(no subject)
Who: tweetlittlebird, superclone and halfgoddess
What: Reunion!
When: Shortly after Cassie's arrival in the early hours of March 18th.
Where: Kon's room
Rating: PG-13. OH BOY SOMEONE TOUCHED SOMEONE'S WAIST.
Tim moved briskly through the hall, carrying the journal with him. He'd gone to Kon's room plenty of times. There was no reason for him to feel nervous or giddy. Sure, Cassie had just gotten here, and he was happy to see her, and she seemed to remember things -- not everything, but things. Tim was more concerned about Kon. Who hadn't spoken to him since -- augh, trying not to think about that.
Trying REALLY hard.
Tim knocked twice, sharp and determined, before inviting himself in. It was a bad habit, sure, but Tim always entered unlocked rooms he came across. "Hope I'm not interrupting," he started, only mostly honest.
Cassie had gotten so used to Kon with the jeans and t-shirt that seeing the return of the spandex and the goofy old leather jacket was a blast from the past. She wanted to kiss him, too, but the time difference suddenly made that awkward -- he didn’t have the memories she did. And lucky that she didn’t, really, as Tim was liable to open doors when they didn’t expect it.
Which happened, of course.
“Tim!” she smiled.
Kon was going to kiss her. Cassie was clearly older-- it was even more clear with her than with Rob, because, HELLO, Robin had not suddenly grown boobs. And he thanked every god everywhere that she'd gotten rid the wig. And that there was a belly shirt involved in her new outfit. The world clearly liked making his hormones jump up and dance. But it was weird because she was older than he expected and even though he didn't mind that (they'd be desynchronized before and it didn't bother him that much), there were things they should probably figure out before the make-outs ensued.
One of those things was probably locking his door. "Hi, Rob."
Tim gave Cassie a big, relieved smile, only to tense up a little when Kon acknowledged him. Yeah, he was interrupting. It was obvious.
"I... yeah, sorry to barge in. I -- well, Cass said to come down, so I, ah..."
Tim jerked a thumb back at the door behind him, looking from his best friend (oh god, he never should've said anything) to Cassie (the love of said best friend's life). "I could come back later?"
Tim seemed awkward; it was hard to miss. Cassie let her hand drop from where it was lingering on Kon’s arm, and she turned to face more towards Tim.
“Don’t worry about it,” Cassie replied. “Kon and I can catch up later. Right now I want to hear all about this Paradisa place and what mess we’ve gotten into this time.”
Oh. Oh SHIT.
Kon had nearly forgotten the whole confession thing. On purpose, of course, but now -- being confronted with the girl he'd liked for years, and his best friend, who loved him -- that just made him think about it all over again. And want to run away again, until he had it all figured out or all forgotten, either one.
"Uh, yeah? Come on it, Rob. We were just saying hi. Cause I haven't seen her in a while and all..."
"I'll be quick," Tim promised, giving Kon an apologetic glance before turning a grin on Cassie and opening his arms. With the new uniform, the red and black, and its batlike drape over his shoulders, it looked both inviting and kind of completely terrifying. But come on, hugs! This little bird missed you, Cassiekins.
"It's kind of an alternate universe thing and a time travel thing at the same time. Magic and semi-sentience. I'm still figuring it all out."
“Nice costume. Weird seeing you without the green and yellow, though,” Cassie said, noting the uniform before she stepped into his arms and hugged him tight. Those black folds weren’t so terrifying on a boy she’d spent her best years with. He was older, but he was still Tim.
“If YOU are still figuring it out, I have a feeling this place is crazier than I thought. Someone on the book mentioned there was no way out, too.”
Kon stretched and flopped back on the bed. See his measured non-chalance? It's measured and non-chalant. "This place is weird. Like, Wendy the Werewolf Stalker weird, only more. There's a guy here who thinks he killed me." He watched Tim and Cassie from under half-closed eyelids, and smirked. Still not afraid of death, Tim. Sorry.
"He did kill you," Tim corrected, gruff. He was touchy about this topic. He thought they'd been through that. They had, he knew better, but -- well.
"Prime," Tim clarified for Cassie. "After what you remember. The Castle is what's important, though, the mechanics. It'll give you just about anything you ask for, but it plays tricks on people, changes constantly, evolves... some people seem to think it's trying to get to us or that it feeds off of our frustration, but if you think about it too much, you'll start to get migraines."
Tim rubbed his forehead. He spends a lot of time thinking about Para.
