Cry Me A River

ROBIN WALDEN||TASK: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

“I don’t know what cash is, but if I can find some I can give you some.” Jane admitted, confused by this woman. The nice part sounded good though so maybe there was a chance Jane could get Robin to not be upset with her. “I could maybe ask the Priestesses in the Temple.”

“Seriously? Money. It’s what people use to exchange goods, everyone knows that.” If the other blonde had no concept of what money was, she was going to need to find other means of leeching off of her. Having her go ask whoever was in charge for things was only going to go so far. “Sure, go get some from her. Tell her it’s only for you though obviously.”

This brand of mockery made Yona roll her eyes. She got the sense that she was supposed to feel threatened, but she felt very secure at the moment. “Pretending you can’t hear me? I evolved way beyond that sad trick when I was like eleven.” She didn’t like being teased, but this asshole hadn’t actually struck on anything that she was truly sensitive about just yet. There were a lot of things that could wound her, but for now she was ready to fight back… verbally. If this got physical, she was outtie. Yona wasn’t out of shape, but she definitely couldn’t handle herself in a fistfight. “But it’s heartening to see someone so in touch with themselves. Congrats- I’m impressed that you’re self-aware of being such a dumbass bitch.” Because of course this blonde jerk could hear her. Why bother being such a jerk otherwise?

Robin wasn’t sure she wanted to put in the effort to switch up her approach on this person. Her talking on and on was background noise as she pondered whether or not she should go through the exhaustion of kicking her powers on or go with something that would definitely hurt in a few seconds with much less effort. She looked down at her knuckles that had recently healed from the fight she had weeks ago with that sad excuse of a woman at the club, and then back at the other. “Fine. You win.” With a sigh she right hook punched the shorter girl in the jaw, and then pulled back to shake off the sting from the impact on her fist. “Aight, maybe that hurting for a week will teach you to shut the fuck up. I’ll see ya around kid. Clearly you’re the type I gotta work on for a while to find that sweet spot, I like the challenge though.” With a wink Robin started to turn around, feeling certain that she wasn’t crazy enough to throw a punch back, or if she was, it wouldn’t be much of a brawl like the last one.

Ouch. Now that was completely unwarranted criticism, which Yona most definitely was not on board with tolerating. “No, sorry, babe. You weren’t lucky enough to be my first time. If I annoy you so much, then maybe I should keep up the good work.” She raised her eyebrows and did her best to come off as extra judgmental. It wasn’t easy to convey just the right amount of sass, but the last thing she wanted right now was to expose her belly and submit to some asshole. “Also, what kind of sociopath wants to kick a dog?” 

Ohhh, a fighter. Robin always liked a good challenge, and of course had all the time to spare to humor a possible fight. She made sure to pull a whole act of pretending to have a hard time hearing the girls words by pausing and tilting her head to the side, and then let out a small chuckle, “Huh? What was that? Sorry your annoying ass shrill voice went in one ear and out the other this time. I think you got one of those high pitch tones, y’know the kind only dumbass bitches are able to hear.” Being called a sociopath was nothing new to Robin, she had been given worse titles by plenty of people, hell if she could she would wear the labels given to her proudly on her chest. She continued to smile coldly, her eyes giving a sense of scrutiny as they started to pick out any insecurities hiding deep within this randos life to use as ammo.

“N-No, I just lived in a room.” Jane answered, shrinking into herself. At Robin’s gesture she hurried to take her jacket it off and hold it out. “H-Here you go.” She didn’t want to make this woman any more upset than she was. Jane was scared of getting in trouble. She knew her time without getting punished wouldn’t last forever.

Just lived in a room? Robin couldn’t tell if this chick was trying to make a joke or genuinely thought that was the right answer to her sarcasm. The fact that she just...handed over her jacket was probably the worst move this person could ever do to themselves. Not even a fight was enough to tell Robin that this was the pushover of all pushovers, and a golden goose like that only came around once in a blue moon. “You got any cash on you while we’re at it? If you don’t, I’m sure you can find someone real quick to get us some yeah? If you do that for me maybe I’ll be nice and take you to get somethin’ with it as my treat for the jacket.”

“Some guy asked me who my parent was, and I told him my mom and dad’s names, but he meant like… god dad. Which makes sense, but he should have been more specific.“ Yona’s confusion was evident on her face. While fiddling with a thread on one of her sleeves, she continued. "Anyway, then he super-duper misheard me because he said it wasn’t very nice to call my mom a Karen.” 

