A Thousand Hugs from Ten Thousand Lightning Bugs

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Yeah, of course," said Tim, laughing a little. "I'd probably be there so often that bats would show up." Which was probably true. It did seem that Tim had this knack for attracting the critters, and he wasn't entirely certain that had anything to do with his actual power. He didn't want to think about it overmuch. Instead, he just wanted to try and use it to get the bats coming this way. This gang did start diving down and attacking the fireflies, which kinda sucked and would so ruin the mood.

"Uh, probly not quite that nice,' said Tim, looking over his shoulder to Lux first. "And I'm sorry if I end up chirping at you. Gotta try and interrupt the buffet," he turned back and waved his arms. Soon more of the strange noises came out of Tim while he yelled at the critters. Most of them stopped eating and feasting and suddenly became a lot more interested in the human. They could feast any night: they couldn't find people all that often. They swirled and dove for a bit, proving to be surprisingly graceful for bats.

Tim had to keep yelling though, making sure they knew that the bugs were off limits. he then introduced himself and Lux, though he had to use "mate" for her, since that was the closest concept they'd understand. There was some gesturing involved too, which they seemed to pick up on, more or less. "They," he said, his voice a little screechy. He coughed and looked back, "they are a little more wild then the last group. Anything you wanted to, like, say or---" Tim paused though, mostly as he realized that a few bats had started moving to eat again, only to be stopped by a smaller one, and now it looked like they were attacking the little guy/girl or something...

[Luxanna Viera]

Furrowing her brows, Luxanna looked as the bats started eating the fireflies. She knew it was normal, but it didn't make it any less harder to see. Dropping her gaze, she stared at her hands instead. Simply nodding, Luxanna shifted uncomfortably, quickly regretting that she had asked him to bring the bats closer, though, as Tim started using his ability again, Luxanna noticed that the feast seemed to come to an end, and relieved, she sighed as she lifted her gaze once more.

Stepping closer to Tim, Luxanna reached her hand out, curling her fingers around the hem of his shirt. She'd rather not have the wild bats go Indiana Jones on them, and somehow, it felt much safer standing closer to Tim since he was the only one who could control them -- at least to some degree.

When he paused however, Luxanna lifted her gaze again, her green eyes narrowing. "Can't you make them stop? Or tell the bat to come here?" she asked, her voice filled with worry. "Tell it to come down," she said again, looking at Tim. Furrowing her brows, she bit her lower lip again. Man, she'd never forgive herself if the bat got hurt because she was curious.

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Already on it," said Tim, half meaning it too. He'd certainly turned around and stated squeaking, waving his arms. The bats back closer to the school had grown used to the giant human who could sound like them from time to time. Their familiarity had built up some kind of resistance his abilities and efforts. This group, however, found the giant squeaking human to be utterly terrifying. Deciding that they'd had quite enough, they all started flying away in panic.

All except for the one. It had been wounded somehow, and without the other bats to hold it up, it began falling. Tim realized this and dashed forward, diving hard onto the grass and managing to catch it, if just barely. He was also fairly certain that he'd done a little more damage, as he pulled the creature to his chest and moved about. It struggled a bit more.

"I think..." he said, panting and turning to look up at Lux, feeling decidedly winded. "That the little guy or girl not sure which, is a little injured right now..." Tim shifted to get a look at them, lifting a wing and frowning. "Might just be best to put them out of their misery now..."

[Luxanna Viera]

Everything that happened after, happened rather quickly, and before Luxanna really had much chance to react or snap out of her dumbfounded state, the bats were already on their way, and the little one they had seemingly tried attacking was dashing towards the ground. Luckily, Tim seemed to be quick enough at reacting to catch it, and when he did, Luxanna skipped over to them with her lips pressed into a thin line.

Frowning, she looked from the bat, to Tim and back at the bat again. "A little injured can be healed," she said, reaching her hands out for the bat. They couldn't just kill it without knowing, right? What if it was something that would heal itself, or something they could fix? And the whole 'putting it out of its misery because it was a little hurt' didn't sit quite right with her, but of course, since this was Lux, she didn't say anything about it.

Once she managed to get a hold of the bat from Tim, the brunette sat down in the grass with the tiny creature in her lap. "We can't just kill it," she said, her voice meek, barely above that of a whisper. It was in times like this she wished she had a more useful ability, or like, if her blood could somehow be transfused to other people and beings and thus like... Like.. Work the same way for them as it did for her, just for a short amount of time. Running the tip of her finger slowly down the bat's belly, Luxanna sighed. "Right?"

