Summary:Orphan catches up with The Pink Kitten and they 'talk'. Some revelations are a bit too much for Cassandra. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It was a successful evening. He had made it to the rendezvous, met up with Batgirl, and executed the infiltration successfully. Sure there had been that bit of kerfluffle with the Boggart, a fae creature of some sort, that had tried to turn his fears against him. Him. It was almost insulting. And then it changed into six yakuza that all tried to stab him. That wasn't fun.
Alexander grimaces as he finishes getting himself together on the edge of that rooftop. Batgirl took his backpack, but he still has some of the gear she left him and most of it is tucked away within his black jacket. He's wearing those dark clothes that he'd wear for late night excursions though now…
He's frowning as he's sticking a finger through a big sliced hole in the side of his jacket where one of the illusionary Japanese gangsters tried to stab him. Their tantos and karambits were real enough.
But initial check over he pulls open his phone as he remains crouched there. The light from its surface illuminates his handsome features for a moment as he taps out a quick message to his roommates. Soon enough they'll start to wonder about the whole thing that he is rarely at home.
Orphan had gotten a notice from Oracle that there was something going on in this area, but she was a bit busy. It was just an alert and not a call for reinforcements so the quiet young woman finished what she was doing. Then, since she was in the area, swung by to check in.
Or she was, until she spotted the shadowy figure of Alex with only his face illuminated by his phone. It sort of leaves the impression of a floating head.
She's not trying to sneak up on him tonight, so he might hear the soft *patpat* as her booted feet hit the ground and she pads over towards him while pushing back her hood.
There's a slight tilt of his head and she'll see him 'act' like he doesn't hear her. Yet she can tell in the slight tensing of those firm shoulder muscles. The way his weight shifts very subtly to the far foot. Then the tip-tap-tap as he very pointedly hits the last few key strokes needed to finish his message. There's a /swooosh/ sound as he sends the message then turns away from her…
Only to catch her reflection in the glass of the rooftop door. It lets him see her and for /once/ she's not sneaking up on him. Almost a better cover than when she is. And when his bright blue eyes meet her gaze, she can see him light up, the smile just causing his features to come to life.
No greeting. Not yet. Instead he closes the distance with two quick steps and a half-leap to finish the approach and his hands come up. A rapid-fired three punch combination, perfectly executed and with a speed of impact that for most might well knock them off their feet. But between them all it is… is the opening of a hello as he duplicates that movement from Gung Fu, shoulder, arm, jaw. fwap-thap-thwap as she blocks and he readies to defend against the same.
But at the end of those quick strikes he says to her simply. "Hi."
When he catches sight of her through the reflection, there's the hint of a smile about her lips and then she rolls her eyes with some exaggeration. Because he's trying to be all pretendy with her and she totally sees through him.
That smile, as bright as his uncle though, that coaxes her smile higher, until it's a soft curve of her lips. There's rarely such bright, innocent joy about her. Her laughter silent for more reasons than the tendency towards being mute.
Cassandra moves with him as he closes, stepping in and her body turning. Weight dropping. She shifts just enough that the force of his blows are blunted. She might still have faint bruises though, being only human. Strike flows into strike, and then feet shift and they reverse without ever missing a beat, like it was a choreographed dance. And then they stop, and there's the flash of teeth in a brief grin. "Hi."
It seems like he's content to just stand there looking in her eyes as he lifts a fingertip to lightly touch the curve of her cheek, just a small ghost of a touch before he steps back. For a moment his eyebrows lift and he strokes at the corner of his mouth where they each tagged each other the other night, then points at her where the bruise is probably still there. Then points at his own where she had actually drawn blood… though it's healed by now. The jerk.
His gleaming blue eyes widen as he shakes his head, as if he'd gotten one over on her and doesn't understand how that could be? He's so confused. But his grin ruins it all as he turns away. That's when he starts to walk towards the edge of the rooftop that has the fire escape, letting them descend with an easy hop and step. Just enough to make their transition towards the next rooftop easier as he hops over and then breaks into a run, though tonight he'll let her lead and carry them forth.
