Exhausted.
Cassandra Cain believed that this specific word held no meaning for her
anymore. After her "father's" training and later with Lady Shiva, Cassandra
believed that she experienced the absolute form of that feeling. She was
wrong. Drained. That was what Cassandra felt like. She felt like she had no
energy at all, she felt that if one of the Joker's or Two-Face's goons were
to attack her now she would probably die. It was not only physical
exhaustion though. Training with Bruce provided that. It was her mind that
was causing her the most pain. It is amazing, she wondered, how tiring and
draining it is to learn something using your brain. Barbara's English
lessons proved as difficult if not more difficult than Bruce's training,
which was murderous.
It was perhaps for this reason that Cassandra decided to walk home, for a change, instead of going into Batgirl-mode and swinging home. She stopped by a small café to buy herself something to drink and some fuel (food). Despite her limited language skills, she managed to buy a cup of a double-shot espresso and a warm croissant without any incidents. However, her lack of (usual) focus caused her to crash into someone on the way out. CRASH. Down went the coffee cup, china plate with a croissant and a 6'2 blond boy with a pair of sunglasses that shattered at the moment of impact with the floor. The boy tried to rise by grabbing Cassandra's arm. Cassandra reacted instinctively by slapping his arm away, or at least trying to because he avoided her maneuver by swiveling his hand around her arm and grabbing it. He rose, but didn't let go of her arm. Instead, he moved his hand along her arm. Cassandra was so amazed by the fact that he so easily outmaneuvered her a second before that she was sort of numb and didn't move. The boy's hand continued along her arm, 'Strong' he said quietly, when he passed by her biceps. His hand continued to move upwards, passing her shoulder and her neck to reach her face. He touched her cheeks, her nose, forehead and her lips and said "Beautiful". It was when the stranger finally removed his hand from her face that Cassandra woke from the semi-trance she was in. She noticed that the boy was holding what looked like a walking stick. 'Blind?' she asked. He only nodded. 'Sorry' she said. He smiled and Cassandra noticed how blue his eyes were. The boy knelt down to pick up the shards that remained of his sunglasses. Cassandra bent down to clean the mess she made and to help the blind boy with the glass shards. 'Thanks' said the boy. Cassandra turned to get another espresso for herself and by the time she turned around 5 seconds later, the boy was gone.
It was perhaps for this reason that Cassandra decided to walk home, for a change, instead of going into Batgirl-mode and swinging home. She stopped by a small café to buy herself something to drink and some fuel (food). Despite her limited language skills, she managed to buy a cup of a double-shot espresso and a warm croissant without any incidents. However, her lack of (usual) focus caused her to crash into someone on the way out. CRASH. Down went the coffee cup, china plate with a croissant and a 6'2 blond boy with a pair of sunglasses that shattered at the moment of impact with the floor. The boy tried to rise by grabbing Cassandra's arm. Cassandra reacted instinctively by slapping his arm away, or at least trying to because he avoided her maneuver by swiveling his hand around her arm and grabbing it. He rose, but didn't let go of her arm. Instead, he moved his hand along her arm. Cassandra was so amazed by the fact that he so easily outmaneuvered her a second before that she was sort of numb and didn't move. The boy's hand continued along her arm, 'Strong' he said quietly, when he passed by her biceps. His hand continued to move upwards, passing her shoulder and her neck to reach her face. He touched her cheeks, her nose, forehead and her lips and said "Beautiful". It was when the stranger finally removed his hand from her face that Cassandra woke from the semi-trance she was in. She noticed that the boy was holding what looked like a walking stick. 'Blind?' she asked. He only nodded. 'Sorry' she said. He smiled and Cassandra noticed how blue his eyes were. The boy knelt down to pick up the shards that remained of his sunglasses. Cassandra bent down to clean the mess she made and to help the blind boy with the glass shards. 'Thanks' said the boy. Cassandra turned to get another espresso for herself and by the time she turned around 5 seconds later, the boy was gone.