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[Zatanna appears on screen looking...well, definitely better than the last time she had to make this announcement, that was for certain. It would have been a stretch to call her 'happy' by any definition, but not only did she not show any signs of having been crying...she was even smiling. Weakly. Very weakly.]

[Her eyes also didn't seem to quite look at the camera as she spoke.]

Typical. Showed up just long enough to suffer through summer, and then leaves before we get to have any more fun this winter.

[She knew Jack would appreciate her trying to make a joke out of things. No matter how much she really didn't feel like joking.]

Hopefully, we won't get a rush of new faces anytime soon, because it'll just be me running things around here again for a while. I might be magical, but even I'm not that good.

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Oh, jeez. Already?

Well... I'm here to help... if you need me.

[For once, though she had done her best in the initial announcement, she was without a witty comeback.]

Yeah, thanks. I appreciate it.

[As easy as it would have been to insist she was fine...she knew she wasn't going to be fine. Not work-wise, anyways. Pulling double duty between Foreigner co-Liaison and Welcome Center duties had been rough enough when she had Jack to fall back on for the latter. Now...well...]

I might need a hand with keeping up with the Merchant's Guild ever so often. Since they're the Center's primary benefactors, it's important to keep up a good relationship with them, no matter how busy I get.

No problem!

[ Having a reason to network a bit more for her temp agency was hardly a drawback. ]

Thanks. Again.

{And though she did trust Sonja, she still had to ask:]

Have you worked with them much before?

Sooort of?

I tapped Odyni for some help with my new years party, although that wound up being... poorly timed.

Also full disclosure, I'm not sure if she likes me very much.

I've gotten a bit friendlier with individual merchants since then though. I think.

[She tried not to wince. Really, she did. But her poker face was far from full strength at the moment, and thus...there was a wince.]

Maybe...I should keep up with Odyni myself.

{Their relationship was at least amicable to the point of the occasional pleasantries.]

What about the other Guilds? How are you with any of their leaders?

[ Yeah... probably best that got put out there first, rather than immaturely hiding it and having it blow up on her later. Still, the bandage hurt being pulled off like that. ]

I think Rosyn and I get along well.

I'm also on good terms with the college.

[ She... was still formulating her opinion on Eliyen. ]

[Zatanna's bank account very gratefully accepts your honesty, Sonja.]

Okay, that could work.

We're not as closely tied to them, but I have been working on a sort of inter-Guild information sheet. Nothing overly invasive. Mostly anything they're willing to share with everyone else themselves. That probably takes up a good chunk of my day because of how many people it involves tracking down.

[ Information sheet was one of her top five favorite phrases. ]

I can do that! Forward recon is my specialty.

Great!

[She was honestly more relieved they came up with a solution than someone else taking over one of her more time-consuming duties.]

Stop by the Center when you get a chance. No rush. I can give you the paperwork and a quick run-down on my last couple visits.

[Pepper's smiling a little, too, but her eyes are sad. She liked Jack, and this must be awful for Zatanna. There's not much she can do, bu what she can do, she will.]

How much gelato should I bring over?

[The answer is clearly all of the gelato.]

How much do you have in stock right now?

The freezer is pretty much full. I think I can carry about half of that in one trip.

[Tony would understand the gelato being missing, and he could always make more. It was still pretty warm, too.]

Sounds perfect. I'll get the bowls and spoons ready.

...maybe even just the spoons.

[Because this was a straight-out-of-the carton kind of day, and any semblance of proper manners or healthy eating be damned.]

Just spoons sounds perfect. I'll be over in, like, ten or fifteen minutes? Anything else I should bring?

No, I think spoons and gelato is all we need.

The air conditioning's on right now, so I'll get the extra soft blankets once the chill starts to get to us.

Okay, be there soon.

[Before too long, Pepper was at the Welcome Center, weighed down with a bag full of gelato, including the too-much-like-strawberry and a few newer flavors that Tony had experimented with, all of which was deposited on the table in favor of enveloping Zatanna in a hug.]

I come bearing lots of dessert. How are you doing?

[The hug was always welcome, regardless of the time or place or situation. Much to even Zatanna's surprise, she didn't hold on that much tighter than she normally would. Even more surprising, when they parted, she was smiling. It wasn't overly bright or cheerful, but it wasn't an act, either.]

I'm okay...ish.

[She wouldn't lie and say things were completely fine.]

And hungry. That about sums things up right now. Okayish and hungry and looking forward to ignoring any and all responsibilities for the next hour or two.

[Zatanna looked better than Pepper was expecting, honestly, but it didn't feel like a front. There wasn't a reason for her to dissemble.]

