5415/Expanding Horizons

Expanding Horizons
Date of Scene:	02 March 2021
Location:	Common Area - Milano
Synopsis:	Zatanna and Star Lord meet on the Milano and talk music, magic, space and broadening horizons. Also did you know it rains diamonds on Neptune and *snicker* Uranus? Now Peter does!
Cast of Characters:	Peter Quill, Zatanna Zatara

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Peter Quill has posed:
The Milano was still riding inside the cargo bay of Maxima's ship, what's the point of hiring a ship if you're not going to use it? Good question, but hey, the Guardians got paid and that's what counts. Still the Milano has been made available to everyone on the trip and quarters have been set up for the Kryptonians and their friends aboard the ship as well. And by quarters they mean bunks, with a small amount of privacy, the quality seeming to be graded by how close that bunk was to the member of the crew named Drax, who snored very, very loudly.

Currently it's morning at least by Terrestrial Metropolis time and the Milano's captain Peter Quill is in the common area eating a giant bowl of cereal as Electric Light Orchestra's "Strange Magic" plays over the speakers from the Zune MP3 player mounted to the wall. f
Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqxigCmFRng

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The Milano is a smaller ship inside a big fish ship. One of those vessels comes with at least one human crew member, and the other belongs to an interspatial imperial princess. Zatanna is quite open-minded but pragmatic, and the intimacy of a smaller ship is comfortable. Life performing on the road requires living out of enclosed spaces more than someone might think. It's no trouble for her.

Sleeping among the stars has a special quality, if they aren't the celebrity kind. She does just fine in a bunk, though having a few minutes alone to brush her hair and set herself to rights is priceless. That she can snap her fingers and look presentable doesn't matter, it's the relative silence that counts.

Fishnets in space, as it happens, though she wears a long-sleeved t-shirt so not everything is business. It makes doing a little dance through the common space less dangerous than it could be. She sings quietly along to the song: "You're walking meadows in my mind, making waves across my time. Oh no, oh no," and halts mid-croon. "A man and his breakfast really can't be interrupted. Sacred laws of maritime endeavours and space force, right?" Her grin ticks up, catching Peter spoon-down in whatever counts as cereal in space. Fruity Oaties?

Peter Quill has posed:
A genuine smile crosses Peter's lips as Zatanna sings along with the music. "You know ELO?" he asks, years of living in space making that a rare occurrence for the eternally youthful outlaw. "And we make exceptions for guests," he says about breakfast being interrupted. Not that his crew held any such restrictions on their interruptions. As for the cereal of choice, it doubtlessly came from Earth, the box reading Cinnamon Toast Crunch. There's something that looks like milk and the box still on the table as he asks, "Want me to get you a bowl?" he asks. "We've got other food in the cooling unit, some of it's from Eartth, some of it, not so much."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Who doesn't know ELO?" Zatanna genuinely looks surprised, her eyebrows lifting in a dark arc against her porcelain brow. "Dad used to play them for me all the time, especially that song." A little shimmy slides her up to the table, and she peers at the label of the cereal before nodding in approval. "Witchy Woman, If It's Magic, I could go on. He should've played 'Ticket to the Moon' more."

A fond memory released into the black of space and the conversational void. Peter's offer of a bowl gets a smile. "That would be great. The other options sound good and I'm not turning my nose up at extraterrestrial cuisine. But sugar is the way to start the morning. Want me to grab a bowl and spoon? Just tell me where."

The issue of milk won't be asked because some questions about milking things on islands in water worlds spoil the whole narrative. It's best not to. "I'm Zee, by the way. Or Zatanna, whatever you prefer. They told you I'm the token magician and girl in fishnets for stellar diplomacy, right?"

Outlaw, meet raconteur of another stripe.

Peter Quill has posed:
"Most of my crew," Quill says with a smile as though he was used to it by now. "Sounds like your dad was really cool though, guessing he was big into magic too with the song choices," He nods and turns towards the kitchen, "Sure, cabinet there and drawer there," he says for where to find the bowl and spoon.

"Zee, nice," he says. "I'm Peter, but people call me Star Lord," he says with a bit of forced casualness. "And no, they didn't mention, but I thought the other guy did magic too? The one in the weird outfit who had me pick a card." He likely means Scott.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Oh, the best. Not just me saying that as his daughter. People remember him from his shows or television, and remind me all the time," Zatanna says, giving a bit of a shrug of her shoulder to back it up. "He liked all kinds of music. Made time fly, I'll tell you that."

The instructions from him make it easy to locate the bowl, the spoons, and probably half a gallon of potting soil. Wait, no, wrong claim. The cabinet door she opens lightly, plucking them out. "Do they?" An inquisitive look back over her shoulder holds intrigue as much as real amusement. "Had to wonder if people out here used titles as much as we seem to love them. Unfortunately I don't get a really cool one unless you count the Mistress of Magic. And honestly, that kind of makes me sound like a courtesan." Oof, dated. #MeToo inappropriate, at that. Her casual nature isn't forced but apparently smooth as the tide, warming to the present company with ease. "Picking a card is a kind of magic, though not really the one I prefer. Think more like turning your bowl of mini cinnamon squares into chocolate balls filled with cocoa or flowers or something. I don't quite know the rules of your ship yet, so no demonstrating a flame in my hand or rabbit out of the hat unless you say so."

