paradisalogs | this one's for the faithless, the ones that are surprised

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this one's for the faithless, the ones that are surprised

Who: The Once-ler and Cassandra Cain
What: He's been inside way too much and she is going to change that.
When: May 24th
Where: The clinic, then OUTSIDE damn it.
Rating: PGish

Each time she's gone to visit him, she's found Once in the exact same place, doing the exact same thing, generally looking not all that happy about... well, anything. They sit and knit and talk and it's nice, it's fun, but when was the last time he even left the clinic? Has he really just stayed in bed since their horrible space adventure?

If that's true, it's not acceptable at all. It's also why when she comes to visit him today, she's pushing a wheelchair in front of her. There's a picnic basket sitting in it right now, so her intention is probably pretty clear: she's taking him outside for lunch.

Does he have a say in it? Not exactly. She smiles at him when she stops the chair by his bed.

"Hi Once."

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Aside from a few sketches for that dead zone transport scattered about, the Once-ler really hasn't change since last she saw him. His creative process is about as stifled as he is. But still, he remains in the clinic, hiding away in the room House gave him.

He smiles at the sound of her voice, more glad to hear it than he'd truly admit to himself.

"Hey, Cass, up for some more-," his face switches to one of confusion at the sight of the chair. "Thaaaat's a wheelchair."

"Got it... first guess. So smart."

She takes the basket out of the chair so there's room for him to sit, then pushes the wheelchair around so he can get into it a little easier. Or at least she thinks he'll be able to, he does have a lot of limb to maneuver around.

"Get in, we're going outside." But the sketches to catch her attention, so she picks one up to see what he's been up to. "What's this?"

"...What, right now?"

He struggles for a moment, between his desire to stay in his new hermit hole and his desire to actually escape these same four walls. Escape DOES mean he gets to spend time with Cass though, so there's that...

He decides to use her curiosity to deter her for a moment, while he make sup his mind.

"York's got a competition running, to see if someone can build a vehicle that can travel through the dead zone."

His devious ploy works, too. It won't for long, but for now she brings the picture over to him and sits beside him on the bed because she's sure this makes sense to him even though all she sees is a weird contraption that... does it fly? It might fly.

"How's it work?"

He beams, tapping a big chunky part of it.

"Well, a normal engine won't work out there, but steam does. So I figured if I started out with a steam engine, streamlined it and made the skeleton as light as I can without compromising on strength, it could move pretty fast."

He considers, squinting at it.

"The trick is trying to find a way to make it able to carry a lot of supplies. I thought maybe a trailer, but if we're going over rough terrain, it could easily be snapped off," he smiles, giving a shurg. "I'm still working on it"

"If Batman ever comes, should talk to him." Just imagine all the things the two of them could invent together. They could probably take over the entire castle in a week if they really wanted to. "Missing something, though."

There's a pencil sitting nearby, so Cass picks it up and carefully draws something on the side of the vehicle. With a grin, she turns the paper around so he can see the bat symbol she's added because all the cool stuff has to be bat stuff.

"Perfect, now."

He tilts his head at that new addition, well...that was something.

"Now that's a pretty cool design," there's a pause. "Who's this batman guy...I'm assuming that's a person, right?"

Maybe he was some guy who was really addicted to bats. Given that funky symbol, he won't be surprised. Maybe he ran some kind of bat sanctuary or something.

"Don't know Batman?" She'd just assumed he did, since he knew Stephanie and Tim. Surely Tim isn't keeping up that dumb Alvin thing with Once too. "He's a superhero, from Gotham. I work with him. I'm Batgirl." Take that Tim, now she's just telling everyone.

She gets up now, carefully setting the drawing aside and pointing at the wheelchair. She didn't forget, they're still going outside.

"Come on, it's nice out. Should get sun."

Sadly Tim really is keeping the dumb Alvin thing up, she should tell him to stop. This is pretty amazing information, so it takes him a moment to digest it.

"So you're a superhero too?" a pause. "You know what, yeah, I can totally see that."

But then she's pointing at the wheelchair and he realises he's run out of time. He considers playing dumb, but realises he's probably not going to get far with her and really...it'd be almost nice to get outside for a while.

"Okay, but only for a little bit," he'll shift gingerly off the bed onto the wheelchair, trying to get his stupid long legs settled without disturbing his knee.

She holds the chair steady so it doesn't roll out from under him, ready to catch him if he happens to tumble out of the bed or anything like that.

"Can show you suit, sometime." It'll probably freak him out a little what with the fact that her cowl covers her entire face and has creepy stitching all over it, but she feels more at home in the batsuit than she does wearing any other clothing.

"You've got a cowl, too?" he'll turns his head to offer her a smile. "Oh, who am I kidding, of course you do, it's like superhero fare, right?"

No doubt he will, but hey, it's pretty cool too, knowing all these hero types. People who do so much good in the world. It was comforting to know they even existed.

"And cape. Requirements." Yes, she's looking more proud of herself than she probably should be but she can't help it, being Batgirl is the thing she's most proud of. It's bound to show when she talks about it.

