Not Gone Batty

[Ryan Alexander]

"Are you groaning because she still doesn't forgive me? Or is it just that she doesn't understand something I said? Because honestly the only thing I said that I think could be complicated is same sex attraction. And you could probably just tell her what it is because it occurs in nature too. My family had a horse on our estate once. We wanted to breed her, but that wasn't happening because Sunshine was attracted to other mares." She was very good at reading possible reactions on people's faces. It helped when you were dealing with jealous cheating social butterflies.

"And...she hates your girlfriend too? So...in other words if she decides she likes me I'll have one upped someone. Cool." She grinned, crossing her arms. It wasn't an unfriendly gesture, just a comfortable one.

"Tell her that I prefer to keep company with other females and if I could pass on my traits that way, I would. Also, tell her that I find bat wings incredibly fascinating because of how they work. That I've always liked them more than birds because they thrive in the darkness. Because all of that is true, and having the chance to talk to a bat, even through a translator, is a once in a lifetime sort of thing honestly."

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim was groaning for ever so many reasons. He wasn't sure even where to begin with explaining it to Ryan though, so he mostly just remained silent, especially as she went on talking about animals. The girl had clearly not actually talked to one of the creatures before. Tim just waited patiently, already knowing what conversation he was going to end up having.

Though he did have a quick question to answer first: "Doesn't like most girls that get around me. Gets jealous," he offered, pulling a slight face. Ryan quickly continued though, talking about how much she liked bats. Tim had to chuckle, shaking his head.

"It's not like the cartoons or something, you know," he said, meeting Ryan's eyes. "Like, she'd get some of that, but the language isn't really built to explain high concepts and stuff. it's all built around communicating what bats want to talk about. So, like, sometimes I can go all Disney princess on them and get them to do cool stuff and all. But most of the time it's just sort of like hearing about how there's strange glowing stuff or how stupid humans are. Which is ironic," Tim turned back up to look at Furby, "as Furby is not exactly the brightest bat."

It was a bit insulting, especially as Furby was more pugnacious and possessive than anything. Tim sighed, looking up, his brow furrowing as he tried to figure out how best to translate what Ryan had said into bat speak. Well, they did have the idea of admiration, and he could probably explain disinterest with sexes...

[Ryan Alexander]

"Oh so you don't have actual conversations. That's kind of disappointing, but cool nonetheless. To have any degree of communication with a bat is pretty awesome. And...a jealous bat with a crush on you. That must be fairly awkward. Have you mentioned that to your girlfriend?" Ryan smirked, crossing her arms as she leaned against a nearby wall.

"You know, bat or not she is still female. I'd like to think everyone has little insecurities, even animals. Maybe her calling us stupid is a way of trying to make herself feel better."

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Well, we can," Tim admitted, pursing his lips. "It just... it's not like a Disney movie. It's more like..." he gestured, raising his hands, and holding them for a few moments. Yes, definitely awkward, and yes, there was probably some kind of crush or something going on there.

"It's like when you talk to someone who's from another culture. You can sort of hold a conversation, but all the language is built for something else," he offered. He held his hands for a moment longer, then nodded. He looked up at Furby and licked his lips. "Yeah, she's probably insecure or something. We picked her up from the national park when she got wounded, and she's kind of stuck to us."

Tim adjusted his glasses, then let out the cough again. He cupped his hands together and squeaked into the corner, trying to convey as much of what Ryan said as possible. Furby fluttered around for a bit, moving closer, now visible against one of the stage lights. The little bat let out a squeak and fluttered her wings, adjusting to look at Ryan curiously.

[Ryan Alexander]

"Ah. Yes that I can relate to. Not being able to quite translate what you're wanting to say to another culture. And...wounded in a national park?" Her bottom lip quivered. And then she saw the little bat land and her palms suddenly hit her cheeks.

"Awwwwww! She's so cute!" Then the bat squeaked and moved her wings and Ryan just looked at the bat adoringly.

"You are so lucky. I no longer care whether she is a jealous bat. She is beautiful."

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim nodded, knowing the whole translation thing and how most people reacted to that. Well, it was either pretty well what Ryan said: how much it must suck to have all that to say and no way to really verbalize it, or they thought he was some kind of Disney princess. He definitely did not want to have to try and explain that he didn't get dressed with bats in the morning.

And there was the palm in cheek and cooing. Tim couldn't help but smile at that. Yeah, that was definitely the reaction that he'd half been expecting, especially as Furby landed more firmly on the "adorable" end of the spectrum when it came to bats.

"She's definitely adorable," Tim agreed, nodding. He had to reach up to adjust his glasses. "And the jealous thing just means that she actually cares, which kind of makes her more adorable, really." Tim sat there, watching her for a few more moments. "She's probably gonna check you out for a bit, so if you want to, like, I don't know, make it seem like you're appealing to a bat...?"

[Ryan Alexander]

"Make myself more attractive...to a bat..." She arched an eyebrow and looked at him quizzically.

