paradisalogs | Eyes wide shut, unopened

"And what is our birthday boy, exactly?" It's a genuine question.

She just shrugs. It seems very obvious to her and she'd assume that by now, Steph knows what Ezio is.

"Ezio is Ezio."

"That he is." She idly plays with the ends of Cass' hair. It was too bad that Tim just couldn't see past the whole Assassin thing, but Steph's given up on trying to make them get along.

Gently, Cass pushes Steph back so they can lay down on the couch together. After all the excitement with the dinosaurs she's still a little exhausted, so resting is always a good thing. Plus, she gets to use Steph's chest a pillow. Win win.

"What is in bag, anyway?"

No resistance from Steph. She wraps her arms around Cass, comfortable as ever.

"Party stuff. Streamers, confetti, stuff to make a mess in his room..."

Although she really hates the way she keeps managing to get this kind of affection from Steph, it's at least a nice way to end an argument. She just really wishes it could just be this nice all the time, with no guilt involved.

"No food stuff? Not going to... make cake yourself?"

Steph makes a face at that idea.

"I think I'll just buy one. I'll do that before I head over, though."

Probably a good plan, there's no guarantee Cass wouldn't eat it before it even got a chance to get to the party.

"Hope I can... keep him distracted, all day."

She rubs Cass' scalp with her fingertips.

"Please. He adores you. Ezio will be wrapped around your little finger the moment you drag him out."

That gets a pleased hum in response and for a long time, Cass doesn't reply. Were they talking about something? Oh yeah.

"What's he say?" She can't help being curious about that. Adore isn't exactly the word she'd have expected to go there.

"He doesn't have to say anything." Steph knows he'd totally sleep with Cass if the opportunity presented itself. She's not sure how she feels about that, but whatever, let's focus on his birthday! "There's no reason he wouldn't want to spend all day with you."

"Riding should... be good distraction. Can go far, so it... takes longer, to come back."

That seems like a solid plan to Cass, anyway. Maybe she should have thought about this before the night before the actual attempted kidnapping.

"Oh, he'll like that."

She can already imagine the riding jokes.

At least Cass hasn't mentioned being sore after the first time.

"I like it, too. It's fun, fast. Do you ever... go riding? We should together, sometime."

"Yeah, they taught me a while ago. It's pretty fun," she says, but thinking about Lucrezia isn't very fun. She tries to not think about spending time with Lucrezia, Cesare, and Ezio, back when things were not so bad.

"Maybe we can race Ezio."

Of course Cass sees that, so she frowns and hugs Steph a little tighter.

"Don't have to." Not if it's going to bring back memories that only upset her. "We'll find... other hobbies. More milkshake making, maybe?"

"Maybe," she says with a smile. "You and I should probably get better at cooking real food, though. Just so Tim doesn't go on strike."

"Like... cooking lessons?" That sounds like something Cass could get behind, except... "Would have to... measure for me."

"Or we could squeeze in some reading comprehension into our cooking adventures..."

She groans, turning her head to hide her face against Steph's chest. She'd gotten so hopeful that Steph would just give that up.

"Would be more fun... without reading lessons."

Steph laughs. Nope.

"We'll make... a cheesecake. No, wait. Real food. Umm... pasta. It'll be fun. Tim will be happy."

Considering she'd gotten used to either eating at Brenda's cafe or Alfred cooking for her, pasta sounds very difficult. If only she knew all you did was boil water.

"Would rather have cheesecake."

Maybe that's said a little bitterly. She's still really not happy with Tim.

Oh, right. Steph continues to play with Cass' hair, smoothing it down.

"Tim was trying to protect you, too. His heart was in the right place. You know he loves you, right?"

So much for this. Cass sits up now, unwilling to listen to Stephanie justify what Tim did.

"Don't." She intends for that to be all, but then the rest bubbles up to the surface. "Don't need protection, from him. Not from anyone."

There goes that. Steph sighs, pushing her hands through her hair.

"We care about each other. That means we try to protect each other. Don't take it the wrong way, Cass."

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