Who: Cassandra Railly cassandrarailly and Claire Bennet invincible What: Random Encounter When: Saturday, May 16, afternoon Where: Grocery Store Rating: Low Warnings: None Status: Closed/Completed GDoc
~*~
Cassie was only out of the hospital roughly 24 hours, so she knew she needed to be taking it slow. She and Cole had both been anxious to get out of there, and she was pretty sure the staff had felt the same way. She was grateful her apartment was a single, which meant she could rest in peace and Cole could come by without her worrying about putting a roommate out. She hadn’t had to worry about a roommate in a long time, not since college. Aaron hardly counted anymore, and she prefered it that way seeing as his betrayal still hurt her. It was almost better to be shot, because the physical pain was better than the emotional sting.
Against sensible advice, Cassie decided to get out of the apartment. She’d never done particularly well cooped up with instructions to rest, after all and she did need groceries. So she dressed herself carefully, in yoga pants and a zip up hoodie over a tank top, and sneakers to ensure she was comfortable without putting herself through too much strain. She wouldn’t be able to lift much, but she might be able to push a cart back to the apartment. Or she’d simply just get a few necessities and ask Cole to pick up the rest. Well, maybe not Cole. He still had that Scav mindset that Cassie wasn’t so sure was going to fly in Test City.
The walk to the grocery store wasn’t very long. It was perfectly within the confines of light activity. She took a basket from the entrance and began browsing the aisles, more to see what the selection was then because she knew what she needed. Occasionally, she’d see something she really wanted, which currently consisted of two cups of blueberry yogurt, a package of Milano cookies, and an angel food cake. Looking through the packaged cookie dough and biscuit options, deciding which one she might want and if it was worth the stretch she’d have to endure.
Someone else stepped next to her, no doubt already knowing what they wanted, so Cassie reached for the cinnamon buns impulsively. The reach pulled at her mostly healed wound, causing her to recoil, a pinched look on her face. “I’m sorry,” she said to the young woman standing next to her. “Moved too quickly, reached too far. I should know better.” Cassie paused, considering. “Could you grab me one of those cinnamon buns? With the regular icing?” Maybe she was the kind of person who would help another. Cassie hoped so.
~*~
Claire was kind of having a hard time in Test City, and a lot of the blame for that rested on Elle and Sylar. She didn’t know how she was supposed to feel. She did know that Sylar wasn’t that terrible monster he’d once been, and maybe he and Elle could be good for one another. But she also couldn’t forget the ways he’d hurt her. The ways they’d both hurt her. She was mostly avoiding both of them until she could figure out how to handle it.
Today, Claire found herself in the grocery store. It wasn’t that much different from the ones she’d been to before, at home. Some things about this place seemed so normal, until she remember the hand thing and then that there were monsters before. Nothing about Test City was normal, or as it should be. But there was nothing Claire could do about it. For now, it was her home.
She was lost in thought and looking at some chocolate cupcakes when the woman spoke to her. “What?” She shook her head. “Oh, sorry.” She said, embarrassed, finally processing what Cassie had said. She grabbed the cinnamon buns and handed them over, but that was not going to be the end of it.
“Are you hurt?” Claire asked. Maybe she could help her. Though she probably wasn’t hurt in a way that needed immediate attention or she probably wouldn’t even be here. Still, Claire had to ask. She cared about people. A lot.
She gave the other girl an easy smile. “I’m Claire by the way. How long have you been here?” She was interested in getting to know her fellow captives, and interested in talking to anyone who would keep her mind off of Sylar.
***
Cassandra took the Pillsbury can and slid it easily into her basket, grateful for the assist. She knew neither the doctor nor the nurse would be keen on seeing her and Cole again anytime in the near future. Going back to the ER wasn’t high on her list of priorities either, so at least they were all in agreement on that. She would need to check in on Cole, make sure he was adjusting better to being in Test City. It was so different from what he’d told her of 2043, and he’d had enough trouble trying to blend in when he was with her. They’d figure it out, and it seemed like they had time because Jennifer Goines wasn’t around, Ramse wasn’t around, and as far as she could tell, there hadn’t been a peep from the Army of the Twelve Monkeys.
“I was. I’m in the last stages of healing from a GSW, ah a gunshot wound. It fragmented into three parts, which caused a great deal of internal bleeding. I just recently got out of the hospital,” Cassie explained, shifting from her usual, brisk doctor-speak to something more relatable. She didn’t need to go into detail about just how poorly she’d been upon arrival, and it was behind her for now.
“Cassandra,” she added, answering Claire’s question. “I haven’t been here for very long, unfortunately. I’m lucky that there are such competent doctors in Test City, and that will no doubt come in handy. I’ve found survival is much more likely when there are people who have medical training.” Granted, she was biased. “Anything fun to do around here, Claire?”
~*~
Claire was a compassionate kind of girl. She cared about others, and she wanted to help them if she could. Cassandra seemed nice and Claire was sorry to hear that she'd been hurt. Claire had been shot before, more than once and though she healed, it had definitely been unpleasant. She couldn't really fathom how much it would suck to have to heal from it the hard way.
Cassandra seemed like she'd be okay, so long as she didn't over exert herself or something. Claire was happy that she'd been there and able to help, even if it was just a tiny thing. She would be glad to help out more if she was needed, as well. She wanted to make sure Cassandra was okay. They all had to look out for one another here.
She shrugged at Cassie's question. "I haven't really looked into the fun stuff much yet. Work keeps me pretty busy." She confessed. But honestly, Claire liked it that way. It kept her from thinking too much about home and the potential consequences for her actions.
"Do you need help with anything else?" Claire offered, with a smile. She would have offered to heal Cassandra completely, but she didn't really know how the other girl might feel about powered people.
~*~
It seemed like Claire kept to her work and herself, which was just fine with Cassie, even if it wasn’t particularly helpful. “Hmm, that’s okay. If I find anything interesting to do around here, I’ll be sure to let you know,” she offered amicably. There weren’t enemies everywhere she turned here, and it wouldn’t be helpful for her to treat people as such either.
“No, thank you,” she replied, glancing at her mostly full basket. “This is all I need, I think. If it turns out I’ve missed something, I’m sure my friend will be happy to get it for me.” Cole was always looking for ways to help, and to make sure she stayed safe. He still firmly believed that she was the key to stopping the virus, which was an unwavering belief that stunned her whenever she was confronted with examples of it.
“Thank you again for the help. It was nice meeting you, Claire.” Cassandra smiled once more, before continuing down the aisle. The checkout counters were there anyway, and it wasn’t like she could carry much at all, anyway.
~*~
“Nice meeting you too.” Claire said, watching her go. She seemed really nice and Claire hoped that she could heal okay. Talking to Cassandra, she had nearly forgotten why she was here at all. Oops. She watched until she was sure that Cassie would be okay on her own, because Claire was more than willing to help again if she needed it.
She thought once again about telling her who and what she was. But they didn’t know one another yet, and Cass might freak out at that. She had friends here. She’d be okay.
Claire went back to what she was doing, and finished gathering what she had come here for. Then she checked herself out. She wasn’t getting much so she could carry it all easily enough. She realized after she’d left that she forgot the cupcakes. Oh well, she’d have to get them another day. Her shift was starting soon and she wanted to make it home and get this stuff put away.