Peter Quill has posed:
There's a warm smile at how Zee describes her Dad. "My mom was the same way, with the music, she taught me all about it when I was growing up." Grasping at 'shows' he asks, "Your dad, what did he do? Was he a musician or something?" Clearly though human he's not up on current events or Zatanna or her father's celebrity back home.

The bowls are of the collectable sort, Scooby Doo, but the spoons are other wise normal even if a couple seem to have been melted by something or another and then bent into roughly spoon like shape. "They do," Star Lord confirms. "I'm something of a Legendary Outlaw." Which might explain why the Guardians are skipping Oa.

The rest of the news though leaves him with his mouth gaping for a moment. "Wait, like real magic?" he asks. "You can definitely demonstrate, can you do the thing you mentioned with the cereal?" he asks shifting back from his bowl a bit to get out of the way of any potential magical misfires.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
If Giovanni Zatara happens to be known this far from home, things have reached a peak with transmissions from Earth. Zee puts her bowl on the table, grinning down at Scooby, and then taking the box of cereal if Quill passes it over. "Yeah? Your mom sounds like she knew what was important. Music makes the world go round. You like ELO, what else?" Tugging on her sleeve, she folds it back rather than using the thumb hole to hitch it in place.

Legendary outlaws talking about music and snacks must meet muster. She crosses her legs, and then looks up to find his mouth hanging open. Cue a pause to collect an answer, and then a bit of laughter. "Yes, the real thing. My dad was the Master of Illusions and performed in San Francisco, Las Vegas... Major cities of entertainment back on Earth, that is. I'm afraid I don't know how familiar you are with it, no one briefed me on that. Cut in any time if you know what I'm going on about." Open invitation for him, she seems to accept that knowledge gap for what it is, a failing on her part.

Still, she holds out her hand to rest lightly on the tabletop. "He could do magic, like tricks and sleights of hand. He also did actual, real magic. Let's admit top hats are so much better than wizard's hats, classy too."

Since Quill gives the option, how better to deal with hospitality than put on a show. She deliberately makes a slow, clean gesture to show nothing in her hands and then pulls a white-tipped baton from her sleeve. A tap sends a few pale blue sparks languidly tumbling like stars.

"Laerec ot toh aococ sbmob." The words bend to a soft-spoken tune, definitely not Pig Latin and no mixed up jumble of meaningless terms. A swirl of the magician's wand and the remaining Cinnamon Toast Crunch becomes a pile of small cocoa bombs stuffed with miniature marshmallows. Rainbow coloured ones cause that's the only way to go.

Peter Quill has posed:
"We picked those up on Earth last time we were there," Quill says about the bowl catching Zatanna's smile. "Plates and dishes tend not to last two long on this ship," he definitely passes over the cereal then and slides the milk over soon after. "That's not exactly milk by the way but it's close enough that I can barely tell the difference." Of course he's been up here for a lot longer so, YYMV.

"Yes, exactly!" Peter exclaims about music making the world go round. "Let's see Earth, Wind and Fire, The Babys, the Runaways? basically all the good bands from the seventies and 80's," he says. "Started listening to some other stuff since I've been to Earth a couple times now, so if you've got suggestions, I'm all ears, I mean you like ELO so you've got to have good taste."

"I know Vegas, I left when I was ten, watched a lot of movies and listened to a lot of music before I left," he says before pausing to consider something. "Wait, Master of Illusions? Was your dad that Zatarra guy? I saw him on TV back when I was kid."

There's a nod about top hats being better than the pointed wizard kind, but when the real magic gets pulled out it has Peter's full attention. "Wow, " he says as his cereal changes right before his eyes. "It even has the marshmallows," he says taking a spoonful and giving it a tentative bite before his expression turns into one of absolute bliss. "And it even tastes like it too," he finishes his mouthful before he looks over at Zatanna intently and with enthusiasm. "How did you do that? And what did you say?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Did you? They're great." Zee doesn't give out compliments sparingly or flippantly but a balance in between. The bowl waits as she pulls the box of cereal toward her, an act meant to give Quill time to respond to the act of minor magic. When a guest with a Legendary Outlaw owning a county of chocolate, it pays to be mindful and patient.

She tilts the box and out come little chocolate spheroids full of marshmallows and a healthy amount of cinnamon morsels. Never fear, the balance of crunchy toast goodness remains. The rush ends and she exchanges box for milk, giving it a curious look. Good not to be a picky eater, at least where it counts. That joins the cereal sea. "Thanks. You know, music speaks no matter where you go."

She warms easily to the conversation as he extols the virtues of a few bands. Her nod brightens. "Yes, Earth, Wind, and Fire is great. We listened to a good amount of that on the road. Dad liked a lot, not just classic rock or folk. Fleetwood Mac, Blondie, Stevie Nicks? They were just as common as Led Zeppelin and Madonna. I personally have respect for Prince, the man was the whole package. Singing, playing, dancing? Hard not to appreciate that." Around a tap of spoon to bowl, she is left shaking her head with a laugh. "Don't judge me on my goth phase. I was into Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, the Cure, and Siouxsie for a bit. Mercifully it was short, but Siouxsie and Annie Lennox are always good. C'mon, you can have the Eurythmics or some sassy action heroine."

