17986/Saturdays at the Bronx Zoo

Saturdays at the Bronx Zoo
Date of Scene:	18 May 2024
Location:	Bronx Zoo
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Billy Batson, Divine

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Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson was flying over the city as Shazam. He got a milkshake in Mutant Town, a Chicago style dog at the Shake Shack in Kings Plaza. He rescued some people who's boat ran out of gas, stopped a robbery in Manhattan before turning North to the Bronx there was always something going on in the Bronx.

Passing over the Bronx Zoo, he saw a familiar figure. There was really no missing her. Of course she was working and he wasn't sure if she wanted her superhuman status known so after a quick landing a sudden burst of thunder, Billy Batson and not Shazam emerged from some bushes to approach Divine...

Only Billy got side tracked by the elephant enclosure. When he does approach Divine he has two tweens he is herding, by their collars.

One aims an elbow at Billy's stomach. He gets a boot in the rear for his troubles. "F***ing wannabe streamer! F***ing lousy show no one watches!"

"Oh hi there... I caught these two... they were trying to tag one of your elephants... "

Divine has posed:
Saturdays at the Bronx Zoo were almost always busy when the weather was nice. Divine was in her work uniform, a pair of black coveralls over a t-shirt and shorts with the zoo's emblem embroidered over the left side of her chest and screen-printed across the back, cleaning up Grizzly Corner and the other resting spots near the Himalayas exhibits until it was time to go clean up after the bears before the actual zoo keepers gave them their evening meals.

At least she wasn't in the Children's area today. Normally she liked it, because she got to pet and hold the animals sometimes, and help show the kids fun stuff about them, but on weekends it was a nightmare. Not the kids, really. They were fine. But she'd considered punting more than one set of adults that were rude even by her own standards and her boss had noticed, so on weekends she worked the other exhibits. Of course, that meant she got to yell when some idiot adult did things like stick their hands in the enclosures... or...

"What." Divine stared at the two boys being held by their collars. What was tagging? Wait, like a wildlife tag? "The animals at the zoo do not need wildlife tagging. They are not being tracked like wild turtles." Her eyes narrowed. "You are not part of the Zoo's teen volunteer group."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson shakes his head. He's trying to keep from laughing it's so silly. "Nooooo... like writing graffiti on the poor guy's leg. they already sprayed the enclosure. the elephant took their spray can. It's pretty funny actually... aside from dissing my show... which you obviously saw, numbskull. It's just kid stuff... " his banter slows to a crawl then stop, looking up and watching Divine's expression, and trying to reconcile it with the woman he met previously. She was a little gruff but nice. Uh oh.

To say the least.

Divine has posed:
She was extremely unimpressed by this news, and took a slow, deep breath before blowing it out, the air surrounding the four getting immediately colder. At least it wasn't her heat vision! The free AC was much nicer than painting an animal. "Why would you try to harm the elephant by spraying paint on it? They are just living their lives, they haven't done anything to you." Divine shook her head before they could answer. "No, no. Save it for my boss. Maybe the police."

She gestured at the boy closest to her. "Would you like me to take both of them? It's a bit of a walk to the center, and the next shuttle isn't for 10 minutes. Faster to walk it."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson a shakes his head, "I'll walk with you. I walk up and down Mutant Town doing interviews all day, and other places. Would you want to get some lunch when they're seen to. Oh and the elephant took the can of spray paint. Somebody should get it back... I could help with that if you want... then meet up with you. I wanted to talk to you."

"Get a room dumb@$$."

That earns the kid a shake. "You got a big mouth. We know you're jerk, don't have re-estabnlish it everytime you talk!"

Divine has posed:
Divine looks at the kid still in Billy's hands blankly as she hefts the other one up by the armpits and stares at him. "You gonna be a jerkass to people that can deadlift you like your idiot friend or are you gonna be quiet?" She gets a sullen glare for her troubles, but no lip. That's perfectly fine with her. She can hear the rapid thumping of their hearts. They're mad - and scared. She understands. Being caught means you lost, and losing sucks. So does encountering people stronger and faster than you. Pity for them choosing broad daylight and not at least after the zoo was closed.

