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thejusticelounge2013-02-06 10:14 pm
bossymarmalade) wrote in thejusticelounge2013-02-06 10:14 pm
Entry tags:
mapping metropolis
Kyle flies to Metropolis, but has trouble finding Zee and Clark’s home, and texts her instead. —[Txt] Help! I’m flying and I can’t find you! Point me!—
Zee texts back with a laugh, [Text] With all that ring’s power you still can’t find me?! We’re in a small apartment building on the corner of 3rd and 5th! I’ll buzz you in when you get here.
Kyle buzzes after about ten minutes, trotting up the stairs to greet Zee as she waits with her apartment door open. Kyle rushes over to give her a kiss on the cheek and a brief hug. “Being a powered-down Lantern is hard work! I have to be all, like, normal and stuff. Ahhh it’s so good to see you, though! Worth all the normalcy in the world.”
Zee bops Kyle on the nose, “Oh poor baby, what are you going to do?” smiling back she added, “it’s good to see you too. So! Ready for a tour?”
Kyle nods. “Sure! Know anywhere I can grab a coffee first? No Starbucks. Maybe some cute little trendy…maybe…Superman themed coffeeshop or something?” Kyle grins hopefully, tugging at his baseball cap.
Zee loops her arm with his, shutting and locking the apartment door behind them, “Oh my god you’re such a fanboy…I think there’s a cafe a block away that has a /Superman/ sized cup of coffee.”
Laughing only a /bit/ self-consciously, Kyle jiggles her arm. “I can’t help it, I grew up playing at being the guy. It still comes out every now and then….my whole room was Superman-themed when I was five.” He looks over at her, sudden realization crossing his face. “Say….you magi Zataras don’t have a branding logo! Like the S-shield or the GL symbol. Do you?”
Zee shakes her head, “Just the top hat and tails…or as a lot of guy seem to enjoy, my fishnets. it’s probably better I stick without a symbol, I’m just some random magician that hangs around superheros. It makes it easier to keep my stage cover at least.” she pauses looking back at him, “Wait, you’re entire room? Like even the curtains and rug entire room?”
They get to the coffee shop and Kyle gleefully orders the Superman size, getting Zee’s order as well under his bill. “Hahaaa….magician groupie, huh? Little do people know that you’re like one of the most powerful top dogs in the League. Pretty clever there, Zee.” He grins sheepishly as he counted off on his fingers. “Curtains, wallpaper, posters, bedcover, rug, bathrobe, pajamas, toothbrush, drinking cup…um…figurines, comics, pencils, stickers…for two years mom only ever bought me Superman stuff. Heh. I wonder if poor old Supes makes any profit off his merch?”
Zee smiles over her mug with a shrug “Hiding in plain sight, best trick ever invented.” Her eyes widened at the amount of items Superman had been designed onto, she hadn’t realized that hero merchandizing spread that far and wide, “If he makes anything I haven’t seen a cent of it.” she smirked, toying with her mug adorned with a tiny Superman flying against the Metropolis skyline.
Kyle pokes at her mug and the exclaims over his own, similarly imprinted with a little retro-looking Superman. “Call the lawyers, Zee, you guys could be bajillionaires by now. Oh! Which reminds me,” he touches her arm, rubbing the soft material of her coat. “Did you get my text about Billy? And, that all stuff with him and…the fund and stuff?”
Zee nods, “I got the one about Billy, why- something up?”
“Kinda…I’ll explain it on our way to our first stop. Oh geez, and I haven’t even asked you - how’ve you been? Oh! And —” Kyle dipped his hand into his jacket pocket, pulling out a snuffling ball of Ribbit to show Zatanna. “I guess I should drop her off back at your place and let her bunk with your buns until we finish the tour, huh? Give the girls time to braid each other’s bunny fur and stuff, heh…”
Zee tickled little Ribbit leaning in to press a kiss against her fur. “I’ve been good, not too hard to of a transition to a new city surprisingly enough.” She leads Kyle out of the cafe and back towards the apartment Just…more adjusting to being a Mom actually.”
Ribbit snuffles at Zee before Kyle returns her to his pocket, following Zee back. He rubs the back of his neck. “Geez…seriously, I just realized. Only just settling into married life and then it’s like ‘hey! now you’re a mom!’.” Kyle shakes his head. “Honestly, you and Clark are amazing….and ambitious, heh. What’s it like? The whole…momhood?”
Zee smiles softly, placing her hands in her coat pockets, wrapping her fingers about her keys. “Normal I guess?” She lets them back into the apartment, opening up Pot and Tah’s hutch to welcome Ribbit in, “We’re lucky Billy’s such a good kid, I don’t know how I’d be handling it if we had a hard time with him.”
Kyle kneels down and lets Ribbit hop from his hand into the hutch, as Ribbit sniffs against the other buns and vice versa. He stands up, dusting his hands on his jeans, looking down at Zee with a smile. “All the mom things like…packing lunches and buying kid clothes and…” Kyle looked around their apartment, being the first time he’d been there. It was clearly a blend of moving in, settling in and child-minding. “Momhood ain’t easy, that’s for sure.”
Zee unbuttons her coat as she lets Kyle get Ribbit settled in, “Tell me about it…I just had my Dad when I was growing up, I can’t even imagine how he handled it all on his own. You had a single parent too, right? Single Mom?”
Kyle shoves his hands in his pockets. “I sure did. They make it look easy though, don’t they? I mean, I remember when Damian came to stay at Casa Verde with me and Guy and it was only three days and I was like ‘whaaaaat is this, I have to wake up and keep an eye on him and take care of him’ and I could barely take care of myself, on a good day.” He grins at her, holding out a hand to concede. “Not that I think you can’t take care of yourself. Just…heh. I guess I realized that I’m much more selfish than I thought. Mom wasn’t kidding when she said I was her most important responsibility. I was such a demanding kid too…how’d your dad manage?”
Zee squeezes his hand, leading him back outside to Metropolis, “Oh loads of responsibility, but it was like he could juggle it all with his eyes closed! I wish I could ask him now how he dealt with it all.” She bumps against Kyle with a laugh, “I bet you were the biggest handful Hardy Boy!”
Kyle laughs, twiddling his fingers in her palm. “All I knew was that I was her world and so I took full advantage of that. It wasn’t all sunshine and roses of course but…” Kyle takes a deep breath of the crisp dry Metropolis air once they’re back outside. “I mean…I know it’s weird to say but I think you’ll understand what I mean: once they’re gone, all the bad parts of being an only child with an only parent don’t really seem that important. Like…I’d take all the bad again if I could just have some more time with her. Even if all she’ll do is nag me, ah ha ha.”