Cassie didn’t share Kon’s nonchalance, not when he was talking so flippantly about his own death. She could put the pieces together fast, and Tim only confirmed how they fit together: last thing she’d seen was Kon lunging at the other Superboy, who was apparently here. It was a crisis. It was a big deal. Tim wouldn’t lie about this.
She glanced at Tim, sidelong, her smile fading. The new information about the castle reached her, but it didn’t quite register on the same level as Kon’s death.
She said, pragmatically, “Prime killed Kon?”
"I'm not dead," Kon pointed out, sensibly. As far as sense went when dealing with time travel. He watched the too of them look at each other with those serious expression and exhaled a frustrated huff.
He sat up and hopped off the bed, grabbing the both of them by the arm. "See? Not dead. God, I hope I don't turn into such a buzzkill when I get older."
Tim shot Kon a look before clarifying, "It happened about a year and a half ago, for me. Almost two years. That's why I -- well, when I first got here and saw Kon I was a little overwhelmed."
Tim sighed, and pulled the chair away from Kon's desk, settling into it. "Like Kon says, the point is that he's... he's here now, and Prime is here, but things with him are sort of at an impasse." For now, anyway.
She didn’t want to think about death. Not even for a second, because then the emotions she’d been riding through all day would slingshot right back at her. But when she watched Kon get up, and move, and grab her arm, and confirm that he was, in fact, alive in the present, those feelings were crushed down. Everyone died someday.
Cassie sat down on Kon’s bed.
“Hmm. Why are we at an impasse? If this place can give us just about anything we ask for, what’s stopping us from stopping him?”
"Because he's a crazy, powerful bastard with an underage girlfriend who's a human flamethrower?" Kon let go of them both and shrugged, flopping down next to her. "Hey, Rob, you going to bat-loom forever, or are you going to sit down too?"
"I'm sitting, I'm sitting," Tim said, rolling his eyes behind his domino mask. "And because while the castle will give us a lot of things, it won't give us his kind of kryptonite, and Prime isn't sensitive to most varieties. We're working on it. He hasn't been as violent as I expected since I've been here -- which isn't to say he hasn't been violent, he has -- but some of it may be because death is a little ... off... here, too."
“How does a guy like him manage to get a girlfriend?” The comment was almost skeptical, but she leant towards Kon a bit, friendly.
She nodded past Tim’s explanation, disappointed, but his last comment caught her. “What to you mean, death is off?”
"We mean people come back from the dead," Kon explained, wrapping an arm around her waist."
He had a twinge of guilt thinking about Leah, and the fact that he hadn't had a chance to really spend any time with her since she'd come back, but he shrugged off the thought for later. Cassie now.
"It takes a couple of weeks, but someone dies and then they show up again, good as new."
"I have my theories on what goes on and why it works that way, but they're..." Tim trailed off, watching Kon's fingers spread out against Cassie's hip. "They're complicated."
Tim realized that he was staring and first felt guilty, then relieved that he was wearing the domino mask, then guilty again, and he looked away. This was awkward. But kind of nostalgic. But awkward.
"Most people here are friendly and inert. There are only a few who are really dangerous, but you should be wary of people until you settle in. We should probably talk about losses.
“Weird, but it’s hard to complain about something like that.” Imagine never having to worry about death again.
Cassie shifted to rest against Kon more comfortably, her smile returning a bit when he put his arm around her. Her eyes flicked to his for an instant, her hand settling on his thigh, before she looked back to Tim.
“I’ll be careful, then. What losses?”
Kon had never been quite sure Cassie would be okay with him holding onto her like this. She wasn't his first girl, but she was the one he'd had a thing for for years, and he'd started off a little hesitant because of it. But she wasn't pulling away, and he'd missed her, so it was all okay. Even if Robin was giving him that broody bat-glower. That was jealousy. Kon was oblivious, but he wasn't that oblivious.
It wasn't a glower! At least, he wasn't trying to glower. He was just watching. Dejectedly.
"The castle... takes things from people. Usually something permanent when they first get here. Most of the others are temporary, but.. they're usually important. Abilities, memories... something important to you. You may not realize it's gone."
Kon was Kon; Cassie realized he was far behind her on an emotional level -- he hadn’t been on dates with her, or kissed her, or cuddled with her, or made love to her... but he was still Kon. It was natural for her to be close to him.
But she focused on the task at hand: this whole new Paradisa world.
“An ability or a memory...” she trailed, pensive. She quickly realized Robin was right; she couldn’t just pick out something that was gone. “I’m going to have to test out my powers, and bounce memories off you guys to see if anything’s gone.”
But then, curiously, she asked, “What did you two lose?”