As Alex points at himself and his perfect, unblemished, Olympian skin, Cassandra's eyes narrow a bit. She reaches out, catching his jaw so she can turn his head a bit to get a better look before her gaze shifts back to his and she mimes that word for 'strength' again. That she used to comment on his crushing of the firearm at the Gala, adding the tilt of her head that makes it into a question. For her, it's like someone talking really loudly and slowly, but unlike when most people do it, it usually works for her.
As he takes off, she follows after. The quick pace of her steps are audible instead of the so-often silent and seem to bespeak grumbling annoyance. As they land on the next roof, her hand comes to rest on his shoulder to hold him up, and then she goes digging in one of the pockets of her costume.
A moment later she comes out with a scrap of bright pink and a pair of safety pins. Moving in front of him, she presses the pink fabric to his chest and secures it to the black of his shirt.
There, crudely cut and oh-so-very-bright, is a cat's head. Well, more a circle with two triangles on top for ears, with eyes and nose and mouth crudely drawn in.
She could see the puzzlement in his eyes, the curiousity that causes him to lean forward as she's manipulating that cloth and those pins. He still had his 'mask' on though it was resting around his neck like a kerchief. But now he had a bright pink piece of fabric attached to his chest that he tried to see by pulling his shirt out some.
And then he laughed. She could see him trying not to and just little shakes causing his shoulders to lift and lower convulsively as he tries to stay quiet. He looks down at his shirt again then turns to leans over a rain puddle from the other night still sitting stagnant in the alcove of the rooftop. It gives him a good view of the pinkness and the kitty head and…
And he just snickers then shifts his blue eyes back to her. He tries to play up being angry, she's seen that way of him. How he tries to act like he's oh so grumpy and growly as he points at her, then thwaps a fist into the open palm of his other hand as if he'll show her.
And then he /darts/ towards her. And all of a sudden their patrol tonight is more a game of tag, as the Pink Kitty pursues the Onerous Orphan.
Cassandra Cain twists to the side as Alex lunges for her and he feels her weight across his back as she rolls over him, using the momentum as he draws up and straightens to flip up onto the roof of the elevator tower.
Legs tucked under her and knees flexed, she has one arm resting on a knee, hand hanging down as she smirks down at him. At least, for a moment. Then the smirk fades and she gestures back and forth between the two of them, from her chest towards him and then tapping between her eyes and then at him more pointedly.
Then Cassandra hops back down and looks out at the horizon before gesturing to it and looking back at him and shaking her head before she repeats the one gesture. Tapping lightly between her eyes and then stepping close to tap between his.
His pursuit was not exactly half-hearted, but he didn't expect to catch her, though he did play that he was sooo grumpy that he was still chuffing. But it falls away when her smirk slips free. His eyes find hers and he 'listens', listens to her gesturing to them, that when they are together… they see each other.
Then he looks out across the horizon, the city's skyline. She drops and moves towards him, then taps between his eyes causing them to go a little cross-eyed for a split second before he looks to her.
He lowers his eyes and considers, then spreads his arms wide, hands raising as if he were trying to encompass everything. Then he points at himself several times. For him, then he gestures to the world and then turns his palms out as if holding it off, keeping it at bay from them, pushing it away. A hand crosses in front of his chest as he frowns slightly, the world to him…is less important.
Then he motions between them, between their gaze as he looks into those beautiful eyes of hers. "This," He says, motioning to them then opening his hands between him and her, back and forth as if there was some invisible connection between them. Then his hands open before her as if encompassing them and growing larger, until it takes on the symbolism of the world, then points to himself.
This. Is Everything. For me.
Cassandra Cain stands there for a bit, head tilting back and forth as she puzzles over his 'words'. Not really to figure out what he's saying, but more the weight of the meaning. After a long moment, really sort of an eternity considering how little time she seems to need to consider actions in a combat situation, her hands come up and her index fingers point back and forth between them in an alternating motion while she watches his face with that look of, well not confusion but definitely a sort of uncertainty.
She eases a step back, rocking onto her heels and then forward again before coming right into his space and digging into his pockets until she finds his phone. Pulling it out she looks from it to him and then points down at the screen. While she can't read anything on there, she knows he uses it to talk to his roommates and presumably other people he cares about.
That sentiment that she can read so easily in him, it is clear and it is there as she 'speaks' to him. It doesn't fade, it is his belief and she most likely has no idea of the gift she's given him. To care about someone beyond oneself, beyond what had e'er been the entirety of his existence. To realize that the world had something that he wasn't already aware of. And it's her.
