OPEN | Tonight the foxes hunt the hounds

[backwordscompatible]

Characters: Zatanna & Open
Date: Early September
Location: Mu-Hao to start, though mostly just around Keelai
Situation: Revenge is a dish best served cold; as such, Zatanna enlists her favorite partner in crime to get back at Wan before making a run for it.  In the meantime, catching up with some of the current Turtle population.

Warnings/Rating: None


She wasn't entirely sure when a single challenge had turned into an all-out prank war, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with Wan using his then-secret nature of technically-Korra-even-though-not-actually-Korra to get past her room Wards.  Rude.

It was perfect.  He had snuck into her room, so she would simply keep him out of his.  For a little while, anyway.  Jack had been all too eager to help her, because of course he was.  Setup took minutes.  They only had to wait until he was long gone for the morning.  A thick block of ice covering his door, and a second blocking the window.  He was, in essence, frozen out of his room until the ice melted.

From there, she quickly decided a clean escape while she had the chance was best.  She would return to the scene of the crime later, for sure, but in the meantime, she was suddenly up for a nice, long stroll around the city.

And if someone just so happened to catch her in yet another fit of laughter, well...depending upon who it was, she might be up for explaining over a milkshake.  Preferably chocolate.  With extra whipped cream.

She'd earned it, after all.



((ooc: general mingle for anybody who wants to run into a giddy Zee pretty much anywhere around the city.  Just specify in any starter threads and I'll roll with things~))

Comments

[wintershepherd]

Jack was wearing sort of a stupid grin as he slid into the seat across from Zatanna. "You realize that between the two of us, there's enough magic in that ice to make it last from now til Christmas?"

[backwordscompatible]

It was a stupid grin, but it suited him.

(...wait, that came out wrong.)

For Zatanna's part, she couldn't help beaming over at Jack from across the table. The order for shakes had already been placed, but she was still hyped enough from residual adrenaline that the added sugar probably wouldn't make much difference.

"We'll let him back in before then." She idly reached for his hand, fingers brushing over the palm in a playful manner. "Maybe."

[wintershepherd]

(She likes the stupid grin.)

"Maybe," Jack echoed. "I'm still amazed that he got past your wards at all. Do you know exactly how he did it?"

After all, Jack normally had free pass into her portion of the suite but Zatanna had shown him before just how strong they actually were by temporarily revoking that access. Even trying to move through the walls -- an ability Jack had admittedly been lax on practicing the last few months -- had repelled him just as strongly.

The spirit smiled as she touched his hand; it was cool to the touch again, with the summer heat having broken. He'd been getting better at not becoming flustered by the random bits of affection (not just in public, but everywhere). "You gonna read my palm now, Madame Zatanna?"

[backwordscompatible]

(A little.)

"i do, actually." She blew some of the hair from her face in a melodramatic puff, using her currently unoccupied hand to prop her chin up. Given how freely the pair had spoken about it, she was fairly certainly it wasn't any major secret. But it was still a bit tricky to explain. "How much do you know about his connection to Korra?"

Partially because if there was any degree of information he already knew, it would save her the time of explaining. It also gave her a momentary reprieve to better collect her thoughts, as she returned her attention to his palm. It was cooler now; she was fairly certain she wouldn't be able to hold his hand any longer than a few seconds before the sting of his extremely low body temperature took its toll.

Good.

"Absolutely. Maybe we should start with your life line."

She had no idea how to read palms herself, but of course she'd picked up a few key phrases over the years from her days traveling the circuits.

[wintershepherd]

"You mean besides being from the same world?" Jack asked, surprised. He and Korra had hardly spoken recently, and with the fishing shop still out of commission, their paths had little reason to cross. He missed hanging out with her, but he didn't want to push.

"Lifeline, huh? You might need my whole arm for that."

[backwordscompatible]

That answered that question.

"Aside from being from the same world. Is yours, by any chance, familiar with the concept of reincarnation?"

As she spoke, her finger continued its "analysis" of Jack's hand. Trailing back and forth and, when he joked about needing the whole arm, slowly upwards and over his wrist.

