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

Entry tags:

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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His tone and his smile are reassuring, so she reaches out for his hand and squeezes it lightly to she her gratitude.

"Been good teacher so far." But that correction is weird, so she tilts her head as she looks up at him. "What else would... you mean?"

"Well, I try," he glances down at their hands, retuning the hand squeeze and attempting to not look as flustered as he's suddenly finding himself.

Wow he should not be allowed to say things. Like ever. Don't blush. No stop that blushing.

"Oh uh...nothing. Just a uh...slip of the tongue?"

Yeah definitely should not be allowed to say things at all.

And now he's blushing, what is that even about? She must have embarrassed him by calling him a good teacher, or maybe it's just warmer out than she realized at first. But they're under the tree, they should be fine.

She gets up onto her knees so she can lean toward him and put her hand on his forehead, just to make sure he doesn't have heat stroke going on or something.

"Are you okay?" He'd just broken his leg, right? She was pretty sure he wasn't feverish before they left the castle. And hey wait a second. "What did you mean, then? If it was... slip of tongue?"

Her getting even closer does't really help matters. He attempts to laugh it off, but it comes over a tad more nervous than he intended. Okay plan one on his agenda: learn how to deal with girls.

"I'm fine!" that comes out very squeaky, so he clear his throat to attempt a more manly tone. "I'm fine. And I was just thinking something else is all...uh guy things, they'd bore you, super not important."

Because actually saying those things would make them real, and then he'd have to push her away. And he finds he doesn't want to do that. He wants to delay the inevitable as long as he possibly can.

She's not convinced at all, but she lets go of his hand and sits back down on the grass to give him space and make sure he doesn't die of a heart attack right here and now. So... he was thinking guy things about her pace? Now it's her turn to blush a little bit.

"Um..." Wow they really need a new subject now. She passes him a sandwich, trying to think of something to say, but talking isn't really her strong suit either. "Tell about hats. Are they hard?"

He appreciates the breathing space, and uses it to try and get his stupid feelings under control. No. This is the absolute last day he is going to let himself feel like this. The absolute last. (Spoiler: It will not be the absolute last at all). He doesn't even seem to notice her own blush, taking the sandwich and focusing on eating that for a moment.

"Nah it's not that hard at all, there's a special needle to help you knit it, and you just keep going," he spins his finger. "Round and round in a circle until you're done."

That actually sounds easier than the scarf, at least she only has to knit in one direction for this. Well, the new needle part might throw her but she wasn't lying when she called him a good teacher. If anyone can explain it, it'll be him.

"Can probably manage that." She's got the tea now, has it held between both her hands as she takes a drink. It's not as good as Alfred's of course but tea has always had a soothing kind of affect on her. And since Once could probably use that too, she hands the thermos over to him.

"Like tea?"

"I'm sure you can."

He smiles, taking the thermos to get his own drink. He takes a sip, offering her a smile.

"It's pretty good, I used to have it a lot, back home."

There, that's a topic they can stick to, home. There's nothing that could possibly go wrong there, right?

"Will you tell more? About your home?"

"You mean what's left of it?"

Well...that could go wrong. The Once-ler hunches his shoulders a little, frowning, before settling on an answer.

"Before I-" a pause, a breath. "Before everything was ruined, it was kinda quirky. I guess some of it still is, the places I couldn't reach. We rhyme a lot, and sing."

Now is when she'd like to reach up to hold his hand again, but it didn't really go so great the last time so she keeps both her hands safely in her lap as she watches him speak.

"Quirky how?" She tries to just push past the guilt and self-pity because dwelling on it isn't really going to help the mood at all.

His own hands tighten around the thermos, him staring into the depths. He has a moment like this, letting his own thoughts get the better of him, before he straightens a little, trying to banish them. At least for the time being. He offers her a weak smile.

"It's all pretty normal for me, but it's different to anything I've seen here or on any of the world changes the castle puts us through. Like the buildings," he chuckles a little, raising one of his hands to try and mimic the shape. "They're unusual shapes, bits stick out at odd angles. You almost never see a completely straight building like the ones around here."

And now Cass wishes there were weirdly shaped buildings here for her to climb and jump off of, they should so much more fun than the ones she's used to in Gotham and Bludhaven.

"They don't... fall over?"

They sure would have given her a challenge.

"Nope," he offers a sheepish grin. "I think my world rejects the concept of physics most of the time."

"Tim wouldn't like it, probably." Cass thinks it sounds amazing, though. But wait a second, hold on back up.

"You sing? And rhyme? Why?"

"Who's Tim? A friend of yours?"

At least her question has distracted him somewhat.

"It's what we've always done. I mean, we don't do it all the time, you just never know when a random musical number will start up."

Oh, right. Tim's dumb double life thing. She trusts Once-ler and he has a right to know the truth, but it's not hers to tell. She'll just have to be sure to yell at Tim later for making her blur the truth a little.

"Yes, from Gotham. He's stick in mud, sometimes. Like... deep in mud." That's all true at least.

And look, now she's watching him expectantly and waiting for him to burst into song.

The Once-ler nods, buying into that fairly easily. Makes sense, there are plenty of other people in worlds who never show up in Paradisa, right? He leans back a little at that expectant look.

"Areee you okay there, Cass? Because you're kinda staring. Like a lot."

Staring might be something you'll have to get used to if you want to be friends with Cass, Once. When he points it out, though, she smiles a little and has the grace to look away.

"Said, never know... when singing will happen. Thought you were gonna. Was waiting."

"Oh."

Well, that sure explained the staring. Note to self: properly explain randomness to Cass one day. He takes a moment to consider, before handing the thermos over to her.

"Okay, give me a sec."

After a few more moment, he begins to tap out a tune on his cast. It's no guitar, but it'll have to do. It takes him a few more moments to find some words to go along with it, but when he does, he begins to sing.

"I can think of nothing as sweet
And for me this is quite a treat
Than having a picnic somewhere shady
In the company of a lovely lady"

She smiles up at him through the whole thing and when he finishes, she sets the thermos aside so she can clap for him. It was a pretty impressive thing to just string together a song like that, it's certain not something Cass could have done.

"Very sweet, to make it... about us."

Oh look, Cass, it's that goofy smile again. He's pleased she enjoyed it, given he had to pull it out of nowhere.

"Thank you, I do what I can," he replies, with a small bow.

Then...something crosses his mind, he'd thought about it when they got out here but now...well, now was as good a time as any.

"Hey, do you want to see something?"

And she can't even tell him it's cute because his brain might short out again. His question gets an immediate nod, though.

"Yes." Of course she does, that's kind of a silly question. She's managed to eat like a normal person and not just eat her entire sandwich in one bite, but it's finished now so she'll be ready to move on when he is.

Best not make him have any brain seizures just yet. He grins, nervous and excited at the same time. After all, this is the most precious thing he has in Paradisa, he rarely shares it with anyone.

"Okay, I'll direct you if you push, how does that sound? It's not far from here."

No, they should probably save those for the bat fashion show. She packs everything away, then gets up and hands the picnic basket to him so he can hold it while she pushes the chair.

"Sounds good. Don't have to... worry about distance, though. Won't get tired." As she goes around the chair, she squeezes his shoulder before reaching for the handles. "Which way?"

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