Zee completely understood where Kyle was coming from, “Yeah, I’d take all the long hours by myself backstage and dealing with my Dad’s over protectiveness just to spend some more time with him. I’m just glad Billy’s got the both of us, Clark and me…I wouldn’t be able to do it without him, and he’s such a natural!” she continued leading Kyle around her block, passing by the park she’d scooped out that she though he might like to take a walk around, “Wanna take a peak?” she offered as they approached the archway entrance.
Kyle takes a few steps backwards as he notices the archway, with the art deco stonework and vines crawling up the sides. “Ahaha! I’ll /bet/ he was overprotective!! His only precious daughter! Mom was too, but in a different way, probably, ahaha. Or maybe not? She cried when she had to give me the birds and bees talk, it was so embarrassing.” He squints in delight, then grins over at Zee as they head through. “This park looks so cool! Everything is so well-maintained, it’s all English garden! The Secret Garden? I remember doing a book report on that in grade school, ahaha.”
Zee laughs at the reminder of The Secret Garden, “Now way, I found that book backstage when I was little! I read and reread the first few chapters so many times, always trying to read the whole thing but I never got past the fifth chapter! Hey, you know our parents probably would’ve gotten along swimmingly. Swapping all their solo child rearing stories…”
Pausing, Kyle leans down and points out some red-and-white-dotted toadstools at the foot of a mossy tree. He chuckles. “Aw man, my mom…if she was - as she put it - ‘in the company of men’, she seriously turned into a giggly little girl. Used to make me so jealous! I mean…she was just lonely, she didn’t have much friends. We moved around a lot for a while…” He creates tiny little faerie folk to live and play among the toadstools for a bit, before standing up again and looking at Zee. “…must’ve been the same for you too, now that I think about it.”
Zee nods with a sad smile, “It’s like we were written in the same story, but with we each had a different spin put on it…” she keeps a focus on the toadstools, still imagining the tiny green faeries dancing about, “If ever he dated when I was alive, he was very private about it. For all I knew his life was about me and his show…I think that’s what keeps me feeling like I have things together with Billy. That no matter how hard it gets, I probably won’t have as hard of a time as my Dad did with me.”
Kyle squeezes her shoulders and offers his arm for her to take again. “Awww you couldn’t’ve been too much trouble! I’ll bet you were as sweet and good-hearted as Billy is.” He looks around again, enjoying the autumn colors in the trees above. “You…your dad, he would’ve loved Billy, you think?” Kyle already suspects he knows the answer, but he’s more curious about how she answers than anything else.
Zee nods with a growing smile, looping her arm back with his, “Oh yeah, definitely! Dad loved big families, especially since he was from one. He had four..maybe five sisters, my aunties…loads of cousins too, like Zach. He would’ve loved having a little grandson as sweet as Billy. He probably would’ve never stopped pulling magic tricks on him.” with a smirk she adds, “I wasn’t all sugar and sweetness when I was growing up though…overprotective Dad had to have a reason to feel overprotective, remember?”
Kyle looks down with a wide grin, his eyes getting bigger in pretend surprise. “Zatanna! Don’t tell me you were a wild rebel, were you?! Ahhhh tell me! Was that Wayne boy a bad influence on you or something?” He laughs at just the mere idea, even if it wasn’t true.
Zee rolls her eyes with a wicked grin, “As if, I didn’t hang around Bruce long enough for his broodiness to rub of on me! And I wasn’t a rebel per say, I just enjoyed bending the rules.” she laughs trying to think of how Kyle must’ve acted when he was growing up, “Hey, please don’t tell me you were some goody two shoes Kyle, I can’t even picture that.”
Kyle ”I was the sweetest boy,” Kyle says a primly as possible, but his grin says otherwise. “I was so bad at being a rebel! I even tried to be a bully when I was like…thirteen, I think? And the the head bully told me that I shouldn’t, because it wasn’t a noble pursuit. Or something. Yeah. It was weird ahaha….” Kyle shakes his head. “Mom never found out, but…man. It really is more fun to bend the rules, instead of outright breaking them, I always felt. Bending the rules made mom /mad/ but not…mad-mad. Y’know? You never want them to be /actually/ mad at you, heh.”
Zee shakes her head with a laugh, “Oh god, you as a bully? I can’t even imagine how hilarious that must’ve been! Yeah, bending was much better than breaking any rules with my Dad too. I didn’t want to be grounded for life!” she kicks up some leaves ahead of her as they continue on through the park past a playground, “What was the worst thing you ever did growing up? At least in comparison to the punishment you got.”
The playgound is quiet, since it’s during the day, and Kyle pulls Zee towards the swings, brushing them clear of leaves so they could swing. “Hmmmmm that’s a toughie. OH!!” Kyle almost jumps out of his swing as he remembers. “Once I lost all my crayons at school, but I needed to color an art - I /needed/ to, Zee,” he says in a mock stern way, “and so I went into her make-up drawer and got all her eye shadows and lipsticks. I mean, you gotta admit, Zee - those eyeshadow palette thingies? They look so pretty! Anyway, I wet them all to use as watercolors and smushed almost all the lipsticks….and then mom came home and saw what I did. Aieeeeee she was soooooo mad hahaha. Then she cried! Aw man, I felt so bad. Poor mom….that was seriously punishment enough, and she knew it.” Kyle laughs at the memory, feeling fond and sad at the same time. “What about you? Tell tell tell.”
Zee laughs along with Kyle’s story, easily imagining little him smushing up all of his mother’s makeup, “She cried?! Oh lord your mom sounds like such a sweetie, aww the poor thing!” swinging lightly back and forth, dragging her boots against the well worn mulch that covered the ground beneath her she thought over the worst possible offense she had ever pulled off, “Oh ok got it. I was like, 15 and one of the guys that worked backstage for my Dad at a show in Paris offered to take me to a party and take me back before the show was even on it’s second encore. Well I got to the party and things were great, dancing singing tons of fun but the guy totally ditched me! I ended up having to call my dad on some random street corner in the middle of Paris because I was too scared to travel any further to find my way home! He couldn’t stay mad at me for too long since I’d pretty much learned my lesson on my own, but man he watched me like a hawk after that…”
Kyle boggles at her and laughs in sympathy, as he gains altitude on his swing. “What the hell, that guy just ditching you! You poor thing, that must’ve been so scary! And oh man, your dad must’ve been…well I dunno really. What /do/ dads do when they get mad and freaked out? Cold shoulder? Mom used that one a lot with me, heh.”
