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[giveaway]

the other thing

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voicemail; day after dumb breakfastening

[cassassin]

Hey--uh, are you home? Listen, Barbara just 'Ported in. Government stuck her in your house. I'm on my way there now, just--

Call me back. Okay?

[giveaway]

I'm home. See you soon for Batgirl reunion?

[cassassin]

Yeah. I'm bringing Indian food.

[ and sure enough ]

you know what this is

[cassassin]

[ cass is still asleep. still in her suit, with the cape, cowl, belt, boots and gloves dropped to the side. she's curled up beside steph with a bit of distance, in the guest room where they'd. basically just fallen after patrol. daylight streams in between the curtains, and one particularly annoying sunbeam crosses over her face--which just gets her to turn her head, ball up a little more on the bed, and drag some of the covers a bit with a groan. she's not awake, by any means. her arm shifts, sprawling over steph. ]

free buzzy

[giveaway]

[It's nice to not have to worry about your mom bursting in and finding you in your supersuit. Even if that wouldn't matter now, Steph's still gotta appreciate the Wayne guest room for instant vigilante sleepy times.

She snuggles up closer to Cass, then steals a bit of the blankets.]

Don't hog 'em...

[... she's actually the one hogging them, but she's still asleep.]

[cassassin]

Mmnf. [ she grabs the blankets back. it's the least she deserves for putting up with a faceful of blonde hair. ]

He's mad about... s'mthin... [ still asleep too. baby boy's being fussy in the dream, probably. ]

[giveaway]

He's always... he's stubborn. Like you.

[Pot. Kettle. She shakes her head, getting more hair in her face.]

[cassassin]

An' you. [ she kind of. wrinkles her nose and sputters a bit, still asleep, snuggling in a bit closer. ]

Quit it.

[giveaway]

You quit it.

[Still, Steph wraps her arm around her and pulls her in even more.]

swear-in woop woop

[cassassin]

[ okay. pinstripe three-piece suit, feathered epaulettes to at least pretend to fit the theme--

she had hoped that inviting steph to come along to this with her wouldn't strike as weird. especially with everything that's happened--tim's absence in particular--and considering how inseparable they are half the time.

she hangs out with her through most of the night, trying different activities at the gala. the scavenger hunt, werewolf, the photobooths. after a while they end up back at the ballroom, and without any hesitation and an impish grin, cass takes steph's hand. ]

Dance with me?

[giveaway]

[While she's not quite as used to galas as the rest of the Wayne Gang, she still knows the deal. Which is why doing batty outfits would probably not be the best idea, sad as it is. And why she and Cass are going together! Just like Tim would take her to rich people stuff too, even when they weren't dating.

When Cass takes her hand, she smiles back]

Sure. But I gotta warn you, you're probably way better at this than me. Like always.

[cassassin]

[ cass laughs a little, leading her out to the dancefloor before resting one hand on steph's shoulder and the other on her back. ]

It's not a contest. ... Well, not this time. [ she reaches up to tuck a bit of stray hair behind steph's ear, before starting to lead through the motions. ]

I asked because... I want to dance with you. Rest of it doesn't matter.

[giveaway]

You laugh now, but wait until you go home with two broken ankles.

[That's almost... a different kind of contest. Which Cass would also win.

But she's laughing herself so clearly she's not serious. She lets Cass lead, somehow unsurprised by how natural this feels.]

Pretty sure last dance I went to was... Homecoming? Sophomore year. [Now that she thinks about it, that's something about Cass she doesn't know.] Did Bruce ever make you go to school? On a mission counts too.

[cassassin]

You wouldn't, you like me too much. [ she laughs again, glancing down before meeting steph's eye again. ]Nope. Barbara gave me some lessons sometimes, but... never went to school.

Thanks for coming. These things... suck, when you're alone.

thank you minako

[giveaway]

I wouldn't know. [she says with a slight shrug of the shoulders] Never got invited on my own.

[Weirdly enough, no one in Gotham was racing to have the Cluemaster's daughter at their gala.]

Buuuut I don't mind being a plus one. I mean, free food? Just say that and I'm there.

untraceable text

[maskormods]

/

u-s-t-s•-d•
n•-s-t
o•-s-e-m
s-o-s
h-t-s•-h-r
a-h-i-e-o-l-y
e•-e•-r-t•-e•
a-l

encrypted video; id: cain - after.... steph finds out shadows are happening

[cassassin]

[ cassandra's shadow wasted no time in reaching out to make sure stephanie was all right, once the scope of the chaos going on in some of the cities had become clear.

the girl on screen is... different. much longer hair. the sound of her voice isn't as it should be, and the words come much more easily. seems like she's on a roof somewhere. ]

Stephanie, darling, where are you? Everything's a mess. You are staying out of trouble, aren't you?

voice

[giveaway]

Uh. Yeah.

[Not answering her other question.]

Where are you?

[cassassin]

Oh, De Chima. [ and she just. whips some gore off of a sword in her other hand. ] The zombies really make it too easy, but it's nothing you should worry about.

[giveaway]

Got it. [Why is the sword thing a little hot.] You know me, not too worried. Just watching old movies.

You having fun out there? Batman's not giving you any trouble?

[cassassin]

[ because it's a sexy evil version of your girlfriend? ]

As long as you're not running off. You know how you can get in over your head, Stephanie.

[ she pauses at that. ]

... None of the usual three, no.

after shadow plot

[cassassin]

Hey. I...

When I talked to your Shadow. Before. She said something that... got me thinking, and I...

[ she sighs. ]

I owe you an apology. For a lot of things, from back then.

[giveaway]

No, I- I have just as much to apologize for, if not more honestly. It was a long time ago. Or it wasn't, but... it feels like another lifetime. It still does. Even after seeing her- myself, like that.

[cassassin]

Steph, no, that's...

[ she takes a breath. no, they should both get it out there. they've mostly ignored the old hurts and the way they used to treat each other when they were young, and they're past all that now, but steph's shadow made it abundantly clear how it still weighs on part of her. ]

Every time I... made you feel like less. Treated you like-- you weren't good enough, or... sided with Bruce, I... I told myself it was... for your own good. To keep you safe. But that doesn't... make it okay. Should have had your back instead. Trusted you. I'm sorry.

merry christmas

[the_caped_crusader]

[ merry christmas, stephanie. here's a check for $5,000 that you'll find on your bed, placed inside a generic holidays card. ]