I am happy to provide distraction from being responsible for as long as you'd like. We should probably put some of this back in a freezer before it melts all over your floor, though. Which flavor do you want first? We've got a couple new ones.

[Either because she was still a bit numb from it all, or else she'd matured/entered a sort of resigned state of mind regarding her situation...she really was okay...ish. Which was even more apparent by the fact that she didn't immediately dive into the first flavor name that came to mind, but actually took time to ponder her (many) options.]

Do you still have the one that was kind of a minty-vanilla with salt on top?

We do! [Pepper dug around in the bag until she found the gelato in question, and handed it to Zatanna a noise of triumph.] Tada! I'm sticking with the hazelnut-ish. There's a caramelly one that's super good, too, if we still have room later.

[Letting out a faint bout of laughter at the theatrics, she cradled the gelato close as she moved over to one of the plush chairs by the fireplace. It was large enough that she could lean into the back rest and sit cross-legged and still have plenty of room for herself on either side. An adjacent one awaited Pepper across the small coffee table.]

Don't be silly, Pepper. There's always room for gelato.

[Pepper giggled as well, and after putting the remaining haul of gelato away, joined Zatanna by the fireplace.]

That should be someone's slogan. Tony would definitely agree; I seriously thought we were going to need to build a separate freezer just for all the ice cream after his birthday. He's been having a ton of fun with the liquid nitrogen.

[She'd already opened the lid and had taken her first small spoonful. Experience told her that it was best to take it slow at first. Tiny scoops that would easier melt against the warmth of her tongue, unleashing its rich flavors. Otherwise she risked an ice cream headache far too soon.]

It's a wonder you guys haven't opened up your own ice cream shop yet. It's not like many of them here make gelato the way he does.

I did suggest that to him, actually, but Tony said there were enough people making desserts and something about being too busy with labwork. I get why Gene built him a lab in the basement, but sometimes getting him to leave is like pullinig teeth, I swear. Back home he'd sometimes spend days in his lab without leaving.

[And in typical teen fashion, ended up smelling gross and leaving food wrappers all over the place. Pepper's disdain for him ending up in this condition was clear, even as she was starting to dig into her own pint.]

Did you ever try cutting the power on him?

[She offered the suggestion so casually while taking another bite. As if that's what she would have done. Because it was exactly what she would have done. In addition to keeping a bucket of ice water on hand.]

[That drew another bright laugh from Pepper.]

That's not a bad idea, but I think he's probably got, like, precautions against that kind of thing. I could probably figure out how to turn it off as long as I wasn't interrupting something where cutting the power would wreck a project. Either that or convince Gene to withhold something from him.

I mean, if you ever need a hand with that...I do keep a few tricks up my sleeve.

[Spoken not only as a magician, but as the exgirlfriend of a very playful Spirit of Fun]

I will definitely take you up on that the next time he holes up down there. He does at least come home most of the time, since he won't get fed late at night at the College.

Man, I'm just imagining the prank war. He got into one back home with Happy Hogan and it was hilarious.

...I remember those days.

[She smirked fondly, eyes drifting upward as she paused for another bite of gelato.]

Tim and Bart definitely started it, but Jack and I finished. Dick was involved somehow too, because of course he was, but I can't remember whose side he was on at the time.

Maybe he was on both, depending on the prank and how interesting he thought they were.

[This was said wryly, although the impish expression was diminished slightly by the spoon in her mouth.]

Tony really didn't want to give it up, but we had more important things to do, so Rhodey and me eventually got him to drop it.

[There was every chance Pepper was right. Probably; to be completely honest, some of those early days kind of blended into one another in a rubber band ball of nostalgia. Details were lost in favor of snarky grins and PG-13 rated innuendos.]

I hope that's not a lack of confidence in our pranking abilities.

I mean, I had to go up against someone who actually found a loophole through one of my protective wards once. Lucky for him, I actually liked him too. You know, when he wasn't messing with my stuff.

It's the exact opposite of a lack of confidence. If you're getting devious about it, he'd probably have a hard time choosing who to go along with.

[She raised her eyebrows at the second remark, spoon in her mouth still.]

Wow, someone actually found a way through? That's... well, devious. Very clever. [Reminded her of a certain thief she knew.] I bet you closed that loophole quickly.

[She sighed heavily, sinking further into her chair as a sign of retroactive defeat.]

Unfortunately, it was a little more complicated than that.

He turned out to be a previous incarnation of one of my closest friends at the time. Long story. Short version is that sharing a soul, so to speak, meant the wards had a hard time distinguishing between the two. So if I were to immediately block him out, I'd have blocked her out too.

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