InsaneJournal

Who: Cassandra Cain and Laura Kinney
What: Catching Up and Making Plans
When: Backdated: Mid March
Where: A Coffee Shop
Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly
Status: Complete!

It had only been a few months since Laura had moved out of the house she and Cass had bought. At the time, the move had made sense - Logan was dead, dealing with his apartment and his left behind things was a priority. Now that he was back, Laura wasn’t so sure what to do with herself. And she regretted that the move had made her lose touch with her friend.

So she called Cass up and set up a coffee date! Now they were seated in a booth at the back of a small coffee place. It was near a college campus and dead in the afternoons, when most students had class. The perfect time to get a cup and have a nice talk with someone.

Her own cup was iced, with a mixture of flavored syrups in it. “I’m sorry it took me this long to do this, it’s been… too busy. You were probably busy too, with all of that crime. There were enough criminals to go around.”

Cass had missed seeing Laura daily, but she’d understood why she had needed to move out at the time. And of course when Logan had come back, from the dead no less, Cass had been busy fighting crime almost on a nightly basis as a result of the spike in the crime rate. So she was happy when Laura had called her to set up a coffee date.

When the proposed day rolled around, Cass got to the coffee shop just before Laura and once they were inside had ordered a drink similar to her friend’s. “I totally understand. A lot was going on.” She took a sip of her drink before nodding, “Oh yeah. I was out almost every night patrolling. Felt almost like my dreams.”

"Sometimes I think that's a good thing. When real life is a little more like the dreams." Laura mused, then took a sip of her own drink. "We are used to being more active and having things to fight. Everything else starts to feel a little..."

She wasn't sure what word she wanted, and shook her head at herself, "I just like feeling like I have a purpose. But it's nice to have a break from it all, too. That is one thing the dream life didn't give us, and I'm glad that we have time off here."

Cass nodded, “I know exactly what you mean. In the dreams I was always doing something. Whether it was fighting crime or being brainwashed or pretending to be brainwashed or whatever, there was always something going on.” In Orange County there was usually something strange going on, but it wasn’t the same as in her dreams. “And it’s not as universally accepted here to have people running round in kevlar and spandex.” While no one had seen her yet, aside from the thugs she’d stopped, she knew that if the wrong person saw her, things would get crazy.

"There is that, yes. The police might think you were a criminal, yourself. Though you would think that after this much time they would have simply recruited us. Or decided to work with us. Though I think I at least am used to operating in the shadows anyway. So keeping things on the down low and out of sight isn't so bad." Laura was learning how to use her powers without killing anyone, but she still thought that her skillset was more suited to covert ops than actual vigilante work.

She tilted her head to the side and added, "But we have an agency here in town that is supposed to be working with the superheroes. I think they override the police. I've thought about joining them."

The truth was she already had, but Laura wasn't supposed to tell people about that. She really wanted to, though, and talking about the Agency openly was a great way to test the waters.

“I tried to stay in the shadows in my dreams too. Most of the time. It was better for sneak attacks if the bad guys didn’t see you coming.” Cass smirked and took another sip of her own drink. Her Batgirl costume was definitely well suited for blending in with the dark, what with it being completely black from head to toe. Her Black Bat costume had slightly more color, well some yellow. Yellow was still a color.

“Really? How do you even do that?” Joining the Agency sounded like something her dream counterpart would be suited for. Sure, she could do all the same things that she could in the dreams, but was that sort of thing for her?

"I know a few people who work for them, and I think they actually keep an eye on all of us. All you have to do is ask someone to put in a good word for you, I think. I have... actually been training with one of their agents lately. But it isn't a formal position yet." Which wasn't really a lie. Her work with Natasha ended up being Agency work and she often got a paycheck for it, but she wasn't officially in their records yet.

It was semantics, but it worked for her, "I could be more, if I wanted. I think I'm trying to decide if I want that or not. I was supposed to go to college but I have no interest in that, and my other job wasn't as interesting. But it's one of those occupations that becomes your life."

