Not Gone Batty

[Tim Tawfeek]

So it turned out that there was a downside to having a pet bat. Go figure. The concept sounded cool, especially considering that Tim could actually talk to bats. It was one of those powers that he really didn't get to use everyday after all. Hell, most days he felt more or less like a normal person who just happened to be stuck in a wheelchair.

But he had a pet bat. Her name was Furby and she had a tendency to get insanely jealous over Tim's girlfriend and do stupid things like flying into the auditorium.

So Tim wheeled himself into the large room, looking up at the impressive ceiling. "I clearly did not think this through," he mumbled. Tim reached up to push his glasses up as he tilted further back in his wheelchair. The high ceilings of the auditorium meant that there were a lot of rafters for a bat to go hiding in. Making matters worse: the place was dark, and he was looking for a bat.

"Well, not like I get that many excuses to use the echolocation thing," Tim admitted. He cleared his throat, tilted his head up, and just started letting out sonar pulses when the lights flicked on.

Tim jumped in his chair, the bat-call turning into a curse as he turned about, trying to see why the lights had suddenly flipped on when they did.

[Ryan Alexander]

"Ah. I see. Someone's in here." Ryan's eyes adjusted from the dark to the light, wondering to herself why she'd switched them on in the first place as she glared at them for a moment before realization dawned on her. She hit her palm gently on her forehead with a chuckle.

"Right. Wanted to see who the hell was in here." She rolled her eyes and looked back at the person who'd she'd been curious about. Someone had mentioned someone in the auditorium as Ryan herself was going there. She liked hanging in the auditorium. So much metal all in one place. It made her feel more powerful. Like she could take on anything she tackled. As she walked up to where the guy was, she realized something. He was in a wheelchair. Huh. Okay, he certainly wasn't posing a threat either. Not because she thought those in wheelchairs couldn't hurt people, but because she was a friggin' metal manipulator. This was a non-issue.

"What the hell you doing in here?" If there was one thing Ryan was, it was blunt and honest.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Oh great, a scary gothic looking chick. Were this the Tim from a year or so ago, he'd probably be thinking she was pretty hot in that scary, never going to happen sort of way. Now he was mostly leaning on the whole scary thing. Had to be extra careful when you were dealing with mutants, after all. Several of the ones that went all Gothic and dark did so because they had scary ass powers.

Then again, maybe she just liked the look and she turned into a lemur.

"Well, looks like I'm in here," Tim offered, gesturing. He thought he heard some fluttering overhead and looked up for a moment. He couldn't quite see anything, but he kept his attention focused up there for now, though he did have to keep giving the Goth a few looks.

"And it's not like this place isn't wide open for us to roam around in," he pointed out. Tim nodded and gestured toward the ceiling. "My pet bat got loose. She's flapping around up there somewhere, being all pissy. Figured I'd try and see if I could talk her down or something." Hey, it was the truth. The fluttering happened again, and Tim once more jerked his attention back. Maybe he should try the echolocation thing again. couldn't hurt...

[Ryan Alexander]

"You have a pet bat? That's...unorthodox but cool. Just your regular variety cute brown bat, or one of those dangerous types like the vampire bat?" Ryan loved animals, and that extended to the ones that many people would think were creepy. She was also very fascinated by types of spiders and snakes.

"I'd offer to help you get her, but I'm not sure I'd be particularly helpful. I don't have animal communication. And while this auditorium is full of it, manipulating metal won't be terribly helpful either. But you seem okay. And if you have a pet bat, that means that an animal likes you so I'm okay with you too. Animals are extremely good judges of character after all. There's always exceptions to the rules of course though, so I look forward to seeing the bat once she decides to come down. Wait...she?" A girl bat.

"If the female bat is the only female in your life at the moment, I'm totally calling you Man-Bat. Because he's totally the lamest villain in my opinion."

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Well, I kind of talk to them, so it make some sense in context,' Tim managed in between the girl's long spouts of conversation. She certainly could hold a conversation nearly on her own, couldn't she? And somehow he couldn't say he was surprised that the very gothic looking girl found bats cool. He was willing to bet that she liked spiders and secretly wished she drank blood or something.

