(no subject)

[onewhoisall]

She doesn't speak much on their way there. Glancing beside her to check that Steph was still there, that Steph was still alive beside her, Cass pressed her lips into a thin line before leaning back. Tugging Steph out into the corridor, she led Steph down towards her apartment before fumbling with her keys to open the door. Kicking her shoes off, she announced her arrival home by the loud deliberate scuffling and thwack of shoes meeting the back of the sofa. She turned her head to check for Kaine.

Hn. He was either not home or in the bedroom or bathroom. Turning her head she listed for the sound of him before glancing towards the bathroom. He better not have been drinking.

"I'm home," Cass called out before tugging Steph into the apartment. Closing the door behind Steph, she looked at her friend carefully before nodding. Steph needed clothes which meant leaving her.

"I'll go get clothes. If Kaine comes... just-" Cass made a gesture of her hand that might either be hit him or shake his hand. To be fair with Kaine either was accurate. "I'm in there."

Cass wandered towards their bedroom, discarding socks and abandoning them behind her.

Comments

[badtotheclone]

I have to take a shower in the spare bathroom because the one in the master bedroom is full of Cass's clothes and I refuse to look at it. I hear her calling out just as I turn off the water but I'm so peeved at her I refuse to call out just yet. She can wait just a moment.

Wrapping a towel around my waist I step out of the bathroom and find... A blonde girl in a hospital gown. I blink a few times, waiting for my brain to explain this situation to me, but no explanation comes.

"Ummm, can I help you?"

[thefourthone]

It's a quiet cab ride. Cass is never a big talker, so no surprise, but usually Steph is talking enough for the both of them. But she doesn't know how to talk about what has happened, and the present situation is so overwhelmingly weird that she has no idea where to begin. So mostly she looks out the window while she fidgets with a jangly energy that's the last of insane adrenaline spikes and a precursor to a huge crash.

The apartment is so...normal. Lived-in and a little messy, just as low-key and regular as the rest of the city. Definitely not a Bat-Cave, which is still secretly what she had been expecting. Steph nods as Cass goes off in search of clothes and stands awkwardly in the entrance way. Just trying to be chill, no big deal, just got tortured to death now I'm just hanging out at my friend's boyfriend's place in a hospital gown. Everything is totally normal.

She about jumps out of her skin when Cass' boyfriend appears, all wet and mostly naked. Jesus Christ, she didn't mention she was dating a buff giant. "Um- Cass is getting me clothes," Steph says quickly and points to the way she went as if to prove her story. Suddenly she is remembering the naked butt fidelity thing and trying to sort of close the gown in the back even if she can't see it. Totally normal social thing to do.

[onewhoisall]

Looking around her bedroom, she made a hn noise before going into the bathroom. Noticing her clothes strewn everywhere, she makes a soft grunt of unusual (for her) disapproval before she- for once- tidies them away into the laundry basket. Looking around for clothes that fit, she takes a pair of her yoga bottoms before looking for a shirt that will fit. She finally finds one of Kaine's and gathers that up in her arms.

Tidying their bedroom so it's mostly tidy is just something she does to keep her mind off the not-so-dead best friend in the living area.

"You will have to wear Kaine's- mine won't fit around the-" Cass began, carrying the clothes out eventually and stopping mid-gesture to her chest. Turning her head she looked at Kaine, her lips tugging into a soft and slightly guilty smile. "Hey. You're home. Steph is borrowing your shirt."

[badtotheclone]

I look away as I realize what the other girl is doing. Maybe I'm getting way too comfortable with nudity like Cass is that I didn't think of it before. That's probably not a good thing.

The girl looks a little worse for wear around the edges and when Cass comes in to explain who it is, things make a lot more sense to me. She's mentioned Steph before, a friend back home. A really good friend.

"Nice to meet you," I tell her. "Uh, shall we both get dressed before Cass tells us how stupid we're being over nudity?"

[thefourthone]

Oh God, now he's looking away, and she is just so awkward and off to a bad start and just generally terrible. Stupid hospitals with their stupid clothes. The city snatchers healed all her wounds but couldn't spring for a pair of pants?

