Joey brought his notepad up to hide behind upon slowly realizing he'd veered out of the realm of normal conversation and sharing of a mutual interest right into 'rambling weirdo who knows too much about a niche subject' territory. That was probably why he had trouble making friends. All the years of performances had taken their toll on his soul. He’d never broken the habit of showing off his skills to try to impress adults (more adulty-adults?) and, though it was a step above telling Malcolm about all of his artistic talents, it was only a short step.
It was nice of the man to be so patient about hearing all of his thoughts, though, so he smiled apologetically when he lowered the paper pad.
Thankfully, taking the other half of the box prevented any additional stupid things from escaping him since he needed his hands to be able to communicate. He took his side of it then looked from the stairs to the elevator to see what the decision was for their best option. One took much longer but the other might have ghost clowns in it.