Wow am I really falling into Zhante stuff again. I forgot how awesome this pairing was until I completely re-watched Huntik. While at the zoo with my family, not long after my Huntik binge, I had an idea. Klaus probably never took Zhalia to a zoo, and she probably never had enough interest to go to one by herself.
Set not long after the end of season one.
"You mean you've never been to a zoo before?!" Lok cried.
"Nope." Zhalia didn't even look up from her journal as she scribbled something down in the old pages.
"Well we've got to go now!" Lok jumped up and grabbed his phone from the charger to search for the closest zoo from their hotel.
"No we don't." She scowled as she scratched something out. "Don't see a reason to go to the zoo. You end up encountering lots of wildlife raiding tombs and temples."
"True." Dante added casually as he read something on his holotome.
He looked to Sophie for help, but she seemed disinterested as well. "Lok, we only have one day left in St. Louis. Maybe we could visit somewhere with historical value? Maybe the Arch? Or we could cross the Mississippi and visit the Cahokia Mounds? Or a museum? Oh, here!" She pointed at something on her laptop screen and Lok moved around her chair to look. "The City museum! How about we go there today? Hmm, there's a metal praying mantis on the top. Maybe there's an insect exhibit? Oh, and there's a dress code."
"Sophieee" Lok whined, but the entire team knew once Sophie had a museum on her mind, there was no way out of it.
"Have fun you two, I need to sort through some stuff here." Dante waved them off as Sophie began purchasing the tickets.
"Count me out too." Zhalia added as she turned the journal to the side and continued diligently working on whatever she was doing. Sophie didn't even ask for a reason.
"Come on Cherit," Lok grabbed his bag and gently woke the sleeping titan while Sophie left to change. "Museum time."
Sophie came back out of the bathroom in shorts and tennis shoes, and the two teens and titan left. Both adults sat quietly for a moment.
"I saw that."
"What?" Dante lifted his chin as he continued typing away.
"That look in your eye." Zhalia sighed. "What did you do?"
"Definitely didn't look up the closest Zoo." Dante closed the holotome and grabbed his wallet and phone from the table. "Come on, it will be fun. Plus, you can draw while we're there."
Zhalia tensed up slightly, pen frozen to the page. With a disgruntled sigh, she made sure the ink was dry before closing the quick sketch of a sleeping Cherit. "How far away is it?"
"About twenty minutes by car, but that's probably because it's a city. Do you wanna walk or catch a taxi?"
"Taxi. I'd rather not get lost in a city like this."
"True."
The two left the hotel and hailed a car. The ride was a short one, but with all the one ways and winding roads, it was worth the short drive. The two were dropped off at the South entrance and Dante was sure to grab a map before going any further.
"Thoughts so far?" Dante asked as they walked to the first area. It was a pretty large zoo, one of the biggest Dante had been to. It was a slightly cloudy day, there was a cool breeze, and there was still a slight morning chill due to how early they had arrived. They decided to head to the green part of the map first. An area called Historic Hill where the reptile, monkey, and bird houses were located.
"Dunno. Haven't seen any animals yet."
They reached the reptile house first, and slowly made their way through the building. Dante was more than happy to wait as Zhalia inspected the name plates of the reptiles and amphibians that caught her eye. He even found a few that caught his attention, some of which he had never heard of before.
"This Iguana kind of reminds me of Gareon." Dante whispered in her ear as they watched the sleeping animal, all four limbs splayed out and hanging off of the log it dozed on.
She tried to hide away a smile with her hair, but he noticed the slight curl of her lip. Gareon was a strange titan to say the least. He acted like a cat personality wise but also a dog with his constant need for Zhalia's attention and his obedience to her. Both teens had countless photos of the small creature lounging in strange positions all around Dante's home. In fact, Dante may or may not have an image on his own of Gareon glaring him down while lying across a sleeping Zhalia's stomach.
They moved to the monkey house next, which did not seem to interest Dante's partner in the least. They quickly made their way through that building, and since the Bird house was on the entire other side of the park, the two decided to wrap around the area called 'Red Rocks', where lions, giraffes, and other safari animals were.
After all of their adventures in the African wilderness, both quickly and wordlessly made their way through Red Rocks. While they walked though, Dante tested his luck by occasionally moving closer to her. Zhalia definitely noticed, but only seemed to react if they brushed shoulders or their hands came into contact. She would quickly pull away, muttering small apologies for bumping into him.