Zee nods, “You expect this big huge explosion of shouting and screaming, but it’s just quiet…worst of all the added ‘I’m disappointed in you.’ Gah that cut right to the core!” nudging her boot against the mulch once more she added quietly, “I still remember the look on his face when he said it too..”
“Ooooooh the disappointed thing…I’ve seen that happen in TV shows, with dads, ahah…man. Zee….!” No one else around, Kyle momentarily freezes their swings in mid-swing so he can look at her. “Geez….I mean, I was telling a story from when I was a kid, but…Billy’s like right on the edge of teenagerhood! And man…I used to shoplift and try cigarettes and try to get drunk and listen to really really obnoxious music…” Kyle stares at her for a moment but then relaxes. “But look who I’m talking about. It’s Billy! He’ll probably be a perfect teenager, I’ll bet.” It’s weird to realize that Zee and Clark got Billy at the age he is now. Kyle starts the swings again, looking ahead. “You and Clark ever considered…y’know…starting from scratch?”
Zee smiles, the wind brushing through her hair as she pumps her swing higher, “I don’t anticipate him being the perfect anything so I don’t get my hopes up, but an easy teenagerdom would be fantastic, truly.” her stomach felt the familiar drop in gravity as the Earth seemed to rush back against her as she made her decent from the air on her swing, “We’ve touched on it, and I can tell Clark wants a family of his own. I think we’ll probably hold back and wait till we’re sure Billy’s stable and happy with us and where we are as a family before we start adding a baby into the mix. Hopefully if we do decide to add another one or two little ones it’ll be at a good time…”
Kyle relishes the feeling of normalcy, taking the chance at the upswing to jump off, running forward a bit to catch his balance. He almost trips, but manages to pivot triumphantly and beam at her. “Babies…” Even the word dazes Kyle out momentarily and he walks behind Zee, giving her a hefty push on her swing when she nears him. “So…what’s your biggest worry when it comes to being a suddenly!mom, ZeeZee?”
Zee leans back her head to look backwards towards Kyle, shifting herself forward once more as she travels with gravity backwards to Kyle, “Biggest worry? Oh geez- maybe that I just…that I flake out like my Mom did? My Dad was as good a man as Clark is, and he loved my Mom just as much as Clark loves me, but…something about me just didn’t sit right with her and she just…took off. I still don’t get it.”
Kyle holds her swing chains for a moment, his arms on either side of her as he twists the swing slightly, so he can look at her, slightly surprised. “You think…you believe she took off because…of you? What’d your dad say about it?” Kyle twists his mouth, looking apologetic. “I mean, sorry, I can get a little over-curious sometimes, heh…” He releases her swing, letting it pendulum forward again.
Zee shrugs with a small smile, not pumping her legs anymore, letting the swing coast to a slow stop, “I never really wanted to talk about it with him, and it was never a topic he’d ever bring up. He’d just tell me that he loved me and that was enough…but at the same time you can’t help but wonder if it was your fault. It might not have been, maybe my Mom didn’t want kids, and maybe she wasn’t as happy with my Dad as she said she was. I probably won’t ever know, and I’m pretty alright with that. I just don’t want to make my kids feel like they’re alone like she made me feel.”
Kyle comes around to her front as she steps gracefully off her swing, practically floating. “I can see why, Zee. I’m sorry…” He comes a bit closer to squeeze her shoulder. “I mean, you’ve obviously worked it out about your feelings with her, totally common sense too…But I can see why you wanna make it different for your kids. And you will. How could Billy not appreciate you? You’re like one of the most caring people I know, in the entire…universe, really.”
Zee blushes, tucking her stray hair behind her ears, “Stop, you’ve actually been around the universe! That’s way to heavy of a title to be giving me there buddy…so, what about you? Did you ever meet your Dad?”
Kyle starts to walk, kicking leaves as they stroll. “I have been! So you know that I ain’t even lying, Zee…” He rubs his face with a slightly rueful smile. “I met him, yeah. A couple years ago, I tracked him down. The first time I was Ion, it was just a matter of matching my DNA with everyone else on the planet…anyway. We met, he explained why he did what he did, promised we’d meet again and then…” Kyle spread his hands. “That was that. Honestly, I think I felt a bit like you - I didn’t expect or even really want to see him follow through on his promise. He made his case and…in the end, I grew up just fine, me and mom. Without him, y’know? But I know what you mean, like…if I ever…” Kyle drifts off. “Mm. Well. Anyway. What’s next on the agenda?”
Zee nods along, placing her hands in her pockets as they exit out the park, “How about we try hitting up Little Bohemia? They’ve got some really great Italian, and plenty of artsy hipster stuff too.”
Kyle nudges her as they pick up their pace a bit towards Little Bohemia. “Lookat you, you’re like a regular Metropo…Metropolitan? Man…I just love the skyline of this city, I gotta say. The sky scrapers are so much more…I dunno. I mean Gotham skycrapers are looming and intimidating but Metropolis is like…inspiring? Ahah….is my Gotham-bias showing again….” He grins sheepishly at her.
Zee bumps against him, “Just a tad Hardy Boy…they’re both great cities in my opinion. One’s just a little more positive I will admit that, but you can’t beat Gotham’s nightlife! Criminal or party wise.” leading on ahead she waves a hand, “I’m honestly not that great of a tour guide, trust me. We’re going to get lost any second here…”
Kyle stretches and rewraps his scarf around his neck. “Pssshh don’t fret, Nancy! Getting lost is also half the fun! Espeically if we run into some Metropolis-style badguys in an allyway. Please tell me they all wear masks and striped shirts and rob banks with bags that have dollar bills signs marked on them.”
Zee rolls her eyes as they approach Little Bohemia, teasing, “Someone’s been reading those Superman comics again, hasn’t he? Nah, we get more giant Godzilla monsters to tackle more than anything.”
