2007-09-13: I Love When Great Whites Fly

Starring:

Cass_icon.gif Daphne_icon.gif

Summary: Daphne follows Peter's instructions to Bat Country, where she talks with Cass about her ability.

Date It Happened: 13 SEPTEMBER 2007

I Love When Great Whites Fly


I love Bat Country (Boom de Yadda)

Afternoon in Brooklyn finds Cass in Bat Country. At the moment, she's actually in the lab part, off of the carpeted main room. Actually donning a white lab coat for once - for the pockets - she has a pair of black rimmed glasses that she has perched at the top of her head. On the edge of a stool, she's peering into a microscope and trying to scribble things down on a pad of a paper. The door to the outside is unlocked, though not open and the door to the lab itself is open. Some music is playing in the lab, nothing like classical or could otherwise be called 'brainy'. Instead, it's Norah Jones. Something calming for when she's trying to puzzle through strange and new territories.

—-

She's holding the address in her hand as she heads down into the basement of the medical centre. This can't be right! At the same time, Daphne's not sure what she should have expected in the first place… Certainly not a bright storefront with 'EVOLVED WELCOME HERE!' That's what Peter said they were called in the future. That word still leaves a bad taste in her mouth, because it has a two-fold insult. First, in makes her out to be more special than she is, and second, it makes her parents and other people who don't have abilities to be somehow 'less.'

Eventually, she arrives at the door, knocks lightly on it, then tries the handle on a whim. It's open! But as Daphne's not really the kind to walk in unannounced, she kind of steps halfway inside, then calls out, "Hello?" There has to be someone down here - there's music playing!

—-

Indeed! There's music playing from the lab and the moment that Cass hears someone calling out, she slips off her seat and moves for the door. Though all the people that she's met here are people that she's personally invited or are friends with, she's not exactly surprised to hear someone she doesn't quite know yet. Not only did Peter tell her that he'd given the address to a person or two, she's hoping that some word of mouth will let people know that this is a safe place. A hand reaches out and pushes the glasses down back onto her nose - even if they're not prescription and she doesn't even need them - and adjusts them slightly. A hand stays tucked in her coat pocket. "Hello?" she responds back in kind. Then, she spots Daphne. "Hello there. May I help you?"

—-

She was supposed to have this grand plan where she told Cass all about her powers in this cool awesome way, but… Daphne never came up with it, because it's kind of dumb to do that. So instead? She's got nothin'. In fact, she's nervous about even telling anyone at all. "I dunno," she says, glancing around. "Peter Petrelli? Told me I should come here. I think we've met before, at the zoo?" Yeah, Cass does look familiar now. Daphne'd kind of forgotten the face - it's been awhile, after all - but she's seen it before. She was with Lachlan, who she's met up with a couple times since - and the thought of him makes her smile a little. Mostly because she made a camel spit on him. Slightly encouraged by the familiarity, she says, "I can do…" Something.

—-

If everyone had a cool awesome way to tell her about their powers, Cass would be wading knee deep in them. Sometimes, it's better to just spit it out. "Oh!" Now that she mentions that, she looks sort of familiar, too. Mostly because she had to diffuse a situation between Lachlan and the young woman awhile ago. And that led into a whole letter thing. "Yes. Hi! Are you…Daphne?" She tried to make sure she remembered the name and steps forward a little further, gesturing for the other brunette to step further into the lab. "I'm Cass. Nice to meet you. Again." Smiling warmly, she drifts toward one of the seats that are situated on one side of the room. "Peter told me that you might be stopping by."

—-

At the time, neither Lachlan nor Daphne knew the other could talk to animals. The two are on semi-okay terms now, at least. "Daphne, yeah," she says. "And you're Cass." Nice introduction when you introduce each other, huh? Oh, well. At least they're not meeting for the first time. Turning, Daphne makes sure the door is closed behind her before following Cass into the lab. She's not exactly nervous, but… closed off - at least for the moment - might be a better way to describe things. She's quiet. "He didn't tell me much about what you do here. Just that you work with people with abilities, and I — " Well, what can you do?" No one told her that Cass is just a plain ol' ordinary human. If someone works with Evolved, they must have some sort of ability themselves, right? It never crossed Daphne's mind that Cass wouldn't.

—-

A glance at the door, Cass nods once it's made sure that it's closed. At last they're past introductions, as awkward as they were. "I am indeed. Hi! Peter only told me the basics, too. That you talked to animals, right?" It's something that she has intimate knowledge of, too. Through Lachlan, at least. "Well, what I do here is kind of a lot of different things. Really, I'm just trying to open up a space for people who have abilities can come to and test them out, to know they have some place to go to talk about it. That there are other people who are going through similar circumstances." Some place that doesn't tag and mindwipe others. "Oh, me? I don't have any. Not that I know of, at least." She gives Daphne a reassuring smile.

—-

PETER'S A TATTLE-TALE. "Yeah," Daphne says, somewhat startled by the fact that Cass already knows. That takes care of that, at least, though Daphne frowns when that little bit of knowledge is revealed. "I didn't know he'd told you… I didn't actually— I don't think you'll be able to fit an elephant down here," she jokes, finally chuckling a little. "And I didn't bring any animals with me."

