Title: Don't You Forget Us, Too
Rating: T
Word Count: 2,000+
Characters: Dick/Zatanna
Summary: She looks up at him from underneath her long lashes and god, it's not like he could ever forget how beautiful she is, but he doesn't see her around the Cave often and… Well, it's been a while since she's looked at him like that.
Prompt: #9: past
Other Inspirations: When Artemis asked about Zatanna and Dick said, We have a history in "Depth." This story has nothing to do with the episode, but still.
Note: This is probably the most predictable thing I've ever written, and not very good. But I needed to write Chalant after that allusion. IT JUST GOT ME RIGHT IN THE CHALANT FEELS.
Don't You Forget Us, Too
Would it be extremely corny of him to say that she knocked the wind out of him with one glance?
Because that's exactly how it felt.
The smile Zatanna gives him pretty much says that she probably knows this, too, and she's giggling very faintly as she meets him at the bottom of the staircase. Her dress is backless and dark purple and shimmers as she moves, and her hair is piled atop her head and held together by a silver clip that looks like the silhouette of a bird.
He runs his fingers very gently over the cool metal (carefully, to not mess up her hair because, duh) and smiles. "You kept it."
She gives him a look. "Of course I did." Then she flashes a pearly white smile. "Is it time?"
"Yeah," he says. "And Zee?"
She looks up at him from underneath her long lashes and god, it's not like he could ever forget how beautiful she is, but he doesn't see her around the Cave often and…
Well, it's been a while since she's looked at him like that.
(He misses it.)
"Thank you for this," he tells her softly, sliding his hand over the small of her back and watching her draw in a shaky breath. "I know these upper class charity events aren't the most exciting things in the world, and even though you're not obligated anymore… I mean, not that you were obligated to go when we were… you know, but—"
She laughs and slips her arm into his. "I'm always happy to be your date, Dick."
And honestly? That sounds like it applies to more than just tonight.
... ...
The entire thing is exciting as you'd expect an evening standing around and pretending to be engaged in conversation with a bunch of socialites to be.
He'd told Zatanna before guests started arriving that she didn't have to be stuck with him all night if she didn't want to, and she'd rolled her eyes and said that there was no way he was leaving her to fend off the stiffs on her own (her words). So she hasn't left his side since this thing started and he's really glad, and not just because it saves him from braving this night alone.
He just genuinely loves being with her.
That's why he'd asked her specifically, even if, theoretically, he could've asked anyone. He thinks he's taken all of the girls he's friends with at least once, either because he'd asked it of them or they'd wanted to see what it was like so he brought them along.
Megan, of course, found it fun. So did Artemis, because they'd spend their time secretly making fun of everyone. Barbara usually goes because she gets invited with her father, though tonight he knows she's not going to be here. He's even taken Raquel and Karen once or twice because they'd asked, though the nicest thing both could say at the end of the night was that the food was really good.
Being them is nothing like being with Zatanna, though. She's the kind of social person that can muster up a friendly conversation with anyone, even someone she probably doesn't like. It's like she knows all the right things to say and do to have these people eating out of the palm of her hands. It's actually kind of fascinating if you just sort of watch her.
Anyway, a waiter comes around and exchanges their empty flutes for new ones, and he wonders if it's bad he can't remember how many glasses they've had.
"Your brother's pretty good at this stuff," Zatanna comments, tilting her glass in his direction.
Tim has a pleasant smile on his face and one hand in his pocket as he's talking to an Asian girl wearing red, her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Dick smiles, because he knows how nervous Tim was when he first started going to these things and it seems like he's gotten over it.
"He is quite the charmer."
"He probably gets it from his brother."
Dick looks at her, and she's biting her lower lip a little while giving him a gentle smile.
God, he's missed her.
Then she tips her head back and downs the rest of her drink, and his eyes take in the flush on her cheeks and the way she licks her lips slowly to catch the last drops of the wine.
He reaches over and takes the glass from her, and she just watches him as he sets the empty flutes onto the tray of a waitress that walks by. He gives a faint nod towards the door and holds his hand out, and she slips her fingers through his and lets him lead her out of the ballroom.
"It was getting kind of warm in there," he tells her as an explanation.
"Mhmm."
He runs his thumb over the back of her hand and her lips curve into a smile. "Did you want to go upstairs?"
She laughs a little. Whenever Bruce would host these events at the Mansion, they would disappear after being down there for a few hours and retreat upstairs. Most of the time they'd snack in the kitchen or bring stuff to his bedroom and spend the rest of the night there. Even if that was when they'd been together, the smile she's giving him now kind of proves that there are some things that never change.
"I'd like that."
... ...
"Wally really didn't talk to you for a week?"
Dick smiles at her from where he's sitting on top of his bed and watches as she's laughing and setting down the framed picture of him and Artemis from freshman year. They brought in dark chocolate squares and dessert wine from the kitchen, locked his door and kicked their shoes off as soon as they got in.
