4882/People Watching

People Watching
Date of Scene:	10 July 2018
Location:	Gotham City
Synopsis:	Cass realizes she ain't all that and a bag of chips.
Cast of Characters:	Nightwing, Batgirl (Cain)

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Nightwing has posed:
    Gotham as a city is always active, even in the small hours of the night. But during the day it's a steady tumult of people walking hither and yon, with the cars rolling through traffic and the noise of the world being an oppressive steady layer of activity. For a person like Cassandra Cain, whose language is in the reading of bodily movements it's almost like looking at a white noise of nothing. Everyone concerned with getting to their own destination, everyone with their own concerns that manifest as just an air of tension. But no hints to the world, no clues to social interactions save for the rare instances when one person recognizes another as an alive and breathing thing.
    Gotham University, on the other hand, is similar but another beast entirely. It's just as busy at times, in between classes, during meal times. But there's an entire otherness to it all as the student body moves amongst itself. It is a great social construct where everyone has their role and the connections are stronger. People meet and greet each other more enthusiastically and there is this constant feeling of potential between passers by. It's not just people rushing to their destinations, though there is some of that. But when someone walks through the quad during the evening such as now... only part of their mind is on getting to their location.
    The other part is often on what that cute guy or girl is wearing. Or wondering if that smile was meant for them and what was behind it. Compared to a glance at a crowd in passing which was a visual snack. This was a veritable smorgasbord of human behaviour...
    And Dick Grayson and Cassandra Cain were there to partake. Though, for his part, as he sits there on the edge of the quietly trickling fountain and smiling at people who smile at him... he's primarily sipping from a cup of coffee. Cass, on the other hand, might find it interesting. These moments, observing the way the world functions.
    "So like, over there." Dick lifts his cup and gestures with it, "Those three girls." Who might be making eyes in his direction though they definitely are smiling and laughing. "I get the vibe they sort of are friends, but don't actually like each other." He gives her his read of things, but expects she has more concise reads though perhaps not clued into exactly /how/ people interact.

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
    This lesson is not one she wanted. Cassandra tends to be happiest when she is punching bad guys. Wearing the cowl is everything, which is why her having been grounded from it in the past was devastating. She is a lot like their mentor in that she prefers her costumed persona. In truth, she doesn't even have another persona. He has Bruce Wayne but she's just her all the time. Which is why she doesn't go socialize. She spends all her time at the mansion working on her skills if she isn't out as Batgirl.
    When Dick had offered to help her training tonight, she'd leapt at the chance. Now that she knew what it was, she regretted it.
    The University was not her world. None of it was. Her last time socializing led to her losing Cowl Privileges so she was already against the entire concept of it. She just didn't understand it at all. People always had underlying motives. They didn't say what they were actually feeling. They hid things from one another all the time, yet it was there a glaring as a neon sign for her to see the truth behind the fascades. It was enough to make her head hurt, if she were prone to such things.
    As he pointed at the trio, she glanced that direction. He was right. They didn't really like each other. Well, the brunette liked the redhead but the blonde couldn't care less about either of the other two. The fact they followed her made her feel powerful. Like she was something else from her reality. Then the redhead followed her cause the blonde was powerful, popular. So it put her in the limelight. The brunette was the purest of the group yet her motives were her attraction to the redhead.
    Cassandra frowned as she rested on the edge of the fountain next to Dick, glancing his way and bringing up her hands. <Not friends. Brunette likes redhead. Two like you.>

Nightwing has posed:
    A nod is given as Dick takes another sip of his coffee as he looks out across the quad. It'd been a while since he'd been here, though he had entertained the idea of continuing his education. But there was never time. Everyone close to the Bat felt that pressure, the weight of the mission. They accepted it.
    But one thing Bruce was unlikely to do would be to sit Cassandra down in the middle of a lot of people and try and help her be more... human. So he smiles at her sidelong and gives another nod as he speaks, "You have to realize, Cass. That people they sort of... operate on several levels. You see it when we're out there. But when everything hits the fan people become much more true to themselves."
    He lifts his cup and returns a smile to the young women, but he turns his gaze back upon Cass and continues to speak to her quietly. This earns Cass the enmity of some of those gals even as a few of the football players pass by in their workout gear and carrying their duffel bags. "If you're going to be doing intelligence work, or functioning undercover. You need to learn why things are the way they are." Then he pause and adds, "Kinda."
    One of the football players pauses and starts to talk to one of those girls who seem to be holding court of a kind, each smiling in turn to the football player and waving to him. And once he wanders off she can see the way the women are looking after him, gauging him, comparing him in some ways to the others around. It's not the friendliness entirely as some pretend, that's a superficial layer. There's more there. A jockeying of position in some ways.