"Hmm. I see what you mean. This might take me a while."

[wintershepherd]

"Uhh... just the usual, I guess? You die and then you get reborn again in... another form, or something, in the future? Or the past? Like those people who talk about being Cleopatra in their past lives..."

He gave a halfhearted shrug, because dying and being reborn as someone else was a weird thing to be talking about in abstract given... himself.

"Take your time, I've got nowhere I'd rather be..."

[backwordscompatible]

Well, it's not like I'm in any hurry to get back home, either.

She made it to his arm, though it was covered by the sleeve of his hoodie, and back down again. A passing thought occurred to her, and she wondered just how much of this Jack could feel. Obviously, he had a sense of touch. But how sensitive? Did it feel the same to him as it did to her?

His palm shouldn't have mesmerized her so, but she couldn't help her curiosity. It was completely relevant to her interests, after all.

"That's basically it. Minus the Cleopatra bit. Wan is Korra. Or, at least, a past life of hers."

Which was how he got passed the Ward. It had allowed access to Korra, and Wan had taken full advantage of that loophole to sneak himself in.

[wintershepherd]

Jack had to stop for a moment to try and wrap his brain around Wan and Korra being the same person. He'd have asked Wan how that worked, but he was fairly certain his roommate believed Jack was angry with him over something, possibly their first meeting.

"So the wards though he was Korra," he puzzled out, flexing his fingers a little as her light touch tickled. He didn't get goosebumps, but he definitely felt the sensation.

/in Mu-Hao if that's ok!

[onethirdthesoul]

... [Well Ryou lived in Mu-Hao, but he had yet to actually meet Zatanna, so when he saw the iceblock on his way back home he didn't jump to any conclusions. He taps it curiously as he wonders if it was just a prop; a really convincing and cold prop.]

I thought Wan could only use fire powers? [He folds his arms as he thinks, and after a minute snaps his fingers with a brilliant realization.]

Oh, he must have a cold! [Nailed it.

With that mystery solved Ryou heads downstairs to see if anyone else is home. Clearly they could help him get something for Wan's cold.]

/'sup roomie

[backwordscompatible]

[Had she been around to hear the pun, she might have been proud.]

[As it was, Ryou was fortunate that Zatanna was very much aware of the double-trouble Bakura situation, and thus, knew that the white haired boy currently residing in her home was not the same one she shared a...tense relationship with. Not to the point of downright animosity, but certainly at a level where his sudden presence would have caused more than a stir.]

[She returned home from her fabulous afternoon bright-eyed and slightly hyped up on sugar, and was even giggling to herself when she passed by him downstairs.]

Looking for something?

/nm, I take it we're assuming they've met before? :o

[onethirdthesoul]

[If only it had been an international pun, instead of Ryou grossly misunderstanding how Wan's magic worked... Maybe it's a good thing she didn't hear after all.

When he sees Zatanna he greets her with a smile.]

Oh, hey! You look like you've had a good day. [Clearly she did only admirable things and totally didn't prank their housemate or anything like that!]

I was just looking for some cold medicine.

/That's up to you! The only assumption I'm making is that she'd seen the Bakura/Bakura network post

[backwordscompatible]

[Clearly. She was just a very admiral person like that. Yup.]

You could say that.

There's some tea in the kitchen, if that helps any. Though you don't look very sick to me.

/gotcha! I'll just go for "exchanged names" at least o7

[onethirdthesoul]

Oh, it's not for me. I think Wan-san has a cold, since his door is frozen over.

[He seems awfully cheerful for someone who thinks their friend is sick, but...he's just really happy to help, okay!

But moving on to more important matters...]

Soo... Do you want to share, or is it a secret? [Somebody's nosy. As teenage boys tend to be.]

/makes sense, if they've been roommates since he got here, y'know?

[backwordscompatible]

[It took a second. A very long second. But, eventually, she realized that he was...actually serious?]

Wait, what?

You think he has a cold...because there's ice on his door?

