Hmmm...

>be me, thonky
>i'm with my pal pickle hmmm-er
>he's thinking
>hmmmm, he says
>i'm thinking
>we're surrounded by the eight noble sages of the thinker's club
>they're thinking too
>it would be amateur to suspect them of doing anything other than thinking
>but i can tell Pickle Hmmm-er has some anxiety regarding the depth of their thought
>because one of the sages
>Paul Ponder
>the infamous thinker
>gave a really big  "HMMMM"
>far greater than a standard hmmm
>and i could tell it rattled Pickle Hmmm-er
>because whatever Paul Ponder was thinking must have been really good to warrant such a thoughtful-seeming hmmm.
>ever since that moment, pickle homer has been giving less confident hmmms
>and i've been thinking about it
>and it seems he knows we're all thinking about it
>because he's straightening up
>and he's thoughtfully stroking his chin hairs
>and he clears his throat
>and let's out a big, confident "HMMMMMM"
>just a second longer than Paul Ponder's hmmm
>and a volume louder
>which is suspicious
>because a really big HMMMM is rarely proceeded by an ever bigger HMMMMMM
>it's just unusual that someone would think of something that interesting so soon after someone else thought something really interesting
>you get used to the cadence of people's thinking when you think in the thinker's club
>so i'm not going to call out Pickle Hmmm-er's suspicious hmmm
>but i am thinking about it
>and i think most all the other thinkers must be thinking the same thing
>Pickle Hmmm-er's eyes are darting rapidly
>i think i see sweat beading on his forehead
>hmmm
>oh shit
>did i just hmmm out loud
>oh he's looking at me
>i definitely hmmm'd out loud
>he's definitely thinking that i hmmm'd while thinking about him
>i gotta think about this
>my mind is racing
>i'm looking around to the other thinkers
>because i think one of them might have thought a graceful way out of this
>it's not necessarily against the rules to think about another thinker not thinking as hard as befits the thinker's club
>but i think it's not a good look
>i think it would come across as insecure
>i have to think a way out of this
>Pickle Hmmm-er slits his eyes at me
>he gives a suspicious hmmm
>i raise my eyebrows at him
>i say hmmm
>i wonder what he's thinking
>i think i can make him think that i think that he's thinking that i'm thinking that he's thinking
>-he gives a really great hmmm
>hmmm
>i look over to the other thinkers
>i think we're all thinking this
>hmmm
>yeah
>and so we all raise our eyebrows in thought
>and stroke our beards
>and we all hmmm simultaneously
>which is extremely rare
>but i think it's a sign
>that we've all become really good at this
>and it feels so good
>to finally arrive at the same thought as the other thinkers
>but whatever happens next
>we just have to keep thinking
>we can't allow ourselves to get distracted
>in the thinker's club
>if you tune out and get distracted
>you stop thinking
>and that's the moment you're out of the thinker's club