No, no of course, we’ll tape it up, he replied.

What, are you afraid they’re going to shoot us or something? Kyle joked, looking at Leslie.

No, I just think the less of our personal images out there, the better.

Fewer, Shawn said.

Sorry?

Fewer personal images. Sorry, I’m a grammar Nazi!

Well maybe you should write the sign, she said, with a little laugh.

Well maybe I will, he replied, imitating her with hilarious accuracy.

Jo walked back into the room holding several sheets of paper, a handful of markers, and some masking tape. All right, so. Let’s—She placed the pieces of paper on a large coffee table book about Brutalism. Maybe write on this book so it doesn’t mark up the table, she said.

I love this table, Emily said, running her hand across its surface.

Thanks, it’s mango wood.

Okay, Shawn said, moving down onto the floor beside the table. Did we like that? ‘Nine of us in here, happy and safe. Gathering peacefully by choice. Please leave us be.’

Why do we have to specify the number? Howard asked.

I said that I thought it made us sound like trapped miners.

So does the ‘happy and safe,’ Jo said, looking at me. Like ‘happy and safe and plenty of oxygen.’

Maybe something simpler, Shawn suggested, like ‘We are gathering in this private residence—peacefully gathering in this private residence by choice. Please respect our privacy.’

Damian nodded. It’s good.

Except that it uses ‘private’ and ‘privacy,’ Kyle said. It’s just a lot of, you know—

Privates, Shawn said, coyly.

So just drop the first one, Mia said.

‘We are peacefully gathering in this residence by choice. Please respect our privacy.’

Great, Howard said. Send it to the printers.

Shawn uncapped a black marker and began to write the sign in clear, bold letters. He misjudged the spacing and had to awkwardly fit the words ‘our privacy’ into an unplanned-for third line, but it was still legible. He then held up the sign and asked—Who wants to do the honours?

Damian suggested Kyle should. So they know he’s safe and—

Happy, Mia said. And has enough oxygen.

And agency, Jo added.

Shawn handed Kyle the sign. Kyle walked over to the window with it, and shimmied in front of the curtains. I could hear muffled exclamations from the crowd gathered outside. He taped the sign up in the window, and then slipped back behind the curtain, into the room—Another news van just pulled up, he said.

Howard’s face fell—Are you serious?

KCTV.

Holy shit. Shawn smiled, in disbelief, as if he were already in the future and looking back on a wild anecdote. Damian walked out of the room, grabbed his knapsack from the vestibule, and returned, pulling out his laptop. He set it down on the coffee table and brought up KCTV’s broadcast livestream.