The Thin Man sat before a thousand different monitors, all showing a thousand different things.
Or at least, Mono thought there were a thousand.
There were many screens, more than he could count, and a thousand was the biggest number he knew so he just assumed that there were a thousand screens.
All the screens were different, different sizes, different colors, they showed different locations, made different sounds… Some of the screens showed eerily familiar things…
One showed a view of the bay, shrouded in thick fog, but Mono knew what lay on the other side of those waters, he could still see the old door they had sailed on perched on the beach…
Another screen showed the hospital, now even more dilapidated without the Doctor to tend to the facility.
Out of the corner of his eye, Mono saw the prison, oh, the 'school' he corrected, still lit, looming and unwelcoming as he recalled. The Teacher no doubt still wallowing away within those accursed walls.
But Mono wasn't all that interested in the screens.
Besides the thousand screens, the only other thing in the room was a proportionately tall chair, for the unproportionately tall man seated in it.
Watching…
The Thin Man's back was to Mono, but Mono had no doubt that the Thin Man knew he was there, the Thin Man was the watcher, the operator, the enforcer and the remediate for the Broadcast, the Signal Tower, and by proxy, the Pale City.
The Broadcast buzzed beneath the Thin Man's skin, just as it did Mono's, but Mono was still young, too young. Too young to even begin to fill the vast void of the Thin Man's shoes, let alone comprehend the Thin Man's responsibilities.
The Broadcast fed the Thin Man information about the Pale City and the Viewers and everything in between. In return, the Thin Man would act on the Broadcasts' behalf.
There were times when the Thin Man would be away for what seemed like ever to Mono, roaming the streets of the Pale City, stabilizing the Broadcast, neutralizing threats, whatever the Signal Tower deemed necessary, the Thin Man did.
Sometimes the Signal Tower even sent the Thin Man after Mono, but not in the way it did before the Fall.
Mono belonged to the Broadcast, and by proxy, the Signal Tower, just like the Thin Man.
But Mono was still young, still a child, still in need of guidance and enrichment and everything else a child would need. The Broadcast and by proxy, the Signal Tower, did their best to provide Mono with everything he could ever need, and everything he could ever want…
The Signal Tower provided him with what he needed, shelter, food, clothing, and things he wanted, entertainment, fun, whatever else his young mind could think of, the Signal Tower provided.
The Broadcast on the other hand taught him, things he needed or wanted to know were shown to him through the televisions, lessons were pressed into Mono's ears through the static hum, and Mono listened.
But toys and books and warm meals and a soft bed couldn't replace company…
The only person Mono had was the Thin Man, and the Thin Man was often busy…
But the Thin Man was often never too busy for Mono.
M̶̧̓o̵̠͊n̸͈̅o̶̟͘
His name is spoken through a static hum, and not through the Thin Man's lips, Mono could hear him all the same however.
H̸̨̢̡̻͇̉̓̈́̕͜͝ȩ̸̖̿̀̀̚̚ŕ̶͍̐͆ē̷͈̣̲̜̍͋
His response was more of a garbled mess, he was more clumsy with manipulating the Broadcast, the Thin Man told him that he is young, and that he'll learn in due time.
A long arm slipped from the Thin Man's lap, he didn't look away from the screens before him, but he gestured for Mono to come all the same.
Mono did.
Trotting into the room on socked feet, hardly making a sound as he approached the too large, too long hand dangling down to almost the floor beside the chair.
He once feared what the Thin Man would do if he ever got his hands on him, but after the Fall, after being so alone in the Signal Tower for so, so, so long… That fear wavered.
The Thin Man didn't look away from the screens as he carefully ran his too long fingers through Mono's hair, leaning over slightly to scoop the young child up into his palm. Mono went willingly, carefully clinging to the Thin Man's sleeve as his feet left the floor.
The distance between the seat of the chair was far, far enough that Mono would have never been able to climb the chair by himself, or get down, at least, not without breaking an ankle.
But for the Thin Man, the distance was comfortable.
He set Mono on his lap, allowing the young boy to stand whilst still keeping a hand looped around the child's back, in case Mono were to slip, Mono would have survived the fall, the Thin Man had no doubt of that, but neither would have liked Mono to fall, so the hand remained.
B̷̡̭̰̯̽̀̓̏u̴̦̩̜̅̀̚͜ś̸̼̬͒̕y̸̢͓̣̯̽?̸̺̈́͋̆̐
Mono asked carefully, enunciating his words through the static as he peered up at the Thin Man.
The Thin Man's expression remained stoic, head slightly tilted to one side, unmoving, and had it not been for the soft static hum of acknowledgement, Mono would have thought his question had fallen on deaf ears.
N̷o̸t̶ ̶b̸u̷s̶y̶
The Thin Man replied softly, his chest and shoulders rising in a breathless sigh as he tapped a too long finger against the back of Mono's shoulder, the action gentle and thoughtless.
J̶u̴s̵t̷ ̷w̸a̸t̸c̵h̶i̷n̷g̶
Mono understood, the Thin Man tended to spend most of his days watching the Broadcast, but the need to actually leave the Signal Tower and rectify a situation only cropped up every few days.
Mono thought it must have been quite dull to simply sit and watch the Broadcast just in case something happened, but the Thin Man never complained.
It was his duty afterall.
M̴̥̎o̴̳̓ň̵̯o̷̝̓?̷̌ͅ
His name was again called through the static, soft and calm as the Thin Man angled his closed eyes down to the child on his lap.