Kyle ”Godzilla monsters are fuuuuuunnnn,” Kyle said, leaning towards her and half-tickling her sides. He’s distracted by a store that seems to sell stained-glass windows, and lightly jogs over, admiring their display in the window. “Gotta admit. Autumn and wintertime is always more…festive the further east and the more colder it gets, heh.” He uses his ring, making some subtle light tricks to bounce off the colored glass, just to entertain the two of them. “That reminds me…so, about Billy - I was wondering if, well I have this, see I really thought that, like…before you guys adopted him, I wanted to, like, try and give him something to help support him, like…a trust fund thing…” Kyle looks over at her.
Zee pushes away Kyles hands at her sides, giggling as she catches up to him looking into the stained-glass window display, “Cooler weather has always my favorite, bundling up, and snuggling beside a fire. Hot chocolate, all those yummy warm dishes…tons of holidays. What’s not to like?” she watched the slight light tricks beams against the colored glass as she listened to Kyle fumble over his words, shooting him a curious glance once she felt his eyes on her, “So…you still want Billy to have the fund you set up? Kyle you didn’t have to do any of that…”
Kyle leans against the display window so he can look at her better as he shrugs. “Honestly, Zee? It’s not out of some sort of deep kindness in my heart. I’m not being all generous or anything. I just don’t want the money, and…” He rubs his scruffy Movember chin, looking at the pavement. “D-doing this is the easiest way to get rid of it. Billy’s a good kid and deserves it. And I know you and Clark in his life changes everything for him, without a doubt. So this trust fund is just a little bonus on top of that. Like you can pretend some old old uncle of yours happily passed away, and you now got this chunk of cash for Billy, sabes? I just need to finalize it with you guys, get your sigs and then it’s all Billy’s.” He looks up at her, his eyes crinkling and wide. “Por favor?”
Zee smiles with a nod, falling into Italian as Kyle does with Spanish, “Certo…of course Kyle. I’ll talk to Clark about it and we’ll all meet up to tie up any loose ends.” leaning her head against the glass she rubs a hand against his cheek, his stubble prickly against her hand, “I don’t care what intentions you had setting it up for Billy, this just solidifies my opinion that you have the biggest heart on Earth…metaphorically speaking.” pulling her hand away and standing back upright she continued along the pavement, “So, what say I treat you to something sweet at a patisserie, hmm?”
Kyle is thrilled to hear her Italian and even more relieved to hear her softly accept his offer. He feels like a big weight’s been lifted off his shoulders and he slumps against the window, leaning into her hand gratefully as she cups his cheek. “Thank you, so much. You’re awesome, you guys are awesome. Billy is so fortunate to have you two…” As she straightens up, he does too, following after her and chipper as ever. “Ahhh sounds excellente! I’d say I want the sweetest thing on their menu, but I’m already walking beside her.” Kyle chuckles as he jostles her shoulders for a bit. “Man, I am /so/ smooth!”
Zee bumps back against Kyle with her hips, shaking her head laughing at his ridiculous joke, “You are such a cheese ball you know that?”
“I can’t hellllllp it, I get all gouda when I’m happy!” He trots into the beautiful patisserie after her, breathing in the warm scent of sweet and chocolate when they’re inside. “Hanging out with you always makes me happy, Zee.”
Zee took a moment to understand the gouda reference, almost groaning when she realized what he meant. Moving over toward the chocolate display to see what was new she looked back to him checking to see if he’d made up his mind at all, “So, see anything that you like? I always grab a truffe or two if I’m having a particularly good day, which it sound to me like you are Mr. Rayner.”
Kyle huffs in laughter at her reaction to his ‘joke’, pleased to provide her some entertainment. He puts his hands in his coat pockets and tilts towards the chocolate display, marveling at all the wonderful creations. “Oh! How about a couple chocolate cannolli? In honor of la viva Italia and all,” Kyle sighs in an exaggerated way. “Another thing I miss about the East Coast - I swear, there’s no one in LA or Coast City who knows how to make a good cannolli. Not that I’ve found anyway. Mmm, they look gooooood, Mrs…Ms? So is it Zatara-Kent? Or Kent-Zatara? Or….Zatara-Kent-Batson?”
Zatanna signals to the man behind the counter that she’d like 4 chocolate cannoli. Turning back to Kyle’s confusion over her name with a wide smile, “No Batson at all, that name belongs to Billy. I’m thinking stick with Zatanna Zatara for stage purposes, but as for everyday…maybe Kent-Zatara, alphabetical. Who knows maybe just Mrs. Kent will do later. But for now, I kind of like the hyphen.”
Kyle ”I like hypenated names too, they sound so, well. Rich people, ahaha.” Kyle pauses for a moment as he watches the clerk fetch cannoli for them and then looks alarmed. “I mean—! I guess! Ahahahaah, I guess I don’t really consider you ‘rich people’! I don’t know why, you’re just…I don’t know, ahaha. Sorry!”
Zee shoves Kyle playfully, “You’re fine, I’m sure loads of people think I’m rich with from all those shows I’ve done on tour. I know my cousin Zach likes to tease me about it too.” turning back to fetch the bagged cannoli and pay the clerk she added, “It sounds glamorous, how about that, better adjective?”
“Glamorous, yes. Totally sounds showbiz, me gusta. Clark and Zatanna Kent-Zatara. It sounds like a Dr Seuss rhyme!” Kyle clearly thinks this is a complete bonus to their double-barreled name and he makes grabby hands at the bag of cannoli, eager to try one. “Good old Zach. No offense to the guy, but sometimes I’m glad I don’t know any of my cousins, ahaha. I mean, Zach’s a good guy and all, but can you imagine if you had a relative who wasn’t? Now that I think about it, there are a few people on the League who do…hunh. Just so weird.”
Zee smiles, gladly handing the bag over to Kyle, “Funny, most people find Zach a pain in the ass spoiled rich kid…luckily my family usually gets along and I don’t hover around their lives long enough to find out what happens when we don’t. Just quick visits really.”
Kyle smiles as they find a small table to sit at and Kyle pulls a pastry out for each of them. “Please tell me you’ll be doing the Thanksgiving thing at the Kent’s place though. I heard their feasting is legendary. Every year I’m on Earth, I’m tempted to crash, heh.” Kyle takes a bite of the cannoli, making a low, pleased noise as he chews. “Oh…that’s way good.”
Zatanna snags a cannoli from the bag and takes a small bite, “We probably will, I doubt Clark will want to miss it, plus it’ll give Billy the chance to get to know Mr. and Mrs. Kent better…as grandparents. Hey maybe this year you can crash it if you don’t have plans already set. Oh wait, you’ve probably got a date all lined up with Hal, or Guy? All Casa Verde style…”
Zatanna and Kyle continued spend the rest of the day bopping around bustling Metropolis. Together seeing the sights till they’re feeling frozen to the core.
