A Thousand Hugs from Ten Thousand Lightning Bugs

[Tim Tawfeek]

Okay, Tim still felt like an idiot. It didn't just have to do with the whole residual "how exactly did I end up dating the girl of my dreams?" thing, which, like, pretty well existed period. It had more to do with the fact that he still didn't really get the whole outdoors thing very well. He had a big floppy hat on that someone in a sporting goods store told him was absolutely necessary for outdoor journeys. A flannel shirt covered most of his torso, with this ugly vest on top of that. Tim had the good sense to shove the vest full of various stuff, the weirdest of which was the small jar he'd tucked into a front pocket. It bulged a little. At least the shorts were normal.

But he'd asked Lux to meet him here, at the campfire, where thankfully they were no longer smoking weed. There were a few people there, and Tim thought he heard something about s'mores, but he wanted to keep this night for him and Lux. He doublechecked his pockets, patting down till he pulled out his flashlight: a nice metallic one that could double as a very tiny club. He played with it for a moment, before managing to blind himself.

"Oh, great, just, crap," he muttered, lowering his hands. He thought he heard someone coming, but he couldn't be sure. so Tim did what any sensible person with bat powers would do: he chirped in that direction, and got back a semi familiar shape. "Lux? Is that you?" he called. He moved his hands for a moment till he touched something. Then, desperate not to accidentally touch something he shouldn't, Tim snapped his hands back. "That's you, right? 'cuz I am totally over my fondling other girls phase. Not that I ever really had one. Okay, the spots are fading from my vision now, so if you are someone else, could you get the slapping over before that happens? Just to sort of have it all happen at once."

[Luxanna Viera]

The sole reason Lux was-- Okay, so she didn't really have a reason of being her, except maybe Tim, or Jack, or something around the lines of-- ANYWAYS, point was. She wasn't a woodsy person. At all. She was clumsy, uncoordinated and terrified of the dark. Everything this place offered seemed to go against everything her body was capable of doing, and she had already fallen over, almost drowned and gotten into the worst situations possible, and yet, she was still beaming around like a damn light tower.

Mostly because she was really excited to do whatever Tim had planned for them. She was excited to be with him and just, well, do whatever it was he had planned. She was also very curious as to exactly what her boyfriend -- which still felt weird to say, mind you -- had in store for the evening. Maybe they were going bat hunting? Oh, how cool wouldn't that be!

After getting dressed with the appropriate amount of clothes, which basically consisted of a pair of overalls, a blue singlet, a red hoodie and sneakers, the brunette had put her curly hair in a messy bun at the top of her head, she was on her way to the designated meeting place.

Once there, she heard Tim's voice and had to cover her mouth not to giggle. She felt his arms fumble around and smiled wide at his awkward way of wording himself, "It's okay," she chuckled, "You didn't hit any--" she cut herself off and shook her head. She folded her arms neatly behind herself and looked around. God, it really was dark out here, wasn't it? "And yes, it's me. Lux." As if she really had to elaborate, but whatever. She did smile at him though, even though he probably couldn't see it.

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Awesome," said Tim. He was tempted to ask what it was that he didn't hit, wondering if she was referencing the flashlight and eyes or his hands and... well, places that he visited quite frequently in his dreams. Which he was definitely not totally thinking about right this very second while being incredibly thankful that his pants were nice and baggy. Nope, not at all. He was, however, grinning like an idiot, which just had to do more or less with being in the same vicinity as his girlfriend. Mostly.

"Right, do you have a flashlight? I totally don't need one because, well, bat vision and stuff," Tim waved his hand toward his face. He actually could manage dark, especially dark like this, between his low-light vision and the whole bat clicking thing. It would probably even work better. "Anyway, I totally have this cool idea that I might have gotten from a bud of mine. We just gotta go to this, like, flowery clearing thing," said Tim, pointing. "It isn't far, maybe five, ten minutes and all. Yeah, flashlight."

Tim held it out, ready for Lux to grab it or say she didn't need it or... wait, should he have said she was pretty or something? Should they have been kissing? Man, he sucked at the whole boyfriend thing. It had just been a while. "And, uh, you look, um, cute and stuff too," he said, fidgeting a little. True, but mostly because Lux would look cute in practically anything.

[Luxanna Viera]

"Uhm, yeah, sure," she said, actually thankful that she'd get a flashlight with all of this pitch black blackness thingymangy roaming around. Oh, and the rumors about that dude, Bigfoot or whatever. Yep, she totally wanted the flashlight. "Oh yeah?" she asked and cocked her head to the side. "Flowery clearing place..." she repeated and then nodded. Okay, that sounded promising. Maybe. But yes. Flashlight. She was currently thanking whoever made flashlights.