Then when she advances and steps up to him, digging into that shoulder sleeve pocket and taking out the cellphone that he uses. He activates it and holds it out towards her, then tilts his head to the side. If she wishes to take it he'll give it to her…
Or perhaps with the Oracle application in it, she might see that interface as somewhat familiar. It might also key off her own communications device.
When Alex unlocks the phone for her, he manages to startle her a bit as it fills with colors and flashing lights. There's the brief tug of a frown and then she signs the words for 'Friends' and, after a pause 'Family'. The wireless companies would eat that up right there, that she's using his phone as a stand-in for the people that most people care about.
Straightening and pulling back a bit then, she touches the center of her own chest with that quizzical tilt of her head. A sort of 'why me'.
It's then that the Oracle app on his phone 'wakes up', the computerized voice filling the silence between them. "Good evening, Orphan." The screen also fills with a generic figure in one portion that goes through the ASL translation while images fill the screen as well. The sun going down. A night sky. Someone laughing. "How can I help you?" More images and the little ASL translator at the bottom. Cassandra frowns at it and pokes the glass screen without any real direction, just the sense of 'shut up!'.
When the phone springs to life Alexander shuts it up after a brief moment, swiping his thumb back over it. He holds it by his side and then brings a hand to the center of his chest, resting it over his heart. Then he takes a step closer to her, and then rests his hand over the center of hers. For a time he just lets it stay there, feeling the steady heartbeat.
Then he leans forward, close enough that she'll feel the faint brush of his breath along curve of her neck as he takes her hand in his. And if she allows him he'll press her palm to her chest, to let her feel the pace of her own pulse…
And then brings her touch to the center of his where she can feel pounding of his own heart. His free hand moves between them, as he signifies to her that this… is what matters to him.
Then he takes that cellphone and smiles at her as he holds it up and just shakes his head… then turns and draws back to great ready to /whing/ the phone off over the side of the building, where it likely will shatter far down upon the pavement.
Cassandra Cain doesn't have any of the reactions that most women Alex's age have likely had. Especially about him in particular. There's no pulling back out of his space, there's no shy smiles and twitters, no calculated and aggressive moves on him. She just stands there, her eyes searching his as he places his hand against her chest.
The beating of her heart is a bit faint. That costume has layers of protection. Unlike his Pink Kitten outfit. He brings her hand to his chest and they stand a moment, connected in that manner.
When Alex pulls his phone out and sends it flying it's almost like she's caught by surprise. The hesitation as he does it, the widening of her eyes. And then she's moving away just as he throws it, a spring and a leap snagging it out of the air and then she lands in a roll on the roof and stays like that a moment. Crouched. Still.
When she finally moves, it's in a rush that seems… uncoordinated. She pushes the phone back on him. Against his chest. Over his heart, folding his hands on it and then she backs away in that same hasty, almost unsure manner as she shakes her head. "No."
And then she turns, pulling on her cowl and hood in a rush, bolting for the edge of the building. The *paft* of her swingline fires and it pulls her up into the night as she flees.
The phone is thrust into his chest hard enough that he staggers back a step. She can read the confusion in his eyes tinged with… rejection and some form of loss. He doesn't understand and he steps toward her , only for her to draw back.
Alexander reaches a hand out, yet it to seems like it pushes her even further away as she turns and then breaks for the edge of the rooftop. Quick steps are taken to carry after her, only for that grapple line to fire and snare the corner of a building beyond, letting her flit into the air and twist like a circus acrobat in a way that he cannot pursue.
For a moment he looks down, around, up, trying to find a way that he can follow. Only for her to have chosen a good path of flight. But when she slips out of view he scowls to himself, runs back five quick paces and then he /rushes/ forward. A leap into the air as he hurls himself, trying to draw upon all the depths he has to muster… and for a time it seems like he might… he might almost make it.
But then gravity reasserts itself and grasps him with merciless talons, pulling him down to the lower building before the one she swung over. And he hits the gravel-covered rooftop /hard/, his shoulder cracking loud as he lands and rolls ending with him slamming against an old air conditioner and leaving a dent in its side with a low /thud/.
He winces, straightening up against that A/C, shoulder dislocated and his breathing rough. But that is not what hurts him.