"Hi," she says , just trying to act normal and not really succeeding. Steph knows she sounds edgy, a little false panicky cheer. "Um, I don't have to borrow your shirt though." Sweet Jesus, she comes into this guy's house and just takes his clothes? Come on, Cass. "I mean, if that would be weird. Would it be weird? I'll just, yeah, pants. Pants are good."

[onewhoisall]

"You're both stupid," Cass agreed, reaching out to snag Kaine's arm she tugged him towards her. Pulling at him until she could get the leverage to push him towards their bedroom-their now mostly clean bedroom- where he could avert his eyes all he likes. "You're borrowing his shirt, mine won't fit around the... chest. And I wear them more than he does, just take them."

Cass went to toss the clothes behind her before stopping. Steph might flinch and she doesn't know if she can handle that yet. Pressing her lips together, she leaned up to press a kiss against Kaine's cheek before she went back to take Steph's hand.

"Bathroom is through here. You're both... idiots. Idiots."

[badtotheclone]

"Whatever, if it's less awkward for you to wear the hospital gown, go for it."

I let Cass push me toward the bedroom, although I resist a bit despite the fact that I was heading there anyway. It's the principle of the thing, letting her push me around like that.

"That means she loves you," I call out as I close the door, sure that Steph probably already knows what Cass means when she calls people idiots. I throw on some jeans and a shirt before I head back out to the living room to wait for the girls, only briefly considering just sneaking out the bedroom window.

[thefourthone]

A smile flickers over her face at what Kaine says. "Idiot, huh?" Steph asks Cass as she's led to the bathroom. "I don't know what you mean. Clearly I am a girl with her shit together."

In the bathroom, Steph sets the clothes on the sink and starts to untie the hospital gown. It'll feel good to get into real clothes, everything will feel more normal. Easier not to think why she was just in a hospital.

Once the gown is off, she sees them. Scars, lots of them, shiny pink criss-crossing all over her torso. Bullet wound, long windy knife scars, the perfect imprint of an iron pressed into her thigh like it had been stenciled on. Ugly irregular circles that came from the power drill. A map of suffering on her skin.

Her breath catches but she bites her lip hard to avoid making a sound. Don't freak out. You're not dead. Don't freak out. Don't don't don't. Instead, she reaches for the shirt with trembling fingers instead of crying.

[onewhoisall]

She scowls at Kaine as he resists her, staring at him blankly when he calls that out. Her lips soften a little, the hint of love around her eyes betraying how she felt. Guilty a little but... she loved him.

"It does not. And don't you start," Cass replied to Steph, warning her with a pointed gesture. Cass leads Steph to the bathroom, leaning against the door frame as she waits for Steph to get changed. Looking up she watched Kaine actually return to the living room.

Watching him, she studied the lines of his shoulders down to his chest. She parted her lips to say something when there was a sound of an intake of breath, glancing at Steph before Cass moved suddenly- urgently into the bathroom.

She was covered in marks, in scars. Just like Cass but Cass' were done for love not this. This was a tapestry of survival.

"It's okay, it's okay." Cass began, holding her hands out.

[thefourthone]

"Sorry, sorry, sorry." She's shaking so much she drops the shirt, and her breath is coming quick and shallow. "Shit."

Suddenly it's like she's back in that dark room with the smell of her own blood in her nose. He's there and he's hurting her. Killing her.

A little miserable sound escapes her despite trying to keep it together.

[onewhoisall]

Cass dropped down beside Steph, picking up the shirt that to her, at least, was reassuring. The smell, the feel of it just screamed safety to Cass. Picking it up she placed it round Steph's and making her friend lift her arms up in place before she can slide it on.

"You're okay, you're not there. You got out," Cass said. A miserable sound making Cass press her lips together. "Don't make me tickle you. You wouldn't like it when I tickle you."

[thefourthone]

Steph tries to push it all down even though it is a nearly physical thing that feels like she's drowning in it all. Put it away, it's over, pretend everything's okay. It's not , she feels not okay all the way down to her bones, but she has always been good at pretending.

