[CT] Can You Hear Me Now?

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim really wished that the whole bat-mimicry thing meant that he could climb trees more easily. It sort of did, in its way. If he really focused, his hands and feet could get some longer nails and, by extension, better traction. That certainly helped with the whole getting himself further up the tree thing. He did keep losing his balance, though so far he hadn't had any major spills.

With one arm hooked around the tree, Tim reached out with his other. He clutched his smart phone in his hand, which he extended shakily out into the air. He stared through his glasses, stared hard at the bars displayed on the screen, willing them to pop up. He thought he saw something flickering, and then, in an instant, it flickered to life. Tim let out a little cry of joy, then shifted, trying to figure out how to prod the screen while still holding onto the tree. Okay, maybe if, like, he held onto the tree with his legs and scooted out onto the branch. He got a ways off, then had to move his other hand up to adjust his glasses. At that exact moment, everything went wrong.

The phone slipped; Tim lunged; his legs slid; his body swayed; his fingers caught the phone; and then he was hanging upside down in the tree. He blinked, not quite believing this was happening. At least he could handle it well enough: all those times hanging upside down and all. bat thing. He shifted as best he could, but he seriously thought he might be stuck.

"This is exactly why I shouldn't be allowed to go camping. This, right here," mumbled Tim. he sighed and brought his phone around. Well, at least he still had bars. Maybe he could call for help or something.

[Sierra Singer]

Sierra had decided that she was going to go for a little stroll, all by her lonesome. Which, generally, was how she preferred it. She wasn't really sure where she was going, she was just... going.

This place could be confusing. There weren't many things to consider 'landmarks' and everything seemed to look the same. She felt like she was going to get lost, but she kept going. There seemed to be more trees here than the other places that she had explored. It was getting pretty hot out, so Sierra decided to take a seat beneath the shade of one of the trees.

She set her bag beside her and pulled out a water bottle. The cool liquid was refreshing as it ran down her throat. She dug a little more into her pack and found an apple. Red delicious. Her favorite. She took a few bites of it before putting it into a plastic ziploc baggy and then placing it back into her back pack. She was going to dig out her book and read a bit, but then she thought she heard a voice in the distance.

May as well explore a bit, she thought. As she headed towards what she thought was the source, she came upon a frustrated looking boy, hanging up-side-down from a tree branch.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?!" Sierra exclaimed, wondering if he was hanging like that on purpose or not.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim blinked, then reached up to adjust her glasses as he peered out at the girl who'd apparently arrived to find him upside down and all. She looked, kinda familiar, but not really. Oh, wait, question, he should totally be answering that. He smiled a little ruefully.

"Uh, mostly," he said, adding something like a shrug. He had to reach to grab his glasses and grip his phone to make sure that nothing slid out as a result of said gesture, but he managed to hold himself together more or less. Tim let out a sigh, then shifted slightly. "My power lets me mimic bats and junk, so I'm actually pretty used to this kind of thing. A bit of a side effect, though, uh, I'm not sure I can really undo it right now, since the ground's kinda far away."

He moved to look, then nodded, before twisting to look at the girl again. "Hey, you look really familiar. Like... Kara? You look older than her though, and kinda off," he squinted. Did Kara have a sister? He tried to remember the times he'd talked to her, wondering if that had come up or something...

[Sierra Singer]

"Wow. That's actually... Pretty dang cool." Sierra said, referring to Tim's bat mimicry. She mulled it over in her mind. It seemed like something that might come in handy. It certainly was the most unique power she'd heard of so far.

"Hey, wait a minute..." She squinted and tilted her head, trying to get a better idea of what his face would look like if he were standing upright. "You're that blogger guy! Tim, right?" If she was wrong, this would be awkward.

Staring at the boy a little longer, she took in what a spectacle this really appeared to be. So, he was fine with being upside down... But, he didn't seem to know how to get down. She sighed and scratched her head, trying to think of a way that she might be able to help him down, without risking him falling. To be honest, there wasn't that much distance between he and the ground, but she herself would still be terrified of getting down from that height. The boy didn't seem afraid, though. Just in a predicament. Too bad she wasn't stronger... Maybe she could catch him. Hah, with her small stature that would certainly be a sight! Even if she was big enough and strong enough to catch him, it might be a bit... Emasculating. That's not something she wanted to do to him.