And no, he wasn't thinking that was hot or anything. That would be wrong. No, instead he was focusing on how she was sort of not really offering to help him get to the bat. "Well, at least your power's more useful in general," Tim offered, waving a hand. "All I can pretty much do is talk to bats and--" He sighed, using the gestured hand to massage at the bridge of his nose. "No, I have a girlfriend. Though my online handle is batman."

Tim looked up again, peering toward the rafters. He thought he saw some movement. If he was alone, he'd double-check with a quick shot of echolocation or something. But since he was with someone... "You see something moving up there?" he asked, pointing. "And you're looking for a little brown one. She's actually kind of khaki, tannish," since everyone always seemed to think that bats were black, for some reason...

[Ryan Alexander]

"Aww...a little brown bat then. They're really sweet." Ryan's eyes kind of lit up as she looked in the rafters. Not literal light. Just happiness.

"When I was a little kid, a worker stumbled across a little brown bat. It wasn't hurt, just dazed. And I got to hold it. Its fur was so soft." Maybe people would think she was the stereotypical goth girl who liked bats, but she had actual reason for liking them. They were really cute. She didn't find them creepy. Same with spiders and snakes. They were cute as well.

"You can talk the animal down. All I can do is bring down the building in an attempt to bring her back down here." She quirked up an eyebrow with a smirk, crossing her arms.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Anyone calling Furby sweet probably hadn't met her. She was, in fact, a little dim and kind of mean. However, she was also very much Tim's, and he happened to have the sort of attachment to her that you got to animals that you ended up taking care of for whatever reason. So he simply kept looking while Ryan mentioned that.

"They really aren't that bad," he said, "bats, I mean. Like, you always think that they're going to be creepy or something because of cartoons and Batman and shit. But they're kind of adorable when you actually get to see one."

Even Furby, who was still kind of dumb. Tim wheeled forward, trying to get into a better position. He technically could use his echolocation thing even with the lights on. Might have to close his eyes though...

"Hey, my power's one of those creepy specific ones," he said, tilting his head to look over his shoulder. "You just need a bit of metal. I need a freakin' bat." Tim looked back up, then adjusted. "Well, not for everything," he then closed his eyes and let out the strange noise, knowing that it had to sound really damn weird to someone else's ears.

[Ryan Alexander]

"I make a habit of not judging anyone if I can help it. It's a different case if they judge me first, but otherwise I don't like to. Same goes for animals. At the end of the day, they're animals. And there are good animals and bad animals, same as people. But they are cute." She smiled slightly. When he spoke about his power being specific, she laughed. Then he demonstrated and her eyes widened.

"That's wicked cool. You can speak bat. Like...that's really cool. Your bat...is probably a whole lot less dangerous than my power. Having more power means more danger that I'm in. My power manifested in a kitchenware section. Lots of knives, man. Lots and lots of knives. And I manipulate metal and can sometimes pull it to myself. And I had a steel piercing in my ear at the time." She winced at the memory.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim nodded. Not a bad habit to have, the whole not judging until people judged first thing. Of course, was a bit easier when you were a white chick but hey, he wasn't going to bring it up if she didn't. Plus, she was mostly talking about people, but about bats, and he definitely had to nod along there.

Not so much talking, mostly because once he got in bat mode, well, talking was a little more difficult. He let out another little echoing chirp, feeling the various shapes bounce back. He swallowed hard, looking back at the girl, focusing, and he still ended up squeaking before saying words. He brought a hand up to his mouth, coughed into it, and then shook himself slightly.

"That sucks," he said, nodding, "but it's still a pretty cool power when you learn it. I can, like, do bat stuff..." he shrugged, then turned. "I thought I saw something in the corner. Well, 'saw,'" he raised his hands for the air quotes, then peered into the corner he'd thought he'd seen the shape, "you see anything?" 'cuz obviously Tim's eyesight wasn't the best, and that was before the bat thing.

