"Helping with what?"
"Everything."
Papa Paws (I decided) looks around at the team, who are now scattered throughout the space like oversized children at a petting zoo.
"Well," he says, super fucking slowly. "Alright then."
I already like him.
Captain Washington is taking photos, documenting everything. "We need a full assessment of what needs repair or replacement."
"The roof is the priority," Papa Paws says. "Leaks like a sieve when it rains. We've got buckets everywhere."
"We'll handle it," Ace says, and I definitely don't stare at his profile when he says it.
Just kidding. Obviously I fucking stare because he's so fucking hot I want to cry. I need to somehow find out if he swings my way, and if he does—
Focus, Devon. Animals. We're here for animals.
"Kiss kiss!"
The voice comes from somewhere around the corner, high-pitched, oddly screechy.
Everyone freezes.
"Kiss kiss!"
We all turn toward the sound like we're in a horror movie and the call is coming from inside the house. Then, waddlingaround the corner with the confidence of someone who owns the place, comes… a parrot?
An actual fucking parrot.
It's large, brilliantly colored—blue and yellow and green—and it's walking. Not flying. Walking. Like it's too important to bother with flight.
The parrot stops in the middle of the hallway, cocks its head, and screams, "Kiss kiss!"
"Oh, there you are," Mama Paws says fondly. "That's Hendrix. He's mine. Well, technically he lives here, but he's not up for adoption."
"Why not?" Wall asks.
"Because I'd have to be dead first," she says cheerfully. "And even then, I'd haunt whoever tried to take him."
Hendrix waddles closer, eyeing each person like he's the one conducting an inspection.
He stops in front of Becker.
"Kiss kiss!"
Becker looks delighted. "You want a kiss, little buddy?"
"I wouldn't, he’s—" Mama Paws starts.
Too late. Becker leans down.
Hendrix lunges forward and pecks him directly on the nose.
"Ouch! What the hell, Hendrix?"
"—territorial," Mama Paws finishes.