Zee texts back with a laugh, [Text] With all that ring’s power you still can’t find me?! We’re in a small apartment building on the corner of 3rd and 5th! I’ll buzz you in when you get here.
Kyle buzzes after about ten minutes, trotting up the stairs to greet Zee as she waits with her apartment door open. Kyle rushes over to give her a kiss on the cheek and a brief hug. “Being a powered-down Lantern is hard work! I have to be all, like, normal and stuff. Ahhh it’s so good to see you, though! Worth all the normalcy in the world.”
Zee bops Kyle on the nose, “Oh poor baby, what are you going to do?” smiling back she added, “it’s good to see you too. So! Ready for a tour?”
Kyle nods. “Sure! Know anywhere I can grab a coffee first? No Starbucks. Maybe some cute little trendy…maybe…Superman themed coffeeshop or something?” Kyle grins hopefully, tugging at his baseball cap.
Zee loops her arm with his, shutting and locking the apartment door behind them, “Oh my god you’re such a fanboy…I think there’s a cafe a block away that has a /Superman/ sized cup of coffee.”
Laughing only a /bit/ self-consciously, Kyle jiggles her arm. “I can’t help it, I grew up playing at being the guy. It still comes out every now and then….my whole room was Superman-themed when I was five.” He looks over at her, sudden realization crossing his face. “Say….you magi Zataras don’t have a branding logo! Like the S-shield or the GL symbol. Do you?”
Zee shakes her head, “Just the top hat and tails…or as a lot of guy seem to enjoy, my fishnets. it’s probably better I stick without a symbol, I’m just some random magician that hangs around superheros. It makes it easier to keep my stage cover at least.” she pauses looking back at him, “Wait, you’re entire room? Like even the curtains and rug entire room?”
They get to the coffee shop and Kyle gleefully orders the Superman size, getting Zee’s order as well under his bill. “Hahaaa….magician groupie, huh? Little do people know that you’re like one of the most powerful top dogs in the League. Pretty clever there, Zee.” He grins sheepishly as he counted off on his fingers. “Curtains, wallpaper, posters, bedcover, rug, bathrobe, pajamas, toothbrush, drinking cup…um…figurines, comics, pencils, stickers…for two years mom only ever bought me Superman stuff. Heh. I wonder if poor old Supes makes any profit off his merch?”
Zee smiles over her mug with a shrug “Hiding in plain sight, best trick ever invented.” Her eyes widened at the amount of items Superman had been designed onto, she hadn’t realized that hero merchandizing spread that far and wide, “If he makes anything I haven’t seen a cent of it.” she smirked, toying with her mug adorned with a tiny Superman flying against the Metropolis skyline.
Kyle pokes at her mug and the exclaims over his own, similarly imprinted with a little retro-looking Superman. “Call the lawyers, Zee, you guys could be bajillionaires by now. Oh! Which reminds me,” he touches her arm, rubbing the soft material of her coat. “Did you get my text about Billy? And, that all stuff with him and…the fund and stuff?”
Zee nods, “I got the one about Billy, why- something up?”
“Kinda…I’ll explain it on our way to our first stop. Oh geez, and I haven’t even asked you - how’ve you been? Oh! And —” Kyle dipped his hand into his jacket pocket, pulling out a snuffling ball of Ribbit to show Zatanna. “I guess I should drop her off back at your place and let her bunk with your buns until we finish the tour, huh? Give the girls time to braid each other’s bunny fur and stuff, heh…”
Zee tickled little Ribbit leaning in to press a kiss against her fur. “I’ve been good, not too hard to of a transition to a new city surprisingly enough.” She leads Kyle out of the cafe and back towards the apartment Just…more adjusting to being a Mom actually.”
Ribbit snuffles at Zee before Kyle returns her to his pocket, following Zee back. He rubs the back of his neck. “Geez…seriously, I just realized. Only just settling into married life and then it’s like ‘hey! now you’re a mom!’.” Kyle shakes his head. “Honestly, you and Clark are amazing….and ambitious, heh. What’s it like? The whole…momhood?”
Zee smiles softly, placing her hands in her coat pockets, wrapping her fingers about her keys. “Normal I guess?” She lets them back into the apartment, opening up Pot and Tah’s hutch to welcome Ribbit in, “We’re lucky Billy’s such a good kid, I don’t know how I’d be handling it if we had a hard time with him.”
Kyle kneels down and lets Ribbit hop from his hand into the hutch, as Ribbit sniffs against the other buns and vice versa. He stands up, dusting his hands on his jeans, looking down at Zee with a smile. “All the mom things like…packing lunches and buying kid clothes and…” Kyle looked around their apartment, being the first time he’d been there. It was clearly a blend of moving in, settling in and child-minding. “Momhood ain’t easy, that’s for sure.”
Zee unbuttons her coat as she lets Kyle get Ribbit settled in, “Tell me about it…I just had my Dad when I was growing up, I can’t even imagine how he handled it all on his own. You had a single parent too, right? Single Mom?”
Kyle shoves his hands in his pockets. “I sure did. They make it look easy though, don’t they? I mean, I remember when Damian came to stay at Casa Verde with me and Guy and it was only three days and I was like ‘whaaaaat is this, I have to wake up and keep an eye on him and take care of him’ and I could barely take care of myself, on a good day.” He grins at her, holding out a hand to concede. “Not that I think you can’t take care of yourself. Just…heh. I guess I realized that I’m much more selfish than I thought. Mom wasn’t kidding when she said I was her most important responsibility. I was such a demanding kid too…how’d your dad manage?”
Zee squeezes his hand, leading him back outside to Metropolis, “Oh loads of responsibility, but it was like he could juggle it all with his eyes closed! I wish I could ask him now how he dealt with it all.” She bumps against Kyle with a laugh, “I bet you were the biggest handful Hardy Boy!”
Kyle laughs, twiddling his fingers in her palm. “All I knew was that I was her world and so I took full advantage of that. It wasn’t all sunshine and roses of course but…” Kyle takes a deep breath of the crisp dry Metropolis air once they’re back outside. “I mean…I know it’s weird to say but I think you’ll understand what I mean: once they’re gone, all the bad parts of being an only child with an only parent don’t really seem that important. Like…I’d take all the bad again if I could just have some more time with her. Even if all she’ll do is nag me, ah ha ha.”
