389/Old Times become New

Old Times become New
Date of Scene:	09 March 2020
Location:	Joe's Restaurant and Cafe
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Beatriz da Costa, Zatanna Zatara

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Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    Joes is not a high class establishment. It has, however, a certain je ne sais quois that makes it one of the most popular restaurants in Happy Harbour. Mostly it has a sense of integrity about it. The food is made locally. In the back. Not by some corporate kitchen a thousand miles away and briefly reheated. The specials are the cook wanting to try something new, not leftovers thrown into something before the food expires. And the fries. Joe says there's a secret to why his fries are so delicious, but Bea suspects it's just freshness. Fresh potatoes, peeled and cut at point of order, not stockpiled in a freezer.
    It doesn't matter. She likes hanging out in here, and after that Peter Parker's shenanigans at the high school, she's going to rest in the restaurant and just enjoy the pie.
    It's chocolate cream today.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
When Beatriz comes through the door, she may recognize the young woman sitting at one of the tables, idly shuffling around a deck of cards. Wearing a chiffon bare-shoulder blouse and a pair of skinny jeans with open toe sandals, Zatanna glances up as she hears the door open, and she grins, offering in warm Portugese, "Bom dia, Beatriz!"

She may not have been expected, but with her recent activity, it was only a matter of time before a Justice Leaguer arrived. And Zatanna may have volunteered to reach out to her.

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    "Well as I live and set fire to random objects, it's Zee!" Bea laughs and joins the brunette card shark at the table, stopping only to say, "Bom dia, Zatanna!" and doing the air kiss thing to each cheek. "It's been ... years, Zee! How have you been? Keeping out of trouble?"
    Her smile is genuine, but also slightly amused. Like she knew something like this was due and was just waiting.
    "How's the gang anyway? I haven't been keeping tabs. Too busy with the business and the selling of the body and such. Only time I did anything with it was renewing my reserve card.
    She laughs lightly. "Glad I did that too, I had to use it to get some leniency for a poor high school prankster. Having a Leaguer vouch for his integrity was a big ball in his court."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Rising to her feet, Zatanna catches Beatriz in a warm embrace, returning the air kisses before she moves to take a seat. "The gang? Oh, you mean the League." The young woman gives it a little thought and then she frowns as she returns to her seat. "I have not been in contact with them much. I mean, I visited with Batgirl recently, but other than that, you're the only other one I've reached out to. Or has bothered to reach out to me."

"I thought after what happened in Genosha, they'd wake up, but it seems they're relying on the Avengers to handle it all." Something about her tone gives a hint of displeasure. She's still smarting from her own little trip there.

"I don't think you needed a card to do that, you probably could have smiled pretty and had the same effect." There's a wink as she sips from her cup of coffee. Pursing her lips in gentle thought, the young woman considers her coffee. "This isn't about the League, though. How have you been?" she asks in concern. "You took some time away to get used to being... you again. Is that going well?" she asks, sapphire eyes lifting to study her face.

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    "Well, I was me and just me for a while. Since..." Doomsday. She still won't say the name. "It was all gone, Zee. All of it. Flame out. Just Beatriz da Costa, washed-up model and wannabe designer. Took a long while to get adjusted. I missed the fun times of life-or-death. And then that all faded."
    She flicks a finger upward and a short, intense flame pokes out of her finger. "And just as that happened, it all came back. Over a month or two. But I ... didn't want to go back anymore. So I kept on the low-down. Until Genosha. Then I realized I had a duty to this. That maybe ... maybe ... if I'd been ... more people ..."
    The sentences are breaking up Captain! I cannae say them!
    "Well, you know the old thing. What use are these gifts God's granted us if we don't make use of them to help those weaker than us?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"First, you are nowhere near a washed up model. Even without that flame physically, you have that heat in your soul that could never be extinguished." Zatanna points out, giving her friend a critical look. Time for some tough love, apparently. "Your powers don't define who you are. After all, if I recall right, the flame forms to you, not the other way around." she points out to the bombshell Brazilian.

