hello all! so if you're not aware young justice appreciation month is this month! there's a tumblr account for it, and they have a 30 day writing challenge for it! so because i know i won't make all 30, i picked 15 prompts to do! so here's the first one i've decided on doing! look for the next one coming this friday in it's own fic because it'll be a ship!
i went for the fun/playful side of it and loved writing this! so r&r!
~ kiers
DAY ONE OF FIFTEEN: TEENAGE SHENANIGANS
MOUNT JUSTICE
LIVING ROOM
19:23 PM
"Bye guys! Have fun!" Artemis yelled through her laughter at a miserable looking group of teenage boys. Wally shot her a glare before they were beamed out of the Cave, and the room fell silent.
"This is...strange.." Zatanna commented, plopping down on the couch and kicking her feet up, "having the whole place to ourselves for once, I mean."
"Yeah, actually. I don't think this has ever happened, at least not as long as I've been on the team." M'gann chimed in, looking around the large room. "You know, I kinda like it."
"So do I." Zatanna and Artemis agreed in unison, grinning at each other.
"We should celebrate!" M'gann grinned, "let's have one of those sleepover things I've seen in movies! I've watched so many and have always wondered what it's like to do makeup and hair on other girls and paint nails and do facials and talk about boys and share secre-"
"Earth to M'gann!" Artemis laughed, cutting off the martian. "That isn't how real sleepovers are, that's only in those dumb chick flick movies."
"Oh...So we don't really do any of that?" M'gann frowned, disappointed.
"Artemis!" Zatanna glared at the blonde next to her, "M'gann, what she was trying to say was that the extent the movies take it is different from real life. We can do all that stuff, but we won't be as crazy as what you see on TV or in the movies." She explained, and the ginger clapped her hands together with her huge smile returning to her face.
"In that case let's order pizza and grab all our blankets! Tonight, the living room is ours!" M'gann declared before flying off down the hallway toward her bedroom.
"She's a real gem." Artemis smiled, looking over at Zatanna.
"Definitely. Very special in her own way."
MOUNT JUSTICE
LIVING ROOM
20:30 PM
"So...what do girls really do at sleepovers?" M'gann asked before stuffing her face with a huge bite of her slice of pizza. The three girls sat in a circle with the pizza at the center. Both Artemis and Zatanna looked at each other, unsure of how to answer.
"Um..." Artemis started to mumble. The blonde had no idea how to respond to her friend. Growing up, she didn't have many girl friends to hang out with and have these sorts of bonding experiences with. She looked over at Zatanna, who had her thinking face on. After another minute or two of silence, she finally grinned.
"Well, my friends and I always watched a dumb movie in a huge blanket fort. We'd eat a ton of ice cream, plus tease each other about a boy every so often. Sometimes we'd pretend we were older and in high school or we'd play dumb games like M.A.S.H and have all our lives mapped out." She explained, taking a small sip of her soda before setting it down on the floor next to her. "We'd even try to stay up all night, or at least, we'd try to."
"Oh the all nighter, classic." Artemis chuckled with a small head shake.
"All nighter? Isn't sleep like, vital to your survival?" M'gann asked, a bit confused at the Earth term she'd never heard. Even after being on the planet for over a year she was still so clueless when it came to things outside crime fighting.
"Well you see, sometimes kids don't make good decisions as you've probably noticed, and they get caught up in whatever they're doing and well, forget to sleep," Artemis explained.
"Forget to sleep?!" M'gann gasped. The black haired girl laughed a little.
"Okay maybe not forget, but, put it off and stay awake as long as they can to keep the fun going." Zee added.
"Well that sounds like an awful idea. Sleep makes everyone feel so much better, and full of energy and not cranky." M'gann pointed out.
"While yes, that is true, not having sleep can create the same effect."
"The overtired effect!" Artemis grinned, "something I am way too often."
"You know Arty, we should try to have an all nighter tonight! Since M'gann's never actually had a real sleepover and no sleepover experience is complete without staying up and watching the sunrise." Zatanna pointed out with a small smirk.
"Couldn't agree more Zee, let's do it!" Artemis grinned. M'gann all in all looked terrified of what was to come.
"This should be...a...night to always remember!" She let out a nervous laugh, before shoving her face again with the greasy, gooey cheese of the warm pizza.
MOUNT JUSTICE
LIVING ROOM
21:18 PM
"I've never had to paint my nails before," M'gann laughed as Zatanna opened the bottle of baby pink nail polish.