Taking the flashlight with a bright smile, Luxanna peeked at him once he spoke again and her smile brightened even more. Ugh, he was so cute too. "Thank you," she said and chuckled awkwardly, "You look cute too," she said and nodded, letting her eyes trace over him. "That vest though..." she said and chuckled again.

The vest really didn't do him any justice, but in a way, it was also very fitting. It was charming in a very dorky way which just kind of, maybe made him look cuter? Or maybe not... She wasn't entirely sure. It was kind of like one of those things that were so ugly it became cute. "Shall we?" she asked and reached her hand out for him to grab. That's what people did, right? When they were dating? Hold hands and stuff. She thought so. Wait, maybe that'd be weird?

[Tim Tawfeek]

Okay, cool, she took the flashlight. Good. Though Tim was slightly worried because she hadn't grabbed one of her own. Maybe Lux wasn't great at the whole camping thing either. Somehow, that didn't surprise Tim in the slightest. It did make him wonder what the heck they were doing out in the woods then, since he'd come to follow her.

"Yeah, it's, uh, something, isn't it?" he asked, looking down at the vest as Lux mentioned it. "At least it's got loads of pockets, which I'm kind of digging," oh God, did that sound nerdy. He still plucked at a few of the pockets, though he didn't want to reveal some of the stuff he had tucked away in them. Not like the bulges and stuff weren't going to give some things away.

Oh, hand, right! Tim totally should've offered or done that or something. Because they were dating. And dating people did that sort of thing. Tim took the offered hand and totally tried to act super casual, like he just sort of took the hands of totally awesome girls all the time. Yeah, so his thing.

She felt soft.

"Right, so this way then," he said, nodding and leading the way. He was glad that he'd headed off and found the field beforehand. though he still wasn't entirely sure it would be filled with fireflies. People swore it would, what with the flowers and all, but, well, he hadn't followed up. Tim did figure that a large flowery field at night would still be pretty neat anyway. "So, uh, enjoying the trip?" he asked, looking over at Lux. Might as well burn the few minutes it took to walk there talking to each other. Right?

[Luxanna Viera]

"It's cute, in a very dorky kind of way," she said softly and nodded, as if to reassure him. "I like all the pockets too. Must be very handy, and one wouldn't have to like, worry about bringing a purse around either." Especially since Luxanna wasn't the kind of girl who used a purse. She barely brought her phone with her when she went about, let alone anything else.

Luxanna's smile only widened when Tim finally grabbed her hand. Waiting for a second or two, she interlocked their fingers. It felt nice. Perhaps a little awkward, but still nice. She just hoped her hand wouldn't get sweaty or something. That couldn't be nice for Tim at all, and she was pretty sure the two of them could make things awkward enough as it was. It was kind of how their personalities meshed, and if anyone asked her, she thought they fit quite nicely together that way.

"Well," Luxanna shrugged and chuckled awkwardly as they walked to where ever Tim was leading them. "The forest and I don't go together well; I'm very clumsy, as you probably know and I keep falling," she said and grimaced. "But it's nice too. Getting away and stuff, right? And it's a very beautiful place too. I don't think they could have picked a better spot." She looked at him. "How about you?"

[Tim Tawfeek]

Cute; she thought he was cute, dorky, but cute, and that was enough for Tim. He definitely agreed with the pocket thing, and had even started to pat them again, only the purse thing had him wincing. "Oh, man, now I feel all emasculated and stuff. Wearing a purse on my chest or something," though, knowing Lux (and Tim did) she probably didn't mean it to be any sort of insult or anything.

Hands linked, moving down the dark, walking together. Tim made certain to avoid any roots and stuff, thankful for his power for one of the first times, like, ever. The flashlight helped too, making things about as easy going as if it had been daylight, at least, for Tim at any rate. He did pause a time or two to help Lux move around something.

"Well, at least there's like, leaves and junk to fall on here. Nice to, uh, get away too," totally a lie. Tim would much rather be hooked up to his computer right now. Okay, not now, as in walking through the woods holding Lux's hand or what have you, but in general. Not that he was about to tell Lux that: "I'm, uh, having a good time. Climbed a tree, that was kinda cool. Hung out with Evan some: he's the guy who suggested this thing," damn, he shouldn't have said that. Should've just taken credit. Too late now. "You know, the usual."

Tim guided Lux around another stump. Didn't have much further now: they could already see the clearing and, to Tim's relief, several flickering lights. "Shouldn't be too much longer. I swear they put the cabins there on purpose." Which was actually probably true, considering that, well, they did expect people to use them and all.

[Luxanna Viera]

Lifting a hand, Luxanna started waving it, almost flailing it around, "No, no, that's not what I meant!" she protested and shooked her head, quite a lot. That was not at all what she had meant, and she didn't want him to take it as such either. "You're manly, very manly like uhm..." she trailed off and frowned. What was manly anyways? A bear? But Tim wasn't like a bear. Unless it was a panda or something. "Uhm..." she said against and grimaced. "You're manly," she added with a nod.

