summary: you never expected to run into the woman of your dreams of the same day you were set to attend the dance school of your dreams, but here you were.
contents: fem!reader x cassandra cain, ballerina reader, meet-cutes, awkward!reader, soo much fluff, low-key simp!reader
A/N: I had so much fun making this! I'm not super confident in my portrayal of Cass but hopefully it isn't too bad lmao. Also should I make a separate taglist for smaus and ficlets? lmk.
After working your ass off for years you've finally made it; Gotham Metropolitan Ballet. When you saw the email in your inbox last week you couldn't believe it. You'd ran around your apartment calling anyone and everyone you could before collapsing back on your bed.
It's a dance school for the best of the best, even just standing in front of it now sends chills down your arms. Elaine Torsky, one of the best dancers in the world, practiced at this very theater. In a few minutes you were going to be standing in the same room that Elaine Torsky once stood, you could faint.
You made sure your leotard and tights were in pristine condition, the gray hoodie and sweatpants you're wearing over them freshly bought and saved for this day. You re-did your hair about seven times before being satisfied with how the bun looked, and applied your favorite perfume twice.
You can feel your leotard start sticking to your back due to how much you're sweating. You force yourself to take a deep breath before you begin your ascent up the stairs. It's just your luck that your foot misses the top step and your weight throws you backwards.
You brace for the impact of stone stairs against your spine, your face already flushing with embarrassment, when you feel an arm slip around your waist.
Someone is holding you perfectly balanced in a low dip with one arm. You glance forward to thank your savior when your breathe catches in your throat. She's beautiful. A lock of jet black hair has slipped from it's place in her French twist, falling over her forehead to brush over her perfect cheekbone. Deep, honey-brown eyes stare into yours as her arm around you tightens.
You try not to stare at her lips too obviously as you attempt to right yourself. Pulling yourself to your feet, you grab her shoulder for stability. Drool pools in your mouth as you feel the muscles hidden beneath her sweatshirt shift beneath your fingers.
"Thank you." You choke out, ready to run into the nearest bathroom stall to wallow at embarrassing yourself in front of someone so out of your league.
She doesn't let you run though. She reaches out to settle a warm hand on your arm, your eyes shoot up from where they were burning a hole into the ground to her face. A smile is curled on her lips and your eyes dart to them instinctively, the smile seems to brighten.
"Are you okay?" she says and, god, even her voice has you biting your lip.
You nod, probably too quickly, but you don't care. The most gorgeous woman you've ever met is in front of you and all you've done is look like a fool. You're going to go home and mope about this while she goes back to her luxury apartment to tell this story to her super model boyfriendโor worse, girlfriend.
She looks you up and down, her gaze making your stomach flip, before she nods to the building in front of you.
"You're a part of the afternoon class?"
You nod again, too nervous that if you spoke you'd blurt out something like: you're the hottest person I've ever laid eyes on please, please go out with me. Her entire face brightens and you immediately want to know what caused it so that you can do it again.
"Me too." She says. She goes to walk forward, her hand still on your arm, before suddenly whipping her head back around like she forgot something important.
"I'm Cassandra Wayne." She says, like she needs you to know her name. You stutter out your own in response; your tongue clumsy and intent on embarrassing you in front of the woman of your dreams.
Despite the awkward encounter, Cassandra still leads you all the way into the studio holding the afternoon class. Neither of you make small talk but the silence between the two of you is anything but uncomfortable. You part with a friendly wave goodbye as the instructor walks to the front of the room to begin introductions.
The familiar rhythm of dรฉgagรฉs and pliรฉs manages to coax you out of your nerves. Focusing on maintaining the proper forms and keeping on tempo stole so much of your attention that you almost forget about Cassandra.
It was impossible to completely forget about her when she seemed to garner the attention from everyone in the room. She hit every mark perfectly and looked ethereal doing it. The leotard and matching tights compliment her well formed muscles and the French twist pulling back her hair accentuates her sharp features.
Class ended without much fanfare except for everyone, including the instructor, trying to find an excuse to talk to Cassandra. You debate walking up to her to say goodbye, and thanks for the save earlier, but she seems occupied enough with the crowd slowly forming around her.
You pack your things into your dance bag and throw on your sweatshirt and sweatpants. Taking one last glance at Cassandra, who is ignoring the men and women around her to look at something on her phone, you leave the studio.
You're about half a mile away from the studio, looking down at your phone to find a good restaurant nearby to eat at, when you feel a small tap on your shoulder. You jump, whirling around with a hand on your chest to see Cassandra standing behind you. Her hands are folded behind her back and a wide smile is on her face that looks slightly forced.
"Oh, I didn't think we'd run into each other again! What's up?" Good. That sounded cool and confident, the complete opposite of how you were feeling inside.
Cassandra takes a deep breath, her smile faltering slightly before she quickly puts it back on her face. "I think that you're very beautiful and I'd love to take you out to lunch. On a date. May I?"
What? There's no fucking way, right?
"I'm sorry, I think my ears aren't working," you reach up to rub at your left ear, "do you think you can repeat that?"
Cassandra does. "I think that you're very beautiful and I'd love to take you out on a date. May I?"
"Uhm, yeah totally!" You reach into your bag to grab your phone, the device slipping out of your grip in your excitement.
Cassandra catches it before it hits the ground, holding it back out to you. You thank her with pink cheeks before asking for her number. Once phone numbers are traded she asks if your hungry.
"Yeah, starving." You reply.
She smiles. Holding out her arm for you to grab before she leads you away towards a small family owned diner. This time you work up the courage to make small talk; you learn about her brothers and she learns about your two cats. You both laugh around your food and hide smiles behind your hands. You two stay at the diner for two hours.
When you eventually say your goodbyes you're already anticipating the next date.
taglist!: @purple-dew, @princessmartina, @busenxr, @f0rtunej, @wisdomowls, @caterppillar, @missingddeanw, @urmomjsjsstuff, @fangirl-0-7, @lilyszr, @chrimsonkitty, @glitched-out-dusk, @marliyndreams, @nalah-whimsy
