ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇss ᴏғ ᴘʀᴇsᴛɪᴅɪɢɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ (cigam) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-04-11 18:10:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, elphaba thropp, zatanna zatara |
Who: Zatanna & Elphaba (with Mae)
What: Catching up, having tea and cake, and meeting the baby
When: Beginning of April
Where: Magic Guild HQ
Rating/Warnings: Naaaada
Status: Complete
Elphaba smiled as she set eyes on the Guild again. It had been a long time since she’d last been here chatting with Merlin, and baby Mae hadn’t been in the picture back then. Pushing the pushchair into the Guild, she looked around to try and find Zatanna. “Elphaba!” Zatanna saw her right away, poking her head out from one of the rooms along the stone hallway. A cellar should be dank and damp, but not this one. Many people had lovingly contributed to make this abandoned wine sanctuary more like home, a place for study and magic and research - warm, yellow candlelight helped, the lamps, the old-fashioned chandelier hanging from a dark beam in the library. It had twelve branches, each stretching out from the central portion; at the end of each branch sat a candle too. There in the library she had the tea all ready, in fact, in preparation for her friend’s arrival. Dainty cups and saucers of china, a miniature silver tray holding a sugar dish, honey, and a pot of cream with gold-lined spoons. Very fancy. It was something of a special occasion, after all. “Come on back - oh, this is your daughter?” Zee’s eyes lit up. Of course she was captivated by the baby. But she’d be polite and wait at least five minutes before asking to hold her. “Hi Zatanna, thanks,” Elphaba smiled and followed her through to the elegantly laid out table. “Oh wow, this is amazing! Thank you very much!” she grinned and moved the pushchair alongside the table. “And I brought some cake like we talked about,” she told Zatanna, reaching under the pushchair to bring out the container holding her homemade offering and handing it over to her. “And yes, this is Maethoriel or baby Mae for short,” Elphaba told her proudly, pushing the hood of the pushchair back so that Zatanna could see better. Elphie grinned down at the baby who was just starting to wake up. Perhaps moving through the wards had woken her. “Cake is just what I need, thank you,” Zatanna sighed in relief, taking the container and setting it in the table. When she removed the top, she got a whiff of the offering - and it definitely smelled as good as it looked. Maybe she’d actually be able to keep this down, and she really, really hoped so. Eating had been so precarious lately, in the early stages of her pregnancy. But she had high hopes right now, and she’d hold onto those. “What kind of tea do you want? I just need to select the flavor and let it steep for a bit - but first...” Zee bent a little to be more at-level with the baby, who was absolutely precious. “Hello, Mae. You’re a beauty, aren’t you? You look just like your mom here.” Then she stood up straight, brushing a lock of hair from her face, lips quirking up in a grin. “Motherhood suits you, Elphaba.” Elphaba blushed and ducked her head at Zatanna’s compliment. “Thank you, it took some time to adjust, especially as we had a...complicated delivery, but once I realised that she wasn’t going to explode like a time bomb everytime I went to touch her things started to settle down,” she smiled as she started to unclasp the baby to remove her from the pushchair. “I am more than happy to try a tea of your choosing, what do you recommend?” she asked, lifting Mae into her arms. The baby watched Zatanna calmly while playing with Elphaba’s hair. Mae was happy to interact with people, but she liked to observe them first, to see if they smiled at her. “I’ve got a blend I think you’ll like - it’s cherries, a little raspberry and hibiscus, and not too sweet so it won’t fight with the cake,” Zatanna said, selecting that particular box from the shelf. It was also one of her caffeine-free teas, so she felt better about drinking it. She let that steep as indicated, and naturally then had to go coo over the baby some more. Mae seemed very serene and low-key, almost at home here in a magical lair. Made sense, given who her parents were. “Perhaps she has some innate magical ability herself?” Zee asked, and she definitely gave the baby a happy smile, reaching over to tickle her belly a little. “If you don’t think she’d mind, can I hold her?” Practice. Zatanna felt like she sorely needed the practice. And she wanted to tell Elphaba about her pregnancy, but she and John had agreed not to really mention it much before those twelve weeks were up - however, she would definitely be reaching out later since she was sure her friend would have