Who: Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown When: Jan 12th Where: Cass' place & Granny's What: Bonding Rating/Warning: Low/None Status: Complete
Stephanie didn’t think twice about having a night out with her new friend. After all, she hadn’t thought anything about training with Damian or talking to Kate. She was all for embracing her dream-self, especially as her dream-self was turning out to be a badass with equally badass friends. Apparently she and Cass were best friends or something close in her dreams and she was never one to pass up on the chance to make a friend, especially if the whole thing started with them comiserating over their terrible fathers. Her father was on her mind a lot lately, both the one in the dreams and the one in real life and while most she talked to were sympathetic she doubted anyone really understood. Even Danny, who claimed to have problems with his dad even though all the man seemed to want to do was be a good father. But Cass understood and that was just what she needed until she either stopped dreaming about the man or his parole was denied.
After exchanging information about addresses and phone numbers they made plans to go out one evening. Steph had actually been looking forward to some girl time away from work and arrived a good five minutes early at the address Cass had given her. She could play it off as good traffic if questioned but it was down to excitement, something close to what she felt when she went to see Damian but different enough for her to notice. She even half skipped to the door once she pulled off her eggplant helmet, already beaming as she rang the bell.
Since the incident with Mystique, Cass hadn’t actually left the house. She’d told her coach she was sick, which she knew would only work for so long, considering it had been about two weeks now, but she was worried that Mystique would be out there and while the other woman would see her, Cass wouldn’t know where she was, because she could be anyone she wanted. However, while she hadn’t left the house, Cass had gotten out of bed since her talk with Laura and had spent most of her time around the house, talking to both Jubilee and Laura when they were home. She was slowly, but surely, starting to feel better, but she still didn’t really want to be around people she didn’t know, because that meant she’d have to at some point come to trust them and that would be hard for awhile still.
Stephanie was a different story though. She knew Stephanie or at least her dream self did and from what she’d see on Valernet, she wasn’t that different from the dreams, so she felt safe going out with her. She’d made sure to tell Jubilee and Laura where she was going though, so that someone would know where she would be in case anything did happen, which she doubted, but she could never be too careful now. Hearing the bell, Cass headed to the door, a small smile on her face, “Hey.”
“Hi there,” Steph beamed even wider. Cass looked a little different without the Black Bat mask but seeing the shape of her face and her mouth Steph could tell that this was indeed the same person from the picture that had been surrounded by little ‘BFFs’ hearts. She only wished that she had dreamed of her already, it would have been nice to have a little background together, but she wasn’t going to let that get in the way of getting to know her here. “You ready to go?”
Seeing Stephanie standing there, felt so surreal, but right at the same time. They’d talked on Valarnet a few times, but that was entirely different than seeing someone in person. Other than Barbara, Steph was the only other person from the dreams that she’d met and it was like her dreams coming to life right in front of her and she felt herself relax a little more than before she’d opened the door, “Yeah. Where are we going?”
“I was thinking we could grab a bite at Granny’s first.” Steph wasn’t being boring with this choice either, it all had to do with that woman who could be other people that Cass warned her about. She knew most of the regulars and all of the staff and she would, or so she hoped, be able to pick out anyone who didn’t belong there. Maybe it was some of those ‘Spoiler’ instincts bleeding through, but she wanted her new friend safe. The way they had been hugging in the picture was really sweet and she wanted a shot at that kind of friendship in this world too.
“Then we could head over to Sky High Sports or 2000 Points Billiards and Pingpong.” Again, places she knew well where she would be able to tell if someone wasn’t who they were pretending to be. “There’s also the movies if you’re in the mood to be a little less… bouncy.”
“Alright. I’ve never been to Grannys.” Cass didn’t think Stephanie was being boring; in fact, she was glad that she wasn’t trying to make her go to a club or something. She didn’t mind it with Jubilee, because she knew her friend was only trying to help her get out there, but right now clubbing was the last thing that Cass wanted to do. “That’s where you work, right?”
“Yep, it is.” she led Cass to her bike, stopping to open the storage compartment to pull out the helmet she kept for Danny. Unlike Steph’s eggplant one this was white with a red stripe down the center and on the back was a small Canadian flag with the words ‘Beware The Lubbeast’ in semi-circle around it. “I hope that’s okay,” she said as she offered the helmet to Cass. “It really is one of the best places to eat around, and I am not just saying that because I work there. But also, you know, I do get an employee discount.”
"No, that's totally fine. I don't think think I'm up for anything too big, so the diner is fine," Cass took the helmet, quirking a brow at the art on the back and turned it towards Stephanie, "I take it there's an interesting story behind this?" She had seen on the network that Stephanie had a boyfriend, but she didn't know anything about him or that the helmet belonged to him.
“Yeah, uh,” she giggled, she couldn’t help herself, it was her usual reaction when she had to explain Danny to someone. He was unique to say the least and no one really got how true that was until they spent a few minutes with him. “My boyfriend, Danny. Danny Lubbe. I kinda bought that for him but I keep it with the bike in case I need a second helmet. He’s Canadian, and well, sometimes we call him the Lubbeast. He’s, uh, a little different. Maybe a little crazy. A beast, in like the best ways. Believe me, it makes more sense when you spend some time with him.”
