ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇss ᴏғ ᴘʀᴇsᴛɪᴅɪɢɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ (cigam) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-09-16 21:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, emma swan, zatanna zatara |
Who: Zatanna Zatara & Emma Swan
What: A tarot reading with desserts
When: Recent!
Where: Zee's house
Rating/Warnings: Nothing particularly awful this time?
Status: Complete
Vibrant colors, ornate patterns, and metal lanterns (with candles aglow at night, perfect for a somewhat romantic ambiance) were the staples of Zee’s humble Moroccan-styled cottage. Her kitchen alone conjured images of Casablanca with its spice markets and plentiful bazaars, utilizing bright mosaic tiles and painted cabinets, even an intricately designed spice rack where she had everything labeled in jars (this had been a gift from Raven awhile ago). She’d spent a good portion of the morning in this sanctuary creating art, baking up a storm. Food was art, anyway. It was culture and life, and everything else. The lokma, a bite-sized type of doughnut about the size of a chestnut and flavored with honey, was all set. The churchkhela was fun to make and equally fun to eat - dried fruit and walnuts laced on a string and dipped into a thicker version of grape juice called must, which was a lot squishier. Must was the first step in winemaking, actually. But then the candy was left to dry in the sun and Zee had all that ready as well, lots of everything, so Emma could take home leftovers to her soon-to-be husband and teenaged son in case they had a sweet tooth going on. She’d just shown her guest inside, glad to be experiencing a visit without the weight of gloom and doom on their shoulders. “Come in,” she smiled, leading the way to the kitchen. “I’ve got my cards and tarot cloth, I just need to set it up. I wanted to make sure that dessert was all ready first.” Emma’s last visit to Zee’s home hadn’t exactly been under the best circumstances. It was strange what a few months could do. Then she was an anxious expectant mother, worrying if she was going to lose herself to dark magic, now she was an anxious new mother, leaving her two month old for the day with a rock heavy on her fingers and giddy excitement in her gut about the reading. Before, Emma wasn’t the sort to put too much faith in psychics or any of that. But it was all before she lived in Orange County and experienced it all. And she already knew how accurate Zatanna’s readings were. “Well, we know that’s where the priorities really are.” Because let’s face it, dessert was the most important thing here. “It smells absolutely divine in here.” If she wasn’t attempting to cycle back into the closest thing to Justice League shenanigans (via the Agency, exorcising churches with Constantine, etc), perhaps Zee would have opened up her own salon. Right out of her home, even. A place for tarot and tasseomancy, or scrying and gazing into crystal balls. Complete with baked goods made and sold, of course. It might have done well. But alas, she was happy with what she was doing now. “I made a whole bunch. Feel free to take them home,” she insisted, arranging the plates on the table. “I’ve got the kettle on too, so just tell me what kind of tea you’d like,” said while shuffling her cards, the beautiful velvet cloth embroidered with a sun (not a necessary component for this type of thing, but helpful in terms of positive energy and claiming a ‘space’) adorning the table as well. “And I’ll lay out a spread for a more general reading.” Zatanna loved her cards. They were very old, but the idea that tarot cards held secrets and were attached to Egyptian mysticism went back a long way in France which was where her deck originated from. Emma wasn’t in the least bit shy about getting in there as the plates were laid out, it was polite to show enthusiasm for Zee’s hard work, and Emma was the polite sort. She was also always hungry for sweet things at any given time, so it was mostly that. “Whatever you have is fine, I’ve come to appreciate tea a whole lot more recently.” Since the caffeine was lower and she could still get some goodness, she’d swapped it out for her coffee. She didn’t see the point in decaf anyway. At least this time around she knew a little bit more about the cards, and how things worked in general. Not that she’d say she knew a lot, or that Zee wouldn’t need to explain things to her, but it wasn’t going to blindside her all in all. “I’m not sharing these,” she was picking at the lokma, trying to at least not stuff them in her mouth, “Not a single one.” The Turkish apple tea, with notes of clove and cinnamon, was generally a favorite among friends - Zatanna had an ornate tea station in the kitchen as well. Canisters for loose tea, a wooden box with a glass top to see all the colorful packets, her mugs hung up. It was rather cute, but thank Pinterest for that. She grinned a bit, pouring both her and Emma something fragrant. “We can just say that we devoured them and there aren’t any leftovers?” she suggested, referring to the lokma. Now, settled at the table, she began arranging the cards in a simple yet effective Celtic Cross spread - it was generally the next step after the quick and dirty three-card spread, but she wanted to give Emma a bit more detail than that. First cards turned over, the energy buzzing to and from the tips of Zatanna’s fingers. “This is the overall present, and the challenge associated with you at present time - here we see the Empress,” she explained. “She in her patterned robe of pomegranates is an archetypal Mother Earth, granted peace by her connection to nature. The Empress represents nurturing - not only birth of new life, but of new ideas. The challenge with this though, hm...” She tapped the other card. “The challenge is Temperance, the challenge is balance. We see a winged angel here holding cups of both hot and cold water - the water is moving from a lower plane to a higher plane, which means a mixing of opposites and avoiding extremes.” The tea smelled as fantastic as the food, and Emma was sure she could float out in a