"Second, I read about your recent adventure with Janet van Dyne. If she's working with you, washed up is the last thing you are - she doesn't do pity cases." she points out as she looks at the flame that dances around on her finger, and even if it may burn her, Zatanna reaches up with her hand to wrap her finger around hers. "This is not a duty as much as it is a responsibility. You do good works. But do them within your comfort level. I do not want you to push yourself too hard. I don't want to lose you back to that dark place again."

"You have one of the brightest hearts I ever met, Bea, and I don't ever want to see it dim."

"...noone was able to react in time." she says in quiet empathy. "I felt the pull only after the eradication began. Apparently Strange felt it and responded to it first." She frowns at that. She doesn't like feeling like she's not as good as other mages. "You have your flame. And to quote the song, since you brought him in this -- that little light of yours, I want to see it shine."

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    "You know the best part of the quiet life, Zee? The regular sex. And I don't mean HAVING it regularly. That was never a problem before. I mean sex with regular people doing it because they wanted me, not some fetish for my other form." She suppresses a laugh which turns into an unfortunate snort instead. Which sparks a laugh she can't suppress.
    "And now that I'm Fire again, and back on the job, I got a few people to explain how I'd been kinda not telling them the whole truth."
    The pie slice is delivered, despite Bea not having ordered it. They know her here.
    "Belonging is also nice. Never felt that up in the Watchtower. Not like here. Nobody in the Watchtower knew me so comfortably they know if I walk into the place at a certain time of day it's for the pie, but another time of day and it's the burger and so on."
    She sighs. "But then there's the thrills. GOD I missed those! The long times spent planning those short bursts of raw, exhilarating terror! Don't get that in modeling or design."
    A small piece of the pie slips into her mouth and she closes her eyes to process the flavours and scents.
    "You gotta have a piece, Zee. My treat. This is like orgasms in a crust."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zee's cheeks flare at the mention of Bea's sex life. The young woman may have just squirmed a little. "I wouldn't know. Since I broke up with John, I've had a dry spell. And... noone's really tried." she admits with a shake of her head, a hint of amusement before she releases Bea's finger, the two of them breaking into giggles as she snorts.

"How is it not the truth? They were with you for you, not because of Fire. You said that yourself." she points out as she smiles warmly.

"I knew you'd be here." she points out. "And no, I didn't read the tea leaves to figure that out." she teases. And then she considers, and then smirks. Taking her own fork, she reaches over, stealing a small bite and pulls it into her mouth as she closes her eyes. "I dunno, Bea. I'm not sure I can call it an orgasm, but it is pretty creamy."

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    The look Bea makes as she desperately tries to keep the piece in her own mouth is one of pure, raw, HATRED. Amused hatred, sure, but hatred nonetheless. Finally she manages to choke down the piece before breaking out in a giggle. "You utter bitch! You timed that deliberately!" she says, mock smacking Zee's arm. She pauses, tilting her head and looking thoughtful. "You're right. That DOES taste different."
    Then she's back to a piece of the pie, twinkling eyes watching Zee's face. "Thought by now you'd have forgotten..."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Timing is everything." Zatanna offers with a giggle. Then as Bea brings up their past, the young mage shakes her head. "I didn't." she says in quiet admission. "When you lost your powers and pulled away... I wanted to be there for you. We were all hurting. It was my fault too." Looking down, she reaches, slipping her hand into Bea's, and squeezes it lightly. "But there's also no push." she points out.

She withdraws, sipping on her coffee. She's not going to ask, but there is a lingering look over her.