Luxanna paid attention when Tim spoke, but also focused on not tripping over anything at all. She nodded now and then and let out an occasional 'oooh' or 'aah'. "Evan?" she asked and tapped her cheek; Nope, she had no clue who that was. Then again, she didn't think Tim knew her friends either, so that was okay too. "Well, whoever came up with this, I'm excited to see what 'it' is," she said and chuckled. "But it sounds like you had a good time and that makes me really happy." Then again, a lot of things made Luxanna happy; Tim just happened to be on top of that list, for some reason. And when he was happy too, it just made everything all the better.

She gave Tim's hand a comforting squeeze and offered him a smile, even though he probably didn't see it, with it being dark and all. Well, apart from the flashlight and stuff, but she didn't exactly direct that at her face, or his for that matter. "Cabins?" she asked and turned her head to look forward, squinting her eyes at the lights. She was even more curious now, but clearly, Tim wanted to surprise her and Luxanna didn't want to be one of those nagging girlfriends and stuff, so she wasn't going to ask. Nope, she was going to be patient instead!

"I'm really glad you came."

[Tim Tawfeek]

"No, it's cool. I totally know you didn't mean it--" said Tim, waving his hands. He practically talked over Lux, and eventually gave up as she ended with the relatively lame "you're manly." Yup, that was them: lame as can be. Just keep pushing forward; Tim kept telling himself that. Just keep swimming or something.

Lux responded almost like they'd rehearsed the conversation, which nearly made Tim laugh a few times. He still couldn't quite believe how awesome Lux was at this whole thing and all. Or, well, more accurately, how awesome Lux just was in general, though he wasn't going to get into that right now. "You should be! It'll be totally awesome," insisted Tim, nodding. At least, he really, really hoped so, considering how much he'd hyped it up by now. A comforting squeeze reminded him that this was Lux: there could be, like ,four fireflies and she'd probably still think it was awesome.

"I'm glad I came too," said Tim. "I mean, I'm glad you came. Or something. Uh, just," Tim waved a hand as they entered the clearing, "ta da! Fireflies!" and thankfully, Fate or Melusine or someone decided to be kind enough for there to actually be the glowing bugs. Not just a few, not a handful, but dozens, hundreds, possibly thousands filling the clearing. Their flickering lights bobbed over the flowers, the little flashes sometimes illuminating various buds. It almost looked like fairies hopping from flower to flower, or like someone had pulled some stars from the sky and ordered them to dance at eye level.

Tim even found himself gaping, not quite believing that he'd gotten this lucky. His hand on Lux's relaxed, which was probably a good thing, as she was probably gonna head straight for the mass of them. He even forgot that he totally had a jar on hand to do some collecting: a jar that felt so very, very inadequate now.

[Luxanna Viera]

Luxanna offered him a soft smile before nodding. She liked him when he was like this - granted, she liked him regardless - happy and excited. It suited him, and all things considered, it was really nice and comforting to witness. It made everything else fade away, with her condition and all. She was glad she had told him, though. She hadn't quite expected it all to go this well between the two of them after she did, but it was nice to finally have her mind put to ease once and for all. Tim seemed to have that effect on her and it was a nice change of pace.

She felt herself grow more and more comfortable both with him and in her own skin while being around him. She couldn't quite explain it, or anything, but he made her a better and more confident person. She had to thank him for that sometime.

She was about to open her mouth to say something, but the reveal of the clearing had her jaw muscles stopping her from doing anything at all, but turn her head. Blinking, the brunette took in the sight of the swarm of fireflies rendered her completely speechless. It was oh so very, very beautiful and just... She didn't know the words to describe it. Instead, the adaptor tugged at his hand and moved forward; She wanted to see them up close. She wanted to stand in the middle of it all and get a better view.

"Oh my god.." she whispered in a breath, her voice barely above that of a hushed whisper. "It's so... Beautiful," she breathed. She reached out her free hand into the air and a smile formed on her lips as she turned to look at Tim. "How did you know there would be so many of them?" she asked, the awe obvious in her voice, although it was low. She couldn't believe he'd actually gone out of him way to arrange this, for her.

[Tim Tawfeek]

The stunned nerd followed, albeit without thinking much about it, as his girlfriend tugged him further into the field of fireflies. They hovered about, moving in lazy patterns and giving the whole scene a very ethereal feeling. Tim couldn't help but goggle, wondering at the strange turn in his luck, or maybe just in finally trying to do something right. He had to agree with Lux's assessment: the whole place looked absolutely beautiful.

"I didn't," he admitted, not quite thinking. "People just said that this was a good place to go looking for them and, well," Tim shrugged, "I figured it would be cool."

