She took his hand, leading him back to the cafe she’d been sitting in, reassuring herself that he’d be able to make sense of this. The other one was supposed to fix this sort of thing. She was broken, she had to be. “They have chocolate pastries here, like the ones you got last time.”
“Chocolate, okay,” Kyle said as he found himself pulling her chair out. He pressed Zee down into it with one hand, his other still clasped tightly with hers. She looked up at him again with those eyes and released him, and he nodded once and headed inside. Kyle ordered two cafe au lait and cannoli with chocolate ganache, as well demanding a small bowl of the homemade marmalade. He didn’t know why, but the tang of the preserve made his mouth water. And he waited for the coffees and watched Zee sitting long-necked and cross-legged in the sunlight, and his mouth watered more.
An exasperated waiter shooed him out and Kyle sat down, corner to Zee as they were served. The time ordering in the cafe was supposed to give him time to process what Zee had just told him, but instead he was too busy thinking of citrus and creamy skin. Well, better follow the Lantern code and just wing it.
“You ran away,” he finally echoed her statement, and that was when it sunk in; or at least, barbs of realization did. Thngs they spoke about for ages and most recently in the Arboretum, culminating with her agonizing wait in the Medbay. He put five tiny teaspoons of sugar in his cup and stirred as he reworded what she’d said. ”You had to get away? From…”
Their mish-mash family was always somewhat fascinating to Kyle, visually. Jet black hair and brilliantly blue eyes on the lot of them - Clark, Zee, Billy. A lot of the same, subtle variations, but still a lot of the same.
Father’s Day in Paris, away from lots of the sames and the little variation…
Kyle slurped his coffee, the heat stinging his lips as he asked her, “But Sindella had blond hair, didn’t she.”
Christ, that was possibly the worst thing to say. Or well it would be, if Zee was her usual chill, pleasant self. But right now, she wasn’t usual, chill or particularly pleasant. But what Kyle realized - with a sort of reverent fascination - was that she was still, very much herself.
Under the table, his leg involuntarily twitched and his knee bumped against hers. He pretended not to notice.
As Kyle moved inside to order, her eyes followed him, her reflection from the window peering back at her faintly. Her fingers twisted against her rings, moving them in a slow circle about her finger as she waited.
“Yeah.” she nodded slowly as he repeated her explanation for all this, her eyes shutting as she tried to elaborate, “Nothing was wrong with them…no, never. Me, it was just me.” she huffs a breath for a beat, her mouth feeling funny from the quiet she’d maintained for almost three days now, “I took off the morning after we talked because when I woke up, I didn’t know what I was doing there. Like, it felt like I’d been thrown backwards. Where did this 11 year old and husband come from, and I just sort of freaked out not because I didn’t love them, but because…” her mouth hung open and she opened her eyes, her words uncertain of how to explain that because. It was lots of things, the big changes, the fear of mistakes, but most importantly the fear of repeating what she knew.
She couldn’t look at him right now. She didn’t want to see his face as he figured out how awful this was.“I just told them I was here for a meeting. They don’t know, but I think they’re worried. I can’t get myself to talk to them either.”
Her eyes squeeze shut again at the mention of her mother’s name, “But I can still be like her!” her eyes open again and she can feel a tear against her cheek. She didn’t remember crying, but who ever did? “I got scared and I ran, Kyle. Now I’m scared to go back because I don’t want them to see me like this.”
Taking a shaky breath she added, “I just feel like I’m a black hole right now…have you ever seen a black hole?” he went to space. He probably saw lots of things.
As soon as she gets his message Zee moves to find him. Her motions are slow at first, as if her body has been feeling stiff, but as she continues she starts to jog, then run in search of him. It doesn’t take but a few moments to locate him, outside the cafe she’d asked him to meet her by. And she’s running to him. Her legs moving past confused passers by, tourists, and everything.
She can feel her arms stretching out wider from her sides but as she nears him Zee finds herself pinning her arms back down, her legs stopping as well. She doesn’t crash land, but rather slams on the breaks, her hands reaching for his and wrapping around for a tight squeeze between her fingers. Rings clicking like always.
