He'd never admit it to anyone, but Wocky was actually a little grateful to his father. Yeah, it was a disappointing that the Kitakis were quitting the mob life, but his dad gave it up for Wocky's life. He still spent most of his days complaining about the lack of weapons (they had a few around for safety purposes, but for safety purposes only), but he taught himself to get used to it. He didn't want to be known for being dependent on a gun for safety, anyway. Yeah, fists were way more tuff.
Either way, Wocky Kitaki was back and ready to represent! ...Himself. He couldn't exactly be bad anymore, but he could still look bad. And it's not like he had any problem with looking bad. Heck, it was how he got around.
But the only place to really "get around" was to go through People Park. Bo-ring. Like taking a lovely afternoon stroll through some park was gonna make him look any tougher. Er, badder. ...Even so, it ended up being his usual... er, hangout.
"Oh! Hey, Wocky!" Huh? Well, that was dang weird. Usually nobody tried to talk to him-- "Did you get the heart surgery? Are you alright?"
"Hey, yo! What's that about--" Since when did anyone know about the surgery?! "...Oh, hey. You that kid that helped that dude get me off the hook?"
"If you're talking about Polly, yup, that's me!"
Wocky took a few moments to stare at Trucy. At first, it looked like he was using his best effort to concentrate, then his facial expression kinda just went blank. Eventually, it kicked in. "Yo, Shorty! How ya been?"
Which made Trucy giggle.
"...Wait, G! That ain't funny! Wocky Kitaki ain't funny!"
"Hee! Sorry, Wocky. ...I kinda think you're a little funny. In a good way!"
"...Oh... Ya think?"
"Yeah, totally!"
"Y'know, you ain't too bad, Shorty." With that, some invisible force brought him to give her a small noogie. This kind of affection, from him, was as rare as sticking his head in a lion's mouth. ...Then again...
Wocky immediately stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Well, catch ya later, Shorty."
Before he could make it across the park, he found Trucy tugging on his arm.
"...Er, yeah?"
"Can I have your phone number? So we can like, talk and stuff?"
He shrugged. "Ya got a pen?"
A few hours later, Phoenix was concerned to see a stranger's phone number written in neon ink across his daughter's arm.