@icariastarters​

Robin had her face contorted into confusion and irritation as this girl just went on and on and on about her personal life. She looked down at the other, took a long pause after she was done spewing word garbage and then finally decided to give her two cents. “You remind me of one of those tiny dogs that never stops yappin’. I always want to kick those annoying little bastards. Anyone ever break the news to ya that you’re annoying as fuck, or am I the first to rip that painful reality band-aid off?”

Jane jumped, startled by the woman addressing her so aggressively. “I-I’m sorry, I-I don’t know.” The woman had said a lot of things Jane didn’t understand. She knew what socks were and what a jacket was, though she hadn’t before the hospital, but she didn’t understand what Robin was asking her. “What’s a rain jacket?” She asked, although she worried that was the wrong thing to say.

“What do you mean you don’t fuckin’ know? Who doesn’t know what a rain jacket is. It stops you from getting soaked moron. You used to live in a goddamn desert before this or somethin’?” Robin let out an exasperated sigh, looked around one last time to try and come up with a solution. She looked the other woman up and down one more time, and then held her hand out in a gimme motion. “You know and got a jacket at least right? Give me it. I’m sure you can find another one.”

With ease, the other woman swung and the blow connected, Kassandra doubling over. Coughing for air, she blinked away the confusion and let the anger take over. Her rage began to build more than whatever that twisting knot was in her stomach. Barely. “You’re mad at me because I had to throw a guy out?” She tried to wrap her mind around it, she really did but then there were more words being hurtled her way and she felt her hands clenching into fists. “You don’t get to fucking talk about them. Fuck you.” Kassandra finally let herself tap into her strength, pulling her right fist back with a fury before connecting it to the other woman’s eye. “Get the fuck away from me. I can actually hurt you and I…” Everything swirled in her head as the words Robin used sank in. ’You don’t deserve anyone’. She staggered from her fighting stance, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

“Eh... yeah I guess that’s what this comes down to. Though I wouldn’t put this all on him, like I’d give that credit to a fuckin’ man.” Ah. There we go. The sweet spot. The way she reacted gave Robin all the confirmation she needed, but before she could get another word out a fist was thrown full force at her eye. She was absolutely going to have a black eye and a killer headache after the hit, especially since she could already feel the swelling numbness kicking in. It didn’t make Robin anymore mad though, if someone ever swung at her that mean she was getting what she wanted, a reaction. A laugh escaped as she recovered from the heavy punch, and went for another low blow comment before returning the punch to the face once more. “Aw why not? I just thought you’d want to know they’re better off without you. Imagine the burden that was lifted off their shoulders once they cut you off.” Another punch, and then another. She was going for anything that would put her in the ground at this point. “You were only weighing them down, which is why everyone will eventually get tired of you.”

Hands were placed on her shoulders and part of her wanted to feel comforted by the gesture but all she felt was nausea. She hated feeling this awful and for what? A crappy night at work and then some ill-timed comments from a woman she didn’t really know? Not once since she’d guarded off her heart at sixteen had she felt this miserable. It was quite odd. Just as she was about to focus on that a bit more, the other woman started talking. And what she was saying? Yeah, nope, that wasn’t putting her at ease. Something in the back of her head rang loud and clear in warning. “Far enough? What are you talking abou–” Kassandra’s words cut off as her face snapped to the right with the force of the other woman’s blow. “What the FUCK is your problem?” She seethed, rubbing her now sore jaw as that pit in her stomach continued to grow.

Robin still had her left hand on her shoulder, so instead of responding to her question she used the hold she still had on her along with the shock to take another swing right above her abdomen to try and knock the wind out of her. “I won’t lie, I was actually glad to hear you had a shitty work day, since y’know, you ruined my night earlier.” She took a second to refocus on using her words for punches again, just to make sure she had the mental upper hand. “Kinda makes me wish I was the person who convinced you love isn’t real. What were they like? I bet they’re off living happily with someone new, someone who deserves em’. You clearly didn’t. I only had to spend a little bit of time with you to know you don’t deserve anyone.” She had enough to go on to try and pin it on one person in this chicks life, and if her assumption was right then there was a goldmine of past depressions to pull out of her mental vault.

