I'm so excited to finally post this chapter! This was one of my favorites to write and I think you guys will really like it. Thanks for reading!
NOTE: I am not a lifeguard. I have never been a lifeguard. I have never even been saved by a lifeguard. Any and all lifeguard duties are researched through observation, internet research, and discussion with a friend who is a lifeguard. If you are a lifeguard and you notice a mistake, please let me know. I want my writing to be as realistic as possible. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or The Decemberists (the title comes from their song Summersong).
I taste the summer on your peppery skin.
chapter eleven
Wally's not really sure how he got here, but Megan apparently has convinced everyone to show up on the boardwalk Friday night for the weekly show. Some weeks it's a band, some weeks a dance troupe, but this week, she tells them all with excitement clear on her pretty face, is a magic show.
Giovanni Zatara stands grandly on the small stage, cape sweeping over his magical boxes while his lovely assistant, also his daughter, holds his top hat beside him, smiling winningly out at the crowd as he extracts a white rabbit.
Wally opens his mouth for the umpteenth time to explain how the trick really works, but Dick digs his elbow into his side, effectively cutting him off. Wally glares down at his friend, rubbing his rib cage indignantly. Really, Dick keeps elbowing in the same place and it's actually starting to hurt.
Kaldur, witness to this blatant abuse, does nothing except raise his eyebrows disapprovingly at Wally. Wally sighs with defeat, lower lip pouting momentarily, but he can't help but smile at Megan's obvious delight at the show.
She's pressed again Conner's side, clapping with the conclusion of each trick. Whether or not she honestly believes this is magic, Wally doesn't know, but without a doubt she's highly enjoying herself.
The show ends as expected, with a glorious reveal of Zatanna in one piece after being sawed in half. Pyrotechnics explode across the stage, lighting up Giovanni's bowing form. He then gestures to his daughter as she curtsies cutely.
Beside Wally, Dick lets out a shrill whistle and Zatanna looks out over the crowd curiously to see who it was. Dick, of course, ducks behind Wally before she can spot him.
The crowd soon clears out now that the show has finished. Megan parts from Conner to head closer to the stage and the rest of them shrug collectively and follow in suit.
Megan, having been moving on her own, reaches the stage much more quickly than the rest and is already heavy in conversation with the young magician's assistant when they catch up to her.
"Hi," Zatanna greets happily. The decorative feather adornments in her hair bob cheerfully as she waves to each of them in turn. Wally can feel Dick practically buzzing beside him.
"I was just telling Zatanna how much we enjoyed her show!" Megan spouts bubbly. She then introduces everyone to Zatanna, pointing to each person in turn. "Zatanna, this is Conner, Artemis, Kaldur, Wally, and-"
Dick moves quickly in front of Wally, positioning himself just before Zatanna. "Hi! I'm Dick," he blurts. He rubs a hand against the back of his neck before continuing, his voice slower and cracking less, "Great show. My favorite trick was the disappearing doves."
"Yeah, that's one of my favorites, too," Zatanna nods, eyes delightful as she beams down at Dick.
Wally turns to the side, his eyes meeting Conner's as they grin toothily in wordless agreement to tease Dick relentlessly.
"We were about to head over to the carnival," Dick blathers on. Wally exchanges another look with Conner and everyone else, this time curious. That hadn't been their agreement. "Would you like to join us?"
"Yeah, of course!" Zatanna nods, feathers dashing around her head frantically. She then rises on the stage, turning on her heel to face her father. She watches him pet the rabbit and place it gently into the cage before speaking up. "Dad, would it be all right if I hung out with everyone for a little bit?"
Giovanni looks over at the group, his eyes cautious and expression unwilling. But then Dick and Megan team up with Zatanna to look over at the magician pleadingly.
"Please, sir?"
Having been on the receiving end of Dick and Megan's combined pleading, Wally's not at all surprised when Giovanni finally relents and gives his daughter permission to go off with them.