She taps her headset and gives anyone currently listening in a head's up, then heads up the path towards zoo central where the security is. "Y'know if you had just stuck to the monorail beams it wouldn't be so bad, but they're gonna be really mad you went after an animal. It's the basic zoo rule, don't touch the animals in their habitats. It's so much paperwork when people are being idiots about things that are bigger and smarter than them." She cut her eyes over to Billy. "Your show? You'll have to give me the link later. I think I lost it when I went traveling. It was fun though!"

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson smiles. "Sure! You want to do lunch, I have todays raw footage I can show you. But let me get that spray can for you." He releases the second, quavering youth and heads back up the path.

The less said about his misadventure the better. He is waiting for Divine whenever she returns, holding a spray can, with a large green splotch on his red shirt. He frowns. "Your elephant is a bit of a wiseguy, it turns out. Understandable." He is kind of proud he did get the can without turning to Shazam. On the other hand, Shazam doesn't get det dirty. He's sort of like Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Last Action Hero. It just rolls off.

"I didn't want to call on you know who and get people asking questions about you."

Divine has posed:
She couldn't help but laugh at the splotch across his shirt. "Elephants are very smart, and it wouldn't be the first time a do-gooder made an appearance here. Considerably less damage than the Central Park Zoo tends to get when they appear over there, too. That's a win." Divine's grin was wide, eyes still full of mirth at the idea of one of their elephants figuring out the spray can. "My coworkers know I'm pretty strong," she said casually as they finished the walk. "I'm here until we close, but you wanna come over for dinner after? I was just gonna order takeout and watch a movie." They were finally to the door and Divine turned her hip to the scanner so her badge would scan before nodding at the door. Her hands were a little full, and she didn't feel like throwing either of these two over a shoulder.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson ponders a moment and then says, "Why don't you come to my place? You bought me lunch last time. I'll handle dinner, and I have a bunch of movies on CDs? Here, I have business cards... " Only her hands are full. He gingerly attempts to put it under her belt. Ready to stop if she protests.

"Get her something good man, she's a pretty lady. Look, maybe she likes twinks."

Divine has posed:
Divine has learned just enough about things you don't say at work to keep herself from retorting that she can fuck whomever she wants without listening to an idiot's commentary. It's a struggle, though, and she ends up smacking the kid's elbow into the door frame as she marches them through the door. "Yes, that's fine with me." She leans to the side, making it easier for him to slip the card between belt and cloth as security enters the room, her boss and one of the specialists behind them. Oh wait, she knows that guy. He does the really cool children's stuff. "Hey Kirby!" she said brightly. "My friend saw these two idiots trying to tag an elephant and has video of it. What should I do with them?"

It took a few minutes of the three talking over each other, but eventually they were plunked into chairs with Divine standing behind them, one hand hovering over each shoulder to keep them in place.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson downloads the video onto the boss' phone then makes his quiet exit. He is good at that from his previous career as a homeless thief. Well Divine probably knows he's gone. She surely hears the burst of thunder. Shazam cuts the air to Queens. He has to clean the place up, tell the family to stay away, change his clothes, get dinner... Shazam will do a lot of it. Speed of Mercury and all that.

As it is he's still trying to get paint off his stomach and chest when he sees by the clock that Divine probably quit work. He gives up and throws on another red shirt. Then he puts on some Queen to listen to..