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
    Layers. It's true. She sees it all the time. That hidden language beneath the smiles and pretending. She just doesn't understand it. Dick is right, of course. This is a skill she doesn't have and needs. She can't work undercover yet because she doesn't know how to interact properly. She sticks out, even if she is just being the quiet person in the corner. There is something not quite right about her and it is because she can't read the room the way others do. She doesn't understand why she has to respond to their pretending instead of their truth.
    As the football player approaches, she watches the interplay of the girls then the way they follow his departure. One is seeing him as a threat. The other two had been trying to get more of his attention than the other. Both believe they succeeded. Neither did as he'd liked the brunette. Who didn't like him back.
    Cassandra brought up a hand to push a lock of hair behind her right ear then looked back to Dick, frowning again even as the girls continued to hold court. <Why? Just be self.>

Nightwing has posed:
    "A lot of different reasons." He says after watching the movements of her hands, then he looks back towards the courtyard in general. Even with just a few moments of time's passage an entirely new cavalcade of people have wandered in and past. A handful of youths in loose clothing are giving each other high-fives and laughing, others are grouping up to head to the dining hall. There are a few who are just by themselves, tacitly reading but clearly on some level wishing to be around others.
    "In some ways we're lucky, Cass. We sort of know who we are. Who we want to be. Not a lot of people feel that way." He doesn't gesture towards anyone in particular, because assuredly she can read these sentiments easily when she looks at people. What might escape her is the why of the thing.
    "Not everyone knows that. People want to be accepted for who they are. But they're afraid of being hurt. Embarrassed. Humbled." He gestures with a nod towards a young man who is seated on a picnic table, his laptop across his legs and he's pointedly trying to act like he doesn't care about what's going on around him.
    "And then there are social strata. People who will or won't associate with others because of their perceived group. Like when Bruce goes to his parties. Most of the people there wouldn't be caught dead talking to a homeless person or some of the staff. Bruce can do it because he is not only sure of himself but he's sure of his place in society. So he has that freedom. Not everyone does."

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
    She's feeling a bit like one of those toddlers who asks one question over and over. Cassandra manages not to ask why but it is written all over her face. She shakes her head a bit then looks back at the people, picking up on those at the fringes. They want to be a part of things, to be accepted. Most of them. One or two are happier just being alone and reading or playing on their computers. They all want to be accepted yet they don't want to put themselves out there to be judged.
    She thinks about how Bruce will do whatever he wants. He doesn't care if someone is homeless or the richest man in the country. They are all people. It's the same way she sees things. They all have pulses, wants, emotions. Some do good things, some do bad. Yet at their core, they are all people, no matter which they choose to do.
    She watches as a group of boys go by, chatting as rushed off back to their dorm after classes. Each has their own thing going on under the smiles. Some are worried about something. Others are trying to impress the people in the small group, for whatever reason. Social strata? To be able to find their place in the hierarchy of this place?
    She lets out a sigh then signs one word. <Stupid.>

Nightwing has posed:
    At that Richard gets a small smile and exhales a sort of half-laugh as he looks away and shakes his head. He takes another sip of his coffee even as the fountain continues to trickle softly behind them. "Sort of, yeah. I mean I kind of agree." He rubs at his jawline with a fingertip as he looks thoughtfully distant, then back towards her. "Imagine it's like... for some people this is how they 'fight', how they get by in the world. They jockey for position with others, they try to gain dominance over other people, or get them to do what they want."
    He looks at her and he says to her, "Like, that one kid over at the bench near the trash can?" He holds up a finger so she's not tempted to look, "He's over there and he's looked at you a few times. He's probably trying to figure out how to approach and ask you out or introduce himself. Consider that..." He looks up, one eye scrunching as he tries to figure out a way to convey it to her.
    "So imagine that's like, the first step in a kata, or a fight? He's trying to gauge you, discern what he can about you, and if he can tell aspects of you he might move in to try and... land a punch? I dunno, my metaphors stink."

