Don't pet them, grab them! [Mingle]

[ourearth]

Date: 25th of July
Characters: Open!

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I.

In the afternoon on the 25th, a network message alerts the Numbered to the fact that the petting zoo in Moss Manor's Menagerie is facing a major break-out: Someone has torn down the fences, and all the bunnies, sheep, and all the other animals typically found in petting zoos have decided to book it. They are now swarming the manor's grounds.

Due to the staff being nowhere near enough to catch them all, and due to the generally low threat level of the animals that escaped, visitors are asked to help catch them instead of being sent away.

And anyone who just happens to show up and help will be happily welcomed and included in the fort, without any question of who told them that help is needed.


II.

Afterwards, Lady Margaret Camilla Brassant invites everyone onto her patio and offers refreshments - tea, water, little sandwiches, cake and scones with clotted cream and jam. She retires quickly herself, but not before giving a brief speech thanking everyone who helped save the gardens from hungry mouths.

Comments

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie retrieves the feather from his back, popping it on his knee with a grin, glad that he had managed to come out from the Llama experience unharmed. "Shower is definitely a good shout, especially with llama spit. Mouths are filthy, that spit's probably teaming with germs."

She taps her nails against the cup of tea, causing it to clink. "For the first instance, it was like what I saw settled over the top of what was around me until I could only see the field and the sheep and the memory. The longer we looked for the peacocks the more cropped up, but not as images, as a voice." She frowns, " It was like that bloody Clippy Paper Clip but in my head and talking about the best way to stalk an animal...and kill it."

"He felt...safe, like I knew him really well." The part of her that had been living what she had seen certainly hadn't felt afraid of the deep voice and close proximity of the man. Although..."He had a tail." That bit gets blurted out, Sadie clearly at least mildly perturbed by that.

[warped_replica]

Feather plucked from his shoulder, he watches her hand move to his knee only to drop the feather into view. He huffs a single laugh at the feather, but decides to keep the story of the chicken in the tree to tell Sadie later on. It doesn’t take long before a light breeze pulls it off his knee to carry away from the patio. As for the shower, he’ll simply nod in agreement. He is trying not to think too hard about it.

Benjiro listens attentively as Sadie speaks, watching her expression as he hears the tapping on that cup. From what she describes, it sounds intrusive but not entirely obstructive to her current awareness after the first view of a field. The mention of Clippit elicits a subtle cringe in the teenager – which quickly makes more sense with the purpose of the instruction being something far from anything he would associate with Sadie. She cares for animals far too much to hunt them.

Still, this person teaching her was trusted. Someone that might impart such lessons would likely be close in terms of friendship or blood relation, so the mention of a tail is met with the raise of a single eyebrow. Sitting up straight on the bench, but not away from Sadie, he looks perplexed only until he remembers the reason for her sunglasses, “A tail…oh.” He had accepted their purpose and presence so readily, it took that extra moment for him to put it together, “And you’re worried that might be related to what’s already happened...?”

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie will definitely savour every hilarious moment of the chicken story when he eventually decides to tell her. In the meantime, she will continue to absentmindedly tap her nails against the cup.

"The first part of it was how to follow something, walking silently and hiding...I think I'm going to try and learn." She takes a sip and looks at Ben with a small smile on her face. "I don't know what to think about these visions but it seems like a handy skill to have. I could tick moving like a ninja off of the bucket list." She quips.

Ben manages to hit the nail pretty squarely on the head. "Pretty much," She admits, "It's all related to whatever's going on and I got the cat eyes first, and now I see a vision with a man with a tail that was like someone had dyed a lion pink...I figure that that might be what happens to me next..."

[warped_replica]

That continued tapping speaks as much as her words, and he reaches behind her to rest his hand against her near shoulder with fingers curling over the top. When he made his promise to her, it was with full awareness they would face more weirdness together.

He smiles at that himself, “It does sound useful, and you might as well take advantage of whatever you can learn from it.” A beat, then he adds, “Moving like a ninja could really help when we go into the tunnels at the cliff.”

Although he had hesitated to say so bluntly, he nods when she voices the concern. Already his mind is going to work to plan for the potential, “So if you do suddenly get a tail, we’ll manage it. That man may have been a baseline, so you can be more prepared knowing what could be in the future. But we don’t know how or when things will keep changing. So, deep breath, and for now, just relax your shoulders.”

[dragoonrouge]

The clinking stops as she smiles at Ben, "That's what I figured, there's a lot of benefits from being able to hide and not be seen. And, I suppose, illicit caving exercises in the name of science."

The hand on her shoulder and Ben asking her to relax made her realise that she wasn't quite as cool with the idea of growing a tail as she had been trying to convince herself. With a sigh, she deflates slightly and leans a bit more on Ben.

"I guess, I suppose at least I know what a future change may be...I just want to know why. Why the hell am I apparently turning into a cat?!"