Zatanna thanks him profusely, packing her feathered hat away in a trunk that spits out glitter when she opens it. She opts to stay in her magician's assistant uniform, bowtie and all, and skips over to everyone.
"Come on!" she smiles, all teeth and pink lips. She brazenly loops arms with Dick, who looks like he's about to pass out, and leads the group away from the stage.
With Dick in tow, Zatanna and Megan chatter merrily about the show with Megan asking how her father performs his illusions without a magic wand.
"Easy," Wally interrupts, finally able to speak without Dick's elbow constantly jabbing into his side. Artemis pinches the skin above his elbow, but he ignores her. He opens his mouth to explain the basics of each trick, but Zatanna looks back at him with an amused expression.
"It's because he says all his spells backwards," she says matter-of-factly, her eyes glinting mischievously at Wally.
His supposed friends all laugh at his expense with Artemis piping up to say, "I like her."
Zatanna smiles at the obvious approval and without further comment, the group heads towards the carnival set up on the other end of the boardwalk.
(&)
Soon after arriving at the carnival, their group splits into two. Zatanna, eyeing the strong man's test, challenges Conner to test his strength against hers. The others laugh as he blinks down confusedly at the determined girl easily a third of his size.
But Megan and Dick start placing bets on Zatanna's impending victory and it's with an amused shake of his head that Conner follows them off into the crowd.
Wally makes a move to join them, but Artemis and Kaldur each catch him swiftly by the elbows.
"Let's give them some peace," Kaldur advises, gently tugging Wally in the opposite direction.
"No need to be a fifth wheel," Artemis chimes in, tugging less gently.
"Careful with the merchandise," Wally warns her, eying the iron grip she has on his arm.
She gives him an exasperated look and twists her hand against his skin sharply before releasing him. He lightly hits his elbow against her in response and they pause in their steps to glare at each other, nose to nose, smirks growing on both their faces.
Kaldur coughs beside them, with a remark that he spots someone he remembers from high school over in some unspecified location. With quick, graceful steps, Kaldur edges away from them and disappears into the swelling crowd meandering about the carnival.
"And then there were two," Wally comments, pulling away from Artemis to watch Kaldur leave.
Eyes still tight with a glare and mouth still angled with a smile, the two walk casually throughout the carnival without any certain destination in mind. Dusk settles around the shoulders as the sun sets away from them, and when they walk, their hands bump against each other occasionally.
Wally notes with a certain level of happiness that she does not draw her hand away and makes a point to brush his knuckles against hers in a discreet manner.
A few minutes later, they enter the games portion of the carnival and Wally lights up at the sight of one of the two-person target games.
"Come on," he urges, hand against her shoulder to steer her towards the game. "I haven't played one of these in forever." He feels her resist against his touch and he looks down at her in confusion. "What?"
She looks on at the game apprehensively before stating, "I've never played one before." She looks at him, pointing her chin in his direction as if daring him to mock her.
"Seriously?" he exclaims, eyes wide. He can't imagine a childhood without these silly games. "You poor deprived child, you. It's easy, I'll show you."
He leads them over to the game, fishing out two dollars from his pocket to hand to the bored game leader. He ignores her protests that she can pay for herself and pulls the stool out for her to sit on. She looks at him, unmoving until she sighs and relents, tucking her long legs under the bar and looking at him expectantly.
Wally sits on the stool next to her and points to the targets a few feet away, handing her a green plastic water pistol. "You just aim this at the target and try to hit the bull's-eye. When you do, your meter rises." He watches as her eyes flicker to the meter above each target. "The first person whose meter hits the top wins."
"Easy enough," Artemis shrugs before pointing her gun at the target.
The game leader turns on the mechanics, bells and whistles playing obnoxiously as the game begins. Focused more on Artemis than the game, Wally is impressed when she hits dead center of the target immediately. His own aim falters for a moment before he matches center, but it's clear that Artemis's meter will reach the top before his.
