onewhoisall | (no subject)

Kaine. He's missing, I have been searching. Looking for him since I surprised him but unable to find him. It takes me a while but I find him, finally, in a dark alley. The shape of his body familiar enough by now that it makes me stop, hesitate and pause before I drop from the rooftop into the alley and land silently. My nose wrinkles, the smell of booze and urine fill my nostrils as I move towards him. I creep forward, eyes taking in the bottle and the hint of hair on his cheeks as I approach him from behind. I understand him before I see him.

I don't talk to him, don't give him the chance before I strike out quick and sharp at a bundle of nerves. I murmur an apology as his body goes slack and I move forward to catch him. The bottle breaks and I pull him away from it before collapsing back against the building. He is heavy in my arms but I have carried heavier.

"Kaine," I murmur, a soft apology before I move his weight slightly. I struggle but it is a struggle that I can bear. Lifting the grapple gun, I fire it before hooking his body to mine. We fly together, slowly across the city and when he begins to stare I hit him again. It is only when we are safe back at my apartment that I will allow him to waken.

I place him in the shower, grunting at the weight and rubbing my shoulder at the tension. I glance looking around before my eyes settle on the cannister, taking the razor and foam I move over to him before straddling his waist. The cool of the tiles soothes me as I ignore the smell, the presence of him and concentrate on the task at hand. I do not slip, I shave him cleanly before I reach up, moving close to him before I press the on button.

He will be angry but I am ready. I will not allow him to destroy himself.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

badtotheclone

Now she's just being cute on purpose and that's not fair. It's like she's purposely doing all of this and then teasing me, like she doesn't realize it. I don't understand what's going on.

"Yes. No. That's not the point!" I say, throwing my hands up.

From:

onewhoisall

Cass dropped back to the ground, letting out a soft sigh at his words and at his mood before she rolled her eyes at him. Turning her head towards the door, she jerked her head slightly before indicating he should answer it when someone came.

"Hn," Cass replied before darting suddenly forward brushing her lips against his. Soft and sweet and yielding and too brief before she ducked out of the way. "You're an idiot."

Cass padded towards her bedroom, removing the jumper and dropping it carelessly onto the floor. She'd change then... idiot. "Answer the door."

From:

badtotheclone

It happens so quick I don't even know what to do or how to react. One second she's rolling her eyes and me and the next she's kissing me. Then she's gone again, stripping down and heading off to her room.

"You're crazy!" I call after her, although I don't know if I really mean it. She IS confusing though, at least to me. "I do not understand you at all."

From:

onewhoisall

Her head ducked around the corner, bare shoulder sloped gently as she leaned around the door, her body obscured but only just. Cass scrunched her face up at him, staring at him plainly.

"You don't listen," Cass replied before moving further into her room as she picked up a pair of training pants that he seemed to so badly want her to wear and a t-shirt. A knock on the door distracted her and she scowled a little. "Answer the door."

From:

badtotheclone

"Not understanding when you use body language doesn't count!" I called to her as I went to the door, trying hard not to think about what she looked like around that corner.

The guy at the door has the pizza and my stomach growls at the smell of it. It's been a while since I've had a decent meal and I didn't realize until now how much I've missed it.

I sign for the pizza and give him a generous tip before carrying it to the kitchen. No clue where the plates are but that's fine, I can eat it right out of the box if that's necessary.

From:

onewhoisall

Her lips tug into a smile at the childish call as she listens to the sounds in her apartment; the weight of his feet, the scrape of her own, the shuffle of the delivery guy. Her apartment feels full with life, warmth and ease unlike before when it was filled with tension and anxiety. She can help him, she knows she can or at least she believed she could.

"It does too," Cassandra replied simply, her voice at her usual level of noise before she padded back into the room. Indicating with her hand to the clothes now at least mostly covering her, she raised an eyebrow at him for his approval. "You should listen more carefully. It is simple."

Cass cut in front of him, brushing against his body before snagging the first slice of pizza.

From:

badtotheclone

Now she's just being a pain, showing me how she's dressed and making sure that I'm okay with it. She doesn't have to dress like a nun, just being mostly naked is a distraction that I don't need.

I call bullshit on her body language being easy to read. It's not simple at all. It's damn frustrating. It's also frustrating how she brushes up against me, distracting me so she can grab a slice of pizza.

Grumbling I take my own slice and take a bite.

"That's like saying that reading books is easy. It is. If you've been doing it your whole life."

From:

onewhoisall

She can feel the frustration in his body, the tension that seems to ache in him and she leaned back against his body. Her lips tugging softly at the corner as he reached for a slice of pizza. Pressing back against him, she soaked up the warmth radiating off his body and rocked back against him slightly as she nibbled on the edge of her pizza.

"I could make it more obvious if you like," Cass murmured, smiling at his grumbling.

From:

badtotheclone

Apparently I'm some sort of lounge chair or something for her now, I'm not sure. She's just... laying against me as she eats her pizza, moving against me. I'm now convinced that she got me out of that alley just to mess with me or something.

Determined not to let her get to me, I take a bite of pizza and try to focus on the taste of my first real food in a long time, rather than what she feels like pressed up against me.

"Obvious would definitely help," I say around the food. "Because right now you're just confusing me."

From:

onewhoisall

Cass finished the mouthful of food, delicately wiping her mouth with her fingers before she turned. Placing her foot between his legs, she slid her leg against his before leaning up onto her tiptoes. Brushing a hand against his jaw, head tilted as she scrunched her nose up in consideration.

"Obvious?" Cass asked making a soft noise before she leaned up to brush a softer kiss against his lips.

From:

badtotheclone

I can't think to move, I just freeze as her leg comes between mine and she leans close before brushing her lips against mine.

