[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

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?

[Action]

[vernal_miss]

[Caught, Nel stabilizes on her feet and hugs her brother tight. Easing her grip at the rather broad question, Nel moves back so she can look up at him directly to answer without releasing her hold completely. The complexity and reality of it sobers her smile, but she will gladly share all that she knows with him.]

A Number means a lot of different things. It’s a kind of magic I think. When we use our Numbers, we can talk to everyone else that has one where no one else can see or hear. Which helps us keep it a secret...

[Her lips thin with guilt as her brows furrow, and she apologizes.] I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before, Thom. I wanted to...but I wanted everyone to stay safe.

[dreamtamer]

Thom listens to Nel's explanation with more than a little confusion. "I don't really get it, but that's okay." He grins at her. "If it's magic, maybe I'm not supposed to understand it. And it was a secret, right?"

His gaze strays over to the dog in the corner, and he feels some guilt of his own.

"Actually, there's something I've been keeping secret too."

[vernal_miss]

Heartened by his acceptance of her apology and his understanding, Nel smiles brightly in return and bobs her head in a nod, “Yeah. We don’t know much about it, and we don’t want to scare anyone. The magic is different for each Number. It can do lots of strange things when it makes changes.”

Surely Thom will understand more once they can review what has happened so far. Yet, her brother has a secret of his own, and Nel follows his gaze with a turn to look at where Gizmo sits. She looks curiously back at Thom with a tilt of her head and a warm smile still at her lips, “What is it?”

[dreamtamer]

Gizmo had managed to contain himself for all of five minutes. That comes to an end as he sees both kids looking at him.

Thom! Thom! Can I talk now? Being quiet is boring.

1/2

[vernal_miss]

Her brown eyes blink wide at the new voice saying her brother’s name, and she turns slowly to look at Gizmo. She stares as she watches the last words come out, and processes the situation.

Her brother’s dog is talking...!

2/2

[vernal_miss]

She had heard his voice on the Network while trying to come to grips with Thom having a Number, but had forgotten until hearing it a second time. While a talking dog itself is not entirely novel, it makes a difference knowing Thom has a Number and that Gizmo is also a part of their family.

Nel lets out a squeal of delight, and then immediately covers her mouth with both hands as she laughs. Bouncing in place without her feet leaving the floor, she looks back to Thom with a huge grin, “This is amazing!” Then she looks right back to Gizmo, “Gizmo, when did you start talking?!”

[dreamtamer]

"He started talking this morning," Thom says. "Its actually kind of a relief to know that it might be magic. I was worried, you know? I tried to tell him to hide it, but he keeps forgetting."

"That's because I was hungry. You know I can't remember things when I'm hungry." Gizmo decides to come over and sniff at Nel. Do you like to play? I like to play, but the cats aren't very good at it.

[vernal_miss]

“I’m certain it’s magic. Otherwise I wouldn’t have mine,” she tries to reassure her brother after Gizmo explains why it is so hard to not speak. When the dog walks over, she immediately drops down into kneeling and lifts her hands in invitation for pets, “Yes, I love to play! The cats do too sometimes, but they’re very particular. Dizzy loves chasing the little red dot.” Especially in circles, hence the name.

Although Mum and Grandpa will certainly insist that Gizmo learn to hold his tongue around anyone without a Number, it might be better to address that after Thom knows just how important that restraint might be. So, she figures she should start with the basics, “Thom... Did you feel funny this morning before he spoke? Maybe a little dizzy and empty, then you heard a heartbeat? That’s what we feel when something changes.”

[dreamtamer]

"You have magic? What can you do?" Thom was fascinated by this.

"A little. It was just before he started talking."

[vernal_miss]

Waiting for Gizmo to touch her, she begins to pet the puppy with her hands remaining gentle despite her enthusiasm. Of course if he leans into her those pets will become scritches.

