maskormenace ic contact

[cassassin]

"Uh, hi. This is Cassandra, sorry I... missed you. Leave a message?"



"... Make it good."

[specify cass or batgirl]

Comments

[cassassin]

Yeah. [that... really about sums it up. after a moment's pause, and wanting to change the subject...]

Kicked Luci in the face. Sorry.

[pummelgranite]

[ Another sigh. ]

Yeah, Batman does that. Was she- [ why even ask? of course she was ] How bad?

[cassassin]

Some fires. Turned a protest... into a riot. [she sighs.]

She was angry. Upset. Wasn't thinking.

[pummelgranite]

[ She absorbs the news silently ]

Did anyone get hurt? Besides her nose, I mean.

[cassassin]

Nothing serious.

[pummelgranite]

Hmm. [ It's a little relieving, but only a little. ]

It's not an excuse or anything, but back home . . . Luci's being tortured. Basically. Uhm, It's been months, and we- no one left even knows she's alive. Me leaving probably reminded her how fucked it all is.

[ There's another awkward pause. ]

I . . . sorry. Sorry we're like this.

[cassassin]

[she shakes her head on her end of the call, not that it's visible. that's... a lot, but.]

Not your fault, Laura. None of it. Just... [she sighs, trying to sort out what she wants to say.]

I missed you, but she was. Lost, without you. And I... [and after a beat] I... know. How that feels. Go to her.

[pummelgranite]

Well, she was first. Proximity made that much easy.

[ A pause. Cass doesn't sound great. Not that Laura'd expect her to. ]

But . . . thanks.

[cassassin]

[she's usually at some level or another of Not Great, she just can't really be bothered to hide it right now. not with her, anyway.

she thinks of luci, full of vitriol and sorrow, dangling from a burning tree. she thinks of gotham in flames, of irradiated wreckage where bludhaven once stood. she thinks of a forgotten purple hoodie turned keepsake, of how she still can't bear to drink black tea. she thinks of setting gemini on fire, of stabbing the ravager in the throat, every brutality she inflicted after losing stephanie. cass understands what luci must have been feeling more than she wants to say.

laura and luci have enough complications and obstacles. the last thing she wants is to add to the problem. and if she were to actually voice any of what some part of her wanted to say to laura? what would be the point? laura almost certainly knows. it's mutual, even. it's just not in the cards.

finally cass scoffs, but there's no scorn to it. really she's just trying to play it all off. those wacky pantheon kids and their drama, or. something.]

Sure. Catch up later? Movies and takeout.

[pummelgranite]

[ Some she knows. She knows what it is like for grief to swallow a mind up whole- how it dwarfs all reason in favor of pain. She knows what lies between her and Cassandra, unexplored, unspoken, and so unruined. But that Laura Wilson is a person worth missing that much? That's a little beyond her. ]

Definitely. Persephone's not officially back yet, so just call me some time you're home early?

[cassassin]

[exploring what lies between them would ruin what they have. and their friendship borders enough on romantic as it is. neither of them is healthy enough to take that step and then go back to how things were, cassandra knows. well, she suspects laura isn't. she's certain about her own situation. and besides, the supposed "best case" outcome if they clear the air? off the table for so many reasons. and regardless of her feelings, cassandra doesn't want that kind of relationship with her. or she's reasonably sure she doesn't.

if only she knew what she does want.]

Totally.