Somewhat Special Event: The Extras Talk Back!

[Ookalf]

*Sassafras stares wide-eyed at the photo.* Wow, that... that's really freaky. You even got my sister there... *She looks back at Teasy.* Are those really your cousins?

[AmbushCat]

Sure are, and directly so by way of my dad's brother.

*Teasy looks contemplative for a few moments, though it's hard to tell with his sunglasses shielding his eyes.*

Huh... wonder if your Gingersnap and ours are anything alike. I mean, it would be an awfully big coincidence if the one here was a doom magnet, too.

[Ookalf]

Uh, yeah, actually, she kinda is... *Sassafras is starting to look concerned.* This is weird, right?

[AmbushCat]

Yeah, like saying cats find mice edible. *puts his phone away*

Reason I brought up your Abby co-worker is this. My bro Chico is a pianist, and he's done a few gigs at the Mungojerrie over the years, yeah? One of those gigs had Abby offer him a glass of water in-between songs. So he takes a sip, takes another look at Abby, and spits it into her face because he suddenly thought our Pops had followed him to Muffinville.

[Ookalf]

Really? She looked like someone too? It's starting to sound like there are just doubles all over the place here...

[AmbushCat]

Name's the exact same too, though for probably a different reason. *smirks* See, our Pops... from what my grandma told me once, when he was born the nurses couldn't figure out if he was male or female. He had a voice like an air raid siren on helium, so they eventually figured he was female and our grandparents named him Abigail. Eee-yeah... imagine their surprise when his voice unexpectedly deepened a year later. *laughs* Can you say 'whoopsie'?

((OOC: Here's the inspiration for both Teasy's father and the maid. This is an old photo that was taken back in the mid-to-late 1980s a few years before I started grade school.))

[Ookalf]

Heh, seriously? That's a heck of a mistake to make...

(Cute cat! Was this "gender confusion" bit based on true story too?)

[AmbushCat]

((OOC: Sure was. From what my parents told me, they couldn't figure out whether he was a boy or girl when they got him, so they named him Abigail. Sure enough... >^_^< ))

Yeah. *snorts back laughter, shaking his head* It was too late to do anything about it, so they just started calling him 'Abby' for short and decided his middle initial was short for 'Dubious'. He always gets a kick out of telling that story to people. The local doctors even use it as an example of what happens if you can't tell one from the other.

[Ookalf]

(Funny how the world works sometimes...)

Funny, we call our Abby "Dubious" too... You think that's, like, some kind of fate, or something?

[AmbushCat]

Nah, I've never put much stock in fate. To me it's just an awfully huge coincidence. To make things even more murky... well, that goes into an awfully huge topic. From what I hear, Ambush's kids like to visit the Manor from time to time, right? Have any of them ever brought up the topic of just how bizarre Kittenoan genetics can be?

[Ookalf]

Um, I dunno. Yeah, they're around a lot, but genetics isn't really a topic that comes up super often...

[AmbushCat]

I'll give ya a quick rundown then. A small percentage of Kittenoans have genetic mutations that give them some sort of superpower. Sort of like the X-Men but with a lot less angst, and the exact powers aren't always passed on to any kids. Superspeed's the most common, but with some you get almost no practical application whatsoever.

My dad, well... *laughs* His ability is to switch his own gender from male to female and back again, and do the same to anyone he's in physical contact with. Cue the mass confusion, which your Abby has undoubtedly caused as well via a similar problem.

[Ookalf]

Pfft, seriously? Is that, like, a common power there? Or was he just really lucky?

[AmbushCat]

I won't go so far as to say it's normal. I mean, when we first heard about humans wanting to be something other than what they were literally born to be, most of us were befuddled. As for me I'm used to it, in part because of my pal Ambush and in part because my Dad was the one who gave birth to my big sister Alice, but it's definitely not a common thing.

*A park-goer heading for one of the other guests passes behind Sassafras as Teasy says this. She does a double-take when she hears the line about his father, then hurries off, one eye twitching. This can easily go unnoticed.*

((OOC: This part of Teasy's family background was loosely inspired by a short story I typed as a 2nd-grader. Even as a kid, my mind went to some pretty weird places. ))

[Ookalf]

(Kids are weird...)

...Huh. That's... unique. Should I even ask about that one?