Snippet the first.
I bribed people with promises of snippets. The problem with that is that I actually have to produce snippets. To prove I'm good for it, here's the first instalment. This is for red_eft who asked for Cass and Steph or Cass/Steph. Suitable for a general audience, any subtext is pretty sub-textual.
Steph comes that afternoon very proud of herself. Cassandra can see that she is bringing with her something she thinks Cassandra will like.
"Hey, do you have a VCR player in that evil robot thing of yours?"
Cass assumes that she has everything she will need in her computer centre. "I, um, think so?"
"Right, well, let's look." Steph eventually finds a slot that pleases her, and then loses interest. "Okay, well then, do you have a microwave? Because I brought popcorn. You can't have… Or, right, I've seen you use it."
Steph puts the paper bag in the microwave, and watches it eagerly. Cass can see a suppressed bounce in her heels and thighs, and she's thinking of something very happy, from when she was younger. Cass tries to pretend she had memories like that in her childhood. She had many happy memories. But no… bouncy ones.
When the popping slows, Steph pulls out the bag, and offers some to Cass first. Then she twirls around and goes hunting for pillows to pull up in front of the screen. "Sit! Sit! You'll like this. The Princess Bride was my favourite movie for years."
At first Cassandra can follow the story. It's not too hard. There's a man, and a child, and the child is nervous about being with the man, but the man is friendly, and so he relaxes. But then they're somewhere else. There's a man, and woman, and the man doesn't like the woman. He thinks she wants too much attention from the… From somebody who is watching them. The woman thinks the man is too critical. When they kiss, the woman is frustrated, they've tried it many times, and so is the man. They blame each other. She can't really follow the words either. They have funny accents, and they seem to be talking about nothing.
She moves a little to the left. "Sorry," says Steph, and adjusts to give her better access to the popcorn.
From here she can see Steph's reflection in the screen. Steph is sitting cross-legged in the pillows, leaning forward a little, with one hand clutching the opposite ankle and the other dedicated to popcorn. She's using the posture because it's the one she used as a child. She's smiling up at the screen. Her body says, yes like that, a hero I want to be I am my own hero I will do that I can be that I will have love danger romance save the day defy death bring justice like that I-
Cass watches Steph's reflection on the screen. Steph watches with her lips softly parted, occasionally, when the music swells, biting the bottom lip a little. Sometimes when Cass reaches for popcorn, her fingers brush Steph's.
"Is this-" asks Steph, "Are you enjoying this?"
Cassandra smiles and tells the truth. "Yes."
NOTES: Yes, I know, that canonically Cassandra enjoys watching all kinds of TV. That's never made any sense to me. Actors (especially daytime TV actors who are nothing special,) should be as transparent as glass to her.
Also: Help meee! I just wrote RPF! Listen, yes that is a real film with real actors, but my speculation as to their thoughts and interactions is entirely made up. Wow, my first serious disclaimer. But RPF freaks me out, and I didn't intend to actually write it.
Steph comes that afternoon very proud of herself. Cassandra can see that she is bringing with her something she thinks Cassandra will like.
"Hey, do you have a VCR player in that evil robot thing of yours?"
Cass assumes that she has everything she will need in her computer centre. "I, um, think so?"
"Right, well, let's look." Steph eventually finds a slot that pleases her, and then loses interest. "Okay, well then, do you have a microwave? Because I brought popcorn. You can't have… Or, right, I've seen you use it."
Steph puts the paper bag in the microwave, and watches it eagerly. Cass can see a suppressed bounce in her heels and thighs, and she's thinking of something very happy, from when she was younger. Cass tries to pretend she had memories like that in her childhood. She had many happy memories. But no… bouncy ones.
When the popping slows, Steph pulls out the bag, and offers some to Cass first. Then she twirls around and goes hunting for pillows to pull up in front of the screen. "Sit! Sit! You'll like this. The Princess Bride was my favourite movie for years."
At first Cassandra can follow the story. It's not too hard. There's a man, and a child, and the child is nervous about being with the man, but the man is friendly, and so he relaxes. But then they're somewhere else. There's a man, and woman, and the man doesn't like the woman. He thinks she wants too much attention from the… From somebody who is watching them. The woman thinks the man is too critical. When they kiss, the woman is frustrated, they've tried it many times, and so is the man. They blame each other. She can't really follow the words either. They have funny accents, and they seem to be talking about nothing.
She moves a little to the left. "Sorry," says Steph, and adjusts to give her better access to the popcorn.
From here she can see Steph's reflection in the screen. Steph is sitting cross-legged in the pillows, leaning forward a little, with one hand clutching the opposite ankle and the other dedicated to popcorn. She's using the posture because it's the one she used as a child. She's smiling up at the screen. Her body says, yes like that, a hero I want to be I am my own hero I will do that I can be that I will have love danger romance save the day defy death bring justice like that I-
Cass watches Steph's reflection on the screen. Steph watches with her lips softly parted, occasionally, when the music swells, biting the bottom lip a little. Sometimes when Cass reaches for popcorn, her fingers brush Steph's.
"Is this-" asks Steph, "Are you enjoying this?"
Cassandra smiles and tells the truth. "Yes."
NOTES: Yes, I know, that canonically Cassandra enjoys watching all kinds of TV. That's never made any sense to me. Actors (especially daytime TV actors who are nothing special,) should be as transparent as glass to her.
Also: Help meee! I just wrote RPF! Listen, yes that is a real film with real actors, but my speculation as to their thoughts and interactions is entirely made up. Wow, my first serious disclaimer. But RPF freaks me out, and I didn't intend to actually write it.