capeandcowllogs | (no subject)

WHO: Sort of open. This is for of Themyscira-Zatara Family & friends.
WHERE: Diana and Zee's place and elsewhere.
WHEN: Throughout December.
WARNINGS: Enough of them.
SUMMARY: Cute winter holiday stuff. Please specify in the subject line if your threads are open or closed (and if they are closed, to which people).
FORMAT: Whatever you feel like.

[Come December first, Zatanna's already done a number on the house. Mostly in that she has finally relinquished her death-grip on the spooky Halloween mansion that it had been for Halloween (that had morphed into Thankschilling Day).

By the eighth, she has given up on normalcy and forced snow upon the house itself and the front and backyards; it is natural and cold and wet to the touch. More importantly, it's clean. It doesn't melt much or get sloshy and muddy. The forest she'd created for Halloween remains, though not overgrown. The air is sweet with the smell of pine, but not thickly so. She's cleared it out a little, made it easier to navigate. There is now plenty of room for building snow people and snow forts, in addition to the occasional snowball fight.

The inside of the house no longer (quite as) spooky. The fireplace in the living room seems to permanently be full of logs and remains lit even when no one is home. Halfway through the month, a pine tree also appears, growing through some dimensional wormhole so it remains real without having to cut one down. The dining room has a warm glow from candles and wall sconces and the kitchen seems to always have some wonderful smell wafting from it.

There is a fat orange Persian walking around, dressed as a reindeer. It doesn't seem perturbed by its costume and appears quite content, although trying to curl up and sleep almost anywhere in between desired pettings. Hermes has become more mellowed out since Halloween (and much larger, too) and only wears antlers on his head. Teekl and Gabranth declined to join the festivities.

This holiday season is going to be good. Or, hopefully at least much better than last year's.]

► OPEN: COOKIES FOR ME, COOKIES FOR FREE (ZATANNA).
► CLOSED: VESPER & ZATANNA.
► OPEN: ROASTING MARSHMALLOWS (APRIL).
► OPEN: AWKWARD SOCIALIZATION (GIL).
► OPEN: EXTREME MANLINESS CHALLENGE (JAMES)!!!
► OPEN: S'NO PROBLEM (TEREZI).
► OPEN: CUTE CHRISTMAS SWEATER PART II: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO (MOLLY).
► OPEN: HOW DO I SECRET IDENTITY? LOL (WALLY).
► OPEN: PRETTY MUCH JUST A FUN-HATER (MITCH).
► OPEN: SNEAKY SANTA (HAN).
► OPEN: A LOT LESS OF A FUN-HATER, APPARENTLY (BRADBURY).
► OPEN: THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM FOR PIE (NED).

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Diana doesn't press, but she knows (or at least, hopes) that if Zatanna does feel the need to open up, she'll go to Diana and be confident in the fact that there will be no judgement involved.]

I know; it's something that gives me great comfort.

[It's just the whole James and being drunk and drugged out and an asshole thing. It wasn't so easy to forgive him. It's still not easy to go back to how it was, no matter how much she wants it to. She kind of wants to talk to it and she's being so obvious about it, but.

But, but, but.]

Thanks. For being here, I mean.

[It is an extremely personal matter, and if Diana has noticed anything different between them, she hasn't said anything out of respect for both of their boundaries.]

You're welcome, but I could say the same to you.

[Zatanna has been beyond obvious, not only limited to having thrown her phone to the moon-dong.]

Ugh, so mushy. I could get cavities if I'm not careful. [She ducks her head and remains silent for a beat or two. It's hard to talk about her relationship, especially when she feels she shouldn't blame him for any of this.] I can't get over how he was after he was ported out. It was a week, maybe. But I can't just get over it. I couldn't get through to him and I worry that it might happen again. What am I supposed to do? Keep hoping while he keeps pushing me away?

[She stops almost as abruptly as she had started and bites her bottom lip. Even John never chose drugs or alcohol over her. Even at his worst, he was lucid enough to talk to her, lucid enough to be honest. Even when they weren't involved, he chose her. She'd stand by him, but she couldn't even tell if she was wanted or not.]

[Diana's face immediately goes from neutral to concerned as Zatanna is talking.]

Is he still acting strangely? I know he was bothered by events back in his world, but that's no excuse to treat you with anything less than respect. You had nothing to do with what he experienced.

[Again, it's respect for her friends' boundaries that's stopping her from doing anything beyond talking to the woman in front of her, but she can't just stand by while Zatanna feels this conflicted and bothered.]

No! [Resounding, quick. She doesn't mean to cut her off there, but the last thing she wants Diana to believe is that she is being treated poorly.] No, he's good to me. But it feels like I just blinked an eye. I don't expect him to grovel, it's just I... can't let it all go so easily.

[She understands and appreciates it. Diana's such a good bro. :(] I want to, but I'm not sure I can. [What Zee means to say is that she's been hurt before and their relationship has taken a turn for the more serious. It's overwhelming her.]

The question is, do you want to try? Because this is about what you want, Zee. James is wonderful and I can see that he makes you happy, but if you're not ready for the direction your relationship is going in, then you shouldn't force yourself to adapt to something that makes you uncomfortable.

[To summarize, does Zatanna want to take the risk of getting hurt again?]

I would have kicked him to the curb by now, if I didn't want to... I. [This is weird. Han's been talking to her and James about them getting married. Actually, almost everyone they're close to has. And she's not sure she'll ever be ready for that big of a jump.]

We had a talk about what we wanted out of our relationship before he came back again, you know.

[Even after all her years in Man's World, Diana still isn't entirely used to the concept of marriage in terms of society's definition of it. So, the thought doesn't even cross her mind, but really, she'll support any situation wherein both James and Zee are happy.]

And what did you two decide from that talk, if you don't mind me asking?

[Thankfully. Admittedly, they've been together a while for City standards (and for Zatanna and James and short-lived relationships standards), but that doesn't meant hey should rush into it. The idea that either of them could leave at any moment... well. That does make her think.]

Ultimately, that... somewhere along the line -- not anytime soon -- that we'd be happy with getting married. Something small and quiet. If. If we did. Kids are out of the question, but he's really trying with Klarion and Larsa.