But now you're hard not to notice, right here in my town

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WHO: Joey and Mary
WHERE: Mary and Kitty's Apartment
WHEN: Friday Afternoon, June 4th
WARNINGS: derp and awkwardness
SUMMARY: Joey tries to convince Mary that he's not a creepy deviant.
FORMAT: Paratastic!



Joey shifted the bundle of flowers and the envelope in his hands, still eyeing up the daffodils and hyacinth as i uncertain about them. Maybe adding the flowers was laying it on too thick? But the letter alone seemed so plain and maybe she would just ignore it by itself?

He'd been standing outside the door to Mary and Kitty's apartment for ten minutes now mulling this over, after spending an hour on the note and another hour grumbling to himself in the flower shop, all of which was nothing compared to the mortified face-down-in-pillow brooding time he'd taken to himself for most of Thursday night and all of Friday morning.

Since the 'incident' at the club on Thursday he'd been up to his neck in embarassment and awkward explainations. First to Raven, then to Donna and Kory and then oh GOD there had been Mary and their completely awkward exchange; him on stage half-covered in green paint and her rather tipsy and clearly completely gobsmacked at seeing him there.

Her confusion and instinctive distaste had been all over her face and all he could think of was that he had torn all his clothes off and dropped himself in front of this sweet and proper lady like a complete idiot. He couldn't imagine what she must think of him now, how her understanding of the job he'd taken on had probably completely recoloured her idea of him and of their time together...

Joey had NEEDED to write something to try to explain himself. Handing it to her though, that was another matter entirely. He wasn't sure he could FACE her right now without wanting to be swallowed up by the earth. Raven and Donna and Kory he had long friendships with. They had been - were - his teammates and he had a solid repoir with them. They knew him well enough to shrug off the job as just a job.

Mary was still new to him, Mary didn't know him well enough to just brush this discovery off. And his gut twisted up at the thought of their friendship slipping through his grasp over this kind of misunderstanding.

Maybe if he just...


Setting the flowers and the envelope with the letter down on the welcome mat he rang the buzzer outside the apartment, then dashed off down the hall, hiding around the corner by the bank of elevators. He wouldn't leave totally, he wanted to make sure she actually GOT the letter and not Kitty or something, but peeking around the corner was about all he could handle.

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He nods, finger spelling 'perfect' and reaching across to hold her hand again.

Me too. Thank you for coming.

He lets a silence fall between then for a few seconds then, looking between her and the nice warm day outside.

Like to go for a walk?

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

Mary turned her hand so their fingers interlaced, the way they were earlier. There was just something nice about the way it felt. "Sure! You about done?"

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Joey finished off the last sip of his coffee, then nodded, squeezing her fingers a bit and tucking his phone and the note-pad and pencil into his pocket.

It was too nice a day to spend it entirely inside...

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

It was too nice to spend inside. She followed him out of the cafe with a smile on her face. "Anywhere in particular you want to go?" she asked, swinging their linked hands a bit. "I mean, I know we can't dawdle too much longer, but it's such a nice afternoon, and I don't quite want to go back yet."

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Joey smiled, squeezing her fingertips and looking around as they made their way at a lingering pace along the sidewalk. Honestly he had plenty to be doing, finish up Raven and Rimmer's portrait among them, but...

He pointed to a pet store where a gaggle of soft yellow-white retriever puppies were yapping happily in the window display and pawing the glass.

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

"Ooooh, puppies! Come on, Joey, let's go look! I bet the pet store owner will let us pet them and they're just darling!" She tugged on his hand and lead him inside. The sales assistant was more than happy to hand Mary one of the puppies to play with. Oh, it was such a pity that there was no way she could take care of another animal at the apartment, because the puppies were just adorable. "Look, I think this one likes me!" she laughed as the pup she was holding tried to enthusiastically lick her face.

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Joey reached across to ruffle the puppy's ears, grinning as it wriggled up and lapped at Mary's cheek and ear, tail going a mile a minute and eager snufflings following each regripping off it's big fluffy paws on Mary's shoulders.

So cute he signed, though not entirely talking about the dog.

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

She giggled and giggled. "Hahahahahaha, he tickles! Oooh, you're the sweetest thing in the world, aren't you? You're just the cutest thing ever and I love you to pieces, yes I do! Yes I do! Oh, you're going to make someone very happy, I can tell! You'll find the best home ever, I know you will!" Her voice was sing-songy and higher pitched than usual. "Do I have lunch on my face, puppy? Is that why you're giving me kisses? Is that it?"

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Joey stood back for a moment and just... watched her laugh, taking in the whole picture of her by the window with an armful of fluffy puppy and that huge sweet smile. Finally when her breath got a little short from giggling he reached over and gently gathered the puppy out of her arms, lifting the little fluffball to rest on his shoulder instead.

The pup went still for a minute, sniffing Joey's shirt, seeming to take a moment to warm up to him. Her tail still wagged but slower, cautiously. Joey gave her a reassuring pet on the head, stroking her drooping ears and soft ruffle of fur at her neck. In response, she tilted her head, then gave him one almost plaintive lick on the nose.


...Joey bit the inside of his cheek, resisting the base urge to cart the pup home (which would have been much to the chagrin of Lady and the cats, surely.)