That she knows about, anyway. Of course, Raptor is prone to appearing out of nowhere. It seems that today, though, she's managed to get out of her house without the little stowaway tagging along for the ride.

"…You don't? Really? Then how do you know about all this?" Lachlan must have told her - of course. But Daphne tries to keep her ability as secret as she can. So secret, that her parents don't even know. It's actually kind of reassuring that Cass can't do anything in a way. It means that not everyone who isn't 'Evolved' isn't afraid of people who are. "So… Do I have to fill out forms, or…"

—-

He is indeed! Though Peter probably just wanted to let Cass know what to expect. Not a woman who can throw people against walls or listen to her thoughts. "I think he just was letting me know about you. If you'd prefer, I can pretend like I don't know and you can tell my yourself?" She's not sure if Daphne will go for that, but it's a concession. "Well, maybe not an elephant, but I've got a dog and a cat at home. We can work from them, I'm sure." That is, if Daphne wants to work with her.

"Nope, not that I know of. I mean, I trip over a lot of things, but I doubt klutziness is some sort of new ability." See, she can joke about too! "I found out through a lot of strange occurrences and finally by someone using their talent in front of me." It as not, actually, Lachlan! "Well, no forms, really. This is more of a kind of Anonymous thing. Abilities Anonymous. Except we're not trying to wean you off of an addiction. Just…a support group, I guess." There's a shrug. "Really, it's what you want to get out of it. What I can try and do to help you."

—-

"I don't have much trouble with dogs and cats," Daphne admits. "Or anything with fur or feathers. It's the other stuff that gives me problems." She pauses, then adds, "I'm best with birds, I can hear reptiles sometimes, but I'm really not good at talking to them, I guess - this sounds stupid." Daphne's always thought she had a neat ability, even if it drove her crazy when she first learned of it. "Snakes and… stuff. They— It's like everything has a different language, and some things are more complicated than others, you know? I guess that's the best way to…" … "So there's lots of others?" She can change the subject a little. Take the attention off her, because it's uncomfortable. Daphne knows of several, and the idea that there's someone with an ability everywhere she turns should have been her first clue that there was more to this than just crazy random happenstance. "You don't have any lab rats, do you?"

—-

"Well, I may be able to borrow a snake." Though Lachlan may not like it, Cass knows where to get one. "That makes sense. I was comparing it to radio stations before. How different species have different stations you have to turn into." But languages actually makes more sense. Different species with different languages. Though she may want to, the lab geek doesn't start to take any notes at the moment. This is the getting to know each other portion of their meeting and she'll wait until they're in a more official capacity before she starts to record anything down. "Well, I wouldn't say a lot. But a good number. If you know what you're looking for, you spot them a lot easier. Or, at least, you seem to. It's kind of like once something's brought to your attention you see it all the time." It's more than just crazy random happenstance, but that doesn't mean that it's everywhere. "Um, no, actually, I don't."

—-

"I have some of those!" she says excitedly. "They're great animals, just— Kind of… Well, I guess they're snakes." She has to keep them in her basement, because technically they're not legal to own in the city. Technically, she has way too many animals anyway, which is why she spends most of her free time keeping their habitats clean. Lab geek, meet zoology geek. "I guess I can bring one." She should have thought to bring an animal with her in the first place, darn it! Having effectively invited herself back, Daphne takes a seat, perhaps indicating that she's not ready to leave just yet. Cass is right - it helps to be able to talk about it. "It's kind of like radio stations… I met this girl once who could mess up language. She made it so I couldn't speak anything… It's like she scrambled everything I knew. I couldn't take it. That's when I figured out that everything has a different language, even if it's just a little bit off. It comes to me. I started hearing my cat a couple years ago, and it built from there."

Drawing one leg up, she wraps her arm around it. "I thought I was the only one 'til one of my friends accidentally made this— invisible wall thing. Now I see it all the time." Daphne confirms what Cass said with a nod. "Well, if you had any rats, I could show you." Maybe there's some hanging around. It is New York, after all.

—-

"I've heard." Cass gives Daphne an amused smile, glad to see that she's starting to loosen up. It takes a little while sometimes. She certainly doesn't mind geeking out with Daphne about animals. "You can if you want." That would save Lachlan the horror of having a snake in her apartment for a little while. Obviously, she doesn't mind Daphne inviting herself back. That's what she'd like, actually. "Language? And invisible walls? I actually haven't met anyone who can do those yet. I mean, I haven't met everyone with abilities, but it's always good to hear what else is out there. You're definitely not the only one. I've actually seen someone talk to animals before, too. At the moment I'm trying to help him expand his…language base, I guess." One of the things that she can help people with here! "There's plenty of time to test things out," she grins. "Next time I'll make sure I have an animal along."

