[Open Log] Don't you Worry 'bout a thing

[backwordscompatible]

Characters: Members of the Foreigners' Guild
Date: Beginning of May
Location: Welcome Center
Situation: Trying to figure out just how this thing is going to work
Warnings/Rating: none to start; will update if needed

Today, the Center is...not quite closed, because it was never closed, but the sign out front was a little more specific than usual: indicating that those who had chosen to align themselves with the Foreigners' Guild to stop by at their convenience for a group discussion. Word of mouth was the primary means of getting the information out, but just in case, Zatanna was nearby with a checklist making sure to get names of not only who showed up, but of any known members who did not. So that they could be contacted at a later time and kept in the loop.

For her part, the 19-year-old was sitting casually in her favorite armchair by the fireplace (though currently lit, was emitting very little heat, indicating a more magical nature. For ambiance, mainly) and not-quite-facilitating the entire process. Her body language gave little indication of wanting to step forward as official leader, although she was ready with answers for any who may have had relevant questions.



[[ooc: Characters are encouraged to make their own top levels for open-ended discussion of the state of the Guild; if any of them want to talk to Zatanna specifically, indicate in the subject level and she'll come around.]]

Comments

[justno]

Penny looked around the room, gaining his bearings before he returned his attention to Zatanna. He offered her a light smile, crossing his arms and looking generally as annoyed and uncomfortable as he felt. "Cute. No. I'm in your dumb club for the moment and there was supposed to be a girl scout meeting.

[backwordscompatible]

Taking in the fairly obvious body language cues, she sat up a little straighter and offered a faint look of sympathy. Did it surprise her in the least that not everybody was on board with the new Guild System? Nope. Was she remotely offended by the fact that he was calling it a 'dumb club'? Hardly. If anything, she would have been more surprised if everybody had showed up with smiles and acceptance from the start.

It was one of the reasons why she knew the meeting (which, magic or no, even she couldn't force everyone to attend) was optional. Important, but there still had to be some semblance of choice.

"Would it help if I said we have cookies? Maybe not thin mints, but if you give me a few, I might be able to fudge something."

Sorry, Penny; her boyfriend was back and the puns were worse than ever.

[justno]

Penny was halfway through shaking his head before he did a double take in response to the pun. Then he made a face of scorn and judgment and his head shake was even more deliberate. It was mostly joking. He actually liked Zatanna and respected her competency as a magician.

He wasn't even against the formation of the Guilds in general, so much as that none of them directly suited him and now he had to go forge alliances where he didn't entirely enjoy tying himself down.

"Hell no," he replied almost immediately, specifically to the use of the pun. "I'm literally becoming dumber with every pun you speak."

[backwordscompatible]

She resisted the urge to laugh at his reaction, and settled for a pleased grin.

"Well, that can only work to my advantage." All joking aside, however, she paused long enough to allow a shift in tone so he would know her next question was meant to be taken more seriously. "How's the Dreaming going? Any developments since our last get-together?"

[justno]

He made a face for her benefit, for the sake of amusing her with his disdain of forced puns, and then shifted as she did to something more serious. Penny considered for a moment -- all the things he had seen in peoples' dreams, some he knew were an invasion that he never intended and didn't like -- and shook his head. In the matter of their intended pursuit, he was still coming up empty.

"People are fucking weird." Not that that was anything new. Nor was the fact that they all seemed to have secrets to hide. "I might have a lead on one of the teenage mutant pain-in-my-ass turtles. Can you come by tomorrow night again?"

[backwordscompatible]

The first part, she was inclined to agree with.

The second...of all the responses she had considered, that one still caught her off-guard. Her lips parted in visible surprise for a moment before she remembered herself and nodded.

"Yeah. Sure. Absolutely." Though Zatanna had never been a Turtle Parent and shared the same bond as those who has raised the babies, she had nothing but fond memories of the ones who'd survived. "Same time?"

[justno]

Penny gave a small smirk at her response. It was nice to think that he could still surprise and annoy people, even the ones that knew him better than others. He knew that Zatanna had a long history with this place and with the baby turtles that he could only guess at, a history that made her more susceptible to responding emotionally and more interested in what he might find. That was why they worked so well together.

