5915/Mutes Can Still Gossip

Mutes Can Still Gossip
Date of Scene:	12 April 2021
Location:	Stephanie Brown Apt - University Apartments
Synopsis:	Stephanie comes home to find her closet in disarray thanks to Cassandra. The two catch up.
Cast of Characters:	Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain

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Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown takes the elevator up to the top floor of her apartment building, leaning against the elevator wall with a smile on her face and obviously distracted with her thoughts. As it arrives, she exits the elevator car and heads down the hallway. It being an apartment building full of college students, the carpet has seen better days.

Stephanie gets to her door, unlocks it and then passes inside, locking the deadbolt behind her. That smile she had in the elevator is still there. She walks over to her kitchen table where a bouquet of flowers sits in a vase. The water level is checked, and Stephanie gets a glass, adding a little water to it and transferring it to the vase. She leans down to smell the flower's scents before moving into the living room. Wearing jeans and a long sleeve knit shirt, she kicks off her shoes and goes over to where a GIANT teddy bear sits beside the couch. Stephanie lays down on the couch, resting a hand on the bear's head and grinning.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
In the background the closet door opens. Stephanie, turned away, would see no motion. A creepier, scarier idea could not be; someone is in the closet, apparently having been waiting for Stephanie to come home, to relax. To wind down. Waiting.

Or that's what it could have been, but what actually happens is the closet door swinging open and hitting the wall behind it, loud enough to be audible. And inside is a travesty, an absolute travesty. One of the worst things to happen in the history of man. Really, I could make a chart.

Cassandra Cain is in Stephanie's closet, all of the tops having been dragged out of their receptacles/hooks/hangars and strewn all about! She sits there looking frustrated and makes a whining noise, sitting on the floor of the closet. Wow, she looks pissed.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown sits up like a shot as the unexpected sound comes from over at the closet. She hops to her feet, hands at the ready as she moves towards the door to her bedroom and looks in.

As she sees Cassandra in there, Stephanie breaks out in soft laughter. "Oh god. You have no idea how many bad guys were going through my head on who could be in there," she says, and wishing she had something in hand she could throw at Cassandra. Thankfully she didn't go for a weapon. Those are mainly in the closet Cass is in, behind the secret door in the wall that she and Tim had built.

"So, looking for something special to wear?" she asks. "And, you know that stuff wrinkles when you just dump it on the floor!" Stephanie moves over, brushing a hand across the back of her friend's head, but then picking up clothing and starting to hang it back up again.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra picks up a halter top and lobs it at Stephanie as the girl laughs at her. She aims for the face, going for the sure-kill shot. It not for it being a piece of cloth, it might even have constituted a threat. In this case the worst she can expect is a boof, and pink lycra face.

Her face screws up, and she shakes her head. Then nods. Then she shakes her head again, and kicks at nothing in the air, then with an expressive motion she reaches a hand to her own shirt, grabs the strap of her bra, right under the chest, and snaps herself.

She arches her back a bit, and something becomes obvious. The strap is too tight, the bra doesn't really fit her that well. Maybe that's what all this is about. But Cassandra pauses in her internal bitching and whining about poorly fitting undergarments and looks up at Stephanie. She arches an eyebrow, then glances behind her at the wall.

Damn she's good at that. Gazing back at Stephanie, she asks, in -real words omg!-, "Dick?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie is hanging things back up as she watches Cassandra's demonstration. "Ah. Getting a little snug? We can take you shopping and get you something that fits better," she tells Cassandra. "I mean if something of mine fits I'm happy with you taking it, but might be best to get something perfect for you," Stephanie says.

When Cassandra mentions Dick by name though, it gets an immediate reaction from Stephanie. A grin breaks out that she can't stop. At the same time she shows just a little bit of embarrassment. No, maybe that's too strong of a word. Shyness? Excited shyness maybe. "I kind of figured you'd notice," Stephanie says, unable to keep that smile from beaming.

Stephanie hasn't had that smile in over a half a year. Not since before she broke up with the boy who had given her the compass necklace that she used to wear. "We, ah... sort of got together a bit ago. At this charity gala. He was there with Sara. But she sort of gave him a push I guess," she says, smiling as she looks down.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra gets to her feet. She always does that with an odd grace, as if the world is lifting her up rather than her putting out effort. But the hug that reaches out to meet Stephanie is immediate and instinctive, the arms that could snap two-by-fours gathering her in.