—-

Little corn snakes won't hurt anyone. Sure, Daphne's are kind of getting to a rather large size at the moment, but still, they're harmless, and definitely not venomous. She doesn't have any of the really dangerous snakes for the sole reason that she has no way to communicate with them regularly. She'll have to be sneaky to get one of them here, but corn snakes are travel-sized! She can just stick one in her pocket.

Also, note to self: Drag Laurel here if everything seems to be safe. "I haven't seen— Her name was Natalie. Haven't seen her in awhile." And by the tone of her voice, a 'good riddance' is implied, even if it's not spoken. As for the other, the one who can make walls, that's a secret that Daphne's not willing to share just yet. Just in case.

"You mean Lachlan? He wrote me about the dogs. I think I wanted to strangle him." It all worked out in the end, though.

—-

Try telling Lachlan that corn snakes won't hurt anyone. Cass has tried. And even tried to show him. But, he was having none of it. He can be such a baby about snakes. Venomous, harmless, all of them are evil creatures to him. The store owner all finds it quite adorable "Hm." Natalie. Rearranges language patterns. Definitely something to keep an eye out for. Especially since she didn't seem discreet about using her ability on other people. The fact that Daphne knows about Lachlan raises her eyebrows. "Um, yeah. Actually. I didn't know you two knew each other. Other than the letter that is." Smiling a little, she shrugs her shoulders. "He was very passionate about that dog. I had to try and proofread that letter that he sent."

—-

OH, there's a whole lot of things Daphne's not telling Cass, like the fact that Daphne herself started it. The whole thing with Natalie could have been avoided if both weren't having relatively bad days at the time. Still… It got too far, and the remnants are still left behind.

Standing, rubbing the back of her head, Daphne looks at the floor. Paces. "Yeah, one of the puppies died. He came looking for me after he sent the letter, we got to talking— He told me what he could do, I threatened to have an elephant sit on him — y'know, the usual." Funniest moment in zoo history, and now only three people know about it! What a shame. "Haven't seen him in awhile, though. I told him I'd help him - I think he was a little upset that he could only talk with dogs - but I haven't seen him since."

—-

Things that will hopefully come out in time once Cass has earned Daphne's trust. But, then, she's mostly here for them, not the other way around. At least while she's running the lab. "That sounds about usual for Lachlan." Making other people want to have large animals sit on him. "That's probably what made him want to learn how to talk to other animals." There's a wry grin that she gives Daphne. "He's kind of competitive." Only kind of. "I'm sure he meant to come back. We've just had some….strange things that have happened to us, lately. I'm glad that Peter told you to come by, though. You seem mostly as if you've mastered your ability and control of it. I'm not sure what more I could do to help you. Other than maybe give you a place to talk about it. Test out the extent of what you can do."

—-

"M'not sure what you can do, besides help me with the snakes and lizards and stuff." Mastered? No, she doesn't think so. There's a feeling of something she's missing, which is weird, because there's nothing there to miss, that she knows of. There's something else Cass can do, though. "I don't know a lot of people like me," she says. Compared with the thousands she interacts with daily, the handful she does know is comparatively small. "I don't know who I can talk to… It's like I'm in this little… bubble - I have to be careful what I say to everyone, just in case I say something I shouldn't. My family…" God, that's complicated. "My parents aren't like me, but I have an identical twin who - I just met. And she can do something different. I mean, I get all this to some extent, but I feel cut off." So helping her in that regard is probably better than working with her ability, even if she needs both sometimes.

—-

As far as Cass knows, she's not missing anything. And maybe Daphne hasn't exactly mastered her ability, but she's gotten more out of it than many of the people she's talked to who as discovered what they can do. "They are definitely out there," which the two of them have established, certainly separately if not just together right then. "And I can certainly offer you someone to talk to about all this." This is the other outlet of the labs that she has yet to really use, but have been wanting to. The support group offer. "Wow." That's for the identical twin that she just met. That's crazy. Does stuff like that happen in real life? "I mean, it's one thing to get what's happening to you and quite another to accept and understand it." She gives Daphne a smile. An understanding one. "Anything you want to talk about, I'd be glad to try and explain, or listen, or just anything I can to help."

—-

She never felt bad about all this, but suddenly knowing there's a group to talk to makes her feel better. Not that she ever really considered needing a support group before, but… It's kind of like a club. Like-minded individuals getting together to talk, and all that. Maybe they're not all like-minded, but at least they have something in common. "Yeah, wow. I still need to call her." And try to figure out how the hell they never knew each other. "Well, I won't take up more of your time today - sorry for dropping in on you like that, but I just wanted to see if you were really here." She's still got the address in her hand, in fact. "Better get home. I have a zoo of my own there, and they're probably starving by now."

—-

The smile never leaves Cass' face. Not that she thinks that having an ability should make anyone feel bad or depressed, just that it can make things difficult. And it's good to talk to people about it. Which is why Cass started this place. "It's alright." Standing up to walk her to the door, she pushes the glasses up to the top of her head again, so she can rub the bridge of her nose. "Really, feel free to stop by. I'm not always here, but I'll give you my number. You can call any time." And that way she won't have to come all the way out here just to realize that no one is there. "It was good to meet you."

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