Divine has posed:
Divine does hear the crack of thunder as Shazam exits the zoo, but she is focused on the discussion being had about the tweens. Community service is being bandied about a fair bit, and their parents have been called. "I think they should help clean up what they did and other parts of the zoo," she interjects. "And if they're good at this art style maybe they should do a few murals or something. Otherwise the taxpayers should know why we're going to need a bigger budget for cleaning." Taxpayers hated giving the city money for things they wanted to use regularly. She'd learned that really fast. Once everything had been settled, she had a new pair of minions on weekends to help with the dirty work. They would be in the safer areas - following her around in public and in the less restricted parts of the staff areas - but they would be working a significant amount of community service hours until winter hours at the zoo started. If they got caught again, everything would get turned over for the police instead. This seemed fair.

When it came time to leave, Divine took to the sky and was soon stepping through the unlocked window of her apartment in the financial district. Her hands had been thoroughly scrubbed before leaving work, so she sent Billy a quick text to know she was grabbing a shower and changing. Give her 30, and she'd be at his place.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson says, ":reads the text. "Wow even with superspeed, women keep you waiting. Darla, Irie... " Well Irie did say that superspeed did you no good in a shower. Whatever women do in there. He sets out the schwarma twenty-five minutes after the text.

Then he goes and puts on a pair of boots with thick heels. Not that they're enough. Hmmm, do you let sparkling cider breathe? He starts inserting the corkscrew, twisting like mad."

Divine has posed:
Divine arrives two minutes early, knocking on the door and bouncing lightly in place. Her hair's still damp, but flying is fantastic for air-drying. Her wardrobe has expanded too, and tonight she's got on a black crop top with metal-ringed straps and a pair of black jeans with wide legs and red contrast stitching. Boots make up almost all of her footwear, and tonight is no different with comfortable, motorcycle-ready short heeled boots that are easy to keep on or take off. She's learned that some people would rather you take your shoes off inside, so she tries to be polite and wear shoes out that are easy enough to do that in.

"I like your boots," she blurts out as soon as she's given Billy a once-over.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson is a little taken aback by her exclamation. He rocks on his heels showing them off. Then offers her a hug. "Oh well, thank you. I like your outfit." He tries to match her enthusiasm. "If you want to take off your boots and relax that's fine. I'll take mine off. I'll be a little short again." He shows her in and says, "I got us some food from a Turkish restaurant... in Turkey. Turns out Shazam speaks Turkish, I have sparkling cider. I was just opening the bottle." He attempts just that. Oh, embarrassing. The cork is coming... slowly. He has it...

Divine has posed:
She wraps him in a hug as the door closes behind her. Not that Divine actually cares how tall Billy is, but hugging at a similar height is really nice. Her face is snuggled against his neck, and she breathes out a happy little sigh before stepping back to lean against a wall and carefully unzip her boots. "It probably will be more relaxing once we're watching the movie," she agrees, toes wiggling in bright red socks.

She follows him to the kitchen, giggling as the cork finally pops free. "You went all the way to Turkey for dinner?" She still doesn't have the best grasp of earth geography, but she learned enough through her travels to understand how far away Turkey actually is. "That's..." Her face does a complicated dance of surprise-fond-happy as she grins at him helplessly, leaning in for another hug. That was what you did when your friends did really nice things for you, right?

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson was slipping out of his boots when the second hug came. Nothing special, dark gray socks. So he gets a towering sort of hug. Mmmf. "oh hey, that's okay it wasn't a big deal. I flew there and I did a teleport trick to take the food back without freezing it. Gee you smell nice. The cork came free, finally. He sets the bottle down to pull a chair out for Divine.

"I like seeing you relax."

Divine has posed:
"Travel and working at the zoo has been good," Divine answers as she sits. "It IS a big deal, don't be too modest about it! Even if you'd just gone down to the closest cart it would still be nice. This was extra nice!" Emma was teaching her about being honest with her accomplishments without bragging. "What is Turkey like in person? I didn't manage to go there."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson stands beside her listening and rests a hand on her shoulder. "Turkey was... hot. It had these wild rock deserts and ruins. Shazam felt the tug of magic from them. Shazam senses magic. I just meant in terms of effort it was like going to the corner store for me. It was a long way to go for take out." He pours some cider for Divine. Stupid cork.