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    "Not sure being there would have helped, honestly," Bea says after a bit of thought, staring at starlings out in the square stealing food out from under sea gulls. "Might have just reminded me more of what I'd lost. Who. Kal's gone. Half the Titans down. So many ..." Her hand trembles, making the piece of pie she was holding ready slip and fall down to the table.
    "Oh!" The pedestrian task of cleaning that little stain up occupies her mind, taking her away from memories she doesn't want to have.
    "No, I think I needed the time away. The time to have a boring, normal life. A reminder of who I was doing this all for anyway. I think it was good we were too shell-shocked to seek each other out. Maybe I'd have said something to regret. Maybe I'd have lost friends, instead of merely being away a while."
    She tilts her head, regarding Zee. "And now you're here. Still a friend. A good one." She snorts. "A friend who, if she stuck her tongue out at me, I could read the question she so desperately wants to ask from."
    She mimics one of Zee's onstage waves, gesturing to the mistress of magic. "So ask away, Zee. I think you already know the answer."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
There's a gentle wince from Zatanna. She did not mean to dredge up things Beatriz didn't want to face. And she feels like she's doing that just by being here. Folding her hands over each other at the table, she considers. "You will never lose me as a friend, Bea. That's not how it works. We worked together -- but we were friends and more. And I'd be here for you, you just need to ask." she admits.

Then there's the question. "I know better than to stick out my tongue around you." she teases, but her fingers play with the fringe of her blouse. "What's the next step, Bea? You said you wanted to come back. Full time heroing?" she asks. "I wanted to. I thought about it." She gives a snort. "...I even led a mission. For all the good it did. I had the Sorcerer Supreme show up, tell me it was a bad idea and browbeat me until I gave up the idea."

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    "I'm back in the game, Zee. Alone or reforming the band. If Janet can balance being what she is with what she does, well, then, so can I. On a smaller scale because DAMN Janet be spooky!" The pie gets stabbed and torn asunder to slake Bea's appetites briefly. "But I'm back in. I got the power. I'm gonna use it again. I shouldn't have stopped. Even without the power I had things I could do. There's tech. There's just ... intel. But I ran away. No more."
    She takes a deep sigh. "We can't be what we were before. Everything's changed. But we can be something newer. Something stronger. Something better. Something more grounded. You with me Zee?" Pause. Grin. "Or am I with you? I never got that straight."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"I'm glad to have you back." Zatanna smiles warmly at Beatriz's decision. "I'm sure the others will be happy to know it as well!" there's that encouragement that the young mage is known for. "But you need to stop beating yourself up. We all ran away in some way shape or form. Even Batman went back to Gotham." she points out. Then comes the other part of the equation.

"I didn't ask you if you wanted that, Bea." she chides softly. But she does have her hands close to the green-haired beauty. "I don't think it needs to be defined, do you?" she asks, a hint of trepedation there. "We just... are, right?" she asks. "So was that the right question, or should it have been..." he voice lowers, and it's playful.

"How far is your apartment from here?"

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    "Oh, you're incorrigible!" Bea laughs. "But lets take everything a step at a time. Lotta dark water under that bridge. I'm all in, but not leaping blindly. I'm just letting you know, I'm there for you guys again." She grins, deciding to tease Zee back after that one. "I'm Burnin' for You, Zee," she says, in a sing-song voice, apparently referencing something. "I'll let you decide how to take that."
    And with a wink, she's back at her pie.
    "About two blocks from here, though, since you ask."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
There's a merry little laugh from Zatanna. "I'm not even sure anymore if we're talking about the League or something else." she admits with a grin, then she offers. "Finish that pie, and we can head over there and figure it out?"

Incorrigble, indeed.

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    The temptation is there. It would be so easy. Two friends. Some wine. A sudden flush. An 'accidental' brushing. That little 'shocked' glance between them. It would be so easy to lose herself in that. Cathartic. A reunion of two broken souls.
    But probably a mistake.
    Bea's face is on the fence for a long time, staring at Zatanna like her eyes were suddenly headlights and she a deer.
    "Not... a good idea, Zee," she finally says, voice straining under obvious regret, but backed by resolve. "I just added a bunch to my plate. Let's keep the fire burning for later when I ... adjust back to life in the biz?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna nods. The response is one she's used to. After all, she's an acquired taste. "At least let me do this, then." She takes out her pocketbook, and sets down a few bills to pay for the meal. "Take your time. But don't be afraid to call. Or text. Or whatever." she says quietly.

"Just don't run away." she offers, rising to her feet as she presses a kiss to Bea's cheek.

"I'll be here when you want me to be." With that, she's moving to head out.