1/25 Instance: Stripped Bare

[Starfish]

Timeline: Current.


Cassie: "Thanks again that you agreed to help me," Cassandra said, glancing over her shoulder to show the long-eared student a smile, before she returned to rummage through the large wooden box standing next to her bed. "It's not only less work this way, it's also less depressing to clear out the place you've called home when a friend is helping you."

Jack: "Uh, no, I don't remember that part of the conversation at all, I just remember you jumping me and telling me you want me to do unspeakable things with you in your trailer." He told her, stroking his ears back and scratching behind one.

Cassie: "And I wasn't lying, was I?"She briefly winked at Jack. "After all, everyone hates getting roped into helping someone else to move, so the unspeakable part is true. Ah, there it is!" She pulled something huge and snuggly out of the box, revealed to be a monstrous yet still adorable backpack shaped like a dinosaur. "Hello, old friend! Missed me?"

Cassie: "Well, it looks like we're going on another journey." Turning around, the girl placed the backpack on her bed and opened the zipper on its round belly. "He's been with me since I left home."

Jack: Jack frowned, knowing a backstory was about to start. Usually that was always left for pillowtalk with girls that he picked up as one night stands. Might as well ask her, he thought. "When did you leave home?"

Cassie: "That depends on how you define home, I guess," Cassandra replied, tilting her head and holding up a finger. "I parted with my godparents and their family when they managed to find the most dull, boring, soul-sucking, and stuck up boarding school imaginable - even though no one with any kind of imagination would voluntarily dream up such a dreary place."

Cassie: "Anyway, they decided it would be for my best if I enrolled there after middle-school, because apparently I needed to learn some discipline and common sense," she elaborated. "See, I was considered to be too wild and untamed. Needless to say, we disagreed. And since I was a kid and arguably had the weaker position in an argument, I packed up my things and just left."

Cassie: "That has to be... three years ago now," she revealed, looking thoughtful. "But as I've said, I left my parents home even before that to live with my uncle and aunt. However, I made sure to spend as little time as possible locked up in their bland house."

Jack: Jack's eyes looked up and blinked as he quickly calclated things. "So you're what, 17 or something now? You left the school at 14? I hope the circus was closeby when you left the school." he said.

Cassie: Cassandra had already begun to stuff some of her clothes and costumes into the giant plush dinosaur. "Close, but no prize yet," she replied. "There's still some time to pass until I turn seventeen." Raising her gaze, she smiled sheepishly. "Before the circus and I ran into each other, I got by as a street performer."

Cassie: "Would you mind passing me the things in those drawers," she asked, gesturing at the wardrobe by Jack's side.

Jack: "Ah yeah, now that's something I'm very familiar with," Jack said with a grin. "Okay, now what should go where in what?"

Cassie: "I figure it doesn't really matter," Cassandra replied, looking around her trailer for a moment, before she bent down to pull a couple more old boxes out from underneath her bed. "It'll get unpacked soon again, anyway. We just have to get the things from here to the school."

Cassie: She fidgeted with the rusty old lock, before pulling the box open and tossing it on the bed, as well. "So, you started out early, too?"

Jack: "Yeah, well, neglectful father that's never around, crazy mother that's placed in a secure area. You gotta find ways to keep yourself busy and fed. Thankful my dad's friends were a little more concerned about me than he was when I was young, learned most tricks from them. Started around... twelve I think, street performances."

Cassie: "Sounds like you had little choice," Cassandra remarked, pausing her packing to look at him. "In my case, it was simply passion for the performance art, coupled with a healthy dose of overconfidence that I could make it on my own. To be honest, it wasn't always been as easy as I first had imagined it to be."

Jack: "Never is," Jack said rather solemnly as he packed her things in the box. He then smirked, "So how many times did police try and pick you up?"

Cassie: Cassandra chuckled as she stuffed her underwear into one of the old suitcases that had been provided by her friends at the circus. "I stopped counting," she said, glancing up at Jack with a shrewd smirk. "I've never been too concerned about anyone grabbing me, however. As you might know, I can do a pretty convincing vanishing act."