"What's it like being Ms. Frost's youthful ward or whatever?" He goes to take his seat, a little sorry to leave.

Divine has posed:
"It's..." How did you describe finding something you barely knew you were missing? "Really, really good? She says I would find myself and do well regardless of her help, but she just does so much for me and all that she asks for in return is that I don't just blindly follow her path and that I keep in touch so she knows I'm safe and happy." Her eyes blinked a few times, hummingbird-quick, and she shrugged at Billy. "I don't... it's so much? It's good, I think she's a great mom. But sometimes when I'm in bed at my apartment or able to just buy a new pair of boots because something zapped mine, it's a lot to take in at once."

Divine took a sip of cider to calm her thoughts. "Turkey sounds really nice. We could fly there together sometime? Maybe when it's not as hot for you?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batsonponders a moment an then moves his chair over next to Divine. "I was brought up in the foster care system. My birth mother abandoned me and I was a little jerk. I got myself thrown out of thirteen foster families for various reasons. Then the Vasquezes took me into their crazy little crew. I was fifteen. I didn't call them mom and dad till I was eighteen. But... they're there for me. Even after I aged out of the system. They live across the alleyway. I stayed close to help them with my younger siblings. It's good to have family."

He leans closer and puts his head on her shoulder. "More than becoming Shazam... I wonder what I did to deserve them?"

"Oh turkey... I'll go whenever. As Billy. I don't want to be Shazam all the time. It's good to struggle a little, be human. It keeps me humble. I sometimes... I have a problem controlling my power. especially if I see someone being cruel or hurting someone I care about. It is interesting... I haven't dated an ordinary female yet. They all had superpowers. They all liked Billy better than Shazam. Go figure."

Divine has posed:
Divine slips her arm around Billy's waist and tips her head so that her cheek rests against the top of his head. Her arm wraps all the way across his back, hand curving against his waist, and her thumb moves in absent circles as she speaks. "They sound like good people," she says quietly. "I wondered the same thing about Emma, but she wanted me just because. Maybe she saw a little of herself, maybe she just liked my fire. I think your parents might have done the same? Something about you made you the right choice for them. Can I meet them sometime? My cooking sucks, but I could bring dessert over from a bakery mom likes." She rubs her cheek against his hair, enjoying the feel of the of strands.

"It's hard to be human," Divine acknowledges. "I understand why I can't just punch idiots now, but sometimes they make it extra difficult. Precision control is hard too. It's why I try so hard to not use too much power at work and to keep my temper. I don't want to turn someone into charcoal because they cut in line or something, so my coworkers just think I'm a bodybuilder. It made sense at the time, so I run with it."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson Looks up at her. This situation flies in the face of everything he understood was masculine growing up. Men were supposed to be bigger, stronger. Women were supposed to be the right size to hold in your arms. He should be with her as... Shazam.

The Wisdom of Solomon bristles a little. //What do you mean -with her-, boy? You do not love wisely but too fast. In the vernacular chill.//

Achilles pipes up //My mother was a goddess and my mortal father... had no problems. But King Solomon is correct. Chill. And do not listen to Hercules... or Zeus.//

Well yeah, he knew that.

Against all that coaching he does lean up and kiss her on the cheek. "I like talking to you. I tried to just be Shazam. My life as Billy seemed to be really bad. It didn't work. You are not meant to be Shazam 24-7. What's it like to always be... you?"