food coma today just from that alone. She hadn’t been a massive tea drinker prior to getting pregnant with Niko, but now that she’d spent the last almost nine months without coffee, she found that experimenting with different tea flavours wasn’t too bad at all. Especially when there were people like Zee who knew what they were doing with it. As the cards turned over, there wasn’t the same apprehension to go with it, Emma sipping her tea while paying rapt attention. Nurturing made sense, right? She was a nursing mother, she found herself mothering Neal and Henry just as much as Niko sometimes, like her instincts were just in overdrive constantly. “Extremes like smothering my child with too much attention?” So far it definitely didn’t have the foreboding feel of her first reading. The concept fascinated her too, how they could relate to her life through their meanings or interpretations. Working out what might be ahead of her. “Perhaps,” Zatanna smiled, because of course a new mother would want to smother child with attention and affection. “Also I would say the challenge is learning balance with both your work and home life, as you adjust to everything.” She tested her tea for a moment - the steam wafted up, it still needed to cool a little - and then set down her cup to turn over the next few cards. “This card represents the past - it is often a good indicator of how the challenge in the present came to be. The Hermit here, he stands alone with a lantern in his hand atop a mountain, and his secrets are not for everyone to know - this is your past. Being that the card is reversed, it represents loneliness, isolation. A period of deep soul-searching,” Zee added thoughtfully. “Seeing the Hermit in a spread means that listening to one’s inner voice is a wise thing - in relation to the challenges you face, it means you must trust yourself and trust others on your quest to find balance so you do not experience that loneliness again.” At least, the next card was a bit cheerier. Turning them over was always fun for her during a reading, especially when it was someone she knew - just sharing in that whole experience, really. “This card is your future - we see the Sun, bright colors and the carefree child playing in the background. It is optimism and fulfillment, and enlightenment, the dawning of a new day after a period of darkness. I feel that this is all in store for you - but I also feel that this card is meant to be taken on a literal level. In which case, it means travel to a warm, tropical climate.” How fascinating! A honeymoon hint, perhaps? Emma was pretty sure they’d be able to come up with a way to do that, to make sure they weren’t splitting themselves too much, make sure that their attentions were divided to a balancing act between the house and their family, and also their professions. She hoped that it would work, but it was absolutely something she’d be focusing on maintaining. What Emma found really interesting was that Zee might not know about her past, not really, about the travelling and how she was on her own for so long and how she kept people out, or even about her dream life, all the walls she’d built up to keep people from getting too close, but she still managed to nail it with her reading. It also served to remind Emma that even if she did need to figure out how to be a new mom as well as a mom to a teenager and a wife and working woman, she wasn’t alone in it all. She had the support she might not have had previously. “Happy ending,” she couldn’t help but smile at the idea that there was a chance for that in their future, her and Neal finally getting that fairytale ending like their Enchanted Forest friends were all hoping to get. “Well, we haven’t done the family vacation thing yet.” And there was her and Neal’s honeymoon, they had that to work out with all the wedding plans. “I like this reading way more than the last.” “I do too, honestly,” Zatanna smiled - she was glad that nothing foreboding seemed to be on the horizon, nothing to stain this bout of tranquility. She turned over the next card, carefully, taking a moment to interpret what it meant. “Ah, now this one represents your hopes - it is the Two of Swords. But the female here, balancing two swords crossed over her shoulders, represents peace - intimacy, and friendship. It’s a partnership in many ways, and seeing this card tells us that your friendships will only strengthen. You hope to solidify your family unit even more so.” “The last card,” she turned it over, completing the spread, “Is the outcome - and where the situation is headed. This is the Queen of Pentacles and now, I see it...yes, in conjunction with the Empress and the Sun. Hm - “ Zatanna paused, fingers pressed together in a steeple - obviously, the Mistress of Magic was deep in thought here. “She is generally a lush figure, very in touch with her nurturing side. We notice the rabbit at the corner of the card, which of course represents fertility. I have to say, all of this makes me think there will be another baby added to your family?” It seemed startlingly soon after Emma’s very recent pregnancy, but the outcome card didn’t specifically say who. So far, Emma’s little mish-mash family had moved from strength to strength, from Emma and Neal rekindling their flame, Mary Margaret and Emma bonding closer, even Regina and Emma getting to that stable co-parent place they’d found in Storybrooke. It had all just come together nicely, even with the ups and downs of Orange County. Now with Killian and Regina getting all the more stable and David coming back, Emma could only imagine that their units would get stronger there too. She had her dream world parents, her True Love, her not-so-bitter enemy and said Queen’s consort. With Henry and Niko added in, Emma hadn’t felt so much at peace in years. “Really?” Okay, so, it was just an interpretation, but Zee had been fairly spot on with the outcome of the Dark One saga, and while that hadn’t been the same upbeat concept that this one was turning out, most of the passings had happened. Which meant… “My son’s other mom is trying.” Sort of, in a way, they were hoping