/my thoughts exactly

[onethirdthesoul]

[Zatanna no, he wanted to hear the gossip...]

Well, yeah... He normally has fire powers, so maybe when he's sick they reverse.

[That makes absolutely no sense. Actually, he's starting to realize that the more he thinks about it.]

[backwordscompatible]

[There's always time for gossip. Later. Especially when part of it involves their remaining roommate....]

Yeah. No.

[Oh no she's trying so hard not to burst out laughing right there and then.]

I can guarantee that's not what happened.

[raavashing]

[Wan encountered the ice blocking his window first. He was able to make it melt, but it re-froze almost immediately. Despite the melting, it remained perfectly in place where it had gone up before the re-freeze. Just sort of a wall of water. He suspected Jack immediately because Jack was the Winter Spirit.

He went inside, only slightly annoyed at the prank and headed up to his room the normal way. Finding a second block of ice sent him into more of a panic. While the lack of access was a personal aggitation, the fact that his room usually played host to a dozen or more small animals plus Mula was of a bigger concern.He couldn't see into the main part of his room to see if they were stuck inside or not. He called out for Mula, but if she was inside, she wasn't responding. And she wasn't in the courtyard grazing or outside the house nearby so if she wasn't inside, she wasn't close. That was it's own concern. But also one he didn't know if he needed to worry about or not since... well, he couldn't tell if any animals were in his room.

His agitation and panic only rose as the day wore on. He could melt the ice all he wanted but he couldn't get rid of it and he couldn't walk through it. It would refreeze and he would be blocked by whatever was holding it's shape.

By the time Zatanna returned to the house, Wan was spending his time pacing the floor near the door, arms crossed and clearly strung out.]

[backwordscompatible]

[Zatanna had an evil streak in her, to her sure, but she wasn't mean; of course she and Jack had taken care to make sure that the room was completely empty before sealing it off.]

[Not that Wan would know that, of course.]

[And not that she would have known the extent to which the original Avatar would freak. Coming home from what she considered to be a successful afternoon, she was all innocence and smiles as she caught sight of a pacing Wan.]

You look a little tense.

Try some tea. I hear it does wonders for the nerves.

[raavashing]

[Wan stared at her with wide eyes for a long moment before shaking his head.]

I can't. Even if I wanted to, my teapot is in my room and my room...

[He slid very fast into Zatanna's personal space, leaning in with fearful eyes.]

Did Jack say anything to you about me upsetting him somehow this morning? Did I do something wrong? Something that made him mad?

[backwordscompatible]

[...whoa, self space there, pal.]

[Zatanna took a very slow, deliberate step back. Almost too caught off-guard to feel a hint of guilt at Jack getting all the blame for something she had technically put him up to.]

What makes you think it was Jack?

[raavashing]

There's ice over my door and window! And it won't melt! I keep trying to make it melt but it refreezes and even when it is melted, it just stays in place! Like a big block of water!

[He didn't seem to notice the deliberate pulling back because he followed her as she moved, keeping himself in that personal space out of panic.]

I haven't been able to get in all day! Do you know how many hours that is?

[backwordscompatible]

[For every step forward he took, she took another back. Further and further until...there was suddenly a wall behind her.]

I can guess.

And he's not mad at you. [She would have liked to say it wasn't him, except it technically was.] We were together all afternoon. I'd notice if he was mad at someone.

[raavashing]

But no one else here has power over ice!

[Wan finally pulled away as he turned around to walk back the other direction, arms flailing to either side.]

If he didn't do it, then who did? And how did they do it? How did they get inside to do it? It's over both my window and the door to my room.

[Because obviously if Jack wasn't mad at him, he had no reason to have done it. Jack wasn't the one Wan had a prank war going on with, after all.]

[backwordscompatible]

[He...genuinely had no idea, did he? It was almost adorable if it weren't for the fact that he had her all but pinned.]

It never occurred to you that this could all be...I don't know... magic?

[Starting off subtle, to see how much it took for him to connect the dots.]