Nel smiles up to her brother as he confirms the symptoms all the Numbered have experienced during changes, "So you definitely have a Number, and it's not only Gizmo!" Then to address his question about her magic she smiles with a little hint of pride tugging at the corner of her smile, "It'd be more fun to show you my best magic," as opposed to spoiling it with a verbal description. However, after a brief pause her smile falters some as she thinks about the other parts of her Number's effects, "But do you remember when I kept falling asleep around Christmas? That was some of it. And my hair has some funny magic too."

[dreamtamer]

Gizmo immediately leans in and butts his head up against her hand in search of more attention.

"I can't wait to see," Thom tells her. "I've never gotten to see real magic before!" He frowns. "I remember. This number thing... It hasn't ever hurt you, right?"

[vernal_miss]

Happy to oblige, Nel scratches behind his ears and works her fingers down into his fur around his neck with more pressure. That attention starts to slow as her brother asks about whether the Numbers have ever caused her pain, then picks back up as she answers honestly, “Not me. ...but I think it can hurt. I think it depends on what changes.”

“Sometimes the magic changes how someone looks, or what they can do, but other times it makes things appear. Like a book!”

[dreamtamer]

"I'm glad," Thom tells her. "I was a little worried. I guess there isn't any way to know what the magic will do to us?"

Even if he'd known about the magic, he would never have guessed it would start with a talking dog.

Meanwhile Gizmo was just pleased to get more attention.

[vernal_miss]

Keeping her hands busy is allowing Nel to sit in one place while they talk, and helping her focus. One hand coming under Gizmo’s chin to work under his jaw then down his chest, she looks more squarely up to her brother, “There is one way. Sometimes the magic gives memories from someone else. The changes we get are related to the memories. Or the person in them. I don’t have any memories that aren’t mine yet so I’m not sure which.”

[dreamtamer]

"From someone else? Is it someone we know?"

This just kept getting more confusing.

[vernal_miss]

Despite not having a memory of her own for experience, she feels confident answering his particular question before offering a touch more, “No, the memories comes from a stranger. It sounds like from someplace else too. Maybe not on Earth.”

Realizing these may be very important answers for Thom, she decides to at least extend other options as to whom he can ask, “There are more people with Numbers in our family too, and they might know. Or you can look at the Network and listen to other conversations. The same place we spoke before I came over? I’ve done that lots of times.”

[dreamtamer]

"We get to see alien's memories? That's so cool!" It was possible Thom had been watching too much scifi recently.

He listens to the rest of the explanation and nods. "That's a good idea. I'll have to remember to check it. I want to learn about everyone who has numbers."

[vernal_miss]

The use of the word ‘alien’ makes Nel giggle and she tries to amend the expectations, “Not aliens exactly, but from another world like ours! ...at least, I don’t think anyone sees alien memories.” She pauses with a look of concentration, then shakes her head lightly when she cannot recall any instances described that would match.

“Then you need to learn about our neighbor Benjiro, Walter, Sadie, uh...Russell, and, of course, Chad! Chad is a dog too.” Her voice softens as she relays a warning, “Some people that had Numbers left the Network. A man named Jim taught me a lot about it but...he’s not around anymore.”

[dreamtamer]

"That's a lot of people with numbers." He sighs. "I feel like its going to take a really long time to catch up with everything going on."

[vernal_miss]

“I don’t think it will,” she starts, patting Gizmo lightly on the head before she stands to look to Thom directly, “There’s still a lot we don’t know about having a Number. Or why all the strange stuff keeps happening, like the poppy flowers growing all over last year.”

“But I can show you my magic now if you want,” she says with a small hint of a smile.

[dreamtamer]

"Of course I'd like to see," he says with a grin. "I've been curious since you mentioned it."

[vernal_miss]

Her smile splits wide at the acceptance of her offer, quite amused by the mention of the delay, “Okay, wait here a minute!” Nel hurries in her steps as she slips out of his room to make her way downstairs and outside momentarily. Gathering a plastic cup worth of dirt, she returns inside and back up to his room. Careful enough to close the door behind her, she puts the cup down on the floor and kneels next to it.

“Pick a color!” Nel asks playfully.