"And why's that? This seems totally up your alley." Artemis questioned from the couch, where she was sprawled out with a blanket over her. Her nose was in her phone, scrolling through her feed on whatever social media sight had her attention for now.
"I can change my form anytime I want, remember? So that includes finger nails." She laughed as if it were obvious. As Zatanna took the brush to the martian's green fingertip she let out a huge laugh. "Zee! That tickled!"
"Sorry! Don't be so flinchy or else I'll get it everywhere!"
"You two oh my god," Artemis groaned, "maybe you should let M'gann do your nails Zee, that way you're not getting paint on her and she can just morph her nails to do whatever she pleases."
"But where's the fun in that? Come on now Arty don't be a stick in the mud." Zatanna pouted, crossing her arms and sticking out her bottom lip to create a face to reflect the on on Arty's face.
"I'm not a stick in the mud I'm just bored with this, can't we do something else?" She pleaded, turning her body so her head was hanging off the couch upside down. "Blood rushing to my head is fun. Let's all do that!"
"You're so evil. Are you sure you aren't the traitor?" Zee teased, winking as she placed her left hand down for M'gann to start painting with whatever suited her fancy.
"Hey! Not funny. Remember when everyone thought that? That went well for absolutely nobody on this damn team." Artemis mumbled, sitting up as her eyes began to water from the blood rush. She tilted her neck to the side to crack it, then again to the other side.
"Okay well that, how about after this coat of nail polish dries it's all up to you to choose what we do?" M'gann spoke up, breaking her focus on the pinky nail of Zatanna's hand. "I think it's a perfect compromise."
"Fine by me! Anything but just sitting here with the smell of that toxic junk." Artemis laughed, causing the other girls too as well.
MOUNT JUSTICE
LIVING ROOM
22:45 PM
"So your idea of fun is all of us sitting on our computers?" Zatanna groaned, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. She'd been sitting on the same shopping website for the last twenty minutes cleaning out her wish list to occupy her time.
"Well yeah! I mean we can all send each other dumb funny videos of cats and stuff! Like look!" Artemis laughed, watching whatever was on her screen. M'gann looked over and erupted in a fit of giggles while Zatanna only rolled her eyes again, shaking her head.
"If anything this is going to make me exhausted. The computer screen isn't good on the eyes, Arty." She pointed out, closing her laptop and placing it on the coffee table in front of them. "Especially not if you're planning on staying up all night."
"Yeah...Artemis, as much as I love videos of kittens, I don't see how this can be this much fun..." M'gann frowned, hating to go against her friend. She was just bored and didn't really know what else to do. This wasn't what an all nighter was, was it?
"You guys want fun? Fine." Artemis smirked, standing up and moving her laptop to the center of the table.
"What're you doing?" Zatanna asked, giving the blonde a confused look. She watched her opened up the camera app on the laptop, and turned on the timer to take a stream of pictures. "Well, come on you two! We've got memories to make!" She grinned, pulling them both up out of their seats. "Smile!"
The next half hour went by in a flash, so to speak. Hundreds of pictures were snapped, lots of laughs were bellowed out, and a few spilt cans of Pepsi were spilled on the blankets under their feet. One of them put on music to be able to dance around to, and the lyrics were sung out loud and out of tune. Their voices yelled at one another to smile or make a dumb face. They took individual shots, duo shots, and a handful of group pictures which eventually ended up as Artemis's laptop screensaver. This was a memory none of them could ever forget.
MOUNT JUSTICE
LIVING ROOM
00:17 AM
"I want to bake." M'gann thought aloud, sitting up from her spot on the couch. "Guys, let's bake."
"It's midnight..." Artemis started to question, raising an eyebrow, "and you want to bake?"
"Yes! Cupcakes taste awesome at any time of day! Or, in our case, night..."
"Technically it's morning."
"You can't argue either point, Arty," Zee chuckled, Artemis rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
"But it's messy." She complained.
"But it's fun."
"Messy fun!"
"Please?!" M'gann pouted, her eyes widening and her lip sticking out to finish the sad girl look. Artemis groaned.
"Fine, we bake...on one condition...I get to eat all the leftover batter." She demanded, crossing her arms like a child ready to throw a tantrum. Her blonde hair was a mess all around her face, and she looked like if she wanted to she could scream up a storm if told no.
"Of course! What's a baker without her kitchen cleaners?" M'gann laughed, getting up and flying into the kitchen.
"I hate when she flies..." Artemis mumbled, getting up and walking with a laughing Zatanna who was more than amused with the two girls she called her best friends.
