It's Only a Model

[Gabriela Moreau]

Gabriela watched Tim try to justify his line of questioning with a smirk. Her dark brown eyes glinted with a faint hint of amusement. "You totally were!" She exclaimed with a laugh, reaching across the table in order to give him a playful shove to Tim's shoulder. "I knew it." Her head shook a bit but the smirk never wavered. "You were totally trying to validate my nerd cred." Yes, Gabriela found the entire situation terribly amusing. "You're playing a dangerous game, though, Tim." She continued, warning him with mock seriousness. "I'm not one of those stupid girls who puts on a pair of glasses and holds an XBox controller while taking selfies for Instagram."

Oh, but then Tim had an idea. Gabriela's head canted to the side just a bit as she thought something over. "Yes. Do that." She said, referring to his facetious suggestion to continue his attempt to put the model together while his fingers were still stuck together. "I'll take the video with my phone and you can try to use your pinkies to keep working on this." She gave a little giggle and peered up to Tim. She was a geek, sure, but she was still a girl and girls sometimes giggled. "It'll probably be a more flattering video than the one of you and the glider." Oh yes, she had seen it. Everyone at the school that knew what YouTube was had seen that.

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Ugh, Instagram is the devil," came out of Tim before he could really stop it. He wrinkled his nose, feeling his stomach turn slightly just thinking about it. Not like he hadn't heard the rest of what Gabriela had to say, heard it and vaguely processed it as further proof of his ability to make himself look like a moron. Tim just had his priorities, and openly mocking Instagram for the complete waste of space it happened to be ranked fairly high on Tim's priorities.

The suggestion that followed had him chuckling though. "Ugh, man that video," said Tim, shaking his head. "I don't know what's worse: the fact that everyone saw it, or the fact that I actually had to go up to the guy who made the glider later and be all like 'man, I'm totally sorry I ran away from the glider.' That was one conversation I definitely don't want to have again," though Tim hadn't really managed to have a decent conversation with Karl since then. The guy seemed to have more or less disappeared. Well, what could you do?

Tim looked back down at the model. Then, for kicks and giggles, he leaned forward slightly, extending his pinkies. They prodded at the cockpit, and Tim even managed to twist and move a few pieces into better positions. "Hey, maybe I could actually do this. Might be some kind of freaky side effect of my whole bat--" and then a piece fell off. "Or not."

[Gabriela Moreau]

Gabriela chuckled at Tim's obvious disdain for InstaGram. Sure, she had one, what eighteen year old girl didn't? But she didn't care for it much and there was only a handful of pictures posted to it. Nothing of interest and the last was probably a year ago, though. "My, such hate for a pointless program." She replied playfully. "Do you similarly despise Facebook, Snapchat, and Kik?" Yes, she also had all three of those as well, even though she couldn't say why. She barely even touched Facebook and had never used the other two. If anything, she drew amusement out of the petty, pointless things many people of her and Tim's ilk seemed to hold so much hate and vitriol for.

"I think the fact that everyone saw you scream like a girl is probably worse." Gabriela couldn't help but stifle a little laugh. She didn't want to poke fun at Tim, she hardly knew him, but he did have a certain intensity about him that just begged to be made fun of. He took himself far too seriously, in Gabriela's estimation, it'd do him good to take some things with a grain of salt once in a while. "I mean, how many hits did that video get?" She knew it was a lot. "At least it didn't end up on one of those stupid video clip shows that air at, like, two in the morning."

Gabriela's brow furrowed as Tim started trying to manipulate the model. She didn't quite have the early bout of confidence in his capacity to make progress as he had and when the piece fell off her head shook. "No, no." She said, stifling another laugh as she reached out to place her hand over his. "Just stop." She advised, smirking into Tim's face. "You'll end up making it worse."

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Snapchat's annoying and all, but it lacks the pretentiousness of Instagram,' Tim was also tempted to mention that Instagram had technically banned him from it. He happened to have accounts on all the other sites. Actually, he had a few Facebook accounts, as he often sent himself notifications for games and the like. And a MySpace account, and a Google Plus account. And a few others.

Which also meant that he'd seen the responses to his video from nearly every possible channel. "Eh, it got a ton of hits. Clearly I need to try and make another one, possibly with just a bit more manliness. Or just give up and get a cute animal," which wasn't a horrible idea, now that Tim thought of it. His power did involve communicating with an animal after all. How better to use the internet than have videos of his working with a bat or whatever?

Back to the model. It seemed like Gabriela had good advice, even touched him and all. Tim was at least partially inoculated to girl-touch by now, as he did have a quasi-relationship and all. "I guess," said Tim, setting back and sighing. "I just really want to finish it. I don't have much longer to go, after all," he pointed at the box, studying it for a few moments. Yeah, he'd perfectly matched it. Thing would look awesome when it was finally finished.