Each time his chest fluttered. Her soft voice was absolutely addictive, tempting him closer and closer until he could hear it again. Zhalia was sure to let everyone in a room know if something was irritating her, so he cautiously continued.
What Dante didn't know was how his actions were literally setting her skin on fire. Each point of contact sent pulses of feeling and heat through her body, completely rewriting her normal responses to someone repeatedly and purposefully bumping into her. It was completely new. Something she never expected to feel, and she liked it.
They reached the bird house and walked up a fancy little staircase and through a double set of doors that helped prevent escapees. The house was much smaller than the prior two, but held Zhalia's attention better than the last one.
Dante had always loved birds, especially the raptors. The day had grown warmer and warmer, so the two decided to take a short break in the air-conditioning and listen to the broken, un-tuned orchestra of avians. They sat before a beautiful falcon, and as Dante rested his eyes and listened to the wild melody that probably infuriated others but always soothed him, Zhalia pulled out her journal and pen.
After a little while, Dante grew bold again. Scooting closer to her, the Foundation's finest casually slipped an arm behind her shoulders. Zhalia completely froze, and for a moment, he thought he had gone too far. After a few seconds, she carefully began working in the book again.
Knowing that she was incredibly possessive over her journals and drawings, Dante kept his eyes either closed or on the powerful bird before him. It had noticed him, and was intently watching his every move. Some more time passed when a soft pressure against his side almost short circuited his mind.
Zhalia was leaning against him.
He couldn't help but glance over at her. She had tensed up again, to the point to where she almost felt weightless. Dante couldn't help but imagine himself making another move, and to his own shock, his body decided to make it a reality.
His arm responded almost immediately with his wishes, pulling Zhalia closer to him and causing her to somehow tense even more. But only for a moment.
She slowly relaxed into his embrace, releasing a small sigh. Dante could only guess what was running through her mind, but he needed his heart to slow down a little more before he could really think on it.
They sat like that, together in blissful silence, until Zhalia clicked her pen closed and gently blew on the page to dry the ink. The two seekers finally exchanged a look, then stood as one, Dante's arm still around her shoulder and Zhalia still close to his side, completely content at how their sudden trip had turned out.
After leaving the bird house and exploring a while longer, Dante asked again. "So, still not interested in Zoos?"
"Honestly, there's nothing really special about it." She rolled her eyes at his tone. "The reptiles were cool though. And so was the hawk."
He couldn't help but laugh. "How about we stop for some food," He pointed to what looked like a café. "and then just pick out some spots that look interesting on the map?"
They selected a few places while they shared a massive sandwich and pile of nachos at a place called the Lakeside Café which was in the center of the zoo. After really looking through the map, there were only a few places they really wanted to see.
After finishing their lunch, the two walked hand in hand to the new exhibit called Grizzly ridge. They watched the bears play in their little pool when a small child cornered his smaller sister in the Grizzly cabin close to the two.
"It's just water!" The boy cackled maniacally as he was sure to rub his hands all over his sister's back while she hid her face in the corner.
"No! It's slimy stingray goo!" She wailed. "Get away from me!"
Zhalia snickered into Dante's jacket as he turned away to hide a smile.
"Are you sure you don't want to pet the stingrays?" He grinned as the mother finally caught up to the two and grabbed the boy by his armpits to drag him away from his thoroughly traumatized sister.
"I'm certain." She smiled back, and Dante thought his heart would melt.
They searched for the polar bear next, but after overhearing a little girl telling her friend that the only way to see the bear was to go through the penguin house, the seekers exchanged a glance, shrugged, and followed a small crowed through a pair of sliding glass doors.
Both had to admit though, the penguins were much more entertaining than usual as it was feeding time. The flightless birds wailed and waddled furiously to the staff with large silver buckets. Zhalia seemed particularly fond of a furious looking Fiordland penguin, and Dante couldn't help but laugh to himself as a smaller penguin climbed on top of one of the emperor penguins while it was lying down.
Out of the corner of his eye, Dante caught his partner rubbing her arms and shivering slightly. Seeing yet another opportunity, he easily shrugged off his coat and draped it over her shoulders. She seemed surprised at first, but then raised an eyebrow and gave him a sly smile.
