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[From the moment the feed began, Zatanna's surroundings were a little more visible than usual. The Welcome Center, with her leaning slightly back. Clearly prepared to get comfortable if necessary. As if she planned on sitting there for a while.]

Hey, everyone.

[And to start, she waved at the camera. Master of showmanship, this one.]

Okay, so, most of you probably at least recognize my face by now. Because if not, I'm so not doing my job properly.

I'm Zatanna. I run the Welcome Center, and...well, let's just say there's a reason for that. I've kind of been here a while. Like, a really long while. Including that year we all spent in the Dreaming Realm...probably more than five years by now. Man, time sure does fly when you adjust to your kidnapping, huh?

[Jokes aside...]

A lot's happened in that time. I mean, we're talking everything from zombies to ghost possessions to baby turtles dream-hopping to people's powers getting all messed up. We used to have Emperors, you know. Like an actual monarchy. Oh, and that whole thing with the shell starting to glow? Yeah, that's definitely not new, though I haven't seen it since Ast--I mean, the Great Turtle was busy not being in a coma.

So, yeah, I guess if anybody has any questions on that sort of thing, I'm here to answer them as best as I can. I mean, I figured, share the wealth, you know? Since you all deserve to know what kind of place you were brought to, and how this whole thing all started in the first place.

((ooc: As I mentioned here, I did recently put together a basic list of plot-relevant events of the past for newcomers to check out. But here's a chance for your characters to get in on the story IC. Not ALL of it, of course, and these stories will be told from Zatanna's IC perspective, which can sometimes be a bit misleading or even missing information...but fellow Turtle Veterans are also welcome to join in on conversations. Mix and mingle and possibly threadjack at will!))

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Really?

No one's ever tried to ground me yet. Guess I'm just lucky.

[If his father found out he spent his spare time running around Paris in a cat suit, fighting super villains, he'd be so grounded. ]

Either that, or you didn't have a dad in the business.

[There were no secrets among Zataras. Well...except for the magic ones. Sometimes.]

[The thought of Gabriel Agreste fighting crime is so hilarious to him, he can't help but laugh at it.]

No, absolutely not. It's just me and my partner. She'd probably ground me if she could.

Edited 2016-07-21 01:04 (UTC)

And just who's your partner? Your aunt?

[Somehow, she doubted it. Although it wouldn't have seemed so strange an idea back home; there were a surprising number of teen vigilantes who were following in their uncles' footsteps. Always the uncles. For some reason.]

[That sure is a graceful snorting noise he's just made. ]

No way. Her name's Ladybug, and she isn't related to me.

...Or at least I hope she isn't related to me. That would be pretty bad.

[Ah. She remembered those days. Those were fun days.]

I had a partner like that once.

...well, okay, we were technically part of a whole team, but I do remember having the most fun with him around.

[No offense to Artemis.]

Oh yeah, it really wouldn't be the same without her. She makes it amazing.

[Is that a little happy sigh? Sure is. ]

[How precious.]

Girlfriends do tend to do that.

You know, so I've heard. I've never actually had one, but people talk. [Gossip]

Oh-uh....she's not- I mean we're not- Not to say I don't want-

[Wow, can the ground just swallow him up now, please? ]

Iiiit's complicated. But we're not a couple. Just partners.

And eh, let people talk.

[Oh-ho-ho~]

[It was too late now; she smelled weakness.]

Do you want to be a couple?

[ABORT ABORT ABORT. ]

Oh look at that, I think I left my oven on.

Sooo...that's a yes, then.

[He was almost making this too easy.]

[He's sloooooooowly slinking out of view. ]

Beepbeepbeepbeep.

Yep. I think that's my fire alarm. I should go deal with that.

Bye. Bye.

Alright. If you insist.

But just so you know, whenever I don't get a straight answer about something, my imagination tends to start to wander...fill in the blanks...

Yeah. Sure. You have fun with that little mental dot-to-dot. Knock yourself out.

[Boo. You're no fun.]

I will, thanks.

[And then, because she knew she could only get so far with only teasing...]

Little word of advice from someone who's been there? If you really think she likes you back...then I say go for it.

Worked for us.

[Grooooooan, Zatanna you are the worst. Still, he's realising she's not going away, so might as well make this as painless as possible.]

You say that like I haven't. She doesn't take it seriously. And the one time I actually tried to tell her properly I got shot with a hate arrow and honestly don't remember anything that happened for most of the day but apparently I was a jerk to her. So...probably not a good idea.

Edited 2016-07-28 22:13 (UTC)

[Only most of the time.]

[Right then, for instance, she dropped any remaining pretense of humor and instead sent him a look of sympathy.]

So, what, you think she hates you now because of that? You couldn't explain?

I don't think she hates me, no. It was the first time I was mind-controlled against her, but it wasn't the last, either. I think she just rolls with it. It's just- weird.

She's really strict on us not knowing our civilian identities, too. Keep things professional, you know? So...casual flirting and exasperated put downs is how it's gonna be.

[She sighed a little too heavily at that, a hand rising to her head at the memory.]

Oh, yeah. I remember those days.

...would you believe his dad had to finally tell me who he was? That's how bad things were with the whole Secret Identity thing.

Guess I'm not the only one who's sailed on this cruddy ship. Yay.

Wow, that's pretty bad. I'm not sure if anyone back home knows who she really is. A girl back home blogs Ladybug's every move and even she hasn't worked it out.

Who said anything about sailing?

We were together...basically until he disappeared on me. Went back home again. [Where they will...proceed to continue flirting even after they hook up and subsequently break up (amicably). Because that's life.] It just came down to whether I dated him or his civilian identity.

[So...still complicated, but she got a great boyfriend out of the deal for a while.]

...Oh.

[Well. That's depressing.

He would have thought having someone who understood what this felt like would give him a little comfort in this mess he's in. Turns out, it just gives him new things to worry about. What if he ever did pluck up the courage to tell Ladybug that he loved her? What then? What if she still wanted to keep her identity a secret? Nothing he's done so far has convinced her to let go of it- and he's respected her enough to keep to her wishes. If she felt the same about him at all (which he's still not convinced she does) what then?

Would it be a separate thing? Would he continue to only be part of half of her life? Would she even let him tell her who he really is? Because he wants to- so much. He wants to give her both sides of his life, even if he knows the same might not be applicable when it came to her.]

...That must have been hard.

[It might not have offered much comfort...but what she could offer was a glimpse at what could be. One possibility out of so many.]

Kind of, yeah.

But you know what? Looking back...it was almost worth it, because we still got to be together. I mean, his superhero identity had to take a bit of an ego blow, but I could still walk the streets in the daytime by his side and not have to worry about anyone seeing us.

[The question is now, could he be happy with that? So much of his life has revolved around being pushed aside, always in second place for everyone. A stupid, foolish part of him thought that maybe, maybe for once he could be important to someone. That he could be important to her.

But maybe that is wanting too much. He knows Ladybug will always, always put the job first, and he understands that. It's one of the things he loves her for. Perhaps, conversely, that means he'd have to learn to settle with whatever he got. Same old story. ]

But it's still only half a person's life. That's how this superhero gig works, right? Everything is suddenly split in two.

[It IS comforting to talk to someone about this. Someone who understands how it all works. ]

...Though I guess you learn to live with whatever you can get. When you care about them.

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