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Who: Stephanie Brown and YOU??
What: Sighing a lot and getting tar everywhere
When: Today!
Where: The castle grounds
Rating: PG

Tar, tar everywhere. It was black, sticky, and warm to the touch--which Steph discovered, as it clung to her arms and neck. It didn't take too long for her to realize that many in the castle were being afflicted by this, so she tried to tough through it. It would stop eventually, and she had things to do. There was still a lot to be done in the city, before she and Cass left on the expedition.

However, the more she touched, the more tar seemed to come from her hands.

She wasn't going to be useful to anyone today, let alone herself, she came to realize.

What was the logical response?

To lay down on the grass in front of the castle, of course. Maybe if she didn't touch anything for a while, the sticky goo would recede. In the meanwhile, staring at the sky seems like a good option.

Yeah, castle. She gets the irony. She messes up everything she touches. Ha ha.

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She smiles over at him. She'll owe him a friendly hug once she's not all gross.

"That's the spirit. I'm just never really sure what to say when stuff like this comes up."

He smiles back, though it's subdued. That's just how he smiles, probably.

"It is that common among people you know?"

"I can probably count the people I know with good father relationships on one hand." With fingers to spare. They were criminals, murderers, or just dead and a source of often-unpleasant memories.

Well, now he's curious. "And your own?"

There's a really short, brief pause, and then Connor realizes that... is probably none of his business, and he shakes his head. "I am sorry. I do not mean to ask personal questions," he says, holding up his hand a looking a little bit embarrassed.

Steph shakes her head. She doesn't mind sharing--talking about fathers is awkward, sometimes, but she's not an especially private person.

"It's okay, you're free to ask all sorts of questions. My dad was not a very nice guy. He was a criminal, in and out of jail more times than I can count."

What a waste of space, he was.

He thinks about that for a second, finding it surprising. Of course, a parent being something does not mean his child must be the same way -- Connor and his own father are evidence of that. But he never would have guessed that about Stephanie's.

It's not quite the same as having a father who is a Templar, but he thinks she may understand. Later, though. Once he's sure she has a better idea of what a Templar is.

"You say 'was.' Has he died?"

"Yeah," she replies, stretching out her legs. "It's a long story, but he was killed in an attempt to do one good thing. There wasn't even a reward in it for him."

It's something she thinks about, now and then. Did he do it to try to make up for what he had done before? Was it some sort of trick? Why was he even such a terrible person the first place? Was he weak, or just evil? Maybe sick?

She'll always be pissed that he found one last way to mess with her.

"I don't think one good deed redeems someone from so much bad, but," she shrugs, "Ancient history, really."

"I think it depends on what the good deed is," he says, which is actually not an attempt to get her to tell exactly what her father had been doing. It's just a general statement.

If he could meet his father and convince him to renounce the Templars... would that make up for all he'd done? The village burned by his command? His mother?

"History is important to all of us, no matter how old. A father who is not a good person -- it still shapes you. Even if you have never met him."

Which is another general statement, since it seems like Stephanie at least knew her father.

Her father was the driving force behind her making her own costume. He was the sole reason she decided to take justice into her own hands.

"True. I wouldn't be who I am or where I am in life if he hadn't been around. I joined this whole fight to stop people like him, so kids wouldn't have to grow up afraid."

It's a heavy topic, but she smiles anyway. "And, you know. To be a good example of the fact that people don't always take after their parents."

Connor nods. "It is easier to fight against something that you have personal involvement in. Then you truly know what is at stake."

He's glad he tripped over her -- who knows if they would have had this conversation otherwise? He feels like he understands Stephanie a bit more now, and it's nice to actually talk to someone about his father, no matter the details he left out.

"My mother would say there is enough of her in me to balance anything of my father. I think I take after her, anyway."

Steph's glad, too. It's nice to get to know Connor better, and she's sure he doesn't mind finding some semi-familiar ground with someone here.

"Sounds like a good influence, there," she replies. Sure, people don't have to take after their parents, but they could choose to take up their good traits, too. "Is she why you're so smart?"

Smart, serious, baby Assassin.