Zee completely understood where Kyle was coming from, “Yeah, I’d take all the long hours by myself backstage and dealing with my Dad’s over protectiveness just to spend some more time with him. I’m just glad Billy’s got the both of us, Clark and me…I wouldn’t be able to do it without him, and he’s such a natural!” she continued leading Kyle around her block, passing by the park she’d scooped out that she though he might like to take a walk around, “Wanna take a peak?” she offered as they approached the archway entrance.
Kyle takes a few steps backwards as he notices the archway, with the art deco stonework and vines crawling up the sides. “Ahaha! I’ll /bet/ he was overprotective!! His only precious daughter! Mom was too, but in a different way, probably, ahaha. Or maybe not? She cried when she had to give me the birds and bees talk, it was so embarrassing.” He squints in delight, then grins over at Zee as they head through. “This park looks so cool! Everything is so well-maintained, it’s all English garden! The Secret Garden? I remember doing a book report on that in grade school, ahaha.”
Zee laughs at the reminder of The Secret Garden, “Now way, I found that book backstage when I was little! I read and reread the first few chapters so many times, always trying to read the whole thing but I never got past the fifth chapter! Hey, you know our parents probably would’ve gotten along swimmingly. Swapping all their solo child rearing stories…”
Pausing, Kyle leans down and points out some red-and-white-dotted toadstools at the foot of a mossy tree. He chuckles. “Aw man, my mom…if she was - as she put it - ‘in the company of men’, she seriously turned into a giggly little girl. Used to make me so jealous! I mean…she was just lonely, she didn’t have much friends. We moved around a lot for a while…” He creates tiny little faerie folk to live and play among the toadstools for a bit, before standing up again and looking at Zee. “…must’ve been the same for you too, now that I think about it.”
Zee nods with a sad smile, “It’s like we were written in the same story, but with we each had a different spin put on it…” she keeps a focus on the toadstools, still imagining the tiny green faeries dancing about, “If ever he dated when I was alive, he was very private about it. For all I knew his life was about me and his show…I think that’s what keeps me feeling like I have things together with Billy. That no matter how hard it gets, I probably won’t have as hard of a time as my Dad did with me.”
Kyle squeezes her shoulders and offers his arm for her to take again. “Awww you couldn’t’ve been too much trouble! I’ll bet you were as sweet and good-hearted as Billy is.” He looks around again, enjoying the autumn colors in the trees above. “You…your dad, he would’ve loved Billy, you think?” Kyle already suspects he knows the answer, but he’s more curious about how she answers than anything else.
Zee nods with a growing smile, looping her arm back with his, “Oh yeah, definitely! Dad loved big families, especially since he was from one. He had four..maybe five sisters, my aunties…loads of cousins too, like Zach. He would’ve loved having a little grandson as sweet as Billy. He probably would’ve never stopped pulling magic tricks on him.” with a smirk she adds, “I wasn’t all sugar and sweetness when I was growing up though…overprotective Dad had to have a reason to feel overprotective, remember?”
Kyle looks down with a wide grin, his eyes getting bigger in pretend surprise. “Zatanna! Don’t tell me you were a wild rebel, were you?! Ahhhh tell me! Was that Wayne boy a bad influence on you or something?” He laughs at just the mere idea, even if it wasn’t true.
Zee rolls her eyes with a wicked grin, “As if, I didn’t hang around Bruce long enough for his broodiness to rub of on me! And I wasn’t a rebel per say, I just enjoyed bending the rules.” she laughs trying to think of how Kyle must’ve acted when he was growing up, “Hey, please don’t tell me you were some goody two shoes Kyle, I can’t even picture that.”
Kyle ”I was the sweetest boy,” Kyle says a primly as possible, but his grin says otherwise. “I was so bad at being a rebel! I even tried to be a bully when I was like…thirteen, I think? And the the head bully told me that I shouldn’t, because it wasn’t a noble pursuit. Or something. Yeah. It was weird ahaha….” Kyle shakes his head. “Mom never found out, but…man. It really is more fun to bend the rules, instead of outright breaking them, I always felt. Bending the rules made mom /mad/ but not…mad-mad. Y’know? You never want them to be /actually/ mad at you, heh.”
Zee shakes her head with a laugh, “Oh god, you as a bully? I can’t even imagine how hilarious that must’ve been! Yeah, bending was much better than breaking any rules with my Dad too. I didn’t want to be grounded for life!” she kicks up some leaves ahead of her as they continue on through the park past a playground, “What was the worst thing you ever did growing up? At least in comparison to the punishment you got.”
The playgound is quiet, since it’s during the day, and Kyle pulls Zee towards the swings, brushing them clear of leaves so they could swing. “Hmmmmm that’s a toughie. OH!!” Kyle almost jumps out of his swing as he remembers. “Once I lost all my crayons at school, but I needed to color an art - I /needed/ to, Zee,” he says in a mock stern way, “and so I went into her make-up drawer and got all her eye shadows and lipsticks. I mean, you gotta admit, Zee - those eyeshadow palette thingies? They look so pretty! Anyway, I wet them all to use as watercolors and smushed almost all the lipsticks….and then mom came home and saw what I did. Aieeeeee she was soooooo mad hahaha. Then she cried! Aw man, I felt so bad. Poor mom….that was seriously punishment enough, and she knew it.” Kyle laughs at the memory, feeling fond and sad at the same time. “What about you? Tell tell tell.”
Zee laughs along with Kyle’s story, easily imagining little him smushing up all of his mother’s makeup, “She cried?! Oh lord your mom sounds like such a sweetie, aww the poor thing!” swinging lightly back and forth, dragging her boots against the well worn mulch that covered the ground beneath her she thought over the worst possible offense she had ever pulled off, “Oh ok got it. I was like, 15 and one of the guys that worked backstage for my Dad at a show in Paris offered to take me to a party and take me back before the show was even on it’s second encore. Well I got to the party and things were great, dancing singing tons of fun but the guy totally ditched me! I ended up having to call my dad on some random street corner in the middle of Paris because I was too scared to travel any further to find my way home! He couldn’t stay mad at me for too long since I’d pretty much learned my lesson on my own, but man he watched me like a hawk after that…”
Kyle boggles at her and laughs in sympathy, as he gains altitude on his swing. “What the hell, that guy just ditching you! You poor thing, that must’ve been so scary! And oh man, your dad must’ve been…well I dunno really. What /do/ dads do when they get mad and freaked out? Cold shoulder? Mom used that one a lot with me, heh.”
