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Cassandra Cain {Wayne} (littleshiva) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-07-11 01:59:00

Who: Cassandra Cain and Nobody Owens
When: Backdated: Friday, July 5th. Afternoon.
Where: The Mall
What: Cass is looking for a birthday present for Violet
Rating: Low
Status: Complete

With Violet’s birthday coming up, Cass wanted to get her best friend a really nice present, so she’d decided to head over to the mall after the gym. She’d showered after her workout so that she wouldn’t offend any other shoppers then headed over to the mall and began wandering, looking for just the right present for Violet. She knew what sorts of things her friend liked, but so far she hadn’t found the right gift, so she continued looking.

Nobody had just come out of a store with a men’s suit in a garment bag. He needed another one for work, so he’d made a trip out even though he wasn’t what he’d normally consider a mall person. But while he was there, he might as well head to the book shop, and then maybe the shoe store. On his way out of the suit shop, he accidentally bumped into a pretty brunette girl.

“Oh, bloody hell, I’m sorry, are you alright?” Bod’s accent was still strong despite having lived in the States for many years.

“No, I sorry...” Cass hadn’t really been paying attention either and didn’t notice the boy until he’d practically collided with her. Having never actually heard Bod speak before, since they’d only talked on Valarnet, Cass wasn’t expecting it to be him until she actually focused on who it was that she had walked into, “Yeah, I’m fine. Are you?” She smiled when she recognized him, “It’s me, Cass.”

Bod’s eyes lit up when he recognized where he’d seen her before. “Right, right! How are you?” He beamed, shifting his weight so he looked less awkward. He didn’t usually not look awkward - he was on the tall and gangly side - so he had to adjust frequently.

Cass smiled when he did and adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder, “I’m good. How’re you?” She hadn’t expected to run into anyone she knew, especially not a boy, but she was glad that she’d dressed up a little bit and wasn’t wearing sweats or anything. To Cass Bod wasn’t overly tall, since she was on the tall side, herself, for both a girl and a gymnast at 5’8.

“I’m well, thank you. Just getting more work clothes,” he winced. He wrinkled his nose, motioning toward the store he’d come out of, shaking his head. “I figure four suits is plenty, and now I’m there and don’t have to do that again. How are you?”

“I’m glad that my work clothes is pretty much a leotard.” Cass smirked. It really was convenient to only have to wear a leotard, especially when companies and endorsements gave them to her, so she rarely needed to actually buy any, “What is it that you do?” She couldn’t recall if he’d mentioned it any of the times that they’d talked.

“I’m an undertaker’s assistant,” Bod replied. He didn’t know if she’d find that odd, but he refused to be embarrassed by the thing he’d chosen to do with his life. “You said you were going to teach gymnastics soon, which is ... really, well impressive.”

“Really? Is being an undertaker’s assistant creepy at all?” In all the movies and tv shows, funeral homes and morgues were always creepy places and Cass wasn’t sure she ever wanted to visit one. “What made you decide to do that? If you don’t mind my asking?” She’d always wondered how someone decided to become an undertaker, “Yeah, I’ve decided to coach now instead of compete myself.”

“Not really. I don’t mind it.” He smiled at her, trying not to look like he was obviously admiring her eyes, even when he was. “Well, it’s mostly that I wanted to comfort people and do something where I was being helpful. A position opened up a couple of years ago, and I took it and I’m really quite good at it.”

“What exactly do you do? I mean, I’ve seen movies and stuff where they actually embalm the bodies in the funeral homes and stuff like that. Do you do that kind of stuff? Or do you stand around during services and tell people where to go?” Cass realized that she was asking a lot of questions, but she had never actually met someone in this profession, so she was curious.

“I do all of that, yeah.” Bod smiled. “I also help the families just ... through the process. Most people aren’t familiar with how it works, so I just help out with that, and I help get the bodies ready according to however they’re requested.” He didn’t like talking about that part so much, but in his mind, he really was helping to honor family members, beloved people. “I also do some weeding in the yard itself.”