Kon let go of her, looking pensive. "My first girlfriend. I think Rob said her name was... Tana? I don't remember anything about her." Hope that doesn't lessen your ardor for Kon. He's always been a bit of a manslut, you know that.
Kon waved his hand airily, as though it wasn't a big deal. "If I don't remember it, it's not a problem, though."
Tim's answer took him some more time to spit out. He breathed a heavy sigh and looked back over his shoulder at the door (closed) and then the journals (also closed).
"My moral compass isn't quite right. Since I've been here, I've been thinking..."
Tim trailed off. He had only hinted at this to Clark, only considered it really. But lately, he'd been sure. After the zombies, and the visions, it had to be.
"I'm starting to think that bad things should be done to bad people, which I know I never considered before I got here."
“If you don’t remember something, I guess you can’t remember how it feels, either,” Cassie said. She looked at Tim, concerned; a missing girlfriend was one thing, and a twist in morals like that was another thing entirely. That got messy, and complicated.
“But you do know what’s right and what’s wrong still, right? Even if you’re starting to think that way, as long as you know where you’re supposed to be standing, you’ll be okay.”
Either way, it was worrisome to hear.
"Yeah. Like, don't kill people. You're not supposed to, so don't do it. I mean, you're not Lex Lu-- You know what, nevermind." And Kon was reminded once again that he had a dad who was pure evil. Not okay. "Just don't kill people and we'll be golden."
Kon leaned over and nudged Tim with his foot. Listen to me, I'm a Super.
"I don't plan to!" Tim protested. "I still know what's right and wrong, I'm just... I can feel myself at the edge of the grey area, that's all."
Tim ran his hand through his hair roughly, shaking his head.
"We'll help you figure it out, Cassie. There are plenty of safe places to test out your powers. The journals work pretty effectively has a way to communicate, and they have filtering abilities that make it... appear to be semi-private. I'm still figuring the filter system out, but it doesn't seem hackable, since it's... magic."
The foot-nudge, though, made Tim smile. Stupid Super, being all... best friend-like.
“If you get too close to that grey area, we’ll haul your butt right back to the good side,” Cassie said, firmly, with a smile. She sat up straighter and folded one leg over the other, comfortably.
“That’s all good to know, and thanks; it’d drive me crazy if I had to stay here but couldn’t figure out what I was missing. And I’m guessing everyone here has a journal?”
What: Reunion!
When: Shortly after Cassie's arrival in the early hours of March 18th.
Where: Kon's room
Rating: PG-13. OH BOY SOMEONE TOUCHED SOMEONE'S WAIST.
Tim moved briskly through the hall, carrying the journal with him. He'd gone to Kon's room plenty of times. There was no reason for him to feel nervous or giddy. Sure, Cassie had just gotten here, and he was happy to see her, and she seemed to remember things -- not everything, but things. Tim was more concerned about Kon. Who hadn't spoken to him since -- augh, trying not to think about that.
Trying REALLY hard.
Tim knocked twice, sharp and determined, before inviting himself in. It was a bad habit, sure, but Tim always entered unlocked rooms he came across. "Hope I'm not interrupting," he started, only mostly honest.
Cassie had gotten so used to Kon with the jeans and t-shirt that seeing the return of the spandex and the goofy old leather jacket was a blast from the past. She wanted to kiss him, too, but the time difference suddenly made that awkward -- he didn’t have the memories she did. And lucky that she didn’t, really, as Tim was liable to open doors when they didn’t expect it.
Which happened, of course.
“Tim!” she smiled.
Kon was going to kiss her. Cassie was clearly older-- it was even more clear with her than with Rob, because, HELLO, Robin had not suddenly grown boobs. And he thanked every god everywhere that she'd gotten rid the wig. And that there was a belly shirt involved in her new outfit. The world clearly liked making his hormones jump up and dance. But it was weird because she was older than he expected and even though he didn't mind that (they'd be desynchronized before and it didn't bother him that much), there were things they should probably figure out before the make-outs ensued.
One of those things was probably locking his door. "Hi, Rob."
Tim gave Cassie a big, relieved smile, only to tense up a little when Kon acknowledged him. Yeah, he was interrupting. It was obvious.
"I... yeah, sorry to barge in. I -- well, Cass said to come down, so I, ah..."
Tim jerked a thumb back at the door behind him, looking from his best friend (oh god, he never should've said anything) to Cassie (the love of said best friend's life). "I could come back later?"
Tim seemed awkward; it was hard to miss. Cassie let her hand drop from where it was lingering on Kon’s arm, and she turned to face more towards Tim.
