i'm gonna be

[ ROOFTOP ] : for your muse to find mine on a rooftop @abracazachra​ 

“Oh, hey there~” Jax said, shooting the man some finger-guns. If there was anything that Jax wasn’t expecting it was someone else on the rooftop of his apartment building. A please he usually went for a little bit of peace and quiet. Closing the door behind himself, he eyed the stranger up before sauntering towards them. “Guess I’m not the only one who comes up here to people-watch.” He said with a chuckle. It wasn’t the only reason Jax came up here. He came up every so often to think. Especially when he wasn’t taking some things well. He’d always been afraid of heights and yet he’d come up to the edge anyway. Like a moth to flame. 

-

“Hey,” Zach responded, gamely doing finger guns back. He didn’t know the guy, but when someone shot you finger guns, you shot them back. It was only polite. And his mother had raised him to be polite. Or at least she’d tried. “Oh, yeah, well--” He considered his options for a second, and then shrugged. “I made a little mistake in my magic act. I accidentally sent -- oh, there it is.” He walked over and picked up his top hat, dusting it off by whacking it a few times against his leg. “Whoops. One wrong word and your hat is on the rooftop instead of the audience. It’s my fault for skipping my pre-show coffee. But the cute girl at the ticket counter wanted a cup, and it was the last one, and I’m nothing if not a gentleman.” He grinned at him. “Zach Zatara.”

@abracazachra​

John eyed the boy for a moment longer knowing the silence was probably getting to him that or the fact he’d all but summoned the boy to Zee’s house. What she doesn’t know is what hurt him right? “Alright, I’ve given you plenty of time to think about the answer to the question I’m sure you know I’m gonna ask” He mused glad he’d ensured the other couldn’t just leave. “Last time we met you said your name was Zachary Zatara. That’s an old family name, not one thrown around lightly so I’ll ask only once, Kid are you Zee’s son?”

-

Zach frowned at him. “Maybe I was in the middle of doing something, you know,” he said. “You’re being kind of rude, my guy.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s a stage name, did you ever think of that?” he said. He wasn’t lying, really. It was his stage name. It just so happened that he went by his actual name on stage. “Everyone knows who Zatanna Zatara is. I’m a stage magician. I use the Zatara name. It’s fun, it’s alliterative. No big deal.”

.

     “Yeah…yeah, no. No, I don’t think so. Stay sleazy, asshole” Atticus huffed out a heavy sigh as he hung up his phone, tossing it down onto the diner table in frustration. He regretted it immediately when the sound drew eyes his way, however, and he flashed an apologetic smile to the few others that were just trying to enjoy their meals around him. “What were we talking about?” Atticus shook his head, his attention turning back to the other that sat across from him. “Apologies that you had to hear that”

@assemblestarter​ 

-

Zach raised an eyebrow as he heard the guy speak, glancing over at him. “You sound like you’re in the Social Network right now,” he said dryly. “What’s going on?” He shrugged. “I was just saying that I’ve learned a few new tricks. Not even special ones, you know, but normal parlor tricks, things like that. Kids actually tend to get a kick out of those more so than the flashy ones.”

Dory’s eyes widened in excitement. “Can I go in the hat?” she asked excitedly. It was sort of an adventure, magic always fascinated her, even though she was from a whole group of people who lived underwater. “I don’t think I know that show.” she said slightly confused. Dory didn’t watch a lot of tv, it wasn’t something they really had in Atlantis.  

-

Zach laughed softly. “Yeah, if you want,” he said. “It’s not that exciting. It’s just like a room with silk on the walls and the floor.” He smiled a little. “You’d like it, I think,” he said. “It’s very romantic.” He paused, thinking about it for a moment. “It’s also pretty spicy,” he said. “So maybe it’s not your vibe after all.”

“No, it’s not something I make a habit of.” Morgan admitted, grimacing at the question. It was born out of concern, she knew, That being acknowledged, she didn’t like to be pointed on her bad nasty habits. “It’s just been a tough week is all.” / @assemblestarter​​

-

“Okay, cool, because it sinks,” Zach said, wrinkling his nose. “That’s gonna get on your hair and your skin. Oh god, and your nails.” He paused. “And, I mean, it’s bad for your health and everything, too.” Another pause. “Um..do you want to talk about it?” He wasn’t very good at this, but he wanted to try, at least.

“Well I don’t actually know what it’s like to be in the hat. Would the water swish around? Can you go in the hat?” she asked curiously. Her home was basically magic itself but she didn’t think of it like that, this, what Zach could do was so mysterious and she was so curious about it. “huh.” she said like she was thinking about the whole situation. “What’s his name?”

-

Zach laughed. “I can go in the hat,” he said. “If I make it really, really big. My mom could probably just pop in there by making a portal though.” He smiled as she seemed to consider the rabbit’s situation. “His full name is Anbunny Bridgerton,” he said. “But I think they just call him Bunny. The teacher is a really big fan of that show.”