"Yeah, cliché, I know." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
A chorus of "awws" turned both of their heads. A small group of young women, the youngest probably 15 and the oldest 20, had noticed the display and the girl at the center held her phone out before her.
"Too cute!" Her fingers flew across the screen. As the group scampered off before either seeker could say anything, Dante carefully judged his partner's reaction. She obviously wasn't pleased with the surprise photo shoot, but wasn't about to follow the girls out and force them to delete whatever they got.
The two finally made their way to the polar bear and found they did not in fact have to go through the frigid exhibit to find the animal. Dante could literally feel the annoyance coming off of Zhalia in waves, so after watching the sleeping bear for a while, the two continued on their way.
There were two areas left for the two to explore, well- really one and an insectarium as neither really had any desire to go into the children's zoo. The insectarium was closest, so the two made their way back past the café and to the 'Discovery Corner'.
Then insectarium was under whelming to say the least, though the fieldtrip of elementary school kids did liven things up. They watched in mild amusement as the children harassed each other by pointing out different insects in the glass terrariums or lightly tapping their fingers on each other, mimicking spiders and other insects to get a reaction.
"I can't tell you how tempted I am to summon strix and really give them something to scream about." Zhalia rolled her eyes as they headed to the butterfly house to escape the group.
A group of young girls spent several minutes trying to spot the insect in one terrarium. When they did find the Jungle Nymph, the entire group shrieked. Cue the group tearing off and telling all of the other kids to go look at it as well. Wash rinse and repeat, and both quickly grew tired of the display.
"While that would be amusing, let's not traumatize them any further." Dante led her through the double doors into the garden of flowers.
The two found a bench near a short lawn decoration holding a plate of cut oranges and fruits for the butterflies. The temperature in the garden was perfect, and watching the butterflies lazily flock around the people and food was relaxing.
"… I used to love butterflies as a kid." Dante thought he was overhearing some other conversation, but it was in fact Zhalia who spoke in that wistful tone. "Klaus was researching metamorphosis and had a bunch of caterpillars all over the library for two years after he found me. I didn't really care for them, but then they would cocooned themselves and turned into butterflies. Klaus gave me a specimen frame of butterflies as a gift, and I knew each one was from the experiment."
He didn't know how to respond, or how a young Zhalia would react to such a gift. All he could think of doing was pulling her closer. Then, a memory hit him.
"I remember one time, not long after Metz gave me Solwing, I summoned him in a park not too far away from my home." Dante smiled as the memory played in is head, and because Zhalia leaned her head against his shoulder to listen. "He's always been a good listener, but this was before I could control his instincts better. This huge black and blue butterfly landed on some roses not far from us, and Solwing was gone. Off like a rocket to chase the thing. He caught that one fast, then spotted a small yellow one off in the distance."
He let out a laugh. "I chased him for the better part of two hours as he flew after every large insect in sight. I was lucky it was later in the day. It was easier to catch him while he was going after grass hoppers and moths rather than butterflies and beetles."
It was then that he noticed Zhalia had become very still. Glancing over, he found out why.
A beautiful monarch butterfly had landed on her knuckles, and she was quietly observing the insect tickle her fingers with its long mouth. She had a look in her eyes that Dante had never seen before.
The look was a mixture of love and longing. She let out a sigh as it crawled to her wrist, and Dante knew exactly how she felt. Whenever he watched and eagle soaring above the clouds, envy and respect swirled in his chest. He wanted that kind of freedom. To fly above the clouds and go wherever he pleased. No obligations, no requirements, no Organization to fight, just open skies and the ground below.
All he used to want was to be like a bird, but now that he had Zhalia and the team, he was alright with being chained to the ground. In fact, he hadn't really thought about it since the Argos mission.
He had always been attracted to her. She was an attractive woman. He kept his distance, trying to keep a good working relationship with the seeker, but everything was just so easy with her. He trusted her judgment and abilities, and despite her lack of tolerance with the teens, he knew he could trust her to keep an eye on them. He never could have imagined things would turn out this way.
They sat there for some time, just drinking in each other's presence and the butterflies around them. Eventually though, the two reluctantly stood and continued on their way, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder.
