003 | Action + Voice

[noitatnacni]

[It's pretty easy to spot the differences. The apartment Zatanna shares with Artemis suddenly goes from full to half-empty overnight. Everything, from clothing to weaponry to the tools she'd left in a pile on the table are just gone.

She's heard about it happening before. But like they say, hearing about it and going through it? Two completely different things.

Zatanna tries to find her: message over the journal, a locator spell she's been working on, just walking around and looking around the village. Things don't get any better, however. It's even worse by mid-day, when Zatanna pulls out her journal again.]

Uh, hey. [Zatanna's trying to smile--or rather, she's trying not to cry. There's a reason she's not using video for this, but all that emotion is still pretty evident in her voice.] I know some of you know Artemis and Static. They went home, but it's a good thing. They've got to help save the world and all. Teenage superheroes. The job's never done, right?

[She hesitates, wondering if she should say anything else. In the end though, there's only more silence before she closes the journal. She's going to answer the people who reply, eventually. For now, with the book set aside, Zatanna draws her knees up to her chest and just hides. She probably won't be that hard to find if people know where to look: the rooftop of Community Housing 5. But since she's alone--really alone--she lets some of those tears fall. She just can't keep it in anymore.]

Comments

Re: [action]

[noitatnacni]

Like being in an empty room, except there are windows. I could see what was happening, and feel it. But I wasn't in control at all.

[Zatanna swallows hard, her memories of that time clear--and what followed all the worse because of it.]

Fate is connected to his Helmet. Whoever wears it is possessed, and I put it on to fight Klarion the Witchboy.

[action]

[teenwonder]

How did you get it off?

[He holds her tighter though. He figures this story ends in patricide.]

Re: [action]

[noitatnacni]

[He isn't quite wrong, but he isn't quite wrong, either. Zatanna stiffens, because the question leads to the very heart of what's happened, and what haunts her.]

I didn't. Not at first, anyway. Fate wanted a host, someone to wear the helmet so he could exist in our world. I was a good candidate, since I've got an affinity for the mystic arts.

He wasn't going to let me go.

[action]

[teenwonder]

[He's quiet then. He watches her patiently, rubbing her back gently as she grows stiffer. This is her story, to tell at her own pace.]

Re: [action]

[noitatnacni]

[She swallows hard, her eyes tightly closed as she tries not to break down again. It's a pretty near thing, though. Her story isn't just about loss--it's about guilt, because Zatanna had been the one to put on the helmet. She'd made that choice.

Not her father.]

My dad--he offered to take my place. He convinced Fate to take him instead.

[action]

[teenwonder]

[It's not hard to guess how this ends. But it's also something that she needs for herself. To express it, and let it out... Isn't that the only way to heal? He thought, not willing to take his own advice.]

Re: [action]

[noitatnacni]

[The problem is, this isn't something Zatanna is going to heal from. The wound has been open now for months, and it still hurts so much just talking about it. She pulls away, only because she needs her hands free to press against her eyes, to quickly wipe away the moisture in them.]

Sorry. Anyway. That's what happened.

[action]

[teenwonder]

Don't be sorry. Thanks for telling me about this.

[He'll also hand Zatanna a tissue. Dude he's got everything in his belt. You could've just asked.]

Re: [action]

[noitatnacni]

[Asking is acknowledging the fact that she's crying though. Not going to happen.]

Yeah. [She dabs at the tears, trying to get it under control.] Thanks for listening, and being here. It means a lot.

[action]

[teenwonder]

Of course I'm here. We're a team, right?

[A team in a different way than how he usually invokes the term. This is a team of just the two of them.]

Re: [action]

[noitatnacni]

Yeah. [And that just might get him a small little smile; Zatanna doesn’t think he’s talking about Jason this time, and it’s kind of nice. She likes being special to him.

She sets the tissue aside, then shifts so she can lean into him a bit.] Will you stay with me awhile?

[action]

[teenwonder]

Sure I will.

[He accepts her weight against him, pulling her close and adjusting his grip on her. She can let go without the fear of falling that way.]

Re: [action]

[noitatnacni]

[She does just that once they’re situated, just leaning against him with her eyes closed. She doesn’t start crying again; right now she’s more tired than sad, but she also feels like she has someone she can feel safe resting with. The mess they’d been through before doesn’t seem to matter anymore, and Zatanna’s glad for it. She just wants to be close to someone right now, to feel the warmth of arms around her, and the presence of another person.]