queen mera

@oceanraged

Unsure what to say, Zatanna offered Mera a tight smile in acknowledgement, though despite all her experience on stage and pretending, it really wan’t that good of an attempt. This was all too much, and faced with Mera, someone she’d always seen as steady and poised, and fierce and competent in battle, Zatanna felt like even more of a mess. She sighed and rubbed her temples absently, trying to ward off the eternal headache she’d had since this begun. “I- I can’t think of a time everything has gone this wrong…. how would… do you have any idea what you’d be doing, if you were in charge here?”

“It’s not about if it was right to kill the Joker,” Gar sighs and drags his hands down his face, wants to fold in on himself until all of this is over–or whatever is going to happen now happens. “It’s about what happens to Superman now, as if he didn’t do us all a favor.” 

“ don’t condescend to me, child, ” mera warns sharply.  “ i know what this is about, but it’s ridiculous.  if your kind had half a brain among you, then this would be a non-issue.  killing that insect doesn’t have to mean anything else. ”

@oceanraged.

It’s appalling to Dolphin to think that there are truly people out there so prepared to take advantage of the tragedy that’s fallen on the surface world. It’s part of the reason she’s ended up here with Mera. She’s desperate to help in some way; empathy has never been something she’s lacked, after all, and Mera is a comforting presence, surprisingly. But aside from that she’s a woman of action and a pseudo member of that League of Justice and Dolphin knows little about the latter, but enough to understand that it’s significant enough to bring the queen of Atlantis on to land. Still, as she watches the thugs below them laughing as they enter the backdoor of a bank, masks in place and weapons in hand, she can’t hide her sheer disgust and frustration. Dolphin has lived her whole life by throwing herself into the middle of a fight, not waiting even when she should, and she’s vibrating with energy now as she addresses Mera.

“How can they – ” Her words are slow, deliberate; it’s difficult for her to string them together when she’s too emotional. “Horrible.” She affirms, brows drawn, as she gestures at the gang disappearing into the bank, “We need to help.”

with all that’s happening, mera knows of course that this sort of thing is inevitable.  that people will take the chaos and pain and confusion and make an opportunity from it.  and mera is happy, thrilled even, to teach them a lesson for it.  mera looks over at her companion and regards her for a long few moments.  dolphin is ready to act, and mera is not a temperate, calming presence.  

She doesn’t know what she had expected, but it wasn’t – this. Not that Dolphin assumed the queen would necessarily look down on her like others; she’d met Arthur and he wasn’t like that so why would Mera be so inclined? It’s just not every day you’re striking up conversation with the royalty of a city that deemed you too much of a freak to enter. She blinks, considers Mera’s question for a second, and then offers the barest hint of a smile. “Okay. Good.” She gives two thumbs up, for added clarity. “Just….exploring.” She inclines her head, a slight jut of her chin, and it comes with a silent inquiry – and you?

“Mm, thought I’d put it out there. I’m obviously not, like, an official spokesperson for us or anything, but I’m sure everyone would agree that it’s better we stick together and have each other’s backs, right?” Zatanna cared, simple as that. “Well, they’re lucky to have you, so that’s good.”

“this?” he asked, nodding to the headline with his chin. “this is about—well, i guess it’s about a lot of things. but i think it boils down to limits. you know, we gotta play by the rules, but lately there’s been a lot of talk about re-writing those rules to better suit the kind of world we live in now. which, by all accounts, is an f’d up world.” he sighs and shrugs one shoulder. “they’re mad because people died. hell, i’m mad because people died. and we know the league of assassins is out there. we know. and we could go and you know…take ‘em out, and prevent future casualties, but that’s against our rulebook. until that book is changed we have our hands tied and people don’t seem to realize that.” he tiled his head. “…how are things in atlantis with this stuff? you all got some sort of death penalty trial and error? or is it more…monarch style.”

carol closes the space between them just a hair more, a fraction of a small step, drawn in by the sound of light in mera’s voice. a siren’s song if there ever was one. ‘ i don’t think there’s anywhere living that isn’t complicated. ’

‘ is that why you’re…’ carol gestured loosely to the lake, where the waves still rippled in the aftermath of mera’s magic. she smiled a little as mera took a step closer, fingers sliding absently around the edge of her ring. a smile pulled just slightly wider at her cheeks. ‘ no. i’m just as at fault. i should… come visit more. how is atlantis? ’

“That’s good, at least, I’m glad. And if you ever do want help dealing with anything down there, we’d be there for you just like how you’re here for us.” She said warmly, then shrugged, taking another sip. “Hellish, still. But no longer threatening to boil over.”

@oceanraged

She’s taken to exploring Atlantis sometimes, when there’s less people swimming around. There’s still plenty that aren’t quite as – welcoming to people her. They wouldn’t know unless she activated her mutation, but her outfit draws enough eyes as it is so…it’s better this way, to weave and dip in-between the royal city as she pleases. Though this is not her first trip, Dolphin still remains wide-eyed at much of it. The buildings are beautiful, gold plated and each unique in it’s design. They distract her easily, try as she might to keep her eyes on where she’s going, so it should be of little surprise when Dolphin suddenly finds herself reeling backwards, only just avoiding a collision with the woman who’s suddenly appeared in her path. Dolphin knows her immediately, recognizes her as the true face of Atlantis, but their words have been few and far in between. For a moment, Dolphin can only stare, mouth open slightly, but eventually a sheepish, small smile grows on her face. When she waves, it’s brief and awkward, stunted. She mouths a greeting.

‘ what brings you to the surface? ’ though she can guess, with the utter stillness that has encompassed the fluid beauty before her, that it isn’t enough to keep her attention or actually warrant her presence. she leans forward, catches herself and draws back. this is hardly the time to search through impulses of that capacity. a safe distance apart, she settles on a half-grin. ‘ it has been entirely too long. ’

She stayed quiet as she thought, then leaned a little closer. “Is everything going alright in your other realm? Nothing as crazy as up here, I hope.”

“you, your highness, would be a hero.” he said, because who in the hell of it would ever call her a zero in any sense of the word? people who were out of their fucking minds, that’s who. “you probably have the right idea. i could be blissfully unaware right now but no i gotta spend two hours searching my name.”

@oceanraged

there’s a stillness about her that’s unsettling. though, when carol considers how she feels when she’s stuck on land she guesses she can understand. there’s nothing like quite like being landlocked, stuck on your own two feet, when it’s so far from your comfort zone. and mera–god, even on land mera is a visible force to be reckoned with, beautiful and violent without moving a muscle. once, the star sapphire didn’t know that was possible. to be regal and violent and beautiful and terrifying all at once. she’d been so very wrong. 

‘ your highness. ’ a small curtsy, a teasing smile.

   the stillness is unsettling, no doubt, because it is unnatural.  when mera is on land, she feels constantly poised for disaster.  which perhaps has something to do with the fact that she very rarely comes surface-side unless it is for a battle that must be fought.  but then there’s carol, who seems regal and beautiful and unflinching all at once, too.  but where mera is all edges, so sharp you could cut yourself, there’s something warmer and softer about carol.  not weak, but -- perhaps more flexible.  it’s enviable.  

“you see this headline? all this ‘heroes or zeroes’ nonsense? fake. fake news. it’s fake news folks. i don’t make the rules.”

“I was in Hell.” Zatanna explained in an incongruously light tone as she swished around her alarmingly bright cocktail. “Like, literally, actual Hell.” She took a sip, then frowned while looking down at the dark imprint her lipstick left on the glass. Her gaze shifted back up on the person near her, eyes earnest and concerned. “Otherwise I would have been there to help and now I feel awful I wasn’t. So many people…”