Who: Nobody Owens and Cassandra Cain. What: A Not!Date. When: 7/16. Where: Starbucks. Rating: PG. Status: Complete!
Nobody was just more at home in suit pants and a button down shirt at this point in his life, so that’s what he wore to pick up Cassandra. He didn’t wear a tie, and left the shirt undone at the throat, but still. Since he wasn’t sure if it was a date - it felt more like a pre-date, really - he didn’t have flowers or anything, but he did plan on paying for her coffee. Knocking on her door, he cleared his throat and waited for her to answer.
Ever since Bod had texted her about going out, Cass had been looking forward to it. She wasn’t sure if it was a date, but she enjoyed talking to Bod and ever since they’d run into each other at the mall she’d wanted to see him again, but hadn’t been sure if she should text him or not, so when he’d texted her, she’d been quite happy. She’d had kickboxing class early that morning and upon getting home had showered and changed into a demin skirt and pink tank top. She had just finished drying her hair when she heard the knock at the door and went to answer it, smiling when she saw Bod there, “Hi. How’re you? Want to come in?”
“Oh, only if it won’t be any trouble.” He smiled at her, feeling absurdly lanky and thin and tall compared to her. His dreams had left him feeling a bit strange all day, so he simply stepped into the house, obediently smiling.
“Not at all,” Still smiling, Cass moved aside to let Bod in and closed the door behind him, “Make yourself at home. I just need a few more minutes. I hope you don’t mind. I would have been ready, but I got a little distracted when I finally got home,” Truthfully, she hadn’t known what to wear after she’d gotten out of the shower. Not sure whether or not it was a date had made it a little difficult to choose an outfit.
“Oh, of course not, take all the time you need.” He smiled and found a chair to settle into, sitting a bit more stiffly than he would have at his own house.
“Okay, I’ll be right out,” Cass ran back into her bedroom and finished getting ready, which consisted of, running a brush through her now dry, wavy black hair, finding a pair of shoes and her purse. She hadn’t bothered with makeup, not that she wore it much anyway and was back out in the livingroom in only a few minutes, “Okay, I’m ready. Sorry about that. So where are we off to?” She was looking forward to spending some time getting to know Bod better.
“I thought we could grab a coffee,” he smiled. He’d stood up as soon as she’d entered the room, beaming at her. He couldn’t help it; she was gorgeous, and she had to know it. “I’ve developed a really nasty addiction to Frappucinos.” Which was a ridiculous sounding word with his accent. Oh well.
“Coffee is fine with me,” Cass smiled and gestured towards the door, “I had to get up so early this morning that I might just pass out if I don’t get some caffeine.” Of course Cass was used to getting up uber early anyway because of all the years of gymnastics training before the sun even came up. While he may have thought it sounded ridiculous, so liked his accent and pretty much everything he said with it. How was it that accents always made words sound better? “What time did you get up?” Bod was used to a nine to five schedule with his undertaking and school, but she made it sound like she was up at four or five. “I think you may need an espresso or a cappuccino,” he quipped.
“Five thirty.” Cass hadn’t actually had to get up that early, but it was force of habit now. When she didn’t have anywhere to go, she’d just go back to sleep, but since she’d had kickboxing that morning, she’d just stayed up to get ready. “I’m just hardwired for it I guess. All those years of gymnastics practice before the sun came up.”
Bod winced. “I don’t think I’ve seen five-thirty on the waking up side of things.” But when she mentioned gymnastics, he blinked. “Oh, that’s where I recognize you from.” She’d looked eerily familiar when he’d first seen her, but he’d not understood why.
“I’ve seen the waking side of five thirty far too many times.” Cass said as she locked the door behind them as they went outside then smiled as he said that, “That would be me. Women’s Gymnastics Olympic Champion.” She didn’t say it in a bragging manner and her smile was even a little shy, hoping that he wouldn’t treat her any differently now that he had recognized her as someone who was somewhat famous.
“I always flinch when anyone does the vault. It just seems to go against gravity and God and everything nature intended,” he chuckled. “But I’m just a bit ... boring, really. I’d expect you’d find my life a lot less interesting than yours.”
Cass shook her head in response to that, “I don’t think you’re boring.” She glanced over at him as they walked away from her condo towards Bod’s car, “And just because I was in the Olympics doesn’t mean I’m not boring. I spend so much time in the gym, I hardly do anything else.” Of course, compared to the amount of time she used to spend in the gym, she spent about half that now, so she did have a lot more free time, “As for the vault, it’s exhilarating, but also dangerous. I actually hurt myself a few months ago doing it.”
He looked at her. “Of course it’s dangerous! Man wasn’t meant to fly, much less hurtling themselves over a huge ... leather contraption.” He laughed at himself, knowing full well he sounded like an old man.
She laughed along with him and nodded, “It is true.” She wondered what he’d think it he’d seen her that night she’d met Faith and jumped the gap between two buildings. Now that had been exhilarating and even more dangerous, because if she hadn’t made it, well she would have fallen quite a ways, but she hadn’t missed. Not that she was going to make it a habit of jumping along rooftops, “But sometimes we have to do it.”
