"There's something about you Agent Dicker, something different."

Mary's long fingers pause in her typing, but she does not look up at Agent Howard. She's absolutely worn out on this Friday evening and just wants to finish her report so she can go home. She brushes her hair out of her face and then resumes her work.

"How so, Agent Howard?" she asks duly.

"I don't know. Just different."

Agent Howard has never been one for smooth talk and it's something that humours Mary to no end. He's worked with her on a few cases before this and she's noticed that he seems to like her outside of a professional sense.

"How old are you, Agent Dicker?" he asks next.

This makes her look up. "What a rude question to ask a girl," she teases and a blush crosses his cheeks

She'll be twenty-eight at the end of the week, but she won't tell—it's not like he really needed to know.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you. I just wanted to know if you were older or younger than me."

"I think I'm younger, but not by much."

Finally he blurted out, "Have you had dinner yet?"

"No."

The blush remains on his cheeks. "I know this great sushi place. Want to go?"

"I'd love to."

The chopsticks seem awkward in his hands and Mary tries to keep back a grin. She really enjoys the sushi and sashimi, extra spicy with wasabi, and the rice is steamed perfectly.

"Agent Howard, just use your hands," she says and he looks very relieved, picking up the food with his fingers.

"This stuff is really good."

She smiles, nods, and leaves it at that.

Dinner concludes not long after, filled with polite talk of cases and relief that the new set of vending machines will be placed on their work floor. Agent Howard insists on paying the ticket and she makes the mental note to owe him dinner the next time they have to work late. As they leave the restaurant, Agent Howard clears his throat nervously.

"Do want to get a cab?" he asks, hopeful.

"I live close by," she answers, shaking her head.

He gives a boyish smile. "So do I. May I walk you to your place?"

'No point in walking alone,' she decides and nods. "Thank you. That would be nice."

They walk silently down the empty streets; the fall season has started early and crisp rust-coloured leaves have fallen on the ground. Thankfully it's not too cold and her business suit is comfortable enough to wear on this trek through the city. The blazer and slacks are both charcoal pinstripe, classic and flattering. She tucks her hands into her pockets so that Agent Howard doesn't try to hold them—no point in giving him false hope.

Her place is two blocks away and around the corner, a nice residential street that is made of brick buildings. She sees someone standing at the footsteps of her apartment and she lights up for the first time that evening.

"Kitty!" she cries happily, letting the soubriquet slip, and runs over to the large monster.

He catches her in warm arms, exclaiming, "Boo! I was beginning to worry!"

Delighted that he's come to visit her, she completely forgets about Agent Howard until he catches up to her. A little embarrassed at how childish she's acting, she straightens her blazer and turns to Kitty.

"Oh! Sorry, this is Agent Henderson Howard. He works with me at the Agency." She turns to her coworker. "Agent Howard, this is James Sullivan, Director of—"

Agent Howard's seven eyes blink rapidly and he sticks his webbed hand out as he interrupts her. "—of Monsters, Inc.! Yes, yes, I know of him! Oh, Mr. Sullivan I'm a huge fan of your work! When I was a boy I wanted to be just like you!"

Kitty laughs pleasantly and Mary feels a divine happiness. She loves hearing Kitty laugh and his smile makes her feel so warm. She pulls her house keys out of her pocket and lets them jingle. The Kitty has saved her from being asked out to dinner again or owing her coworker a kiss goodnight or an offer for coffee in her flat.

She clears her throat. "Well, I'll see you at work on Monday. Goodnight, Agent Howard."

He still looks a little star struck. "Goodnight, Agent Dicker. Mr. Sullivan."

As the reptilian monster leaves, Kitty grins at her. "I didn't realise you were going out for the night."

Her cheeks get red. "It was a last minute arrangement. I wasn't expecting it either."

They enter the apartment, the cool evening air following them. Her apartment still smells like rhubarb, which she had tried cooking last week with disastrous results. Kitty looks like he wants to speak, but she needs to become Mary again, the human one, not the monster.

"Hold on, I have to remove my dentures and contacts, and clean off this makeup," she says as she hangs up her blazer on the coat tree.