’It’s okay to accept that everyone will eventually leave you’. The words felt like a slap in the fucking face but they rang true. So much so that she stopped walking. That pit in her stomach grew and she found her hands shaking for a moment. Blinking the thoughts away and ignoring the flashes of faces that haunted her present, Kassandra swallowed thickly. Oh. This had been that girl? Fuck. “Sorry about that, really wasn’t anything to do with you. He was just being a dick and he had to go. Kind of the job I gotta do, ya know? Hope I didn’t mess up your night too bad.” You know, on a normal night, Kassandra might have smirked and took up a pretty girl on an offer of a kiss. But right now? Right now she felt fucking awful, even more so than she had before she’d left the night club. “I uh–Sorry, I’m gonna have to just be your chauffer tonight. So… How much further do we have?”

Kassandra winced at what this woman had to say. “You could, uh, you could say that.” Why was she even offering up this information, she didn’t normally just talk about her shit. The hand that had been on her shoulder moved in a comforting type embrace and Kassandra felt something settle in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t know what it was but for some reason she just felt… Hollow. “Lone wolf is one way to describe me, yeah. And uh–You know what, just walking you home is more than enough for me. I don’t really… Feel too great right now. At least you had a good time at the club, right?” Kassandra casually looked over at the other woman, trying to push away memories that were flooding back just from having this damned weird ass heart-to-heart. 

The tell tale signs that her powers were getting to someone were obvious at this point, there was no mistaking the word stumbling and sudden sound of all life draining from their voice for anything else. Robin was far from done tearing into her, she wasn’t going to stop until this woman was at least on the ground sobbing because she had to think of all of the ways she was horrible. “That’s no good, the rough day at work finally catch up to you completely? or am I bumming you out to much with the whole love thing? It’s okay to accept that everyone will eventually leave you because of it you know, I have at least. I’ve come to terms that even though I want to have a deep connection with someone I can never have that because somehow I’ll ruin it. Hell, you could even lose family because of it, but it’s so much of a habit that what’s the point fixing it y’now?” Her words were only being used to reflect her inner anxieties, there wasn’t any of her own truth to it. The blonde had gone through doing this so many times that navigating what could trigger an episode of depression came as second nature. “My time at the club was alright. I got this guy to buy me drinks most of the night but it got cut short before I could have any real fun. I actually think you had to kick him out. Bummer right? I get you were just doing your job though, I would rather have my kiss goodnight from your pretty lips instead of his chapped ones. Would it be alright if I have at least that? It would really make my night.” Was Robin actually over missing out on her drinks? Fuck no. But she always loved to pull on the strings of the need for validation when you feel miserable. Once she knew she had her where she wanted she would make sure to absolutely ruin her night for good.

“It’s all good,” Kass quickly answered, shrugging her shoulders before slipping her hands into her back pockets as she began to follow the other woman. “Making sure a pretty girl gets home safely will even out the shit, don’t worry.” Her eyebrow arched at the mention of living on the outskirts of the isle, not having really gone there but not being opposed. “Jeez that’s out there. But its no problem. Means I’ll get a head-start on my workout for tomorrow.” As they walked along, Kassandra almost stumbled from the question that got asked of her. “Yeah no… I don’t have that. I don’t really do relationships. Not my thing anymore. Why, do I look like the type that’s got a girl waiting for me?” For a moment her mind drifted to thoughts of blue, quickly snapping out of it.

You won’t be making it back safe though.  She held her tongue and went for a smile as if her compliment did anything for her already inflated ego. “I prefer living where everything is more...quiet. I know it’s not convenient for most but gotta do what makes you happy right?” Oh she was absolutely going to milk this whole emotionally distant thing this dumbass had going. Anyone who doesn’t do relationships one hundred percent of the time has trauma connected to it. Though Robin’s own reasons were justified, being a huntress was a big one. “Why? Some poor girl break your little heart in the past?” Her hand moved from one shoulder to the other so her arm was draped around in a form of comfort, though it was really to get closer to her ear so she could push her powers without strain. “No, actually I kind of figured you were the lone wolf type. Who has time to make deep meaningful connections, one mistake and well...all those happy memories turn to rot.” At this point she was focusing all of her effort into drilling in a sense of dread, her words carrying over in a whisper that sounded as if the womans intrusive thoughts were now out in the open. “I could help you forget all of that, if you want. As a thank you for the trouble.”

