12550/Give Peas a Chance

Give Peas a Chance
Date of Scene:	22 August 2022
Location:	The Hanging Tree - Park
Synopsis:	A scene involving whirled peas, mushy peas, and mushy fluffy romance. Phoebe Beacon and Cassandra Cain share their first real kiss.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Cassandra Cain

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Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    OK. Relationships. Her previous dating experience (minus the ballet foray that turned into melee) was minimal. Her love for Cass? Maximum. Her concern that the universe would find a way to take her away? Also maximum.

    Because the universe abhors a vacuum, and Phoebe just sucks sometimes.

    She was hoping this was not one of those times. She was wearing nicer jeans, her lace-up boots and a light brown jacket with blue highlights against Gotham's evening chill. Her hair was tied back with a blue headwrap, not that there was much to it, but when nothing was done with it, it just sticks out like crazy in tiny poof coils.

    She had a small bouquet of flowers with sweet honeysuckle and red roses, among baby's breath and ferns. Maybe a dozen stems entirely, nothing too much.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
It's been too long. With Cassandra back from China (again) and Phoebe back from somewhere in the multiverse (...again) it's taken a long time since the pair have had a chance to be together. Not much of a girlfriend, Cass took luring out of her hidey-hole with snap peas and coaxing.

Then she spent half the trip out here checking for assassins. It's something which would frustrate even the best of us. Looking up from checking behind a statue, Cass glances at Phoebe. She sees the tension but isn't sure how to address it. Cass has never exactly had a talent for social calls.

"Safe," she says, thumbing over her shoulder at the darkness. She's not ignoring Phoebe! She's worried for her! But she's fairly certain that she's screwing this up. Somehow.

Eyes left, eyes right, then she looks at Phoebe again. Her face says help, because she's not sure what to do here.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    And Phoebe's not much of a help, with her own inability to speak. She signs 'safe' back to Cassandra -- she didn't sense anything either. The temporarily mute girl awkwardly stands a moment, then gives a finger snap. She digs into her bag and pulls out a small bag of frozen peas, and then mimics a bird's beak, and then points to the pigeons. Yes. Let's feed the sky rats!

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass blinks. Cass' lips curl upward, almost looking as if she thinks this is an awful, awful idea, but with a nod she steps up and takes the bag.

Her hand brushes against Phoebe's own, and she almost stutters, her body language faltering. Tiny headshake gets her back into realtime, but she pauses to stroke Phoebe's palm a moment.

Then she pours some peas into Phoebe's hand. When she opened the bag happened offscreen. Irrelevant, distracted by happy moment.

Then Cass raises her right eyebrow. I'm the talkative one?

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Body language was such a curious vernacular. Cass's smile makes Phoebe's smile more prominant, and she happily hands the peas over to Cass with an equal smile, cheeks darkening a little bit at the brush, and then the stroke against her palm. Phoebe's fingers curl against hers just lightly before she accepts a handful of frozen peas.

    Phoebe motions to her throat with her other hand, and pulls down the collar she's wearing a little to show the gauze is still there. The wound's been there since she returned from Elsewhere -- really, Kansas -- and hasn't healed.

    She shrugs, what're you gonna do, amirite?

    She then lifts a pea into a hand, and gives two or three a gentle toss towards the pigeons, who coo and begin to flap over.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Spreading one hand in acceptance, Cass acknowledges the ...well, the gesture. She's been hurt many times in her life. She gets it. Patting Phoebe on top of her hand, she doesn't hurry her. She doesn't want her to rush, not to heal OR to move on. Here, right now. Because she's with her and this is nice.

She puts one pea on her thumb, then flicks it at one of the pigeons. She nails it right in the snoot, sending that one and a few others scurrying. Pausing to chew on her upper right lip a bit, Cass glances at Phoebe. Nope, that's not what we're supposed to be doing.