Zee nods, “You expect this big huge explosion of shouting and screaming, but it’s just quiet…worst of all the added ‘I’m disappointed in you.’ Gah that cut right to the core!” nudging her boot against the mulch once more she added quietly, “I still remember the look on his face when he said it too..”
“Ooooooh the disappointed thing…I’ve seen that happen in TV shows, with dads, ahah…man. Zee….!” No one else around, Kyle momentarily freezes their swings in mid-swing so he can look at her. “Geez….I mean, I was telling a story from when I was a kid, but…Billy’s like right on the edge of teenagerhood! And man…I used to shoplift and try cigarettes and try to get drunk and listen to really really obnoxious music…” Kyle stares at her for a moment but then relaxes. “But look who I’m talking about. It’s Billy! He’ll probably be a perfect teenager, I’ll bet.” It’s weird to realize that Zee and Clark got Billy at the age he is now. Kyle starts the swings again, looking ahead. “You and Clark ever considered…y’know…starting from scratch?”
Zee smiles, the wind brushing through her hair as she pumps her swing higher, “I don’t anticipate him being the perfect anything so I don’t get my hopes up, but an easy teenagerdom would be fantastic, truly.” her stomach felt the familiar drop in gravity as the Earth seemed to rush back against her as she made her decent from the air on her swing, “We’ve touched on it, and I can tell Clark wants a family of his own. I think we’ll probably hold back and wait till we’re sure Billy’s stable and happy with us and where we are as a family before we start adding a baby into the mix. Hopefully if we do decide to add another one or two little ones it’ll be at a good time…”
Kyle relishes the feeling of normalcy, taking the chance at the upswing to jump off, running forward a bit to catch his balance. He almost trips, but manages to pivot triumphantly and beam at her. “Babies…” Even the word dazes Kyle out momentarily and he walks behind Zee, giving her a hefty push on her swing when she nears him. “So…what’s your biggest worry when it comes to being a suddenly!mom, ZeeZee?”
Zee leans back her head to look backwards towards Kyle, shifting herself forward once more as she travels with gravity backwards to Kyle, “Biggest worry? Oh geez- maybe that I just…that I flake out like my Mom did? My Dad was as good a man as Clark is, and he loved my Mom just as much as Clark loves me, but…something about me just didn’t sit right with her and she just…took off. I still don’t get it.”
Kyle holds her swing chains for a moment, his arms on either side of her as he twists the swing slightly, so he can look at her, slightly surprised. “You think…you believe she took off because…of you? What’d your dad say about it?” Kyle twists his mouth, looking apologetic. “I mean, sorry, I can get a little over-curious sometimes, heh…” He releases her swing, letting it pendulum forward again.
Zee shrugs with a small smile, not pumping her legs anymore, letting the swing coast to a slow stop, “I never really wanted to talk about it with him, and it was never a topic he’d ever bring up. He’d just tell me that he loved me and that was enough…but at the same time you can’t help but wonder if it was your fault. It might not have been, maybe my Mom didn’t want kids, and maybe she wasn’t as happy with my Dad as she said she was. I probably won’t ever know, and I’m pretty alright with that. I just don’t want to make my kids feel like they’re alone like she made me feel.”
Kyle comes around to her front as she steps gracefully off her swing, practically floating. “I can see why, Zee. I’m sorry…” He comes a bit closer to squeeze her shoulder. “I mean, you’ve obviously worked it out about your feelings with her, totally common sense too…But I can see why you wanna make it different for your kids. And you will. How could Billy not appreciate you? You’re like one of the most caring people I know, in the entire…universe, really.”
Zee blushes, tucking her stray hair behind her ears, “Stop, you’ve actually been around the universe! That’s way to heavy of a title to be giving me there buddy…so, what about you? Did you ever meet your Dad?”
Kyle starts to walk, kicking leaves as they stroll. “I have been! So you know that I ain’t even lying, Zee…” He rubs his face with a slightly rueful smile. “I met him, yeah. A couple years ago, I tracked him down. The first time I was Ion, it was just a matter of matching my DNA with everyone else on the planet…anyway. We met, he explained why he did what he did, promised we’d meet again and then…” Kyle spread his hands. “That was that. Honestly, I think I felt a bit like you - I didn’t expect or even really want to see him follow through on his promise. He made his case and…in the end, I grew up just fine, me and mom. Without him, y’know? But I know what you mean, like…if I ever…” Kyle drifts off. “Mm. Well. Anyway. What’s next on the agenda?”
Zee nods along, placing her hands in her pockets as they exit out the park, “How about we try hitting up Little Bohemia? They’ve got some really great Italian, and plenty of artsy hipster stuff too.”
Kyle nudges her as they pick up their pace a bit towards Little Bohemia. “Lookat you, you’re like a regular Metropo…Metropolitan? Man…I just love the skyline of this city, I gotta say. The sky scrapers are so much more…I dunno. I mean Gotham skycrapers are looming and intimidating but Metropolis is like…inspiring? Ahah….is my Gotham-bias showing again….” He grins sheepishly at her.
Zee bumps against him, “Just a tad Hardy Boy…they’re both great cities in my opinion. One’s just a little more positive I will admit that, but you can’t beat Gotham’s nightlife! Criminal or party wise.” leading on ahead she waves a hand, “I’m honestly not that great of a tour guide, trust me. We’re going to get lost any second here…”
Kyle stretches and rewraps his scarf around his neck. “Pssshh don’t fret, Nancy! Getting lost is also half the fun! Espeically if we run into some Metropolis-style badguys in an allyway. Please tell me they all wear masks and striped shirts and rob banks with bags that have dollar bills signs marked on them.”
Zee rolls her eyes as they approach Little Bohemia, teasing, “Someone’s been reading those Superman comics again, hasn’t he? Nah, we get more giant Godzilla monsters to tackle more than anything.”
Kyle ”Godzilla monsters are fuuuuuunnnn,” Kyle said, leaning towards her and half-tickling her sides. He’s distracted by a store that seems to sell stained-glass windows, and lightly jogs over, admiring their display in the window. “Gotta admit. Autumn and wintertime is always more…festive the further east and the more colder it gets, heh.” He uses his ring, making some subtle light tricks to bounce off the colored glass, just to entertain the two of them. “That reminds me…so, about Billy - I was wondering if, well I have this, see I really thought that, like…before you guys adopted him, I wanted to, like, try and give him something to help support him, like…a trust fund thing…” Kyle looks over at her.