A̴r̵e̸ ̸y̷o̴u̷ ̴d̴o̵n̷e̶ ̸w̷i̵t̷h̸ ̸y̵o̷u̸r̸ ̶l̶e̵s̶s̷o̵n̵s̸?̵
Mono nodded, the Broadcast had finished their lesson a bit earlier than it usually did, Mono had been particularly clever that day, and the Broadcast had seen fit to reward him an early dismissal.
H̵a̶v̶e̶ ̶y̴o̵u̵ ̸e̸a̶t̴e̴n̸?̶
Mono nodded again, slower this time as he held up two fingers, the Signal Tower had deemed it too early for his evening meal, citing he would wait another hour before he should return to the kitchen for his meal.
Leaving Mono to his own devices for the time being.
The Thin Man hummed again, the air bristling with static as a question was pressed into the Broadcast.
Mono was too young to understand, but he could figure out what the Thin Man was asking.
D̸o̶ ̶y̶o̵u̷ ̵n̶e̵e̶d̴ ̶a̵n̵y̵t̴h̴i̸n̴g̷?̶
The Thin Man asked, directing his question to Mono.
C̷̨̝̹̪̹̀õ̶̦̪͔̟͙̓̑m̵̹̓̅͠-̵̛͈͙̩͔͍̔͗̆͠p̴̠̻̿̎̚͝-̸̡̤͔̘̓a̴̖͊͗n̶̤̂͝ȳ̴͇͚̯̀́̕?̵̬̬̦̽̓͗̓
Mono replied, he often struggled with longer, complex words, his grasp on the Broadcast already so feeble, but his physical voice far too weak to rely on.
Luckily, the Thin Man was more than apt at picking up on what Mono wanted.
With a silent nod, the Thin Man gestured for the child to take a seat on his lap.
Mono happily tucked himself to the Thin Man's front, resting his back against the Thin Man's stomach as he tuned to face the many screens before them as a spindly arm settled across Mono's lap, not pinning him in place, but keeping him secure.
A comfortable silence settled between them, punctuated by the whine of the screens and the ever present buzz of static which permeated the air.
Neither moved for a while, there was no need, the Thin Man was upholding his duty to watch while Mono happily cocooned himself in the company of the other.
When however, the Broadcast brought the passage of time to the attention of the Thin Man, alerting him to the fact that the Signal Tower had prepared Mono's evening meal, he found himself reluctant to shoo the young boy away.
M̶o̷n̸o̷.̸
The Thin Man hummed as he carefully lifted the child from his lap.
T̴i̴m̴e̵ ̶t̸o̵ ̴e̴a̴t̵ ̶M̷o̴n̶o̷.̸
He explained when the young boy began to struggle in his hold, not struggle in panic, to escape, more to show his displeasure of being moved.
When the child's feet were back on the floor, the Thin Man found his index finger stubbornly caught by his young charge.
C̸̡͖̘̍̇͠ǫ̴͙̾̓͠m̴͉̭͙̍́͠ͅe̸̟̓̐̑͘ͅ?̷̮͋̑̃̂
Mono asked, peering up at the Thin Man from the floor, gently tugging on the finger clasped in his small, small hands, urging the Thin Man to rise and follow.
B̸u̶s̷y̷
The Thin Man sighed as he carefully tried to pull his hand away from the young boy's grasp.
N̶̜͓̙͘͜ơ̶͎̞̎̾͠t̴͖͓̯̹̓!̷̗̬̿ ̴̫͎̳̀̉̄̓Ṋ̷͖̔̔͘͘o̴̜̽̎̔ͅt̵̩͆̍!̴̡̺͐
Mono whined softly as he again tried to pull the Thin Man from his seat.
W̶͕̜̫͒ȁ̶̝͉̬̘̱͐́̂̀ṱ̵̂̄̀͘ć̷͙̜͓̎͆h̴͍͛͒̚i̵̖͇̠̻͂̽̆̏̀ņ̷̛̲̼͚̱̀͐g̸̯̼̉́͗!̴͔̬̒
Mono repeated, using one hand to point at the many screens before them.
W̵a̶t̶c̷h̴i̷n̷g̷
The Thin Man agreed simply, Mono grinned as he tugged on the finger he held again.
N̶͈̬̊̈́̈́o̴̙̗͋t̶̘̻̏ ̷̭̼̏͜b̶̮́u̸̧͉͖̿͐͘s̵̢̺̾͛y̵̮̯̺͑̔̒!̷͉͖̩͊̂͒̃ ̸̡̞́́̇W̸̬̬͂͒̆͗͜â̴̡̪̥̈́̿t̷̨͌c̷͎͊̓͑͛ḧ̶̢̥͈̊̅́į̵̣͚̣͒͗n̸̠͎̪͔̿̃g̸͓͋̋.̵͎͇̘̱͝ ̴̧̬̗̣͌C̷̢͎͎̝̒ơ̶̢͉͉͛̀̅m̵̹͂̏è̵̬̫?̶̳͐̈́ ̵̥̼̰̀͂P̵͔̰̆͗l̸̡͖̮͔̓̀̾̕ẽ̸̹͉a̴̙̜̹͋͊s̵̘̺͆͛̆͛e̷̢͎͋͜?̵͇̊̑
The Thin Man paused, pressing a request towards the Broadcast before bending low to scoop Mono back into his palm.
C̴o̷m̶i̵n̵g̸.̵
He agreed.