"I'm okay," she lies as Cass pulls the shirt over her head. If she could just stop trembling it might even be convincing. "I just- was surprised. But it's fine. They're just whatever."

[onewhoisall]

She helps pull Steph's hands through the sleeves, letting the largeness of Kaine's shirt just drape over her before taking her hands. Her own hands were scarred from recent... fights, skirmishes, training session. Steph wasn't the only one with new scars.

"They're not... they're part of you. They show you survive, don't hate them or yourself. You have nothing to hate or be scared of," Cass said. It felt like the most she had said all day. Cass tugged Steph close before wrapping her arms around her, lips pressed together in quiet contemplation. "You're alive. You're safe."

[thefourthone]

She's alive. Steph takes a deep breath and tries to focus on that. Because she can't think about the scars as part of her, can't deal with the fact that she's going to have to carry around what he did to her for the rest of her life. It's too much. Just think about the fact that at least she still has a rest of her life.

Still breathing and not alone. Everything else might be a disaster but Steph can hold onto that.

"Bathing suit season is overrated anyhow," Steph says a little shakily, but stronger than before. She gives Cass a little smile that isn't convincing but is the best she can do. "Sorry to...freak out in your bathroom."

[onewhoisall]

Cass nodded, pressing fingertips against Steph's back and stroking calmly- reassuringly as Steph tries to give her a smile. She shakes her head at the apology before smiling.

"It's okay, you can freak out later in front of Kaine to pay me back. His face would be a... picture." Cass said quietly. She pressed her lips together, looking at Steph quietly before just hugging her for a moment longer. She was alive.

[thefourthone]

"As if he doesn't already think I am an awkward weirdo," Steph says with another little smile as she hugs Cass back. The trembling has receded for now, and Steph figures that's the best she can ask for. Instead she lets herself just focus on the hug and the reassuring knowledge that Cass is here and still cares about her. Alive and not alone. "Thanks for...everything. You being you ."

[onewhoisall]

"That's okay, he thinks I'm an awkward weirdo too. He doesn't like it that I walk around naked, it isn't appropriate." Cass replied. She could feel the trembling, the shivering recede back and the force of Steph trying to be okay for her. She doesn't have to pretend but Cass knows what she is doing. "He used to yell at me a lot for that. Before he started fucking me."

Cass knows he can probably here and smiles a little at it. He was probably slowly having a little fit waiting for the girls to be done.

"He's like us. You can trust him. He's... good. He's good."

[thefourthone]

Whatever Steph is going to say next is lost in a sputter at the casual way Cass mentions 'fucking' like it's just totally run of the mill. If she hadn't been convinced that time had passed for Cass, that would be the cincher. Oooh, Daddy Bats wouldn't be happy to hear that language.

"Well...I'm glad that he isn't yelling at you any more. He shouldn't yell at you." He seemed nice so far, but anyone could fake it for a little while. "And, I mean...good. If you're enjoying it and you're using protection then you just...go to town. Be as naked as you wanna be."

It is a weird night.

[onewhoisall]

"No, he still yells. It's how he shows his feelings. He just yells less, mostly it is him yelling at me to put on clothes or hnn... not in public." Cass replied simply, her lips tugging into a light smile when Steph sputters over her choice of language. They all wanted her to learn how to speak and then they all looked at her aghast when she spoke certain words. "Why would I need kevlar?"

Cass moved out into the hall, looking back at Steph curiously. She should probably ask Kaine about why she needed to put kevlar on when they were having sex.

[thefourthone]

She has heard more about Cass being naked today than in the rest of their friendship combined. Not that she's a prude and, you know, fly free naked ninja bird, but wow is it a lot. Also, a yelling boyfriend, that makes Steph frown, but Cass says it with affection so she lets it pass.

Besides, bigger issues at hand what with all the naked and boyfriend and fucking Cass is doing.

"Uhhhhhhhh, not that kind of protection!" She's trying to be quiet as she follows Cass back down the hallways, but that's not exactly a Stephanie Brown strongsuit. "Birth control, Cass! Birth control!"