to be parents, which was the important thing. But with the potential addition of another baby, while Regina and Killian held onto those hopes, Emma really hoped that Zee was right on that one. She wasn’t sure if it was the tea, the lokma or just the reading, but there was definitely a nice, warm, happy feeling settling in Emma’s gut. “Oh? Well, it appears to be very fortuitous according to the cards. You are talking about Regina, right?” Zatanna inquired, as she gathered her tarot and began to put them all together again - reassembling for storage, and back into the velvet drawstring back they would go. “Perhaps I might say something to her.” They knew each other, at least, both being practicing magic users and tied to the Guild - Zee more so, but she’d gone to Regina’s crypt to see about contacting ‘the other side’ when Lina was believed to be dead. So maybe the other woman wouldn’t mind a little bit of reassurance herself. Now that the table was cleared of divination tools, she could properly enjoy her cup of tea and dessert - because dessert really was perfect at any time of day. “I was also going to say, speaking of family, if you’d like to bring Henry to a show one day he might enjoy? I’m not sure if he’s still of the age where he thinks magic is cool, but,” she grinned impishly, “The offer is there.” “Yeah,” if she was just confirming a question, Emma doubted it was breaking confidence -it was like Regina wanted it kept secret, but there was a certain hesitance about telling people until they knew for sure, otherwise it was just more heartache. But Zee’s reading gave Emma the little spark of hope that Regina had nothing to worry about, that she was going to be a mother again herself. “They’re trying to adopt, but we’re still not entirely sure if it’ll go through.” Since they didn’t know yet if Zelena was giving up her daughter yet. “I don’t think she’d mind, a little reassurance goes a long way.” It might take some weight off Regina’s shoulders, might give her a little encouragement, that this was meant to be. It would be the best expansion for their family, the holidays this year were going to be so very busy and full. “Magic is still cool,” Emma was pretty sure that Henry’s expectations of the world were always going to be compared to Orange County and how awesome all of this was. “And I think he’d really like that. It could be a cool thing for us.” Because Emma was still trying to make sure she and Henry did some things just the two of them, she didn’t think Henry would feel jealous of the attention Niko got, but she wanted to make sure they kept that bond they’d built too. Eating the churchkhela was a lot like eating a combo of peanut brittle (thanks to the nuts and dried fruit crunchy aspect) and taffy - or at least, the texture was similar to taffy, but the mass was also kind of bitten or broken off as it hung from a string too. Zatanna got started on one, letting the first bite melt in her mouth a little. “I will be sure to get you two tickets for my next show,” a mental note was made to do that; Zee wouldn’t forget. “A mother-son sort of evening. The magic is real, a little - I try not to give too much away.” she smirked. “Lest it arouse suspicion. But overall it’s fun, I hope he enjoys it - and you too, of course. Then, I usually get takeout after - maybe he’d like some late night pancakes.” There were plenty of diners open, and Zee was pretty well-versed it where to find the best, fluffiest pancakes and waffles by now - thanks to her niece, mostly. “Henry’s a pretty curious kid, he’ll probably spend the whole time trying to figure out what’s real magic, and what is the illusion of magic.” Which was all well and good really, he liked those sorts of puzzles and hearing his ideas on the whole thing was great for Emma. Naturally, the world’s biggest pessimist turned out to have the kid that would be the Truest Believer. But then, it was what helped Emma see the better things in life. “A show and pancakes? You really know how to play to the teenage boy audience, don’t you.” Breakfast foods were Emma and Henry’s favourites after all. “I suppose I do,” Zatanna chuckled - she didn’t consider herself very maternal, or ‘in tune’ with what kids wanted, but perhaps the practice with Raven had helped. Even if Raven was about as opposite from the typical teenage experience as one could get, Zee will felt a fierce instinct to protect her - she wasn’t sure if she wanted children of her own someday, but she could at least do everything possible for other people’s children. Like Amelia, and Emma’s offspring, the kids of those she was close to. That would suffice for now. It was nice to see Emma happy though, and speaking fondly of her son. The stars had aligned in such a way for them to be reunited here in Orange County - that was something to be glad for. As for Zee, she remained careful. There would be no accidents of the baby-making kind on her watch. Speaking of children, hers were just a bit furrier. And had more feathers. “Oh, you have yet to meet my rabbits and my doves,” she said, as if it were a great tragedy. Zee knew Emma liked animals, so she might enjoy the miniature zoo she had at her place - the rabbit housing was in the backyard, and the large cages for the doves (though Zee let them spread their wings regularly) were on the porch. Doves were peaceful pets, and they had a long lifespan - they were also beautiful, and a fine compliment to her shows. The rabbits too - she had a fondness for them. “Come, I’ll introduce you.” Animals were, indeed, Emma’s first love; ever since her mom and dad had gotten her a rabbit of her own when she was five. It might’ve been a lifetime ago, with so much happening since then, but Emma still firmly held on to that adoration for animals. “You totally had me at doves.” Who didn’t love brilliantly white, peacefully beautiful birds? “Urgh, if I hadn’t just gotten engaged to Neal I’d probably ask you to marry me right now.” Emma teased with a smile, picking at a few more delicious pieces of food before washing it down with tea. She could be pulled away from food if it involved animals for sure though. |