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It took her a longer time than usual to respond back. In the past, Zatanna probably wouldn't've even thought much of it. She knew Jack, and knew what he was like. 'A little push' sounded relatively harmless, if that's all it was, in the Spirit of Fun (pun intended).

...but...the way Kyle was reacting to it...combined with what she had already learned of events from his world...

"He never did anything to me." She started off cautiously, going with what she did know for certain. "We were ice skating together, and...I mean, yeah, sometimes I feel a bit happier around him, but that's because he's Jack, not because of any magic. I would know."

'I would know too,' he said quietly. 'I've been exposed to almost everything that could alter my mind or emotions, including the Anti-Life Equation. It's too risky for any external force to have that kind of an effect on me, however small.' All it took was one moment of reconsideration, one moment of self-doubt and--

'I don't think I spent enough time outside, but others did. I heard the kedan talking about it. And when I asked Jack...' he trailed off. 'You don't use your powers like that. I don't care if you thought it was harmless, it wasn't. The fact is that people didn't know he was even capable of affecting them in that way.'

"I did. And so did the others." Meaning the boys from her world. "Robin and Kid Flash and Aqualad. We had a snowball fight--which, in case any of them bring up, Aqualad and I definitely won." The details of said victory were still up for debate, but she considered that a mere technicality.

It was meant to be a joke, but she felt the mood taper off even before she'd finished her sentence. And she was torn. On the one hand, she did think whatever Kyle was accusing Jack of had been harmless. No one had gotten hurt. The entire day had been filled with nothing but laughter and fun. On the other hand, he was going on about mind control and Anti-Life Equations and she could tell that this was seriously bothering him. Batman-getting-mind-wiped bothering.

"What did Jack say when you told him all this?" She assumed he had.

Kyle's expression turns as black as thunder. 'He said that it just gave people a little help, when they might not realise they can have some fun. Makes it that way.' His voice grows steadily colder and flatter. 'And he said that if people here weren't so secretive and controlling, we wouldn't have needed it.'

He looks at her. 'I cannot let something like this just slide.'

A chill went down her spine when he gave her that look, and she visibly flinched.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Magic without permission, bad." It took a deep breath to steady her revolve. To say she had a deep, unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach would be an understatement. "Kyle, Jack's the Spirit of Winter. Fun is his center, and it's been a long time since people have been able to even see him. He probably just didn't realize what he was doing was so wrong."

She wasn't even going to touch the 'secretive and controlling' part.

Edited 2013-03-18 22:23 (UTC)

'That's no excuse.' He folded his arms. 'I told him I wasn't comfortable with that.' (Kyle had yelled it, actually.) 'And I told you people like us have a lot of power, and it's on us to use it properly. Most of the time it doesn't take an overpowering amount of energy, it just takes a little push, and next thing you know you're doing something you can't even fathom, let alone stop.'

In other words, Kyle thought the snow glitter was too close to mind-control, and he'd been through that too many times.

'Why does it feel like I'm getting yelled at, too?'

"You know...Batman said something very similar to me not too long ago." She tried not to sound too accusing, but the parallels were too strong not to feel the slightest bit annoyed. "He used it as justification as to why I needed to be watched. I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm not saying he's wrong. I'm just saying that being told something like that to your face...it kind of hurts."

Your feelings aren't a factor. That's what she'd been told. She still disagreed.

'Having magic used on you like that kind of hurts too.' He was furious, and for the nth time he felt like he needed to talk to Damian, who understood so much better than most. 'It did affect people's emotions - they're all feeling bummed and they don't even consciously know why. Maybe you're not used to this, but I do not like the idea of anyone's free will being compromised in any way. Either you do it because you've been given a choice, or not at all.'

"Why are you yelling at me? I already know all this. I haven't done anything because I promised I wouldn't." Not in this world, at least--mentioning that one criminal she'd used a Truth Spell on didn't seem appropriate. Not in this context, and not when Kyle was two seconds away from bursting a forehead vein. She groaned softly, a hand rising to her head. "I'm just trying to say that if you tell Jack what you've told me in the past, he might understand."

He had to. Otherwise, they would have a serious problem on their hands.

'I - sorry.' He fell quiet and looked at the bowl of popcorn sitting there, almost mournfully. 'And what exactly do I tell him? Sorry the way you use that particular power is too close to mind control?'

It's bitter, and petty, but he was still angry.

Edited 2013-03-18 22:58 (UTC)

The apology helped. A little.

"Yes. If that's how you really feel. Only a little less accusing and a little more storytelling." She looked away as the second-hand guilt resurfaced. "You can tell him about what the Zatanna you know did. That sort of thing still bothers me, and 'I' was the one who did it."

'That's a League issue, and that's not for me to discuss.' He can't look at her. 'I wasn't even planning on telling you until B did, because while you have similarities with our Zee there's also differences.'

"I know that, Kyle. That's not my point." Although, the subtle reminder helped more than she let on. "You don't have to go into any details. You don't even have to say that it was me. Just tell him something so he knows why you're so mad at him."

...and that's when it hit her.

Kyle was mad at Jack. Because of something Jack did, intentional or otherwise.

That unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach? It just got worse.

"Kyle...what did Jack look like after you two had it out?"

He considers. Well, he had explained to the spirit that the counter argument was the same one he'd encountered from people who had him before. Just like Oliver used fear and that was something the Lantern could never accept, not completely.

When she asked, however, he looked at her, confused. 'The same as always, there was ice all over the floor. My ring went into automatic defensive mode.' He narrowed his eyes. 'Why?'

"I mean his expression." The Ice wasn't much of a clue; she knew its appearance could be involuntary at times, but considering the situation at hand, that could've meant anything. "Was he angry? Upset? Even paler than usual?"

'Now that you mention it, he was much paler than usual.'

"I thought as much."

She couldn't even bring herself to worry, despite being almost certain as to what the evidence was leading to. He was most likely gone by then, but he wasn't in any immediate danger. The last time he'd pulled something like this, he'd just wanted some time to himself to think.

Groaning audibly, she covered her eyes with both hands and leaned back against the wall.

"Well, the good news is that you'll have a while to think about what you're going to say next, because I am not spending another four hours searching ever rooftop on the Turtle for him."

'I think enough has been said,' he replied coolly, as he watched her. He didn't feel any need to justify himself or his actions more than he already had. The statement had been made, the threat issued, and that had been enough.

He did not plan to spend much more time around the spirit. As if his encounter with Dream or the entities hadn't taught him enough. They were too unpredictable.

"That's putting it mildly." Her hands lowered, but she maintained the slouched posture, sending Kyle a quick look that told her she wasn't too pleased with how he was still reacting. "I just told you Jack ran away...again...and you're really going to tell me you're content with leaving things as they are?"

'And I told you that what he did ranks as pretty damn serious in my book. I told him as much.' He was on the defensive, of course, because even he doubted that he could remain on good terms with Jack after what had just happened.

"...fine."

He was on the defensive (again), and she was tired of arguing. This wasn't even her fight. This was between Kyle and Jack, and there was only so much she could say without getting yelled at. As he had already demonstrated earlier.

'Fine,' he countered, just as irritably, as he got up. He'd overstayed his welcome. 'Thanks for the popcorn anyway. I'll see you around.'

She watched him leave without another word, waiting until he was long gone before using magic to shut the door behind him.

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