Cass smiled, this time a little more wider than before. They may have only just met, technically, but Cass was glad that Stephanie had someone who was really who they said they were, “He sounds interesting. Maybe I can meet him sometime.” Cass put the helmet on, not caring about messing up her hair since she’d just brushed it out after showering; nothing too fancy like usual then waited for Stephanie to get on the bike before she did. She hadn’t been on a bike since she’d gone to the strip club with Logan, which had been almost a year ago, but if felt like no time had passed.
“He’s amazing.” she agreed. To her Danny really was. Not only was he a great guy and good to her but he was so different. He was always making her smile or laugh or blush, all of which Stephanie couldn’t help but feel she needed in her life after all the terrible things she had gone through with her father. “I’ll have to talk to him about behaving himself first, but yeah, I think you’d like him.” Steph said then pulled her helmet back on and got back on her bike. At least she really hoped Cass would like him, the girl seemed to need more friends she could trust.
“Behave himself? Sounds like my friend Jubilee.” Cass smirked and wrapped her arms around Steph’s waist so that she wouldn’t fall off. It was a lot different than riding with Logan, but she trusted that Steph knew that she was doing. After all, she was Spoiler and she’d been better at a lot of things than Cass had ever expected in the dreams. Steph hadn’t been trained the same way Cass had, but she was just as good.
Steph liked to think of herself as a natural on a bike, at least if she didn’t have idiot Drake dropping down from a tree and trying to make her crash. That was one of the many reasons she was happy the the Robin here was Damian and not Tim, the insurance claims on her bike alone would have been such a hassle. But without teenage boys falling from the sky she as an excellent driver, and as considerate as she could be for her passenger, doing her best to avoid dips and potholes that would have been uncomfortable for Cass above the wheel as she was. Able to go around and between cars meant that they got to Granny’s fairly quickly, Steph parked her bike where she always parked it and got off after Cass did, pulling her helmet off. “You originally from around here? It’s a lot nicer than Gotham, huh.”
Steph drove a lot differently than Logan, not as fast, but she still maneuvered around things in a similar fashion, which in a way was comforting. Once the bike was stopped, Cass got off and pulled her helmet off, shaking out her hair before handing the helmet over to Steph, “Yeah. Been here all my life.” She couldn’t help but laugh a little at the comment about Gotham and nodded, “I think almost any place is nicer than Gotham.”
“I-” she suddenly shook her head, “I was gonna say Jersey is pretty bad but no, nothing anywhere in the US can compare with how shitty Gotham is.” But it was still home, at least in the dreams, and as shitty as it was even Spoiler wanted to protect it. Easier said than done, but working with Tim the few times she dreamed of it seemed to be doing some good. “I moved out here for college,” she took the helmet and hung both of them from the bars before turning and leading her friend to the door. “I like it, the weather, when it isn’t freak snowing, is amazing.”
“Jersey might be similar,” Cass said as she followed Steph inside the diner. “Where did you move from?” She asked, glancing around the diner once inside. It was nice and quaint and clean just like the diners in the movies. “This place is nice.” It was exactly the type of place she needed to be for her first time out.
“Elizabeth, New Jersey. It’s right across Newark Bay from Staten Island, so I had like New York in my backyard, not just all the tv crew that was shooting the Sopranos.” Occasionally she would take herself down and watch some of the filming around town but she lost interest quickly as she hadn’t been at all interested in the show. Living so close to the mafia made the appeal of that show fly right out the window. She took Cass back to her favorite booth, waving at one of her coworkers. “It’s a great place to work, I’ve been really tempted to leave my UPS job and just take more hours here. I mean, I don’t have to see anyone naked or nearly naked on a daily basis in this job, and that makes it totally worth it.”
“That’s pretty cool.” Cass remarked as they sat down, “I never actually watched that, but that must have been cool to watch filming when you could catch it.” Cass hadn’t watched much TV growing up since David had her spending most of her time training or practicing. “What’s that like? Driving a UPS van? I don’t think I could ever drive anything bigger than my car. I’d be afraid that I’d hit everything else around me.”
“I had to go through a special training class and get a license.” It really had turned out to be the most work she had ever had to do for a part-time job, but it was worth it for the benefits. “And oh man, the training was… Well, I like to think that I’m a good driver, you know. Totally different in a truck like that. It’s really the turning that gets you because you get used to how big it is, but your big concern, empty or loaded down, is flipping the thing on a turn. The balance is totally off. But you do get used to it. The worst of it is people thinking they can pull out in front of me.”
“What made you decide to get a job with UPS?” Cass asked, curiously. She’d never pictured Steph as the delivery person type, but a lot of things were different in the waking world than in the dreams and she supposed that was just one of those things. “And how long have you been doing it for?”