She took a long sip of her coffee and wrinkled her brows a bit, then said, "Listen to us, we aren't even in our mid twenties yet. We've been forced to be adults so fast."

“Sounds like you’ve got your hands full with that. But it must be kind of nice to be able to use your abilities more often.” While Cass had been patrolling almost nightly, she’d been much less bored than she usually was and liked the fact that she could use what she’d gotten from the dreams. Not even at the gym could she use the full extent of the training she’d received from the dreams. She’d wind up putting her sparring partner in the hospital; or worse. “I’ve thought about college a few times, but I don’t even know what I’d study. For so long all I knew was gymnastics. So, I don’t know what else I’d want to do.” She picked up her drink but didn’t take a sip yet, “I guess that’s what happens when you become super heroes.”

"That's exactly it. I don't know what I would study. I already know a lot of languages and things thanks to the dreams. I guess at some point we will both need other careers, but neither of us is running out of money any time soon." Laura pondered that, and shrugged a shoulder, "I should probably consider taking some business courses if Logan is going to keep the motorcycle shop open, though. Maybe. What do you think?"

Cass nodded in agreement, for the time being, Cass had plenty of money from past endorsements as well as money her parents were still paying back, so for the time being, she wasn’t too worried about where her next meal was coming from, but eventually she would need a career and she knew that it wasn’t going to be in gymnastics. “That’s not a bad idea. But is it what you wanna do?” She doubted that Laura would do anything she didn’t want to do, but it was still worth asking.

"I do enjoy working with my hands, and I liked to repair bikes when I was younger. I think I was a little bit happy when he left the shop to me... I gave it back, of course, but it felt like something I could do in his name. Now it feels like something we could do together." Laura mused, while spinning her cup of coffee in her hands a bit. She took a long sip of it and then added, "I think I could work classes around anything that Agency might want me to do, too. I like to stay busy. But you already knew that."

She smiled at Cass, "Have you been up to anything else? That house has to be pretty empty now that it's just you. Did you ever finish the basement up?"

“Well, you obviously sound like you know what you wanna do.” Cass said, smiling across the table at her friend. “And I’m sure Logan would be happy to see you wanting to follow in his footsteps. Well, certain footsteps.” There were some things that Logan did that most people probably shouldn’t emulate. Not everyone could drink as much beer as he did and not get alcohol poisoning. “It’s almost done. I spent so much time crime fighting throughout January and February that I didn’t have anything done during that time.”

"I guess I do!" Laura nodded, like that was all decided. She could probably start up next term, if she worked hard to get all the paperwork filed. "I'll have to get that going, then. Before it's too late to get in anywhere."

She fidgeted with her coffee a bit, and then asked, "So... I guess my old room is probably still vacant, then? You haven't gotten any new roommates or anything?"

“You can probably find everything you need on-line,” Cass said, taking a sip of her drink as Laura asked about the house, “Nope. No new roommates.” She said, shaking her head. Part of her was a little curious as to why she was inquiring about it so deeply, but the other part of her hoped she was for a reason, “I don’t want to have to break someone’s arm cause they turn out to be a creeper from Craigslist. So it’s just been easier this way.”

"You definitely do not want that, no." Laura agreed, with a nod. But she was a little amused by the idea of Cass laying down the law on a creepy roommate; Mainly because the look on the creeper's face would be hysterical, though the situation itself wouldn't really have been that funny at all.

It had crossed Laura's mind more than once that she needed to move out of Logan's. Nat had told her to set up her own small safe house, and she'd done that. But that was for emergencies. It didn't fit her cover, and it was... lonely. But she wasn't sure if she had the right to ask to come back. Maybe Cass was enjoying her privacy. Laura was learning how to read people, but she didn't want to use those skills on her friends. "I was wondering... if you wanted to be roommates again. But I would understand if you're enjoying having the place to yourself."

