Whoa, slow down.

[alphatar]

Characters: Bart, Jim, Korra, Zatanna, Zuko, Closed;
Dates: Late January
Locations: Various
Situations: Various
Warnings/Rating: N/A

((Kind of a mini-catch all for the end of January.))

Comments

[alphatar]

Korra didn’t even know how she had gotten to the point where the Dark Knight became a secret and sore subject; secrets weren’t her favorite thing. But she had hit that point where the late hour, the constant avoidance of mentioning Mako, and the abrupt knowledge that Zatanna knew who Batman was all crashed together in her head instead of staying on their separate paths.

"What?" It took her a second to register Zatanna’s question, but she answered immediately afterwards and matched her friend’s tone. "It’s all right." After going through half her bread bowl, Korra began on another slice of pizza.

That night of relaxation; they almost had it.

[backwordscompatible]

So close, yet so far.

This is why they can't have nice things. They inevitably ruin them all.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." Pizza was a safe topic. It was neutral. It was delicious. And it also happened to be something that, growing up in Manhattan for a part of her life, Zatanna just happened to know more than a little bit about. "The crust is a bit on the thick side, but I guess it's hard to find New York style when the people here don't even know where New York is."

[alphatar]

Those thoughts were sticking to the edges of her mind and kept creeping closer together. There was a kind of ‘settled’ status she wanted, needed, to reach with Batman and a step towards that slipped out of her grip.

Pizza always made her think of the turtles, leading to them in turn, one of them Mike, how he looked after her after her encounter with Bat-

She needed to just stop thinking.

"…yeah." She finished her slice and breadbowl quickly, though she was actually chewing and eating her food. Not just inhaling it. Whatever kind of energy that was beneath her feet in the past few weeks had been dwindling and now it felt like it was gone entirely.

[backwordscompatible]

...okay...so maybe pizza wasn't so neutral a topic after all. At least it was still delicious.

When talking about pizza felt like it was off the table, Zatanna knew she had given up all hopes of regaining the evening. Great. She sighed. Audibly. Rubbing at her temples when she thought Korra wasn't looking.

"Maybe we should call it a night. I think we're both a little more tired than we thought."

[alphatar]

An apology would probably be the right thing to give, but Korra doesn’t have one. She had been dealing them out in spades after returning to her life from her week and a half sojourn in the Water Sector. And now, she couldn’t get one together.

The sigh wasn’t lost on Korra in the slightest.

"Sure." She sank down to floor so her knees were bent and the side of her head was on the massive white paw. Reaching out in front of her, she petted the animal’s fur and Naga lowered her head which was enough to cover Korra like a blanket.

"Thank you."

[backwordscompatible]

While Korra settled down, Zatanna set to work busying herself with cleaning up. Not entirely, of course, but she at least cleaned the living room for the pair to sleep comfortably without threat of awakening to the aroma of day-old takeout. The junk, she left on the table, but the pizza and breadbowls found their way to the kitchen. The counter at first, then into the fridge.

It took less than ten minutes, but every single one of them were spent in awkward silence.

[alphatar]

Bringing her hand up under her cheek, Korra stared at the white fur she was resting on and she absent-mindedly rubbed some of it between her fingers. The sounds weren’t keeping her awake, it was late enough and she was full enough to fall asleep easily.

If anything, it was the silence that drowned it all out.

In the morning-

No, she wouldn’t wake up in the morning. Something she hasn’t been able to do since the audience.

In the afternoon, after she had rest and time under her belt; then Korra would give Zatanna that apology. It was the last thing on her mind before her last blink drifted her off to sleep. Naga didn’t move and merely watched Zatanna when she was close by, keeping her place where Korra wanted her.