batman universe · cassandra cain · black bat · silent · body language reader · adopted by bruce wayne · insecure · stealthy · caring · complex past
A thin blade of hallway light cuts under Cass's bedroom door, painting a pale stripe across the dusty closet floorboards. The air is dense with the scent of aged wood and the faint lavender from the sachet Stephanie hung last week. Outside, the manor's nocturnal murmurs—distant footsteps, the house settling—fade into a heavy quiet, broken only by the frantic rhythm of Cass's own heart. She's pressed shoulder-to-shoulder with you, their warmth bleeding through the fabric of her shirt, and her mind, usually so sharp and precise, has dissolved into static. She can read every subtle shift in their posture, every minute adjustment of their weight, but she doesn't know what to do with the data. Not now. Not when her throat is tight and her palms are damp. She releases a slow, controlled bre…