M'gann was furiously going through the cabinets, looking for whatever cake mix they had. She pulled out the first thing she saw and began pouring things into bowls and and mixing like a mad-martian. Zatanna stood back, leaning against the area of the counter that wasn't in use. Artemis hovered over M'gann's shoulder, impatiently waiting for the batter she was dying to eat.
MOUNT JUSTICE
MAIN BATHROOM
01:27
"I can't believe you got cake in my hair, M'gann!" Artemis growled, trying to rinse her hair out in the sink of the bathroom the three of them were standing in. They'd gotten into a bit of a batter fight when the second batch was being made and well, things got ugly, fast.
"It...It was an accident! I'm so so so sorry Artemis!" M'gann apologized profusely, covering her chocolate covered face. She was trying to build friendships, not wreck them. "Please don't be angry..."
"You shouldn't have been hovering Artemis, patience is a virtue." Zatanna chuckled, wiping the frosting from her arm that Artemis had thrown at her for laughing not even a half hour ago. It was sticky, and the sweetness made her skin feel oily. She hated that.
"A virtue I wasn't blessed with." The blonde grumbled in response, glaring at the black haired girl.
"How about I fix this?" Zee offered. Artemis rolled her eyes.
"Easier said than done."
Lifting her hands and closing her eyes, the magician took a deep breath to focus. "Evomer eht ssem morf erehwyreve." A that instant, all the cake batter, frosting, and whatever else was thrown had vanished.
"Wow Zee, that's so awesome!" M'gann was in awe of her friend's powers. Although she had abilities of her own, the talents her friends had never ceased to amaze her.
"Great, thanks, you saved me like fifteen more minutes." Artemis muttered sarcastically, crossing her arms as she put her wet hair up into a ponytail before walking out of the bathroom.
"She loves me." Zatanna laughed lightly, as her and M'gann followed. "She's got no choice."
"Friends don't have a choice?"
"Not after a certain point, no." Zee smiled.
That's the point I want to be at with you two. M'gann thought to herself, trailing behind her magician friend.
MOUNT JUSTICE
LIVING ROOM
02:53
"Where do you guys see yourselves in ten years?" M'gann asked out of the blue, causing both the blonde and raven haired girl to look up from their card game.
"Woah, deep all of a sudden."
"I'm serious." M'gann frowned, crossing her arms over her chest, "I'm curious. Come on guys, we never talk about this kind of thing."
"I think it's because we all assume we'll be crime fighting until they try putting us in nursing homes." Artemis shrugged, placing down the cards she had in her hands.
"But what if we're meant to have normal lives too? With a husband and kids and a job and having this life under the names we go by outside the Cave..." M'gann's voice trailed off. There was an eerie silence for a few minutes before Zatanna finally spoke up.
"I've always seen myself as a performer like my dad." She admitted, looking down at her hands in her lap. "I'd love to work in Palo Alto...It's where my dad started when he got into performing and everyone knows and loves him..." Her eyes had a spark of happiness and passion for her magic, but a tint of sadness with the mention of her dad. Once Artemis saw this, she knew the conversation was on the table and for someone who was bad with feelings, she was willing to open up for once. She awkwardly coughed to clear her throat.
"To be honest, I want a life with Wally..." The blonde archer admitted, "I care about him a lot and I don't see us really splitting up...We're almost, I don't know, made for each other..." She took a deep breath, as if something she'd kept bottled up inside had finally been popped open and her heart felt lighter somehow.
"I want to live on Earth, I can't ever go back to Mars." M'gann blurted out. "This place has done so much for me...the Team, the League...Connor..." M'gann smiled a little, thinking about her boyfriend, "He gets me...and I can't be more grateful...And everyone else here is so accepting and welcoming, like you guys..."
"Aw, M'gann!" Artemis smiled, "you're the sweetest, there's no reason to not love you!"
"Exactly! You're the most down to Earth alien I've ever met." Zatanna joked, causing them to all laugh. They went silent for a minute before the topic took a sudden shift.
"Zatanna likes Robin!" Artemis blurted out, and was met with a slap to the arm.
"Artemis!" Zatanna snapped, "shut up! I do not!"
"I knew it!" M'gann squealed, "oh my god Zee it's so obvious! Ever since New Years!"
"I told you it's obvious, Miss Magic!" Artemis laughed, causing the face of the raven haired girl's face go so red the Red Tornado would be put to shame. "Ever since New Years when you planted one right on his lips!"
"That was because I was caught up in the moment!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"You guys both were, and he kissed back!" M'gann excitedly added, grinning like a fool.
