paradisalogs | i like the chance you take

Entry tags:

i like the chance you take

Who: Cass and Steph!
What: Girl time♥
When: This weekendish
Where: Bathaus
Rating: C FOR CUTE

It was about time Steph put a little extra effort out there for Cass. She'd been all over the place lately, and it had to be hard on the girl that thought she was dead not too long ago. She'd promised a lot of fun things, but some of those fun things needed planning--like a beach day. So, for now, she'd have to improvise.

And that's why there was an assortment of fruits, candies, syrups, and sprinkles set out on the counter. Steph was trying to be quiet, taking the ice cream tubs out of the bag and sneak them into the freezer, but the paper was annoyingly loud in the quiet home.

This was supposed to be a surprise. Grr.

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Steph stretches her arm out to put down the glass, so she can properly wrap her arms around Cass. This is comfy.

She sees what Cass is doing, there, but doesn't press. She'll just be honest. "Doing better."

It was pretty crappy there, for a long while. EH left her extremely rattled, and it just went downhill from there. Even babies left her uncomfortable and eager to get back to normal.

"Good. You should... always be happy."

Happy and alive are all Cass wants for Steph, so just knowing she's back on that track is enough for Cass.

"You, too." She shifts to press another kiss to Cass' cheek. "I'm always happy when I'm hanging out with you."

"Feel same way." And just to prove it, but also mostly just because she wants to, Cass kisses Steph's cheek in return.

There's no such thing as too many kisses (unless they're wet and slobbery), so Steph doesn't mind at all.

"Tim might have to sleep out here tonight," she teases.

Steph is joking, but Cass isn't entirely sure what the punchline is.

"Is he... in doghouse, for something?"

"Huh? No, not at all. I said that because maybe we'll go take over the bed before he gets home."

She'd have some nerve to kick Tim out of the bed and get angry with him after some of their recent discussions.

"Room for him, too." She kisses Steph's nose, trying to distract her from unhappy Tim thoughts now. "Unless it's girls only. Won't say no... to bed, though."

"Entirely up to you," she says, though she supposes in this case the more the merrier, right? Steph grins before sitting upright, to slip her arms under Cass.

"But we can go hang out in there for now, at least. Bed's better than the couch."

She'll carry her! Like a princess, of course.

She can remember the last time Steph held her like this, but it wasn't really Steph. It was something her brain had given her, some vision or hallucination because of her desperation to see Stephanie, to not really have lost her forever.

She puts her arms around Steph tightly and presses her face into her shoulder, hugging herself even closer.

"Okay."

Steph eyes the mess in the kitchen as they go past. She'll get to it later. Or, more likely: Tim will come home, see the mess, sigh, and clean it up. Oh, her lovely neat-freak boyfriend.

After she carefully places Cass on the bed, she plops down next to her. They really needed to have days like this more often.

Cass scoots closer at once, both arms wrapping around Steph again while she rests her head on her chest.

"Sleeping in here, tonight." She can't be away from Steph now, not when she's remembering almost drowning and visions of Stephanie saving her. This Steph is not a ghost, this Stephanie is alive and breathing and here, it's really her she's clinging onto in this bed.

"Then it's decided." She smiles and runs her fingers through Cass' hair, arms around her. Tim won't mind sharing the bed with her. She's not sure what Cass is thinking about, but she's content to have her so close.

"I missed you, when you... were gone. It was just... me, Bruce, Alfred. Which, really, is only... me and Alfred." Bruce wasn't exactly all about the nurturing thing.

"Then, just me, in Bludhaven. Made friends, but... they weren't you. But I still... saw you, all the time." It was always wishful thinking of course, and never really Steph. She holds Steph a little bit tighter, keeping her face hidden against her chest. "Not ghost, I guess. Since you... weren't really dead. You kept me strong, kept me... fighting, trying. Kept me from dying."

Steph's never really asked about what happened while she was gone--of course, once she got back to Gotham she heard bits and pieces, mostly related to all the terrible things that had happened to Tim in her absence. She didn't know how to ask everyone else what they'd been up to, because how could she even dare to?

"Cass..." She thinks the right words will come, but they don't. It breaks her heart to think about what Cass went through after she "died," and sometimes she forgets that it wasn't three years plus and some for Cass. It was recent.

They hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms back then, either.

"I'm so sorry, Cass. I never meant to put anyone through that. Especially you." Especially Tim, and especially her mother. She meant for things to turn out the way they did.

"Just glad you're- here now. Safe. Can keep you... this way." She realizes how that sounds after the fact and doesn't correct herself, not right away. It's true, she does want to keep Steph. But Steph isn't hers to keep, so finally she adds, "Alive, safe here."

Cass wanting to keep Steph isn't anything strange or new to her, so there's nothing strange about that statement. It's already been implied, as far as she's concerned. She pets Cass' hair, trying to sooth her.

"I'm happy you're here, Cass. You won't have to go through that again, not if I have any say in it. Okay?"

That kind of falls flat, for Cass. Stephanie did have a say in it now, but there had still been a week and more of her being off without even saying goodbye, letting Cass know she was safe. But that's something Cass is happy to let go, she can just assume that when Stephanie says it now she means from here on out. It's easier that way.

"I'm not... mad you disappeared." Not in Gotham and really, she's not mad about it happening here. "You did... what you had to. But from now on... please, tell me."

"Alright. It's the least I can do." She kisses the top of Cass' head, arms tightly around her. "It's good you're talking to me about this." It's not always easy for Cass, and Steph knows it.

"Don't want secrets. Don't want lies." Not big secrets and lies, anyway. Little things that will allow for everyone to go on being happy? Those are okay for Cass to tell, she thinks.

Now that it's all out of the way, all explained so Stephanie understands her reactions, Cass is able to relax and enjoy this closeness without thinking of ghosts and dying. Her desperate grip loosens to something more comfortable and less rib cracking, resting her head on Stephanie's chest instead of burying her face there.

"Just... want you happy. That's all."

Stephanie doesn't lie so much as she omits information, and she and Cass are on the same page when it comes to that. Most of the things are concerning Tim and Assassins, and there had been enough strife over that already.

"I know. Honestly, with you and Tim here, this is the happiest I've ever been here." She hadn't been miserable, but things hadn't felt this comfortable.

"Good. Will make sure... it stays like that."

She scoots up now, face level with Steph's so she can look at her and touch her cheek, brush her hair back away from her face and tuck it behind her ear.

Steph hopes it does. There are a few things Steph can see breaking this little house they have. One of them could go home, or... Tim can have a cow over this Assassin business. Both were likely.

She gently taps Cass' nose with her index finger.

It probably won't help that Cass and Ezio had a long conversation about the non-killing positions in the Assassin Order, too. Yay for keeping things from each other.

She blinks when Steph taps her nose, then smiles faintly.

"Love you too."

"Always." No doubt about that. She lifts her hands to run them though Cass' hair, laughing a little to herself because she always does this to Tim's hair, too.

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