Be Decadent

Another day, another early morning stretch. Little Pocus yawned cracking his little back a bit. He had gotten bigger and fluffier but still felt young and spry. He rubbed his eyes a little with his paw and was just about to leave. But wait, the bed wasn't shaking. He tilted his head in slight confusion. Mom and Dad always shake the bed in the morning. Odd. Thinking he somehow slept through his parents' activities, he hopped along into the living room. To his surprise, he noticed a hand dangling over the side of the couch. Based on the size and small snippets of hair on it, the hand probably belonged to Dad. Pocus approached the appendage and licked it a few times causing the owner to stir.

"Ughhhhhh," the owner groaned, "What time is it?"

Dick picked up his phone, noted the time, and rolled over to see Pocus staring back up at him.

"Hey there, bud. This is your one chance to sleep in and you're squandering it! Heh old habits die hard I guess."

He scratched Pocus's chin a few times before hearing footsteps coming from the bedroom.

"Hey, Zee. Look I'm really sorry about….WHOA."

His mouth slacked agape when he saw his beautiful girlfriend walk into the room. She was busy fixing her hair into a messy ponytail while only wearing a lavender tank top and some lacy panties. He wanted to say something, but she huffed and turned her back heading towards the kitchen. Dick gulped realizing that she wasn't wearing just any panties, but a really skimpy thong. She was being cruel. He jumped off the couch and followed her into the kitchen. Trying to be sneaky, he tip-toed close to her as she reached up into the cabinet looking for the tea bags.

"Llawdniw!" (Windwall).

Before he could step any further, he slammed into a thick wall of air and was stuck in place.

"OW! Zee!"

"You know the rules, Grayson. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime," she scolded while bending over and sticking her ass out looking for a pan in the lower cabinets.

"C'mon Zee! I said I was sorry! I just thought it'd be fun!"

She raised her eyebrow and slowly walked over to the wall separating them.

"Yea well, I think this is funny too. Remember, only looking. No touching whatsoever," she smirked while spanking her own ass.

Dick could only drool at the sight in front of him, but Zatanna was adamantly keeping the wall up. Relenting, he rolled his eyes and ran his hand through his messy hair.

"Ugh fine! I'll just go take a shower."

"Good boy. And make your own breakfast too!"

"What!? Zee, c'mon now! You woke up second!"

"I don't care. You're under punishment. Oh look, only two eggs left. I'm feeling more ravenous than usual. I think I'll eat both of them," she teased holding up the last two eggs from the fridge.

"Zee, baby, I'm really sorry."

"Chop chop! I'm being nice by letting you shower first. I've got a busy schedule today and need to be out of the apartment in half an hour."

"We could always shower together?"

"Again, I don't think so. You didn't get me off yesterday, I'm certainly not getting you off. Now hurry up!"

Finally admitting defeat, Dick grumbled his way towards the shower. Pocus approached Zee and lightly tapped her ankle giving her the cutest little beady eyes he could muster.

"I know sweetie, I know. I'm being harsh. But you did not see how he left me hanging yesterday. Your father is sneaky, and he needs to be taught a lesson."

A few minutes later, Dick rushed out with a towel on his head. He looked around but the apartment was empty save for a little sticky note on the counter.

"You took too long so I finished breakfast and did a cleanup spell," he read, "Better luck next time. P.S. You're still sleeping on the couch tonight."

Groaning, he crumpled the note and opened the cabinet to grab some cereal. He spotted Pocus in the corner enjoying a whole smorgasbord of lettuce, bell peppers, and spinach.

"Kid, let this be a lesson," Dick told him, "Never get on your mom's bad side."

At the batcave, Jason Todd, the newly minted Robin, was jumping around avoiding the giant blue arms of a combat drone. The crab like robot sported four arms and flailed them around trying its best to knock the new Boy Wonder down. Just as another arm slammed down to the ground, Jason jumped up and started to run up the arm joint. Another robot arm swung at him forcing him off, but Jason was able to fling two birdarangs towards two lit up spots in the center of the robot. Upon impact, the lights on the spot went out, and the birdarangs deactivated two of the four arms. Immediately he pulled out his grapple and fired a line towards one of the lit-up spots. The hook hit turning off the light. With a push of the button, Jason pulled himself up towards the robot's center. When he got there, he slammed his fist on the last dot fully deactivating the last arm.

