Ice Cream Delight: By Luna Mrow
Disclaimer: I don't own YJ or its characters, just this time. Set during anytime Zatanna is living in the Cave.
~X~X~X~
Girls had guilt problems with food. It was just natural, something that happened to 95% of every teenage girl. They'd get hungry, want a snack, eat the snack, then ten minutes later they feel like their life is over because of a crime. Which, of course, was downright ridiculous. It's always downright ridiculous. But, again, it was just a mental snitch that almost every girl went through. Sometimes, a girl just wants to eat and enjoy her the comfort food can bring.
Like Zatanna.
However, she has a perfectly good reason for wanting, no, needing comfort food. Her dad totally went AWOL. And it was totally her fault. And a bunch of things happened that really shouldn't have happened and it was really stressful and she just NEEDED something to eat.
Like ice cream.
Hell yes. Ice cream. The ultimate idol of comfort food. The soft and creamy dessert that tastes so damn good and slides down your throat with ease. Best part? The flavors. There's like thirty-two of them, probably more. And toppings. Oh yes.
So it's 3:30 in the morning, she wakes up from a dull dreamless sleep, and she feels that same emptiness she's been feeling. The guilt was eventually numbed over by emptiness. At least in her numb state she could function. All she had to do was tell herself that her dad loves her, he would never hate her, and he would want her to stay strong. But that doesn't change the fact she's awake in the middle of the night and she's not falling back asleep. No. Now was not the time to sleep. Now was the time to sneak into the kitchen, bust open the freezer, and eat some ice cream.
Because it's ice cream, damn it.
And Zatanna wants the most classic flavor; strawberry.
He's been spending time at the cave more. When asked why, he simply says that he's logged in more training hours and he likes staying time-to-time. You know, if you consider three nights of the week 'time-to-time'. Of course, a certain red-head speeder and a certain archer blond think different. "Dude, you're totally sticking around because of Zatanna," Wally teased earlier.
"She lets me call her 'Zee' now," Robin replied.
"Oooh, nicknames are a good sign. That means you two are close," Artemis added slyly.
The young teenager rolled his eyes. They made this too easy. "Really? So should I be suspicious you're always calling Wally 'Baywatch' and he's always calling you 'Arty'?"
Artemis's face loses all humor and Wally nearly chokes on his power bar. Robin laughed and left the two alone. They never bothered him again after that.
This was not a good night to spend at the cave. For some inexplicable reason the internet wifi was really slow. Robin then checks the history log and sees that M'gann has loaded multiple episodes of 'My Little Pony Friendship is Magic' on Youtube. So that was the weird song she was humming earlier. Huh.
With a yawn he shut his laptop lid. It was time for bed. Who knew that a Friday night would turn out to be so... so... underwhelming?
Robin put on his pajamas, which was a simple black t-shirt and his dark blue boxer shorts. The weather was cold but he never really got cold unless the temperature was in the mid-fifties. The thermostat was set at sixty-five degrees, so the cave was always nice despite the outside temperature. Robin decided he should have a bottle of water with him for the morning.
Before he leaves his room he wonders if he'll need his shades. Then again, guys who wear sunglasses at night are ridiculous. Then again, they don't have a secret identity to protect and a Dark Knight to answer to. Robin grumbled at the slight paranoia Batman has clearly instilled in him. He put on his black and white domino mask. Then he left his room and headed into the kitchen.
"Zee?"
Blue eyes meet the blue eyes through the mask.
"Oh, hey there." She offers him a small-strawberry-covered smile. "I didn't know you stayed the night."
"Just been in my room, working," he replied.
"You sound like a middle-aged man."
He laughed. "Homework can do that."
"Ahh. Homework. You get good grades, ninja boy?"
"Excellent ones."
"Yeah, I bet you're the favorite grasshopper to your ninja master."
Robin shook his head. "Enough ninja references, please, Zee." Although he's acting unamused, he's smiling. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed himself a bottle of water. "And what are you doing up?"
"Duh, I'm eating ice cream."
He chuckled. "Why?"
She sighed. "Because of a bunch of reasons. The main reason is I love strawberry ice cream." She got out another spoon since she was sitting next to the silverware compartment of the kitchen. "Here, eat some with me so I don't feel so guilty."
Robin raised a brow. "Yeah, I'm not really an ice cream kind of guy."
Zatanna gasped, clearly shocked. "What?"
He shrugged. "Not my favorite dessert. Sorry Zee." He turned around to walk off but she grabbed him by his shirt collar. "Ah! Zee?"
"Try the ice cream!" she exclaimed. "It's really, really, really good!"
Robin faced her again. "Is there a reason your voice is so high-pitched and you're getting spazzy on me?"