"Okay," he says, plopping down on her couch.

She hurries to her bedroom and then through the small bathroom door.

"So what did you do today?" she yells out as she drops her sharp pointed maroon-coloured teeth into a glass of water on the counter behind the sink. The dentures sink to the bottom, clinking quietly.

"Nothing much. Just talked to new recruits. There are some really funny ones that I'd like to see again."

She's brushing her teeth quickly, trying to rid herself of the tacky substance on her gums.

"Sounds great!" she replies, white froth spraying onto the mirror.

"I know! After the lull in the past few years, I was beginning to get worried."

Kitty continues talking as she rinses her toothbrush and wipes off the mirror. She finds her contact case in the medicine cabinet above the toilet and pauses as she looks at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Her long lashes rising and falling over irises golden and pupils into horizontal slits, so very different that what she truly looks like. She slips both contacts out and lets them sink into their bath of saline solution in the contact case and then closes the top.

Pulling a fresh washcloth out of the basket on the bathroom counter, she finds her tube of facial cleanser and lathers it on. It foams and rinses away the greens, yellows and blues that cover her skin in splotches, hiding the majority of her real skin colour. She uses the washcloth to scrub away the colour patterned on her arms, hands and neck leading down to her breast bone. She looks normal again, just lightly bronzed skin, brown eyes, brown hair, and normal white human teeth. She hurries out to her bedroom doorway to get something to drink in the kitchen.

A bottle of Monster Malt is chilled perfectly in the fridge and she offers one to The Kitty, but he turns it down. Kitty looks amused. "So is that Henderson Howard interested in you?"

She nods as she takes a sip. "I think so. He's been flirting with me for a while now and today he finally got the guts to ask me out to dinner."

"Does he seem—" he starts, but she cuts him off.

"No, he doesn't seem like someone who could handle my secret."

To say this makes her bitter is an understatement; she wants nothing more than to find a friend, someone other than Kitty and Mike to share her secret with. The possibility of her finding someone who will love her despite her not being a monster is incredibly slim, almost impossible. It was a consequence she should have expected when she entered the portal between her old world and this one. She's been here ten years, ten years of playing monsters and people and she knows she never get over the homesickness. She's paid a very large price to keep Kitty.

Her eyes water slightly and she knows that she shouldn't cry in front of her guest or he'll get upset and she'd hate that…

"I'm going to get out of these clothes," she says, her voice breaking slightly.

He looks like he knows what she's thinking, as though he wants to comfort her, but settles with, "All right. I'm not going anywhere."

She glances at the clock. "Should you be heading home? It's getting late."

He smiles. "Betty is away, visiting her niece."

"The one in Kappa Heights?"

"Yeah, Beth."

Mary smiles. "Oh, that's nice! She's been talking about doing that forever."

"I know." Kitty then looks concerned. "Oh, did you want me to leave?"

She shakes her head. "No! I hardly get to see you with work and all. Stay as long as you'd like."

She returns to her bedroom and shuts the door, taking a few deep breaths to compose herself.

Who would want her? Perhaps she should get that reconstructive surgery Mike had told her about, from the doctors willing to help her look more like them. Maybe she could get scales or claws or gills, something that would help her fit in. But now is not the time to worry about it; she has company, her favourite person in the whole world in fact.

Mary puts on a large Monsterville University t-shirt and old grey gym shorts. She pulls her hair back into a ponytail and walks back out into the living room. Kitty is sitting on her couch, looking at the newspapers on her coffee table.

Kitty's fur is beginning to grey, the blue-heathering and the purple spots fading to lavender. His horns aren't sharp anymore, the tips worn to smooth nubs. She crawls into his lap, curling herself up tightly as she lets his soft furry chest pillow her head. His large hands hold her close, rocking her slightly from side to side.

"Tell me a story, Kitty," she murmurs as she closes her eyes.

"Of course, Boo." His voice is low and warm, lulling her into a trance. "Once upon a time there were two friends, named Mike and Sulley and they worked for Monsters, Inc..."