“Thank you.” she says to him, she can feel her eyes are wide like they were a few days ago, but maybe that’s good. Her wide eyes helped her take a few steps back before. “I really needed someone.” she says, but by the look on her face she’d rather say ‘I really needed you.’
If anyone could understand this, it’d be Kyle. Maybe. Or would he hate her for it? He could hate her for it, just as long as they didn’t. They were more important anyway. But the idea of them…that was far scarier to face right now.
“So.” Zee huffed out a breath, her spent energy catching up with her quickly. She flops her hands against her side, not quite looking her Zatara best as her hair is twirled up in a loose bun against the back of her head, as well as wearing the recycled muted colored, loose traveling clothes she’d come in. Not trying to stand out in Paris today. ”Yeah…”
One of the things about Zee that Kyle had never talked about (mostly because he didn’t realize it) was just how unpredictable she was, to him. His ring afforded him a slight modicum of intuitiveness with others; it was was made him such a capable Lantern. Zatanna, however, disarmed him. Zatanna always did.
And today was no different, standing on the corner of Rue Saint Rustique and Rue des Saules as the tourists strolled by. He waited for her until she was suddenly right there in front of him, breathless, pale cheeks stained a dewy pink from exertion. She joined their hands for the longest brief-moment he’d ever experienced in his life, and her eyes - electric blue and crackling energy - stared up at him with a strange sort of relief, but tinged with a fractious glint. It all made Kyle involuntarily ‘hup’ a small breath, as if the air around them had gone still.
He smiled at her, mouth skewing assuredly to one side of his face. A child ran past, upending a small flock of pigeons which flew behind Zee. The noise of movement caused some tourists to look over at them; or rather to look at Zee. Hasty assemblage of black locks and her breezy linens meant that no one noticed Zatanna Zatara, but people still looked at her. She was after all - to borrow a cliche - absolutely magical.
“This isn’t a place for a fitting, Nancy,” Kyle announced pointlessly, but something compelled him to bring his hands up and let her watch him slip off his GL ring. He pocketed it, although the feel of their rings connecting still resonated on his skin.
Kyle licked his lips, and she was still looking at him with her large electric eyes; and he needed to keep talking at her or else he was going to do something else entirely different with her. Potentially nonsensical questions, then. Things about Zee and Paris and Father’s Day and her maybes and her guarded excitement. Focus on that, Rayner.
“Is…is your —” he dropped his voice to a needless whisper, ducking in. “— is your father here? Did you find something about him here? Whatever you need, we can solve it.”
“It’s not.” she stated simply. Words were her speciality, she always had a phrase up her sleeve rather than a card. But the chatter that filled her brain outwardly, had decidedly become reversed as of late. The conversation was one-sided and constantly circling now as she scrambled to cling to anything that would keep her from drowning in her own confusion. Kyle was her anchor for the time being, and maybe he could calm her waters.
She coud feel her face scrunch at the mention of her father, “No he’s dead.” she replied, her tone hushed to match his, but she wasn’t certain why he had grown quiet. Her chest lurched and an odd sounding laugh sprung from her, “We’re not- I’m not Nancy Drew, Kyle.” although that had been the name she’d used upon check in to her hotel. “There’s no mystery for you to solve. Just me.”
She opened and shut her mouth like a fish, trying to pull up the right words to explain her situation, each time coming up short till she finally blurted out, “I sort of ran away.” she gave a shrug, maybe that would cover it.
She took his hand, leading him back to the cafe she’d been sitting in, reassuring herself that he’d be able to make sense of this. The other one was supposed to fix this sort of thing. She was broken, she had to be. “They have chocolate pastries here, like the ones you got last time.”
[Text] I don’t really know what I’m doing here, actually
[Text] Can you come to a fitting of mine tomorrow?
[Text] RSVP please
[Ring Txt] Consider yourself RSVP’d. Be there in a few minutes.
He could have been there in a few seconds; but first he needed some time to think. Her texts were not the usual ‘ahah, sure sure Kyle, hush up Kyle’ he’d usually come to expect (and enjoy) from his friend.
