March 20, 2018:
Cassandra Cain and Spoiler make their secret identities known as they meet in Gotham at night.
East Gotham Skyline
Characters
NPCs: None.
Mentions: None.
Plot:
Mood Music: [*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM_kAzFwOYE "Human" - Dodie Clarke]
Fade In…
*
This is the kind of Gotham night where being a vigilante has perks. It's unseasonably warm but there's a brisk breeze above the rooftops of the East Side, banishing the heat and mugginess in favour of something more relaxing. Most of the crimes tonight have been petty. A mugging, a particularly nasty fight. Nothing's happened that was too much of a risk but it was still good practice for the nights when things are hard. A person could almost grow to enjoy being out like this.
Cassandra doesn't seem to think that way. She's been on the street level, quietly moving through the East Side and visiting people she knows, collecting a meal here or there, sharing a wave and a smile with those who recognize the hooded girl as a friend and protector. She's most at ease here, with the people who know her. They do; there's little recourse for it since she can't afford to wear a mask or change her clothes every singgle night.
In the alley behind Cassandra a pair of muggers is on the ground, groaning and clutching at their abdomens, regretting their life choices. She herself is standing near the base of a tall brick building, ooking up. Was something there? Her hood is up but that is her only real disguise.
*
Something was most definitely there. It's still there. Had been there all fight.
#SpoilerAlert : It's totally Spoiler.
The blonde catling peers over the edge of the building, a purple silhouette against the darker Gotham sky. The commotion drew her attention. The unknown protector held it. That the woman is now looking up at her keeps it.
Perhaps the faint glow of Spoier's lenses, a soft lavendar-white, gives her away.
*
From this angle it's impossible to make out the details of the woman above, but they are definitely female. Females wear their point of balance differently and their shapes aren't the same as those of males. It's a sticking point few people can be so sure of from a glimpse in a dark street but Cassandra confirmed these points one by one in her mind like checking off a list. There wasn't enough information, however.
Cass settles for callmly scaling the side of the building. No one was watching save for the strange woman who waas looking down at her, and she needs to know more about what was happening here before she could make a decision. With one hand Cass draws on the strings of her dark hoodie while the other pulls her upward. She quickly makes her way up two storiess before a breeze catches her hood nand throws it back fromm her face, giving a brief glimpse of the girl before she is aable to pull it on once more. Cassandra frowns and starts to climb faster.
It's obvious thaat Cass has had way too many years of practice in this. She climbs as fast as anyone Spoiler's ever met, with a long-limbed grace that somewhat belies her decidedly average height.
Soon enough, Orphan, Cassandra Cain, hauls herself onto a rooftop and looks around for Spoiler. Slowly.She isn't afraid, at least. If Spoiler wanted her gone she could have simply started dropping broken chunks of mortar and concrete.
*
Spoiler watched the climb. She watched the wind catch the hood and yank it back. Behind the cowl, Stephanie's blue-eyes widen: 'The nice woman who… noticed my ribs were cracked and.. what is she doing here?' Eyes narrowing again, Spoiler keeps watching, and when Cassandra gets to the top, Spoiler's stepped away enough not to be read as a threat, but has remained close enough to be spotted easily.
It's close enough for Spoiler to notice that the girl is not afraid.
When eyes meet faintly glowing lenses, Spoiler gives a little bow of a nod in greeting.
*
A moment is spent scrutinising how Spoiler moves. Cassandra moves inan almot mirrored fashion, bowing her head slightly and shifting er body to mimic Spoiler's stance. They sstand this way, mere meters apart, for long moments while they consider one another.
Something is familiar. That much is clear by how the two of them are paired off. The way Spoiler is standing, her lack of words. It suggests some sort of familiarity. But the glare of those lenses makes it hard to place…
Cassandra takes a deep breath , briefly biting her bottom lip. Finally, she reaches up and lightly pressses back her hood so that Spoiler can get a good look. Short, black hai is ruffled by the passing breeze.
*
There is no shift of surprise, nor of distrust. Spoiler stays calm and composed, if questioning. The same breeze pulls some golden locks from her back up over in front of her shoulder. Spoiler reaches up with her right hand to tuck it away.
*
Dark eyes follow the stray tresses before returning to Spoiler''s features. Cass frowns faintly and takes a step forward toward her. Slowly. she reaches out her left hand slowly, just barely an arm's length from Spoiler herself. And waits.
