tushanshu_logs | ( closed )

Entry tags:

( closed )

Characters: Kyle & Zatanna.
Date: After this.
Location: Cafe, Wood Sector.
Situation: Zatanna has a few questions.
Warnings/Rating: None, will be added later if necessary.

[ He arrives early to scout out the place: caution is slowly veering into paranoia and the Emperor's death is no guarantee any of the other Foreigners won't be next. He's dressed simply in civilian clothes: wearing the green sweater Aya gave him, sitting at a table which affords him a good view of those approaching, as well as the interior of the cafe, looking suitably innocuous. Having to consciously be so is much harder than letting his natural outwardly amiable demeanour take over for him. ]

[ Using that now feels like a lie he doesn't want to tell. Instead, he practices an easy smile - one he's picked up from Jim - with the waitresses and orders two coffees, waving Zatanna over when she arrives. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Oddly enough, just the act of contacting Kyle at all seems to have lifted at least some of the weight from her shoulders. Her smile as she approaches the Green Lantern is a lot less forced, and she ever manages to offer a friendly wave before slipping into the seat directly across from him.]

Hey. Thanks for meeting with me so out of the blue.

It's just...this has been weighing on me since yesterday, and I didn't know who else to ask.

[He passes over a cup of coffee and signals to the waitress that she should bring them something to eat. Something about Kyle seems a lot more on edge, but otherwise he's as he always is around her: relaxed.]

You know the funny thing about this place? They have fantastic cupcakes. You're eating one - no arguments - and then we'll talk, okay?

[The on edge thing seems a bit...off to her. Something she can't quite place. But soon enough, he's smiling and demanding that she consume sugary treats, and really, who was she to protest?]

So who's arguing?

What's the flavor of the day? I'll have that one.

[He double-checks the menu.]

Chocolate. Can't go wrong there, can we?

It's like you very purposely planned this just to cheer me up, didn't you?

[She is on to your conniving ways, Kyle.]

[He grins, wickedly.]

What on turtle gave you that idea?

A certain Green Lantern who seems to take it upon himself to both scold and spoil me all in one brotherly package.

That's what.

[He holds up both hands, palms facing her, and chuckles.]

Guilty as charged.

Better you than me.

[While she's still smiling brightly, the waitress comes over and takes their order. She orders two chocolate cupcakes--(happy, Kyle?)--and a tall glass of milk to wash it down with.]

[Kyle gets a small pastry for himself, and their food arrives quickly enough. He takes a few bites before looking at her.]

So, what's up?

[She makes a point of taking a large bit of her own cupcake, deal fulfilled, before setting it down and wiping at her mouth.]

Okay, first, I want you to promise that you'll hear me out. [A pause, letting that condition sink in, before adding:] It's about Jack.

[She gets a Look.]

Zee, I will always hear you out. [Instead of the firm authority he intends, it comes out wounded. What made her think he wouldn't listen to her?]

Go on.

[In her subsequent defense, she has the grace to look slightly sheepish for the preface.]

Just checking. I didn't want you to think I was here to pick a fight again.

[As seemed to be the case in the majority of past conversations where the Winter Spirit was involved.]

Okay, so a couple days ago was his one-year anniversary of getting suck in Turtle Land with the rest of us. It was also the one-year of the first day we met, so I decided to surprise him with a day out of fun. One of the things I wanted to do for him was take him way, way out near Turtle's edge, where it would be just the two of us.

I asked Jack if he would do some of his snow magic for me, like he did way back when. It wouldn't affect me, and it would give him a chance to let loose without having to worry about hurting anyone. [Her smile faltered as she thought back to his initial reaction:] He refused.

[Kyle listens, intently, his spoon idly striking the plate. Jim'd told him as much as he could about what'd happened with Spock, and while Kyle felt some measure of responsibility he hadn't been able to talk Jack out of self-pity. Neither had Damian, but then again, he was aware they were both too blunt.]

... And you blame me?

[Like Jack does?]

[She actually had to stop and think about it for a moment. She knew that part of it had to do with the past arguments between himself and Jack.]

No. Yes. Maybe. A little. I don't know.

[She sighed, slouching a bit in her seat in a very unladylike fashion.]

I know it has something to do with the arguments you two have had, but I'm starting to think that maybe I'm doing something wrong whenever I try to help.

[Internally, a small part of him shuts off. He doesn't need the guilt or the emotion right now, so he packs it away, even knowing it'll explode later. It's not a bridge he wants to cross right now.]

None of us can help him if he doesn't want to be.

[He shrugs, and under the table clenches and unclenches one hand, distantly focused on the movement.]

Not using his ability ever isn't what I meant. Nobody listens.

[He doesn't care that he sounds petulant - almost childishly so - it's just a pattern and he's sick of being Cassandra Truth.]

[And this is why she prefaced with the declaration that she didn't want to fight.]

Well, I'm listening now. So...help?

I just want Jack to be happy again. Like I feel, whenever I get to cast a good spell. [A pause, and she thinks back to recent events.] ...okay, maybe that was a bad example.

[He takes a breath. She's listening. Okay. Calm.]

... I don't have any ideas, Zee. This place has worn us all down.

[Her eyes fell to the cupcake in front of her. Only a single bite.]

Yeah. I know.

I'm so torn sometimes, Kyle. I love the people I've been able to meet here. You. Jack. Korra. Dick and I get to live next door to each other. Not being stuck inside the Helmet of Fate is a pretty big plus too. It's just... [Her voice trailed off, and she scrunched her nose in frustration as the proper words failed to come.] There's something about this place. I can't even figure out what exactly it is.

[He reaches forward, cuts a piece with his spoon, and holds it out for her.]