"Ha! Did you see that, Dick! Cool move huh?"

Dick stood over in the corner with his arms crossed. He pursed his lips before scratching the back of his head.

"Hmm. You made the objective, but you took too long," he said flipping over a tablet.

"So what? I was only like two minutes off. No biggie."

"Two minutes could mean everything, Jason. Two minutes could mean the difference between a bomb going off, or a gas leak releasing toxins into the air, or the villain making off with world destroying tech. Sometimes we can't afford two minutes. You have to assess the situation and figure things out faster."

"C'mon man! I got the robot. I took out the arms easy. I bet you couldn't come up with those moves."

"Fine, you wanna talk technique? The birdarang bit was nice and on target. But your grapple distance was too long. On a higher difficulty, the arms would've smashed you when you tried to pull yourself closer. If you had actually watched your opponent, you would have noticed its attack pattern and that its arms were moving in sequence."

"Why are you being such an asshole? You aren't this way with Kara! Or maybe it's because she's hot!"

"What? That has nothing to do with this?"

"Yea it does! Snips this, Skyguy that! You're unbelievable. You're living with a hot magician girl yet you wanna get into the skirt of a blonde Kryptonian. Screw you man."

"Dammit Jason listen to me!"

*RING RING*

"Huh? Hello?" Dick answered his cellphone.

"Hey, Skyguy!" a tired and slightly panicked Kara answered on the other side, "Say, hypothetically, if a robot with a kryptonite heart was rampaging through the city and I'm not able to get close to it without dying, what would be the best move?"

"Sigh, what's Metallo doing in National City?"

"Now now, I said hypothetically."

"Uhhh look keep your distance and focus on long-ranged attacks."

"Right right! And what if he's got anti-beam coating on his kryptonite chest window? Whoa! Don't worry sir! I'll save you!"

"Kara? Kara!"

The line went dead as Dick facepalmed himself. He looked over to Jason who just scoffed and shooed him away.

"Go help your side chick, Grayson."

"Jason, it's not like that. This conversation is not over."

Jason rolled his eyes as Dick rushed to the Zeta tube.

"I just wished you'd treat me like you treat the others…"

Over by Gotham Theater, Zatanna sat in front of her vanity mirror prepping her makeup for her next show. All seemed normal for a Thursday night showing. The theater wasn't as packed as usual, but it was a school night. She was about to apply her lipstick when suddenly the room felt cold. The temperature dropped so fast she could see her own breath fog up the mirror. The lights flickered, and she felt this ominous presence take over her dressing room. In the corner of the room, a small faint whisper tried to get her attention.

"Secret."

Upon hearing that tiny voice, Zatanna spun around in a battle stance. By then, the room had returned to normal temperatures and the lights stopped flickering. Breathing heavily, she darted her eyes back and forth trying to find anything out of the ordinary.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Uhhh yes?" she asked startled.

"Zatanna, it's me, Aly. Just letting you know we'll be ready in five minutes, 'kay?"

"Y-yes. I'll be out soon. Thanks, Aly!"

Brushing her hair a little, she shook off the spooky feeling and put on her best showbiz smile.

"The show must go on!"

Arriving back home at the Arconia a little early thanks to the smaller crowd at the show, Zatanna tiredly opened the door to the apartment. The lights were dimmed to allow the little candlelight from the dining room to flicker. Curious, she made her way there to find a New York-style cheesecake with said candles sitting on the table. She smiled approaching the table picking up the little handwritten card that had a little penguin on it. She couldn't help but chuckle at the inscription written inside.

"Sorry for the disastrous attempt at foreplay. I promise to only bring the aster and jump straight into the 'play'."

A warm strong pair of arms wrapped around her waist as he buried his face into her neck. He took a big whiff of her hair before leaving feather kisses on her neck.

"Hehe, snuck past the windwall this time," he chuckled.

"Mmmm that you did. Is this cheesecake from Gotham Patisserie?"

"No. It's from Adrian's down by National City. I had to help Kara with Metallo."

"Oh. I see. Recommendation from Kara then?"

"Yea. We had coffee there once we finished up."

"Hmmmm."

"Here, have a seat, I'll cut it for you."

Pulling out her chair, he gestured for her to sit while cutting a generous portion of the cake. With her fork, she picked up a bite from her piece and savored the dessert that just melted in her mouth. Smiling at how delicious the treat was, she made another bite on her fork and stuck it out towards her boyfriend.

