𝕊𝕆𝕃𝕀𝕍𝔸𝔾𝔸ℕ𝕋║[ᴅ. ᴡᴀʏɴᴇ]

Qᴜɪɴᴛᴇꜱꜱᴇɴᴄᴇ

Vin threw a handful of last-minute things into his suitcase before shutting the red, brick-patterned bag. He rested his hands atop the case, observing his plastered forearm. Plenty of people had left their signatures and well wishes on the cast from the time he's had it. It had an array of hearts, stars, and doodles of planets from Stephanie, an unsolvable equation from Drake because he's a jerk, and the phone number of a covert guy who 'knew how to keep people quiet,' according to Jason. Dick's was simple, with only his name (his full name, thankfully) and grinning sun. Duke scribbled a small bat and left his initials. Barbara jotted down her main number for Oracle-related instances with an offer to call if he ever needed help.

Hell, he had even gotten Titus' when the dog had gotten curious about what his cast tasted like and took a small bite into the thing.

Then... there was Cassandra. Like most things about her, her message was ominous and implied that she knew everything about you, from your seventh favorite color to what you had for breakfast two days from now.

One heart may stop beating, and one might break. But two can mend and beat as one. Tell him. -Cass ♡

He exhaled heavily, dropped onto his bed, and ran his hand through his hair. Using his left hand to do everything from writing to dramatic gestures of emotion was still strange.

"Fils, are you ready to go?" His mother's voice came through his door as she knocked lightly.

"Qui, mère." He answered. "Vous pouvez entrer." He added as an afterthought. He set counting out his pain pills to ensure that he had all of his medication before he left.

He heard a wooden creaking and the smooth clicks of his mother's tasteful heels. "Are you looking forward to seeing the family? They haven't all been together like this for years, and they did it all for you!" She gripped his shoulders and rubbed them soothingly.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "I guess."

Her face fell, and he felt guilt run over him like a steam locomotive.

His face, previously impassive, softened into something that Maria Bertinelli could only ever bring on. "You're too beautiful to show such sorrow, Maman. Souriez s'il vous plaît? Pour votre fils?"

Her lovely face melted into a small smile. She gripped his uncasted hand gently between her own "Such a charmer you are. Just like your father."

Vin cringed, "Oh God, him? Ugh, no thanks. I don't even know why you stay with the guy, to be honest. You could do so much better."

Her laugh rang through the room like delicate windchimes. Vin watched his mother with a warm sensation in his aching heart. She hugged him tightly but was mindful of his bruises and slowly dragged him to sit on his bed with her.

"What is the matter, fils?" She asked with that worried look that always made Vin feel like he had just skinned a bunch of baby animals and brought the carcasses into the hospice ward of a children's hospital.

"What do you mean, Maman?" He tried, only to receive an unimpressed look from the woman. He sighed, "I don't know, okay? Things have been... different since I returned. Everything I once knew is turned sideways and upside down. Something like that, anyways. The warmth I felt at a hard-earned camaraderie turned out to have deeper connotations I was too dense to recognize. And apparently, Damian thought I was important enough to fight to the death for. I... mostly know what I feel for him now, but I don't want to get into anything that won't last. Especially when I could lose Damian's friendship because of it."

"Vincenzo, the pair of you are so in love that Cupid gets his poison straight from your bloodstreams." Maria crossed her arms, and her perfectly-shaped brows fell flatly above her eyes to display how unimpressed she was with her pining loser of a son.