"Do you have a cheatsheet for that or do I have to do my best to grow myself some wings?" She chuckled. Then she smiled and looked at the bat. Did bats do better when they could smell you or was that just other animals like snakes, dogs, cats and horses? For all she loved bats, Ryan didn't always retain a lot of the knowledge she took in.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim nodded, trying not to laugh at the statement. Yeah, it was one of those insane circumstances that only really popped up whenever you were dealing with mutants. Most people didn't have to sit there and think about how they needed to be more "batlike" to appeal to someone.

A cheatsheet? "High pitched voice," Tim said, ticking off on his fingers, "keeping sort of still. And maybe trying to talk to her in sweet voices?"

Tim looked up at Furby. The bat was already twitching her impressive ears, shuffling around and sort of looking down at the two of them. She was clearly more curious than anything else. Tim honestly wasn't entirely sure what they could do to lure her down. Not unless: "And if you have any fruit on you, that would be kind of awesome. Furby technically isn't a fruit bat, but that doesn't stop her from licking it."

[Ryan Alexander]

"Okay high-pitched voice. I have to tune up for that." She cleared her throat and then put on a valley girl accent imitation.

"Like, Oh my gosh I can't even." Yup. She had it.

"Hi Furby. I know you don't understand me, but maybe you'll understand bribery a little better." With that, she took her lunchbag from her satchel. Ryan withdrew the apple and held it up.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Yeah, there was definitely tuning required. Tim again had to hide some smiles, knowing full well what this was like. It was hardly the first time that he'd had to sit there while someone tried to figure out how to commune with the bats. Though what came out next had him losing it: a laugh burst out of him and he nearly fell out of his chair.

Furby tilted her head, not quite understanding, obviously. The voice was kind of weird, but it was at least bearable. However, soon there was food, and seeing as the girl didn't seem to be doing anything (and Furby was more or less used to people by now), the bat fluttered down. Soon enough she was grasping the apple with her wings/claws, digging in and adjusting herself while she began licking it.

"Yep," said Tim, pursing his lips and nodding. "She's got a sweet tooth. She's pretty well domesticated by now, but I think we're all kinda okay with that," he smiled, watching as his pet kept nibbling at the apple, seeming to ignore both the nearby humans.

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan looked at Tim as he laughed. She smirked. She could see why it was funny. So much of what she did was, after all. And that was the only high pitched to the point of annoying voice she could think of. Then Furby came down and started on the apple and she grinned. There was a bat in her hand. Soooo cool.

"She is so sweet. Totally worth besmirching my good reputation by doing a valley girl accent."

[Tim Tawfeek]

Furby kept right on licking, circling the apple and leaving little bat-hook holes as she went. Soon she actually started biting bits and pieces. Tim wasn't certain that was really good for her, strictly speaking, but if she had a bit of a sweet tooth, he didn't see any reason to intervene. Plus, it was natural.

"Yeah, she is," he admitted, nodding. "And I'm so not letting you forget the whole valley girl thing, by the way," he looked up at Ryan, raising his brows. "Did you really think that was the best way of getting her down?" He gestured at Furby. "Clearly bribery was the way to go.

Furby was working her way around and seemed to locate one of Ryan's fingers. She cautiously began poking around it, sticking her head in and starting to sort of sniff and lick about, obviously trying to see if this was a tasty bit she should be gnoshing on too.

[Ryan Alexander]

"You're sooooo not letting me hear the end of it, eh?" She made sure to pronounce the 'so' in a valley girl accent. She quirked up an eyebrow and smirked.

"And honestly, you said higher voice. And you said she liked fruit. I thought I'd combine a couple of your suggestions to hedge my bets." She shrugged. Then Furby started licking her finger like a tender morsel.

"Yeah no. My finger is not food." She put the apple down gently with a kind smile on her face.

"You're very very cute though."

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim shook his head as Ryan asked about letting her hear the end of the valley girl thing. "Something like that you never forget," he said with the utmost solemnity, nodding to further emphasize it. He kept watching as the girl and the bat sort of bonded and all.

Yeah, Ryan's reasons made some sense. The hedging had worked to some degree after all: Furby was currently moving around and nibbling after all. The bat squeaked a little as Ryan set the apple down. She looked highly offended, ruffling her wings and offering a few more squeaks. After a few seconds she seemed to realize that she still had the apple though, so she went back to nibbling at that.

"You really don't want to know what she said," Tim said, sparing a glance at Ryan and smiling. "Anyway," he nodded, "seems like the crisis is over." He stared at the bat for a little while longer. She did seem quite happy, after all. though Tim did wonder how much fruit he should be letting her have...

[Ryan Alexander]

"If you've corrupted her and taught her human curse words, I will be ashamed of you and the entire human race. That would be far worse than my valley girl accent, let me assure you. Especially since...is that chair of yours metal? I bet it ISSSSS." She smirked, waving a hand and wiggling the fingers to remind him her powers were metal.