[Tim Tawfeek]

Only as Lux spoke did Tim realize how very stupid he'd been a few seconds ago. He loosened his grip on the bat, who let out another squeak that he actually recognized as being somewhat thankful. He looked at it for a moment, wondering where the heck he'd managed to find a polite bat, then looked at Lux.

Can't just kill it... "Uh, right," he said, blinking. He reached up with his other hand to push up his glasses before looking back down. He licked his lip. "I, uh, well, I've ---" he bobbed his head for a moment, "okay, I've never actually tried to take care of, like anything. I was more the kinda kid that threw---I mean, I just wasn't good at it. Pet fish died and everything," said Tim, chuckling. He reached down, carefully adjusting the bat. It said a lot about how hurt the little creature was that they didn't move in the slightest, just looking up at Tim.

"It, uh, they, their wing, it looks like it's in pretty bad shape..." Tim trailed off, frowning, looking at it. He looked at Lux. "Did you, uh, want to try and, I dunno, nurse it back to health or something?" he lifted it up. "Or, well, I guess we could, uh, try doing it together, maybe?" Tim really didn't have a clue what he should be saying or doing now. They were so far off script that it was all improvisation from here.

[Luxanna Viera]

Furrowing her brows, she nodded as Tim spoke. That actually made quite a lot of sense, really, considering his previous reaction. Unlike Tim, Luxanna had always been the type to take in strays; Birds that flew into windows and the like. She had never taken care of a bat, but she refused to give up hope yet. There had to be something that they could do, right? "There has to be something-- I mean like, we can't just give up without trying..." she said lowly, narrowing her eyes as a sigh fell from her lips.

She really hoped it wasn't too badly hurt. Maybe he was right though? Maybe putting it out of its misery was the best thing to do? But somehow, this whole ordeal felt... Personal. Like, just because something was hopeless, they shouldn't just give up on it, right?

Looking at the bat, she remained silent for a moment, pursing her lips slightly before sighing. "Do you think it's even possible?" she asked, swallowing the lump that was growing at the pit of her throat. "I mean... Since you can kind of... Understand it and all... Does it want us to...to.." she trailed off. This whole thing left her with such a horrible feeling. This really bad taste at the back of her mouth. She felt really guilty too, considering she had been the one to ask him to bring them over here in the first place...

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Right, totally, 'cuz there are no helpless causes, right?" and yes, Tim, despite being totally dense the vast majority of the time, had finally caught on to what was happening and being referenced here. Lux seemed to see herself in the bat, or at least in the bat's supposedly hopeless situation. Life had dealt her a crappy hand and she wanted to know that she could survive it. That was what Tim was supposed to be for, right? Even if, like, they weren't dating, that was what he was supposed to be doing. He'd just feel better if he didn't suck at it.

"What? Oh, uh, I can ask?" he said. He leaned down, squeaking at the bat for a moment. She seemed confused, looking at Tim and blinking, then looking over at Lux. Then she squeaked back. Tim winced at the communication, then returned the squeak. The bat hesitated, then squeaked again. Tim sighed, running his hand over his face. Sometimes it was hard just figuring out how to translate, and he felt his brain getting stuck in the rut between bat and human communication.

Man, did he need to practice more often...

[Luxanna Viera]

Looking over at Tim, she offered him something of a smile. Yes, Lux did kind of see herself in the bat, or the situation at hand at any rate. She liked to believe that there was always a chance, no matter what. She didn't like the idea of being completely helpless without some kind of lifeline to help you out of a sticky situation. Of course, maybe that was selfish of her and made her completely blind to the pain the bat was in. Maybe it had been better to simply put it out of its misery... At least, if that was what it wanted.

She liked the idea of giving the bat the choice. That was the least they could do, right?

Watching the two of them squeak to each other, Luxanna didn't move. Instead, she focused on the surrounding area; The fireflies and the darkness that seemed to cover the field they was in like a veil. Despite the situation, it was still mesmerizingly beautiful.

She didn't want to interrupt them, so she kept quiet, rather being patient and waiting for Tim to "work his magic". It couldn't be easy, speaking two "languages" like that.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim's brain finished processing everything which, sadly, took a little longer then he'd have liked. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, put his thoughts in order, and then opened them, looking back to Lux this time.