“I don’t think I could ever do that. I’ve never even seen a dead body before.” At least not in real life. In her dreams, she’d seen a few, one of which had been her doing. “So, you’re an undertaker’s assistant and a part time gardener?” She smirked tossing her long black hair over her shoulder, briefly wondering what he looked like all sweaty from weeding in the California heat. A few months ago that thought would have made her cheeks go pink, but somehow she’d managed not to this time.

“It’s not so bad if you see death as part of living.” He put his hands into his slacks pockets, smiling sheepishly. “You could put it that way, yeah. There’s lots of people in the yard whose families have moved or passed on, so I try to keep their plots tidy.”

“I’m sure their families appreciate it.” Cass couldn’t help but think that he looked quite cute at that moment and smiled, “Well, the ones who haven’t passed on that is. So is the funeral home you work at in a cemetery or does it have like old plots outside?”

“Old plots outside. Nobody gets buried in the yard that we’re adjacent to, they’re all full.” Sometimes Bod got to drive the hearse, which was odd as he was pretty sure the vehicle couldn’t go over forty miles per hour.

“How old are they?” While in Boston in March, before she’d gotten had her fall, her and some of the other gymnasts had gone sightseeing and they had passed a lot of really old, famous cemeteries and she wondered if the one behind the funeral home was like those.
“Oh, some of the plots are gold rushers, but most of them are from the early nineteen-hundreds.” Bod beamed. It was weird; nobody really ever talked with him about this sort of thing.

“That’s pretty cool. So, most of those people would have been born in the eighteen hundreds, huh?” Cass was beginning to wonder if there were any really old cemeteries in the area and what it’d be like to explore them.

Bod nodded enthusiastically. “So nobody takes care of their headstones, exactly.” He couldn’t help but blush a little. “Most people find this creepy, it’s cool that you don’t.”

Cass shrugged a bit, “I mean, it is kind of morbid and creepy, but it’s also kind of cool.” She smirked as he blushed, which was pretty cute, “Makes me wonder if there are any really old cemeteries around that could be explored.” She knew that a lot of people did headstone rubbings on old graves and she thought it’d be pretty cool to do something like that.

“I could show you around where I work, if you like. Not the home proper, that’s a bit tacky, but the yard.” He smiled, leaning back on his heels. Did he just ask her out? Surely not, they’d just be friends.

“Yeah, that’d be cool,” Cass smiled, not sure if he’d just asked her out, but whether he had or he was just being friendly, Cass didn’t care. While she did think Bod was pretty cute, he was really nice too and after her breakup with Gavroche, she needed to be around someone like him who wasn’t Violet or Jubilee or any of her other friends. She needed to be around someone new.

“Really? Oh, brilliant.” Bod smiled and found his wallet in his jacket pocket. He fished out a business card, handing one over to her. “My cell number’s on there, since I’m just an apprentice and don’t normally have to hand these out anyway.” He felt kind of sheepish, and he ran his fingers through his hair.

Cass was still smiling as she took the card from him and glanced over it, “Wow, your own business cards, huh? Pretty fancy.” She took her phone from her pocket and proceeded to send him a text that consisted of just a smiley face, “And now you have my number.” She put her phone back in her pocket along with the business card, “Well, I’ve got to get my friend a birthday present, so I should get going, but I’ll definitely give you a call or text you soon.”

“It’s nice, actually. I’m hoping once I finish school I can just stay at the same home and take it over once the current owner passes. The weird thing about this business is that it’s very familial and run by families, just passed down through generations.”

Cass smiled once again and crossed her fingers on one hand, holding it up for Bod to see, “I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for you.” Not a lot of people so young knew exactly what they wanted to do, so it was nice to hear him talking about his plans, “It was really nice to finally meet you in person.”

He smiled and nodded. “You too. Just let me know when you’re free, and I’ll show you around.” He held out his hand for her to shake, trying not to feel too awkward or out of place.

She shook his hand, giving it a light squeeze before letting go, “Like I said, I’ll call or text you soon. Right now I’m on a mission for a birthday present.” After everything Violet had gone through recently, she deserved the best birthday present out there; now Cass just had to find it.