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You absentmindedly hummed as you fished the first clean shirt you can find out of the, admittedly worrying, growing pile of clothes in the corner of the room. You grimaced at the sight of it, knowing the two of you had to clean it one of these days, but you just averted your gaze to ignore it again, pushing the chore to the back of your mind.
You heard Joseph shuffle around the room, getting closer to you, but one glance told you that the man was preoccupied with himself, and you almost laughed as he muttered to himself about the whereabouts of his hat. You opted to stay silent, knowing he would find it hanging off the corner of the chair a few steps away from him. Eventually, at least.
You shrugged the loose shirt onto your shoulders, beginning to button it from the bottom as you stared down at the floor, and you hummed along with the sweet song playing on the gramophone. It was a simple, slow song, a man singing over a guitar, and it sounded sad when you actually stopped and paid attention to the words, but you couldn’t help but sway a bit anyway as you hummed along.
The shuffling and muttering in front of you stopped, and you stopped too. You glanced up, bringing your head up when you were met with Joseph’s soft gaze on you. The man smiled sweetly down at you, his eyes scrunched up a bit, leaning back against the wall when your eyes met.
“Ah didn’t know you could sing.”
The comment was simple, and the tone was light and curious, not even nearing angry, but your face heated up in shame all the same. You bit your tongue and averted your gaze as you started buttoning your shirt again, fearing a mean jab from Joseph, but the man just took a few steps toward you and stopped your hand. You huffed as the other man chuckled at you, and you felt his beak nudge at your neck as his feathered hands began undoing all your hard work, gently brushing your hand away and slowly unbuttoning your shirt.
“Ah’m not judgin’. It’s cute.” Joseph nipped at your neck, catching fur between his beak and tugging it ever so slightly. The man just cooed when your breath hitched, his hushed words against your fur, “...Wouldn’t mind hearin’ more of it later.”
“You… are askin’ for a different kind’a singing there, Joseph.” You heard yourself shakily sigh out as you rested your hand on Joseph’s waist, rubbing your thumb along the fabric of his shirt to distract yourself. Joseph just chuckled, gripping your hips as he whispered into your ear.
“Aw, but y’could manage both if ah asked nicely enough, ah bet.” Joseph grinned deviously when he pulled away a bit to look at you, and his only response to your pointed look was tugging your bodies even closer by your hips. The man nudged at your neck again, and you just huffed and rolled your eyes, easily tilting your head back to give the man full access. Joseph took full advantage of it, slowly tugging at your fur and preening your neck, and his efforts only doubled when you sighed and practically melted against him. You thought you heard Joseph coo at you again, but if he did it was muffled by his beak in your fur.
Joseph slowly pulled away from your neck, seemingly satisfied with his work with the proud nod you got, and he glided his hands up your body, leaving your hips. One rested on your waist as the other grabbed your only hand, and he positioned himself so that the both of you were almost in a waltzing position. He then began to slowly sway, pulling you with him as gently as he could, and you huffed out a laugh when the man began to hum along to the same song you were. At the other man’s curious glance, you shook your head slightly, “Y’bring up this shock of me singin’, but yer just as good.” You then tilted your head forward, grinning with Joseph when he, in turn, pressed your foreheads together. Feathers pressed against fur.
“What? Yer so strong and silent,” He exaggerated his words, suddenly pulling you away from him and twirling you, and a snort left you when he pulled you two back together, “Ah get to be a little surprised at yer hidden talents.”
“You’re ridiculous.” You giggled with him like you were a child, your cheeks hurting a bit from how wide you were smiling at him. You briefly squeezed his hand, and you felt yourself melting a bit when he squeezed back. Joseph, the sweet man he was, let you melt, pulling you closer so you were leaning against him, your head resting on his chest. Your fingers intertwined, and your eyes closed as Joseph rested his cheek against your temple.
You two stayed there, humming along to the rest of the simple, slow, sad song. The song eventually ended, the record on it ending, but Joseph still hummed, so you did too. You probably would have felt embarrassed if you were with anybody else, but Joseph just had this way of making you surer about yourself. Joseph’s hum in his chest drumming against your ear combined with the steady motion of your swaying made your eyes heavy, though you reasoned with yourself that you were just resting. Joseph didn’t seem to notice, though he slowly guided your hand to rest on his shoulder before he wrapped both arms around your waist, pulling you impossibly closer.
You felt yourself smile against his chest, before a sudden and loud knock knock knock at the door ripped you from the peaceful moment. Your heart jumped, so did your body, and you heard yourself yelp before you felt the sound leave your throat. Joseph jumped a bit, too, and he immediately curled around you, pulling you closer into him.
“Ya fellas ready? Been in there a while!” Matthew asked through the door, and you can hear the teasing smile on his lips, even through the door. The older man’s casual tone made your face heat up, embarrassment surrounding your extreme reaction pulling at you.
You then realized the question as you felt your throat close up, and all you could do was pull away from Joseph’s protective hold a bit so you could stare up at him with wide eyes. His were just as wide, but he opened his mouth and he stuttered out an answer, turning his head to the door to shout while he still held you tight. “Uh, j–just a second! We’re almost ready!”
His voice was shaky, and you bit the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from laughing when he winced, presumably at himself. At least he seemed as stressed and embarrassed as you felt, his feathers puffed up and his beak scrunched up. It did make you feel a little better when you imagined his heart beating as fast as yours, his fear the same as yours.
Your eyes quickly shifted to the door when you only heard a muffle chuckle from Matthew, and you expected him to say something, but you just heard footsteps walking away from the door, fading away and stopping when he got far away enough. After a second of tense silence, you turned your head to look back at Joseph, and he seemed to have the same idea. Your eyes met, and it only took a second for the two of you to break into nervous giggles, falling into each other. You gripped his shoulder as you laughed, the fabric of his shirt bunching under your fingers, and his hands drifted down to your hips.
Your two’s laughter died down, and you pulled yourself off as the remaining giggles escaped from you, “We should actually get ready, now.” Joseph just hummed in response as he loosened his grip on your hips, so you began to step away to get the rest of your clothes, but his feathery hand just pulled you back as soon as you turned around.
He chuckled at your huff as he turned you around, cooing again, “Aw, hush, ya big baby. Just…” He trailed off, leaning in and preening at your muzzle. Kissing you, you corrected yourself. This was him kissing you, in his weird, avian, non-lip-touching way. The mental correction made your heart flutter, feeling your lips curl up at his sweet attention. After a second, he pulled away from your face and turned you back around, “There, now y’can get ready! So ungrateful, rushing my love for ya...”
You just snorted in response, stepping away from him, and you began buttoning your shirt up again. You heard him mutter under his breath, but you paid him no mind, nor did you acknowledge your tail wagging.
You couldn’t get distracted, now. You couldn’t make them wait any longer than they already had.