[Ryan Alexander]

"It can be cool. I poured paint over myself accidentally the other day though. Was trying to use my powers to get a metal paint can off a shelf for Erika. Didn't work out so well. Ended up looking just like a Jackson Pollack painting. While I respect the guy's risks with art, it wasn't a risk I wanted to take with my college uniform." She laughed. Then she walked towards the corner he indicated. It was a dark corner. She put a hand up and concentrated on one of the light sockets and beams, gently bending it towards the dark corner. There was a flapping and she jumped back.

"Yeah there's definitely something there. I think I might've made her not so happy by shining that light in her face...sorry about that."

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim chuckled a little at the image. Though it did seem to make sense, very much like something that he could see Erika Bellefonte doing. He'd only had limited interaction with the woman, mostly dealing with her asking him and his for favors setting stuff up, but he could definitely see it.

His attentions were mostly focused up, looking for the bat. Ryan said she saw something, and that the light disturbed it. "Yeah, that's what I was worried about," Tim admitted. He wheeled a few feet closer to where he'd seen the shape, peering up. It still looked like something was there. Tim cleared his throat, letting out another loud noise. Yep, definitely a bat shape among all the rest.

Tim then worked and did a little trill like some kind of performer before turning back. "Think you could hit the lights? It's not that dark in here without them, and it should be easier to start coaxing her out," though Tim still didn't have an idea of how to go about accomplishing that.

[Ryan Alexander]

She walked to the light switch and turned it off.

"If you say so. But I'm not helping. I can't see in the dark, and I don't have freaky bat talk to help me see either." Although she could probably use her metal radar to help her see. But then she wouldn't be concentrating on anything else very well and she'd have a headache. That was always a real drag.

"I think I blinded the poor little thing with those lights. I hope she's okay."

[Tim Tawfeek]

The lights went off, and Tim had to squint. He could feel his own eyesight adjusting, and he just kept blinking, knowing full well. "Everyone can a little," he argued as Ryan insisted that people couldn't see in the dark. He could do so better than some, even with his glasses. Of course, this wasn't going to stop Tim from cheating.

Which he did now: letting out a batlike squeak again, reorienting himself on the bat-shape in the far distance. He heard some fluttering back, and he had to sigh, lowering his head and rubbing his hands over it. Only Furby would...

Tim coughed, turning to look to Ryan again. He opened his mouth, and squeaks came out. This resulted in his pausing to mumble curses which started as squeaks and ended as English. Then he nodded and looked up at her. "She's kind of angry at you, and she's wondering why I'm with yet another girl. So, uh, you want to sort of talk at her and act like you're apologizing? Please?" Tim knew it sounded stupid but, well, Furby wasn't exactly known for being bright. Jealous, yes, but definitely not bright.

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan arched an eyebrow and chuckled at Tim. She looked up at where she thought the bat was.

"Not sure what you think of me, but sorry. I'm just talking to him. And I'd probably leave soon after if you would just come down. Honestly, I'm not hitting on him. He isn't my type. I tend to like my own gender. You even have a better shot." She shrugged, and smiled apologetically.

"Kind of funny that she can give you so much hell for talking to another girl. Would it be cliche to say your girlfriend has a hell of a wingwoman?"

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim had to almost laugh as Ryan explained things. He would have the luck to run into one of the other lesbians on the campus. As far as he knew, he'd run into every single one of them of late. There had to be some kind of record there. If he didn't already have a girlfriend, Tim would probably blame his poor luck.

Of course, it really didn't matter: Furby couldn't understand human any more than most humans could understand her. She fluttered and shifted, moving so that she could sort of be seen tucked against the shadows. Her light brown body and large ears did make her an easy enough target, and she nudged forward, letting out a few squeaks.

"Actually, she hates my girlfriend too," Tim admitted, laughing dryly, "though Lux doesn't know that," he looked up at the bat, taking another deep breath before calling up, insisting that Ryan had apologized and that she wasn't interested in the bat because she liked other female humans. There was a chatter that followed which had Tim burying his head in his lap. How exactly was he supposed to explain homosexuality to a bat?