13320/Socially Inadept

Socially Inadept
Date of Scene:	09 November 2022
Location:	Lake House - Wayne Estate
Synopsis:	A conversation about blackmail and unwanted debts. Talia is involved, if only indirectly.
Cast of Characters:	Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown

---

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Normally you call first. It's never been something that Cass has been good at, so she does her thing in her own fashion. She knocks.

On the window.

From above.

Cass has seen people walk up to doors and get shot from within. It's something she doesn't understand, that people would do something so clearly vulnerable.

Also she kinda likes freaking Steph out sometimes. Dick too. Two for one deals are good value. Too bad Tim's not here yet.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
All of the walls of the lake house sitting on the small lake back deep in the estates of Wayne Manor are windows. Though they can be smoked for privacy, that often is only done when needed.

At the moment Stephanie is lying on the couch, the fire burning nearby as she read through a text book. She's wearing shorts and a sports top as if she got in a workout earlier. Though there's no sign of workout equipment in the small lake house, the underground passages include a fast transit to the Batcave.

Stephanie glances up at the tapping, She breaks out in a grin and waves at Cass to come on in, patting the couch beside her.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass turns, lowering herself to the window. She puts her feet on it, then lowers herself some more. There's a squeaking sound as her feet pull down the window, going for traction. Then she drops to the ground and lands, dusting herself off like a kitten who totally meant to do that.

Then she looks inside, raising an eyebrow for an instant. And she walks to the entryway with enough pride to offset her moment of weird a moment previous.

Then she's inside, looking around a bit. Oh right, she's never been inside before.

That you know of.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"Hey Cass," the vivacious, fit blond says with another wave. "There's water and fruit juice in the kitchen. And some fresh fruit sitting out in a bowl there too," she says, waving towards where the kitchen is. The lake house is a rectangle, with a walled rectangle inside of it where the bathroom and closets are. The kitchen is the space between one long side of that interior rectangle, and the windows. The whole place is very open air and with those floor to ceiling windows, very well lit during the day time. "Help yourself," Stephanie says, "And then come join me. No knife throwing please!"

Stephanie grabs her laptop and taps in some notes about what she's just read. Chemistry. The bane of her existence. Ok, second bane after gravity. Though she's doing better in the subject with Dick's tutoring.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass moves a bit as Steph focuses on her work. She sits, crosslegged, next to Steph and looks at what the blonde is typing.

Unsurprised to find that it includes words in English, she shrugs and sits quietly until Steph has time for her.

The fact that she did not avail herself of the offered food or drink means very little. Cass is weird. The fact that she's very clearly waiting for attention means a lot though.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown only takes a few moments to capture what she was thinking, as she sees Cass isn't heading for the kitchen. Then she sets the laptop aside and reaches over to wrap Cass in a tight and loving hug. One doesn't have to have been raised to read body language to understand the love that Steph is exhibiting for the young Asian woman.

"How are you doing?" she asks once she lets Cassandra Cain go and Stephanie relaxes back in the couch again. "You missed a bit of a fight at the Clocktower the other day. Ninjas. After a few friends of Barbara's," she explains. "Your kind of fight. I was up on the wall of the Clock Tower, about 10 stories up for most of it."

She breaks out in a hug grin. "It was so awesome!"

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass lays her head on Steph's shoulder softly. There's no lack of love here. She listens, possibly one of her best skills. The expression is one of pride, her eyes looking up at Steph with a smile breaking. She does shift a little, looking like she'd have wanted to be there.

"Good fight," she says. Out loud. Which is a bit epic, as she squeezes Steph's fingertips with her hand. Not too hard, she knows that Steph is still a little fragile. You know, like a good ceramic.

Weapons-grade of course.

"Call?" She wants to be told next time you're having fun without her.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown wraps her arm about Cassandra's shoulders as they sit together. "Yes, it was. I took a slash in the arm. And a weighted chain in the leg. They were good. Also they did some magic near the end that made them seem to be able to ignore pain. Would just hit them and they'd keep going, kind of like the Talons from the Court of Owls," she says. "Though a couple of the Birds broke up those doing the magic."