[onewhoisall]

"Oh, huh. You should have said," Cass replied. Not acknowledging if they did or did not use birth control. It wasn't that it was personal but she wasn't sure what did or did not count as it. She'd ask someone eventually. Maybe not Kaine, he tended to get annoyed at those sorts of questions and would probably inevitably freak out about it all. "Birth control. That is what it is called. I did not know kevlar had many other names."

She was teasing on that. It would make her smile to see Steph freak out some more.

[thefourthone]

Steph groans and rubs her hands over her face. Are they seriously having this conversation right now? An hour ago she was dying and now she's here and talking to Cass about apparently not using birth control with her serious boyfriend?T She is not emotionally equipped for this mood whiplash.

"Jesus, Cass, no, it's not kevlar! How would that- that doesn't even make sense as another name for it. Birth control is- if you don't take it you're going to get knocked up by Mr. Muscle if you're boning as much as you make it sound!"

Her voice, it has a way of carrying.

[badtotheclone]

I'm not sure if I want to be here, listening to this, but I think Cass will be upset if I leave right now. I know that this girl means a lot to her and if she's important to Cass then she's important to me. I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure that's how relationships work, or at least how they should work.

Of course, the conversation I walk in on is one I really don't want to hear. I start to reconsider running away.

"It's Kaine. Mr. Muscle is my father's name," I say, pausing a moment before adding. "Kidding, I don't have a father."

[onewhoisall]

Cass stared at Kaine, a hint of a smile almost on her lips before she leaned up and brushed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. Pressing her hand against his chest, she dropped back down as she tried to keep her face straight.

"Steph wants to know what protection we use because she is concerned about our boning so much." Cass said. Her lips twitching, almost indicating that she was teasing to Kaine. "Kevlar doesn't count."

[thefourthone]

"Oh my Gooooooooood." Never has she so wanted the ability to just melt into an embarrassed puddle on the floor. This whole thing is an unholy confluence of awkward. "I really don't- I mean- look, I'm just a girl who is very passionate about preventing unwanted pregnancies. Because being a pregnant teen just because your boyfriend didn't want to glove it up is just the worst."

[badtotheclone]

"What? No, no. We're not- we're not going to have children," I say, eyes wide with horror. That isn't something that's going to happen, it's not because I'm a mess. I'd never want a child to be something I'm responsible for. Cass would be an amazing mother, weird but amazing, but I'm not equipped to look after a tiny person.

[onewhoisall]

"Then you have to glove it up. That is a rather stupid phrase, we don't wear gloves unless we're wearing our suits. Hn, those are impractical to have sex in." Cass replied thoughtfully, keeping her lips a thin line of seriousness as she considered the pair of them. Leaning up she pressed a kiss against the corner of Kaine's mouth as he continued to freak out a little. "You both make it far too easy for me to tease you."

[thefourthone]

"No- it's, Jesus, Cass, a penis glove!" Steph is right on the edge between laughing and hysterical. "You have to- not you, I mean, he..." She glances over at Kaine in utter apology for causing this conversation to happen. "Has to wear a condom. Like a rubber glove but for the...you know."

[badtotheclone]

"I'm going to go look for someone in a ridiculous costume trying to rob a bank," I say. Because this is not the sort of conversation I want to be having right now. Or ever. Well, at least not with Cass's friend right there making everything about a million times more awkward. I'd much rather be fighting crime.

[onewhoisall]

Cass reached out snagging Kaine's hand before sliding her fingers through his, keeping him here with her. Cass pressed her lips together in a rather smug, little smile before drawing his captured hand around her. She leans back against the warmth of his body, smiling a little at the way Steph is freaking out loudly and Kaine is at the point of escaping through the window.

"You are both far too easy," Cass replied, a soft teasing smile lingering on her lips. "You can go later, then come back and we'll swap. Then we can see who captures the most."

[thefourthone]

Steph heaves a great sigh and wishes again for superpowers. Maybe the power to de-awkward a situation, just suck up all the weird and self-conscious like a dustbuster. She comes into this guy's home, wears his clothes, talks about his penis...not off to a good start. And Cass is enjoying this. Also, more PDA than she would have expected.

