tushanshu | Video; In which cold weather is clearly the best!

Video; In which cold weather is clearly the best!

[Everyone gets to see two familiar faces this time, with a couple of twists. Dick (the elder) is sitting down in the chair, wearing a bright red coat with white trim, a hat of the same color, and of course, a beard to match the whole thing. It’s pulled down, though, so you can see his face. And his wonderful assistant, Zatanna, is standing behind him, dressed up like the most beautiful elf there is. They’re both looking pretty happy about this.]

It’s getting cold out! And what does cold mean? Holiday fun, of course. So I, and my amazing elf assistant here, have decided that Santa Claus needs to come to the turtle. [See what he did there? See it? Okay, good.]

And so it is with pleasure that we let everyone know-- [He gets cut off as Zatanna leans forward, and he looks up at her.]

[The fifteen-year-old elf bends down until she's level with his ear, covering her mouth so she could whisper something secretively to him.]

Really?

[She nods, and offers a playful wink.] Trust me. I know a guy who knows the guy personally.

[Dick looks back at the screen, and his voice drops into a perfect, heavy Russian accent.] Is this better?

[She practically has to bite her tongue to keep from bursting out laughing. Impressive. She should've known.] It'll do.

[Dick grins.] I’d like to invite everyone to come over to the Wood sector, where we have a little holiday party going on.

[He stops, laughing and shaking his head. He has to drop the Russian accent.] Okay, I can’t keep that one up, but I tried! Anyway, we’ve got a small thing going on in a café in the Wood sector, with some cakes and gingerbread-ish things, and some hot drinks. And what would Santa be without his...

[He holds up a huge, red velvet-like bag.] Bag, yes! And it is filled with little odds and ends, so there are presents for all!

[Dick sets the bag down, and pulls the beard back up with a grin.] And to all, a good... day? Yeah, that still works. To all, a good day! Remember, café in the Wood sector, we’ll be here awhile!

[ooc: Action is absolutely welcome.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[That's...mildly disturbing.]

Most of them, yeah.

We might have cheated and bought a few extra dozen or so at the bakery, but only because I only have one oven and this was sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing.

[IF. Key word being IF.]

I don't blame you. It's a great decision, though. [She extends a hand.] Layla Miller.

[That's why it's only mildly disturbing.]

Zatanna Zatara. [She accepts the hand, and shakes it with a firm grip for her size.] Although I guess, here, I'm better known as Santa's not-so-little Helper.

[Go team.]

[Zatanna Zatara... She'd heard that name before. If she realized the Santa was Dick Grayson, then everything would fall together, because DC is a thing that exists in the Marvel Universe, but for now? She'll just raise an eyebrow and nod.] Nice to meet you, Zatanna.

Not-So-Little-Helper's a mouthful. I'll stick with Zatanna.

[Give it time. And then the complicated explanations and multiverse-induced headaches could begin.]

You too.

If you like. Some of my friends seem to have trouble with even that much. They call me Zee.

[Sounds like a day in the life.]

Zee. Snappy. I like it. [She bit off another limb.]

[Pretty much.]

Yeah. So do I.

So...you knew around here, or just really good at hiding?

Both. I'm a master of disguise. [She gestures to the M above her eye, because that is really hard to cover-up, okay?]

Just got in a week or so ago.

[Well, she wasn't going to say anything about the "M", but since Layla brought it up....]

What's the tattoo for, anyway? [Assuming it was a tattoo]

Mutant. [It is. One that had been forced on her. But she'd known going in she was going to get it. The future's answer to identification numbers.]

[Mutant. Right. She recognized the word, having heard it from the likes of Santo and Vic in the past.]

Is that...a good thing or a bad thing?

It depends on who you ask.

I'm proud to be a mutant. [Mutant and proud, blah blah blah] But others aren't proud of me.

[She relaxed a little bit, though the look in her eyes told of empathy.]

Yeah, I know the feeling.

It's like when some people think they're original in calling me a 'witch'. Like I was thrilled to have my powers.

It's hard. There are kids out there who don't get to live a normal life because of some physical mutation, or their powers prevent them from doing things that humans can do. People get beaten up, killed for it. I've seen it all happen.

It's not like it's something any of us chose. I'm sure you didn't, either.

Yes and now.

You're right about me not choosing my powers. I was born with them. Inherited from both parents. But...at the same time...if I could go back and choose them? No contest.

I can't say I know for sure about all the other mutants, but I understand the sentiment. They're life changing. I don't know if I would choose mine. There's a reason they were chosen for me. And I wouldn't give that up.

Your powers were chosen for you? How does that even work?

I thought mutants were just like most metahumans. Born with their powers.

[Except in cases like Wally, who literally science-ed up his super speed, but he was a special case.]

We are. That's what I meant.

[She's not going to go into the knowing stuff details. That was just super messy, and not necessary right now.]

...oh. Right.

[And she gets it. Her bad.]

It must be nice to be here on the Turtle, then. All the locals are basically like us, too. Shapeshifters.

Shapeshifters tend to get a bad rep back where I'm from. There was one in particular... Incredibly deadly woman. Smart, too. I never met her, as far as I knew. But... [She's got to appreciate that.]

Yeah. I gotta say, that's a nice change from being an endangered species.

That sucks.

I know what you mean, though. Metahumans aren't exactly rare, but I've never felt like a majority before. It's a strange feeling.

...Is it, by any chance, roughly 10% of the population? [That's what it was in mutants. Before the Decimation.]

If even that.

Plus, you can't really lump all of them together. I mean, some of the people with powers back home got them from being part of a different species or world.

We have a few of those, too. [Don't ask about Shatterstar, she's not even fully sure about Shatterstar. Shatterstar. Or Longshot, actually, while you were at it.

Just don't ask about X-Factor. Pretend it's Fight Club or something.]

Unfortunately, that doesn't stop people from lumping regardless.

Yeah, I know.

My mom and dad [And, by genetics, her as well] were technically more homo magi than metahuman...but, honestly, I don't really mind the lumping so much. There's nothing wrong with being either.

Video; In which cold weather is clearly the best!

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