She grinned. "Strawberry ice cream does that to me. Come on Robs, I don't wanna be alone. Please eat ice cream with me? Pretty please? With sprinkles on top?"
Instead of answering her, the Boy Wonder opens the freezer and pulls him out a pint of banana split. He took the extra spoon from her and sat down next to her on the kitchen counter. She watched him as he dug his silver spoon in the frozen dessert, got himself a small spoonful, then put it in his mouth and swallowed. "There. Happy?" he then asked.
"Actually, yes, I'm quite pleased," she replied, taking another strawberry-filled bite. "So if you don't like ice cream, what dessert do you like? Or does Batman have you on some kind of 'Dark-Knight-Diet' or something?"
Robin laughed. "Dark-Knight-Diet?" The two laughed again. "No, I eat sweets. I'm a simple cookie kinda guy."
"Cookies? You fiend."
He smirked. "Any kind I like. Sugar cookies, oatmeal, oatmeal raisin, oatmeal chocolate chip, pumpkin spice... but my favorite is the classic chocolate chip."
"Dang Robs, you sure know your cookie flavors."
"Yup."
"How about snickerdoodles?"
"Most definitely."
"Does Batman like snickerdoodles?"
"I dunno, I'm sure he does."
"Would a snickerdoodle bring a smile to his hardened face?"
Robin laughed at the sheer stupidity of their conversation topic. "Okay, why is it so fun for you to tease me about Batman?"
She shrugged. "Because Batman is... Batman. He's the serious guy. He's the guy who doesn't wear spandex. He doesn't exactly give off the kid-friendly vibe, you know? Like, I wouldn't want to leave my three-year-old kid with him."
"You have a three-year-old kid?"
"No, shush. My point is... well... I'm not sure. What's it like? Being his protege?"
He knew what she was getting at. "Batman has to be tougher around the team," he explained. "But when it's just us two, it's really awesome. He's like my dad. Actually, in a lot of ways, in most ways, he is my dad."
Zatanna understands. Robin has a close bond with Batman, even though he's not his father, he is his father. And, of course, she starts thinking about her father and she gets sad all over again. When he talks about Batman he's so happy, he's so proud, she thinks. When I talked about my dad, I was always annoyed with him, I always said how eager I was to get away from him. That stings, just a little bit.
He can tell. "Look, I didn't mean to get on such a raw subject, I'm sorry," Robin said softly.
"No, no, it's alright. I'm the one who asked if Batman liked snickerdoodles, remember?" He's not really convinced that she's alright. Zatanna wasn't even alright to begin with, why would she be up at nearly 4:00 in the morning eating ice cream? "Look, I'm tired of everyone pitying me because of my dad. I never liked the pity-party to begin with, so I'm not going to be weak and cry and get upset anymore. I'm going to man-up, work on my magic spells, and become the magician and hero my dad believed I could be."
Robin can hear the determination in her voice. "You're gonna be great," he encouraged. "And the team's sympathy for you is genuine. We don't think you're fragile or weak. Your reaction is rational, and sometimes, everyone can't wear a mask." She turned to look at him. He gave her a small smile. "In fact, I respect that a lot about you. You don't wear a mask and try to hide who you are. You're Zatanna and sometimes you cry, but you never give up. You've got determination and you're not one to give up."
Finally, she smiled. "Thanks, Robin. I didn't know you were so good at... making people feel better."
"Yeah, I'm a regular therapist." He smirked.
She smirked back. "Oh-ho, so this was a therapy session, was it?"
"Yup."
"Well, don't patients usually get an hour?"
"Your hour started when you first came down here to eat ice cream."
"Ugh! No fair, I feel so cheated."
He got off the kitchen counter. "Come on Zee, bedtime."
She finally got off the counter as well. "You're lucky I finished off the ice cream." He chuckled and put the banana-split container in the freezer. "Hey..." Zatanna suddenly realized, "You only took one bite!"
Robin smiled deviously. "What can I say? I'm a cookie man."
Author's Note:
Myaa. More R/Z fluff I suppose. I like writing this pair. They are a good pair. Yuss. Don't be offended with the 'girls-eating-feeling-guilty' bit. I know not all girls are like that. And it's not like I'm making a random speculation, I have a say on the matter because I am a teenage girl. Who eats. XD Random fact, my favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip. Just putting that out there. XD
I'd also like to add that I have a deviant art account, and I've done some YJ stuff. My user is 'MewLuna'. Some of the art is... meh... but hopefully some of it you'll like! Anyway, feel free to friend me! I need more friends D: It's so lonely and cold... okay not really... but still 8D
Please review, thanks for reading! (Sorry for the long AN)
~Luna