(no subject)

[zee_zatara]

WHO: Zatanna & You (maybe? Please?)
WHERE: Everywhere! Anywhere!
WHEN: Throughout March.
WHAT: Introductory & Catch-all Post
WARNINGS: Probably her dead dad at some point which may include some spontaneous ghostly combustion. Possible/Probable Constantine. Puppets and anxiety attacks.



De Chima, Option A- De Kima Kool Kidz Klub

Zee had nothing against small venues, or performing for children. She honestly enjoyed getting the chance to visit schools and children's hospitals back home, so her ego didn't take too much of a puncturing from the job assignment. She could do this until she got herself either out of here entirely, or put together a crew and found some venues for some real magic shows.

Right now, she was doing her own twist on the classics- card tricks, cold reading, and a healthy dose of illusion magic. Once she got her rabbit hutch set up and found the right little critters, she'd hopefully find one with the temperament for stage work- until then, totally illusionary bunny rabbit, which worked since she could make it talk in a cute little voice and wear a bow tie that matched her own.

Everything went well, until she finished the act, and saw who was on next.

A ventriloquist act.

Nope. Nope. Nope. Time for her break, time for that break right now, she was so, so not up to dealing with puppets right now. Maybe if she was at home, at full power, but- no. No. Puppets. She was sure she wasn't the first person to throw up in the bushes behind the building. Not with the amount of grease they cooked into those pizzas.

De Chima Option B: Father's Daughter

"I was wondering when you'd show up, Dad." It wasn't the first time she'd seen him here, but it was the first time he was lingering. Up until now, it had just been brief flashes- he'd appear, holding her hand, then burst into flames, re-enacting his death. She knew he'd never choose to haunt her- he'd died to save her, and she'd had many conversations with his spirit since then.

This guilt-drawn impression of him was all the more heartbreaking, because she knew it was her own mind's doing. Chances are it wasn't even really him, not his soul, anyway. An impression he'd left on her and on the spirit plane. Still, the compulsion to talk to him was irresistible. She felt so much guilt for failing him, for maybe not being who he'd wanted her to be. But more than all that, she missed him. She missed him so much.

She was at a bar in De Chima when he'd sat across from her. "I finally learned to like that wine you always loved. The winery doesn't exist here, so I'm trying to find something close."

Anywhere, Option C - Wildcard

Have an idea? Have at it.

Comments

A

[purple_reign]

To be perfectly honest, she probably wasn't the first person to make use of those bushes, but she was the first one Inanna had seen do it. They'd been cutting through the alley behind the building for a shortcut when they spotted her finishing up and grimaced in sympathy. "Are you alright over there?"

Re: A

[zee_zatara]

"Yeah, probably just something I ate," she lied- liiiiied. "Bad food and stress, you know? Kinda just got here and thrown into the job."

[purple_reign]

"The job of...entertaining kids?" Inanna weren't very sure how kids led to vomiting in an alley. Maybe one of them had done something gross, they supposed.

"Do you want some water to rinse your mouth? I could go get a bottle for you."

[zee_zatara]

"Not so much the kids part but the 'we sucked you into an alternate reality, here's a day job, get to it," part.

She shakes her head at the offer, mumbles a few backwards words and summons a bottle of water in to her hands "that, I have covered."

She looks a hell of a lot like the woman in one of John's nightmare flashback things. The one sitting beside her spontaneously-combusting father, holding his hand and screaming.

[purple_reign]

"Ah, a new arrival. It can be pretty rough the first couple of weeks."

Inanna takes a few steps closer and pause, tilting their head curiously. Now that they can get a better look at her, she does look strangely familiar. "Do I...?" —Ah. A sudden look of recognition crosses their face. "Ah—sorry. It's just that you look familiar."

A

[taraincognita]

[it was a little bit of a hassle to get to de chima, but tara was bored, and she needed to get the fuck out of town, a little bit. after the whole fiasco with her job, she really didn't need any more attention drawn to herself, and why not take a vacation? transport was free, anyway, at least until she was officially unregistered.

and, of course, she sees a magician throwing up in the bushes. naturally. she can never be normal.]

Uh, lady. You okay?

Re: A

[zee_zatara]

"Yeah. Just. I can't recommend the food is all. I'm fine, really." No more puppets to give her weird half-flashbacks to being one for a few weeks. Or months? It felt more like months.

"Thanks, though. Not everyone would be so concerned."

[taraincognita]

"Just your regular citizen. Watching out for our magician population."

Yeah, Tara. Totally smooth, totally normal. She glances at the woman a little bit more, wrinkling her nose when she stops the vomit. Oh, well. She's seen way worse. Tara edges just a little bit closer, brushing her hair back behind her ear with one gloved hand.

"So, uh, I shouldn't try to eat here? I'm looking for places that are really cheap, and this kinda seemed to fit the bill," she says, glancing at Zatanna again. Something about her seems. Kind of familiar?