A quick nod is given about calling. "Barbara sent out a call for help for it," she explains. "I had been... doing some public relations at the time," she tells Cassandra. Then pauses. "You know, was dancing to Gangnam Style with some girls over in Robbinsville."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra Cain guesses she must've been busy. Or not paying attention to comms. Or sleeping. Which could count as busy, she supposes. If you're lame like Jason and need more sleep. Pff.

She shrugs, pulling one of her feet up til her knee crunches, still enwrapped by arms. She pokes at Steph with her toe (still in climbing boots) and then taps her own mouth. With a finger, not the toe.

"Have problem," she says. Well, Cass has a lot of problems. But we try not to nag her about them generally.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"Boy do you ever!" Stephanie exclaims exuberantly. But after a second she breaks out in a grin that tells the joke of it and says, "Oh, wait, you mean like, a specific problem," she teases.

The blond gets more serious then. "What is it? Let's see if we can come up with a solution for it," she suggests.

The fire crackles nearby. It's a real wood fireplace, though it can handle gas as well. Just real wood is so much nicer. Especially now that the weather is turning cooler outside. Outside the window, the lake is very placid. Some ducks come in for a landing, disturbing the glass-like surface as they send out ripples through it.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra Cain grins. She nudges Steph gently, taking the joke with a smile and an appreciative nod. It's true, and she can laugh at herself. Maybe a bit of a blush as she recognizes the truth behind it. She has a LOT of problems.

She turns enough to see Steph's face then though, even if it means breaking from the hug. She has to see people to really communicate. Bit annoying but it's how she works best. Then she tries to talk, and we get to discover how much she's been failing at language lessons.

"Talia find me. Tell mother." She pauses, knowing from Steph's face that this isn't quite hitting the mark, and she frowns and tries to add more. "Talia know mother me. No tell. Want to know. Talia make...." She pauses, unable to convey the term 'bargain' or 'blackmail' in her limited vocabulary. But she makes grasping motions, trying to get it across.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown's good-natured expression fades rapidly at the mention of Cassandra's mother. "Why the f- ... why would she do that," Stephanie says, amending the first choice of words that she was a blurting out. Proof that she can filter that internal voice. Sometimes. Ok, rarely.

"Did she just tell that she saw you? Or did she let her know where you are?" Stephanie asks. Of course Cassandra's "mother" had known Cass was in Gotham already, so if that was the extent of it, it wasn't that bad. Just confirming her location still if hopefully not giving more.

Seeing Cassandra is stuck on a word. "Talia made a... deal? A trade? A threat?" she ventures, trying her best to emote each word as well so hopefully Cass can help pick up on them.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass shifts uncomfortably, her fingers digging into the chair's fabric a little bit. She might leave marks, but this is a sensitive topic. For Steph too it seems, which makes Cass hopeful that she's making sense! Steph was totally the right person to come to.

"Yes!" she says, though she's not sure which of the words Steph used was right. It felt right, both of them did actually. She pauses, then tries to put them into context in her head. Then, "Both yes," she says. They both apply.

"Talia no, can tell but is no. Is poison inside." She feels weird about the situation. I think.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie's alarm shows she's thinking Cassandra is talking about Mother, as opposed to her birth mother. "If Talia knows that she's after you, Cass, that's a problem. We could see if Damian can rein her in if she's contacting her," Stephanie suggests.

"I mean, I'm a little hesitant if there's a dispute on whose side Damian would take. But if we're talking about someone who would come after you to hurt you, I don't have any worries he'd do the right thing," she tells her friend, giving her a little bit tighter of a hug.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass's eyes shift a bit. She doesn't turn away the hug, but she also isn't quite on board. Some of the things that Steph said didn't quite mesh with what she was trying to say. It's a quandary, but the possibility of getting others involved is probably a good decision.

Still.

