I looked at my companions, and with a smile held a finger up to
my lips in the universal (among humanoids with lips, at least)
sign for silence. As Charlie and Sirius watched, grinning like
maniacs, I slipped up behind the twins as stealthily as I could
manage. (Which, if I do say so myself, is pretty damned
stealthy.)
"Do you want to keep at it, boys?" I asked them suddenly. "Or
can I just go ahead and open it now?"
When both boys jerked in surprise, Sirius and Charlie cracked up.
Gotta love people who appreciate sophisticated humor.
The twins -- I hadn't been clued in yet on which was Fred and
which was George -- looked at me for a moment as though they
couldn't believe someone had gotten the drop on them. Then they
exchanged glances before, in reasonable synchrony, stepping back
to bow and wave me on to the crate. "By all means, Professor,"
one said.
"Don't let us stand in your way," the other followed on the heels
of the first.
"Although we enjoy the challenge," the first continued.
"We'd rather see what was inside," the second concluded.
"Thank you," I said as I stepped between them, wary of some gag
or prank thanks to the extensive stories Charlie had told me
about them. "Twinspeak, eh? Nice trick," I added offhandedly
as I ran my hands along the lid of the crate. "You do that a
lot?"
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Thing One shrug. "Not as much
as some people believe." I turned around to look at them.
"It's harder than you might think," Thing Two added.
"But if we get in the right rhythm," Thing One offered.
"We can make anything *sound* like it." This time I saw the
other one shrug. "It's mainly about picking up on each other's
cues. As long as we say *something* that makes sense in the
context..."
And then he pointed at his brother, who grinned, and then made a
show of pretending to think hard. After a moment he smiled and
held up a finger as though just coming up with an idea. "...Then
it sounds like we're reading each other's minds and finishing
each other's sentences!" The two of them then grinned, laughed,
and shook hands, congratulating each other -- for what, I don't
know, but it was amusing to watch.
I looked at Charlie and Sirius, over on the other end of the
porch, and crossed my arms across my chest to indicate each twin
with a forefinger. "I *like* them, they're silly."
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
my lips in the universal (among humanoids with lips, at least)
sign for silence. As Charlie and Sirius watched, grinning like
maniacs, I slipped up behind the twins as stealthily as I could
manage. (Which, if I do say so myself, is pretty damned
stealthy.)
"Do you want to keep at it, boys?" I asked them suddenly. "Or
can I just go ahead and open it now?"
When both boys jerked in surprise, Sirius and Charlie cracked up.
Gotta love people who appreciate sophisticated humor.
The twins -- I hadn't been clued in yet on which was Fred and
which was George -- looked at me for a moment as though they
couldn't believe someone had gotten the drop on them. Then they
exchanged glances before, in reasonable synchrony, stepping back
to bow and wave me on to the crate. "By all means, Professor,"
one said.
"Don't let us stand in your way," the other followed on the heels
of the first.
"Although we enjoy the challenge," the first continued.
"We'd rather see what was inside," the second concluded.
"Thank you," I said as I stepped between them, wary of some gag
or prank thanks to the extensive stories Charlie had told me
about them. "Twinspeak, eh? Nice trick," I added offhandedly
as I ran my hands along the lid of the crate. "You do that a
lot?"
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Thing One shrug. "Not as much
as some people believe." I turned around to look at them.
"It's harder than you might think," Thing Two added.
"But if we get in the right rhythm," Thing One offered.
"We can make anything *sound* like it." This time I saw the
other one shrug. "It's mainly about picking up on each other's
cues. As long as we say *something* that makes sense in the
context..."
And then he pointed at his brother, who grinned, and then made a
show of pretending to think hard. After a moment he smiled and
held up a finger as though just coming up with an idea. "...Then
it sounds like we're reading each other's minds and finishing
each other's sentences!" The two of them then grinned, laughed,
and shook hands, congratulating each other -- for what, I don't
know, but it was amusing to watch.
I looked at Charlie and Sirius, over on the other end of the
porch, and crossed my arms across my chest to indicate each twin
with a forefinger. "I *like* them, they're silly."
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.