Her face says 'sorry'. Though really, Gotham pigeons won't go far. They're bulletproof little buggers.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It was nice. Almost normal. Phoebe's face lights up as Cass nails a rock dove on its beak, and she tries so hard not to laugh, and she turns, looking up to Cass's face. It's fine.

    Phoebe picks up a trio of peas, and she makes underhand-tosses. One hits a pigeon in the back, and it turns, looking this way and that before finding the pea. Another bounces off a passerby's shoulder, who stops and looks up to make sure a bird hasn't left him a present.

    The third, she purposefully (and playfully) flicks at Cass herself! How mean!

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass is Cass. She can't be snuck up on, surprised, or fooled. So when Phoebe flicks a pea at her, she catches it out of the air. In her mouth. She has to get down on one knee to do it, but then she's chewing on a pea, down on one knee in front of Phoebe.

Her eyes look around a little, then she stands up, blushing and rubbing the back of her head with one hand. Body language has a very specific meaning for that position, and she apparently stumbled a little bit.

Her eyes glance to the right, and then she tosses a few peas toward the little winged ratburgers. Not to hit this time, more to just...oh, whatever.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Cass can't be snuck up on, surprised, or fooled, but she can be embarassed a little bit.

    Partially because Phoebe was not exactly expecting THAT pose, and she had nearly jumped off the bench because Phoebe can be snuck up on, surprised, and fooled. She just tends to sling fire afterwards.

    Phoebe gives a toothy grin, and As she gives another couple little tosses ot peas with one hand, she very slyly reaches to brush her fingers against Cass's.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
So that's when Cass mashes a single pea against Phoebe's forehead, with her palm. She does it with a grin, and doesn't even hesitate. Her face says she expects repercussions, but she stays in range for whatever Phoebe will do next.

Because she's this close to laughing, and Phoebe's been teasing her since she arrived. And...well, she wanted to. What more reason do you need?

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe pauses, looking cross-eyed at the frozen pea mashed on her head, her mouth hangs open at the *AUDACITY* of it all, having someone's else's pea mashed against her face, amd she begins to laugh, which sounds weird because there's no voice to it, just the rushing of air out of her lungs before she takes a little fistful of the peas and just launches it at Cass!

    The pigeons encroach closer as their volunteered fodder bounces off!

Cassandra Cain has posed:
The peas bounce off of Cass. She manages to weather the storm, the peas going to hit the ground and pigeons leaping in to gather their bounty. Cass manages to not step on any, as she leans forward and presses her forehead to Phoebe's own, the pea smooshing a little bit more.

But she's close then, and looking into Phoebe's eyes. She has this smile on her face, but she's too close now. Almost even (gasp) kissing distance! Which is totally not what happens.

Nope, instead Cass sighs and leans back. Something in her eyes says that there's a problem.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Yes, The problem is there was still pea on Phoebe's face!

    Phoebe was laughing gently, her heart even feeling light as she laughs, and then draws close to Cass, forehead to forehead, , looking at that beautiful smile, the dancer that kept her going when she was stuck in the dark so many times.

    Phoebe presses forward just a little bit, breathless from her silent laughter, but then Cass pulls back.

    Phoebe looks confused, concerned. She points to herself, her eyebrows rising up -- something she did?

    Did she forget to brush her teeth?

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass offers Phoebe her hand. Left one; it's closest. She indicates the path, with a tilt of her head. After this Phoebe will be able to do an entire stealth mission with nothing but head-jerks and minor mimery. There's no better training. But it's also hard to explain the smaller things.

Hopefully, Phoebe will take Cass' hand. She still wants the lady close, but she's just ..well, it's hard to tell without words? Maybe it's just that Cass is also not experienced at this.

Or maybe she's eaten something that disagrees with her. Someone needs a translator. But she's not fleeing the scene. Just...holding out her hand.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a nod, hand in hand with Cassandra, and she motions to the same path. Right hand in Cass's left hand, putting the mage on the left side of the path.

    Phoebs reaches into the bag, wondering how expensive her earbuds are currently. Forty-five seconds gave them a *world* of understanding once...