We can't fly.

[It's the first time he's managed to articulate the problem for himself, and he exhales, looks down at the table, seeing the patterns, before meeting her eyes.]

Can't really do what you're meant to as freely as you'd like here. It's life in a war zone.

[And he's used to it. He missed it. He feels sick, all of a sudden, and pushes it back down.]

[She recognizes the offering for what it was, and accepted it with an eager bite, pulling the spoon clean with her own hand.]

It's a war that doesn't always feel like a war.

Sometimes, I almost forget.

[He smiles, fleetingly, and takes a few more bites of his own.]

Well, given that jerk is kind of hanging around like a really ominous cloud, I wouldn't blame you.

[Another shrug.]

Maybe just... let this one go and see where it leads. Something'll happen. It usually does.

In my experience, jerks don't know any other way to hang around.

[What Kyle said made sense to her. Wouldn't it be a weight off her shoulders to just...let things happen?]

Are you sure?

You didn't see the look on his face, Kyle. He was so upset. Like he wanted to say yes, but knew he couldn't. I'm worried about him. Holding your magic in for too long like that...it's just not right.

Superhero rule #3: Knowing when not to interfere is just as important as knowing when to.

[He too, has a soft heart, but he knows now he misjudged going to talk to Jack. It wouldn't have helped if he did or didn't. This was just something the spirit had to work out for himself.]

[She blew some of the hair from her eyes, and buried her chin in folded arms across the top of the table.]

Have I ever mentioned how much the rules suck?

[Gently, as he holds out his spoon with cake for her-]

Not these ones.

[She purposely scrunches her nose and glares at the cake, as if it were the main offender in this conversation, before resigning herself to taking another mouthful.]

Yussh. 'hey a'hh [A moment to swallow, and then:] They're telling me not to do something I want to do. Therefore, they suck.

[He actually smiles fondly.]

Usually because it's for the best. Order over chaos.

[Zatanna, on the other hand, did not return the smile. If anything, her eyes darkened a fraction at the expression. Regardless of whatever Kyle might have meant by it, it only served to remind her of Klarion and Doctor Fate. She was a fan of neither.]

Does it always have to be one or the other?

[Kyle, on the other hand, would take the lesser evil over the greater one, and while he wasn't fond of Fate, he was less fond of Klarion. However, he just keeps spoon-feeding her cake, playfully, not pushing any of the bites.]

If there's a third option besides "do nothing", I'd love to know.

[For reasons beyond her, she keeps complying each time. Taking another bite. And another. As if this were a perfectly normal thing to be doing, letting him literally feed her spoonfuls of cupcake at a time.]

Still working on that part.

Never really was much of a planner.

Give it a try, huh?

[It's a gentle suggestion: to explore an alternative option. Hell, he knows he'd balk at it, he was so used to going by instinct. Yet it hadn't served him well here.]

[She shrugged in between bites.]

Spontaneity tends to work better for me.

Pretty much every thing I've ever planned has gone all wrong. I either get turned down or somebody turns out to be gay. You have no idea how frustrating that gets after a while.

[Kyle frowns, puzzled.]

Who turned you down and do I need to hit them?

[A hint of play goes into the words.]

[She actually laughs from the irony.]

Robin did. [Specifically Robin. Not Dick.] It's kind of a long story...although I guess you might be able to guess some of it.

As for hitting him, I'd say you'd have to catch him first.

[He grins.]

You really just left an opening for me to say: where there's a will, there's a way?

And you chose to take said opening.

If he asks later, I had no part in this, deal?

Now now, I didn't want to disappoint a lady.

[He laughs, sudden, but delighted.]

Deal.

[And then he's about to hold out more cake, but cheats and eats this spoonful himself.]

[She had been ready to take another bite--when suddenly, the spoon was in his mouth instead. Cue the faux indignation.]

Wow. I see how it is, Kyle.

Maybe I should start stealing some of your food, hmm?

[Wow rude he can totally eat her food!!]

[Sing-song:] Trying and succeeding are two different thi-ings!

Fortunately for me, I'm good at both.

[And she leans forward, fork suddenly in hand, and dive-spears for his cupcake]

[He counter-attacks with his spoon, but it's futile.]

Noooooo!

[He keeps his voice low enough that the other people in the cafe won't stare, but dramatic enough for her to enjoy the effect.]

[Oh, she very thoroughly enjoys circumventing his evil spoon with her valiant fork, taking a large spearful of cake and--in slow motion, of course--bring it to her mouth.]

You know, they were right. Victory is sweet. And chocolaty.

[Kyle eyes her in mock-horror.]

Curses! Foiled!

[She laughed. Not caring who saw. They were acting completely ridiculous, and she didn't care. She'd needed the ridiculous, after talking about the things they had.]

[And, just to show her appreciation, the next spearful--of her own cupcake, no less, she held up to him in a peace offering.]

[Kyle, on the other hand, did care. Not out of shame, but they'd already been informed there was at least one enemy agent around them, watching, and this was exactly the kind of thing they did watch for. Slip-ups. Small details people didn't mind revealing, but gave you clues to the whole person. Kyle'd never been actively observant (he used instinct) but he was beginning to pick up on the patterns.]

[And there was always, always the voice in the back of his mind telling him he was getting complacent.]

[He grins and eats the offering anyway, chewing dramatically.]

[Ham.]

[While he was busy giving his jaw a workout, she took another bite for herself, then washed it down with a healthy gulp of the ice cold milk she had been given as well.]

I'm so glad you came out here with me today, Kyle. I really needed this.

Glad to.

[He'd needed it too, but he finds himself... not admitting to that openly, and instead smiles at her and works on the cake.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( closed )

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject