High Bat is High

[Tim Tawfeek]

So Tim was stuck up there. He was pretty sure of it. He'd managed to climb the stupid rope, got all the way to the top and everything. He could just reach right up there and touch the top knot and everything. Just a little stretch and boop, there was the rope. Go him. Okay, so it had taken him a while to do that. A long while, and a lot of effort. But he'd totally managed to do it and do it quickly.... okay, moderately fast.... about average.

But there was a problem now. He was stuck. "How do you get down from this crazy thing?" he asked, twisting to look. He almost lost his balance and clung to the rope even tighter, feeling like a lemur or something. Tim sighed, reaching up to adjust his glasses. At least he could see. Though it wouldn't matter, he could just let out a few clicks or something, locate himself through echolocation and stuff. Hey, his power had to be useful somehow, right? Tim sighed, tapping his face against the rope.

"You are going to die on a rope," he said. "No, that's stupid. You're not going to die on a rope. You're going to end up getting weak and letting go and fall, and it's going to be that fall that kills you. Man, my parents are going to love this. 'Tim died from climbing a rope? That stupid boy! We knew he'd end up killing himself,'" Tim mimicked a deep baritone, before sighing and tapping his head against the rope a few more times. At least he'd have plenty of time to think about his life and regret all the decisions he'd ever made. So he supposed he had that going for him.

[Evan Webb]

Evan was sanding his birdbox down when he was suddenly high up looking down at what could only be the gym floor. Evan would have panicked had he not heard the voice that was clearly not him. He wasn't about to fall out of surprise.

He quickly exited the body and rushed out of workshop to the gym, which was on the opposite wing. Sure enough, he found the guy he had inhabited earlier still hanging. Wasn't that Tim Tawfeek? He posts those Clean Laundry vlogs that Evan found completely hilarious. He had mentioned Charlie once, that had been a trip. And not the good kind. Especially since it was now even apparent to the public how Charlie was looking sick. 

He shook his head of the thoughts and approached the rope. "Uh...hey, uh...d'you need help?" He asked, thoug regretting it almost immediately since...of course he needed help. 

[Tim Tawfeek]

A voice called out, and Tim twisted to try and take a look. This caused his grip to shift slightly though, and he had to quickly cling on. He could feel his body taking on batly characteristics, which always just felt... odd. In this case it meant that he had the sudden urge to latch onto the rope with his feet and hang upside down. Thankfully, the human side of him was very quick to point out how very, very stupid that would be. Best to just look at the guy.

Had he seriously just asked that? Tim let out a nervous laugh, adjusting his grip on the rope, trying to pull himself up a little more. "Nah, I'm totally good," he said, shifting. "I'm obviously up here because the altitude is just awesome," he laughed again, once more shifting his stance. Stuff was starting to ache now, so he knew he needed to focus on the conversation, push his mind off it. "But yeah, I'm kinda stuck. Can't get down and stuff. Not quite sure how, to be honest," he chuckled again, knowing now that he was mostly laughing and chuckling out of nerves... which felt about right to him, come to think of it.

[Evan Webb]

Evan winced when the boy looked like he was about to fall. He instinctively pitched forward, almost losing his footing in an attempt to save the boy dangling on the rope. Who was he kidding though? His arms were as thick as the rope Tim was hanging on to.

The sarcasm he received had him chuckling awkwardly. It was a dumb question, he knew it even before he asked it but it needed to be asked.

"Um...can't you uh...sprout wings...or something?" Evan asked, clearing his throat as he looked around to find something that could remotely help Tim. He soon spotted the mountain pile of rubber mats in the corner that could possibly help. "Or is that not something you can do?" He walked over to the mats, keeping an eye on Tim as he did so, hoping he wouldn't fall in the process of him getting some form of help.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim nearly rolled his eyes again. "Dude, seriously, you're killing me here,' he said, turning to look down at Evan. He really hoped that wasn't about to become a quite literal statement. "Trust me: if I could do the sprout wings thing, I'd totally have done so already. Sure, I'd love to be super dramatic and all, but I really am hanging on for dear life here."

And he felt his arms shaking a little more. Tim hugged the rope tighter, straightening his body out. He could hear the rope creaking under his weight, obviously not used to the jerky movements that he simply couldn't help but make right now. He looked up, glad to see that at least the rope looked sturdy all the way up. He took several deep breaths, desperately working to calm himself down.

