Of course he spoke Italian. She couldn't even bring it in herself to feel surprised.
"No language you've ever spoken, I'm sure." (95% sure, at least.) She continued on in Italian, her accent distinctly American but her words smooth and fluent as one who'd spoken since childhood: "Just tell me if you see anything you don't recognize."
Already, she'd come across the first of da Vinci's additions in her own searching. Nothing relevant to their current dilemma, of course. But it was the 'code' that drew her attention. Not just backwards speech, but discorso all'indietro.
"Baby magic, but the man wasn't entirely an idiot." Was all Klarion commented idly. Before he switched once more to English. "As eager as you are to have this over with, there are likely precautions you should take. If for no other reason than that magic is not reacting the way you're used to."
"You're not." Klarion replied in a sing-song-voice, his head tilted and eyes watching her. "All magic is out of balance." A few steps away, pacing and walking by the cabinets. "As much as Nabu and the others are predictable, they are necessary. Just as we Lords of Chaos are, although we're a lot more fun if you ask me."
His fingers moved, gently scritching under Teek'l's chin and around her ears. Waking her up enough, that she moved to rest around his shoulders. His pacing took him towards the stove top and oven. "Order and Chaos both are primeval and fundamental forces that compose reality. They exist along a spectrum, with neither truly prevailing over the other for long. Currently, with someone attempting to eliminate half of the balance, Magic is not behaving in it's usual patterns." Turning back to her, hands clasped in front of him up by his chest. "Where do you keep your tea kettle and supplies?"
He was right. She knew he was right. She hated that he was right. And he probably knew that too, judging from his tone.
"Above the stove." She called back, then immediately thought better and moved to stand. "I'll get it."
She didn't feel like having Klarion going through their kitchen supplies. Even if he wasn't there to booby trap anything, it was just too weird.
The kettle was an old brand, no doubt passed down from father to daughter--in fact, that was one of the only reasons she even had it. Coffee was more often her drink of choice--higher caffeine content--and tea was served only on special occasions. There was a box of herbal tea next to the kettle. Chamomile. It was loose, so she had to find the strainer in one of the kitchen drawers. It took her three tries to remember which one.
"M'gann must've moved it," she murmured to herself, half forgetting Klarion was there, as she made her way to the sink in order to fill the kettle. All steps that would normally have been done magically, but...well...
While he didn't intrude into her personal bubble too closely, Klarion was still closer than she'd probably like as he examined the loose tea. A sniff, and then the box is put back down as he watches her gather the rest of the tools.
"I dread to think you'll assume I have something up my sleeve," There was teasing in the tone, a mocking amusement. "But if you have it, I would recommend adding a pinch of Bergamot, Blueberry, and White Willowbark. It will do nothing to treat the causes, aside from aiding focus and masking the discomfort."
Reaching up, he stroked his sleeping familiar's chin gently. "And catnip, if you're intending to share."
"Fresh out of catnip. Sorry." (She didn't sound sorry at all.) "We only have one pet here, and Wolf's not much of a fan of the stuff."
The other three items, on the other hand...two of them were in the far corner cabinet, mixed in with the other spices, but the third--
"We might not have Bergamot, honest." She frowned slightly, actually surprised at the lack of even Earl Grey. She could have sworn there was some the other day, unless one of her roommates was experimenting with Earth flavors again. Or Wally was over. "But I know I have White Willowbark in my room, and there's blueberries in the fridge."
"It isn't essential. Blending them with the chamomile will help." The smile widened, still teasing and slightly smug. "If we're to be of any use, we have to be subtle, which means we do things in more difficult ways."
Then there was a chuckle and his hands rubbed together. "It should be an interesting challenge, won't it?" But business--or they wouldn't be able to function. Well, not as well as they might otherwise, and the situation was something even Klarion would consider 'dire' enough to warrant them both being able to focus. "First, we take care of the focus issues, then I suggest wards and protection, THEN we search for clues."
She did her best to ignore the smug. It was...strangely easy. Must have been all that practice.
The ingredients gathered on the table, she moved to set the kettle on the stove. It wouldn't take long to boil, and she grabbed two mugs without really thinking. Even without steeping, the faint scene of herbs wafted into the air, and she knew they would be stronger once incorporated into tea.
"I think we can manage that. But you're not warding anything. Not here." That much, she was insistent on. Though, as an afterthought--and in the spirit of...whatever their current arrangement was supposed to be...she did add: "...I will take a few suggestions, though. Well, listen to them."