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
    The metaphor has her blinking, trying to figure this out. A peek is made in the direction of the guy in question but Cassandra is surreptitious enough he doesn't notice her looking. No skills. Couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag. Wanting to approach but afraid of something. Probably her punching him since she's thinking that's what she did if he tried to ...wait, Dick didn't mean literally.
    The guy was trying to figure out if he should approach. So figures the best thing to do is deter that but Dick might not find her glaring at some poor guy on the quad appropriate. She's supposed to blend in.
    She looks back up at Dick and shrugs. So they have layers. They pretend to do things and be things they are not. They jockey for position in some sort of social hierarchy that really is a loss on Cassandra. <Who is better?> Since in her mind, no one is so it makes not sense to strive to be better than another person in a social setting. Combat, sure. Who is the most popular? Foreign territory.

Nightwing has posed:
    "Well," Dick says as he tries to figure out his own rapidly unraveling but labyrinthine metaphor as he explains it to Cassandra, "Depends on what they're looking for. Most people..." He smiles a little as he looks at her, "They just want friends, or to be accepted, or a date. You know the people who sometimes fight, who train, but it's not their entire existence? Like... Blue Beetle. He's good, and he fights decently. But he has other things he focuses on even though if he trained a lot harder he could be a lot better."
    He looks aside towards the red-headed youth who is doing a decent job of hiding his interest in Cass, though not good enough. "But then you get the people who live for it. Who find manipulation and accruing friends and favors as their very reason for existence. Sort of like..." He uncurls a hand, "Well, you know." Her mother.
    "It's just in a fight, you're amazing, Cass. But in a social situation. Not quite as good."

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
    With the mention of the Blue Beetle, it clicks a little for Cassandra. That could be said for a lot of heroes. They do well enough but they could be so much better. Yet they have other things that draw their attention.
    So other people use their social position to gain the advantage in some way they perceive. Still foreign but makes a little more sense. She gives a brief nod as he mentions those who use manipulation for their way to 'win', in essence.
    At the compliment on her fighting, that bright smile of hers appears. Only to be washed away immediately by a scowl as he points out the reality of it. She does very badly in social situations. It's why she doesn't go to the partiea and events that Bruce throws. She just wouldn't fit. Yet, to get to the level that Batman is at, she has to learn.
    That makes her face scrunch up more. <Must learn fake.> Yeah, she's got that figured out.

Nightwing has posed:
    A small sigh slips from him as he takes the last sip from his coffee, finishing it off and then leaning to the side to toss the empty into the nearby trashcan with a small underhand toss. But he looks back towards her and says, "Yeah, unfortunately." He looks up and to the side, gauging things as if he is trying to figure out how to tell her. "But not entirely?" He uncurls a hand towards her as he explains, touching a finger to the palm of his hand as if mapping this out for her.
    "You can be social, and you can interact with people socially and still maintain yourself. Who you feel you are. It's just that sometimes in our line of work, things require us to go that extra mile and be someone else." He chews his lower lip then adds, "Like Bruce."
    He then gestures with a nod to that trio of girls who seem to still be holding a court of sorts there at their picnic table as people walk back and forth near them. Some smile and wave, others don't. "Those people are in some ways fake. But there are people that are charismatic, and that are good. That try to do the right things and because people can recognize that charisma or positivity... well they end up being able to navigate social things as easily as you handle a fight. Imagine them as being as gifted as you in that way. Like... Superman." He smiles easily at that mention, "He's just naturally a good guy."

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
    She's seen footage. On the news feeds from time to time. She doesn't generally watch broadcasts because the words and physical markers are so far off from each other. Yet, he is like Captain America. He isn't fake. He is what he is. It's rather amazing to someone like her.
    She gives a nod as she looks to the girls again, trying to understand how they can make people like them by acting as they do. The smiles, the little waves. Is that what it takes?
    She's not going to test it here. Maybe later in the privacy of her room with a mirror, she'll experiment with the expressions and movements she is seeing. Of course, she doesn't have a voice and the limitation of speaking with her hands may make it more difficult to become like them.
    She's always up for a challenge though. After all, it took weeks for them to find a way but Babs did figure out how Cass could learn to communicate with the world through ASL. So, anything was possible.
    She gives a decisive nod then peeks at the redhead nearby. But no, not ready to smile and try to interact. Not untils he trains.