At the mention of Kara, she froze up. Her entire face went blank and became even paler than it already was. Flashbacks of the day peppered her mind like bullets from a thousand machine guns. So, he knew Kara... It was only a matter of time before the ran into a situation like this. Part of her was glad to hear her sister's name. The other part was busy trying not to vomit every where. She didn't even realize that she was clutching her stomach. How long had she been standing there, silent and lost in thought?

"Uh, yeah. Kara is my sister." Sierra spoke slowly and defensively. The boy had struck a nerve. Possibly the only one she had. Sure, he didn't mean to, he didn't know. But that just wasn't something that she could justify in her mind right now. Clearly he had met her, since he was talking about her. He knew Kara. She wanted to ask about her. Was she doing okay? Did she look healthy? Did she mention me? But, doing that would reveal that the two don't talk. And frankly, that was none of his business.[/font]

[Tim Tawfeek]

"This has to be the first time anyone's ever mentioned cool in relation to my power," said Tim, chuckling dryly. Usually his power ranked near the bottom of the heap. Obviously it had more "practical" uses when put into an environment like this, with trees and nature and everything around. Might be better if Tim didn't obviously prefer technology.

Which was why he had to nod as the girl identified him. "Yeah, that's me. Of course, I'm only admitting it because I'm hoping you're not good enough to throw a rock at me," he gestured between the two of them. He'd gathered some ill-will with the blogging and all lately. though Tim had a few plans to lift himself out of that mire; he just needed a little more time to clear his head, talk to a few of his friends, to Lux, see what they thought.

Speaking of friends or, well, at least friendly people: seemed like Tim had been right with his guess. He shrugged as best he could, rearranging his stuff again. "Figured it was something like that. I'm in a few clubs with her and stuff. Seemed pretty cool though. Didn't mention a sister but, eh, didn't come up," he shrugged again, then felt himself shift. Sighing, Tim moved to wiggle, only to find glasses and phone shifting again. Great, just, great. "Don't suppose you could, like, fly up here or climb like a squirrel or something?" he asked, twisting to look at her. Wait, didn't powers match in a family? Kara was an ice-kinetic... so her sister probably had some element kinesis. Maybe Tim would be lucky and she was plant-kinetic. He was nearly crossing his fingers just thinking about it.

[Sierra Singer]

"...Throw a rock at you?" Sierra started to question, until she remembered some of the comments and such that were made on his blog. She chuckled. "I'm not going to throw a rock at you. I think Clean Laundry is a great idea. While you may have gotten a little off track from what I think you had originally wanted the blog to be about, I'm sure you meant well. People are so damn sensitive. They need to get over themselves. I'm not sure if they have or not, but I hope they let you put your blog back up. Or something. I think it was great that you brought attention to SPECTRE." She smiled at the boy, hoping he found some reassurance in what he had been doing.

He had mentioned Kara again. This time she didn't respond to that, but she was glad to hear that he thought she was 'cool.' Kara could probably use some friends. Sierra wondered if she had any.

"Nope. Pyro," she said with a frown. Her pack was getting heavy on her shoulder, she let it drop to the ground. It's not like there was anything breakable in there. She walked around the tree slowly, trying to think of something. Unfortunately, she was terrible at climbing trees, so that wasn't going to help. "Wait, duh!" she said, bopping herself on her forehead with her hand. "I have a rope in my pack!" She ran over, almost falling flat on her butt because she hit a small patch of rocks, but she caught her balance. After digging through her pack for a big, she pulled out a long, coiled rope. "Will this help?"

Surely there was some way that it would help. Unfortunately, Sierra wasn't able to come up with any ideas on how she could use it to get himself down. It couldn't be that hard, though.

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Nice to know I've still got some supporters," replied Tim, nodding. "Feels like there's a bigger mob than mosh pit or something. I am planning on a different project though, since I think I got off track," Tim shrugged slightly. He still had the details to iron out, after all. Plus, while he was faring fairly well upset down and all, he could already feel the blood rushing to his head, and it didn't exactly comfort him overmuch.

His guess proved accurate though: the girl had an elemental kinesis. Sure, it happened to be pyro, but hey, he'd at least been right. "Yeah, I don't think burning the tree--" he began, stopping as she started talking instead. Rope, well, that was something.