[Gabriela Moreau]

Gabriela shrugged, she never cared much for social media, which she knew separated her at least in a small way from many other girls (and most guys) her age. "I dunno. It's all pretentious and self serving, if you ask me." She rolled her eyes. "I mean, yeah, it's great to keep track of what my friends and family are doing back home and all that but people take it way too seriously." Her head shook as she folded her arms across her chest. "Like all the stupid quasi-political and supposedly socially aware posts on Facebook and crap." She scrunched her nose in disdain. "Like, how can someone be so dense to think a picture posted on Facebook counts as anything relevant to the grand scheme of things?" Perhaps Gabriela was a touch jaded when it came to such things but she obviously wasn't concerned with that. The posts in which she spoke of were the main reasons she avoided most social media unless she was really, really bored.

With a short sigh, Gabriela then turned her full attention back to the model in progress. She looked it over again and, after she'd pulled her hand away from Tim's, plucked one of the yet unused pieces from the table and looked it over. "You're pretty good at this." She commented, not daring to touch the portions that Tim had already finished. She wasn't a klutz or terribly uncoordinated, but with anything that had to do with art or crafts in any way she just seemed to lack the touch. "What's your next project once you finish this one?" She asked, her eyes curiously shifting up to Tim.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Wow, and Tim thought he sounded kinda hipster from time to time. This girl took the glasses and then just slowly walked right to the nearest all organic coffee shop. All the bashing talk about the social media sounded right out of the Hipster Bible (which, admittedly, Tim could recite from time to time). "I dunno, I like to keep track of stuff. Plus my farm's at, like, level two hundred by now."

Tim's eyes widened for a moment, as if that was obviously the greatest accomplishment that could possibly be possible. His latest accomplishment still sat mostly assembled on the table, and it looked like Gabriela was examining it yet again.

"Lots of practice," said Tim, shrugging, "ain't no thang," which it obviously was. he nodded, "I've got a few others and junk. I don't really have as many as I'd probably like, since they only give you so much dorm space and I've got the massive computer stuff and all. I'm just in between editing and stuff," Tim shrugged. He really didn't want to go into detail. Online life had gotten... messy of late.

[Gabriela Moreau]

Gabriela shrugged again. It wasn't as though she was vehemently against the existence of social media and most of her friends were active on various sites and with the apps they had on their phones, but she never saw it as something she'd get too into. It would have to be another thing her and Tim would have to agree to disagree upon. She shrugged off the topic and focused her attention on the model as Tim spoke of it.

"You could always start hanging them from the ceiling if you run out of space." She chuckled lightly, though, and stood straight, her eyes shifting to look to Tim. "Unless you've already started doing that." She smirked. Yes, Tim seemed like the type that would have Star Wars and Star Trek models hanging by string from his ceiling arranged in some mock battle scene between the two beloved sci-fi franchises. She stifled a small giggle at the thought. She didn't know why she found that so amusing.

"Oh, yeah." Gabriela's brow furrowed at the mention of the 'internet thing'. She didn't care for Facebook but she had kept up on the online dirt slinging that pertained to the school. She supposed she understood, now, why trashy daytime talk shows were so popular. There was something oddly fascinating about it all. She was aided by the fact that she was so dreadfully mundane she'd never be a part of any rumor mill's plans, but it was entertaining when you were on the outside looking it. "I saw that." She shrugged a little, her arms coming to fold across her chest as she went to look back to the model. "Hate to say it Tim, but that was kind of a dick move." But she wasn't one to judge, not really. There was something to be said for the disconnect of not knowing the people affected by things. "Didn't you get the crap kicked out of you for that?" She frowned, though, at that. She'd didn't really agree with that sort of reaction but, hey, she hadn't been the one who people were talking about.

[Tim Tawfeek]

"I've actually tried that a few times. Problem is that I keep ending up hanging from the ceiling and sleeping..." said Tim, though he trailed off toward the end. Oh, how he just loved that particular side effect of his power. Some people just got to be uncomfortable every now and then. Some just had to eat. Tim? Tim got to sleep upside down.

It was like his whole life was lame.

Soon he was wincing as the whole rumor mill thing got brought up. He was slightly surprised that some random would call it a dick move. He'd mentioned the girl, like, twice, and it had definitely gotten blown out of proportion. Plus: "Yeah, though apparently that wasn't good enough,' mumbled Tim darkly. No, he had to get routinely bashed and humiliated for, like, a five second mention of her during a vlog. Which had to be the stupidest thing he'd ever heard of. he should've just gone back and edited it out, but hat felt like betrayal.

Ugh, this whole thing just sucked now. Tim looked back down at his fingers, still technically together. He gave them a few tugs and was pleased to find stuff giving way. Grinning, he pulled slowly, only to let out a loud "yeeeeeouch" as it finally separated, given him two separate, but very sore fingers to wave in the air.