[zee_zatara]

"I think you're probably a little old for the target demographic in there, given that you don't require adult supervision. There's a half-decent diner up the street a bit. Blessedly quiet." She'd been going there after shifts with some of the Klub's other workers after shift ends for coffee and freedom from screaming children.

"Naelc pu," she murmured to herself, cleaning up after her little... not so graceful moment. Tux un-ruffled, fishnets un-torn, breath fresh and minty once more.

@ b

[divaricate]

Wanda works in De Chima (she works in a bakery that she owns), and being followed around by an impression of her brother -- who died just over a year ago, in terms of how much time has passed for her in her universe so far -- is something that's bittersweet at best. She's not really ever stopped feeling guilty for his death, because she should have been there to protect him -- it's not as if she couldn't have tossed that jet right out of the sky.

So, here she was at a bar after a day at work, before heading back home to Nonah. If she was going to be surrounded by a lot of feelings of guilt and sadness both in herself and from others (yay for both telepathy and just being able to pick up people's emotions), she was going to do it with drinks after work. Still being followed by her brother, she ordered a glass of red wine to start with and saw a seat near where Zatanna was sitting (the one not occupied by Zatanna's mirage). "Is this seat free?" Wanda asked her. Her tone was friendly, but somewhat tired. It has been A Day.

[zee_zatara]

"Sure. And don't worry if my Dad suddenly bursts into flame- he does that on occasion. Or did. It's been a little while since then," she mumbled some apparent gibberish and duplicated her glass of wine.

"Here. Free, and disappears in a few hours. Hangover-free drinking courtesy of my magic being declawed. I take it you're not from around here either-" she nodded to the spectral young man near her. She'd noticed it only seemed to be the imports being haunted in such ways.

It's possible- or even probable she's had a few glasses of her own by now. Some might consider it kind of impressive that she could still speak backwards clearly enough to cast.

[divaricate]

She raised an eyebrow slightly at both the mention of bursting into flame and at the display of magic -- two very different reasons wrapped in the same reaction. Free and hangover free? You might be her new bff, Zatanna.

"I'm not from around here, no. I've been in this world for a year as of this month, actually." It almost sounds weird actually saying that out loud, because time flies and whatnot, but she does like it here, generally. "And that--" She started, commenting on the figure following her, "--Is my brother." She paused for a half second. "I'm Wanda Maximoff." She might as well give her name in introduction.

[zee_zatara]

"Sorry for your loss. I'm Zatanna Zatara."

It occurs to her that she's said that exact phrase far, far too often in her life. She meets people in immediate mourning way too often.

"This place really holds people for a long haul," she says, mostly thinking out loud than trying to make conversation.

Wildcard bitcheeeeeees

[heckblazer]

If Zee feels up to venturing outside of De Chima - it's a city of too much tech and modernity for most magical (or just old-fashioned) folk to feel at home, anyway - she may or may not find a certain old headache if she decides to nip into Maurtia Falls. It's a decidedly seedier town, which suits John perfectly fine.

Its a few hours after the guilt-shaped mirages have vanished, courtesy of one Dorian Gray stabbing his own portrait to get rid of the things. Not that any of John's guilt is actually alleviated, in that one of his best mates just offed himself before John's very eyes. Hence, he's barhopping in all the places he and the stupid Dodo liked to haunt with the express purpose of getting stupidly, black-out, fall-down, piss drunk.

"Lon-DON CALLIN', TO TH' UNDERWORLD--"

At the moment he's stumbling down an alley, fitting in just a little too well with the other blokes who call the street home, roaring out some song from his wasted youth at the top of his lungs. And considering his former status as a bona fide punk, damned if his voice isn't carrying a few blocks.

[zee_zatara]

She let him get to the chorus before making herself known. You just don't go around interrupting someone's Clash cover without timing it right.

"Hey, stranger. Thought that voice sounded familiar."

She had that concerned oh-god-what-now look on her face, minus the anger it normally held when he'd show up like this in, say, her bedroom, naked and sprawled out half-conscious on her bed.

[heckblazer]

And with that, the boisterous airs he put on to try ringing out his own grief slipped away, replaced again with crushing sorrow.

It only made sense that she be the next one to haunt him, really. After Cheryl, Gemma, and Astra it seemed obvious that the little guilt-trip curse plaguing people would find more women in John's life that he'd failed utterly.

Had everyone he'd ever failed swarmed him all at once, it would be too easy to tune out the noise as he always did. Whatever magic that was making these things appear clearly wanted it to be personal, to twist the proverbial fuckin' knife.

If he realized even for a moment she was real, he might collapse into her in horrible sobs. But after the weekend he's had, Zee's not so lucky.

He screws up his face blearily as if looking past her and grumbles,

"Awfuck, now they're jus' bein' mean."

[zee_zatara]

"Oh, for fuck's sake, John."

She steps into the alley, ignoring the sticky-slimy grunge under her designer boots. And whatever was on John's coat when she picked him up by the back of his collar.

"I'm solid as ever," she says, sighing. "Naelc pu," she incants, giving his clothing, coat and skin an instant thermal cleaning. Of course, it may also have the unintended consequence of cleaning his bloodstream a little, too. Who knows? Her magic is wonky, here.

