[Text | Computer]

[healspec]

[Ravi is attempting to do an internet search on the numbers through his browser, but the combined address/search bar means it logs him in to the network like a URL as soon as he hits enter.]

[He goes still and stares at it for a moment. This is not what he expected.]

[He spends a minute skimming back through posts, trying to get an idea of what this even is. It looks kind of like a reddit? Double-checks the URL, it's still that string of numbers without even an http:// in front. He opens google in a new tab and searches the number directly. The results page shows every result as a link to an individual post on the same network. ]

[Staring again.]

[Back to the first tab. More skimming.]

[Hmm.]

[Well it looks like posting is anonymous, so...]


This can't really be the internet.

There's not enough cat pictures.

Comments

[amberhearted]

Type?

[ fuck, he has to worry about type? well, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. he doesn't want those claws that other self-proclaimed vampire dude has. ]

On all of them. [ whatever types Ravi is thinking of. ]

[healspec]

[giving Alex kind of a suspicious/uncertain look]

[he can't really answer that in a general sense because the types are wildly varied, so...]

Why?

[amberhearted]

[ ravi he has fangs and he is asking about vampires why do you think

he avoids eye contact. ]

I think I might be turning into one?

[healspec]

[excuse me that's impossible?]

Ah...?

[slightly turns his head away, eyeing Alex]

[not buying it, yo]

Because of the fangs...?

[amberhearted]

I turned into a bat. In one of the memories.

[ lord help him if ravi laughs ]

[healspec]

[no laugh, but there is an eyebrow-arch]

[he can't really put any stock in the veracity of these fake memories. try again when he's got a few more incidences of his own. for now that means 'it happened in a fake memory' is about as compelling as evidence as 'i dreamed it']

So you think that means it actually happened?

[he is trying not to sound too outright 'you're crazy' but it is at the very least clear that he's not on board]

[amberhearted]

It felt like it happened.

[ like those trippy ass dreams that feel so real you're not really sure what happened and what didn't -- except he's so sure it actually happened and it's only his mind saying 'hold up, son, i KNOW this didn't happen' that confuses him.

MIXED SIGNALS. ]

Nevermind. I guess you'll... see eventually...

[ ok, now he's realized the full implication of ravi being a part of the network.

abloo. ]

[visionarykitten]

[And with the best timing of cats, there comes scratch at the back porch door and a meow that Gomez has learned to pitch in just such a way as to be heard through most of the apartment.

He's back, and he wants in!]

[healspec]

[silence.]

[and staring.]

[he is still handling all this on a pretty surface level, because otherwise he would not be able to cope, like, at all. So he is just quietly disbelieving the depths of this rabbit hole and feeling like Alex is crazy or delusional for buying into it all, while ignoring his own niggling sense that it's all actually well and truly legit.]

[The meow and scratch makes him jump (payback??). He looks at the door. Then at Alex, accusatory] What was he doing outside?

[ugh never mind. Without waiting for an answer, he gets up to let the kitten inside.]

[amberhearted]

[ he makes to get up, but ravi beats him, so he settles back on the edge of the couch, leaning forward as he watches ravi let gomez in. ]

Hey, Gogo. Vin's one of us now.

[ and then he glances at ravi. ] I let him out 'cause he wants to. Feels wrong to keep him inside when he can talk...

[visionarykitten]

[Okay, that's not what Gomez expected. He stops when Alex starts going on about talking, looking quickly from one human type person to the other. He licks his nose a couple times nervously, sitting down just inside the door.

All he says, for now, is:]

Um.

[He's a little shy around people he knows, okay?]

[healspec]

[That is kind of an odd noise, but it's not too far removed from standard cat vocalizations. Ravi gives him a strange look, but he certainly is not jumping to the conclusion that Gomez can talk yet.]

Ah, don't listen to him, Gogo. [it's that gentle tone he uses when talking to the cats. he scoops Gomez into his arms and slides the balcony door shut] It's nothing you need to worry about, baby.

[amberhearted]

[ addressing gomez again ]

He's so bad, you know? Doesn't believe it's you on the network at all. What kind of guy doesn't recognize his own roommate?