Divine has posed:
Divine's cheeks flush red, and she squeezes just a little tighter. Is this flirting? She might have to ask Emma later. She thinks it's flirting. She could just ask Billy, but it was comfortable. Pretty easy. "I like you as both," she says. Should she kiss back? The angle would be a little awkward right now. Maybe after they eat? Her thoughts tumble over one another as she examines these feelings, so she focuses on the question. "It's hard sometimes. I've always known I was a clone, why I was made. Eventually I realized what they wanted me to do was stupid, so now I'm trying to learn who I want to be." She struggles to word things, but she reaches for one of Billy's hands with her free arm, twisting more towards him. "Sometimes punching things is easier, but learning to choose my battles has also been rewarding. We can learn together. You can balance Billy and Shazam, and I can become better at being a person."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson turns more to her. He thought about kissing her some more too, honestly.He puts his free hand on her cheek, sensing some of her mixed reaction. "I'm sorry. I made things a little awkward with that kiss. But I think you're a pretty good person already. I mean, I had to work on my control. I have overdone it but... You... when the Friends of Humanity loon blasted Shazam and turned me back to Billy... the way you looked after me, and helped me drink water was... really sweet. I mean I could see you were a little awkward but you kept at it and I have to say, I'm really attracted to you for that reason. You're honest and you have big feelings and I like how everything is new to you and you ask questions. If you just want to be friends... I'll go with that as Shazam and Billy." He breathes in, having spoken too long. He keeps his hand in hers.

Divine has posed:
Sometimes it was easier to speak with actions than words. The hand on her face was gentle, and she could hear the thrumming of his heart. "I like you too. I don't know what I'm ready for yet, but you're my friend first and I hope we keep that regardless." Easy to be honest, even when she's nervous. Divine leans in, watching Billy's eyes intently as she presses her lips gently against his. He's got nice lips. Warm, soft. Her eyes flutter shut. It's a nice kiss, and she's happy to draw it out slowly, keep it simple. It makes something warm curl low in her stomach, and she pulls back with a slightly dazed smile.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson just nods and leans back, to give her breathing room. "Sounds good... why don't we eat this fine food before it gets cold?" He lifts a glass in a toast. "To friendship." He's looking at her a little concerned. She looks a little... dazed? from him? He decides to push on. though that was a heck of a kiss for friends,

"So tell me, Divine, how was your day at the zoo?"

Divine has posed:
Divine's stomach takes the opportunity to growl, and she nods eagerly to the offer of food, tapping her glass lightly to his. "To friendship," she agrees. They should try kissing again, she thinks, but he did go all the way to Turkey for the food... no reason to let it go to waste. Maybe after dinner they can try that whole standing and kissing thing. For now, she focuses on filling her plate. "Weekends are usually the most boring, because I do a lot of trash clean-up. What did you do before catching those two troublemakers? They're going to be doing a lot of community hours."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson is eating his falafel and enjoying it. He swallows and says, "I was talking to people in Mutant Town. there's a lot of outrage there but... they seem to realize that I'm there to report their views and opinions. then I headed out on patrol, stopped some robber, oh I pushed a guy's boat back to dock, he'd run out of gas. Then I saw you and you made this evening a lot more interesting, I have to say. What sort of movies do you like to see? My tastes... well my sister says I am crude and unrefined but I like cheesy horror movies. I especially like this director by the name of William Castle. My ex didn't. She fell asleep during my faovirte movie by Castle -Mr. Sardonicus."

Divine has posed:
Divine pauses between bites. "I haven't seen many horror movies. Does the Final Destination series count? I thought they were funny. I don't mind watching one. I don't think I'll fall asleep, but I'll let you know what I think of it?" Even though dinner wasn't piping hot anymore, it was still better than the shawarma they'd had the first time. She digs in eagerly, knee pressed against Billy's under the table. "Your day sounds very adventurous. I played security for Emma a few days ago while she did an interview. I don't think I'd want to do it every day, but it was fun to follow her and look intimidating for a few hours."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson nods. " actually have a couple enemies out there I've been casting about for. Dr. Thad Sivana and Ibac, oh and the god Pan is mad at me for who know what and has made trouble for me and my sister Thunderbolt. It'll work out though. I'd like to claim the Juggernaut for an enemy but I don't think he really cares anymore. Man that was a hard fight... did anything actually hurt you? I know you're pretty durable as well as c... creature friendly." He finds the knee against his a little distracting. Not that he moves his knee away. In truth if she beat him with a manhole cover he'd be glad of the attention. he does put his hand again on her arm to show he is listening. He seldom gets a chance to compare notes with someone in his league.