"She, and yeah, it's a she," said Tim, looking back to the bat for a moment, "she says that she's okay with, uh, us helping her, so long as, um, I do a lot of the helping...'Tim shifted a little, flushed and looked away, licking his lips for a moment. He looked back at Lux.

"I, uh, think she has a... a crush on me or something," said Tim. He shifted again, looking back at the bat, who was looking at him with what he was now considering to be "Lux-eyes." "So..." he smiled again, holding the bat out to Lux, "Still want me to save her?"

he meant it as a joke, though as soon as the words came out of his mouth, Tim was fairly certain that Lux would not take it that way. Oh well, too late now.

[Luxanna Viera]

That Tim was the one to do the helping was honestly something that made sense, especially as he was the only one who could actually talk to it. Luxanna hadn't really expected anything else to be honest. It was cute too, watching him take such good care of it -- or would, anyways. "That's fine," Luxanna said, the relief obvious against her features; She was glad the bat had accepted their help and wasn't about to give up. It made her happier than what she had expected.

However, at his next words a sheepish smile formed on the brunette's lips and she pursed her lips, trying her best to keep a serious face. The laughter rolled around at the pit of her throat, but thanks to her best efforts, she managed to keep it down. "Aw, that's adorable," she said, her smile widening. It really was too, the bat crushing on him. Not that she could blame it, because Tim was adorable.

His joke though, flew right over her head and had Lux furrowing her brows. "Of course," she said with a determined nod. "That's hardly a reason not to."

[Tim Tawfeek]

Fine, good, they could work on healing the bat together. That definitely sounded like some kind of fun bonding experience. That was the sort of thing couples did, right? Nursed people back to health or something? Well, at least that was fairly normal for, like, mutants and stuff, or maybe for Lux.

A smile, a comment on adorable, and then Lux was getting confused, as Tim pretty well expected. Tim chuckled and ran his hand along his face, trying to figure out a way of sorting this out. "Yep, you're right," he said, nodding a few times. "Yeah, we'll, uh, definitely take care of her then." He rose up, cupping the bat and taking a few steps closer to Lux.

"So, uh," said Tim, looking up at Lux, meeting her eyes. He saw her lit by the fireflies, "I'm guessing we don't want to, like, carry her around for the rest of our date or something, right? I mean, we could, but, like," Tim looked down, realizing that he didn't even want to, "I don't want her to get worse..."

[Luxanna Viera]

A relieved sigh fell from Lux's lips as Tim agreed with her; Good. Then that was set in stone, and she didn't have to worry much about the bat being in any more trouble. "I'm glad," she said honestly, her eyes dropping to the bat once more. It looked as if it was in pain, but it was still beautiful. She had found herself liking bats after meeting Tim and in an odd way, it kind of reminded her of her furbies. It made her think of them and that alone made the adapter smile.

"Then what do you suggest? We can't just leave it here..." she said, furrowing her brows again. And walking back with it and back here again seemed kind of like a waste too. "Besides, what if it really needs help right away?" What if it was really hurt? What if it needed intensive care, like, right away? She'd rather not carry that on her consciousness. Just thinking about it made her feel really, really bad.

"Maybe we should head back and take it from there? Or ask it what it wants? If it doesn't want to be left alone, it'd be kind of mean to..." she trailed off, her eyes lifting to look at Tim.

[Tim Tawfeek]

The bat was in pain. Tim didn't even need his power to realize that, and his power was making it abundantly clear. He shifted a little and looked at his girlfriend, then back at the bat. Was it horrible that he was tempted to just say that the bat wanted to be left there just so he could continue their date? They'd been doing the kissing thing and it had been all romantic and stuff. Was rescuing a bat romantic?

Maybe not, but it was what Lux wanted, and that's what mattered here.

"It probably needs help soon, yeah," admitted Tim, looking down. "I mean, she: it's a girl bat," he shifted again, taking another deep breath. "So, uh, we should... like, get it back to the cabins and stuff, I guess. Maybe get it some painkillers and stuff. Uh, maybe we could get it to sleep and do something or---"

Tim trailed off, realizing how absolutely horrible that sounded. He sighed and rubbed at his face. Damn bat: ruining his game and all. He'd worked really damn hard to get this whole thing set up. "Yeah, we don't wanna leave it alone... better start heading back..." he couldn't help but sound put out, and he looked around the field, practically pouting as all the bugs winked around him, seeming to have actually made things more romantic all of a sudden. Damn bugs. Damn bats. Damn stupid night.