And once he's settled, she sets the picnic basket in his lap and then starts to wheel him out of his room.

"Want to see apartment, after lunch? Can take you there, show then."

"Oh of course, the cape."

She should be proud, and he looks pretty impressed as he's wheeled away. Well...until she says that.

"You mean in the town?"

He hasn't gone there for so long, not since...wow, was it when he was trying to sell thneeds on his loss? Sounds about right. Buuut.

"Well, I was invited there, I guess I'll have to turn up eventually. You sure you're okay pushing me all that way?"

Well, that's the first she's heard of that.

"Invited... before now? By Stephanie?"

And she's not... actually sure where she's going to take him to eat lunch, she just knows outside is the main thing they need to get to. There was the grassy area she'd found a tar-covered Steph, so maybe that will work. Assuming she doesn't get them lost in the castle on her way out.

"No, by Alvin," that should answer her Tim question. "He was talking about lunch or something."

The Once-ler doesn't seem to mind the journey. As much as he liked his hermit hole, actually escaping his clinic room, the smell of disinfectant and the constant sounds of clinic machines - is doing him some good.

"So, where are we gonna eat?"

Damn it, Tim. They will have to have a conversation about that, it's wrong for him to lie about who he is to the friends he's making here. How can he expect to keep them if everything's built on such a big lie?

But she doesn't want to worry about Tim and his dumb choices, she wants to enjoy Once's company and it really is a nice day today. Once they finally make it outside, the sun is shining and there are only a few fluffy white clouds in the sky. Definitely not weather for bad thoughts.

"There?" She points at a particularly flat bit of grass under a tree not far from the castle and starts rolling him in that direction, careful to avoid rocks and bumps so his leg doesn't get bounced around. "Can sit in shade, it'll be good."

Tim would just have to face Cass' wrath later. The Once-ler is looking up at the sky, watching the clouds float by. Funny, when he arrived here, he avoided going outside as much as possible, but he finds himself enjoying the nice weather, just being outside. Maybe he's changed more than he realises. It occurs to him he should probably check on the Truffula while he's out here. Sure, the Lorax and Ted would have it more than covered between them, but he wanted to see it for himself.

But that could wait too, he nods at her choice of spot.

"Sounds good to me. It's even marginally peaceful out here for a change."

She'd be more than happy to wheel him to the tree of course, partly just because it'd be something she'd enjoy seeing. And it's nice, seeing his body language change and tell her he's actually enjoying this.

Once they're there, she parks the chair and then comes around to stand in front of him and take the picnic basket up again.

"Close your eyes. Have present for you."

He casts her a suspicious look, his gaze shifting from the basket to Cass.

"Okaaaaay, but nothing is gonna leap out and bite me, right?"

He'll close his eyes, look he's trusting you not to murder him out here, Cass.

Really, he should know better than that by now. After a few moments, he'll feel something fuzzy be laid on top of his hands. It's the scarf she'd been making, finished on her own so she could present it to him like this instead of having him watch her finish it and then hand it over with little ceremony.

"Okay, open."

It's still pretty lumpy, but it did get a little neater as she got slightly better at knitting. The important part is it's scarf-shaped and something that she made specifically to give to him.

His brow furrows at the fuzzy feeling, for a moment worrying she'd got him a pet, because good lord the mutant newt and the terminally depressed cat were more than enough for him. When he does open his eyes, his expression of mounting dread softens. She'd actually made it. He smiles, raising it up to look at it better, feeling the fabrid with his fingertips.

"You finished it," he murmurs softly, before smiling up at her. "It looks great."

He carefully wraps it around his neck. Sure with the Thneed he's probably got neckwear overtime going on there, but she gave it to him as a gift and he was damned if he wasn't going to wear it.

"How does it look?"

She smiles back, pleased to see he likes it even though she was pretty sure that wouldn't have changed between now and the first time he told her the lumps made it unique.

"You pull it off." It seems like bad manners to keep saying something he's pleased to get isn't very nice to look at, and it does look good on him if you don't focus too much on the actual construction of the thing. All in all, she's pretty proud and it's a feeling she's not entirely used to.

Reaching into the picnic basket again, she starts to set out what she'd packed up for their lunch. It's just sandwiches and tea and a bag of marshmallows to split for dessert, nothing special, but she hands over his share before sitting down on the grass in front of his wheelchair.

That and it's a gift from her, something that matters a great deal to him. He grins, adjusting it around his neck a little, jauntily, as if he were straightening a tie.

"Why, thank you!"

Oh, but her chosen desert, IS special, his smile widens considerably when he sees what she's brought. That's probably the best possible treat she could have ever put into a picnic basket for him, and it shows in his face, real delight crossing his features.

"You got marshmallows? Wow, you are on the fast track to becoming one of my favourite people."

"Not already your favorite? I'm hurt." She says it with an impish grin though, clearly isn't actually insulted.

And hey, if the marshmallows are the best part why wait? She tears the bag open and holds it up for him.

He smiles, taking a marshmallow, squeezing it between his fingers.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry, you keep this up and you'll be in the top spot in no time."

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