be kind, eat cookies

     𝐇𝐈𝐒  𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 ,   𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘  𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃 ,   was  now  on  the  edge .   not  with  the  visitor ,   in  particular ;   but  with  everything  that  surrounded  him .   the  situation  in  its  entirety  was  more  dangerous  than  people  believed ,   and  it  would  only  get  worse  over  time .    every  single  second  people  went  outside  their  own  dimension  meant  a  new  unstable  branch  in  the  space-time  continuum   ―   creating  consequences  that  would  reach  them ,  sooner  or  later .   for  that  reason ,   stephen  strange  was  in  great  hurry  to  try  and  find  a  way  to  restore  the  laws  of  nature ,   so  brutally  bent  and  broken ;   and  that  meant  not  having  much  time  to  waste  with  those  who  didn’t  knew  the  world  they  now  inhabited .

     “  do  not  touch  that.  ”     the  doctor  said ,   as  he  could  hear  and  feel  her  movements  while  in  there .   he ,   then ,   turned  his  icy  hues  to  the  stranger  for  the  very  first  time   ―   convinced  now  that  just  a  few  words  wouldn’t  be  enough  to  send  her  away  once  for  all .     “  did  i  happen  to  say  ‘please,  stay  and  touch  things  your  senses  are  too  limited  to  understand’ ?  no.  so  step  away  from  the  book.  and  don’t  touch  anything.  this  isn’t  a  museum  nor  made  for  tourists.  what  are  you  doing  here?  ”

It wasn’t so much that she disliked him, or his face, or knew him enough to actually dislike him. It was more that she disliked the fact that he’d used so many words. Why people needed so many words to get one point across she would never understand. She was perfectly capable of hearing and understanding anything anyone said the first time. In fact, she would go so far as to say she found it easier. Less clutter to cut through, all she had to pay attention to was the point. People tended to talk more when they liked to hear the sounds of their own voice more than actually have people listen to them, and this man, with an almost obnoxiously prideful look to his eyes and stance, was almost certainly no exception.

So Cass, standing there as still as a statue, with narrowed eyes, a foot away from the book, lifted up her chin only the slightest bit, and shifted her back foot into a fighting stance. “I understood the first time.” She bit out, and glanced towards the book, then back forward. Deciding to ignore his questions she asked, “What is this?”

She shifted uncomfortably as she wrapped her hands and looked around the gym, hoping to find a familiar face to practice against, instead finding nothing. With the chalk made markings against her palms, Cass softly stood up and made her way to, seemingly, the only other person in the gym who wasn’t partnered up, or at least a fan of people, and tapped them on the shoulder.

The girl seems… intrigued by Liho, which is curious in itself. It’s not all that often you come across someone who seems so perplexed by the concept of a pet. But then, once upon a time Natasha had never had a per, either. Natasha sighs and kneels down to take a closer look at the black cat, hoping to see some sign that it’s not in fact the same cat who seems to be glued to her for life, but no such luck. “I think he’s looking for me.” She answers cryptically, holding a hand out to the cat. Of course Liho butts his head directly into her hand, desperate for her attention as always. “He was my cat - a few years ago. Apparently he managed to find me again.”

Cass looks up at the red haired woman, and then back down at the cat. “Why don’t you take him?” She asks, tilting her head to the side. Does he belong to someone else now? She didn’t know that cat’s had that long of a memory to remember previous owners, and clearly this cat liked this woman. It would just make more sense for her to take the cat with her. She pets the tail hesitantly, smiling at the softness. Damian had a dog, Ace, and while he was sweet, he also wasn’t hers, maybe when they got back to Gotham she would get a pet. That might be fun. “He’s pretty!”

             ARMS PROTECTIVELY WRAP AROUND themselves around the younger female instantly, squeezing for a few seconds before pulling back. truth be told, the woman wouldn’t know what to do with herself if everyone she ever cared about was gone, they had been the first people she’d looked for  ── her family and it was for said family that she so desperately wanted to find a way back, but now wasn’t the time for such thoughts. she’d go on a trip, and no one needed that. “ for the pleasure of your company? ALWAYS. “ she cheerily replied, beaming as hazel eyes focused on the girl in front of her. “ really adopting the whole ‘ if you’re good at something never do it for free ‘ mentality aren’t you kid? “ she teased, nudging her playfully, a light chuckle slipping past rose colored lips

“ so what will it be? black coffee for me, boba for you? “ she knew better than to ask the question, but she’d done so anyway, linking her arm with the raven haired girl’s own she pulled her along so they could begin moving along. “ so tell me, what do you like about ‘ this ‘ new york so far? anything worth mentioning? “ causal right? that had been conversational  ──  this was as much as she could turn off the instinct to ‘ helicopter parent ‘ one she had learned awfully well, not only from her father but from bruce as well. 

Cass grinned while leaning into Babs in their arm linked mini parade, allowing herself to be dragged along. “I’m not a Marxist, dad definitely isn’t.” While Cass wasn’t always still sure she entirely understood how the economy, or money, worked most days, she did understand that Bruce was a capitalist, and that was the opposite of a Marxist. What a Marxist was? She had no idea.

Cass gave a bright nod in reply, boba was definitely great. She thought about the new place, puzzlement only hesitating slightly on her face as she thought. It was different for sure... but different was... well.. different. “I like my company. It’s good.” Cass decided on saying. Gotham was dirtier, and it was home. New York was... both weirder and so much less weird all at the same time. “I like the light.” She then added on, New York seemed... brighter almost, and while, she certainly didn’t mind the dark, she couldn’t say that she didn’t dislike the seeming extra light. “You?”