[Gabriela Moreau]

If Gabriela wasn't an eighteen year old girl capable of manifesting and manipulating fire at a whim she probably would've been struck by Tim's admission of ended up sleeping while hanging from the ceiling far more than she was. Even then, it was still a strange thing to hear. "Okay, you gotta tell me how that works." She said, not really one to pry into people's personal affairs, or anything, but even she had to admit curiosity on this one. "I mean, you just wake up in the morning or the middle of the night and you're hanging from the ceiling?" She chuckled lightly though, that would certainly be a sight to see.

"Eh, well..." Gabriela started then frowned. It was obvious this was among the things Tim didn't seem to wish to discuss and while, yes, she did have an opinion on the entire debacle, she also saw both sides of the coin so she was decidedly NOT anti-Tim, even though she did feel he crossed the line in mentioning the girl. Gabriela's opinion probably resided somewhere in the middle. "I don't think you should've gotten beat up for it." She said, her voice taking on a slightly softer, more somber tone. Ironic that someone with such a destructive power abhorred violence as much as Gabriela. She glanced to Tim with a bit of a sympathetic eye and shrugged faintly. She would be glad to let the topic die from here.

Thankfully, Tim began to pull his fingers apart in a very loud, and probably painful manner to break the silence before it could get awkward. She pulled away and cringed as she watch the glue give way. "Geezus that looked like it hurt." She uttered, her eyes shifting up to Tim. "You alright?" She asked quietly.

[Tim Tawfeek]

"That's mostly it: wake up and find that, like, my legs are draped over something, usually a fan or whatever, or, like, my feet have claws sunk into the ceiling. Those are the ones that really bite," Tim winced just thinking about it. He'd actually lost toenails like that. And if you thought getting a bucket of water tossed at you or something was a horrible way to wake up, try waking up to find that one of your toenails was being ripped from your body. Thank God for healers.

Though most of those healers couldn't do much for Tim's ego or online presence. He totally intended to rebuild it and stuff: he just needed to talk to the right people, get the right stuff together. Wasn't like he didn't have people funding him or whatever. Definitely something he could manage.

just like he'd managed to finally, and with Gabs' help, get his fingers free. He still kept waving them, eventually bringing them up to blow at them. "Yeah, I think, like, there's no blood or anything," he held up the fingers, wiggling them a bit to show Gabs. They did look inflamed, darker and definitely unpleasant, but as Tim said: no blood. He gave them another wave. "Definitely not an experience I'd care to repeat though: I'll tell you that." He gave them another wave before sticking them in his mouth, because that obviously made everything better. He then looked over at Gabs, nodding.

"So thanks," he managed, talking around the hands, which mostly muffled, well, everything.

[Gabriela Moreau]

Gabriela's brow furrowed as Tim spoke. Not so much at the bizarre nature of his mutant powers' manifestation (at least, that's what she assumed), but sort of in a knowing, curious that she'd found someone who's apparent power sucked just as much as hers did kind of way. She nodded slowly, if only Tim knew how much anxiety and frustration her own power gave her as well. The girl's eyes turned upward in contemplation as she visibly debated saying anything for a couple seconds before shrugging, and going to speak.

"Yeah, I know, sort of what you mean." She said, nodding once more. It was nice to see she hadn't been the only one who got the shaft when it came to her powers. "I didn't exactly win the genetic mutation lottery either." Oh, sure, her ability was cool and all to some people but what good was it when it happened to be the one thing you were most terrified of. "I mean, I guess my power's pretty cool, to some people but..." No, Gabriela wasn't really buying it. Her power sucked worse than suck had ever sucked. "Well, I'm a pyrokinetic." She explained, turning her attention now fully to Tim. There was something disarming about the boy, something she felt she could trust and that was comforting. "But I've been absolutely terrified of fire since I could remember." She offered a sympathetic shrug. Maybe their situations were different in many ways, but Gabriela did know what it was like to feel like her mutant abilities were more burden than blessing.

Tim's newly freed and confirmed okay fingers, though, were enough to bring out another bright smile from the petite girl. Dark brown eyes glinted warmly as they peered up toward Tim. "Oh, it's no problem." She said, offering a dismissive wave of her hand. "You wanna keep this?" She asked, holding up the still half full bottle of nail polish remover. "Just in case? I've got, like, a case back in my room so, it's no big deal." She said with a short laugh.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim cocked his head slightly as Gabs explained. He started to ask what she meant when she said she got it, only to find silent as she explained. Pyrokinesis, which of course he immediately said had to be cool, though she immediately followed it by admitting that she had a terrifying fear of fire. Tim chuckled at that, "Man, that does suck. You gotta wonder sometimes if someone's just fucking with us," Tim felt like that all too often, especially with the way things had gone of late. Sometimes felt like he was just Fate's plaything or whatever.