Her insistence actually seemed to amuse him more than anything. A deeper chuckle, genuine actually and a faint bow of acknowledgement. "Would it help if I suggested common ways to help make it difficult for deception to prevail?"
Teek'l stayed balanced on his shoulder even in the half-bow, asleep. Klarion looked up, smile still somewhat smug. "If nothing else, the blueberries are a good first step in that direction. You were kind enough to grab two mugs as well."
"I know," she replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Condescending came with Klarion's very nature, but did he really think she was that new to the art? "And you were the one who asked for the tea in the first place. Getting you a mug was easier than listening to you complain about me not getting you one."
"Your kindness is appreciated, even if not entirely altruistic in nature." A dry reply, also resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "I'm sure you do, but I'm also just as certain that there are others listening besides us. We had a conversation about how far a toddler might throw someone after all."
Pausing and shifting the still sleeping familiar into his arms, stroking her fur from head to tail. Smile dropping, as his eyes regarded Teek'l for a moment, before turning back to his current-companion-in-magic. It was an oddly serious and human expression on his face though.
"If you have heal-all, ague weed, caraway seed, it would be appreciated if one of those could be steeped in a small dish of milk with cinnamon and a pinch of honey."
She shrugged, as if not only unsurprised by that, but having expected it.
"Super hearing." Was her only explanation. Because it certainly wasn't an apology. "Conner would probably be listening in even if he did trust you at all."
It had led to more than a few amusing situations on her end since moving into Mount Justice. Ones that probably should have caused her more embarrassment than the young Kryptonian, but..well...it wasn't her fault he embarrassed far easier than she did.
Recognizing the special dish as something for Teekl, Zatanna bit back some of her snappier comments and bend down to check the bottom right corner lazy suzan drawer for more spices.
"No promises, but I'll see what I can come up with."
In fact, she happened to have all the ingredients listed, and casually sprinkled them into a bowl she pulled from the upper shelves, placing it on the ground for the animal familiar to lap at her leisure. Frowning slightly when she took note of the way she was moving. Not necessarily concern, but...well...a small voice in the back of her mind wondered how badly Teekl was being affected by all this as well.
Klarion was not the type to thank people. It simply wasn't in his nature even when things weren't out of balance. But the familiar was placed down with a care that was rarely seen, and he studied her as Teek'l moved to sniff and then lap at the mixture.
Arms folding then, he closed his eyes, focusing. Teek'l paused mid-lap, looking up and still. Both of them like that for several heartbeats, before their activities resumed. "From what I can tell, we're going to have be very careful of what we say, and what we mean." Addressing that to Zatanna with that inscrutable smile again.
"Fortunately for me, I tend to mean exactly what I say," she replied back, also folding her arms. But the subsequent eyebrow raise indicated she knew what he meant, and was waiting for further elaboration before making any more comments.
If even Teek'l gave pause, then that moment of stillness must have carried far more significance than first glances let on.
Klarion gave a soft scoff, but still kept his smile. Reaching out for the mug to take a sip. "Humans think that, but then they always get upset when they get exactly what they think they want." A dry comment. "It's like the blue jeans in the bottle and granting wishes."
A soft 'mrow' from Teek'l, and his eyes whipped to his cat. "Yes, that's what I said." Wisely, the familiar ignored this comment.
"More accurately, they will likely be interpreted extremely literally, despite what we say." Another from his mug, and a pause. Especially a look between cat and witch-boy, before speaking again. "Chaos accounts naturally for things not going as they are meant to. That's the fun of it, and why it's chaos. It's unpredictable. Order tries to make sense of the nonsensical."
"Think of it as if you were an artist. A painter in particular. To create a 'random' scene, you might simply splatter paint all over the canvas with no care for where it goes. Yet if you look, there are still ways that paint clusters in small orderly groups. Whereas when someone does their best to deliberately be random, they often end up acting in ways that are semi-predictable, even if it's extremely convoluted."
Another soft m'rowr, although of approval this time. The bowl was half-gone, and the cat sat and groomed a paw before looking at Zatanna for a long moment. Then moved back over to Klarion's side. "I still think it'd be more fun to explain it with tangled snakes eating their own tails." This comment seemed more for Teek'l, from how it was murmured around the rim of the mug.
Zatanna didn't stare, exactly, but it was probably the first time she had ever heard Klarion speak in such a way that not only made sense to her, but in a relatively calm manner. For a Lord of Chaos, she often forgot--(and it wasn't as if his usual words and actions helped any)--that he carried the title for a reason. Behind the childishness was the brain of a master. One whose power and grasp of the art and elements was far beyond that of even her father.