C - Just. Like. At a f'ing Starbeans Coffeemart or something.

[pummelgranite]

[ Listen, there is no world where Zatanna would not catch Persephone's eye, if for no other reason than the outfit. It was a good look. Going leotard-only was a bold choice, but obviously she had the legs to pull it off. That was to say nothing of that dull hum of power that tugs to her like a magnet.

So she doesn't mask her stare from across the coffee shop. Why should she? They're both dressing to attract attention, aren't they? ]

[zee_zatara]

She hadn't bothered to change between work and her post-work coffee. Something she found herself relying on more than she ever did at home.

She takes a seat across from the WOOMPH-power-wave in the shape of a young woman and tipped her hat. "So, either you recognize me, the magic, or both, right?"

[pummelgranite]

Bold. Persephone liked that.

Of course both were true. The woman was too distinct to miss, and she'd played a fairly central role in some of John's worst memories. And a couple of the dreams Persephone never bothered telling him she could watch. And one truly traumatizing occasion he had been sauced enough to be nostalgic. And yeah, of course Persephone can recognize magic. Kind of. Vaguely. Back home, it was all a fairly simple human-or-god binary. In the months she'd spent here, she'd tuned her instincts a little more carefully, even if she rarely knew what to make of what she could pick up.

But she wondered, what would the woman across from her notice? Would she notice that divinity obscured Persephone like a veil? More subtle than glamour, just something that tickled at the mind. It suggested that one was looking at far more than a teen girl in face paint, but left one to toy out exactly why oneself. Or would the woman pick up the subtleties of her nature? That there was something dark, destructive, old, inside her. A power at odds with a fragile, warm body. A power that would burn through decades of life in a handful of months, would pull her apart as patiently and surely as tree roots cracking pavements.

The girl slouches back against her hair, casual and confident and gives Zatanna an unsubtle eyerake. Her fingers toy at the straw of her Starbeans Coffeemart Pomegranate-Lemonade Rejuvinator.

"Or I just really like your hat." The accent comes out London.

[zee_zatara]

She'd always thought Diana's presence had been powerful. Between this young woman, and Inanna, who she'd met after losing most of her lunch due to an unexpected puppet encounter, she was starting to understand how Wonder Woman was beholden to worship the Olympians.

This one didn't remind her of Diana so much, though. No, she... actually, she reminded her a little of John. Or maybe that was just the layers of English Sarcasm she wore like high-coverage foundation.

"It is a really great hat," she admits, taking it off and setting it down on the table.

A

[excessivehubris]

He'd only been back in the United States for less than twenty-four hours and he's already come across someone being ill in the bushes. Best homecoming ever!

More seriously, as jet lag was still kicking his ass, Charles had been working late at the Foundation. He probably should have been back home hours ago but, time got away from him. It usually did.

What had him out and about at this time was the need for food. He'd been down the block at a small cafe securing himself some soup and a sandwich; both of which had suddenly become less than appealing as the sound of someone retching reached his ears.

Wheeling the chair back a couple of paces, he turned it down the walk that lead further towards the back of the building (he hadn't bothered to look at the establishment's title) and called out.

"Hello, is someone back here? Are you alright?"

Obviously a silly question, but it was the sort of polite inquiry one made in these types of situations.

[zee_zatara]

Enin, thgie, neves, xis...

Her therapist had always stressed the importance of mentally counting backwards from ten in these moments. Counting backwards... backwards added that extra bit of focus, and she was on eerht when she heard someone else calling out.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm OK." Ugh, this was that Sesame Street appearance all over again.

"Unfortunate lunch choices and a desperate need to start freelancing again," she said, and muttered a few backwards incantations under her breath, cleaning herself up and fixing her makeup in one go- and banishing the other mess into some unseen dimension. Or at least a garbage can.

"Sorry, bad day." Images of sinister puppet-faces were still dancing, jerkily, on strings in her head.

[excessivehubris]

Charles approached slowly, deliberately giving her time to gather herself, before he stopped and set the brake on his chair. Smiling warmly, he tilted his head and gave a small nod in response to what she said.

"Unfortunate lunch choices can get the better of the best of us," he commiserated. "Especially when combined with a bad day."

[zee_zatara]

Either the woman knew a wheelchair user personally, or dealt with the public enough that she didn't make any of the usual able-bodied faux-pas. She met his warm smile with her own and made eye contact without bending or crouching down, and when she spoke, she didn't address Charles as if he were a child.

"I'd offer my hand, but considering I've been competing with unlimited access to cartoons via tablets for the attention and entertainment of dozens of children, and you just caught me being sick in the bushes, I'm sure you'll forgive my breach in etiquette. Zatanna Zatara," she put her top hat back on her head, just so she could tip it to him.

Saying all that out loud made her wonder if those tracking nanites included flu vaccines. That she hadn't gotten legitimately sick after working with so many kids was a small miracle- her spells certainly weren't up to keeping free from airborne infections these days.