"Can it you two, he isn't into me." She mumbled, "if he was, we'd be hanging out more often outside of the uniform...and I'd know his real name..."
"Okay he doesn't tell anyone that though, like, I think only Wally knows and even he found out on accident." Artemis reassured her, "plus, he doesn't seem like the type to be like 'oh by the way...' because I feel like Batman would murder him..." She pointed out.
"Yeah Zee! Secret identities are secret for a reason! You've really got to trust someone before telling them such a big part of your life, and letting you in completely. Remember how long it took me to tell you guys I was a white martian?" M'gann reminded her, "I was scared beyond belief to be completely open and honest with you all."
"M'gann's got a point Zee, don't worry, okay? Show him you're interested and you'll have this in the bag." Artemis grinned, wrapping an arm around Zatanna's shoulders to half hug her.
"You guys are the best...just saying." Zatanna laughed, leaning her head on Artemis's shoulder, "I love you guys, hands down the best friends I've ever had."
"We're the only friends you've ever had." Artemis teased.
"Not true!" Zee argued.
"So true!" Arty laughed.
"This must be what real friends and real sleepovers are like..." M'gann mumbled to herself with a small smile on her face, watching and listening to the girls she'd grown to love argue, all in good fun.
MOUNT JUSTICE
ROOFTOP
05:57 AM
"Three large cups of the finest coffee a magician can brew!" Zatanna grinned, setting down all three mugs in front of the martian and the archer. She plopped down in between them.
"I thought witches made brew?" Artemis joked, taking a sip. She watched the raven haired girl roll her eyes and only laughed more. "Now this, is what all nighters are about." She grinned, leaning back on her hands with her legs stretched out in front of her. "Coffee, sunrises, and memories with best friends."
"Truer words have never been spoken." Zatanna laughed, taking a large drink from the cup in her hands.
The trio was silent for awhile, watching the sun rise up over the city. The entire sky lit up from dark blue to light oranges and yellows as the sun rays hit each individual building, creating an image that was all a new experience for M'gann. Her eyes tried to trace every beam of light, and they widened as the world went from the nocturnal feeling she'd grown used to in the last twelve hours to being bright and vivid once again. It was like the sun was painting the world to life, adding a fresh coat on what once had color. The sensation she got from the experience was a rush of remembrance.
"Thank you guys..." She sighed happily, looking up with a large smile on her face.
"For what?" Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow.
"For showing me what an all nighter was, and what normal girls do...and for all the memories I've made in the last however long this has been."
Both Zatanna and Artemis just smiled, nodding contently as they enjoyed their comfortable silence, their coffee, and the colorful, gorgeous sun rise.
MOUNT JUSTICE
LIVING ROOM
09:30 AM
"That was the worst trip of my life." Wally groaned as the four teenagers were beamed back into their living room. "I never want to spend any more personal time with Batman, ever."
"You warm up to him." Robin shrugged,half joking. .His piercing blue eyes looked around from behind his sunglasses. The room was in shambles. The TV was on, there was an empty pizza box open on the coffee table and cups and mugs everywhere. Blankets were sprawled out as far as the eye could see. "What happened here?" Artemis's laptop was open and unlocked, her new background image showcased for the boys to see. They all stopped and looked over it for a second to try and piece together the previous night's activities. After a second they all started to walk into the kitchen when Connor froze.
"Guys," He spoke up, redirecting himself toward the three lumps he spotted curled up on the floor. The others walked up behind him, not believing what they saw.
"Well I'll be damned." Wally smirked.
The three girls were all next to one another. Zatanna had her back to the two of them, curled up in a ball. Artemis in the middle, laying flat on her stomach and her head rested on her arms. M'gann was turned facing her, her hands pressed together under her head. They looked so peaceful, so normal for once in their lives.
"I've never seen Artemis look so calm." Wally chuckled, which was followed by a hit to the chest from Robin.
"Dude, shut up. Do you want to wake the three of them?"
"All of you guys, quiet." Kaldur spoke just barely above a whisper. "we should let them be, obviously they had a late night."
"Or early morning." Wally joked.
"You're ridiculous." Robin shot at him.
"You're stupid."
"Guys," Connor whisper yelled, glaring at the two. "Kaldur's right...we don't want to feel their wrath." He agreed, taking a step back.
"Let's just get out of here. Breakfast?" Wally suggested, making his way toward the zeta tube. Everyone nodded and agreed, beaming out and into wherever Wally chose as their destination while the three girls slept peacefully. They'd been exhausted but the memories were worth it. Their friendship was worth it. Their crazy evening of laughs, food, and bonding was all worth it.