    But she walks with Cass, concern in her expression as her thoughts begin to turn inward, and when they turn inward, they turn ugly.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass whirls, the whirled peas scattering to the following swarm of birds. She puts her kiss on Phoebe like lightning, doing it before she can rethink things and make herself worry it in her head. She has her hands on Phoebe's own, and ..it's a kiss.

She even manages to hit Phoebe's lips, which is the best part of it. She doesn't really do a good job, but she can't see Phoebe hating herself. And she didn't know what to say, or do, and she ...and she, and she. What's going on in her head? Even I don't know, and I'm her typist.

But then she's breaking away, looking at Phoebe's ...shoes. Like she's not sure about things.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe is kissed! The spell on her, the spiraling reasons that they couldn't be together turning off like an old television, leaving the second of static, and the electric whine fading. There's a heartbeat's width of time.

    Phoebe's hands draw up, slowly to Cass's jaw, her soft fingers with the scent of roses and citrus and black pepper to lift Cassandra's chin, lifting her gaze from Phoebe's shoes to Phoebe's dark eyes, with the fading light of the late Gotham evening striking, those reddish coffee notes in the pools of dark brown, eyes lidded, dozens of pigeons around them happily consuming the dropped peas.

    Her thumb runs gently against Cassandra's cheek, her breath held for a moment before Phoebe presses her lips back to Cassandra's, the taste of coffee and cinnamon on her breath.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
The walk in the park seems to have become something else. Cass wasn't looking for that, wasn't expecting it. Not from Phoebe's body language, not from her history. It's not the first, but it might be something like the first....real kiss.

Cass' pale chinese skin, close to that of someone much prettier. Her scars, versus the internal scars Phoebe carries. Were there peas? She doesn't remember.

She's forgotten everything for the sake of a kiss. With her hands, for once, uncertain what to do. She pats Phoebe on the shoulder, like a complete idiot.

Sigh. I'm bad at this.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe breathes out, eyes lidded as she draws away from Cassandra, her hands still cradling the young woman's jaw as she catches her breath, and she gives a smile to Cassandra. No, the walk in the park was supposed to be smell the flowers, feed the pigeons, maybe some light patrol. Not... this.

    But Phoebe was so glad it was. Her shoulders are relaxed. Pupils and nostrils dilated, her palms warm against Cass's skin... and then Phoebe gets a reminder that there is still a hell of a communication barrier.

    ... on the other hand, she's pretty sure that if Cass did *not* want Phoebe to kiss her, she would have been spin-kicked into a trashcan at forty yards.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
It WAS an option. Not one nearly as enjoyable, but the option was there. With Cass seeming all hesitant and stuff, one could almost believe that she's a ballet dancer, not a hardened warrior. A feather, not a stone. A smile, not a thousand yard stare.

Still close, Cass motions to the right with a tilt of her head. She's aimed it at the path, as if perhaps they might find more when walking a bit further along the path. Which, you know, there might just be more kisses waiting out there. They'd just have to spot them and be willing to reach out.

She keeps Phoebe's hand in hers, waiting for a response. And not a spinkick into a trashcan. That'd be less, not more.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe squeezes Cassandra's hand, and she keeps that smile on her face. The one that alerts the seasoned warrior, the stone, the owner of that stare that her heart's beating faster and her brain just dumped a crapton of oxytocin and serotonin into itself.

    To Phoebe, Cass was all of those things. The warrior who moves with the grace of a ballet dancer, at once the lightness of the feather and the grounding of the stone. The smile and the thousand yard stare by turns.

    It was one of the many, many reasons why the thought of Cassandra dancing in the Beacons' back yard was a memory she clung to.

    Phoebe walks along, hand in Cassandra's as they leave the dire wreckage of dozens of pigeons behind them squabbling over the remainder of the frozen peas.

    Phoebe makes sure there's no more mushed pea on her forehead. That would be embarrassing.