superhka2 prompted: Cass and Harper #4 romantic gestures

A/N: I've written quite a few Cass and Harper ficlets that are Cass doing things for Harper and decided it was fair to go in the other direction for once~

Batman and associated characters © DC Comics

Little Things

Cassandra felt many things.

She felt many things all the time, of course. Everyone did. They carried the feelings in the tug of their muscles, in the gait of their step, in the pulse of their veins, and the level of their chins. They felt and Cass felt and it was one of the many things she loved about life.

They all carried their feelings with them, however subtle.

But that night, sitting in a pretty floral dress which Barbara helped her pick, with her hair cut by that hairdresser Kate loved, and rubbing her thumb across the bangle which Steph kissed and gave her for good luck, Cassandra felt…

Insecure. Cassandra felt very, very insecure. And the source of that insecurity was the source of a lot of other feelings, too.

There was the feeling of bubbles rising from deep within her stomach to high within her chest. There were the feelings of anticipation and excitement, anxiously awaiting the familiar face that was supposed to meet her in front of the restaurant. There was the worry that she was doing all the things her brothers told her to do wrong, and there was the anxiety of thinking…

Thinking, well, what if she doesn't show up.

They were a great many emotions and feelings and soul crushing regrets all at once as she tucked her hair nervously behind her ear and wondered, somewhat idly, if she had ruined the nice hairdresser's entire 'work of art.'

But all those emotions reached their peak, reached their boiling over point at once when she looked to the door and saw her date.

Harper looked as though she felt many things in that moment, too.

There was a breaching smile on her lips held back by some strain of muscle, her walk was off as if she was unnaturally contemplating each footfall, her throat bobbed nervously, and her head was tilted back as if to hide itself away from Cassandra's watchful eye.

There was something joyful in Cass when she saw a mirror in Harper. She was no longer the only one with no idea what they were doing.

And then…. Then Harper actually, genuinely, surprised her.

As Harper approached, her mouth opened to greet Cass, but it quickly closed with an audible smack of her lips. It left Cassandra blinking at the peculiarity of it.

Not sure what to do, Cass raised her hand timidly and gave a small wave.

Harper returned it. Then Harper's hands continued moving.

At first, the shapes and form of her fingers and fists were perplexing, they were something that caught Cassandra by surprise and made the motions seem erratic at first glance.

But to Cassandra's eye they were just far too deliberate, and far too specific to be hand waves.

They reminded Cassandra of the signals which she often used with other crime fighters on patrol, or how Cain directed her before that. It was too cold and calculated of a language in both cases to fully be what Harper was attempting at that moment.

And then, suddenly, Cassandra's eyes widened as the movements shifted from motion into words right before her eyes.

Harper was talking to Cass. She was talking without words and Cassandra spelled them out, laced them together, and watched as the stifled conversation Harper was signaling to her became real.

I love you. I heart you. You should know. We can learn together. To talk. Let's meet in the middle.

It was the most precious thing anyone had ever done for Cass in her short but difficult life and the moment Harper had finished, Cassandra leaped forward to her, wrapped arms around Harper's neck, and happily landed a kiss.

No one had tried to speak with Cass before, and she was glad that her heart belonged to the person who did.