While he speaks, she eats, being rather focused on the former. Peter's enthusiasm nets a stifled chuckle. She replies, "Giovanni Zatara, the one and the same. That's my dad. He held that stage show in Vegas and the television one for a while before being a hero took up more time. I was on a few seasons and took over." A gap of a decade, but still worthwhile.

The big question, though, that calls for putting the spoon down and forgetting about eating. The marshmallow and chocolate concoction stays put, with no danger of turning back any time soon. "The simple answer is I told the cereal to change and it did. You'd be surprised how far a little magic and a stern voice take you. Not exactly the fun answer, is it?" Her gaze lifts to watch his reaction, and showmanship stretches out the pause as long as she thinks she can get away with. "The longer truth is that I use words to channel the ambient energy around us and direct it to perform my will. In this case, changing cinnamon toast things into cocoa bombs. You're lucky, they were nearly impossible to get this past Christmas unless they tasted like sawdust. One I tried was great and from there, think of it as tweaking the recipe to match. The words give shape to what I want, and the rest is me convincing the universe to agree."

Peter Quill has posed:
"Think so too, couldn't believe how cheap they were selling them for," Peter says of the bowls before his brows raise at the little display of magic, checking the box when she's done to see if the cereal is the same inside or if she somehow swapped the box. "Wow, that's pretty cool-" he begins before the topic turns to music and his mind is drawn in that direction instead, at least for now. "Right?" he says of it speaking everywhere. "I mean look at my crew, they're from all over space, and they love my music," well some of them, okay a few of them may tolerate it but Peter views life through rose coloured glasses, that much is clear by his tone alone.

He nods about the bands and Prince. "Yeah, could play, sing, dance, I even heard he was a pretty decent basketball player in college, and Purple Rain and Rasberry Beret? Amazing." He smirks a little at the goth bands. "Never got too much into those, for a long while I just had this one tape of music my mom made me and I don't think she was too into that stuff, more the poppy funky stuff, but if they're good I'll give them a listen."

He takes a couple more bites of cereal before he nods about her dad. "That was his name, yeah, he was great, totally dug his style, very classic, I like him even more now that I know the music he was into," he says with a grin. "Is he still doing shows? Or did he retire?" Yep, definitely not up on current events.

"Wait, so magic is just talking the universe into believing what you're telling it?" he asks looking both intrigued and a little skeptical. "How do you get it to believe you? I am not even sure what I'd bribe the universe with."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"I promise there's still enough of the cereal and I could turn it back if you aren't a fan," Zatanna assures Peter, scooping up a mouthful of her breakfast. Hunger hastens her to partake of the offered food, and dancing between topics requires her to listen attentively. Not a problem, she likes it. The cadence of his voice and the ideas expressed command attention. "How did you come to meet them all? If you feel comfortable talking about it."

Rose coloured glasses? She'll contribute to the ever pink view on the world. Help to understand more and it makes up for plenty.

It was a phase, almost as bad as getting into all those Swedish folk bands or the dance ones. Royksopp at least I could pronounce." She can't help but smirk as he admits to pop and funk. "That was my rebellion. I mean, we can agree there are some good songs. Ventura Highway? America, right? Lots of good road trip music. Eric Clapton strikes a chord too, but I will never not love Layla. A bit of George Harrison, I mean... I'm eclectic. Kylie Minogue, maybe some other choices."

She tips the spoon against the bowl and shakes her head. "My dad vanished a while ago. At this point, hope and a prayer, you know? Don't worry, you haven't upset me." That upset has been turned to scar tissue a long time ago. Not so long ago, but she can lie.

"Magic is a lot of things, but manipulating the fundamental energy of the world around you is the basic description. Imagination and will go heavily into it. I can do a lot with that, though it all comes at a cost," she replies. "Part of it is study and a lot of practice. Everyone has the potential but not the experience, like... Flying in space. I thought going to the Moon was wild. You get to know Kryptonians and they can fly between stars in the twinkling of an eye. How do you get to do /that/? Apparently be born to it?" She grins. "I got ahead of the curve in magic. Maybe that's the balance. You have an amazing ship and stories as an outlaw, right?"

Peter Quill has posed:
Peter looks up from the cereal box. "No, definitely a fan of the Coco Bombs, just trying to figure out how it all works," he explains coming clean. "But guessing we're talking real honest to god magic here."

Then it's back to music, "I mean does anyone not like Layla?" he asks. "Solid choices all around," he says with a nod, seeming to be truly glad to find someone who knew what the heck he was talking about when it came to music.

"I'm sorry," he says about Giovanni. "And good to know, I wasn't trying to upset you was just curious, but I know a little bit what that's like, I lost my mom just before I left Earth." He offers a sad but sympathetic smile. "But it sounds like we both had really cool parents." He says trying to see the bright side.

"As for how I met the crew, it's all pretty recent but complicated, we sort of all were doing our own thing in the galaxy before they all ran into me. I had Rocket and Groot on my ship first, then we ran into Drax, Nebula and Gamora, and finally Mantis showed up. No fancy story about how we all got together, but we've had a lot of fun since then. Actually before we came by for a pick up we found this magical maze with some really cool carvings, it was trippy and at the end we all could trade something of value to get something in return," he nods over to the Zune in the wall. "I gave up that and got a new tape of music, it even had my mom's printing on the label, not sure if it's really from her or if it just got made that way. Then the maze gave everything we gave up back anyhow, so no idea what the deal is there."