Cass couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face at the thought of living with Laura again, "Of course I do. Living alone kind of sucks and I've missed you." Some people got scared of living alone, but Cass knew she could defend herself against anything; it was just lonely. "When did you want to move back in?"

"I'm not sure what I added to the fun," Laura joked, though with that same kind of deadpan tone that made most people wonder if she was joking or serious. Cass probably knew her sense of humor by now, "I was boring and did not like to party, though I do miss making pizza with you. We should learn to cook other things. I was thinking of taking some Asian cooking classes if I can find them. I want to make real ramen."

As to how quickly she wanted to do this, she shrugged a shoulder while she sipped her coffee, "Whenever is convenient. I did not have much to pack and I still don't. I would only need a few days, I think. I didn't want to assume and pack ahead of time."

Oh, and there was Gambit to think about, too, "Have you thought about letting Gambit live with us? I think that he's recovered from being a fighting dog now. It's been almost a year."

“I’d love to learn to make other things. My parents never really taught me to make anything aside from super healthy things. Had to stay in competition shape according to my dad.” Cass made a face at the mention of her dad then moved on to the next thing that Laura had mentioned, “Well whenever you want to move back, you’re free to do so. I can help you move whenever you want.” Cass was excited at the idea of her and Laura being roommates once again, “And I’d love to have Gambit there too. The yard is perfect for him.”

Laura looked the most excited that Laura ever did. She grinned at Cass and whipped out her phone so that she could send out a text to the animal trainer that had been working with him, "This is really good, he'd love that yard and where he is has less space to run around. They treat him really well, but it's... just not ideal."

She seemed suddenly a bit more filled with energy, like if she let herself go she'd buzz right off the chair or something. Laura wasn't the type to give that kind of thing away with gestures like bouncing feet or clapping hands, but her eyes were sparkling as she quickly tapped away, "I am just letting them know that I'll be taking him home. We definitely would not have had room for him at that apartment. Though - that is not the reason I want to move back in. It's just a nice side benefit. I really... missed you. Logan doesn't do as much to get me out of my shell. We don't really talk that often so much as get beers and grunt at each other. Well, you know him. You know what he's like."

Cass nodded, still smiling, “Yeah, I have a pretty good idea of how Logan is.” She had had a crush on the man after all. Now, however, being friends with Laura, it seemed a little strange to think about that as well as the time they’d fooled around. It all felt a little too afterschool special now despite the fact that Laura hadn’t been around then; well if what Jubilee had told her that time was true then technically she had been, but that had been erased. It still hurt Cass’ head a little to think about all that so she tried not to dwell on it too much. “I know you don’t really like parties, but after you’re all settled back in, we should have a little get together. Logan, Kitty, just those we’re really close to. To celebrate. Unless you’re really not comfortable with it then I totally understand.”

"No, I think that's a very good idea. Parties and... music and all of that, it used to bring back bad memories. And I'm bad in social gatherings, but I should try to do better. Not shut myself off. We could all use a good party, too, after all of that. Another one, I mean. There was a good party at Rogue's Diner." Laura sucked on the last of her coffee and then set her empty cup on the table. She already wanted another one, the coffee was good. "And we can finish off the basement. Maybe have the party down there."

“Really? Great.” Cass was very much looking forward to having Laura back in the house with the addition of Gambit and planning a little get together would be a lot of fun as well. “That’s a great idea. It’s the perfect space for it.” She finished off her own drink and sat up a little straighter, “Well, I think I’m gonna stop by the store on my way home and get some pizza fixins so we can make a pizza the day you move back in.”

"And I'm going to get myself some some boxes to pack my things into, then tell my father the good news. I think he'll enjoy having the place to himself again." Laura grinned at Cass and hopped up off of her seat, "But first, another coffee for the road."

She gave Cass a mock salute, "See you soon, roomie."