-

“Yeah but how cool is magic if you’re not gonna use it?” Morgan responded with a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. “Tons of magic users, tons of cool magic, no using it takes the cool card away though. Now, having a freeze gun, using it? That’s some cool points.” She said. “I suppose if you want to call it wondering then you can.” The smile on her face said all that needed to be said, of course he was missed. “Of course they do, the English language also has words like gummy and blob. It has a vast amount of duality, just like the ones who made it.” She chuckled at the joke. “Really? I always felt like Spa felt like a word that started and was never completed.” Morgan nodded her head. “I feel that,” She said, thinking of Peter. Family didn’t end with blood, it didn’t start with it either. “You’ll still be the same amount of headache either way.” She teased him without any punch to it. 

-

Zach snorted. “First of all, I do use it,” he said. “It’s kind of my job. Secondly, that’s absolute bullshit. If you have a freeze gun and you don’t use it, then what’s the point of even having it? You might as well use it as a doorstop. You waste all this time making it, and then it just sits in your house collecting dust -- that’s dumb. I didn’t waste any time making my magic, I was just born with it.” He wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, well, those words are stupid. Gummy makes me think of an old man with his dentures out.” He flashed her a grin. “But I’m a charming headache,” he pressed. “My mom tells me so.”

open starter for @assemblestarter​ !!

❝ don’t mind the mess, ❞ peter said opening the door of the milano, letting them in first, ❝ it’s a bit hard to maintain with a TRASH PANDA LIVING IN IT. ❞ he shouted the last bit. he knew rocket wasn’t on board at the moment, but rocket had a tendency to hear everything; might as well help him out. peter made his way to the front of the ship, spreading his arms out to show it off, ❝ here’s where the magic happens … just tuned it up myself. ❞ he bragged, slapping the back of the captain’s seat. his seat, he would remind everyone. 

-

Zach was looking around the ship, his eyes wide. “Dude, this is the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life,” he said. “And my parents are magicians.” To put it mildly. But Yara would probably kick his ass if he told this guy the real things that Zee and John could do. “Can I sit?” he said, his eyes widening further. “I mean, not in your seat, of course. But, like…the seat next to you. Or something. I promise I won’t touch anything.”

“What about a kiddie pool! throw in some rocks they can sit on and some logs and easy peasy!” Dory said excited. “But - do you think it’ll be lonely? In the tank all by themself?” Was the bunny lonely? Just sitting in the hat waiting for Zach to pull him out. “What do you do with them when you’re not performing?”

-

Zach laughed softly as she spoke. “I didn’t think about that,” he admitted. “I’ll try that.” He smiled a little and shrugged. “I actually share custody,” he said. “He lives at a daycare center as the class pet when I’m not using him. The teacher takes him home and takes care of him, I bring him back to her house at the end of every show.”

The kid was charming she’d give him that. He sort of reminded her of John in some of his mannerisms. “It’s not for a few days, it’s in a theatre actually.” she said eyes burrowing. Zatanna didn’t advertise her orphanage shows to the public, always worried her fans might ruin it for the kids. “I do, how’d you know that?” she asked curiously.

-

“Oh,” Zach said, frowning a little, more in concentration than anything else. He was pretty sure that his mom had to adopt him fairly soon, but he wasn’t completely confident if it was this year, or the next. “I was adopted,” he said, with a little smile and a shrug. “I still keep in touch with the orphanage here, so I hear things.”

.

     “Well then a lobotomy it is” Jake laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, no. I gotta stick around” For Mar’i more than anything. He was the only family that she had left. It would kill Jake to leave her all alone. “Probably” he smiled at Zach’s teasing. “She does love animals a lot. She busted some out of a zoo once, actually”

-

Zach snorted. “Either way, it definitely wasn’t my idea and I want it on record that I did not agree at any point,” he said. “Just in case your mom or your sister try to come for me. I’m a nice person who did not advocate for lobotomies.” He laughed and shook his head. “That does not surprise me,” he said. “Maybe we should check the zoos first.”

“Yeah. My normal assistant just had a kid and it’s been a huge mess. You’d really be doing me the favor.” she smiled. Zatanna loved finding other magically adept people. It was just as exciting for her as it was to the people she tried to give opportunities to.  She waved her hand, her business card appearing between her fingers. “here this has all my contact information. Send me your info and I’ll have everything set up. we usually have people addition but I saw your performance and you’ve got it kid. Just don’t tell anyone ok?” she joked. 