Jack: "Lucky, I got grabbed more than once. Thank goodness for learning lockpicking from Shalib The Uncontainable. Otherwise known as Uncle Morry." Jack picked up a dirty old but still bight pink shirt and eyed Cassie.

Cassie: Returning his look, Cassandra eventually raised her hands and shrugged her shoulders. "It was a gift?" Leaning over, she snatched it out of Jack's hands. "Besides, black has its greatest impact when contrasted by a few splashes of colour."

Jack: He squinted with a smirk, "Will I find hello kitty undies somewhere? Some nice hot pink skirts with cutesy poke-a-dots?"

Cassie: "Well, I hope you do," she replied with a wry grin. "Because I've been looking for those forever already." She turned towards the tall hat-stand in the corner of her trailer, a frown on her forehead as she tapped her chin. "I'd hate to leave that one behind. You think we could take it along as it is? That way, I wouldn't have to squash my hats into some suitcase."

Jack: "I highly doubt that... wait... oh right, you're powers. Sure, why not, pretty sure you'd be able to fit something that big in your hole." Jack said with a rather serious face.

Cassie: Cassandra's face was a lot less serious as she watched him silently, a faint smile around her lips. Then a shadowy arm curled up into the air behind Jack, giving him a playful swat on the back of his head. "Bad bunny," she remarked.

Cassie: "Make yourself useful and wrap up my shrunken head and the stuffed toad instead, will you," she requested, gesticulating at her desk.

Jack: With a winced up face and rubbing his head he turned towards her desk. "So many knick knacks." he said, before finding the head and the stuffed toad among all the other paraphernalia.

Cassie: "And they all get to come along," she announced cheerfully. "Don't worry, we've got plenty of boxes and suitcases to store them. And there's no need to be stingy with the wrapping; I've been given a big pile of cloths." She stepped up to Jack and placed a peck on his cheek. "Have I said thank you for helping me yet?"

Jack: "Nope, and technically you still haven't." He said while he wrapped up items before putting them in the box. "SO did you have fun growing up in the circus?" he asked, "Got any stories to share?"

Cassie: "Enough to fill a night and a day," Cassandra replied, baring her teeth as she grinned. "Don't worry, you'll get to hear them all in time." She moved on to the crooked, winding shelf on the other side of the trailer, taking out her collection of books. "One of the best things about living at the circus is that there's always something exciting going on."

Jack: Jack caught sight of some of the books she took down. He grabbed one and held it up, "Really? Anderson's Guide to Practical Magic? Come on Cassie, don't tell me you learned magic tricks from this thing. I got way better stuff shoved under my bed than this."

Cassie: "Unlike you, I've had no masters of the craft teach me their secret tricks in person." She grabbed the book back from him and stuffed it into one of the boxes with the others. "Not yet, anyway."

Jack: "Looking to find someone to learn from?" he asked, one ear perked up while he went back to wrapping her desk items.

Cassie: "Maybe," she replied, taking a short break from packing up her books in order to step up behind the boy. "Why, do you know anyone who could teach me a trick or two?"

Jack: "Nnnope," he said with his back turned towards her, stupid grin being forced down while he kept packing. "But if I do find someone, I still doubt you'd be able to afford him.

Cassie: "Then you obviously don't know what I have to offer." Cassandra rested her chin on Jack's shoulder again, while her slender arms snuck around his waist. "Too bad you don't know anyone either, so you might never find out." She didn't try to hide the impish grin on her lips.

Jack: "Well that doesn't mean I can't go looking for someone that might know a good trick up his sleeve that he can teach you." Jack added, a smile forming on his face as he leaned a tiny bit back against Cassie.

Cassie: "And you're such a wonderful guy that you'd do this for the warm fuzzy feeling of helping out a friend alone," she stated, making it sound like a matter of fact, while tilting her head until her cheek lay against his shoulder.