“Don’t worry about it,” Cassie replied. “Kon and I can catch up later. Right now I want to hear all about this Paradisa place and what mess we’ve gotten into this time.”
Oh. Oh SHIT.
Kon had nearly forgotten the whole confession thing. On purpose, of course, but now -- being confronted with the girl he'd liked for years, and his best friend, who loved him -- that just made him think about it all over again. And want to run away again, until he had it all figured out or all forgotten, either one.
"Uh, yeah? Come on it, Rob. We were just saying hi. Cause I haven't seen her in a while and all..."
"I'll be quick," Tim promised, giving Kon an apologetic glance before turning a grin on Cassie and opening his arms. With the new uniform, the red and black, and its batlike drape over his shoulders, it looked both inviting and kind of completely terrifying. But come on, hugs! This little bird missed you, Cassiekins.
"It's kind of an alternate universe thing and a time travel thing at the same time. Magic and semi-sentience. I'm still figuring it all out."
“Nice costume. Weird seeing you without the green and yellow, though,” Cassie said, noting the uniform before she stepped into his arms and hugged him tight. Those black folds weren’t so terrifying on a boy she’d spent her best years with. He was older, but he was still Tim.
“If YOU are still figuring it out, I have a feeling this place is crazier than I thought. Someone on the book mentioned there was no way out, too.”
Kon stretched and flopped back on the bed. See his measured non-chalance? It's measured and non-chalant. "This place is weird. Like, Wendy the Werewolf Stalker weird, only more. There's a guy here who thinks he killed me." He watched Tim and Cassie from under half-closed eyelids, and smirked. Still not afraid of death, Tim. Sorry.
"He did kill you," Tim corrected, gruff. He was touchy about this topic. He thought they'd been through that. They had, he knew better, but -- well.
"Prime," Tim clarified for Cassie. "After what you remember. The Castle is what's important, though, the mechanics. It'll give you just about anything you ask for, but it plays tricks on people, changes constantly, evolves... some people seem to think it's trying to get to us or that it feeds off of our frustration, but if you think about it too much, you'll start to get migraines."
Tim rubbed his forehead. He spends a lot of time thinking about Para.
Cassie didn’t share Kon’s nonchalance, not when he was talking so flippantly about his own death. She could put the pieces together fast, and Tim only confirmed how they fit together: last thing she’d seen was Kon lunging at the other Superboy, who was apparently here. It was a crisis. It was a big deal. Tim wouldn’t lie about this.
She glanced at Tim, sidelong, her smile fading. The new information about the castle reached her, but it didn’t quite register on the same level as Kon’s death.
She said, pragmatically, “Prime killed Kon?”
"I'm not dead," Kon pointed out, sensibly. As far as sense went when dealing with time travel. He watched the too of them look at each other with those serious expression and exhaled a frustrated huff.
He sat up and hopped off the bed, grabbing the both of them by the arm. "See? Not dead. God, I hope I don't turn into such a buzzkill when I get older."
Tim shot Kon a look before clarifying, "It happened about a year and a half ago, for me. Almost two years. That's why I -- well, when I first got here and saw Kon I was a little overwhelmed."
Tim sighed, and pulled the chair away from Kon's desk, settling into it. "Like Kon says, the point is that he's... he's here now, and Prime is here, but things with him are sort of at an impasse." For now, anyway.
She didn’t want to think about death. Not even for a second, because then the emotions she’d been riding through all day would slingshot right back at her. But when she watched Kon get up, and move, and grab her arm, and confirm that he was, in fact, alive in the present, those feelings were crushed down. Everyone died someday.
Cassie sat down on Kon’s bed.
“Hmm. Why are we at an impasse? If this place can give us just about anything we ask for, what’s stopping us from stopping him?”
"Because he's a crazy, powerful bastard with an underage girlfriend who's a human flamethrower?" Kon let go of them both and shrugged, flopping down next to her. "Hey, Rob, you going to bat-loom forever, or are you going to sit down too?"
"I'm sitting, I'm sitting," Tim said, rolling his eyes behind his domino mask. "And because while the castle will give us a lot of things, it won't give us his kind of kryptonite, and Prime isn't sensitive to most varieties. We're working on it. He hasn't been as violent as I expected since I've been here -- which isn't to say he hasn't been violent, he has -- but some of it may be because death is a little ... off... here, too."
“How does a guy like him manage to get a girlfriend?” The comment was almost skeptical, but she leant towards Kon a bit, friendly.
She nodded past Tim’s explanation, disappointed, but his last comment caught her. “What to you mean, death is off?”