-

Zach fought to control his smile, feeling as giddy as a kid. “Oh, well, you’re welcome in that case,” he joked, a grin still on his face despite himself. Another grin touched his lips when the card appeared between her fingers, and he took it. “Thank you,” he said. “I’ll let you know for sure.” He tucked the card gently into his pocket. Of course he had his mom’s number in the future, but god knew how many phones she’d gone through in that time. “Do you have a show coming up? You do shows at orphanages and stuff like that?” he said, wondering if he was about to watch his mom meet his baby self.

“A turtle would make a great addition!” Dory clapped excitedly. “Honestly they’re pretty easy going. A little water, a rock, some lettuce…” she listed off. “Everyone loves turtles.” It wasn’t exactly a fact but Dory loved turtles so there was that. 

-

Zach couldn’t help but smile at Dory’s enthusiasm to his words. Maybe he really would throw in a turtle -- it would be something people wouldn’t expect, at least the first few times. “I’ll just have to figure out how to get a tank in there,” he said thoughtfully. “It shouldn’t be that hard. I would need to make sure that it doesn’t slide around anywhere, I wouldn’t want the glass to break. That would probably be bad.”

“If you have a freeze ray and you have the guts to use it, you get to count under that cape.” Morgan declared with a firm nod of her head and a glint of mischief in her eyes, she enjoyed the discussion (she missed her friend). Light discussions like this felt like a wonder once upon a time, now they were a daily occurrence, sometimes she felt like she was dreaming. “Me? Oh yeah, but I wouldn’t actually wanna use one. Not my style.” She liked steel, ivory, mechanics (being like her dad). “Nope,” The p popped. “My memory is like a goldfish.” Her efforts mainly went towards keeping the ones of her parents. “I think I vaguely recall some bets on where you’d gone though.” She teased him. “Now you’re making me wish I’d known, I would have so seen one of those shows. Could totally even do the whole assistant thing for a night.” ONLY for a single night and just for fun, not knowing the tricks would probably kill her just a bit and only a night was what she could take. “Well, when you say it like that it sounds like science could be another language, though I guess it could be just a bit sometimes.” She chuckled. Despite her skeptics, Morgan didn’t tease him as he spoke truly of magic. “Part of you… I kinda get that, weirdly enough.” It was so different but maybe just a little bit of the same. “How did I not know that?” Morgan exclaimed, shocked but bemused by the soft revelation. “Did you tell me on a day I was only fueled by coffee or just never tell me?” It didn’t change things of course, but it was funny. “Sorry if I missed it. I can’t be responsible for myself on coffee brain.” She joked. 

-

Zach shrugged, though a grin played across his lips. “Yeah, but which is cooler, really, a freeze ray or magic?” he pointed out. He snorted softly as she spoke and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just gonna choose to interpret that as you guys wondered where I was and you missed me,” he said. He raised an eyebrow in response to her words. “You’re telling me that words like protozoa and zygote don’t sound like they have absolutely zero place in the English language? Zygote sounds like someone sneezing.” He couldn’t help but laugh, shrugging. “I don’t know, I don’t really talk about it that much,” he said. “Just because she’s not my biological mom doesn’t really change anything for me. She’s my mom, she’s the only one I’ve ever known, and that’s really all other people need to know. You know?”

.

     “That’s it, gotta throw the whole brain away and start again” he joked dramatically, shaking his head fervently. A Yara voice, much like a Mar’i voice, wasn’t a bad thing to have for different reasons. “Definitely in that order, I think my stomach will just be weird until I know where she is and that’s she’s alright” he admitted with a weak shrug. It wasn’t that he thought that his sister wasn’t capable of handling herself because he had seen firsthand just how capable she actually was, but more so that he just always felt better when he knew that she was good. 

-

Zach snorted. “I think they call that a lobotomy,” he joked. “And from what I understand, those don’t usually go very well.” He smiled a little as Jake spoke, nodding in understanding. “Yeah, I get it,” he said. Although he didn’t -- as far as he knew, anyway -- have any siblings, he definitely also felt better when he knew Mar’i was safe and sound. “I’m sure she’s, like, feeding every duck at the pond or something,” he said. “And then finding food for all the squirrels and the other birds.”

“There are still those who live under rocks.” she winked, clearly joking. She nodded, feeling a strange fondness for the boy. It wasn’t too crazy. Zatanna had always had a thing for helping strays. But at least it seemed that his adopted family was loving. “Well, I’ve got a show coming up this weekend and my normal assistant isn’t able to make it. How would you like to help me? It would really amp up the performance if I had another magic welder performing with me.” she offered. 

-

Zach just grinned at her, shrugging his shoulders. He loved talking to his mom -- not that he would actually admit this to anyone, because it definitely wasn’t cool, but he missed her. “Really?” he said, another grin breaking across his face. He would love working with his mom, he always had, even from a young age. “That would be awesome!” Zach wasn’t typically so openly enthusiastic about anything -- again, definitely wasn’t cool -- but missing his mom as much as he did included missing when they performed together. “I would love that.”