These Little Thrills

She had fun tonight.

It feels kind of wrong admitting this (well, in her own head, anyway) considering they spent the larger half of their night being chased around and nearly killed several times by Harm, only to be ultimately saved by the spirit of his little sister, but it's the guilty truth. It wasn't your typical girls' night out, but it's Halloween and they're not typical girls, so.

"Now where have you two been all night, huh?"

Zatanna spins on her heels, hair flying as she sees an all-too-familiar domino mask looking back at her.

Robin flashes a smile, and she can't really help the way her cheeks warm up and her lips form a wide grin in return, because it sort of just happens.

"Yeah, well," she shrugs, "Artemis wanted to ditch the Halloween party at Happy Harbor High, so I thought a little fresh air might help." He laughs like he can tell that there's a hell of a lot more to the story, and she likes that he finds it amusing. "She's getting changed, if you were looking for her."

"Actually, I was looking for you."

"Oh." She bites the inside of her lip and gets those weird butterflies she got from when they first met. "Well, what did you need?"

"I was just wondering what happened to my bike," he says nonchalantly, in a tone that suggests he knows exactly what she did with it.

And she blinks and remembers walking towards it and then an explosion and crap, she totally wrecked his motorcycle. She lets out this distraught sound, wringing her fingers a little and feeling awful. "Robin, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to… Well, it's not exactly like we were expected to get attacked"—she sees him stiffen a little, and rushes to continue—"We're fine, of course! But your bike kind of got—"

"You got attacked?"

"I'm fine," she repeats. "Really, nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" He frowns and points to her neck. She doesn't remember getting cut there. "Zatanna, what happened to you?"

She exhales and looks him in the eyes, and she feels even worse for making him look so worried.

"It's a long and confusing story that even I don't understand," she admits. "I wouldn't really know where to begin."

He presses his lips together. She can't see his eyes behind the mask but she can kind of feel them looking her over, and she wonders why she's suddenly very self-conscious of the not-so-excellent condition of her hair and clothes right now despite the fact it shouldn't matter after a night like theirs.

"Come on, we're getting your injuries checked right now."

He grasps her hand and has this firm grip that she can't tug herself out of, and if he wasn't trying to drag her for a medical inspection, she'd take the time to notice she likes holding his hand.

"Robin, it's just a few cuts and a bruise or two, and okay, I feel a little lightheaded. But I'm fine!" He stops and looks at her. "Trust me. It's not that big of a deal."

"Zatanna, you got hurt. I'm not just letting you go when you could be—"

"Can you check, instead?" He's being really, really sweet right now by being so concerned for her, and it's not like she doesn't appreciate it (or that it doesn't make her heart beat annoyingly faster), but she doesn't want it to be some sort of big deal, because it isn't. "If there really is a lot of damage and you think I should get it looked at, then I'll go. I just really don't want to go to some infirmary…"

He's silent long enough for her to think he's going to say no, but he exhales and nods at her. "Okay. Okay, I'll take a look."

She sighs in relief and grins, throwing her arms around him and then tensing a little.

He holds her at her hips and pulls back, asking, "You okay?" with his eyebrows wrinkled in concern. She nods and he just shakes his head at her. "You're going to be the death of me, did you know that?"

"You know you love it."

And the, "Of course I do," he replies with takes a moment to sink in before she's suddenly blushing again.

Then he's suddenly blushing, too, and scratching the back of his neck and not looking at her as he says, "So, um, can you… sort of, take off your, um…"

She wonders how much redder her cheeks could get. Yeah, she didn't exactly think her request all the way through. "Yeah," she says somewhat hesitantly, pulling her blazer off. This sharp pain shoots through her shoulders and he has a hand on her elbow to hold her as she stiffens. "Thanks. I'm fine," she assures, relaxing again, and she lets him pull it off for her this time.

She sits down on the arm of the couch and waits as he pulls off one of his gloves.

He traces his fingers over the two cuts on her arm and then applies the slightest pressure to her bruise that makes her flinch. "Sorry, sorry!"

"No, it's fine. I'm fine."

He nods absently, looking distracted. "Okay, this is going to hurt a little, but I have to…" He trails off, but she kind of gets what he's talking about, so she takes a deep breath and grabs his free hand as he applies a little pressure to her shoulder, squeezing tightly and letting out this whimper as she straightens up.

"It's pretty tender, but nothing major." He's standing really close to her now and pushing his hand through her hair, and she closes her eyes. "Do you feel lightheaded?"

She nods, biting her lower lip.

"You have a small bump," he informs. "You must've taken a blow."

He sounds worried and a bit frustrated at the same time, like he's mad he wasn't there for her, and she leans into his palm. "I'm fine, Robin. I know how to take care of myself."

He lets out this breathy chuckle that feels warm against her face. "Is that what this was about?" She opens her eyes, looks up at him. "Zatanna, I'm not trying to suggest you're weak or anything. I know you can take care of yourself. You did amazing in our fight against Red Volcano! I just… don't like the idea of anyone being able to hurt you."

She blushes and squeezes their joined hands again. "Has anyone ever told you that you're very charming?"

"Am I?" he laughs.

"Very," she giggles, leaning up and pressing their lips together.

Their first kiss had been unfortunately cut off seconds after it started as her dad towed her through the zeta beam transporter, and she's been really, really dying for a proper one ever since.

This time, his thumb is stroking her cheek gently and it's all very sweet because Robin is very sweet. He pulls back after a few seconds and leans their foreheads together, and she smiles at him widely.

"You owe me a motorcycle."

She tips her head back as she laughs. They're younger than the rest of the Team, and while Megan and Conner are perfectly content with not-so-secretly making out, and Wally and Artemis should just start locking lips, she likes that they're not going to be like either couple. It's not as if she cares for him any less, but it just wouldn't be her (or him) to have to go through all of that sexual tension stuff.

"I really am sorry about your bike, Robin," she admits.

Now he's the one laughing. "Zatanna, I'm just messing with you. There are a lot of spares here."

"There are?"

He nods. "What do you say? We could hop on and get out of here. There's this really awesome ice-cream place that Conner's got us all into…"

"Sounds fun," she says, getting to her feet. Then a thought occurs. "Oh, but we can't just leave Artemis by herself."

He slips his glove back on and presses his index finger to his lips, shushing her. She blinks, and then realizes that there is noise coming from the other room, probably the others just getting back. Her suspicions are confirmed when she hears Artemis and Wally raising their voices at each other, beginning their usual bickering. Zatanna laughs.

"So?" he asks, slipping his hand in hers again. "Shall we get going?"

And really, this is the first time she's heard of a first date consisting of hopping onto a motorcycle and eating ice-cream in the middle of the night while still dressed in their costumes.

But they're not at all your typical couple, so she just beams at him and says, "I'll race you there."

A/n: The talk about the 'first kiss' at the end is a brief reference my other Robin/Zatanna story, "Tonight Feels Brand New" (Post 1x15, "Humanity"), just in case you were wondering if it ever happened on the show. Unfortunately, it didn't, but I wish it did!

Anyway, this was a result of my disappointment of ZERO Robin and Zatanna interaction in the new episode, and the fact I've been listening to "Right Where You Want Me" by Jesse McCartney on repeat. I just picture every Jesse McCartney song is him singing to Zatanna and this particular song just made me think of her and that motorcycle that may or may not have been Robin's :D