Cass nods against Stephanie's cheek, the lack of surprise in her reactions rather telling. How long has she known? She squeezes Stephanie around the shoulders and lets her hug it out. Since there's obvious emotion going on.

Not too long though; Cass will tickle if held for too long and she wants details, not exhausted emotings.

Cass looks at Steph, waiting with her rather impressive supply of -best listener ever- for her friend.

But the offer to buy actually fitting bras is kept in her mind. Seems like a good plan. These pinch.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie hugs Cassandra back, sharing her elation. She lets her friend go and then picks up the rest of the things on the floor of the closet, putting them on the bed, just straightening each it doesn't wrinkle, before motioning with a hand for Cassandra to follow.

The flower were hard to miss of course, and not the kind of thing Stephanie would have got herself. And the bear is new as well. Stephanie goes and gets them both a bottle of juice, returning to sit down after passing Cass her drink. "This is Randy," she says with a laugh. "Dick won him for me at Amusement Mile," she says, patting the bear. "He's soooo soft."

Stephanie grins, looking down at her hands before finally lifting her gaze back to Cass. "Well, I guess... ah I'd maybe had a little bit of a crush for awhile. Though, I mean, you know. It's Dick! He's gorgeous. It wasn't even really a crush, just, thinking he was so cute," she says.

Stephanie opens her grape juice and takes a sip. "Well, we've been sparring together, and working a case against the Hand. So spending a lot more time together," she says. Stephanie looks down again and smiles. "And I was trying to not think about that. Though when I saw him and Sara together, that detective from New York he was dating? It sort of hit me a little bit that it was turning into more than just, Dick's cute."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Oh, if only Cassandra knew puns. Randy. Yep. She completely misses that one, taking the bottle of juice and falling onto the bear like a pint-sized normal person which she totally is, shut up. You know, once in a while, like now when she finds herself face to face with the giant bear, and looks at it from up close like she's trying to ascertain its intentions with her daughter.

She turns away from the bear to listen to Stephanie with her eyes, since she needs to do so in order to get the context. She does a sudden headtilt to the left, jerky but thoughtful, and lets Stephanie finish. Still, she seems to think that there's more. Just sitting there, looking at Steph. Then without preamble she lifts her hand and flips the palm over, making little circle motions with her hand.

Well, go on?

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie grins, and draws her legs up to her, arms going around her knees. "Well, I was working at this charity gala. High society thing. And he took Sara. She went to get something out of her eye, and he danced with me while she was gone. And... ah. Yeah," Stephanie says, smiling and looking down. "I ended up going outside. Because watching them together was just going to kill me. For all that I was happy to see him happy with her," she says.

Stephanie shrugs and smiles to Cass. "I guess Sara made him realize I wasn't the 15 year old girl he'd kept thinking of me as. And he came and found me in the garden and... ah, well." Her cheeks blush a little. "We've been spending all the time together that we can since."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra, having been watching all of this develop for *coughquiteawhilecough* raises an eyebrow. She turns to look at the bear after Steph has finished explaining, then rolls her eyes to the ceiling. She looks back at the bear, nods to it as if having a conversation of sorts, then looks back to Steph.

She is so clearly holding in giggles she's quirking her lips at the edges, and the smile is threatening to break through her stoic walls. So close. Then it stops, and she lets out a gentle smile that isn't laughter at all. It's Cassandra, realizing that this is Steph.

She extends her right hand toward the blonde, wanting to hold. While she can't say it, she can share the joy her friend's found. Even if she is uncertain deep inside how she'll ever fit.

Love boggles her. But that's for another time, when she can tell the tale.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown takes Cassandra's hand in hers, squeezing it tight. "He's just... wonderful Cass. I mean that isn't a surprise. But I haven't been this happy in..." Stephanie says, shaking her head and not trying to find a time to compare it to. "We haven't told the others yet, but are going to," she says.

Stephanie slides off the couch and onto the floor, moving to sit on the bear's other leg. He's big enough they can both enjoy his softness. Stephanie continues to talk with Cassandra for awhile. Laughing and smiling well into the night. And looking as happy as Cassandra can likely remember seeing the blond look.