[open] And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

[cisskabob]

Who: Cissie King-Jones and YOU
Where: All around the ski lodge (inside and out), and out in the snow
When: Duration of the event
Rating: G? Will change if necessary
Summary: Come play in the snow, or drink hot chocolate in the lodge after Cissie's pelted you with snow.
The Story: Cissie's out and about, enjoying the snow and the lodge for the first two days of the event. Come chat by the fire with her, or get pelted by snowballs! Or try to teach her how to ski. Day 3 will find Cissie preoccupied with arguing with Tim and getting lost in the snow with Kon.



Day 1 and/or Day 2

Cissie is as thrilled as any of the younger citizens of Wonderland at the prospect of a trauma free snow-and-fun filled weekend. She can be found inside the ski lodge, spending some quality time warming up by the fires with hot chocolate (and extra marshmallows), reading or playing games, or otherwise being friendly and social. If she's not inside, she is outside highly invested in the snowball fights, or building snowmen. She'll give skiing a semi-successful try, and will never say no to some sledding. She'll get soaking wet, freezing cold and will love every silly second of it. She might actually even act her age!


[ooc: Feel free to tag into her thread in the snowball fight post, or create a thread here! I'll be posting some requested closed starters, but otherwise this is entirely OTA!]

Comments

[mrsarcastic003]

Anyone can be brainwashed, Kon.

[Tim's still feeling a little numb from Cissie's revelation, but he can help with this much at least.]

It happens all the time.

[Gotham.]

[cisskabob]

There are other things I could have mentioned instead, [she mutters, reaching up to rub at a temple. This is so not how she'd thought this was going to go, but she supposes it is all her own fault.] I think it was the fact that it was Luthor that made it so bad for you. But you took it harder than anyone else did, and nobody blamed you. I wasn't--I shouldn't have told you like that.

[She glances at Tim.] ...Either of you.

[cloned]

[Kon looks over at her, still frowning.]

But you should have told us. I mean, what else are you keeping from us?

[cisskabob]

[Cissie's reaction is physical; she looks back at Kon sharply, and recoils like he's just slapped her. She feels almost like he did.]

Kon. Are you--you're kidding, right? [She looks at him, then over at Tim, and back at Kon again, her heart sinking. She's not sure if she wants to shout at them or start crying, or maybe both. Instead, she inhales shakily and lets out a harsh, unhappy laugh.]

Right. Because I know things and haven't told you, now what? You don't trust me? That is--that is really rich. And neither of you even have a freaking clue why. Whatever I might have to tell you? I didn't hear it from either of you! It's all second or third hand, or from the damn television! I only know about the mind control thing because Cassie told me after it happened, and you basically went into hiding because you were beating yourself up about it. You didn't answer any of the times I called you, and then--

[She cuts herself off. No. She's not going there. Not now.]

[mrsarcastic003]

...And then what?

[He doesn't want to know. He's sure he doesn't want to know. And yet here he is, asking.]

[cisskabob]

[Cissie just shakes her head, fighting back tears and wishing she was anywhere else. This is her own fault, and now she's probably going to have to tell them, but... Please don't make her.]

[cloned]

Cissie...

[Kon's tone softens a little, except for the way his voice breaks on her name. He moves towards her and puts his hands on her arms, hunching a little to get to eye level.]

Please. Whatever it is can't be worse than letting us guess.

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim wants to make a joke about how he has a "worst case scenario" imagination, and it can't possibly be that bad, but looking at Cissie's face... he can't. He's starting to regret having this conversation.

He thinks it's going to be exactly that bad.]

[cisskabob]

[Tim's always been the smart one.

She can't talk at first, her voice lost as she looks at Kon and locks eyes with him. It can't be worse, he says, but it's so much worse. She swallows past the lump in her throat, and takes a deep breath, making herself keep looking at him instead of looking away.]

And then there was a Crisis. There was some kind of... tear in the multiverse, I don't--remember, really. No one actually filled me in. But there was a Superboy from another world, and... You saved the world, Kon. You saved all of the worlds. [She can't stop now. And she couldn't stop herself from crying if she even realized it was happening.] It was you. It was all you. But--but it.

You died, Kon. [She has to blurt it out. It's the only way she can get through it. She grabs his arm before he can pull away, but as she speaks she trails off and her grip loosens.] You came back. But it wasn't... It took--it was a long time, and we didn't know if...

[cloned]

[Kon doesn't pull away, but his fingers tighten on her arms enough that he has to force himself to let go before he hurts her. Super strength. Not always a good thing.]

