tushanshu_logs | [Closed] A Spring of Advice

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[Closed] A Spring of Advice

Characters: Jack Frost & Zatanna Zatara
Date: March 26
Location: Ice cream shop where Zatanna works
Situation: Jack needs advice on a girl, so he asks another girl! What could possibly go wrong?
Warnings/Rating: Maybe Zatanna's brain breaking a little...

Jack generally liked finding himself in new situations. He was a spontaneous sort himself, craved adventure and discovery as much as the mischief and snow, and believed that fresh opportunities were as much a part of Fun as anything. But this was so new and outside anything he'd experienced that he found himself at a loss, and thought it best to get some perspective on it before deciding what to do. It was certainly a strong distraction for everything that had been going on the last few weeks, but this on top of everything else was leaving the winter spirit feeling a bit frazzled.

So this afternoon after he was done his deliveries, he flew to the ice cream shoppe where Zatanna worked, knowing that her afternoon shift would have her here, and rapped his staff on the doorway before poking his head inside.

"Zatanna?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...wow. And she didn't even have to use magic. Again.

Mental note: drop hints to people more often. She was, what, 3-3 now?

"I stand corrected. Well, sit...." She was only mildly surprised he recognized her favorite brand. They spent enough time in each other's rooms for it to not be a coincidence. "Thanks."

He beamed, almost inordinately pleased with himself, and hopped lightly into the chair, pulling his legs up to sit crosslegged on it. "You're welcome," he answered. "I thought with the rationing you might have run out, so I asked around to see where I could get it for you."

One of the many benefits of having a job that literally took him to every corner of the city.

"Hey Zatanna..." he began, leaning forward with his elbows balanced on his knees. "Can I ask you for some advice?"

"That was really sweet of you."

She made a point of tucking it below the counter, where she would remember it at the end of her shift. He was right; she had been out of tea for the last several days. Her usual morning walks were accompanied with trips to the cafe, but even the more expensive stuff has tasted weak in comparison.

"Of course you can." It was tempting to joke about the tea actually being a bribe, except she would wait to see what the advice was for first. "What's up?"

Jack laced his fingers together on the table in front of him, seeming momentarily pensive. Then he flashed her a smile and asked, "So... what do you do on a date?"

She blinked once.

Twice.

Three times before realizing he was actually serious.

"You mean...me, specifically?"

"Or in general," Jack clarified. "I figured if there were rules for fake dates then there should be rules for real dates, right?"

Right. Rules. It sounded bad when he put it like that, if only because she was used to being the one who broke the rules. Or at least bended them to her whim.

"What brought this on?"

Jack himself wasn't normally one for rules either, but there were some times when they ought to be followed to avoid big messes.

He fidgeted slightly when she asked what had prompted the question. "Well, um. I have one, so I thought I'd better have some idea of what should happen."

"You..."

This was some kind of bizarre dream, right? Sure, the kedan claimed the Turtle existed in some strange limbo between life and death and something about dreams...but right then, it felt like one of those dreams within a dreams. Jack--the same Jack who regularly spent his days creating snowcones and blizzards for children--who acted utterly clueless in just about every situation between them that should have otherwise been more than awkward--had a date?

"Who? What? How?" Nope, still not sinking in. "I mean, I didn't...and then...you..."

She might need a little time for her brain to catch up.

"Her name is Orina," Jack answered. "She's Haril's big sister. I was stopping by to see how he was doing and she asked if I'd stay for a few minutes."

A slow tinge is creeping across pale cheeks as he speaks though. "She wanted to, um, say thank you for checking in on Haril."

The blush was what tipped her off. Slowly, as realization dawned on her, she began to smirk.

"And how exactly did she say 'thank you'?"

Jack suddenly found the surface of the tabletop exceedingly interesting. "She kissed me."

(Hard.

And against a wall.)

(Go, Jack.)

"Did you kiss back?"

"Yes," he replied, the flush spreading a little more. "I mean," he added hurriedly, "it would have been rude not to, right?"

He drew a little frost flower on the table's surface. "And then she asked if I wanted to go on a date this weekend, and I told her yes."

Oh, Jack.

This was going to take a while, she had a feeling.

"You're supposed to kiss back because you want to, not because you think it's polite. Which I'm assuming you actually did, since you agreed to the date." The apron was off, now; not bothering to wait and circle all the way through the back of the store, she discreetly hopped the counter so she and Jack were on the same side, indicating towards one of the nearby tables. "And it's not that I'm not happy for you, Jack. I am. Really. I'm just...not sure I'm the best person to ask about this sort of thing."

"You can want to do something and be polite at the same time," he countered. "And Orina's nice, it was just kind of... sudden. Not in a bad way! We just hadn't talked that much before."

Then he blinked at her, momentarily perplexed as to why she'd say that. "But you know all about dates."

"I know about dates. I know they exist, and that people go on them, and a lot of the time, they're even fun. That doesn't mean I've ever actually been on one."

Not a real date, at least.

"Oh..."

Well, that wasn't what he was hoping to hear and it struck him as kind of odd, seeing that she'd made such a point of drawing the line between real dates and fake dates whenever they hung out together. (That Bunny had said sounded like real dates to him.)

"All right. I just thought it was something you might've known... I can always improvise."

"Improvise how?"

It wasn't that she didn't think he would know what to do when the time came. It was that she was positive he wouldn't, if their past...er...interactions were any indication.

"I've watched other people's dates," Jack said, only belatedly realizing how strange that sounded. "I mean, when they were outside. Romantic walks on snowy evenings kind of outside. And she asked me to meet her at one of the coffee shops so I don't... think there might actually be that much walking. Or snow, because. Yeah."

Suspicions confirmed.

"Okay, trying to figure out what to do by watching other people? Bad idea. Very, very bad idea." she shook her head, trying not to laugh. Next thing, he'll be pulling out note cards with pickup lines on them. "They're not you, and last time I checked, you're the one she wants to date. Just be yourself and have fun." A pause. "...well, maybe tone it back on one or two things."

"How is it a bad idea?" Jack protested. "It's not like they have books on this stuff! Wait, do they have books?"

A beat and then, "Tone back what one or two things?"

"They do. I think. But you don't want to go by those, either." You know, so she's heard. "Focus on showing her how to have a good time. Sort of like when you're with the kids...except, for one, I probably wouldn't try tickling her"

She still hadn't forgotten that.

"I can do that," Jack said thoughtfully, although he wasn't sure if Orina would like the same slides and playtimes he usually conjured for the younger kids.

He hesitated when she mentioned not tickling, recalling how Zatanna's laughter and good cheer had gone out of her in an instant when he'd done it. "She didn't seem to mind my cold when she was kissing me," he mumbled. "But I guess I should probably get a pair of gloves anyway. Just in case."

...then again, maybe his date actually would like it.

"It wasn't just the cold. You growled at me, and two seconds later, you had me pinned to the floor. I thought you were about to kiss me or something."

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