A few seconds later, the bells chime to signal Artemis as the winner and the game leader tells her to pick out a stuffed animal as a prize.
Artemis, with a particularly proud look on her face, selects a small Pikachu dangling off the end of the banner. The game leader hands it to her, and she and Wally vacate their seats to let a few kids behind them take over.
"Here," she tells him, pressing the Pikachu into his hands. "It reminds me of those ridiculous sneakers of yours."
He glances down at his shoes, scuffed up yellow and red sneakers kicking against the wooden boards of the boardwalk. Laughing a little at the comparison, he presses the Pikachu to his chest with exaggerated charm.
"Sweet, a souvenir," he smiles at her. She rolls her eyes at his comment, but he can see her smile behind her hand as she tucks a stray blonde strand behind her ear.
"I never had a girl win me anything before," he tells her, pressing his side to hers companionably.
"Well, isn't it just your lucky day?" she says with her usual level of sarcasm. But when she speaks again, it's with a shyness in her voice that he's not accustomed to hearing from her. "That was fun, thanks."
She meets his eyes with a smile that makes him think immediately of how soft her mouth looks and he thinks his own expression might be stupidly happy in response.
"No problem, babe."
The moment, or what might have been a moment, Wally's not really sure, ends as his stomach starts to grumble.
"God," Artemis starts, half-curious, half-concerned, "are you ever not hungry?"
"No," he answers honestly. His mouth salivates at the all-encompassing smells of carnival food in vendors around them.
With Pikachu tucked safely under his arm, he order a large bucket of vinegar fries, extra vinegar. In his experience, if the vinegar doesn't melt out the bottom of the bucket, it wasn't a successful batch.
With his delicious purchase in hand, Wally turns around to see Artemis waving him over to where she has found their group of friends. Apparently, they had commandeered a bench looking out over the ocean.
Wally walks over to them, munching happily on his greasy snack.
"Cute," Dick greets, eyes nodding at the Pikachu under his arm.
"My spoils for the day," Wally says proudly, beaming at Artemis. Kaldur looks somewhat nauseated by the half-eaten food in Wally's mouth, but to Artemis's credit, she doesn't flinch.
"A fry for the victor?" he asks grandly, holding his bucket out to Artemis.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees everyone slowly turn their heads in tandem to gawk at him. He ignores them as Artemis stares at his vinegar fries with mixed interest and revulsion.
"What is it?"
"Boardwalk fries!" he informs her, eyes popping out of his head. It feels like déjà-vu from when she told him she had never played a carnival game. "Oh my God, you've never had one of these delectable treats?" She shakes her head, still eyeing the fries with concern. Wally wonders, not for the first time that night and certainly not for the first time since he's known her, what sort of childhood she must have had to have missed out on all these staples.
He holds the bucket closer to her, shaking it a little with insistence. "Try it."
In a manner similar to how she had selected Kaldur's sushi many afternoons ago, she pulls a few fries from the bucket and chews them carefully. She balks at the intense flavoring of the vinegar, but otherwise nods approvingly.
"Not bad," she says after she swallows. She reaches out to take a few more fries and he doesn't stop her.
"Told you," he says arrogantly. Then he gives her a teasing look as she bites a fry in half. "Of course you'd like vinegar."
Artemis wipes the grease on her fingers onto his shirt sleeve in retaliation.
Then, the only one not looking at Wally as though he had grown two heads, Zatanna pulls Artemis after her to try the bumper cars. Her enthusiasm makes Wally wonder how often she's able to get away from her magician's assistant gig.
He smiles as the two girls zig and zag through the crowd before turning to face his friends with curiosity. They are all staring at him and Megan especially looks as though she's about to reach over to test his forehead for a fever.
"Dude," Dick breaks the stunned silence, his stare somehow intense even through his sunglasses. "You actually shared your food with her."
Wally blinks at the realization and that, right then, is when Wally starts to think he might be in trouble.
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