Zee pushes away Kyles hands at her sides, giggling as she catches up to him looking into the stained-glass window display, “Cooler weather has always my favorite, bundling up, and snuggling beside a fire. Hot chocolate, all those yummy warm dishes…tons of holidays. What’s not to like?” she watched the slight light tricks beams against the colored glass as she listened to Kyle fumble over his words, shooting him a curious glance once she felt his eyes on her, “So…you still want Billy to have the fund you set up? Kyle you didn’t have to do any of that…”
Kyle leans against the display window so he can look at her better as he shrugs. “Honestly, Zee? It’s not out of some sort of deep kindness in my heart. I’m not being all generous or anything. I just don’t want the money, and…” He rubs his scruffy Movember chin, looking at the pavement. “D-doing this is the easiest way to get rid of it. Billy’s a good kid and deserves it. And I know you and Clark in his life changes everything for him, without a doubt. So this trust fund is just a little bonus on top of that. Like you can pretend some old old uncle of yours happily passed away, and you now got this chunk of cash for Billy, sabes? I just need to finalize it with you guys, get your sigs and then it’s all Billy’s.” He looks up at her, his eyes crinkling and wide. “Por favor?”
Zee smiles with a nod, falling into Italian as Kyle does with Spanish, “Certo…of course Kyle. I’ll talk to Clark about it and we’ll all meet up to tie up any loose ends.” leaning her head against the glass she rubs a hand against his cheek, his stubble prickly against her hand, “I don’t care what intentions you had setting it up for Billy, this just solidifies my opinion that you have the biggest heart on Earth…metaphorically speaking.” pulling her hand away and standing back upright she continued along the pavement, “So, what say I treat you to something sweet at a patisserie, hmm?”
Kyle is thrilled to hear her Italian and even more relieved to hear her softly accept his offer. He feels like a big weight’s been lifted off his shoulders and he slumps against the window, leaning into her hand gratefully as she cups his cheek. “Thank you, so much. You’re awesome, you guys are awesome. Billy is so fortunate to have you two…” As she straightens up, he does too, following after her and chipper as ever. “Ahhh sounds excellente! I’d say I want the sweetest thing on their menu, but I’m already walking beside her.” Kyle chuckles as he jostles her shoulders for a bit. “Man, I am /so/ smooth!”
Zee bumps back against Kyle with her hips, shaking her head laughing at his ridiculous joke, “You are such a cheese ball you know that?”
“I can’t hellllllp it, I get all gouda when I’m happy!” He trots into the beautiful patisserie after her, breathing in the warm scent of sweet and chocolate when they’re inside. “Hanging out with you always makes me happy, Zee.”
Zee took a moment to understand the gouda reference, almost groaning when she realized what he meant. Moving over toward the chocolate display to see what was new she looked back to him checking to see if he’d made up his mind at all, “So, see anything that you like? I always grab a truffe or two if I’m having a particularly good day, which it sound to me like you are Mr. Rayner.”
Kyle huffs in laughter at her reaction to his ‘joke’, pleased to provide her some entertainment. He puts his hands in his coat pockets and tilts towards the chocolate display, marveling at all the wonderful creations. “Oh! How about a couple chocolate cannolli? In honor of la viva Italia and all,” Kyle sighs in an exaggerated way. “Another thing I miss about the East Coast - I swear, there’s no one in LA or Coast City who knows how to make a good cannolli. Not that I’ve found anyway. Mmm, they look gooooood, Mrs…Ms? So is it Zatara-Kent? Or Kent-Zatara? Or….Zatara-Kent-Batson?”
Zatanna signals to the man behind the counter that she’d like 4 chocolate cannoli. Turning back to Kyle’s confusion over her name with a wide smile, “No Batson at all, that name belongs to Billy. I’m thinking stick with Zatanna Zatara for stage purposes, but as for everyday…maybe Kent-Zatara, alphabetical. Who knows maybe just Mrs. Kent will do later. But for now, I kind of like the hyphen.”
Kyle ”I like hypenated names too, they sound so, well. Rich people, ahaha.” Kyle pauses for a moment as he watches the clerk fetch cannoli for them and then looks alarmed. “I mean—! I guess! Ahahahaah, I guess I don’t really consider you ‘rich people’! I don’t know why, you’re just…I don’t know, ahaha. Sorry!”
Zee shoves Kyle playfully, “You’re fine, I’m sure loads of people think I’m rich with from all those shows I’ve done on tour. I know my cousin Zach likes to tease me about it too.” turning back to fetch the bagged cannoli and pay the clerk she added, “It sounds glamorous, how about that, better adjective?”
“Glamorous, yes. Totally sounds showbiz, me gusta. Clark and Zatanna Kent-Zatara. It sounds like a Dr Seuss rhyme!” Kyle clearly thinks this is a complete bonus to their double-barreled name and he makes grabby hands at the bag of cannoli, eager to try one. “Good old Zach. No offense to the guy, but sometimes I’m glad I don’t know any of my cousins, ahaha. I mean, Zach’s a good guy and all, but can you imagine if you had a relative who wasn’t? Now that I think about it, there are a few people on the League who do…hunh. Just so weird.”
Zee smiles, gladly handing the bag over to Kyle, “Funny, most people find Zach a pain in the ass spoiled rich kid…luckily my family usually gets along and I don’t hover around their lives long enough to find out what happens when we don’t. Just quick visits really.”
Kyle smiles as they find a small table to sit at and Kyle pulls a pastry out for each of them. “Please tell me you’ll be doing the Thanksgiving thing at the Kent’s place though. I heard their feasting is legendary. Every year I’m on Earth, I’m tempted to crash, heh.” Kyle takes a bite of the cannoli, making a low, pleased noise as he chews. “Oh…that’s way good.”
Zatanna snags a cannoli from the bag and takes a small bite, “We probably will, I doubt Clark will want to miss it, plus it’ll give Billy the chance to get to know Mr. and Mrs. Kent better…as grandparents. Hey maybe this year you can crash it if you don’t have plans already set. Oh wait, you’ve probably got a date all lined up with Hal, or Guy? All Casa Verde style…”
Zatanna and Kyle continued spend the rest of the day bopping around bustling Metropolis. Together seeing the sights till they’re feeling frozen to the core.