(One of hers is missing, actually, because she tossed it somewhere and didn't bother watching to see where it landed. Whenever they'd sneak into his room like this, she'd always lose something.)
They talked about whatever popped into their heads at the time, until she picked up that picture and asked about it and somehow they ended up talking about Wally and Artemis and the time Wally got so jealous of Dick because he'd taken Artemis as his date to a charity thing and a few photos of them got leaked. They're just talking in those pictures, though, and in his defense, Artemis was the one who asked him, so.
"Yeah, sort of," Dick explains. "He'd start talking to me and then remember he was supposed to be mad and then sort of storm off."
She gives him a wide smile. "I remember that! I just didn't realize it'd been because of something so…"
"Trivial?"
"It probably didn't feel trivial to him."
"But this is Wally we're talking about, and he has a tendency to overreact to everything."
"I think it's sweet." He raises an eyebrow. "And, if I seem to remember it correctly, there was a certain Boy Wonder I knew who had to be everywhere at once just to make sure that nothing happened to me during missions. So it's not like he's the only one that feels that way."
He just laughs. "Touché."
"It's not like it's a bad thing," she reminds, crossing the distance between them. "I always loved that about us… you."
"Really?" She bites her lower lip and nods. "Because I remember being lectured a few times about you being able to take care of yourself."
"That didn't mean I didn't like it when you took care of me."
She says this softly, just barely above a whisper, and he slides his legs over the side of the bed and looks up into her eyes. "Come here," he mumbles, placing a hand on her waist and bringing her forward, her knees hitting the mattress as she stands between his legs. She sets her hands on his shoulders as he slides his hands over her hips and clasps his fingers together over the small of her back.
"I miss us," she tells him.
"I do, too."
She runs her fingers over his collar and over the side of his face, pushing them into his hair. "I hated when we broke up."
"And you think I didn't?" He meets her eyes. "Ending things with you was the hardest thing I've ever done."
"Then why did you do it?"
"'Tanna," he exhales. "You know why. Relationships in our lives? They don't really work out, and I couldn't risk it. Having to keep my distance, to just be friends… I hate it, but I could handle it a lot better than the possibility that one day, someone's going to use you against me and you wind up getting hurt, or worse."
"Isn't that all the more reason to hold onto each other?" She runs her thumb over his temple. "We only have this lifetime to be together, Dick."
He reaches up to wipe the tears gathering at the corner of her eye. "I was stupid for thinking we were better apart, huh?"
She shakes her head. "The sentiment was actually very chivalrous. And you wouldn't be you if you didn't try to do what you thought was best. But," she leans forward and kisses his forehead softly, asking against his skin, "Can we be in love again?"
He smiles.
"You mean we stopped?"
She's laughing a little and kind of crying at the same time, and he places a hand on the back of her neck and brings their lips together. Hers taste a little sweet from the dark chocolate and a little bitter from the wine, but he thinks it's kind of the best thing ever, and he runs his tongue against her lower lip to get a better taste of it.
He gathers the bottom of her dress in his hands and pushes it up, letting her easily slide her knees onto the mattress as she straddles his waist. He lets the material fall over their legs as he slides his lips down her neck and sucks down on her pulse, making her tip her head back. Then he reaches up as he's kissing every inch of skin he can and pulls the clip gently from her hair, letting it fall over her shoulders.
"I've missed this. You," he tells her, nipping at her collarbone. "God, I've missed you."
"Dick,"she moans, and puts a hand on his cheek to force his lips off of her skin so that she can meet his eyes. "I've missed you, too."
"You know we still have to talk about everything…"
"I know," she tells him, flashing a smile that's always meant trouble for him. "But I've been in this dress for hours. Why don't you help me get it off?"
He groans.
Yeah, talking can wait.
... ...
Their legs are tangled in the sheets between them as she's feeding him a piece of chocolate with her fingers, and then kissing him with her tongue sliding over the bits smudged on his lips. His fingers are lazily tracing unknown patterns over her skin and the smile she gives him seems like the brightest one he's seen on her face since their breakup.
"How do you feel?" he asks her, sweeping stray strands of hair from her face and tucking them behind her ear.
"Like the past few years without you were just a bad dream," she says, and he leans over to kiss her cheek because that's basically how he feels, too. "And kind of paranoid, considering every single time we've slept in your bed, Alfred or Bruce or both have walked in on us afterward."
"We locked the door last night," he reminds.
"We did those other nights, too, and you know how the mornings went."
He laughs and breaks off another piece, slipping it past her lips. But yeah, he pulls the sheets up and twists it around her because he really doesn't need or want anyone else seeing her like this.
"And speaking of our known history…"
"Hmm?"
"Eventually you're going to have to help me find my other heel."