"Uh, it might," said Tim, looking around, trying to gauge distance. he was much better at figuring out stuff to do with computers or social rights then math problems like this. Still, he had a working mind, and his dimness remained mostly in the social. He followed it with a hand, finally nodding. "If you could get it over the branch, maybe even the one above me, I could grip onto it and climb maybe? Could also come up with some kind of lever, maybe if you threw it over the branch and I held on? I just need to get upright; I think I could shimmy from there."

[Sierra Singer]

"Errr... Sure..." Sierra wasn't confident in her rope-throwing abilities, and it was safe to say that it showed. How exactly was this supposed to work once she got the rope over a branch? Was Tim going to tie it? Was she supposed to try to make a lasso out of it or something? That definitely was not going to happen. Who the hell knows how to tie a lasso these days?

She left the rope coiled. One.. Two.. Three! One end of the rope left her hand, flying towards the tree, and... complete miss. Crap. Try again. One.. Two.. Three! Another miss. Again. She got it on a lower branch, but not one that Tim could reach. She sighed. She could do this. Taking a deep breath and holding it, she threw the rope out once again. Nailed it. It hung partially over the branch that Tim had been hanging from. She hoped that when he made his way to it, the rope would not slide back down to her. The edge that hung over was not very long. Maybe two or three feet. It could slip easily.

"So, uh... Now what, Batman? Anything interesting in your utility belt?"

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim watched as the girl threw... and missed. He supposed that it had to be harder than it looked, especially as she hadn't tied a lasso in it or anything. He'd been about to suggest that she tie a rock on one end when she flung it up into the tree, actually landing in the branch next to him. Tim rocked a bit, moving over so that he could at least touch it. Stuff shifted again though, and he had to clamp his hands to his body.

"Man, people make that joke all the time," he said, looking down at her. "Never works out for me. I don't suppose you could, like, catch some of my stuff? I keep wiggling and my glasses and phone nearly fall out every time: Making this whole thing kinda awkward and even harder to do."

Tim still shifted over though, reaching to grab the rope and tug it. He alternated between looking at it and at the girl, trying to figure out how best to figure this out. Maybe if he tied it around a branch then sort of grabbed onto it and flipped? That seemed doable, since it required little skill and only some knot tying. Either that or he could pull it over. Wouldn't make any difference if he still had to mess with all the stuff though.

[Sierra Singer]

So, she had gotten the rope over the branch. But, Sierra still didn't see how much good it would do. Tim would probably have to tie it to the branch or something. Which is great and all, but then, hey... She's out of a rope. Not cool. But, worth it for helping him out, she guessed. It's not like the rope had that much value to her. Well, as long as she wasn't going to be needing it from now until the time that it took her to get back to camp. If she did, she would be shit out of luck.

The boy was still hanging awkwardly on the branch. It seemed like he was more worried about the things in his pockets falling to the ground than himself. He also kept pushing he glasses back up (or down in this case?) his face. Sierra was just about to offer to take them from him, when he spoke up and asked her to do just that.

"Yeah, sure! No problem," she said with a smile. Then she replayed her rope-throwing skills in her head. Tim might have been a little worried that she would miss when he went to toss her his things. "Oh, and don't worry, I'm a good catch," she added, for his comfort. Sierra tried not to laugh at how the phrase could have been taken the wrong way. Had she been talking to someone else, like Kyle maybe, she might have made a comment reflecting it. But, she didn't know him. And Tim did not know her. So she left it at that, and walked underneath him, ready to catch his precious belongings.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim adjusted himself a little more, feeling his legs shift. As long as he kept thinking about his power and just sort of got comfortable, he wouldn't have to worry about falling off or anything like that. He could feel a few things in his pocket sliding, but he had them more or less. Plus, the girl said precisely what Tim wanted.

Though even hanging upside down and fearing for his stuff, Tim could catch the double-meaning potential: "Yeah, I could see that," he said with a sly smile, "though it's kinda egotistical for you to be pointing it out and stuff, so I'm gonna have to knock some points off for that." While chattering, Tim moved to grab his phone and a few other things. He pulled them together in one hand, which he extended and aimed.

"okay, coming down!" he called. Tim aimed one more time before releasing the small bundle of items, which looked to be staying more or less together on their way down to her. The only loose item Tim had left was his glasses, since he kind of wanted/needed to see if he was going to navigate his way off the branch anytime soon, after all.