...until that last line, of course, which earned a small eye roll as she took her own mug and began walking back to the table with the books.
"You can explain it however you want, if it gets us an answer that much sooner. Though if our spells are going to have to be scrutinized, I'm wondering if we should actually pre-write and train with them before going anywhere."
A small frown appeared at the thought, even if was her own suggestion. She hadn't had to pre-write spells since she was 8. Mastery of their family's language had come even easier to her than Giovanni, given he'd raised her to speak it from birth along with English and Italian.
Teek'l moved to keep pace with her, since Klarion was holding his own mug. A small wave of his hand, and although it was shaky--the small dish for his familiar did levitate. But it stayed in one place, and he moved to grab it from the air, rather than levitate it over to the table on it's own.
"Actually, I'm not at all certain how any spells would manifest. Simply that given how the balance has shifted, it is a strong possibility." A blink, and the smile morphed into an outright grin. "It might be they don't work at all how we'd expect or like them too, since there is an imbalance due to a lack of chaos..."
Would that be ironic? Taking out 'chaos' from the universe and reality just making things manifest as more chaotic to fill the void.
"You would find that amusing," she commented, noting the grin out of the corner of her eye.
What wasn't so amusing was the shakiness of Teek'l's dish. It was one thing for Zatanna's magic to be on the fritz, but if Klarion's was too...
...actually, no, she mentally took that back; she felt better knowing he was suffering in a similar matter as she. It meant less chance of him continuing to mock her (presumed) lower power levels.
"All the more reason to practice. We have a training room. Robin's been working on replacing some of the more delicate fixtures with Nth metal to keep the damage to a minimum, so it might actually be the best place to practice chaotic non-deliberately chaos magic."
He was highly amused by it. Teek'l settled down near one of the books, looking over it curiously, then a m'row? of query. "I don't think she's allowed to have boys in her room Teek'l, so we're stuck with what she brought. The library here isn't suited to our needs either."
But oh, look, he could at times be...mercurial at best. By pulling out a chair for Zatanna, like a gentleman. With a small gesture to indicate as such.
"I'm allowed to have anyone in my room I want." She replied back, taking another sip of tea. "I just don't want you in--"
She was cut off when she realized what Klarion was doing. Did he just---? An eyebrow rose, and she waited for the catch before tentatively taking a seat.
Catch? No catch. Well, unless one counted that he was a being of chaos, and did whatever he found 'fun' for the most part. Which meant pulling her chair out for her, and then helping her resettle, amused him.
Or he wouldn't have done it.
Certainly her thanks wasn't overtly acknowledged, or commented on. Taking his own seat, the mug was brought up again. A long drink, savored, while he was thinking, as Teek'l moved back to her own dish.
"I can't imagine the little red bird being too happy with me in a training room." A small amused grin. "Which of course, means that I absolutely want to see it now."
The thinly veiled metonymy was easy enough to decipher, and might not have garnered the reaction he was seeking. In that she barely reacted at all.
"Don't really care what you want. It's bad enough I have to deal with you right now. I won't drag him into this unless it's absolutely necessary."
Regardless of any personal feelings, Robin had about as much magic as the average rock. On top of that, he technically still wasn't team leader (yet). Both those attributes would have fallen to Kaldur, whose absence was explained with a recent trip back to Atlantis. Which, Zatanna assumed, was the only reason she had yet to hear from him on the matter.
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carisma_sensei
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Date: 2017-11-27 03:20 am (UTC)"No language you've ever spoken, I'm sure." (95% sure, at least.) She continued on in Italian, her accent distinctly American but her words smooth and fluent as one who'd spoken since childhood: "Just tell me if you see anything you don't recognize."
Already, she'd come across the first of da Vinci's additions in her own searching. Nothing relevant to their current dilemma, of course. But it was the 'code' that drew her attention. Not just backwards speech, but discorso all'indietro.
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Date: 2017-11-27 03:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-11-27 03:30 am (UTC)"It's sweet that you're worried about me, but I'm fine."
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Date: 2017-11-27 03:46 am (UTC)His fingers moved, gently scritching under Teek'l's chin and around her ears. Waking her up enough, that she moved to rest around his shoulders. His pacing took him towards the stove top and oven. "Order and Chaos both are primeval and fundamental forces that compose reality. They exist along a spectrum, with neither truly prevailing over the other for long. Currently, with someone attempting to eliminate half of the balance, Magic is not behaving in it's usual patterns." Turning back to her, hands clasped in front of him up by his chest. "Where do you keep your tea kettle and supplies?"