Divine has posed:
"It's hard to hurt me, but he's a worthy opponent." Divine thought she might enjoy sparring with the Juggernaut if it wasn't so destructive. She knew she would enjoy sparring with Shazam. It would likely be a lighter workout on her end since she knew he could be injured, but it would still be fun. Her face pinked at the thought of them grappling. "I'm not as strong as a full Kryptonian, but I'm much stronger than the average human and most of the mutants and metahumans I've met. We should do some friendly sparring. We can help each other overcome weaknesses in our forms."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson pushes his plate away. He was a fast eater. It was another habit from his days being homeless, reinforced by five foster sibs and a mom who was a really good cook. He says lightly, "I... it's hard to explain, I have voices. The spirits that empower me give me advice. They Greco Roman mostly. I get a little martial arts from them, and did attend public school. I'm not sure how good an analyst I could be... but I'd love to check out your form..." Oh. Darn.

He grabs his glass and drinks to hide his cheeks flushing. If she moves her knee he knows he screwed up.

What did his friend Audra say about him, he was a doofus until he wasn't. That usually came from channeling the power of Zeus.

"Hey maybe I can help you with your weakness to magic? I mean Kryptonians are vulnerable. I can shoot lightning with varying amounts of magic. You could build up a resistance I think. The lightning that changes me for example... Ive held people in my arms and changed and they were fine. One friend is a werewolf, she loved it. Do you want to try?"

Divine has posed:
Divine nodded a little hesitantly. "I think I would want to do that where mo-Emma could be close, if that's okay? But it would be good to try. If something happens, she'd be able to get help." It seemed like the smart idea, and mom had good connections if something went really wrong. She pushed her own plate away a few minutes after Billy. It had been delicious, and she was a little over-full, but it was completely worth it. Her knee stayed where it was at, and she reached a cautious hand over to his arm. Touching was friendly. This was ok, right? It felt right. "Are you ready to watch the movie?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson nods and gets up to pull Divine's chair. He offers her his arm for the short walk to the couch. By a happy coincidence, Mr. Sardonicus was already loaded in the CD player. He sits down and grabs the remote, suddenly glad he didn't go with his default choice -Young Frankenstein. Not a good pick at this point in their friendship. He smiles and pats the couch next to him and yes, touching is very nice. "Sit next to me if you want."

Divine has posed:
Divine doesn't let his arm go for long once they're sitting, readjusting just enough for them to be leaning together on the couch. "Of course I want," she says, reaching a hand up and cupping his jaw to encourage him to face her. "I want to kiss you again, too. Is that okay? Then watch the movie?" Her thumb rubs along the edge of his jaw, waiting patiently.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson takes a deep breath. He's a little afraid if they kiss much more, they won't watch the movie. Call him an idiot. It's really that Divine wanted to be friends first and this might give her the wrong idea about what friends do. Unless they're THAT kind of friends. He doesn't think this is the case. He looks her in the eyes and says, "That'd be nice." He turns his head and kisses the thumb on his jaw, then rolls his lips for her to proceed. "More than nice. You're a fantastic kisser." He puts his arm around her wide shoulders, as far as it will go and leans back a little more.

Divine has posed:
She shivered at the kiss to her thumb, then wrapped her own arm around him and leaned in. It was less hesitant this time, but still careful. She wanted to be friends most, but kissing Billy was really, really nice. Divine let it draw out for several long seconds, then slowly pulled back. "We're definitely going to do more kissing in the future." Her eyes are almost fully black from her blown pupils, and her respiration is a little faster. "After the movie." It's not a question, it's decisive.

She wiggles a little, careful of where hands and legs end up, and ends up pulling Billy into her side until they're comfortably - but safely - cuddled together on the couch. "Okay, let's start the movie."