"No hurt. Me hurt Talia, she is scary no." That needed to be said. Talia is scary no, not scary yes. I'm confusing myself now.

With a return hug, Cass says, "Steph, you know mother?" She seems a bit confused. Which is weird, since Cass and Steph both were there that day, when Mother spoke to them. English is weird and may not have been the best choice for starting Cass out learning to communicate.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie looks confused at the question from Cass. "I saw her on the screen in the silo, when she realized we were in there," Stephanie reminds Cass. "Before it went boom," she says, using her hands with fingers flying apart to suggest an explosion. "I don't know her other than that. That she was the one who trained you to be an assassin but you got away from her," Stephanie says. Hoping Cass can pick up a lot of that from the combination of her body language, and the words she used.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass puts a finger right over Steph's lips. No, her response says, her head shaking. "That Mother. Mother is no." She nods then and says, with obvious frustration, "Words I at bad." Then she looks around, finding no pics of family, and bites her lower lip, her arm gently squeezing Steph's waist.

Then, inspiration. "Taskmaster Father Steph. Who Mother?"

It's her best shot. Words I at bad, indeed.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
It only takes Stephanie a few seconds to understand. "Oh, not the woman that you called mother who trained you? You mean your -actual- mother? The one that gave birth to you?" Stephanie asks. She reaches down to touch her lower body and then after that makes a rocking motion like holding a baby.

The charades game is strong with this one.

"So your birth mother?" Stephanie repeats. "And you're saying that Talia knows her? But you don't know her, do you?" And then a look of suspicion comes to Stephanie. As if thinking about whether Talia could be trusted to reveal the truth there. "Ok I know I have trust issues," she says with a sigh. It doesn't help when bad guys keep showing up and behaving like good guys. Or as parents of good guys.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass admittedly is dealing with a Very Good Detective. Her clues and meanderings might not have hit home otherwise. She nods, cradling a baby of her own for a moment, her eyes lighting up. It's pretty obvious when she agrees. Charades and body language, Cass should get a job doing that for parties. If she wasn't busy fighting crime.

She nods a couple of times, completely unnecessarily, and then smiles briefly. But her face settles into worry again just as quickly. Because just because we've identified the problem doesn't mean that Cass is any closer to solving it.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie has some context now, it seems. Though she's still not entirely sure of the remaining details. "Ok, so Talia somehow knows... or is saying she knows, who your mother is?" Stephanie asks, watching Cassandra's reaction to make sure she's grasping it right.

"And then... so Talia isn't threatening you if it's not the other Mother. Not threatening to tell her where you are. So what is it then? She knows who your mother is, but she won't tell you?" Stephanie asks, finally putting it together it seems, but watching Cass's reaction to see if that is all correct.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
We really have to get Cass to first-grade English lessons.

Nodding firmly, Cass accepts that Steph has gotten the gist of things. Given that she's still talking like someone raised by wolves, the fact that this level of detail is even possible is thanks to Stephanie's tenacity. And her dealing with children on the regular.

"Talia tell no. Tell deal, no tell what. How do?"

Bleh.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The blond sits back in the couch, thinking for a few minutes. "Well, I don't know why she's not telling you. I suppose that would help to know. I mean is it because you might not want to know? Or because she's trying to get something out of you for it?" Stephanie says aloud.

She looks over to Cassandra, giving her arm a soft squeeze as if to be reassuring. "You could talk to Damian maybe and enlist his help if you wanted. Though in the end I guess you'll have to figure out how much you want to know. And if she has a price for telling you... ah... well we could always beat it out of her," Stephanie says with a grin.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass pauses, then takes Steph's hand in her own. She kisses the fingertips, as clear a body language as ever was offered. Nothing sloppy, just a thank you. And love, always love.

Then she stands up, changing the subject firmly. "Watch tv?" she asks, having recently started getting into some cartoons. They don't confuse her like live-action shows do. The actors don't have weird body language because they're not in character, and it all makes sense. "Netflix?"

I swear, you're corruping the poor girl. Netflix, indeed. This is all your fault.