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Date: 2017-11-29 02:48 am (UTC)"Above the stove." She called back, then immediately thought better and moved to stand. "I'll get it."
She didn't feel like having Klarion going through their kitchen supplies. Even if he wasn't there to booby trap anything, it was just too weird.
The kettle was an old brand, no doubt passed down from father to daughter--in fact, that was one of the only reasons she even had it. Coffee was more often her drink of choice--higher caffeine content--and tea was served only on special occasions. There was a box of herbal tea next to the kettle. Chamomile. It was loose, so she had to find the strainer in one of the kitchen drawers. It took her three tries to remember which one.
"M'gann must've moved it," she murmured to herself, half forgetting Klarion was there, as she made her way to the sink in order to fill the kettle. All steps that would normally have been done magically, but...well...
Unfortunately, he was right.
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Date: 2017-11-29 03:06 am (UTC)"I dread to think you'll assume I have something up my sleeve," There was teasing in the tone, a mocking amusement. "But if you have it, I would recommend adding a pinch of Bergamot, Blueberry, and White Willowbark. It will do nothing to treat the causes, aside from aiding focus and masking the discomfort."
Reaching up, he stroked his sleeping familiar's chin gently. "And catnip, if you're intending to share."
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Date: 2017-11-29 03:28 am (UTC)The other three items, on the other hand...two of them were in the far corner cabinet, mixed in with the other spices, but the third--
"We might not have Bergamot, honest." She frowned slightly, actually surprised at the lack of even Earl Grey. She could have sworn there was some the other day, unless one of her roommates was experimenting with Earth flavors again. Or Wally was over. "But I know I have White Willowbark in my room, and there's blueberries in the fridge."
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Date: 2017-11-29 03:34 am (UTC)"It isn't essential. Blending them with the chamomile will help." The smile widened, still teasing and slightly smug. "If we're to be of any use, we have to be subtle, which means we do things in more difficult ways."
Then there was a chuckle and his hands rubbed together. "It should be an interesting challenge, won't it?" But business--or they wouldn't be able to function. Well, not as well as they might otherwise, and the situation was something even Klarion would consider 'dire' enough to warrant them both being able to focus. "First, we take care of the focus issues, then I suggest wards and protection, THEN we search for clues."
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Date: 2017-11-29 04:05 am (UTC)The ingredients gathered on the table, she moved to set the kettle on the stove. It wouldn't take long to boil, and she grabbed two mugs without really thinking. Even without steeping, the faint scene of herbs wafted into the air, and she knew they would be stronger once incorporated into tea.
"I think we can manage that. But you're not warding anything. Not here." That much, she was insistent on. Though, as an afterthought--and in the spirit of...whatever their current arrangement was supposed to be...she did add: "...I will take a few suggestions, though. Well, listen to them."
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Date: 2017-11-29 04:09 am (UTC)Teek'l stayed balanced on his shoulder even in the half-bow, asleep. Klarion looked up, smile still somewhat smug. "If nothing else, the blueberries are a good first step in that direction. You were kind enough to grab two mugs as well."
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Date: 2017-11-29 04:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-11-29 04:23 am (UTC)Pausing and shifting the still sleeping familiar into his arms, stroking her fur from head to tail. Smile dropping, as his eyes regarded Teek'l for a moment, before turning back to his current-companion-in-magic. It was an oddly serious and human expression on his face though.
"If you have heal-all, ague weed, caraway seed, it would be appreciated if one of those could be steeped in a small dish of milk with cinnamon and a pinch of honey."
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Date: 2017-11-30 01:21 am (UTC)"Super hearing." Was her only explanation. Because it certainly wasn't an apology. "Conner would probably be listening in even if he did trust you at all."
It had led to more than a few amusing situations on her end since moving into Mount Justice. Ones that probably should have caused her more embarrassment than the young Kryptonian, but..well...it wasn't her fault he embarrassed far easier than she did.
Recognizing the special dish as something for Teekl, Zatanna bit back some of her snappier comments and bend down to check the bottom right corner lazy suzan drawer for more spices.
"No promises, but I'll see what I can come up with."
In fact, she happened to have all the ingredients listed, and casually sprinkled them into a bowl she pulled from the upper shelves, placing it on the ground for the animal familiar to lap at her leisure. Frowning slightly when she took note of the way she was moving. Not necessarily concern, but...well...a small voice in the back of her mind wondered how badly Teekl was being affected by all this as well.