“Mainly the benefits. They are really good to their employees, even the part time people. They offer health insurance and are really keen to work with college students, I only work four hours a day, four days a week. It’s really great.” the waitress came over before she could finish what she was saying. Steph ordered a strawberry milkshake and a cheeseburger, as today felt like a cheeseburger day. After Cass ordered and the waitress left again she continued. “A little over a year now, started in September of twenty twelve. Aside from the naked and freezing in the snow it’s a pretty cool job.”
Cass ordered a cheeseburger and coke then listened as Stephanie continued talking about why she decided to work for UPS, “That’s not bad. How often do you actually have people answer the door naked? I mean, do that many people actually lounge around naked on a regular basis? I would think it’d get uncomfortable and once they answer the door, isn’t that indecent exposure?”
“Fully naked?” she had to think about it for a second or two. “Maybe once or twice a month. Nearly or half naked it more like a weekly thing. You have no idea how happy I am when I’m able to just leave it on the porch and go. And yeah, apparently people who are home in the afternoon also often like to hang out naked, go figure.” She had to smile at the exposure question, she had asked the same after her first week. “As long as they stay on their property and or in their house it’s legal. I probably make it sound worse than it is, sometimes you do actually meet normal people. Like Damian, I randomly delivered a package to Damian Wayne last month. Anyway, that’s nowhere near as exciting as your whole Olympic thing.”
“I’d probably always be ringing the bell like this,” Cass said, bringing one hand up to cover her eyes then spread her fingers to look through with one eye, “Just in case someone answered naked.” She was smirking a little as she lowered her hand back to the table. “I’ve seen Damian talking on Valarnet about Bruce being his father, but I haven’t met him yet in my dreams. Bruce is still alive and well and broody in my dreams.” She didn’t know how Bruce apparently died in the dreams, but she’d seen Damian talking about it. “The Olympics were pretty cool. It’s crazy to think that it was over a year ago now. Feels like I spent so much time training and then they were over and now I’m just here.” Of course it had been Cass’ decision once she’d left her parents, to stop training professionally.
She laughed at Cass’ mime, she didn’t blame her. That was considered unprofessional though, the handbook said to maintain eye contact if the customer in question seemed to be in a state of undress. Sometimes that was easier than others. “Ugh, that brooding. Do you remember a few years ago when brooding was still kinda sexy? I kinda miss those days because now everyone is doing it. I think I try to go out of my way to avoid it these days. Danny is definitely not a brooder.” Danny was the type to put dog shit in several hundred dollar shoes or tell utterly insane stories but he really wasn’t the brooding type. “Do you miss it? I mean all that training and performing?”
“Sometimes. It was nice being in the spotlight sometimes, but I don’t miss how hard my father pushed me. I was in the gym before sunrise and didn’t leave until late. I had to soak in ice baths most of the time cause I hurt so bad. I didn’t really have any friends other than other gymnasts and had no social life at all. I didn’t even really get to enjoy England during the Olympics, because I was training eve when the others weren’t.” Cass much preferred her life now; well her life before Mystique had managed to ruin it.
“I did gymnastics a while when I was a kid, that was kinda enough for me. I certainly wouldn’t have stuck with it once it got to the ice bath point.” It had been an excuse to get Steph out of the house for a few hours so she wouldn’t fight with her father or find some other way of getting into trouble. After she quit that was when the real fighting started. “I bet it’s really nice to relax and stuff now, like eat whatever and how much you want, to stay up or go out. All that young person good stuff.”
“Once I showed that I was good at it, my dad wouldn’t let up. He just saw the success that could come with it and made sure that I’d get to the Olympics. I mean, it was my dream too, but it would have been nice to have had a social life too like all the other girls. I mean, I never even had a boyfriend or anything like that until last year.” She bit her bottom lip, “And I’ve had pretty awful luck with guys ever since.” She pushed some hair over her shoulder as she sat back, “I really do prefer things now. Normally, it’s a lot more relaxing. Recently though, I started thinking it might have been better if I’d stayed home, but my friend Logan pointed out that I’d just be miserable if I hadn’t left home.” It was no secret that Cass had taken her parents to court the previous January to get control over her money.
“Things can get better here though. Sounds like you’ve got lots of friends now, friends that’ll be in your corner.” She had googled Cass when they had started talking, mostly out of curiosity. She had seen the thing with her parents as well as some of the clips from the Olympics, but wouldn’t directly mention her family trouble if she could avoid it. The food had arrived and before she had a bite of a fry she gave Cass her best hopeful smile. “I’m glad you’re here anyway.”
“Things have gotten better, but at the same time, things have been bad,” She didn’t think she had to go into detail about the whole thing with Mystique, because it wasn’t really a big secret or anything. When Steph spoke, Cass couldn’t help but smile and she nodded, “I’m glad you’re here too.” Knowing what was going to happen to Stephanie in the dreams made Cass even more happy that she was there, even if Stephanie hadn’t actually died, it was just nicer having her there and real then just someone in her dreams.