“Only because that’s the sport you’ve chosen. Me, I’m a walker. Very few walking injuries. Though there was that time I had a pebble in my trainers.” He wrinkled his nose. “Very painful, that.” He opened the door to his car for her, having been bred to be a gentleman. As Bod wrinkled his nose, Cass thought he looked quite adorable and thanked him as he opened the door for her. She hadn’t actually been a passenger since she’d gotten to stop wearing the sling. She hadn’t been able to drive for almost three months and since then she had been driving herself pretty much everywhere so being a passenger now felt a little odd, but she didn’t mind. Putting on her seatbelt, she waited for him to get into the car.
He hopped back in, gunned the engine, and directed them toward the nearest Starbucks. “So, now that you’re not competing, what do you do with your time? Unless you’re still competing, then feel free to tell me to hush.”
“I’m not competing anymore. At least I won’t be competing in the next Olympics.” She turned towards Bod as she spoke, “So, now that I had more free time, I try to spend some with my friends and I spend part of it in the gym still. There’s the kickboxing and then soon I’m actually gonna be coaching. I want to help other girls reach their dream of getting to the Olympics.” So, there was still a chance she’d wind up at the next Olympics, but it wouldn’t be in the same way she had been the year before.
“That’s fantastic!” Bod smiled. “I’d expect it would be difficult and strange to leave such a big part of your life behind.” He smiled at her, hoping he didn’t say anything stupid. Really, that was his goal for the rest of the time he spent with her.
Cass nodded then gave a small shrug, “It is, but it’s time. My dream was to win a gold medal and I won two. I spent the majority of my life training and practicing because my father wanted me to be the best and that would have been fine, but my parents became obsessed with it and earlier this year I took them to court to get access to my money, because at nineteen, I should have had a say in my life, but my father didn’t see it that way.” It was hard to believe that, that had only been six months ago. “So, I moved in with my friend Jubilee, who was also on the team with me and I’ve been taking control of my life ever since.”
Bod shook his head. “I can’t imagine fighting with my parents that way. They adopted me in their late forties, so they’ve always just ... I don’t know, they always wanted a kid, so they always treated me pretty well.” He wasn’t spoiled, but his parents had always treated him like a small adult. It was probably why at eighteen he was eerily well adjusted.
“My parents just got transfixed by the dollar signs. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was what I had to do for me.” Cass didn’t blame her parents, but she also hadn’t reached out to them since everything had happened back in January. “That’s really nice about your parents. And I think it’s safe to say that they did a good job with you.” She smiled at him as he drove.
“Well, thank you. It’s just me, Mum, Dad, and my auntie now.” He smiled at her, shaking his head. “It’s not like your parents did so poorly with you. And relationships can always be repaired, given time and effort by both parties.” He gave her hand a friendly squeeze as they pulled into a parking spot outside Starbucks. “Are you ready to be embarrassed by my order?” “Maybe someday. Right now it doesn’t look like it,” After the things that Cass had learned about her parents in the dreams, there was a part of her that hoped that maybe someday she’d be able to patch things up with her parents in the waking world, but for now she was happy with the way things were. When they reached Starbucks and Bod spoke, Cass smiled and quirked a brow, “Oh come on, how embarrassing can it be?”
Bod walked up to the counter, glad there wasn’t a queue, and cleared his throat. “I’d like a venti salted caramel frap, extra whip, extra syrup.” He grinned at Cass and shrugged. “I don’t really drink coffee. I have milkshakes with a little coffee in.”
Cass did like coffee, but she’d seen a new frap that they had and she had been dying to try it, “I’ll have a tall chocolate cookie crunch frap with non-fat milk.” She turned to Bod after she’d ordered, “I like almost anything with chocolate and I saw a picture of that the other day and have been dying to try it.” She knew it probably had a lot of calories and if this had been seven months ago, her father would have had a fit if she’d had that, but she didn’t have to worry about her diet so much anymore.
“It’s not bad, but the salted caramel kind of has my heart.” He chuckled and looked down sheepishly. “I’m up to two a day. It’s a good thing I’m literally almost always on my feet all day or I’d have to go to some sort of rehab.”
“Frapaholics Anonymous?” Cass asked, smirking. “I’ll have to try that one next time though, so for now I’ll take your word for it.” Of course if he chose to offer her a taste when he got his drink then she wouldn’t say no.
“Oh, you can have a bit of mine, if you like. And really, it’s just the sugar, I think.” He chuckled and paid for both their drinks, scooting down the queue to wait for their beverages. “I had to go through all the flavours before I found my favorite, after all.”
Cass couldn’t help but smile as he offered her a taste of his and she nodded, “I might have to take you up on that and thank you.” She had thought that she might feel guilty or something for going out with someone else, even if it was just as friends, so soon after her breakup with Gavroche, but when she thought about it, he had broken up with her because he wasn’t ready for a relationship, so what did she had to feel guilty about? “And they have so many. That must have taken you forever.”