[ he is teasing ravi. ]

[visionarykitten]

[Oh. Oh, he's serious? Gomez flicks his tail in something that's almost a lash, turning his ears back and looking reproachfully at Alex for putting him in this position.

Then he speaks.]

He's kind of right.

[healspec]

[ :T Alex ]

[but that look lasts only a split second before Gomez talks and HOLY SHIT WHAT]

[Ravi lets out a startled exclamation and promptly drops the cat like he is on fire]

[and then he just. stares. frozen in wary disbelief, like he's waiting for Gomez to do it again. just to confirm that yes, he really did hear that.]

[amberhearted]

[ sorry, gomez, he doesn't realize the discomfort he's caused you exactly, though he does notice the tail flick and flattened ears for the signs of annoyance that they are. ]

Who-?

[ but ravi's exclamation cuts him off and draws a chuckle out of him. he holds his hands out for gomez to come. ]

So rude, Vin.

[visionarykitten]

[The adage is that cats always land on their feet. That's only if they're expecting the fall or have long enough to twist around. Gomez only manages to twist halfway around before he hits, and he scampers several feet away, puffed up and unhappy-looking, to furiously start licking the fur on his back down.]

You didn't have to drop me!

[He says it between licks, in fits and starts, so that it takes about twice as long to say.]

[healspec]

[Hindi: ] S-sorry. [reflex, tbh. so is the language shift, he heard it in Hindi so he responds in it]


[pause]



[turns to Alex, throwing an arm out toward Gomez] The cat speaks Hindi?!

[talking is one thing, but come the fuck on!!]

[amberhearted]

[ oops, a few more snickers at gomez's indignation. at the demand, alex gives ravi his attention again, brows rising in amused curiosity. ]

Does he? Sounded like English to me.

[visionarykitten]

It, um. Seems to. Sound like whatever. Language is yours.

[Still coming out in fits and starts, here, as he grooms. Composure-grooming is a thing, okay?]

I talked to a ferret once.

[healspec]

[he folds his arms and stares warily at the cat]

[okay, so not hindi, he's just hearing it as hindi and alex is hearing it as english? a cat speaking some kind of universal language is a little easier to wrap his head around than a(n American) cat randomly speaking Hindi.]

Ah--is that so...? [uncertain, like is he actually making idle conversation with a kitten, what has his life become]

[pause as a very uncomfortable thought sinks in]

How long have you known how to speak?

[oh god, the cat has been able to understand all the stupid shit he says around the cats. he only says it because he knows they don't understand! THIS IS THE WORST]

[amberhearted]

[ a ferret, huh? maybe it was Stella. with the way someone seemed to know someone else in this group, he wouldn't be surprised if it had been her Gomez had spoke to.

he pats the space beside him, beckoning Ravi to resume sitting. Gomez hadn't come when he'd beckoned previously, so h figures he'll come around when he's ready. ]

[visionarykitten]

[Good Alex. You know your cats well enough to know that much, anyway.]

Since, uh. Since that first time I got out.

[He finally finishes with his grooming, mostly anyway, and gives himself a quick shake before settling again into a little cat-loaf and watching the two men a little nervously.]

It doesn't have to change anything... does it?

[healspec]

[Ravi complies, walking over to reclaim his seat beside Alex. it's sort of on autopilot.]

[he leans forward, arms resting on his legs, hands clasped between his knees, and watches gomez. that long? oh. oh wow. all this time...]

[his brow furrows at the question]

[yyyyeeees. yes, it does need to change things, because you cannot be as open and unselfconscious around somebody who will actually remember it. and it seems wrong to treat Gomez the same way he did before if he has a human-level intellect. Like treating a teenager like a toddler.]

[he glances at Alex, then back to Gomez.]

Ah... I think so, yes.

[pause, slight frown of his own]

Well, what would you like it to change?

[amberhearted]

[ haha, poor ravi. alex places a hand on his shoulder blade.

it's meant to be comforting. even if alex personally doesn't think gomez understanding is reason to be troubled, anxious, or uncomfortable, he knows ravi operates on an entirely different wavelength than himself. ]