"Uh, I don't suppose there's, like, a ladder somewhere?" Tim asked, not daring to try and twist to look at Evan. "I could maybe try to shimmy a bit down if you can, I dunno, meet me partway or something." Well, it was as good a plan as they'd managed so far, right?

[Evan Webb]

All he could do was offer a meek smile when Tim stated the obvious. Evan was definitely not winning any points. Which wasn't really the point of him being here, really. He needed to get the other boy down and that was what he was going to do.

"Uh, there isn't...which is stupid because I'm sure so many people have gotten stuck up there but I guess student safety isn't a priority up here." Evan shrugged, finally able to get to the mats.

"Maybe...I'm just gonna lie up a few mats under you and uh...you can just jump down?" He offered, already dragging a few mats and placing it directly under Tim. He piled a few more just so the landing didn't break any bones.

[Tim Tawfeek]

"No kidding," agreed Tim, sighing. He'd been hoping for a ladder of some kind. Just to test that he was, in fact, quite stuck, Tim hazarded moving down a little... and he nearly slipped. He gripped the rope tighter, taking several deep breath.s He could hear something moving around, not to mention some talking and all. Tim dared look down, seeing that Evan was attempting to put mats.

"Hey, that's a pretty slick idea!" said Tim, actually meaning it. he chuckled a bit, then felt his grip slipping. He readjusted, trying to work himself down a little more. The less distance he fell, the better off he'd figure he'd be in the long run. "How many mats are there? 'cuz I'm looking at a lot of falling here. I'd rather not have you dragging my unconscious, broken body to the nurse, even if she is kinda hot."

So that part wouldn't be so bad. The nursing part, not the falling bit.

"And, uh, not to freak you out, but hurrying might be a plan," said Tim, shaking again. he took a gulp and hazarded moving down the rope, but that wasn't really working out too well for him, what with the shaking and his arms giving out and junk.

[Evan Webb]

Evan chuckled along with Tim before once again throwing his hand up instinctively when it looked like the guy was about to fall. When he was sure the guy wasn't about to slip any more, he went to get more mats until he couldn't pile them any more.

"Um...I think there's...enough?" He responded, not about to do math when he could be helping. "And uh, try to fall feet first and then roll to your side?" He remembered reading a safety article on falling, patting himself on the back for remembering odd facts at the weirdest times.

"Okay, I think you can, yeah. Just let go." Evan suggested weakly. He didn't know how successful the fall would be but he sure hoped the guy didn't break any bones. The mats were big enough and tall enough to lessen the impact and if Tim fell on his side, it could possibly lessen the blow too. Hopefully.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Enough? Tim wanted to look again, but he was definitely still worried about the whole falling and getting severely injured thing. He peeked again just as Evan offered him some "advice" on falling. "You mean like in Zelda?" he said, arching a brow. "That stuff actually works?" Tim wasn't sure that he could really pull something like that off. He had lowered the distance between him and floor by a few feet though, and it really did look like the other guy had stacked at least a few mats there.

Let go. Yeah, that was easier said then done. "Right, let go," Tim repeated anyway. he looked at the rope, took a deep breath... and did nothing. He shifted again, felt his arms and legs wobbling with the effort. You'd think that letting go would be, y'know, easy by this point, what with the mats and the fact that all he really wanted to do was let go.

Tim took another breath, wiggled a bit, and then released, heading for the mats. He'd land on the gathered mats soon enough, though more on his back than on his feet. He did roll though, roll and groan, and mostly be thankful that he'd at least kept his glasses on his face. His body hurt though, but he couldn't say whether that was from the fall or from being up there for so dang long.

[Evan Webb]

Evan laughed at the video game reference and shrugged. "Sure, if that makes you feel better." He nodded, trying to sound encouraging. "According to a few articles it works. I mean, I personally never tried it since..." he laughed sheepishly. "Never been in your position." He responded, though technically he was literally in Tim's position not a few minutes ago.

He took in a quick gasp of breath when he saw the other boy slipping again. But it looked like he did it on purpose. Possibly to lessen the gap between him and the mats. Either way, by that point, Evan was sure the fall wouldn't break any bones.