"So you go out at night too?" Which, now that she says it aloud, could mean either crime-fighting or prostitution, but too late now. "What's your thing?"

It's crime-fighting. Everyone's got a thing.

[badtotheclone]

Oh good, a distraction. It was kind of a weird one but I'm more than happy to have a distraction right now because Cass will just keep teasing and baiting us if we don't change the subject right now. Not that Cass won't find a way to make this next one awkward.

"Spider. I'm- I'm the Scarlet Spider."

[onewhoisall]

Cass opened her mouth to tell Steph about his abilities and how they had used them but changed her mind from the looks on both of their faces. It really was too easy to embarrass them both.

"He's a meta. Like Conner." Cass replied. He was like Conner in some ways but completely different in others. He was... Kon would always be her first kiss but Kaine would be her first always. First everything. Everything that mattered. "Steph is like me, she's hn... not too bad. I helped train her for a little bit."

[thefourthone]

"Oh, that's cool. So...you turn into a giant red spider or something?" You couldn't get much crime fought if he turned into a normal-sized one. I mean, even Charlotte and her web could only accomplish so much, and she was the ultimate spider.

"I'm basically human garbage compared to Cass," Steph tells him, which is maybe a needlessly harsh way to phrase it but not untrue. "She's a cheetah, I'm a fat tabby with tree legs."

Nope, not much better.

[badtotheclone]

"Sure, just like Cass grows giant wings and moves around using echolocation," I say, giving her a flat look. Turn into a giant red spider. Smarta ss.

I don't now how Conner is or why I'm like him. Cass has probably told me who Conner is and why I'm like him but I probably wasn't paying attention at the time. Or not enough attention that I'd actually remember who or what Conner is.

"Compared to Cass everyone is a fat cat missing a limb. Just ask her, she'll tell you as much."

[onewhoisall]

"Spider-like abilities." Cass replied, she let out a tch noise at both of their assessment of their own characters and hers. She didn't think either of them were cats at all- oh, wait they were using it as a metaphor. She disliked metaphors sometimes. "No, other people have their strengths. I'm just better at some things but I was trained to be the best. Steph was Robin, it means she was training to be more hn, detective than me. And Kaine is... getting quicker and more resilient. And better at setting up traps for me. Your first one... sucked?"

[thefourthone]

"That would be more of a Girl-Bat thing, the whole transforming into a wild bat beast. But I think Man-Bat still has the market on that whole thing." She says it casually, like it's not completely ridiculous for there to be a Man-Bat that is wholly different from a Batman.

Yeah, training to be a detective and missed the crucial fact that Batman just happened to also be Matches Malone. The thought makes her wince but she tries not to let it show. "Oh, is your romance all, half-love, half-fight?"

Steph gets it, kinda. Her first meeting Tim did involve bricking him in the face.

[badtotheclone]

"Half-love, half-fight, all insults from her," I say, glaring at Cass. I know it's not really insults though and she knows that I know. Still, I hold out hope that one of these days she'll realize you don't have to say everything you think or say it so bluntly. But that day isn't today and it's probably not tomorrow.

"But no one else will put up with me so I deal with it."

[onewhoisall]

"Lots of people would put up with you or at least think they would, they probably would not if they realised your shower routine." Cass replied, a teasing smiling on her lips as he glares at her. Her hands on his body were soft, showing that she was poking- teasing and not serious at all about that- about the shower thing at least. Cass knew there were people who would take Kaine, who looked at him like he was a tall glass of water in the desert. She wouldn't let anyone take him from her though. She loved him after all. "And I complimented your form the other day."

The fact that she had complimented him while she had him pinned down in bed riding him was probably not the point. And not one she mentioned, see she was learning... a little.

[thefourthone]

"I mean...good. That's good." She sort of doesn't know what to say in response to their weird couple teasing, so unused to this Cass with a boyfriend thing. Also the touching, because that is just continuing to happen.

Suddenly, Steph just feels so, so tired.