[Sierra Singer]

"What? No, that's not what I..." Ah, screw it. While she wanted to help the kid out, she really didn't care all that much about what he thought of her. Egotistical? Barely. Then again, he could have been being sarcastic. Had he picked that up from Kara? She could be a sarcastic little brat, even as a child. Sierra wondered if she was still like that now.

He dropped down his things, and Sierra caught them with little. She had considered setting them all on the ground, but they seemed as if they were very precious to him. I wonder what he would do if I threw them all over the cliff... Of course, she had no intention of really doing that, but it sure was funny to think about. Instead, she placed them all safely in her bag. Yes, her bag was sitting on the ground, but his things would be perfectly fine in there. If he said anything about it, she just might smack him.

She looked back up at him. "Okay, now it's your turn. How much do you weigh? I can probably catch you," she joked. She was glad that she wasn't the one who was stuck in the tree. Maybe some egotistical man would come back and offer to do the same for her, only they of course would be serious. She hated that kind of thing.

The boy still hadn't come down with from the tree. Sierra was half-tempted to leave him there. She gave him the rope, what more did he want? Sighing, she decided that she was going to continue to be nice, seeing as how that was more in her nature than the somewhat rude thoughts that were going through her mind. She tried to keep them at bay as she waited for him. "Is there anything else that I can do to help you?"

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim just mostly left the first response and all lay. He'd been joking, but it didn't sound like it had really been taken that way. Oh well, not at whole lot he could actually do about that. At least she still took his stuff and tucked it away nice and safe. Tim actually breathed a sigh of relief at that. Now he could focus on moving out.

First thing's first though: Tim actually needed to "activate" his power. He could get lighter and get the whole bat claw thing, which, combined with the rope, would be enough. He started working it, feeling his nails lengthen and his body lighten. As he did, he heard the comment, which had him twisting to look down again.

"What? Uh, not a whole lot when I focus. Which I am now. Mostly. Do you have super-strength or something or ---you're totally messing with me," Tim sighed, adjusting his glasses again. He then lunged up, hooking his talons onto the branch. With a great heave, he jerked his body onto the rope, dangling for a moment. It slid a bit, but that just meant that he landed on branch below, admittedly a bit more roughly than he would've liked. The rope fell into his lap then, and he sat there, slightly stunned.

"Well, that worked. Mostly."

[Sierra Singer]

Tim's appearance began to change. His nails grew longer. Sierra felt both fascinated and disturbed. She thought that maybe it would be rude for her to watch. So, she turned away, digging through her bag for her water bottle. Before finding it, Tim responded. She looked back up towards him again, only to seem him fall toward a lower branch.

"Well, that worked. Mostly."

The blonde laughed a little bit. "Oh, I'm sorry. That's not meant to be rude. It's just... Your face when you fell... No, that still sounds rude. I'm sorry." Way to go, Sierra.

"Uhm, so do you think that you'll be able to get down from there, or...? I could probably go get help, if needed. I guess I should have offered that first."

The distance between the lower branch and the ground was significantly less than the previous branch Tim had been on. Still, it might be too much for him to want to give it a try. Sierra herself would have just lowered her body and then dropped. But, not everyone is comfortable with that sort of thing. She waited, wondering what Tim's next move would be.

[Tim Tawfeek]

"It's cool,' said Tim, shrugging. "I've pretty much gained all my notoriety by making an ass of myself in front of pretty girls. Pretty well have no pride left by this point."

He paused for a moment, at least in the moving and talking and whatnot, to readjust his glasses. They'd slid slightly with his movement and all. The pause let Sierra get in her next comments, which had Tim chuckling. Yeah, they probably should've thought of getting help first. No real reason too, given that Tim's power actually worked well enough in circumstances like this. Wasn't like he got many chances to actually do something with what was normally one of the worst powers to have.

"It's cool. I can make it from here," he said, holding up his arms. "See? Bat powers, and bats can climb," as if to demonstrate, Tim swiveled again. His nails dragged into the bark, and his slightly lighter body could move about. He still didn't move with anything like grace, but then again, bats weren't all that graceful unless they were in the air. He swung about though, and he landed on the next lower branch easily enough. That did leave the rope, and Tim give it a few more tugs, making sure it completely came off before nodding.

"Alright, rope's coming first, then I'll need a spot to jump," he said, nodding and gesturing toward the ground. Like he was going to jump anywhere else.