The rest of their zoo trip was spent in relative silence. They visited the last area that wasn't pay to enter, saw the African dogs, the rhinos, and the bears, and then headed for the exit.
Well, after Dante disappeared into the Zoo gift shop to grab something for the teens. Hopefully a knickknack would keep the two from being too annoyed with being ditched.
"So, after a full zoo experience, what do you think?" Dante asked as they walked to the bus stop just outside the gates.
"It was cool." She motioned to the bench and the two rested against each other again.
"What was your favorite part?"
"The Insectarium- you know, after we escaped the kids," She specified when he gave her a strange look. "And the reptile house. Yours?"
"Bird house and the butterflies." He pulled her close and she smiled.
Seeing an opportunity, he pulled a small bag from his pocket. "Here, something to remember this day."
She rolled her eyes as he pressed the gift into her hand. "Dante, you shouldn't have. I-"
She trailed off as she pulled out a thin chained necklace with a monarch butterfly on it. Pulling his courage, he pressed a kiss to her temple as she examined the charm gently.
"Thank you, Dante." She finally whispered.
Dante checked his watch for the first time since they arrived and saw it was just a few hours past noon. Letting out a sigh, he watched as she put it on. "If the kids went to a museum, they'll probably be there for the full day. Is there anything else you want to do in St. Louis?"
She gave him the look, and he knew she was joking, warmth and desire bubbled through his entire body. She laughed, actually laughed, when he took too long to respond. "The Art Museum is just down the road. How about we find out how Lok and Sophie are on the way there, look around for a while, then find some place to eat?"
"Without the teens?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Without the teens."
Sophie didn't answer immediately, actually having to call him back just as the two seekers entered the art museum.
"Sorry guys, this place is really not what I expected!" She sounded out of breath. "We'll be back late, or maybe never because we can't find our way out of this freaking cave. Don't wait up on us, bye!"
"Cave?" Dante and Zhalia traded a look, shrugged it off, and continued on their way.
Dante and Zhalia returned to their hotel a little after ten, and by eleven, both began to get a little worried. Somehow, they beat Sophie and Lok back, but there was still no sign of them. Dante called each twice as neither answered, but just as they were about to run out the door to hunt them down, Lok called back and hurriedly reassured that they were all fine and "having a blast".
Finally, at 11:30 at night, the two showed up. Exhausted, bruised, and literally shaking. Cherit crawled out of the bag and collapsed onto the closest pillow while the teens both fell face first on the closest bed.
Dante and Zhalia just stared in complete confusion. The two had been sitting on the next bed over, watching a late night movie while waiting to make sure the teens made it back alive.
"What happened to you two?" Zhalia was the first to speak.
Lok was still face down in a pillow when he responded. "Best. Place. Ever!"
The older seekers exchanged a look, then Dante pulled out his phone to look up what could have possibly gotten the two so wiped out. His eye brows popped up and he couldn't help but laugh as he handed the phone to Zhalia.
"You're kidding me." She snickered as she stood to help Sophie to their room. "I thought that place was a City Museum."
"It is." Sophie gladly accepted Zhalia's help and the two waved goodnight. "It's not my fault Lok got us pulled into a fifty person game of manhunt in the Caves."
Dante shook his head, threw a blanket over Lok and Cherit, and turned out the lights.
The plane ride back to Italy was a rough one for the titan and teens due to their soreness and exhaustion. The two headed on ahead to the pickup area where LeBlance was waiting while Dante and Zhalia hang back.
"Let's make a habit of ditching the two from now on." Zhalia shook her head with a sigh as Lok distractedly walked into a trashcan while yawning.
Dante was way too prepared for this. "How about next week Tuesday? The kids have a fieldtrip."
Zhalia gave him that look again, then wrapped an arm around his waist. "Sounds good to me."
They parted ways, Zhalia taking a separate Taxi to her own apartment while Dante headed to his. When he sat in the seat, something paper crinkled in his pocket.
Pulling it out, he tried to remember why he would have a folded piece of paper in his pocket. After unfolding it, he couldn't help but smile.
The beautiful dark blue ink drawing of the falcon stared back at him, and he began trying to decide what small gift he was going to get for her next.
So you don't have to look them up if you don't know what they are
Fiordland penguin- angry eyebrow penguin (you know the ones)
Jungle Nymph- Hell's stick bug/grasshopper