*
Left hand. Spoiler's gaze very openly shift to peer at it, and a soft frown of familiar frustration tugs at the dark purple lips. It's so frustrating that she can't, won't speak.
"Good work with the muggers," Spoiler tries, gaze returning to Cass's face.
*
Cassandra arches both brows at this but then she nods. There's a faint smile working its way accross the girl's lips aand then she gives a slow nod. After a moment she points at Spoiler's goggles, tilting her head. The change in how Cassandra is holding herself is paalpable. She relaxes immediately and steps closer to Stephanie as she does so. She's still maintaining a friendly distance, but… Only that. They're here together now, not opposing one another.
*
Without a voice modulator, the only thing that 'masks' Stephanie's voice is that out of the cowl, Steph pitches her voice higher, younger, girlier, than she does as Spoiler. Usually. Lines often blur.
"Yes. The cowl let me see you down there, even though it was dark," Spoiler confirms, for that's the meaning she assumed. And taking a guess at meaning like this is not at all foreign to the aubergine bat-motiffed Avenger.
*
Cassandra nods slowly and then she reaches out again. This time, after offering her hand for a second, Cass simply takes one of Spoiler's and squeezes it gently, almost intimately, sharing a companionable moment that most people might express in words.
After a second the girl frowns and with herfree hand she begins to open the small shoulder bag she carries. Cassandra rummages through it for a second and finally holds up the picture of Stephanie in a martial arts pose she'd drawn in their last meeting. The drawing is quickly tucked away again.
*
Hand taken, Spoiler looks at their fingers wrapped about each others as Cass squeezes, shares an intimately companionable moment with this girl. The frown is noted, and Spoiler looks up without bothering to take her hand back.
it's the picture that gets the first big reaction from Spoiler. The exact sort of 'shit busted' reaction she had when Cass 'called her out' for the ribs.
"Ah…. " crap.
*
Cassandra tilts her head slightly and archces a brow again, as if daring Spoiler to deny the connection. At least she hides the drawing before it could be used to out Spoiler to anyone else. She pauses foro a second and then shrugs once, apparently dismissing the question as not being the most important part of the situation.
Cass keeps Spoiler's hand. It might seem like a small thing, but with so few words it helps to ground the 'conversation' in reality. Small fingers lace into Spoilers as amber eyes meet blues. Silence is allowed to pass between them for a second and thenn Cassandra reaches toward Spoiler's face. She captures the stray lock of blonde hair and tucks it away agaain gently.
Still no words. Just the soft rhythm of breath and the beating of hearts.
*
Challenge… yeah, no. There is no way Stephanie can deny it, not without lying out right. And… there are somethings that Steph just won't lie about. The picture put away and the moment dismissed, Spoiler sighs - the sound soft and relieved - into Cass tucking a bit of hair away from her face. It stills the blonde and her frame becomes a question.
*
Cassandra turns away now, still keeping Stephanie's hand. She stands close enough that they can feel one another's warmth and not just the contact between their hands. The young woman is, it seems, regarding the skyline with some intensity. She takes a step toward the edge of the building like she might be inclined to take a sudden leap, then turns her gaze back to Stephanie.
Is that how you travel? Using the rooftops?
Cassandra seems inclined to do so herself, if her movements are ny indication. There's no question of leaving Stephanie behind.
*
The warmth is noted, but not lingered upon, and Spoiler follows Cass toward the roof's edge.
"And I have some vehicles," Spoiler adds as she gets the meaning, nodding that she'd be ok with some light parkour tonight. The skycycle's set on hover-follow, after all.
*
Cassandra glances around when Stephanie speaks, apparently getting at least the essentials of the statement. she nods once as well and then, with a squeeze, releases Stephanie's hand. The smaller girl takes a deep breath and stands near the edge of the roof. Then she leaps.
Stephanie is an acrobat. She knows people who are skilled in body mechanics and can get real air on her jumps. She hasn't known a "civilian" who jumps the way Cassandra does. She's less an athlete and more precision and grace on a foot. Noo unnecessary motion or wasted strength. It's like she learned to jump by leaping from tall buildings.
There's a cheery thought.
With a glance back at Stephanie to see how the other woman handles the leap Cassandra takes off. Keeping up might be more challenging than Spoiler anticipated. That, truthfully, is the safest way to do jumps like this anyway, and it's a good night for a run.