubby."

The Fennec hunched his shoulders, his face twisted in suppressed rage. Noticing the clenched fists and poofed tail, the Officer took a step back and put a hoof to his baton. "Officer needs back up." He called into his radio.

Nichole put her hand to her face. If it wasn't so awful, it would be comical. Finn was less than knee high to the towering Elk. Yes, he was angry, but he hadn't actually done anything. All three saw another Officer in the distance approaching, and in that instant, the Elk had his baton out and pushed more than hit Finn to the ground with it. "You're under arrest."

"For what?" Nichole raged, though was careful not to move.

"What ever you two were up to." He spoke to her but kept his eye on Finn, sprawled on the ground, pinned under the massive baton.

She couldn't believe it - no - yes she could. They had been jacked up before, but never so blatantly. It would likely turn into several hours of hassle and some trumped up fine, never any criminal changes. Basically a shake down for being foxes in public.

The second officer came up, a huge Bull of some sort. "What is it?"

"A couple of suspicious characters." Said in an 'isn't it obvious' fashion.

"Let me see." And the Bull scrutinized the pair's IDs. "Are these current?"

"Finn's address is out of date, he's staying with me for now." Nichole knew they could, if they wanted to get petty, arrest and/or fine Finn for living in his van. Even having an out of date address could get him into trouble, but she had allowed him to use her address before in similar situations.

The Bull looked at the Vixen and the Dog and the Elk, and pushed the baton aside. "Sorry for the inconvenience. The ZPD has been getting reports of petty crimes in the area, and some of our officers can get a bit - over zealous..." He offered a hoof to help Finn, who only gave him a suspicious glare back.

"Here is my card. If you feel you have an issue with the ZPD over this incident," And the Bull and Elk exchanged a look of venom, "I can be contacted at this number."

Later, as Finn lay in a stupor, smelling of what ever cheap and vile booze he had used to get that way, Nichole stroked his head and ears, more to ease her own tension, as he was gone for the moment. It was times like that when she understood his pain all too well. That kind of humiliating abuse was his common currency. That Officer's intervention was a surprise though. And what a silly name.

Then on Julius's first day on the job.

"So, why the new location?" Finn fussed over the change in plan.

"The last shop was catching on. I tried to do a solo buy the other day and they tossed me out." Nichole was looking smart, the perfect image of an urban professional's wife, if she would just choose a less garish top, her and her gwad-awful Pawhiian blouses. Finn was stuck in his similarly gwad-awful elephant onesie, the baby game was horrible, but it paid well enough.

The pair were more business acquaintances than partners nowadays, but still kept in close touch, after, what, nearly two octades (there are a couple hints in the movie that they use base-eight) together. Nichole was ever better at 'victimless' hustles and Finn was content to just be the hired meat for the various acts.

The new shop wasn't panning out though; the Elephant behind the counter had an attitude about Foxes, even a cute little guy attempting a little toot toot. Then a ZPD meter maid, well, meter male, popped up.

"I'm an officer, actually, Julius Hopps, ZPD..."

Will there be more? Likely, but not soon.