He nods though about the details of magic, "I get ya, and yeah, we all get our special gifts in life, you get to do magic like your dad, and I got to be picked up by a bunch of space pirates and explore the universe.," he grins. "Seems fair to me." There's no sarcasm there, he really does sound like he counts being kidnapped by space pirates as a good thing.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"No harm done. I'm sorry about your mom, though." Sympathy is a universal element, at least for those not wearing Yellow Lantern rings or completely incapable of emotions. Okay, mostly universal. "I bet our parents would have done something like this. Exchanged their favourite albums, complained Dylan isn't really music. Way overrated. Or getting on both sides of that argument until they named some obscure Icelandic band that everyone should hear and never gets enough credit."

The breakfast isn't discontinued by any stretch of the imagination. But she has food to worry about after learning from Peter, chatting and holding up her hand. "The 70s were great for music, and so were the 80s in places. I wish I could have been at some of those concerts." With a laugh, she nudges them back towards positive thoughts and messages instead of looped through poignant sorrow of years lost.

"Seriously, just like that? You all come across vast distances and find yourselves this floating castle of music and adventure in the sky? You're a good storyteller." A compliment from her, Zee means it. "You saw cool carvings in a magical maze, and you didn't /lead/ with that? Oh, that's harsh. Manufacture mystery with me, will you? I may have to turn you upside down and shake you about what the whole trippy business looked like. See," an aside, her hand raised to her mouth to make it a conspiracy, "I'm kind of a wizard. Except without the lame hat or the moth-holed old velvet robes. Like, the hot wizard."

Not afraid to mention that, which she breaks into with a laugh. "You made a good trade? That's magic for you. Always has a cost, and you never get something for nothing. Space pirates seem like they might not agree... But /space pirates./"

Peter Quill has posed:
"I could definitely see that," Quill agrees with an easy nod. "Also you're right about Dylan," he says nodding sagely. "They would have liked space too I bet."

Then he's more than happy to be nudged in a happier direction. "Definitely wished I'd seen some back in the day, I mean I was a kid so it wouldn't have meant as much as it does now, but still," he says with a spreading of his hands before he digs into the cereal again.

"Well there's probably a bit more to how people got here than that but that's their stories to tell." The maze though he's happy talk about grinning, at the hot wizard bit of self-description. "Well you're the one who said it but, you're definitely not wrong," he says.

Another bite of cereal follows before he gets on to the maze. "It was like a stone maze you'd see in Indiana Jones except the carvings were all modern, I saw album covers, Knight Rider, a KISS poster all done like some ancient carvings. Time was messed up too like it felt like I was walking in there for months but by the time the white hit us and sent us home, it hadn't been that long, maybe a couple of hours."

There's a nod about the trade. "Yeah, definitely a good trade, especially since I got what I gave given back to me. What do you think, figure the trade angle was just to see if we were willing to give something up?" he asks since Zee was the magic expert. "Just seemed really odd."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"I love poetry, but give me some amazing sights and a slinky, swaggering baseline any day." Zee chuckles and rests her chin on her knuckles, elbows going to the table. Naughty table manners, isn't it?

Better to keep it casual and give Peter all the room in the world to spin his stories, for that's what the journey is about. The stops along the way spice it up, but the yarns he has keep her captivated for a time. "Only fair. What I hear is go bother them about it, and whatever they're comfortable talking about. That's fair." She grins with ready ease, shaking her head. "Maybe I should be listening for things they miss from other places. Might be worth something."

Though when it comes to Knight Rider, she chokes a laugh back. "Oh /no/. The Hoff? Clearly the Hoff. You know he's like some huge celebrity in Germany? Someone I haven't met but I'm certain my dad did. A KISS poster made into an ancient emblem of power, that's just too clever. Sounds like the sort of place where it feeds on your thoughts or interests to present an image. Not my kind of work, but it could be common enough. Either way, you have to be happy to have escaped with your skin and the chance to try cocoa bombs. You know if you put that in hot milk, water, or possibly whatever bantha juice you have hidden in the cupboard, it'll explode with the marshmallows and melted chocolate? Try it some time when you need a pick me up."

Contemplative over a more serious question, though, her teeth leave a mark on her lip. "Without seeing it, that's a tough call. Sometimes that's how tests work. It becomes a measure of your willingness to act, yes. Would you be the first to jump in front of a friend for danger or give up what you have? They can be some kind of moral puzzle. It doesn't always happen, but sometimes it will. Or maybe it has a set way of knowing you gave up something too valuable and it can't accept that. Balance, right? Depends entirely on how they rigged it, and I imagine the design has some arcane purpose. You might find out it was created by an engineering parent really irked by their kid being so greedy or something. All these mysteries boiling down to someone being like 'Stop asking me for more money, you are an irresponsible young adult. Blaze off, try figuring /this/ life lesson out.' Next up, the dreaming gardens meant to teach you about how a bill becomes law."