That embarrasses him a little, and he smiles at the ground. He reaches to rub the back of his neck, then realizes his hands are covered in ash and thinks better about it, folding his hands in his lap instead.

"Yes... I think so. And perhaps why I am so stubborn," he adds, looking at Stephanie again, pushing through his embarrassment. He needed to stop being so shy; it's probably not a very good quality in an Assassin.

"My mother also taught me English. So I think she must have known I would need it one day."

She stifles her laughter when she catches his embarrassment, ducking her head. It'd be easy to tease him, she thinks, but she's not as bad as Ezio.

"I haven't seen any stubbornness from you yet, but maybe I haven't been around for it..." she says, but maybe she's a little blind to stubbornness since she was the typical stubborn teen herself! It's not a bad thing.

"Good foresight. She must be a good teacher, too--pretty sure it's not just the magic of Paradisa letting us understand each other."

His smile takes on a sardonic edge at that, like a miniature smirk. The arrogance is also something he inherited from his mother (and his father, though he doesn't know that). "You will need to ask Ezio."

They got into a heated argument during their first meeting, which of course was not entirely Connor's fault. But he knows he can be stubborn, and it's hard for him to back down.

But he nods a little excitedly, glad to talk about the magic language thing. It's been interesting to him ever since he learned about it, really. "I have offered to teach someone to read English here, though I do not know if I will be a good teacher."

She laughs, grinning. Maybe Ezio was the one she needed to look out for.

The language thing is very, very convenient. Sometimes she had a hard time understanding Ezio's accented English. Italian? No way. They wouldn't have been able to become friends with such a language barrier. When Connor mentions teaching it, though, she perks up.

"Cass--Cassandra, right? She's one of my best friends from home."

Connor blinks, a little surprised, but nods. "Yes -- Cassandra. I did not know you knew each other."

It's kind of a small world. Stephanie knew Cassandra, Cassandra (apparently) knew Ezio...

Which reminds him about something, and he sort of blurts it out, more curiously than anything else: "Do you know about the way she sees? How she reads movement and emotion?"

He is still sort of working on being tactful.

Oh, the crazy adventures these four could have.

Tact isn't something Stephanie puts a lot of thought towards most times, so she doesn't mind the question at all.

"I do. We've fought alongside each other a lot. What she does is amazing. You'll never meet anyone quite like Cass."

'Adventures' sure is one word for it!

"Ezio thought I should ask her to teach me to see as she does," he says, the excitement ebbing a little as he frowns a bit. "I do not think he knows how she learned."

Stephanie shakes her head. Oh, Ezio.

"It's not really anything Cass can teach. I think it's something you have to start learning the moment you're born, and it's not exactly nice, either."

Whenever Stephanie thinks about how terrible her own father is, she often reminds herself that she could have been David Cain's daughter instead. While her father locked her in closets when he was angry, Cass' dad shot her.

It was a bonding point, at least.

"Yes," he says, nodding. "That is what she told me. I would not have asked her if I had known."

Ezio is a jerk, news at 11.

Ezio being a jerk and no one being surprised! Steph sighs.

"Knowing Cass, I'm sure she understood." And at least Cass knew Ezio, so it wasn't Connor being rude or anything. "She's a good teacher and sparring partner, though. She taught me a lot of what I know."

'Sparring' is kind of a new concept to Connor. In his village, boys played war games, and even though they knew they were preparing to use these skills in battle, they were still games. Even when he trained with Achilles, he didn't actually fight with him -- he's too old for that, after all.

"She is to spar with me in exchange for my teaching her," he says, then adds wryly: "Though I think she is more interested in sparring than in reading."

Steph grins at that observation.

"You're right. Reading is harder to learn, when you're older. It's not easy for her... but she'll get it, with all these people helping her out. Something's gotta click."

"I hope she does not become overwhelmed," he says thoughtfully, a slight frown creasing his brow. "With so many teachers, I would worry there would be conflicting lessons."

"Maybe, but we'll see how many actually stick to it." People leave, and people get distracted or realize that teaching an adult isn't quite the same as teaching a child. "Cass can handle it. She's a smart cookie even without being able to read."

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eaglet - 2013-05-27 03:18 (UTC) - Expand

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