[Text/Audio]

[dreamtamer]

Date: [3/18]
Characters: Thom

---

 [A new number appears on the network, this time drawn out in block letters, and quickly filled in with different patterns using colored pencils. And then a thump, as Thom notices that Gizmo has spotted one of the family cats and hastily drops his sketchpad on the desk.]

Gizmo! What are you doing? 

[The sound of footsteps and a second voice.]

I wanted to play, but it ran away again. I don't think cats are very good at playing.  

Comments

[scarsolderthanyou]

[No. No no no, not another one. What is it with his family??]

Thom, what did you just do.

[Have your grouchy gray grandfather's voice popping up out of your sketchbook, Thom. He doesn't sound angry, exactly. Maybe a little worried, certainly resigned, but not angry.]

[dreamtamer]

Nothing?

[His reply was a reflex. And a little too much of a question to be believable.

It takes Thom a moment longer to realize that his grandfather's voice was coming from his sketchbook.]

Wow, how did you do that? My sketchbook has never done that before!

[scarsolderthanyou]

You wrote down a number, didn't you? One that's been in your head for a while? That did it.

[dreamtamer]

I guess? I thought it was just something from school that got stuck in my head.

[scarsolderthanyou]

No, that happened to a lot of us. Me, one of your mom's, Nel, and Feste. We all have our own numbers. When we write it down or say it out loud to something that can receive it, it opens a network connection kind of thing. Which is how you can hear me now.

[Audio]

[iamnotgod]

[Oh. Oh dear.]

Most cats don't play the same way that dogs do.

Re: [Audio]

[dreamtamer]

Why? How do cats play?

Re: [Audio]

[iamnotgod]

That varies a lot based on breed, but-

Cats like stalking and chasing things, but not necessarily being chased if you're bigger than them. If their tail is raised, they're engaged, but if it's twitching, then they're irritated.

[Wait.]

May I ask who's asking?

Re: [Audio]

[dreamtamer]

Me! I'm asking!

[A long pause as the dog processes that.]

Would the cat chase me if I ran away?

[Audio]

[vernal_miss]

[There comes a soft thunk at the wall shared between their bedrooms as Nel spots the new post on the Network in her own sketchbook and promptly slips from her headstand on her pillow. Her restlessness has her doing some odd things lately, but that’s not important at this moment.]

Thom?! You got a Number???

[She rights herself to her hands and knees on her bed, tone eager as she asks.]

Can I come to your room? Please!

Re: [Audio]

[dreamtamer]

Nel?

[He was still confused over all the familiar voices that kept coming out of his sketchbook.]

Number? Do you mean the one that's been stuck in my head all day? [He shakes his head. ] And of course you can come over if you want.

[But even as he says that he closes the sketchbook and hurries over to explain to Gizmo that he needed to be quiet. ]

[Audio] -> [Action]

[vernal_miss]

Yeah, that one! I’m coming!

[Closing her own sketchbook and shutting her connection, she hops off her bed to rush out of her bedroom shared with the youngest and skids the short distance to Thom’s bedroom. Permission already obtained, she grasps at the doorknob to open it and slip inside. Barely containing herself until she has the door closed, she hops in place a few times with her long hair bouncing along as she squeals in excitement.]

You have a Number, you have a Number!

[Wherever Thom is, Nel skips to him and dives in to hug him as she laughs.] I have one too!

[Action]

[dreamtamer]

[Reflexively, he catches her when she dives at him and hugs her back. ]

I guess so? But what does having a number mean?

[channingchanningchanning]

Cats are stupid. You should not try to play with them.

[He hasn't figured out that there is a dog on the other end, too, but really. These are just basics of life and common sense.]

[dreamtamer]

Calling someone stupid isn't nice. Thom said so.

[channingchanningchanning]

You also shouldn't lie. The mistress always tells her children that.

So you can say that someone is stupid if it's correct.

[dreamtamer]

I don't know. That still sounds mean. Isn't there a nicer way to say that?

[catted]

[Oh for-]

...Thom?

[dreamtamer]

Mom? You have a number too?

[Had everyone in the family been able to talk like this all along? ]

[catted]

....Yes. And now you have one as well.

Just so you know, me, Feste, Nel and grandpa Sam have numbers as well, and Mummy has been told about it. Please don't tell your other siblings?

I'll explain more later, but it is important that you don't tell them, or anyone but Mummy who doesn't have a number.

[dreamtamer]

[Thom sighs.] Yes, Mummy. I promise I won't tell. But why can't they know?

Does that mean I can't tell them about Gizmo either?

[fairfeste]

[WHY THIS.]

.....Hi Thom.

[why do they have to be the responsible older sibling in more ways now???]

[dreamtamer]

Does everyone have a number?

[He was starting to wonder if he'd been the only person in the family who didn't know. ]

[fairfeste]

Not everyone.




Though it seems to kind of focus on our family yeah.

[it's starting to get weird.]

[dreamtamer]

Is there anyone else? I know about Mom and Nel and Grandpa.