Peter Quill has posed:
When Zatanna leans, so does Peter, head tilted sideways onto his closed fist elbow on the table. "Right?! Lyrics are great but you need good music too if a song's going to be great. Heck sometimes you don't even need good lyrics, if the the music makes you want to move you can forget the lyrics suck," Looking at you Surfin' Bird. "And sure you can ask the crew for their take on things, but just be careful they've got some funny ideas about things like who's ship this is, I mean I stole the thing fair and square, end of debate, but nope they all go around like crewing the Milano isn't the best gig in the galaxy," he says shaking his head at his ungrateful crew. "But definitely chat with them, they're a bunch of misfits but they're pretty awesome all round," he says before adding in a conspiratorial whisper. "If you tell them I said that I'll deny it."

He grins and settles back to take another bite of his cereal before asking, "Why are you laughing? The Hof is great, I am surprised he's only famous in Germany, he should be famous all over the world, c'mon he was in a show with a talking car that fought crime how cool is that?" He seems to be entirely serious.

The tip about the cereal gets him looking up again, "Yeah?" he says, glancing up at the heating unit before he picks up his bowl and walks over to it. "This I have to try," he says putting it in and pressing a few buttons. He leans against the counter top to look back at Zatanna. "It was called the Maze of Suburu? no, wait... Kazoo," he frowns and thinks, before he snaps his fingers, "Klabaru," he says. "The Maze of Klabaru, if that means anything to you," he says before looking thoughtful. "So you're saying what looks like some Labyrinth meets the Temple of Doom thing could just be some magical alien's equivalent of a locking piggy bank?" The idea of the School House Rock, dreaming garden gets a laugh. "I dunno that might be kinda fun, even if I have to learn something."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Sometimes the lyrics make the song when you really stop to listen, too. Take Chaka Khan. Plenty of singers like her come out, but she absolutely burns with enthusiasm in 'I Feel For You.' It shakes and dances through the words, and if it's not the most complex song out there, something about it gets under the skin and into your head. Makes you want to move, like you said, and carries you up. Plenty of complex songs haven't got any hook or spirit to them, but when they have it all, that's just stunning. When you hear it, you know it. Pretty good breakfast time conversation, I have to say." She breaks into a brighter smile, pushing her dark hair off her face.

Peter gets a sidelong long when he talks about property. About theft, too. Because it's par with riding around with space pirates who might have fallen in with the others. "That begs the question how you, Maxima, and Supergirl all managed to end up knowing one another. What's the story there?" If he's going to gab, she's going to encourage it. Quill may be Irish in there, partly. At least partly. Cornish? Ideas turn over, something to be taken up later. "I'll also remember that possession is nine-tenths of the law. Nothing I have to worry about, though. Unless I see the tree in my fishnets, things should go pretty smoothly. And if I see him in my fishnets, then we better have a fine performance on our hands. I'll be judging." And the American judge delivers ZYrk.7519 on the Yorovaki scale.

"They seem like good people so far. I can feel no immediate discord around me, so that's worth something. If you were all at one another's throats, I might be concerned." She's finished with her cereal, but not above fixing up the dishes by looking pointedly at them. A few stars gather in the bottom and fizzle out in a puff of purple smoke, the dirt fleeing her stare. "A man with a crime-fighting talking car is probably more believable than some of the Avengers. I heard somewhere there's a frog hero. Ribbity business."

Now that's the time to go quiet and listen, reflect on it. "Klabaru doesn't really ring a bell. Subaru, I could get away with. Klabaru sounds like a name or a place, not much help there. I would have to dig around to get you a good answer. Might be helpful to ask Supergirl, I think she's a bit more travelled than me. Or Maxima." A toothed grin there. "She seems the sort to think she knows everything. That would be kind of impressive. You know, you go describing places like a locked piggy bank from Labyrinth, I'm going to be /really/ unhappy about going back to Earth any time soon."

Peter Quill has posed:
Quill pulls his bowl of now heated milk and cereal from the heating unit and brings it back to the table. "You're right, when someone's really into what they're playing and it comes through in the music, nothing else really matters, you feel it too and boom, you feel like dancing," he says with a grin before he takes a bite of the cereal and his eyes close as he makes an appreciative noise, it's like a religious experience. "God, this is good. Are heated choco bombs always like this or is this part of the magic? Either way /so/ not complaining."

"Oh Supergirl and Maxima? We met them when the Kryptonians replied to our ads on that Twitter thing back on Earth. We made some videos, advertising space travel services and they reached out for a lift to Kypton, Oa and the rest." Even if Maxima's ship was doing all the work. "Well we met Supergirl, Superman, Lois, Superboy, and Power Girl then, Maxima we met after we took off and docked with her ship. She's been alright so far, not at all like what I heard about her people." What that is, he doesn't say, taking another bite of orgasmically good cereal instead. "And I'll definitely watch that competition," he says with a snort about the fishnets on Groot. "Though if he does have them on it's probably Rocket who's talked him into it, he's his little partner in crime."

There's a grin about the crew as the magic seems to effortly clean the dirty dishes piled in the sink. "Yeah, they're awesome, but none of them can do that," he says. Or even try to clean that much for that matter, himself included. Though the frog hero has him looking over, "Are you kidding? A frog hero? Man, they're weird, ants frogs, a dude named Iron Pants, so basically Captain America is the only normal Avenger?" he asks.