Tonight had been one thing after the other and Kassandra was soooo ready to be heading home. Normally after a rough night she’d be interested in a nightcap and maybe someone to destress with. But now? Gods no, she wanted to take a shower and then go to fucking sleep. That is until a good looking woman walked up to her. All bets of sleep were now off. “You flatter me. Normally I would roll my eyes but I’ve kind of had a shit night so I’m going to accept any and all flattery. But sure, I’ll walk ya home. C'mon.” Kassandra gave a nod towards her boss before ducking out, slinging her leather jacket on as she settled into the cool night air. “So which way are we going?”

Perfect. Robin had her right where she wanted her the moment the woman fell for her compliments. “Aw bad night? That’s no good.” Hearing that her shift wasn’t all that great made her smile on the inside, but she made sure to feign pity on the outside. There were so many ways she could start to pry out any of her anxieties and insecurities, though it was best to keep it simple as she put a hand on her shoulder to lead the way. “I live on the outskirts of the island if that’s alright? I’m sure you have someone as amazing as you waiting for you back home so if you can’t walk me the whole way that’s alright.” Usually prying into someones love life was a good start. Most people had some sort of emotional distress when it came to relationships, so she turned the dial up just a little on her powers as she emphasized the subject. 

“Sorry to disappoint. You were trying to pick pocket me just now, weren’t you?” Feliks grumbled out, having pick pocketed enough times himself to be able to recognize the signs. “Nice,” He mused, not bothering to hide how he was momentarily impressed. “I mean you picked a pretty shitty target, not gonna lie. I spent all the cash I had on me, last night, but I appreciate the attempt all the same,” He smiled lazily over in her direction as he moved to sit up. Extending a hand out towards her as if asking to bum a cig, he gave her a simple shrug, “I’m not saying I don’t have mommy issues and I’m not saying that I can’t be into it, but as far as kinks go, I can’t say it’s high up on the list? But, then again, if you’re offering? Why not?”

This guy wasn’t worth lying to, so Robin just shrugged and lit up her cigarette. “Yeah, you seem like a pathetic enough target and I needed the cash to get lunch.” The way he spoke about his sad life choices pretty much solidified the assumptions she made just by looking at him laying on the floor, she was sure whatever godly parent he had was real proud. There was hesitation to hand him anything, but she figured giving the guy half of what she was already smoking wouldn’t do much damage to her pack. She handed the half finished cig, and rolled her eyes. “Nah, I don’t know where...” Her hand motioned to him as a whole with a sneer. “...all that has been, especially if you went on some binge last night so actually I’ll pass. I can go pretty low, but I still have standards.” 

The woman who said her name was Nelly had bundled Jane into extra clothes and sat her in a chair before leaving. She had said she would be right back, but Jane found herself wandering out the door. It wasn’t as bright outside as it had been and it didn’t hurt her eyes as much. Water was falling from the sky though and she held out her hand to catch it in the palm of her. The drops hit her face. It was cold but felt nice. She couldn’t help but stare at her palm in wonder as the water gathered. The outside world was so strange. 

Rain. Fucking great. Robin didn’t to think to bring a jacket or umbrella out with her since she wasn’t planning on walking about this godforsaken island for long today, but she wasn’t in the mood to go back to her campsite soaking wet. Suddenly she noticed some chick off in the distance who was just stupidly standing while the raindrops came down, and decided she was a good enough target to either get directions or pick off of. “Hey! Yo! Space cadet over there, ya know where a sad bastard like me can get a rain jacket so I don’t get soaked to my socks in this shit show?” 

@icariastarters​

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“Is it morning already, mom?” Feliks grumbled out. He may be blind, but he still had the slightest bit of light perception remaining and was suddenly aware of the shadowy blob hovering before him looking down at him. Slowly rubbing his eyes, he moved to sit up, before squinting over in what he hoped to be the direction of the other. “You… you’re not my mom, are you?”

Robin was just about to lean down to pick pocket this dude laying on the ground, but as he showed signs of life she pulled her hand away with disgust. “Oh, you’re alive. Great.” She didn’t bother to offer him a hand and instead stood back up to reach into her pocket to dig out a cigarette for herself. “Nah. I’m not your mom, I mean unless you’re into that kinda stuff I can be. Dudes with mommy issues are some sad fuckers but hey, if you’re down I’m down.”