It sucked.

Though at least he had things more or less together for the moment. Gabs seemed cool with things. "Aw, man, now I gotta make one of those decisions. Do I dare chance looking all feminine and crap?" He paused for a moment, before holding out his hand for it. "I just can't take the chance that I'll end up gluing my hand to my forehead or something."

Or that someone would find him and stick him in that position because it would be "funny."

[Gabriela Moreau]

No, Gabriela didn't think carrying around a bottle of nail polish remover was very manly either but she had a solution that might, at least, remedy that somewhat. "Oh, yeah." She said with scornful chuckle directed toward an unseen force while she dug a nail into the edge of the bottle's label. "Someone is definitely fucking with me. Like some twisted Master tugging at our strings like we're no more than marionettes being pranced across a stage in some sick display for everyone's amusement." Okay, so maybe she was being a touch melodramatic but if Tim could do it, why couldn't she?

"There!" Gabriela said with an approving nod once the sticky labels on both sides of the bottle had been removed. It was now safe to be handed off to Tim. "Just write 'acetone' or something on it and you get to keep your man card." Her eyes shone as they turned upward toward Tim. Sure he was a little more cynical than she was normally and had a bit of a curmudgeonly way about him, but there was a certain kinship she felt for him already. The phrase 'ich bin ein nerd' came to mind. While she may not have agreed with some of the things Tim had said on his vlog, the fact remained they were still a part of a much maligned social group. Nerds and geeks had to stay together.

Of course, Gabriela was probably reading far too much into a brief encounter. Not wanting to get caught staring, lest Tim think she was hitting on him or something, Gabriela turned her eyes back down toward the model. "You know." She started slowly, not quite sure how to approach the subject that had shifted to the forefront of her mind. "If you ever find yourself in need of another set of hands or someone to bounce creative ideas off of for your next video or project..." Her eyes, once more, slid upward to look at Tim. "Let me know. I've always loved doing stuff like that."

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim could totally understand the whole feeling like someone was pulling the strings. Was even a bit of a comfortable thought, given how much shit it seemed like they had to wade through. So there was mostly nodding on his part.

"Alright, I guess that works," said Tim, sighing. He still had a feeling that someone was going to figure that out and he'd have to endure slugging through some kinda awkward explanation of things. He didn't want to overthink it or anything like that. He now had something that could potentially stop him from embarrassing himself in the future, which was nothing but a benefit.

"I'll totally end up looking you up for that," he replied, nodding. "I'm planning on relaunching with a whole new channel and image and stuff," he gestured with his free hand, "get some more positive stuff out. Gotta get a new online profile together and set things up first, so it'll be a bit," Tim nodded again. Then he gave Gabs a little wave,e again with the free hand.

"right, so I'm gonna head out. Catch ya around. Probably online first though, 'cuz that's where I usually am," he let out a laugh, gave one last wave and nod, and then headed out.

[Gabriela Moreau]

Gabriela smiled a bit as Tim took the bottle of nail polish remover. Sure, he sighed, but at least he was now in possession of something that could, potentially, prevent anything like the debacle they'd just gotten through from happening again. Or, at least, make it easier for him to get out of it. Maybe one day she'd let him in on all the other uses the liquid in the bottle had beyond removing nail polish. Although she doubted Tim would really be excited to hear he had a perfect solution to safely remove leeches in his hand. No, too girly. She instantly shoved that idea away the moment it popped into her head. "Yeah, it's cool." She said with a touch of awkwardness in her voice. "If you need more, I have a ton, so... yeah..." Smooth, Gabriela. Real smooth.

The petite brunette's eyes gleamed as it sounded like Tim was receptive to letting her lend a hand here and there with whatever new projects he had going. Past transgressions (which she still felt Tim had paid a much to harsh penalty for) aside, Gabriela loved working with many of the things Tim found himself doing. The tentative possibility of assisting was met with an enthusiastic nod. "Yeah. That sounds great." She then lifted a hand and gave a short wave in return. "Okay." She said, smiling, as Tim went to leave. "Hope your fingers feel better."

There was a brief pause then Gabriela jumped as if she was poked. "Oh!" She hurried to the couch where she'd kept the small backpack she carried in lieu of a purse and dug around until she produced a pad of sticky notes and a pen. "Before I forget." She hastily scrawled something onto the top not and pulled it off the stack before dropping it, and the pen back into the pack. "Before you leave, here." She trotted back to Tim and handed over the small, neon pink paper square with her cell phone number written on it in black ink. "Shoot me a message or something if you need a hand, brainstorm, whatever." She gave a shrug. She wasn't sure what Tim had planned but whatever it was it'd probably be interesting, to say the least.