(Untitled)

[not_so_smooth]

Running along the beach on the island wasn't like it was back home. Growing up in a city, Sam still wasn't used to the lack of lights on the island. There were always lights and sounds in a city and while the island wasn't as deserted or silent as you might initially expect, it wasn't a city. By the time the sun went down, it could get dark,

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[slowspeedster]

"Where do you think you're going?" Bart called after the winged shape gliding off away from him.

Bob was clearly in a mood, which was probably why he'd been chasing the bat all over. When he got it into his head to be like this, it was all Bart could do to keep people from attacking the little guy in blind panic. Something that big just deciding to swoop down on you definitely took getting used to, and he still got scratches and bruises now and then from the force. He didn't know what that would be like for whoever Bob had decided was his new best friend.

And he'd definitely found one of those, Bart saw, suppressing a groan as the Malayan Flying Fox that was supposed to be his pet took a few rapid flaps up than dove back into the trees and out of his immediate sight, making a beeline for some poor target.

[not_so_smooth]

Just because Sam knew there was a six foot bat on the island that was relatively friendly didn't mean he still wasn't completely freaked out when he saw one dive out if the sky.

He caught it just out of the corner of his eye, a shadow that didn't quite fit in with the night sky. Yelling in terror, he ran into the water and dove into the waves.

"Damn it, Bob!"

[slowspeedster]

If the shrieking like a girl hadn't done it, the splashing certainly did, and just as Bart made it to the beach, he was rammed by several pounds of terrified flying fox. And he tried not to laugh as he took in the scene.

"I think you owe me a new shirt," Bart said, trying to unwrap Bob's wings so he could get more comfortable.

To the bat, he simply said, "I thought I told you to stay in sight. Bad Bob." And then he tapped the animal on his nose. "Scaring people is bad."

[not_so_smooth]

"I do not owe you a new shirt," Sam said, standing up before being knocked over by an embarrassingly small wave. The adrenaline had quickly worn off and Sam's legs felt even more wobbly than before.

"And he probably just doesn't realize while he can see fine right now other people can't."

[slowspeedster]

"Even if he knows, I'm not entirely sure he cares," Bart admitted. "But he really doesn't like water. Especially salt water."

[not_so_smooth]

"I don't- tell him I don't have any fruit," Sam said, finally struggling out of the water and back onto the beach. Fruit was almost always what Bob was after.

[slowspeedster]

"That's good, because tubby here is on a bit of a diet," Bart said, smirking. "He's gained half an ounce since his last check-up. Which means more exercise."

[not_so_smooth]

"Half an ounce?" Sam said, giving Bart a bit of a puzzled look. That sounded like eating disorder talk.

"Couldn't he crap more than half an ounce? Maybe he was just a little off, bowel wise that day."

[slowspeedster]

Bart gave him a serious look. "Two ounces is sufficient weight gain to ground him, and possibly permanently if he keeps it on for too long. He may be huge, but he's not that heavy," he explained.

[not_so_smooth]

"So.. if he gains too much weight, he can't fly," Sam said, slightly confused. "But if he can't fly and exercise how can he lose weight?"

[slowspeedster]

"Weight-lifting, climbing, that kind of thing. I've got all sorts of stuff on flying foxes and how they live from the bookshelf," Bart said, shrugging a little. "But unless we want him to stop being a flying stomach, he needs to spend more time hunting down those pesky, elusive mangoes."

[not_so_smooth]

"How does he weight lift?" Sam said. He tried to picture Bob crunching out a few reps on the bench press and was rather amused at the idea. Of course, this being the island, maybe that's exactly what he did.

"And yeah, I think people probably leave food out for him."

[slowspeedster]

"I have some cords with weights that I sometimes hang treats like frozen fruit juice cubes from. Hanging, he can pull up just about half his body weight. So Bob gets to work out and stay hydrated," Bart said, only half-joking. "It's not like he can even stand up. His hips aren't fused like ours. You really want to see something, watch him catch one of the ropes with his thumbs for a landing and flip up. Apparently it's only something the vampyrus and a couple other species of larger fruit bats do."

He absently scratched Bob's coarse fur, then looked at Sam. "So, what were you up to before your impromptu bath?"

[not_so_smooth]

"Just got done with a run," Sam said, trying to shake some of the water out of his hair. It was getting long and with the humidity here it was especially curly, which was a pain in the ass to wash sometimes.

"And I was considering a swim anyways, so it's not that big of a deal."

[slowspeedster]

"I actually offered to teach cross-country running as a course for this next term. In this place, it's not exactly a skill you want to neglect," Bart said, grinning. He didn't really mind his own hair getting long, although he was not about to let it get to ponytail length or anything. That would be crazy.

"It was something I had to learn, because being fast isn't just about the speed. Like I can't take a turn as sharply on my right knee as my left because of the endoprosthesis. Planning, pacing, knowing how to judge the ground, those are pretty important skills. I'm still not entirely sure if I should consider booby-traps. I'll have to see what kind of students I get."

[not_so_smooth]

"I'll think about it," Sam said with a nod. He'd done pretty well for himself in the cross country runs he'd done. Of course, those were through war zones and the like, running almost entirely on adrenaline, but he'd only been killed once out of several times so... he'd have awesome stats for that if he was playing baseball?

"And actually booby-traps sound pretty fun. I'd probably be more likely to take the course if it had booby traps."