             CHECKING UP ON HER PEOPLE as they began to show up had become part of her routine so much so that the young woman had to find ways to change the reasons for her visits  ── if only because she understood exactly how they felt,because she’d been there and more often than not she was still there. still that truly wasn’t enough to keep her from being concerned and not knowing? well let’s just say it was better for the rest of the word if barbara gordon was in the know. so she’d decided to pop by on cass after her shift at work ( the shitty tech support job at tech shop she’d gotten wasn’t exactly a dream but it payed. ) so she could live with it. pulling her bag over her shoulder, the brunette came to a halt as she spotted the person she’d had on her mind all day. “ hey kid… “ she greeted, a warm smile on her features as she took a few steps forward. “ feel like making time for an old friend? “ she questioned with a tilt of her chin, a playful look reflected in her doe eyes.  “ promise to make it worth your while. “ she added, nudging her playfully as she waited for her answer. 

➝ starter:  @asserofkicking!

Her bags pulls heavily on her shoulder, digging into her skin as she walks. Full of ballet shoes, tape, empty water bottles, and bandages (also her suit), it’s surprisingly heavy for a bag which must’ve been five pounds lighter than morning. In Gotham she would’ve called a car, or Alfred, to pick her up and get her home. Gotham, after all, wasn’t exactly the best place to go walking by oneself at any time of day. Especially with the bag. Get attacked? Well she’s a ballerina with a heavy bag, she can’t fight back, and she can’t ditch her bag. That’s something she knows she’ll miss when they move back to Gotham. How safe the streets are. How she can just... walk and not get attacked. It’s a foreign feeling, but a nice one. Comforting and soft.

As she rounds a corner a shock of familiar red hair catches her eyes, and then a familiar face, and Cass grins like the sun. “Babs!” She smiles, and rushes forward to hug the other girl. “What are you paying?” She asks, taking a step back. God she hopes it’s Boba. 

      𝐈𝐓  𝐖𝐀𝐒  𝐀𝐍  𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃  𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ,   enough  to  put  a  heavy  weight  on  the  shoulders  of  the  heroes  who  inhabited  the  heart   ―   a  world  still  traumatized  by  the  chaotic  past ;   which  led  to  even  greater  distrust  regarding  the  newcomers .   he  wasn’t  much  different ,   although  stephen  would  say  that  what  he  felt  was  less  of  a  lack  of  trust  and  more  of  a  controllable  antipathy .   reason  why  he  studied  tirelessly ,   trying  to  find  a  way  to  send  them  all  back  to  their  own  universes   ―   but ,   while  he  was  able  to  understand  what  had  caused  such  event ,   the  doctor  was  far  from  finding  out  a  way  to  fix  it .   at  that  very  moment ,   in  the  middle  of  the  sanctum  sanctorum ,   the  man  was  trying  to  deal  with  everything ,   green  strands  of  mystic  energy  being  created  in  just  one  of  several  experiments  that  sought  to  understand  how  to  reverse  the  crack  in  the  reality ;   something  that  never  came  to  an  end ,   as  stephen  had  his  attention  drawn  to  something ,   or  someone ,   that  shouldn’t  be  there .   he  could  feel  it .     “  if  you’re  here  to  ask  if  i  have  figure  out  how  to  fix  everything,  the  answer  is  still  no.  ”     he  said ,   with  a  grumpy  tone ,   as  digits  would  ligthly  press  the  bridge  of  his  nose   ―   as  if  the  act  could  be  enough  to  avoid  the  headache  to  crush  his  brain .     “  but  if  you’re  just  lost  in  here,  please  find  your  own  way  out-…  quietly.  ”

She was not one prone to getting lost. Really. In Gotham she’d never gotten lost, and when travelling to marks she’d memorised the maps, language, after all, was only an inhibition to people who were used to relying on it. But it’d been just over half a decade since she’d had to memorise maps instead of reading or being given verbal instructions, and this was not Gotham, her home. So instead of finding herself near the New York City Ballet Company, she found herself in a building with weird floating items, and a lot of things she was pretty sure were magic.

“What?” She asks, frowning and still looking around. She spies a floating book, and while part of her screams caution, the rest of her screams that she ought to poke it. Would it move as if it was floating in water f she poked it? Or was it in a still sort of suspension? Cass edged closer to the book, careful to not catch the eye of the man.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Natasha rolls her eyes half-heartedly as the black cat winds around her ankles. She shouldn’t be all that surprised really - Liho is about a hundred different kinds of stubborn, of course he would find her all these years later. She has to wonder if he lived with the other Natasha - well, her, but from the future. God, time travel is a pain. “Is there such a thing as homing cats?” She asks absently, letting out a sigh as Liho settles at her feet and looks up at her with those big damn eyes. “Surely he belongs to someone around here.”

Cass watches the cat with an intense stare, tracking it as it winds around the other woman's legs with a pretty purr and slinking movements. The cat’s not hers, she doesn’t even own a cat. She wouldn’t know what to do with a cat. When would she fed it, or would it get its own food, how would she know where it went if it left? Cat’s, unlike humans, didn’t have phones after all. Although she supposes she could attach a tracker to one to make up for it. But the point stood, she definitely did not have a cat. “Not mine.” She shortly says. “Want help?”