"Here! It's sooo good."

Happily taking the offered piece, he smiled before cutting his own slice.

"So, honey, how was your day today?" she asked.

"Oh, we're back to honey now? Am I off the hook?"

"Down, boy. We'll see. But this cake is a start. A good way to relax."

"That's good then. Long day?"

"Eh, not really. Aly set me up with some Make-a-Wish foundation meet-and-greet at a cancer center. Thought it'd be neat if I could do some tricks for the kids. I visit next week. Then of course there was the show, but it was kinda a drag. Slow Thursday night crowds and all."

"Hmm I see. Glad that you're getting popular enough for Make-a-Wish to reach out to you. You're gonna make those kids feel so special."

"Awww, you're just saying that."

"I mean, you make me feel special."

"Keep it up, Grayson, and you might get to come back to bed with me tonight."

"God, I hope so. Haha"

"Pft. You didn't answer my question. How was your day?"

"It was ok. The police department is still waiting for my detective exam scores before finalizing my transfer over to the Nine-Nine. But Wuntch doesn't want me around, so I guess the middle ground is paid leave for the time being. I guess I'm on temporary vacation."

"That's kinda odd. You'd think they'd just send you over as an officer for now."

"Yea well, the timing of everything is too close. The new precinct doesn't want to restructure the budget from accepting an officer to accepting a detective. Detective pays more. Plus, I hear a new captain is coming to town."

"Oh? Really now?"

"Yup. Errr, Nightwing busted the old Captain Wilson for possession of HFS and heroin. So, they had to remove him and bring in someone else."

"Ah. Nightwing was involved huh? Must be some coincidence that the old sleezy captain gets removed just before Dick Grayson arrives on the scene."

"Hmm maybe. Babs gave me a heads up that the new guy is someone from New York. Heard he's gonna be pretty strict. Hopefully an outsider can help bring this place back into shape."

"Well, anyone who can help you is a friend of mine. Anything else noteworthy?"

"Uhh well."

"Dick? C'mon now, you can tell me."

"I don't wanna kill the mood."

"Dick, you're still sleeping on the couch either way. You might as well tell me."

"What? But the cheesecake!"

"Is not enough for you to regain entry into our bed. Now spill! What's bothering you."

"Sigh…Jason thinks I'm being too hard on him. I just, I have good reason for it."

"Hmmm. Did you tell him why?"

"…..No. I just kinda lashed out at him too."

"Just talk to him, Dick. He wants to impress you."

"I know. I just want to prepare him for the world out there. Being a hero is an ugly business."

"Be patient. You'll get through to him."

"Yea, I guess."

"Mmmm as lovely as this cake is, eating this whole thing will give me diabetes. Let's call it a night yea?"

"Ok. Hey, there isn't anything bothering you, is there?"

She froze just as she got up and moved the plate over to the sink. Biting her cheek a little, she wondered if it was best to tell him about the weird premonition she had today. Taking a deep breath, she put on a smile and turned around to reassure him.

"Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary today," she fibbed.

"Uhh alright. Am I really relegated to the couch again?"

"Yup. You are still in timeout while I get to sleep wherever I want," she declared closing the bedroom door behind her.

Groaning, Dick accepted his face and settled into the couch. He fluffed up the pillow a bit before laying down closing his eyes. Moments later, a delicate weight plopped on top of him. Little but warms arms encircled him into a bear hug and smooth silky raven hair filled his nose with lavender essence. Zatanna burrowed her head into his chest and entangled her legs with his before letting out a contented sigh.

"Zee?"

"I said you were stuck on the couch. I also said that I could sleep anywhere I wanted. Besides, it got cold without you in there. I missed my portable heater."

"I thought I was your pillow?"

"Both things can be correct. Now shush, sexy pillows don't talk."

"Heh. I love you, Zee."

"I love you, too."

AN: Sorry for the mindless filler fluff. I didn't want the chapters to be mission after mission after mission...because the next chapter is yet another mission. I think I have something good for 50. I normally try to do exciting things on the multiple of 10s chapter. Chapter 10 was Auld Acquaintances, 20 was their first time, 30 was Dick's realization of a career change, 40 was Nightwing's debut. Hopefully yall are enjoying this.