I--

[Saving the world. Good. All the worlds. Cool. Focus on that. That much he can handle. Focus on that and not--

God. She doesn't look much older than him. It can't be that long from now. He swallows, mouth suddenly dry.]

Oh.

[mrsarcastic003]

[..."Oh" is right. It's suddenly really easy to see a rationale behind pulling away from everyone, as Cissie had said. With the people he cares about dying all around him, it's really easy to imagine cutting himself off from the rest to save on more of that heartbreak.

Oh, god. He really is going to be Bruce.]

[cisskabob]

[Cissie doesn't say anything at first. She doesn't know what else to say, watching their faces, but eventually she has to reach up to wipe away tears so she can see. She drops her gaze and takes a shaky breath.

The silence gets to her, it feels like it's pressing in, closing in on her, so she just starts talking again, at a loss as to what else to do.]

It was all over the news. That's how I... [No. Nope. Not going there now.] They had two funerals for you, but they were both private, so I couldn't... [Okay, no, she can't go there either. She takes another deep, bracing breath.]

But you are back now. And so is Bart. [It doesn't really occur to her what she's just said, since she's just talking to fill the silence now. She turns to Tim.] Tim, you went away for a year, with Batman and Nightwing. Bruce Wayne adopted you when you came back.

[cloned]

Bart? He died too? [He steps away, pacing anxiously. This is a lot to take in. This is a fucking lot and Cissie wasn't at their funeral and clearly took it hard (of course she took it hard they died) and it's just...

It's a lot. Kon knew their lives were dangerous, but he still never really thought they'd die. Even after all that stuff with the other Titans. Even after Bart's knee.]

Oh my god.

[He feels like he's gonna hurl.]

I'm sorry, Tim keeps not talking.

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim feels--and looks--like he's about to be sick, too. He's known since he started being Robin how fragile this life can be--Jason was an excellent case study. But he's always felt like that was more for the mere mortals, like him. Not Bart. Not Kon. And not his family.

And as much as he wants to be mad at Cissie for not telling him more, he can't, because she just looks so broken about it. Kon and Bart are her friends, too, and she couldn't even go to the funerals, because of secret id nonsense. it's always seemed really important to him, but when it bumps up against the human cost of it, he has a hard time defending it.]

This is EXACTLY the behavior they were talking about, Timothy Jackson Drake-not-Wayne-yet!!

[cisskabob]

Shit. [Cissie can practically feel the blood drain from her face as she realizes what she just did. She feels pretty sick to her stomach too, seeing the way Kon and Tim are reacting. She would pretty much give anything to go back and stop this conversation before it started. There are reasons why she hasn't been telling them things, and those looks are... pretty much why. Never mind that she lived through it and thinking about it still hurts.]

...I'm sorry. That's not--I didn't mean to... [She sighs. It doesn't much matter what she meant, does it? She drops her eyes to the floor again, folding in on herself.]. Yeah. Bart too, for a while. He wasn't--gone--as long, but. [She shrugs, at a loss for what to say. They're both alive again, but it doesn't take away how much it hurt when they were gone.]

TIM NO

[cloned]

[Kon sits down hard on the bed.] We came back, though? Like... like Superman did? Do I... do I have to get a mullet?

[He's just kind of staring.]

[mrsarcastic003]

[The question startles a half-laugh, half-sob from Tim. Of course. Of course that's what Kon would ask. Of all the absurd things.]

[cisskabob]

What? [Cissie gives the same kind of sob-laugh combination that Tim made and looks at Kon in surprise. She leans into his side briefly, bumping him and shaking her head.]

No! I mean yes, you're both back, but no, you don't have a mullet. Or a fade cut. And you're not bald, either.

[cloned]

Oh, good. [He forces himself to breathe.] This sucks.

[mrsarcastic003]

[Understatement of the year. He wants to ask Cissie if there's more they should know, but there's a part of him that's a little afraid to at this point. What if there is more? What if it's worse?]

[cisskabob]

Yeah. It does. [Cissie lets out a long, slow exhale, pulling her knees up to wrap her arms around them and curl in on herself.]

I'm sorry. [There's not much else she can say. She doesn't know what to say. She wants to talk and tell them everything, and she doesn't want to say anything else at all. She wishes she could take it all back, and she wishes they'd never had this conversation at all. She knows they had to do this eventually, but she's afraid it's ruined everything.

And she has no idea how to navigate what happens next.]