16941/Tending to the Menagerie

Tending to the Menagerie
Date of Scene:	17 January 2024
Location:	Wayne Estate - Bristol Township
Synopsis:	Cassandra comes across Damian tending to Goliath. They have a non-verbal conversation about things and Cassandra helps to get Damian back to what made him who he is and restored a balance.
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain

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Damian Wayne has posed:
It's starting to grow into evening in the Manor and it's envrions. While it had snowed the night before, today has mostly been clear and cold, allowing the sparkling white snow giving the area a fresh winter coat. The wind is light and if you can bear the chill in the air, it's not a bad day to be active and about.

Damian has spent the better part of the afternoon in the barn, the young man tending to the various animals that are within. There's the horses, a cow, a couple of dogs, a cat and currently... a god-awful 'RRRRrrrrawl!' that comes from the barn itself.

Inside, Damian will be found inside, dressed in a hoodie, heavy coat, jeans and workboots. Standing on a ladder, he has out a large brush that his hand is slid into to hold and he's complaining. "Oh, you big baby. I have to get the tangles out, I'll get you a treat when we're done!" he promises.

The object of complaint? An almost nine-foot tall bat and dragon hybrid of dark red and black that he is currently brusing the head of. "See, doesn't hurt that much." Damian grumbles as Goliath makes another noise of complaint, but holds still to be brushed.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Snow on your tongue, silence in your ears. Or that's what Cass had until she'd turned the corner, the sound of a ...something...intruding on her walk. Well, she calls it a walk. Might have been doing some parkour, but ...whatever.

There's a moment when she considers not bothering, that it might not be something that she needs to address (she's so serious) but no, that would be laziness, and she is nothing if not lazy. Wait, that came out backwards.

Cass peers in, scouting the perimeter quickly. Peers in, scouting the doors. Peers in. She may need glasses, that can't be a normal habit.

Looking into the pen, she blinks once-twice-three times at seeing the bat. Then her eyes look Dam over, and she sighs.

Well, at least it was audible.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Even if it wasn't an audible sigh, Damian is hard to sneak up on and surprise. Peeking up from where he had been brushing the large dragon, there's a small grin as he notices Cassandra, and he lifts his finger in a small 'shh' motion to his lips, before lowering it.

Climbing off the ladder, he sets down the brush for the moment, coming over to see Cass. "Hey." he greets, just as a farm cat comes over to brush between the pair and walk around them. "So. That's Goliath. I found him when I was thirteen, back when I was going through my final test as an assassin." Which means the dragon should probably not be alive.

Then he turns to look at Goliath. And then back to Cassandra. And a smile. "Would you like to meet him?" he asks curiously, clearly offering her the invitation.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass spreads her hands as she's told to 'shush'. Like, seriously, what did he even expect out of her? Yes, Damian, I was going to shout and ...I don't know, trip on something? Like a normie. She grins at the very thought, amused at the idea of ...being clumsy. So weird.

She's smiling when Damian comes over, that level of openness a compliment of sorts. She normally has this thousand yard stare going on, but ...eh. This is family, her body says subtly. He'd understand. She bites her lower lip for a moment when she's offered to meet the big guy, and then tilts her head questioningly?

You have to get used to these kinds of responses.

Damian Wayne has posed:
"He won't bite." Damian is trying to read into the response, considering her. "He does breath fire, though?" She can easily tell by his body language, he really does want to show off Goliath to her and has no fear of there being a problem.

Goliath, in the meantime, is only watching the pair of humans curiously. As long as Cassandra doesn't appear to be a threat, there's no issue with him as he crouches down slightly, lowering his head in a gesture of submission.

"Let me see your hands." If Cassandra allows, he will rub his hands over hers, "Sharing my scent with yours." he explains. Will help him realize you're a friend." And then, he moves and offers a small tug. "Let's go."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra has no issue with Damian taking her hands. She knows why he's doing it, being something or other about that kind of thing. She grins at the sensation of having her hands rubbed, then pauses and...well, she sniffs her own fingertips for a second. That very human reaction a moment that she lets herself have.

Drawn forward, (Damian may actually be stronger than she is!), Cass doesn't even glance at Goliath's position. She notes it on an unconscious level, fully aware of his submission. Trying not to be frightening has been an issue in the past, but that's not something she knows how to say without words. So, instead of trying, she just reaches out toward the bat/dragon's head.

Too fast, perhaps? She doesn't want to screw this up, but she's...well, she's quick.