"Maybe an hour later?" Conan was still recovering from Dust poisoning and Penny didn't want to risk waking the kid. Partially for Conan's sake and partially for his own, because dealing with upsetting Sherlock was annoying as hell right now. Not that he would admit to caring about any of it. "I'll leave the window open."

[backwordscompatible]

"Climbing in your window and hour later than the usual time. That doesn't sound suspicious at all."

She said, mostly joking. Whatever this new development was, she figured there was a reason for the time change and had little reason to question him.

[justno]

"Maybe when you're eighteen," he teased, pretty sure she was around that age but not above taking cheap shots at her youth.

After a beat, he crossed his arms and looked out at the larger Welcome Center in general and some of the others around. "Who do you think'll win head brownie?"

[backwordscompatible]

She made a show of dramatically rolling her eyes. Oh, yay. Age jokes. Haven't heard any of those in a while.

"For the record? I'll be 20 this month." And with that out of the way, her expression sobered as she glanced around. "At this rate, I think it's between me and Sonja."

[justno]

"Bullshit." He gave her a sidelong glance, having a hard time believing her. She looked a bit younger than her age. And while he'd found her attractive all the same, there was something weird about it being legal now. He was partially teasing and yet entirely willing to follow through when he added, "In that case, maybe we can have a little fun tonight."

A pause, for her repeat rolling of the eyes or whatever other response she might have. Then he was a little more serious again. "Stiff competition. Why do you want it?"

[backwordscompatible]

...Penny, please. You can't call her a kid in one breath, and proposition her in the next.

"How tempting." Her voice was heavy with sarcasm, although she did crack half a smile to show him she wasn't that offended. Another time, another place...(and without the prior age comment)...she might have considered it. He was cute, and they got along well enough. In this time and this place, however, "I do have a boyfriend." She nodded her head over toward Jack, who was standing near the front of the Center, welcoming others in. "One I'd like to keep, thank you very much. Besides, I break his heart, and for all I know, I could doom us all to an eternal winter."

(She wasn't entirely joking; she knew how powerful the Winter Spirit was. It was possible in her mind.)

"Because there are people who really believe I can do it." Was her honest response. "I've been here a long time. I've seen the different government changes that've gone on here. I've met more Foreigners than currently reside in this city. Several times over. So it's not an exaggeration to say that I know a thing or two about them."

[justno]

"You change you mind, you know where I am." He'll leave it at that. It's Zatanna's choice if she wants to sleep with him or not and he'll respect it either way. The boyfriend is a mystery to him for now and the threat of eternal winter, although he takes it mostly literally, doesn't spell out doom for a pair of Magicians.

He flashed a smile to reflect her own, transitioning easily from half-teasing to mostly serious. "So you want it because other people are telling you you do?"

[backwordscompatible]

"That is so not what I said."

Leaving the former conversation where it was, she focused on the latter...although she couldn't tell if his deliberate re-phrasing was trying to get a rise out of her, or if that was genuinely how he's interpreted her words.

"Nobody's telling me to do anything. Couldn't back home, and they certainly can't here." (With a few reasonable exceptions, of course.) "But there's a big difference between taking on the role of representative just because you want to do it, versus because the people you're supposed to represent want you in that role. And, really, shouldn't the Foreigners' Guild be about what as many people as possible want?"

[justno]

"You sound like a politician already." He had a hard time believing that she was solely doing it for the good of the people. On the other hand, he was serious about wanting to understand what was in it for her. People didn't excel at selfless acts without some kind of selfish basis behind it and Penny wasn't about to vote for her without indication that she actually wanted it.

"Do you want it?"

[backwordscompatible]

If he knew anything about the world she came from, her attitude might make a little more sense. Maybe. Raised by a world-renowned superhero who regularly put his life on the line to help others...following in his example (much to his dismay) because she'd already seen what kind of villains were in the world. Namely, the kind she knew she could help take out. Even if it meant sacrificing her own life, body, and freedom for the chance to save everyone else...

But this, at least, was slightly less dramatic.

"Kind of, yeah." She replied after a moment's thought. "If that's what everyone decides on, then I'm in. It'll be another way of getting involved outside the Welcome Center. I feel like I've been getting in too much of a rut around here lately, anyway. Even with Jack back."

(No offense, Jack.)