"We mean people come back from the dead," Kon explained, wrapping an arm around her waist."
He had a twinge of guilt thinking about Leah, and the fact that he hadn't had a chance to really spend any time with her since she'd come back, but he shrugged off the thought for later. Cassie now.
"It takes a couple of weeks, but someone dies and then they show up again, good as new."
"I have my theories on what goes on and why it works that way, but they're..." Tim trailed off, watching Kon's fingers spread out against Cassie's hip. "They're complicated."
Tim realized that he was staring and first felt guilty, then relieved that he was wearing the domino mask, then guilty again, and he looked away. This was awkward. But kind of nostalgic. But awkward.
"Most people here are friendly and inert. There are only a few who are really dangerous, but you should be wary of people until you settle in. We should probably talk about losses.
“Weird, but it’s hard to complain about something like that.” Imagine never having to worry about death again.
Cassie shifted to rest against Kon more comfortably, her smile returning a bit when he put his arm around her. Her eyes flicked to his for an instant, her hand settling on his thigh, before she looked back to Tim.
“I’ll be careful, then. What losses?”
Kon had never been quite sure Cassie would be okay with him holding onto her like this. She wasn't his first girl, but she was the one he'd had a thing for for years, and he'd started off a little hesitant because of it. But she wasn't pulling away, and he'd missed her, so it was all okay. Even if Robin was giving him that broody bat-glower. That was jealousy. Kon was oblivious, but he wasn't that oblivious.
It wasn't a glower! At least, he wasn't trying to glower. He was just watching. Dejectedly.
"The castle... takes things from people. Usually something permanent when they first get here. Most of the others are temporary, but.. they're usually important. Abilities, memories... something important to you. You may not realize it's gone."
Kon was Kon; Cassie realized he was far behind her on an emotional level -- he hadn’t been on dates with her, or kissed her, or cuddled with her, or made love to her... but he was still Kon. It was natural for her to be close to him.
But she focused on the task at hand: this whole new Paradisa world.
“An ability or a memory...” she trailed, pensive. She quickly realized Robin was right; she couldn’t just pick out something that was gone. “I’m going to have to test out my powers, and bounce memories off you guys to see if anything’s gone.”
But then, curiously, she asked, “What did you two lose?”
Kon let go of her, looking pensive. "My first girlfriend. I think Rob said her name was... Tana? I don't remember anything about her." Hope that doesn't lessen your ardor for Kon. He's always been a bit of a manslut, you know that.
Kon waved his hand airily, as though it wasn't a big deal. "If I don't remember it, it's not a problem, though."
Tim's answer took him some more time to spit out. He breathed a heavy sigh and looked back over his shoulder at the door (closed) and then the journals (also closed).
"My moral compass isn't quite right. Since I've been here, I've been thinking..."
Tim trailed off. He had only hinted at this to Clark, only considered it really. But lately, he'd been sure. After the zombies, and the visions, it had to be.
"I'm starting to think that bad things should be done to bad people, which I know I never considered before I got here."
“If you don’t remember something, I guess you can’t remember how it feels, either,” Cassie said. She looked at Tim, concerned; a missing girlfriend was one thing, and a twist in morals like that was another thing entirely. That got messy, and complicated.
“But you do know what’s right and what’s wrong still, right? Even if you’re starting to think that way, as long as you know where you’re supposed to be standing, you’ll be okay.”
Either way, it was worrisome to hear.
"Yeah. Like, don't kill people. You're not supposed to, so don't do it. I mean, you're not Lex Lu-- You know what, nevermind." And Kon was reminded once again that he had a dad who was pure evil. Not okay. "Just don't kill people and we'll be golden."
Kon leaned over and nudged Tim with his foot. Listen to me, I'm a Super.
"I don't plan to!" Tim protested. "I still know what's right and wrong, I'm just... I can feel myself at the edge of the grey area, that's all."
Tim ran his hand through his hair roughly, shaking his head.
"We'll help you figure it out, Cassie. There are plenty of safe places to test out your powers. The journals work pretty effectively has a way to communicate, and they have filtering abilities that make it... appear to be semi-private. I'm still figuring the filter system out, but it doesn't seem hackable, since it's... magic."
The foot-nudge, though, made Tim smile. Stupid Super, being all... best friend-like.
“If you get too close to that grey area, we’ll haul your butt right back to the good side,” Cassie said, firmly, with a smile. She sat up straighter and folded one leg over the other, comfortably.
“That’s all good to know, and thanks; it’d drive me crazy if I had to stay here but couldn’t figure out what I was missing. And I’m guessing everyone here has a journal?”