[warped_replica]

All the changes related to the numbers are isolating and may threaten more than their ability to cope with these experiences. Acceptance of the positive aspect of the changes is all he can think to do to soften the impact of the negative….at least until he can learn more about it all.

As Sadie leans in closer, he opens his finger to slide his hand across to take up the same hold on her far shoulder and let his forearm rest against her back. He frowns as she questions the reason behind the numbers and the changes that escalated with the aurora. It’s a question among many he has pondered over with no progress. Shaking his head softly, he reluctantly admits, “…I don’t know, Sadie.” Then, with more confidence in his tone, he goes on, “But we will figure this out. Walter and I have been tracking all the data we can.”

There may be more they can look at as new things arise, including finding other numbered.

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie blushes as she feels Ben's arm come around her and manages a smile despite her frustration. "I'm sure you two are doing a really good job, and if we pool what we know we can figure it out." ...Hopefully...

An errant thought drifts through Sadie's head and she groans, bringing her hands up to rub at her cheeks. But she has to say it because this was the ridiculousness they were involved in now and it would probably make Ben laugh.

"I'm turning into an anime cat girl."

[warped_replica]

Enough data might reveal correlations, trends, or even boundaries of this whole mess. Walter had already collaborated to explore the physical range of the network connections, but limits on changes remain unknown with current changes accounted for already beyond human physiology. The sight of her smile eases his worry and he smiles as he encourages her, “Right. You can certainly help us figure things out faster.” Sadie is brilliant, and he’d appreciate her input if she wants to contribute to their efforts. That…and considering he feels better doing something with no promise of results as opposed to merely waiting, so might she.

The groan is met with a tilt of his head in question, and when she shares the thought, he snerks only to let it slip to chuckling. Mindful of the teacup in his other hand, he replies, “…you’ll be very popular in Japan. Probably get instant idol status.”

Then in an effort to give her a laugh, he adds in a near whisper, “…nyan.”

[dragoonrouge]

"Right," She starts tapping at the cup again although this time it isn't an action borne from anxiousness and more from absent thoughtfulness. "I'm the only one so far with a noticeable physical change, aren't I? At least that we know of..." There could be a silent listener who had changed physically after all.

"As yes, once I go full Catgirl, I shall elope to Japan and garner myself thousands of devoted fans who shall worship me like the Ancient Egyptians did Bastet." She continues the joke because honestly joking about it in such a way made the whole thing feel a little less real for the moment.

Sadie was not prepared for the whispered 'Nyan' to drift its way into her ear, and it pulls from her an ugly snorting noise before she hunches over, shoulders shaking as she bursts into a fit of laughter.

[warped_replica]

"As far as a visible manifestation goes, yes," he confirms. Walter himself may have undergone a physical change that allows him to react at seemingly impossible speeds, but there is no obvious sign of it looking at him at rest. Even in motion, one must pay attention to really catch it.

He snickers as he nods in agreement at her rather natural carry of the joke to relate it to the historical period and place in which cats were thought to be worshiped. It is a fair comparison after all. Then, after getting her laughing with the Japanese onomatopoeic sound, he'll hum a few bars of Nyan Cat's theme song before losing it himself into a bout of laughter.

[dragoonrouge]

"I wonder if anyone else will change like that. Everyone seems so different so far so I don't think the same thing is happening to all of us, so how might the rest of you change?" There is a small thread of worry there, not for herself but for Ben, Walter, Professor Petty, and the others who had spoken over the Network.

Sadie can't help but laugh more as Ben also succumbs to laughter, leaning back against his arm as she cackles and sniggers away.

[warped_replica]

Given that Benjiro doesn’t have even an inkling regarding his own changes where two should have already presented, he has to agree that those with numbers are not demonstrating even analagous manifestations. As such, her question is a stumble back into the unsettling unknown. Still, this conversation has provided a glimmer, “Maybe we’ll only have to wait until we see something the way you did.”

Her laughter is infectious, and as she leans to his arm once more, he tries to steady both her and himself holding her with a little more strength - but that just makes it easier to feel her shoulders shaking. So although he calms momentarily, he chortles out a few more laughs before he manages to take a needed deep breath.

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie continues to giggle and snicker as Ben tries to get a hold of himself. Emboldened by the light atmosphere they had created with their joking, Sadie watches Ben and, when he isn't looking dart out a hand to nab one of the sandwich fingers that Ben had picked up and jammed the entire thing into her mouth.

Her cheeks inflated like a hamster, she plasters an innocent look on her face for when Ben looks at her.

[warped_replica]

The subtle shift of the plate sitting on his legs is felt even as he fails to witness the snatching of the tea time treat. A glance spared to make sure the plate is not on the way to sliding off his lap, he does a double take as he spots the gap where a sandwich had been. Looking to Sadie in surprise, the cause is all too clear. He raises a brow as he smirks, and challenges the theft quite directly as he sets his cup of tea off beside himself on the bench, “Really? You haven’t even touched your plate.”