Jack: "Heck no, I'll be paid a finder's fee of course," he said.

Cassie: Cassandra faked a shocked expression as she leaned back. "You would exploit the needs of a poor girl such as me," she asked, giving him a long look. It took her some effort not to snicker. "I'm flabbergasted! What could I possibly have to offer you, anyway? Look around you - I live in a trailer."

Jack: "Nu-huh, you LIVED in a trailer, now you're about to live in a big fancy shmancy mansion. And who said that I only accept money? A friendly odd job her or there might come in handy. Plus I'm pretty sure whoever might be taking you on as an apprentice or whatever might want indentured servitude instead of money as well."

Cassie: "If I cared only for a fancy home, I would have stayed with my godparents." Cassandra wore a faint smile as she stepped around Jack and sat on her now empty desk. "Sounds much like apprenticeship in the old times, doesn't it? Well, don't let it be said that I'm a stranger to these kind of mutually beneficial arrangements."

Cassie: "Is that what you're bargaining for as well, yes?" Her smile turned into a smirk as she reached out to put her hands on his shoulders.

Jack: "Well I wouldn't mind having a lovely assistant fo my own," Jack admitted, "Frankly it is kind of nice having someone to talk to about magical things."

Cassie: "Assistant, or indentured servant?" She arched an eyebrow at the fur-covered boy, a wry look on her face. "Don't forget I'm used to being the main attraction."

Jack: "Good, distracts the audience from what is really going on." Jack said slowly nodding, "I like the term indentured servitude more. Sounds more kinky."

Cassie: "Mmm, you're right about that." Cassandra bit the edge of her lip, her legs idly kicking back and forth as she sat on top of her desk. "Though, tell me, why should I become your assistant and not the other way around? After all, I can say that I've been a pretty successful performer in my own right already."

Jack: "Can you do magic without your powers?" he asked.

Cassie: "I can bend my legs behind my head," she offered, a sheepish smile on her lips. "Does that count? Some would say that's quite magical to behold."

Jack: "Pfft, I can do that too, though I don't get the same responses." He joked, "But that's the reason why. It sounds silly, but without your magic powers, you can't do anything magical."

Cassie: Cassandra slumped her shoulders, cocking her head with a pout on her face. "Fair point," she admitted, leaning back on the desk. "I guess it's no use to try and impress you with the coin behind your ear trick, no?"

Jack: Jack gave a quizzical look, both his large ears perking upwards, "These ears? Girl, I can hide a coin in there without any magic."

Cassie: "Maybe I should check them for any lost change," Cassandra suggested with a light-hearted laugh, before she fixed Jack with a thoughtful look, her expression inscrutable. "Fine, we have an agreement then. I'll be your assistant, and you teach me the secret tricks of your trade."

Cassie: "Deal?" She spat onto the palm of her hand and held it out.

Jack: "Deal! First things first, let's get this trailer stripped bare." he said, after slapping his hand into hers. He glanced from her to the innards of the trailer.

Cassie: "You're right," she agreed, following his gaze. The next moment she hopped off the desk and and proceeded to pull her collection of costumes out of the closet. She looked back at him over her shoulder. "Why stop with the trailer, though?"

Jack: "Hmm?" he asked, taking a second longer to realize what she was meaning. "If we start that then we'll never finish this... but we can compromise. Strip ourselves, strip the place, and then we'll see if anything else happens."

Cassie: Turning around, she dropped a pair of her self-made costumes into one of the suitcases. "I'd say that's a foregone conclusion." Cassandra laughed. "Though, I agree that we should clear at least the bed before we do anything else."

Cassie: Stepping up to Jack, she raised a hand to gently trace her fingertips down his cheek. "And once the work is done, we properly say farewell to my old trailer, and celebrate our new partnership."

Jack: "Well then, we better get a move on." he said, his hands slipping up under her shirt and already starting to pull it up to strip her. "Naked moving is the best kind."

[Starfish]

For the record, the dinosaur backpack was added as a nod to canon that was impossible to pass up...