Damian Wayne has posed:
As they approach the dragon, they pass another pen. Inside there, munching happily on some grass is a large white cow wearing a plaid blanket. Across it's eyes, it's fur has made a brown 'bat-symbol' on it's face. It's the Batcow that Damian saved a few years back.

Arriving at Goliath, Damian takes a moment, and makes introductions. "Goliath, this is Cassandra. She is a very good friend. Cassandra, Goliath." The dragon lowers his head, arching out, his wings furling behind him to keep balance. There's a few curious sniffs of her hand. And then a longer snuffle of the young woman and then he laps her hand in greetings, taking in her taste and scent. Approval, strong approval from Goliath for Cassandra, because he presses his head against her to rub.

"Wow." Damian is struck for a moment. "I don't think I have seen him react so strongly to anyone like that." he admits with a small smirk as he moves to get the brush again. "Actually... I was thinking about reaching out to you. I'm worried I may be losing my touch, Cassandra." A sigh from him, a small slump of his shoulders in thought. "The last couple of scraps I have been in have been surprisingly, wrong. And I think I may be losing my edge."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Yeah, Cass doesn't get here much. Or at all, really. Why she's here now isn't ever going to be explained, but suffice it to say that Alfred was involved. As all things that matter are, in the end. Today she sees a COW, and it is amazing. And then she's face to face with Goliath, and she breathes out slowly, letting him sample her breath. Her scent, not just the scent Damian put on her hand.

There was a time once when she'd tried to befriend a bunny. It ran. Than a mouse. It ran away. She had been thinking about combat at the time, so...this time, she's keeping her mind clear. But Goliath has the biggest, prettiest eyes...

Then her hand is licked, and she...

She giggles.

Only for a moment, but ...well, she looks at Damian, her hand pressing against Goliath's forehead, palm down, and listens to his request. Then she opens her mouth. "Well...yes..." she says, bluntly. Then she turns back to Goliath, looking at those huge eyes. She nods. What does she even mean? And since when does she actually talk?

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian knows Cassandra doesn't say much. And yet, out of all the family, is probably the one that understands him the most. "I knew Flatline was trying to kill me. But I still couldn't go all out to fight back. I kept thinking of Father's rule." he admits with a sigh. "And it nearly cost me."

He returns to his brushing of Goliath, not expecting her to talk, but she does listen really well. "I am going to need to get back to finding that will to do what I must." What that is? He's not even sure of himself. Which is why he was here, brushing out the dragon. Because it helps him think.

Goliath, in the meantime, is just happy to be eye to eye with Cassandra and being completely smitten to her attention as she wants to dole it out. That giggle was not missed, and Damian gets a grin for a moment.

"How do you do it, Cass?"

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Hand still pressed onto Goliath's forehead, Cass curls her fingers a bit, drawing her fingernails through his softness. She does not answer quickly, nor without thought. The very lack of a spontaneous gut response is something different. So many people seem to know the answers, and in the end they're wrong. Cassandra listens. She incorporates everything into her self. And she waits.

Those eyes turn from Goliath, slowly, to meet Damian's. How can she tell him that THAT is her greatest combat technique, and the one he most needs right now? The ability to do NOTHING. To listen, and watch. And to grow so much faster than her opponents.

But it's not something you can say. She instead, she lifts her other hand to her lips, and repeats the gesture that Damian did to her earlier. A finger to her lips, a 'shh' motion. And she nods, giving him a hopeful smile. It will be alright, the eyes say. Her body, her stance. Her stroking of Goliath, how he knows that it's okay. Patience, my friend.

Damian Wayne has posed:
And just like that, Cassandra reminds Damian of one of the first tentaments of being an assassin. Patience. It's not just a virtue. It's what it takes for one to wait. To know when to strike. For too long, Damian has allowed the pizza parties, the societal engagments, the dating, all of the fun things that family has done.

He had forgotten that one thing. And he falls silent, and the only sound besides the sounds of the farm animals that are eating, shuffling in their pens, the sound of their breathing, is the constant /swish, swish/ as Damian pulls the brush through Goliath's fur, that careful brushing.

Even Goliath seems to understand, a gentle thump as he lies down flat, allowing Cassandra more access to him as the large dragon just looks up at her with those soulfully deep black eyes.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra smiles. Keep growing, she says. She says it in the way that only she and Damian would understand. She doesn't open her mouth, doesn't shift her stance. She says it by doing, by continuing to become more.

She says it by learning how to brush a bat. By being humble enough to watch, and to enjoy the journey. And, with that softness becoming so much more, building over time, to someday see Damian learn something too.

I'm proud of you, she says. But that, she says differently.