one day there was a canary going by

"Huh?" Alicia hadn't known J. for being the most talktive persone, not that she was any better, but she hadn't heard anything more than gruff yes's or no's depending on the conversation. 

"Hmmhmm. A book. A short one, but a story nonetheless." 

Alicia played with the hem of her beige sweater, unsure whether continuing the conversation would be wise. It wasn't that she didn't like J., or felt their banter uninteresting, it was just that she didn't really get them most the time. Didn't really understand what they said or pick up on what they didn't. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to feed into the gentle buzz of speech, if only for a little while.

"What book was it, if you can recall?"

"Oh I remember this book. This one really grabbed me, like a tong to a bowl of salad, mixing me all up and giving me this sense of sight I hadn't been privy to before. Anyway-"

The sound of glass shattering broke them both. Alicia's long hair whipped as she looked behind them, hearing Miguel quietly curse from the other room. J. chuckled. 

"Hehe. There's this one guy in the book that reminds me of 'im. Miguel. The book was called 'Of Men and Mice' or something like that. Anyways there's this guy that reminds me of him. A sweet guy, but always getting into trouble. His heart in the right place but his head sure isn't."

Alicia found herself intrigued. It wasn't often that J. could be this...this introspective. Or maybe she just hadn't seen it. She hadn't known that J. valued their friendship enough for it to carry into fictional worlds. That sort of duty she thought only applied to a lonely someone like herself.

But who ever said J. had many friends?

"That sounds like a nice book! I may have read something similar...it was called...it may have been named..." Alicia drew a blank, hands digging into her shirt as she tried numbly to remember what she'd been trying to say. That was another stark difference. J. could say whatever they wanted whichever way without feeling anything. At least it seemed that way. Now they frowned, moving their wheelchair so their whole body faced her instead of the doorway.

"You probably did, don't worry about it, uh..." They seemed awkward in the sense of misplaced comfort. "Look not everyone's memory can be as faced as mine okay so just come look at this weird bird I found outside."

Alicia, for once, was grateful to have been cut off. And she situated herslef over there without another word.