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Date: 2017-11-30 01:40 am (UTC)Arms folding then, he closed his eyes, focusing. Teek'l paused mid-lap, looking up and still. Both of them like that for several heartbeats, before their activities resumed. "From what I can tell, we're going to have be very careful of what we say, and what we mean." Addressing that to Zatanna with that inscrutable smile again.
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Date: 2017-11-30 01:51 am (UTC)If even Teek'l gave pause, then that moment of stillness must have carried far more significance than first glances let on.
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Date: 2017-11-30 02:06 am (UTC)A soft 'mrow' from Teek'l, and his eyes whipped to his cat. "Yes, that's what I said." Wisely, the familiar ignored this comment.
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Date: 2017-11-30 02:23 am (UTC)"So what you're saying is that our spells are going to have to be extra literal in order to work the way they're supposed to."
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Date: 2017-11-30 02:30 am (UTC)"Think of it as if you were an artist. A painter in particular. To create a 'random' scene, you might simply splatter paint all over the canvas with no care for where it goes. Yet if you look, there are still ways that paint clusters in small orderly groups. Whereas when someone does their best to deliberately be random, they often end up acting in ways that are semi-predictable, even if it's extremely convoluted."
Another soft m'rowr, although of approval this time. The bowl was half-gone, and the cat sat and groomed a paw before looking at Zatanna for a long moment. Then moved back over to Klarion's side. "I still think it'd be more fun to explain it with tangled snakes eating their own tails." This comment seemed more for Teek'l, from how it was murmured around the rim of the mug.
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Date: 2017-12-01 02:50 am (UTC)...until that last line, of course, which earned a small eye roll as she took her own mug and began walking back to the table with the books.
"You can explain it however you want, if it gets us an answer that much sooner. Though if our spells are going to have to be scrutinized, I'm wondering if we should actually pre-write and train with them before going anywhere."
A small frown appeared at the thought, even if was her own suggestion. She hadn't had to pre-write spells since she was 8. Mastery of their family's language had come even easier to her than Giovanni, given he'd raised her to speak it from birth along with English and Italian.
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Date: 2017-12-01 03:13 am (UTC)"Actually, I'm not at all certain how any spells would manifest. Simply that given how the balance has shifted, it is a strong possibility." A blink, and the smile morphed into an outright grin. "It might be they don't work at all how we'd expect or like them too, since there is an imbalance due to a lack of chaos..."
Would that be ironic? Taking out 'chaos' from the universe and reality just making things manifest as more chaotic to fill the void.
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Date: 2017-12-01 03:22 am (UTC)What wasn't so amusing was the shakiness of Teek'l's dish. It was one thing for Zatanna's magic to be on the fritz, but if Klarion's was too...
...actually, no, she mentally took that back; she felt better knowing he was suffering in a similar matter as she. It meant less chance of him continuing to mock her (presumed) lower power levels.
"All the more reason to practice. We have a training room. Robin's been working on replacing some of the more delicate fixtures with Nth metal to keep the damage to a minimum, so it might actually be the best place to practice chaotic non-deliberately chaos magic."
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Date: 2017-12-01 03:27 am (UTC)But oh, look, he could at times be...mercurial at best. By pulling out a chair for Zatanna, like a gentleman. With a small gesture to indicate as such.
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Date: 2017-12-01 03:43 am (UTC)She was cut off when she realized what Klarion was doing. Did he just---? An eyebrow rose, and she waited for the catch before tentatively taking a seat.
"...thank you?"
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Date: 2017-12-01 03:48 am (UTC)Or he wouldn't have done it.
Certainly her thanks wasn't overtly acknowledged, or commented on. Taking his own seat, the mug was brought up again. A long drink, savored, while he was thinking, as Teek'l moved back to her own dish.
"I can't imagine the little red bird being too happy with me in a training room." A small amused grin. "Which of course, means that I absolutely want to see it now."
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Date: 2017-12-01 03:57 am (UTC)"Don't really care what you want. It's bad enough I have to deal with you right now. I won't drag him into this unless it's absolutely necessary."
Regardless of any personal feelings, Robin had about as much magic as the average rock. On top of that, he technically still wasn't team leader (yet). Both those attributes would have fallen to Kaldur, whose absence was explained with a recent trip back to Atlantis. Which, Zatanna assumed, was the only reason she had yet to hear from him on the matter.
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