cape_kore | Cassandra Cain | 001

[The first thing visible when the feed clicks on is... an eyebrow. Well, two actually. Two eyebrows that are drawn together with a look of confusion. Clearly, someone isn't the best at tech-like things.]

Is- working? [Here have some button pressing and nope, that just turned off the video. The audio is still working though, picking up the sounds of Cass pushing more buttons and muttering quietly before it snaps back on. This time, she grins and her face is framed better, the comm held out to show she's still in her Batgirl costume, she's just taken off the cowl and her gloves.]

Oracle? Are... you here? In weird place. Lots of cameras, so... you must be here.

[With a frown, she rubs at the back of her neck. Maybe she should talk to the general population, figure things out...]

Um, I'm Batgirl. [Wait, pause a second. Maybe the actual name would be a good thing to go by? It's not like she's ever been careful with her identity in the past so why start now?] Cassandra. New here. Found big house, no one's here. Gonna... stay.

Well, in house. Will take walks. Could use... tour? Information.

... That's all.

[Yep. She sucks at communicating in like every sense, sorry. The feed cuts off completely this time, but Cass can be found on the porch of house 17 if anyone feels like coming to see the new kid in person.]

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[ It makes him think of back home for a moment, the kind of people he'd taken for house guests by the end of it all. ] Kinda know the feeling.

[ But 'never had somewhere' gives him the feeling she's homeless, a something she doesn't want to talk about, so he concentrates on the now. ] Check it out now, though, huh? You gotta huge place all ta yourself. Fuckin' couches. You're set, man, am I right?

[She was homeless, for a long long time. Even after that, it wasn't like she could invite people back to Oracle's tower.

Or like she had anyone to invite who wasn't Steph. It's been very complicated.]

You're right. [Despite all that, she's still smiling at him. It's hard not to, when he's excited because she has couches.] Maybe, will make fort. Saw it on TV, once.

[ It's hard to get too too excited about much here when his world's not colored in a tint of blue, when he's a fucking hostage on top of everything. But the mention of a fort awakens something younger within him or something, his eyes brightening a little as he looks up at Cass with a lopsided grin. ]

Yo, for serious? Like outta blankets and all that junk?

[Huh. He's kind of cute when he grins like that.]

And pillows. Right? Never made one before. Wanna help?

[ His knee bounces a bit before he nods, even slides a leg onto the floor like he might stand. ] Right now?

For sure, pillows. I haven't done that shit since I was, like, I was so little. They gotta have extra blankets and stuff rattlin' around in this house, huh?

[He might stand, but Cass does and immediately starts yanking the cushions off the couch. Once they're in a pile on the floor, she reaches for his hands and pulls him to his feet.]

Can help me look. Show right things... we'll need.

[ He looks surprised at the offer, but takes it anyway, for whatever reason. It's not even like he needs the help up. But she's earnest, and she's pretty. ]

I'll check the bedrooms and get all that shit outta there. You look around for, like, a closet. Like a linen closet like my mom used ta have.

[She sees it, he likes her. Thinks she's nice to look at, but he does it gently. There's no punch of barely concealed lust to make her feel sick and confused, no not-so-secret needs, nothing twisted or frightening.

It's new. She ducks her head and keeps his hands maybe a little too long before nodding and taking a step back. If she's blushing, she trusts he won't make fun of her for it.]

Will look, meet you... back here. Okay.

[And she's just going to go now because she wants a fort as soon as possible.]

[ Was she blushing? It's a little something that drags even more of a grin out of him - a little teasing, but nothing cruel or even that he comments on. He just notices. ]

Yeah, alright. Break and meet up in like five.

[ He makes quick work of the other rooms, yanking blankets and sheets off the beds because why the fuck not? He's piling things in the hallway and starts kicking a mound of them into the living room by the time he returns, pillows and all. ]

[Cass meets back in three, arms piled with what she could find in the closets. Towels, mostly. A few throw pillows and extra sheets, all brought to the living room and then carelessly tossed to the floor.

It's not hard to figure it out, the couch cushions stand up well enough on their own so she starts framing out the walls, but glances towards Jesse after she's got a few cushions up.]

Is this... right?

[ Jesse cracks a smile as soon as he's in the room, tosses the armful of bedding onto the barren couch and starts to make his way over. ]

Hell yeah, man. [ He tests one of the couch cushions to make sure it's as sturdy as she seems to be thinking they are. ] You want 'em just tall enough to crawl into. Makes 'em more secretive.

We need somethin' to secure the sheets and stuff. Like, uh, clips. We got any clips 'round?

[She's still bad at being around other people and the manners that generally go with that, so when she turns away and just leaves the room, it might look kind of weird.

After the sounds of general rummaging in the kitchen, she comes back quick enough, hands cupped in front of herself. Cass walks right up to him and holds her hands out, showing the collection of butterfly clips and clothespins she's managed to find scattered through the drawers.]

These?

Wh -

[ Jesse extends a hand in a gesture to Cass as she walks out of the room, clearly not very adjusted to her leaving the room - 'just a sec', or a 'be right back' or something, wouldja? - but at least he figures out what she's probably doing fast enough. He picks at a sheet off the pile while she's gone, is comparing it to her cushion walls by the time she comes back. ]

[ And his face breaks into a bit of a grin, a bit proud of her. ] Shit, yeah, that's perfect. Where'd ya find those?

[For her entire life, Cassandra has been conditioned to perform well, to push as hard as she can, to be the best weapon she could possibly be, just for the chance that she might look over to her father - just her trainer then, she didn't know better then - and see the pride that she sees in Jesse right now. Earned so easily, because she found little bits of plastic and metal.

He's proud of her for opening drawers in a kitchen. She wants to hug him, but even with her general disregard for personal space, she's a stranger to him still. You don't hug strange boys because they're proud of you for silly things. She knows that.

It's still hard. Like they're precious, precious things, Cass cups her hands around the clips a little more to make sure they won't spill.]

Kitchen. In the drawers. The, um... junk ones.

Well, that's perfect. C'mere.

[ Jesse beckons her a little closer, so that he can pluck one of the clips out of her hands, starts to pin the sheets up in the way that he deems most fitting and structurally sound. He's glancing back at her every so often, as if to make sure she's gleaning what she should be from the lesson. ]

Ya gotta make sure they're clipped real well, 'less you want the whole thing crashin' down on over your head later. High enough for sittin', see?

Yes. I see.

[Each time he had looked back had been met with a quick smile, just something to confirm for him that yes she was paying attention. Now she sets her handful of clips down and goes to work helping him.

It's not long before they have a workable fort, covered over with blankets and enough room to sit inside it without having to duck their heads down. She crawls in first, hands and knees scuffing across the carpet as she enters.]

Now what?

Cassandra Cain | 001 | Video

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