As for the mystery maze and it's name he nods, "We hadn't heard of it either until Groot found a map to it in a box of snacks," he says and seems to be serious about it too. "I'll ask Supergirl about it," he adds before saying, "Well, I'd have to run it past the crew but if you /did/ want to stay on a little longer after the trip is done, we could probably make it happen, we'd be working most likely, so that means crazy space adventures like our last one to this scam planet where we got locked up in a mine and Nebula and Gamora had to fight to the death to see which one of them got to marry the space baron, but if you're cool with that and the crew is good with it I don't see why you couldn't hang around."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Chocobombs should be an experience. Not sawdust cocoa and clumps of dry powder floating around in milk, but the silk of it melting on your tongue and giving you the flavour in a slow roll of flavour. Especially with anything inside: the pop of little peppermint candies, or a bit of mint or orange. The marshmallows giving that sugary kick. I could see caramel being decent, even a bit of pepper for it to be hot. The plant kind, not peppercorns." Zee feels the need to clarify because spiced-pepper chocolate would be an abomination. "Look at me, practically ready to pour it into a mold. They're really good, though. The crew is missing out having some kind of space-bird eggs and toast for breakfast." Adapting to the conversation means putting her elbows on the table, fingers curled. "I can give you a supply as long as you can provide a space for them. Even a handful of seeds would work." That's right, ensuring that the Milano boasts a fabulous supply of chocolate materials.

She suppresses a laugh and then tips her chin. "Got it, when you put down that ad... admittedly, you must have received responses from people thinking it was a lark, then some seriously curious people. I have to say I'm glad to come along. Been quite the fascinating experience so far, though I still feel... idle?"

A grin for Quill and she carries her bowl and spoon-thing back to wherever mostly clean dishes waiting for a wipe-down go. "Ought to be /something/ I can help out with. Forgive me, I'm terrible at sitting still and being decidedly inactive. I never succeeded at the whole 'chill and do nothing' bit." She's serious about the frog hero. "It's true, there is. Very noble frog at that. Don't let him punch you. He doesn't belong to the Avengers, though. We have a lot of different inspired heroes, but most people think /I'm/ odd for dressing up like a magician." This, accompanied by a nose-wrinkle, could well be served with a dollop of laughter and teasing for a bit more.

Peter Quill has posed:
Peter looks over at Zatanna with a smile on his face as he says, "You describe it almost as good as it tastes," he laughs. "And caramel yes, I'll take your word on adding a pepper, but then I heard that is supposed to go good with chocolate. I'll try just about anything once except for some of the junk that Rocket and Nebula eat," he says suppressing a shudder. "Imagine a bowl of bug things and a stinky self-cooking squid," he says with his nose crinkling at the memory.

As to the offer, he says, "Chocolate is a dangerous topic on this ship, Gamora, she's sort of allergic? Or well, it's more like she gets drunk off of it, something about her species biology, so, Nebula can get a bit touchy about that sort of thing being on the ship." He does a quick shoulder check now that he's thinking about it and spoons his cereal into his mouth a little quicker before a certain blue assassin comes by and catches him.

"Yeah, a lot of people thought we were joking, some were?" he frowns trying to remember the word. "Ogering, orcing?" he finds it. "Trolling, a couple more wanted Gamora's number but we got a few legit offers, the Kryptonians being one of them," he says. Okay maybe they were the only one but exaggeration was sort of his thing.

"I get it I don't like sitting still either, well, what can you do exactly? I mean transform cereal and I assume all sorts of other cool magic stuff, once I know what we're dealing with I'm sure we can find you something to do to help out around here."

Quill nods, "Yeah, seems like you guys have a ton of heroes now, I mean when I left there was Cap waaay back in the past and then some guys in the 60's and then the Fantastic Four were a big deal before I left," he says. "But now you've got the Justice League, Titans, Avengers and who knows who else out there now," he says before smirking a little at critique of Zee's style. "Hey, you're the one superheroing, you can wear what you want as far as I'm concerned," he says grinning. "I mean look at my crew, Gamora wears a space bikini, Drax doesn't wear shirts, and Groot is naked all the time. So, magic outfit like the least weird thing I've seen."

"Anyhow, what made you do the hero thing? Instead of just doing shows like your old man?" he asks, watching her over another spoonful of cereal while he waits for the answer.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
A self-cooking squid? Even the heavily Italian background doesn't save her from making a face right along with Quill. "That sounds like something a friend of mine would eat. I mean, he can eat just about anything, and he might turn his nose up." Zatanna delicately shudders. "Gross. I could do without the idea of that. Does it also dice itself?" Calamari will never be the same, but she's apparently not enough of a fan. Still, her brow wrinkles with the distaste as a heavy burden.

"Tell you what, I can make something chocolate /flavoured/ easily enough. That way she doesn't get drunk or sick, and there is no reason for Nebula to protest." Or cut her head off. Does Nebula do that? Keep the crew happy. "It shouldn't be impossible. Take something else that's safe for her to eat and I can do some finger-wiggling." Juju woowoo, sparks and sprinkles. Something like that will do. The shoulder check is probably a smart move, but she's up and about to stretch her legs a bit and help tidy.