Okay, I definitely get that.

"Uh."

I reach up and push her away a bit before shaking my head. This... it's not a good idea. It's not because I want this, and that's usually a good indicator that it's something I shouldn't have.

"Cass..."

From:

onewhoisall

Her cheeks flushed slightly, barely perceptible to anyone who didn't know her well. Pressing her tongue against her bottom lip, she moved with his hands allowing him to separate them and watching the shake of his head. Her head tilted up, looking at him curiously.

"Hmm?" Cass asked softly at her name hesitant almost on his lips.

From:

badtotheclone

"I don't- this isn't- "

I give another sigh of frustration. Being around people is so damned complicated. I was better off when I was by myself, wasn't I? No one cared about me so I didn't hurt anyone.

"I like you," I finally say. "I like you... like that. I think. But it's a bad idea right now."

The loss of my friendship with Sybil is still too fresh and the idea that I shouldn't be around others still too prominent in my mind. Cass deserves someone better than me, but I won't say that because she's hurt me.

From:

onewhoisall

Cass looked at him, lip curling into a bemused smile at the corners before she shrugged at him. Her fingertips brushed down his neck in a gentle, teasing stroke before she nodded.

"Okay," Cass replied simply before turning her attention back to the pizza, she didn't move away from him or give him any sign that she was going to give up. Cass bit into the pizza letting out a soft pleased moan before she climbed up onto the counter. "Hn, still not going to kiss you on a rooftop."

From:

badtotheclone

Okay? What does she mean by okay? She's still touching me and leaning against me so... I don't know. But she isn't upset so I figure that's pretty good. I don't think I could stand to lose another friend to my stupidity. Which reminds me that I need to go talk to Helen and apologize.

"I never said I wanted that!" I grumble. "The masks would get in the way anyway."

From:

onewhoisall

Cass looked at him, her lips pressing together as she stared at him almost as if she knew what he was thinking. She didn't but she knew him, she knew his body and she knew the way he would over think about this when it was so simple.

"Yes, they would. Wouldn't get in the way now though," Cass replied, her lips tugging into a smile at his grumbling. Her brother had taught her how to tease, Steph had refined it. Beneath the quiet, serious face Cassandra could actually be quite wicked when she wanted to be. Cass stretched her leg out before poking Kaine in the stomach with her toe. "Eat or it will go cold."

From:

badtotheclone

"You're cruel," I say, finally starting understand what she's doing. This sort of... playful teasing is not something I'm used to at all. A lot of things are becoming clear about how she's been acting toward me.

"And maybe I like it cold," I say, grabbing her foot and lifting her up off the ground by it. I know she's good enough to not smack her head as she swings and I'm showing her she's not the only one that can mess around.

Besides, bats like being upside down, don't they?

From:

onewhoisall

Her body tenses waiting for the curl of his fingers around her foot, she isn't surprised when he tugs her off the counter. Instead she wrapped her other leg around his arm pressing into his skin and muscles to support herself. She scowled, letting her hands fall down as her t-shirt began to slowly fall away from her stomach and across her torso revealing more than Kaine had probably intended.

"Hn," Cass murmured, poking him with her toe as he held her. Cass turned her head looking up at him with a raised eyebrow, not bothering to cross her arms over her chest. "You done?"

From:

badtotheclone

The nice thing about holding her like this is that I don't actually have to look down at her, so if her shirt is slipping off, I don't see it. I can just eat my pizza in (relative) peace.

"Yeah, sure, I'll let go," I say, opening up my hand. She doesn't budge though, as I'm making sure that she's still sticking to the surface of my hand.

Almost by accident, a small smile quirks at the corner of my mouth as I take another bite of pizza.

From:

onewhoisall

She trusts him enough not to drop her, she trusts his body not to lie but she still wraps one leg around his arm and grips him as he opened up his hand. Looking up at him, the small smile at the corner of his mouth made her smile a little more. Turning her head she pressed a kiss against his knee before continuing to hang for a little while longer.

"Okay, down." Cass said raising her arms for him to take and tug her up and onto her feet rather than drop her.

From:

badtotheclone

"Fine," I say, stuffing the last bite of pizza into my mouth and reaching down to grab her hands. I pull her up and unstick her foot from my hand at the same time, letting her get into a standing position.

"You weigh more than you'd think."

From:

onewhoisall

She doesn't move away, she simply lets gravity work and allows her body to fall, controlled as ever, up against him and down his body before placing her feet on the floor. Letting her lips tug into a smile, she nods and curls her fingers around his wrist as she doesn't make the effort to move away from him.

"Muscle," Cass replied simply. "Weigh more than you think. I have to be able to carry people."

From:

badtotheclone

"After you sucker punch them," I say, not moving to push her away. Now that I know what the little things she's doing mean I'm less comfortable with them, but somehow I can't quite bring myself to push her away.

For now, it's easy to keep myself from getting too... invested that way. The sting of being a monster, of being unworthy of being around people, is fresh in a way that makes it easy to fend off any feelings of anything more than mild appreciation.

From:

onewhoisall

"Didn't punch you, collection of nerves... here." Cass replied, leaning up onto her tiptoes to press her finger and thumb against the back of his neck. Lifting her shoulders in a soft shrug, she parted her lips with her tongue before adding. "Hit them the right way and people go down. So... not punching. Striking. Difference."

Her lips tugged into a soft smile before she brushed her thumb against his skin. He would understand now but she needed him to know and understand he was more than what he thought he was.

From:

badtotheclone

"Sucker nerve strike then."

I know it's not really a sucker blow. Even drunk I'm not easy to sneak up on for most people. But then again, she's not most people. She's not like anyone else, really.

And I don't know why she's so interested in saving me. It's a waste of time on her part

"I don't understand you."