Things had been a little…spikey? Yeah, spikey was a suitable word for Zee, it seemed. Lately. Her sudden mood-changes and now. It wasn’t lost on him that today was Father’s Day, and she had situated herself in Paris.
But if he had to truly think about it, he wasn’t exactly worried for her. Well - he wasn’t worried at all. Zatanna was one of the most self-assured people he knew. And a self-assured person could still be unprepared for spikes in their lives. Kyle didn’t think she needed help; Zatanna Zatara helped herself. She needed company. Or maybe just a witness. Who knew.
And. Well, if he was going to truly think about it, Kyle was excited to see her. Kyle didn’t have that feeling of constantly, senselessly angry anymore, but the anger been reforged into something more along the lines of recklessness.
And if you’re an American in Paris, there was no better way to be.
He tamped the green glow and landed in an isolated place, close to where Zee said she would be.
[Ring Txt] Allez-oop, Zee. I’m here.
As soon as she gets his message Zee moves to find him. Her motions are slow at first, as if her body has been feeling stiff, but as she continues she starts to jog, then run in search of him. It doesn’t take but a few moments to locate him, outside the cafe she’d asked him to meet her by. And she’s running to him. Her legs moving past confused passers by, tourists, and everything.
She can feel her arms stretching out wider from her sides but as she nears him Zee finds herself pinning her arms back down, her legs stopping as well. She doesn’t crash land, but rather slams on the breaks, her hands reaching for his and wrapping around for a tight squeeze between her fingers. Rings clicking like always.
“Thank you.” she says to him, she can feel her eyes are wide like they were a few days ago, but maybe that’s good. Her wide eyes helped her take a few steps back before. “I really needed someone.” she says, but by the look on her face she’d rather say ‘I really needed you.’
If anyone could understand this, it’d be Kyle. Maybe. Or would he hate her for it? He could hate her for it, just as long as they didn’t. They were more important anyway. But the idea of them…that was far scarier to face right now.
“So.” Zee huffed out a breath, her spent energy catching up with her quickly. She flops her hands against her side, not quite looking her Zatara best as her hair is twirled up in a loose bun against the back of her head, as well as wearing the recycled muted colored, loose traveling clothes she’d come in. Not trying to stand out in Paris today. ”Yeah…”
[Ring Txt] Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder, jajajajaja
[Text] Is that an invitation or a statement
[Text] I say don’t ignore it, mostly because I’m having a hard time with that lately
[Text] Really? Something to look forward to maybe
[Text] Seriously though that stuff looked really gross. I know green’s your color but…ew.
[Ring Txt] I usually don’t need an invite to end my ass up in Paris, but
[Ring Txt] Starting to get the feeling that it’s your city right now - how about you hand out the invite, I’ll rsvp
[Ring Txt] Wait - so - you tried it? I figured the cube of fantasy-soaked sugar would be your kinda fancy
[Ring Txt] And the ritual of it all, because…
[Text] Actually come to think of it…I might not actually have the time
[Text] Since I haven’t done what I said I was here to do in the first place
[Text] Long story
[Text] I’m trying not to be mysterious I swear
[Text] Freaking out. I’m in Paris because I woke up and I freaked out
[Text] oh no
[Text] I don’t really know what I’m doing here, actually
[Text] Can you come to a fitting of mine tomorrow?
[Text] RSVP please
captmarvel replied to your post:
[Text] When? Dad said he wasn’t sure when you were coming back. He made pancakes this morning in the shape of Mickey Mouse![Text] I’m not positive. Tuesday at the latest I think. Tell Dad that, okay?
[Text] Those sound really yummy! I’ll have to try some shapes like that next time I make pancakes.
[Text] I’ll tell him! So why are you in Paris?
[Text] Don’t tell Dad, because I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but I like your pancakes just as much as his. I just tell him his are best because then he can talk about Grandma.
[Text] If I fly to come and get you then you don’t have to get the plane home and you could be here sooner!
[Text] Picking up props, meetings, and fittings. Busy
[Text] Aw, thanks sweetie. You’re too nice to the both of us.
[Text] No need, I’ve already got a ticket for Tuesday. Thank you though.