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

Mary took the moment to catch her breath and to wipe some of the puppy slobber off her cheeks and ears. The puppy didn't take to Joey the way it had to her, but there was something terribly endearing about watching the two slowly bond. Oh, dear, there went that stomach flip-floppy feeling again, the one that made Mary feel warm down to the tips of her toes. "I think he likes you," she said, resting a hand on his arm and moving closer to scratch the puppy's chin. "But you know... today's one of the worst days to think about adopting a pet. Raven would kill you if he managed to tear her wedding dress."

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Joey nodded sheepishly, smiling at the pup's tail went all waggly and she (he?) leaned over to lick Mary's cheek again, craning out of Joey's arms for a second before just leaning back into his chest with a contented 'wuff' noise.

He held up one hand to the puppy, though really for Mary's benefit, and spelt out later?.

The puppy licked his nose again.

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

"Later is good." The sales assistant, sensing that no sale would be made today, came back and took the puppy from them, depositing it back into the pen in the window. Mary looped her arm through Joey's without a thought. "Want to see the rest of the animals in the store?"

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Although giving the dog now frolicking with it's littermates a longing look Joey popped back to his attention being in Mary when her arm looped through his. He nodded, letting her tow him deeper into the store.

At the back where the cages of small animals were kept, Joey eased to a halt, peering into the cage where a bunch of baby rats were curled up sleeping. He tugged on Mary's arm and pointed to them with a boyish smile.

Cute, very smart.

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

She wrinkled her nose. "If you say so. I'm... I don't like rats that much. Their tails bother me!" Still, she'd take rats over bugs any day of the week.

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Pulling out his phone Joey types up a quick message to her.

I always wanted one as a kid. And a dog. And a cat. And a snake. And a hampster... etc ad nauseum.

He had moved around so often that pets were among his most coveted and least possible desires.

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you didn't have any pets as a child? I didn't really, either. Maybe that's why I like having B.F. so much now!" She leaned in at a different cage and peered at the lizards warming themselves under heat lamps. Weird... but kind of neat, really.

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Joey shook his head, spelling out moved lots as he wandered along to a larger cage enclosure, open on the top with a sign inviting customers to pet and hold the animals inside.

A smile creeping across his face he reached down and scooped up a brown and white bundle of fur, then moved back over to Mary and held the bunny up to her cheek. Promptly it craned it's neck out and began trying to munch on her hair.

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

"Hahaha, no, Mr. Bunny, my hair is not good for eating!" Gently she picked it up to cuddle it and rub its ears. "Ooooh, so soft! Okay then, if you could have absolutely any pet in the world, what would it be?"

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Joey has to sit back and think about that for a second, rubbing his chin ponderously before replying.

Dog. Parrot. Maybe both.

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

"A parrot? Why a parrot?" she queried, puling strands of hair away from the rabbit's mouth. Insistent little thing. Maybe it liked her shampoo?

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Joey smirked.

They talk.

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

Oh.

"So do you," she replied. "Just not with your mouth."

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And there went his heart from solid to mushy in two seconds flat.

The loss of his voice was something he had lived with for so long now that it was hard to remember what it had been like to communicate verbally. 99% of the time he was comfortable with his infirmity, if he could even call it that after a lifetime of thriving despite it.

But he remembered what it had been like when he was just a child and no one knew sign and his writing was slow and halting from him only just learning to spell. He remembered crying for hours when his mother had leaned over his hosptial bed, picked him up in her lap like she hadn't done since he was three, and told him he wouldn't be able to talk or sing anymore.

He had built an elaborate fantasy then as a child around this magical idea he'd dreamed about, where he had a parrot that could read his mind and speak for him. He had named his wishful thinking parrot Charlie and gone on and on to his mother about wanting one despite knowing they would never be able to get one.

Though he'd grown out of being angry about the loss of his voice, moments like this when he remembered being a kid it still panged him. And hearing Mary say something like that... well it was refreshing in a way. A tap on the shoulder to pull him out of frustrating memories and back into the present.

It was also just really sweet, which was why he laid a hand on her shoulder gently, then leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

[littleprovolone.livejournal.com]

Well, she knew she had said the right thing, at least. And her stomach was full of butterflies, her mouth couldn't seem to stop smiling, her cheeks were red and it dawned on her that, oh, I have a crush on Joey.

Clearly, she needed to talk to Kitty about this. And maybe Alison. And Raven, but Raven was currently swamped with the wedding things. Maybe afterward, she didn't know.

A moment of panic seeped in because, gosh, she'd never really had a crush like this before, not even with Freddy, and she honestly wasn't sure what on earth to do next after a moment like this.

So she masked her anxiety with a sunny smile (and she was good at masking these sorts of things) and put the bunny back down. "So let's go see if they have birds!"

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He blinked a little at that - it had never occurred to him until then that the pet store might actually HAVE birds - but happily let her tow him even deeper into the building until they heard twittering noises and rounded a corner to a small minefield of cages.

His hand in hers again Joey squeezed Mary's fingers a little as they wandered cage to cage, finally stopping abruptly in front of one larger cage which led to Mary getting tugged to a stop by accident.

On the other side of the bars was a big, beautiful, african grey parrot, rustling it's wings and watching them with curious eyes.