"This star tourism thing could really take off." It's a horrible pun. She grins. "Not only for adventures like this, but people trying to find out if Uranus or Neptune really rain diamonds. Collect some of that, you could very well be rich. People love novelty and they'll pay well. Though I'm not sure our money is worth anything up here." She glances over, eyebrows raised, an opportunity to learn more. "I'm good as the face. Uh... difficult to keep me imprisoned, either, if it really becomes an issue. While I may not be blue or an impressively large tree, I can deal with just about any kind of lock. Cuffs. Things. I may also not have a reputation to worry about, but if you need showmanship or a distraction. Someone who talks. I can fight, but if you're looking for strength to punch planets apart, wrong girl. You want the Kryptonians for that."

No, no jealousy there. Not much. They embody a different element and being Homo Magi is special in and of itself. Even if that means varied strange, rare talents separating them from her, and beyond. Snickering when he mentions a space bikini, she shakes her head. "You don't hurt for having a diverse crew and interesting things surrounding you, do you? I'm not going to complain or ask for pointers."

Still, she gestures at the more serious question. A sweep of her palm, trailing off. "It never was much of a choice. Just something that became obvious. It's... different, growing up with a talent no one else has. A talent that has to be refined and trained, or else it hurts someone. Least of all me, actually. My dad wanted me to grow up and be happy, and happy for us meant more than making money or getting the limelight. I mean, I love the limelight, I can't lie about that. The hours and the backbreaking pace sometimes suck. But seeing the world through my eyes," she trails off for a moment. "You see the dangers hidden to some people. Most, actually. I can't very well watch someone walk under a broken, creaking beam about to dump a bucket of acid on them and pretend it's not there, so it starts small and you keep going from there. I'm an expert in weird, and other people involved tend to be very old, very cagey, or exceptionally self-serving, manipulative, cowardly, oily bastards, no matter how magnificent, wielding to some degree powers that formed the universe and giving not two shits about who or what they hurt as long as they have theirs. I've watched it hollow out good people and I've watched one summon up three demons from before time actually started to wreak mayhem because the summoner was in a bad mood. You might say it's as much self-preservation and feeling offended. Imagine if outlaws like you got associated with genocidal maniacs in blue ships flying around vaporizing entire cities or planets. You'd be right pissed, I bet."

Peter Quill has posed:
"That friend of yours should meet Nebula," Quill grins. "They might be able to swap recipes. And nah, you have to cut the thing but killing it apparently sets off a chemical reaction that cooks..." he shrugs. "All I know is it gave off a wall of stench," he pulls another face and then has some cereal to try to block out the thought of it from his mind. As Zee stands so does Peter, not out of something chivalrous so much as having too much energy to sit still, the bowl of chocolatey sugar he's eating probably doesn't help, which he drinks down in a single, final, satisfying gulp. "Owe you big for the heating idea, and turning my cereal into that stuff," he says. "And chocolate flavoured stuff might work, but best to check with Nebula because she really does cut off people's heads." Or so the stories go anyhow.

Bowl finished he takes it to the sink, "Wait, Uranus and Neptune rain daimonds?" he asks, surprised enough that he doesn't think to snicker about the name Uranus. "Earth money is more or less just a collectable out in space, but we can use it to buy things to trade and of course Earth stuff, like Choco Bombs," which he will have to hide from Gamora and Nebula. "So it balances out."

As for what she can do, he nods, "That cuff thing would have come in handy on our last job, but I can defintiely see some use for magic in what we do, if the Kyrptonians don't need you to talk to the space cops on Oa, you could hang with us while they're doing that, see what sort of trouble we get up to usually see if you might want to stick around for a bit after the trip is all done," he says glancing over his shoulder as he pulls dishes from the sink that have been magicked clean to make room for the piles more dirty ones.

As for her reasons for heroing, "That's really noble," he says, seemily serious. "Out here most people are like the other magic users you describe out to get what's theirs and who cares who gets hurt. Good to see there's some people who aren't total a-holes, and yeah, if someone was wiping out whole planet, we'd have to stop them. Or at least I would want to, a little stealing is fine, and shooting your way out of a fight, but that sort of thing? Definitely not cool."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"For her own sake, I'd probably not recommend it." She could break into a smile, but the image of self-baked tentacles and crispy stabilizing fins is still prominent in Zee's mind. she might have to scrub it out. No possibility of using a pile of psychic steel wool, so better to turn her attention in another direction. Possibly one without the singing, dancing meal literally being on the plate. "You don't owe me anything for it, though it sounds excellent. And... your crewmate dismember heads? Isn't that charming."

Note to self, thoroughly amended, put down a ward that potentially keeps any swords, blades, knives, or shivs thoroughly at bay. Possibly with extreme prejudice. Other possible concerns shine through her gaze and then she blinks them away. Time to focus somewhere. "Yes, the ice giants rain diamonds. Supposedly in heaps. I don't exactly travel out of the solar system enough to be sure, at least how you go about getting them, but it counts for something, right? Know where to get your gemstones." Diamonds are a girl's best friend and good luck figuring out how to grab them from an atmosphere. But nothing like raining diamonds or men to earn a nice profit.

"Oa space cops. You know, I'm not exactly sure what they think of us in general. I've spent time with our Green Lantern, but that's not saying much. I may have to hide under the ship if they look funnily at us out here." The world's a funny place, after all. Quill's movements are a dance of their own around all the solid nailed down furniture and various spaces between. "Noble would be.... well, Superman is right up there. Captain America. I try for a standard above the others who are, as you say, total a-holes."