Reaching across, he’ll make a swipe for one of her scones. There’s only so much effort put to the attempt, and should she stop his hand, he’ll simply lean in with his weight, other arm still behind her.

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie puts up a token effort to defend her plate, playfully batting at his hand but ultimately lets Ben appropriate one of her scones. She balanced her plate across both of their legs.

"If you're going to steal my scone, you better treat it properly." She gestures to the clotted cream and the strawberry jam on her plate.

[warped_replica]

The batting merely stalls his hand’s approach, playing along with the show of defense. Once he does claim the scone, he sees that shift of her plate to a closer position. Her instruction is heeded, though he does look between the scone and the choice dressings a couple times before he carefully dips one end of the scone into the clotted cream, and the other into the strawberry jam. Benjiro has no clue if that’s a socially acceptable treatment of the dessert, but putting it into his mouth, he decides it is quite delectable regardless.

A drink of tea is taken after enjoying it, “Second round of food, I’ll definitely be getting some more of those if there are any left.”

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie just watches wide-eyed as Ben just...dips the scone into the clotted cream and jam and on seeing how pleased he is with the combination bursts out laughing.

"You're...supposed to cut it in half and use a knife!" She wheezes, "But yeah I'll definitely grab some more food." She unwraps a small, square cupcake and pops it in her mouth. "We have to take advantage of the free food as much as possible."

[warped_replica]

Noticing her reaction to his shortcut after the scone is in his mouth, his cheeks pinken. Oops. He was never properly trained on tea time society etiquette, nor does he have a knife of his own on hand for such preparation. “Sorry, I’ll grab one if I get anymore,” he offers, though getting her to laugh so hard does make it difficult to actually regret dipping the scone.

A nod of concurrence given, he picks up the remaining sandwich on his plate to bite in half after replying, “It would be impolite not to. Leftovers would likely be tossed.” Then after he finishes off the finger sandwich, a new thought occurs to him, “You know, if you go to Japan, they use chopsticks as the primary utensil.”

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie's still giggling. "No, no. Who cares! Just eat it how you want. Start a scone anarchy movement, Devon and Cornwall won't know what hit them!"

Sadie shakes her head, "All that food waste...we need to be good Gen Z kids and stop them from wasting all that food."

"Ben I am attrocious with chopsticks.Like, you would disown me as your friend levels of bad."

[warped_replica]

Considering it means less time preparing the scone for consumption, he just might. Especially if he can do so with only Sadie as witness to the deviant act.

With everyone having served themselves by this time, it would be an interesting exercise to see how much a single small plate can hold. “And what we can’t eat here and now, could be taken in a napkin perhaps.”

He snerks at the exaggeration of her ability with chopsticks, “As long as you don’t end up with one up your nose, I don’t think I’ll disown you over it. I can always get you a kid-friendly pair of chopsticks for practice.”

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie grins, "If I'd known there was going to a reward spread, and such a delicious one at that, I would have bought at least half of the many, many Tupperware boxes that Dad hoards in the kitchen. Then we could have...recycled the entire buffet!"

She shakes her head, "Honestly I think that would be for the best because you say that like its a wild, out-there scenario but when I say I'm bad at chopsticks, I really mean it."

[warped_replica]

"Tupperware would have been much better," he concedes. "If we really wanted to though, there are quite a few napkins still at the table and I do have my backpack." He isn't seriously interested in taking the food for himself with plentiful food resources always available thanks to his great aunts. It's just fun to plan.

Not quite believing that, he chuckles and picks up the Welsh cake from his plate, "I'll ask my sister to pick up a pair and send them over. Training chopsticks have a small connector at the top to guide the chopsticks while you develop the coordination, and you can get all sorts of characters as the connector. Hey Kitten to Disney, or off label cats and bears. Should I request a cat or something else?"

[dragoonrouge]

"Oh!" She blushes slightly, "That would be great as long as it's not too much trouble. A cat would be perfect."

Anything else Sadie was hoping to say is interrupted by the vibration of her phone going off in her bag. "One sec." Digging around she pulls it out and reads the text before sighing. "Mum wants me home. I should probably head to the bus stop."

[warped_replica]

“They’re small enough to send in an envelope, and Emiko will appreciate an excuse to go by her favorite shop after school,” he assures.

The conversation is disrupted by the alert from her phone, and Benjiro eats his last treat as she reads the text. When she relays that she has to leave, his shoulders sink as he takes his arm from around behind her. He glances back towards then patio, then frowns slightly, “I’d go with you, but I need to catch my cousin to talk to him. There’s something I want to ask.”

“Be safe going home though, okay?”

[dragoonrouge]

"Well I guess...it would be cruel to not enable Emiko. Thanks, Ben."

She stands up and slings her bag across her back. "Alright. You have a safe trip home too and I'll text you when I get in."

She gives Ben a final wave and starts heading to the bus stop, halting only to place her plate on the steadily growing pile of discarded plates on one of the buffet tables.