When Tim finally landed on the mats, on his back, Evan winced with a gasp. Rushing to Tim's side, Evan couldn't help but inhabit Tim's body to feel out where the guy was in pain the most and bit his lip when he was back in his body. Oh he was hurt all right.

"So...uh, do you want me to call a nurse here or are you okay to walk? Or uh...do you wanna just stay here for awhile?" He asked with a strained smile.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim just kinda hurt in general, and he couldn't help but wince with each breath. He could swear that the other guy was looking him over and wincing too, sympathy pains, most likely. Tim chuckled at that, which just made him wince again. He tentatively prodded at himself, trying to see if any particular areas were more or less sensitive.

"I don't think I broke anything," he said, looking up at Evan and wincing again. "I don't know if we need to call the nurse,' he paused for a moment, considering. The nurse was said to be super hot, though Tim had only met her a time or two. He heard good things overall, and he seemed to vaguely recall seeing someone smoking hot or something. He tried to move, felt his body ache, and decided to lay back down.

"Yeah, I'm thinking that not moving is a good plan," he said, giving Evan a thumbs up. "But thanks for the mat thing---uhhh, I don't think I know you," he pointed at the guy, moving his hand a few times, tapping the mat, "I wanna call you Devan or something though..."

[Evan Webb]

Evan nodded in agreement when Tim mentioned that nothing was broken. He didn't know what the hesitation over calling the nurse was for but he let it go. If the guy didn't need a nurse, Evan wasn't going to bring her in.

Chuckling and wincing at the same time when Tim didn't know his name, Evan simply shrugged, not taking offence. He wasn't popular by any means so a guy like Tim not knowing his name wasn't a big deal.

"Close enough. I'm Evan." He reached his hand out for the other guy to grab. "I'm...I'm actually Charlie Larkson's best friend." He admitted, a little reluctantly.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim stared at the offered hand, arching his brows and giving Evan a "you serious" look. It turned into a chuckle at his introduction: Charlie Larkson's best friend. "So that probably means that you wanna beat the crap outta me or pat me on the back, and since you kinda missed your chance to cream me, I'm guessing it's the latter?" Tim raised a brow, not quite sure what to make of that. Charlie had been one of the few he'd called out in his blog of lately, mentioning the girl's drastically decreasing weight, which had been quite worrying to him overall. Sometimes Tim wondered if he should stop worrying about people who clearly didn't care what happened to him. Seemed awfully cynical though.

He laid back down, taking a few deep breaths. "I'm not," he said, sticking a finger in the air, "putting off your whole hand thing out of rudeness, though I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop kick my butt, but because the whole moving thing just seems like all kinds of bad idea right now."

Tim lowered the arm, letting out a slow, steady breath, staring up at the rope. "I really should just give up even trying to do anything physical. It just does not work out for me, like, at all."

[Evan Webb]

Looking down at his offered hand, Evan retracted with a sheepish grin. Tim's statement made him shrug and shake his head. "I was thinking it but it isn't like you were saying anything bad about her." Evan started playing with the hem of his t-shirt. He knew he was supposed to defend his best friend's honour but Tim hadn't been lying, was he? "It just shouldn't have been that public. Don't think she'd appreciate it." His voice lowered slightly.

"Uh...it's cool. Understandable." He waved a dismissive hand. Evan wasn't about to ruin the situation any further. It was awkward enough as is.

He chuckled lightly at Tim's admission. "Maybe at least not try anything that requires being in the air at any capacity."

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim grunted at the mention of thinking it, even with the addition. He'd half been expecting to be harassed for what he put. "Just mentioned that she looks like she's losing weight," he said, lowering his head. "If she didn't want people to notice, she should try not losing so much."

Tim wasn't normally that defensive or anything, but he felt like he should at least explain himself there. Just made things more awkward all around, but hey, that was pretty much Tim's specialty. He seemed to have better luck making things awkward than he ever did imitating bats, except for those few times he actually tried talking to him, and wasn't that just some variation on his power anyway? He shifted again, feeling a little bit better this time than he had the day before. Nothing broken then; just a little winded.

"All the fun sports involve being in the air," replied Tim. 'You know, like basketball and volleyball and Quidditch and that. I'm obviously not meant for football," he chuckled at that, wincing only a little. He sighed and stretched again, working his muscles out before looking over at Evan. "So why'd you help me then? Just felt like doing the right thing or something?"