“A week or so. Told you, I’m an addict.” He did his best to look innocent, batting his eyelashes and all. “You’re enabling me, you monster.”
Batting his eyelashes just made him look even more adorable than Cass already thought he was and she couldn’t help but giggle a little, “How am I enabling you when you’re the one who suggested we come here?” She quirked a brow as their names were called by the barista. “If you want, I can just drink yours too. Don’t want to feed your addiction.” “No, that’s fine!” He rushed to grab their drinks, laughing at her joke. Handing over her drink, he smiled at her. “Really. I have to beat it on my own.”
“After this one, right?” Cass asked, genuinely enjoying the time she was spending with Bod, “Come on, there’s a table over there.” Turning, she headed for the table, glancing over her shoulder to make sure he was following her, her long black hair bouncing a little as she walked.
He did follow her, trying not to look at anything ungentlemanly on her person. She was lovely, but he was fairly sure anyone as pretty as her would already have a boyfriend. Besides, he wasn’t much of a catch; most of the time his job creeped people out.
Reaching the table, Cass sat down and took a sip of her frap as she waited for Bod to sit as well, “So, what have you been up to since we ran into each other at the mall?” Ever since they’d run into each other, she’d wanted to text him, so she had been extremely happy when he’d texted her to go out today.
He sat down, and started to sip contentedly. “Well, there’s a couple of people I’m tending to at work. Between that and homework, it’s pretty busy.” But certainly not too busy for a coffee with a pretty girl. Pretty and smart.
“You’re taking classes during the summer?” She asked, brows raising quizzically, “Where are you going?” She didn’t think he’d mentioned that before, but it was possible and with everything going on recently, it had slipped her mind.
“Cypress.” It was a trade school, but it was the closest school with a mortuary science discipline that he’d found. “It was either that or Worsham, but I didn’t want to go to Virginia to go to school.” He smiled a little sheepishly.
“I’m glad you didn’t go to Virginia,” Seven months ago she wouldn’t have been quite so outspoken, especially with a boy, but she was different now and she had Jubilee and Logan to credit for part of that. “Cause then we wouldn’t have met.” Her smile was shy, but she didn’t blush the way she would have seven months ago.
He smiled lopsidedly, blushing for her. “I am too,” he murmured. “I don’t know if I’d have understood anyone.”
She wanted to tell him that he was cute when he blushed, but she wasn’t sure how he’d take that and didn’t want him to think that she was weird, “I’m sure you would have met someone who you understood, but I’m glad it was me.”
“I am too, actually.” He smiled at her, ducking his head to sip a bit more of his frapp so she wouldn’t have to see him looking too starry eyed.
Cass bit her bottom lip and watched him for a moment or two before reaching across the table for his drink, “Let me have a taste before you drink it all.” She wasn’t really sure what she was doing and didn’t know the first thing about flirting, but she knew that she liked Bod and was just doing what felt right.
“Oh, right.” He handed over his cup. “There’s still some left, promise.” He liked that their fingers met, that he felt kind of tingly. Crap. He probably had a crush on her.
As their fingers met, Cass smirked as her stomach flip flopped a bit. It was similar to the way she’d felt with Logan and Gavroche, but different at the same time. Different in a good way. A way she hadn’t felt with either of them. She really hoped that she wasn’t going to be the type of girl that got a crush on every guy she met.
Bod just smiled, waiting for her to take a sip. “It’s nice, the way it’s sweet but not too sweet.” Aaaand he was still blushing. God, he hoped he didn’t look like an idiot.
Taking a sip, Cass ‘Mmmmed’ and nodded as she swallowed, passing the cup back across the table, “That is really good. I think I’ll have to get my own next time. I’d offer you some of mine, but you said you’ve already tried everything.” She’d never been around someone who blushed as much as she used to and she didn’t realize that he was blushing because of her.
“I think I just get the extra whipped cream because I really do want it to be a milkshake.” Coffee was a nice boring thing to talk about instead of him blushing.
“Well, maybe next time we can go for actual milkshakes. There’s a real good milkshake place in the mall.” Was she asking him out? She might have been, but it all depended on his response really. After all, friends could just go out and hang out, right? But she hoped she wasn’t reading him wrong.
“That’d be brilliant, actually.” He smiled and did something daring, for once - he reached out and squeezed her hand, letting it linger for a moment.
“Great.” Cass smiled, her cheeks flushing slightly as he squeezed her hand, “I’ll drive next time. That is, if you don’t mind getting picked up by the girl.” Some guys had a problem with girls doing things like that.
“I don’t, not at all, why would I?” He blinked. “Unless you don’t know how to drive or something.”
Cass shrugged, “Some guys don’t like being picked up. They’d rather doing the picking up.” Not that she knew from experience, but she’d heard about it.
“Well, a lot of guys are absolute tossers, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.” Bod chuckled, drinking the remainder of his frappucino.
Cass had always liked accents and she was just enjoying listening to Bod talk, especially when he said ‘Tossers’, “Not all guys can be good guys.” She smirked and sipped at her own drink, which was still about half full. They were still there, together, but she was already looking forward to the next time they’d hang out.