Peter Quill has posed:
"Well as long as you're sure I don't owe you, then I guess we're square," Quill says with a grin before making a bit of a face. "Hey, now not trying to give the wrong idea about my crew, things are rough here in space, and sometimes people really need their heads removed, besides, Neb and Gamora had rough childhoods?"

He lets out a breath. "It's not as bad as it sounds, really."

Then he's more than happy to focus on diamond rain. "They couldn't be magicked out of an atmosphere could they?" he asks with a hopeful look. "We'd give you a cut of course, and like you said, they /are/ a girl's best friend. And don't think I missed the Weathergirls reference in there, either," he says with a wink.

"Dunno, Superman and the rest seem pretty nice guys, I'm sure the cops will be fine with them," he says with shrug, knowing nothing of the past beef between the Lanterns and Kryptonians. "And well there you go, best place to hide is on an entirely different ship doing entirely different things, no chance of being looked at all all let alone funny," he points out with a smile then shrugs. "And out here, that counts for noble, trust me on that one. It's sort of nice to see really, for whatever that's worth."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Nothing owed unless you want to." A bit of a grin follows up, and Zatanna rolls her shoulders. "Trust me, it won't be an issue unless I find my neck under a blade. Cross that bridge when we get there, shall we?"

It's just as bad as it sounds but she can let go of things with grace, promise. Mostly. "I haven't been near a methane planet enough to know. Anything is possible. I could certainly ask nicely and see about whether it coughs anything up. A boulder bigger than your ship would be a problem if we can't transport it, wouldn't it?"

Ooh, fast on the uptake, and she hums the chorus to It's Raining Men, shifting her shoulders gracefully. It's almost a dance. "You can be sure, Superman is genuinely that nice. My father knows him, and he just represents something... very hard to live up to, is that a fair statement? But he's great to aspire to and he'll never make you feel less for not having the power to do whatever he does." There's a fondness there, but given all things, that comes across rather easily that they get along. "Out here, it's... it's pretty breathtaking, I'll say that. It causes a few re-evaluations on my part, and that's a good thing. You have a short technology savant and a tree, they seem perfectly nice. You have widened my horizons, and that's something good as far as I'm concerned. "

Peter Quill has posed:
Chuckling Peter nods, "Sounds like a plan," he says about saving that favour owed for a rainy day.

"Oh I am sure we could figure out a way to transport a rock that big, Rocket's great with stuff like that, especially when there's money involved," he confides. "But if you've got a magical solution for that too we won't say no."

There's a smile for the little dance like shake of Zatanna's shoulders. "Guess I need to get that song for the Zune next time I'm on Earth," he grins.

"Yeah, heard he's a big boy scout when I was on Earth and from what I've seen so far they weren't wrong about him," he says, before adding quickly, "In a good way I mean," he says unless she thought he was calling her friend a dweeb or something!

He chuckles at space widening Zee's horizons. "Space is good for blowing minds and expanding horizons, I've been out here since '96 and I still see weird crap I don't even know how to explain, so by the time this trip's done you can bet your horizons will be expanded and then some."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
A plan and a giant space-diamond. This can't possibly go wrong. "I wish I'd paid more attention to that guy who said there could be whole floating palladium or platinum meteors out there. Maybe giant rubies and gemstones under planetary crusts? I admittedly was enjoying the drinks more than the company." She doesn't hesitate to grin a little at that, the warmest of smiles beaming into the void of space.

"What's the best adventure you've been on in all that time? Twenty-five years in the stars, you must have found yourself on at least a few impressive planets. Do places have cities the way they are on Earth or are those mostly things we've constructed, stuck to the ground? I /hope/ someone came up with something floating. There ought to be towers and spires or more impressive things out there than we've been able to accomplish." He speaks the truth to some extent, her horizons stretching by the arc-second, but they still can pin down to familiar forms and shades. "I never thought I would say I'd be a star among the stars, but here I am. At least this one."

Peter Quill has posed:
A Guardians plan to get rich quick involving magic and diamonds bigger than the ship, nope nothing could possibly go wrong...at all. "For real? Man I wish I'd paid more attention to science class," he says. "Might have to add space mining as a side line to the whole space tourism, legendary outlaw gig I've got going on."

That beaming smile isn't missed and proves contagious as Peter does the same. "Sounds like the drinks were better than the company," he remarks.

"Hard to pick the best adventure there's been so many," he says before actually answering, "But honestly my first was probably the best, none of the Ravagers, that's my old crew, but I was able to sneak into this Xandarian vault through the air vent and clean them out without ever having to blow the door, they just opened it the next morning and everything was gone," he says with a proud grin. "I mean the haul wasn't too bad, and I've been on more exciting ones, but you never forget your first, and besides after that I was part of the crew and got to learn all sorts of cool stuff."

As for the cities, he says, "People do all sorts of stuff when it comes to cities, most of them are pretty standard a bunch of buildings on the ground, like you get on Hala or Rann, but then you get to the planets without Earth standard environments and you see the weird stuff, floating cities, modular ones that shift with the gravity patterns on the planet, all sorts of ones floating around gas giants, oh and Knowhere, that's built into the skull of some massive dead guy, it's pretty wild."

At that last remark, Peter glances down at the now empty table and then over to Zatanna, "A star among stars, I'd say let's drink to that but we don't seem to have any drinks," he remarks before he remedies that to let them chat a bit longer one Terran to another.