And man, was it ever. They were practically in the middle of the field now, with the bugs flying all around them, flickering their lights on and off. Tim just found himself staring still, unable to fully process. He watched one hover, then go to land on his vest, right around where the jar was. Tim stared at it for a few seconds while its light flickered. Then it went over to Lux, touching her.

"They're cool," he said, meaning it. He nodded and then remembered what the bug had just landed on. "Right, I brought a jar," he dug it out, holding out the small thing. "But, uh, I think we'd need a bigger one if, uh, well, we don't have to, I just figured it might be neat but this..." he gestured with the other hand, turning to look, still in awe of just, well, all of it.

[Luxanna Viera]

Watching the fireflies, Luxanna followed them with her green eyes as they danced dully in the air, her eyes wide and a smile still caressing her lips. Good thing she wasn't afraid of bugs, huh? Really though, she didn't think she had ever seen something quite this beautiful before. It was such a simple, but so extraordinary thing to be a part of, and she was really glad Tim had brought her. "I don't know any words deserving for this moment," she said silently.

As he spoke again, Luxanna turned her head to look at him, "A jar?" Oh, right. To catch them. Duh. Did they even live long enough for that to come of any use? "Won't they die if they're locked up in a closed up space?" she asked. "Unless you poke holes into the lid, anyways... How long do fireflies live anyways?" There was an almost sad, yet beautiful touch to all of it.

It was still breathtaking though. It looked magical, as if they had stepped away from the real world and directly into a fairytale. Like they no longer were connected to the real world, and it felt oddly... Comforting, almost. As if nothing else mattered, except the two of them, and the fireflies. "They look like fairies," she said and gave his hand a squeeze. She wished every day could be like this. But that would have taken away the magic, right? And she wouldn't have appreciated it nearly as much as she did now.

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Tell me about it," agreed Tim, his voice still distant and distracted. He actually was distracted by the bugs, watching them and still not believing. But then jar and Lux's reaction to said jar and all that stuff.

"Well, I didn't, uh, figure we'd keep them long. I mean you could," he reached up to adjust his glasses again while he spoke, not even breaking stride, "if you wanted to. I actually have something to poke holes in the lid and junk. That's if you wanted to or anything," he fidgeted again. "I don't know if it really matters how long they live, since they're so pretty while it lasts."

Was that the right thing to say? Tim felt like he kept saying stuff like that, and he just didn't know if it was helpful or not. He felt Lux squeeze his hand, but that probably had as much to do with the "faeries" as anything else. He squeezed back, looking at her for a few moments, feeling the fireflies flash in his glasses. He looked back at the flickering fireflies. All those dancing little lights...

[Luxanna Viera]

She looked upwards, towards the dark sky and smiled at the way the fireflies' made such a huge contrast. It didn't seem fair though, that such beautiful creatures only lived for a short amount of time, assuming that they did, of course. It was almost cruel. "Yeah," she said, "I guess you're right." She turned her head to look at him and smiled. "I'd love that." Who wouldn't want a jar filled with fireflies, anyways? If anything, they didn't have to keep them in there for long.

"Thank you," she added. She felt that was needed, and she would say it as many times as it felt necessarily, because Luxanna couldn't think of anyone, ever, having done something quite this awesome for her before. It was such an amazing gesture and it touched her in ways she couldn't even begin explaining. It almost made her want to tear up, though, she wasn't going to. She didn't want to freak him out, as Tim was prone to doing. "This is really amazing."

It took her a few deep breaths to calm down though and press the growing tears away.

"How many do you think there is?" she asked as she looked around. She started counting them, but the way they kept flying around and flickering, she quickly lost count.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Cool, she'd love it. He'd totally scored. Tim felt like doing a little dance of celebration but, well, it didn't really fit the mood or anything. The soft, twinkling lights of the countless fireflies didn't really suit doing whoops or dances of joy or anything like that. No, it definitely called for peaceful hand holding and...

and stuff that definitely made Tim shift uncomfortably. "Hey, it's no problem, really. And it is kinda amazing," he nodded and looked around again, then shifted, mostly grabbing the jar and all. However, as he did, he heard her question. Tim looked up at the various flickering bugs.

"I have no idea," he admitted, laughing lightly. Tim had to reach up to readjust his glasses, or, well, he felt like he had to, while his eyes continued to sweep the area. "Ten thousand? More? I dunno, more than I'd care to count..." he smiled and looked over at Lux. He held the jar up. "Want to give catching a few a shot? Or did you just wanna maybe stare some more? It's definitely--" he paused, because a few fireflies had hovered about Lux's face. The lights almost seemed to make her glow a bit, flashing between moonlight and bug-light. It showed her face, the fine features, and Tim thought he saw a few trickling tears. he also thought he saw some sort of glow thing that made her look like an angel.

Which made him think of other things. "Or I could. Or we wouldn't have to," said Tim, shrugging, trying to make things as comfortable as possible.