Thank you to theshadowwithinyoursoul for the Zoo visit prompt. :) Enjoy! And tell me what you think!

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Athena giggled as she watched the otters flip around in the giant tank. One of them was floating calmly on its back while the others seemed to be little furry balls of energy.

Athena was also studying them. The way they swam, the way they looked, how they acted towards each other, and so on.

Conner didn't know that Athena would enjoy the Zoo as much as she was. He just thought it would be a fun activity for the girl since she liked animals. However, they had already been there for an hour and weren't even done yet. Athena took her animals very seriously.

"Is something wrong?" Conner inquired when he noticed Athena staring at the floating Otter for a long period of time with her head tilted to the side.

"She's pregnant." Athena whispered, smiling slightly, and Conner looked over at the Otter that was floating.

"Pregnant?" he questioned, and the girl nodded knowingly.

"How do you know?" Conner inquired, and the girl just shrugged, then walked over to the next animal.

Conner really wished that he could fully understand what was going on in that head of hers, but some days he just gave up entirely.

And when it came to animals, that was something Conner could never understand about the girl. Because while he thought animals were just interesting, Athena looked at them like they were the greatest things in the world.

"Conner, look how beautiful she is." Athena smiled, and the teen walked over to see that she was looking at a Tiger.

The Tiger's coat was a red orange mix with sharp black stripes going down its side, and its eyes were an olive green.

"Yeah, she sure is beautiful." Conner nodded. He honestly didn't understand how an animal could be called "beautiful." He understood that some colorful animals were "pretty" but he could never say beautiful. And the tiger? To him it was just some furry creature with stripes. It looked like every other tiger he ever saw.

However, Athena thought it was beautiful, so he'd agree with her.

"Thank you for taking me here." Athena smiled as she walked to the next enclosure, holding Conner's hand tightly.

"No problem Athena. which animal is your favorite?" he inquired, and the girl shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't really know yet. I like them all so far." She informed, then her face quickly brightened when she saw the elephants.

"Zitka's an elephant." She informed happily while looking at the creatures.

"Who's Zitka?" Conner inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Zitka's an Elephant that Nii-san knows." She said as she continued to watch the animals walk around and pick up food with their trunks.

Conner honestly wasn't surprised at the fact that Dick apparently knew an Elephant. The guy sure was strange.

Athena watched as one of the elephants were trying to reach a pile of food that was too high up for its trunk to reach. Athena closed her eyes, and the food inched closer to the Elephant's trunk, and it happily took the food.

"Athena." Conner said in a warning tone, and the girl looked at him innocently.

"What?" she questioned, and Conner let it go. The zoo wasn't that busy anyway, and he could always chalk up the food moving due to the wind.

Athena then led Conner into the bird cage, where people could walk around among the birds. It sounded fun.

~*~*~*~*~*~Five Minutes Later~*~*~*~*~*~

"I don't like birds." Athena informed in a stiff voice.

"They just landed on you. They weren't going to hurt you." Conner informed calmly as the two continued to walk.

"I don't like birds." The girl repeated adamantly.

Athena might have not liked the birds, but the birds loved her. Flocks of them were landing on her, which Athena found not to her liking.

Conner was grateful that she didn't freak out and that her powers didn't go off. However, he could tell she didn't like the feeling of the claws on her skin, even if her skin was impervious.

"So, where to next?" he inquired, but he really wished he didn't ask.

"The Primate section." Was the girl's response.

They were headed for the monkey part of the Zoo, and while Athena hated birds, Conner felt the exact same way about monkeys.

However, he swallowed his hatred for the creatures and followed Athena to each exhibit. The girl smiled as she looked at each type of monkey big or small. She then stopped at the Gorillas where one was lazily sitting against the window.

Athena cocked her head to the side, looking at it, and it followed in suit, tilting it's head. Athena then tilted her head to the other side, and it copied her again.

"You have a funny sense of humor." The girl giggled, talking to the animal as if it understood her. She then turned to look at Conner.

"He's funny." She smiled.

"Hilarious." Conner nodded dryly, not enjoying being surrounded by moneys, regardless if there was a layer of glass separating them.

To Conner's relief, they exited the monkey area and came up to a Wolf habitat.

"Hey, they're like Wolf, but smaller." The girl grinned, and Conner nodded. He enjoyed dogs much better than the apes.

Athena's eyes then locked on one enclosure and she ran to it. Conner quickly followed her and he saw why she was so excited.

"Bears." Athena whispered, looking at the black bear swimming in the small pool the zoo offered. "Look at them. They're like Ralph." She grinned.

Conner didn't see the resemblance to the giant furry creatures that could eat a person alive and the girl's run down stuffed toy at all.

But Athena seemed fascinated by the way the bears moved and the little grunting noises they made.

"Hey, Conner?" the girl questioned, and the teen looked down at her.

"Yeah, Athena?"

"I know what my favorite animal is." She smiled as she watched the bears play around in the water, and Conner chuckled.

"You like bears, huh?" he questioned, and Athena nodded.

"I like bears. Otters are my second favorite though." She nodded, and Conner smirked.

"I think you might hurt Batman's feelings if you told him that. What ever happened to bats?" he inquired and the girl shrugged.

"I see bats all the time. They live in the cave." She giggled, and Conner placed the girl on his shoulders so she could get a better view of the bears.

"So why do you like bears so much? Is it because they remind you of Ralph?" he inquired, and the girl shrugged.

"A little. But they're just fun creatures. They love each other, and protect each other. They like to sleep during the winter. And you don't try to mess with them. People know that they are creatures to reckon with and are not to be taken lightly." She smiled. "Bears are strong."

Conner nodded at the girl's answer, then questioned,

"Why do you like otters?" Athena grinned, and her face softened thinking about them.

"They're really cute."