cisskabob

( I don’t like that game. The What If game. There are too many of them. I mean, where do you even start? )

I don’t like What Ifs.

on_thecouch 45.5: The Lost Boys (originally 14.4); muse_shuffle March 2009, disk 2, song 17:

Music changes but the dance steps don't
When the good die young
[‘Good Die Young' – Divinyls]


Everyone has nightmares. Bad dreams. Things that wake them up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and shaking. Cissie's no exception.

The problem with her worst nightmares is that they aren't just her imagination at work.

They happened.

( Her nightmares are real. )

Rest? Of course I rest. I sleep at night. Most of the time. And I take naps. When I'm tired enough. Yeah, okay, maybe my sleep pattern is kind of messed up, but I don't miss classes. Much. Anymore. And I don't fall asleep in class--well, except for calculus, but can you blame me? People who get ten hours sleep through that class.

Maybe I never really readjusted my sleep patterns after I quit. I mean--yeah, for a while I did, partly because Traya was my roommate and she needed more sleep. I felt bad being up on the computer or whatever when she was sleeping. But I'm just--used to staying up late. I do my homework better after midnight. I don't know why. Maybe because I know I'm not likely to get interrupted?

I mean--I get up and go to school. And then I go to practice, and I'm pretty much there until dinner, and then I go back to the room and hello--no one gets homework done between dinner and nine or ten, anyway. Or--none of the girls here. When Cassie lived with me, we definitely didn't. So that leaves late night for doing homework, and I like it that way. It's quieter and I can concentrate better.

And, you know, when Cassie lived with me, I knew she'd be coming back to the room in the middle of the night. So maybe I didn't really fall asleep--not deeply, anyway--until she was back. It's not like I sat up waiting. Except maybe for a while before she left... It's more like... Well, sometimes I needed to be able to wake up when she came in, depending on what--if anything--happened. And then, yeah, she left, so you'd think I'd learn to sleep when I wound up with no roommate. I just... I don't know. That's when I do my homework.

Sometimes I wait for Tim to get in from patrol before I fall asleep, yeah. Not always, and so what? It's not a big deal if I want to talk to my boyfriend before I fall asleep, is it? I mean, yeah. Of course I like knowing that he got through patrol and is okay. But that doesn't mean that's why I stay up. It's not like I'm waiting up for him. I'm usually up that late anyway, or close enough to it that another half hour or so doesn't matter.

Anyway--I do get plenty of rest. If I need more, I sleep more. I crash a little earlier or take a longer nap in the evening or something. It's not something anyone needs to worry about.

Also for justprompts, based on this image (test tubes).

~*~

Curiosity killed that cat—isn't that what they say?

( I was never curious, though. I mean—it didn't occur to me that I *should* be. Not about my *dad*. )

OOC: Cissie's intro for on_thecouch:

~*~

My name is Cissie King-Jones and I’ve done this before. The whole therapy… thing. I don’t really get why I need a new one. Well, aside from the state of Pennsylvania deciding that I need this. Which I don’t. I am remarkably well adjusted for a ward of the state. Really.

Okay, fine. Since I played this game before, I know you have all my information in that folder of yours, but when I met Marcy and she asked me about myself and I got all belligerent and teenage-girl-ish, she started reciting my life story back at me and I’d really rather you not do that, so fine. You want me to tell you about myself? Here goes.

My dad died of food poisoning from shell fish when I was five. And I don’t care what anyone tells you, or what rumors might be flying around or what’s in that file, Bernell Jones was my dad. It’s possible he wasn’t my biological father, but that’s beside the point. The point is that he died and it sucked and worst of all, Mom didn’t have anyone to rein her in anymore.

Mom… Wow. Mom. The reason I’m here at all. When I was fourteen, DHS got involved and there was a trial and my mother lost custody. They took me away from the only family I’ve got and from my home and THANK GOD I was able to avoid going to a group home or a foster family. Did you know I’m the only year-round student here at Elias? ‘Course, being stuck in a dorm room at an all girls’ school hasn’t been quite as much fun as people think it is. I’m just saying that I’m glad I get out every once in a while, you know?

What else? Oh. I’m an archer. I, uh, have a gold medal from the last Summer Olympics, actually, so practice and competitions take a lot of my time and energy. I do the occasional endorsement and have an agent and it’s pretty cool in that, hey—I won’t have to worry about how I’ll get to college now.

I’m really sorry and I don’t mean to insult you or anything, but I really just don’t think I need this. I mean, if I need to talk to someone, I can talk to one of my friends. I mean… I have really good friends. Most of the time. Anita’s kind of busy, what with her parents being reborn as toddlers and her guardian dating my mother. And Greta’s really trying, you know. It’s—she didn’t have a very normal childhood either, so she’s making up for it? And then there’s my best friend, Cassie Sandsmark. That’s right, Wonder Girl. She’s… going through a really rough time right now. She and Tim really haven’t taken things well.

Okay. It’s been a hard few years. I mean… Young Justice broke up, and I wasn’t even a member anymore except tangentially, but ever since then, I’ve seen everyone less and less. Except for Bart, but… I mean… God. A lot’s happened. Cassie and Tim both lost family, and then Kon died, too. He was her boyfriend and Tim’s best friend, and—he was like a brother to me. And then Bart died too, barely a year later? It doesn’t seem fair.

I guess my grades have slipped a little lately. And I guess I’ve been less social than I could be, and maybe I’m spending too much time practicing but I still don’t think it was fair of my teachers to go to the principal and my social worker behind my back like this. I mean, hey—I’m not a pregnant teen and I don’t have an eating disorder and I’m not a kleptomaniac. I can name ten girls right now from my floor who fit those categories.

Anyway, I’m just saying that I did the therapy thing before and I had a great therapist and she did a great job with me before she was murdered. So I’ll come and I’ll talk to you because I have to, but don’t expect me to like it.

~*~

OOC: For the most part, this Cissie will reflect current comics canon, although her mun *hates* the Wonder Girl mini. ;) Any deviations will be noted!