advice. “Sounds perfect, I do love cherry flavouring,” Elphaba grinned, settling Mae against her hip some more while she watched Zatanna set the tea brewing. “I'm not sure yet,” Elphie craned her head to look down at the baby. I mean, she more than likely has magic given her mom's are an elf and a witch but she's not demonstrated any abilities yet. I'm kind of thankful for that though given the mess she can already seem to make,” she joked, looking up at Zatanna. “Yes, of course,” she grinned and handed the baby over. At 7 months, she was a solid chunk of a body, and with her hands around Mae’s torso, Elphaba confidently transferred her from her own hip to Zatanna’s. “It's good for her to meet new people and be away from me for a little while,” she reassured her, patting Zatanna on the arm as Mae gazed up at her friend, taking in her smiling face. The baby broke into a grin and gave a little chuckle. “See? She loves her Auntie Zee already,” she nodded confidently, moving away to park the pushchair by the wall. Aw, this little chubby dollface. She was so sweet, and Zatanna was very much in love even after about five seconds of holding Mae. “I love her too, and how could I not?” Zee couldn’t help but smile some more as she bounced the baby a bit - why was it that babies always smelled good too; they just had that scent about them of cottony clouds and sugar plums. “We definitely need to get together more often. I’ll have to contribute to the little one’s nursery somehow too.” Zatanna had authored and signed a book dedicated to her goddaughter (the copy of the book she wrote in her dreamworld, anyway) but there was likely something else that would be perfect for another budding magic user in the making. Elphaba smiled and shook her head as she made her way back over to them and watched Zee pull funny faces at Mae. The baby had an arm over the back of Zee’s and was absently playing with it as she avidly watched her new best friend. “Look at you two, it's like you've known each other all your lives,” she grinned, waving at Mae over Zee’s shoulder who then giggled at her. “You know we’d love to meet up more, and of course if you would like to contribute something to her room we’d be thrilled,” Elphie told her happily then turned to check on the tea while the baby reached up and pressed a hand to Zatanna cheek. “I'm sure she's going to need guidance growing up with magic and you have always been a great teacher,” Elphie smiled at her confidently as she watched Zee and Mae for a second. “So how are things with you? Any new developments?” she asked. “You flatter me,” Zatanna winked, but she really did like teaching - there was no Justice League Dark here to be a part of, so she got her fix in via other means. Occult research, organizing the Guild, helping other magic users fit in. That was most important, above all, that magic users here felt safe in their community. The tea was ready so she gave Mae back to her mother for the time being and bustled about to pour cups and get the cake all set up on the table. That was something she wanted to sink her teeth into right away. “Things are good,” she smiled softly. “I really can’t complain. We just got someone new in the Occult Division where I work so it’s nice to have a fresh face around.” Joan wasn’t a magic user herself, but she was steely and smart, and good at research. She’d be an asset to any sect of the Agency. “I suppose just waiting for the other shoe to drop? Like it always goes around here.” Accepting Mae back with a big smile Elphaba bounced the baby on her hip while Zee made the tea. “It's true baby Mae, auntie Zee is far too humble about how good she is at teaching,” she explained in a happy voice to the baby. Mae beamed up at her, giggling away as her mother made funny faces and voices at her. “Hmm, the next chaos we’re going to be thrown into you mean? I have to admit, I've been much more batten down the hatches since Mae came along. Not least because I was literally in no physical shape to have even thought about helping,” she admitted to Zatanna, pressing a kiss to Mae’s head. “Batten down the hatches isn’t a terrible mindset to take,” Zatanna replied, as she settled at the table. This cake slice was huge, bless it, she really hoped she could keep it down - but it looked so good. “Especially when your priorities shift. And motherhood comes first.” She was confident that Elphaba and Lúthien could handle things - they had enough offensive and defensive skills between them to protect their home, their family. “You also know if you ever need anything, I’m around to help also,” the Mistress of Magic added. “I do, thank you,” Elphaba smiled over at her friend as she watched her take the slice of cake. She was happy to see such a healthy appetite when it came to her baking, it made her feel proud. “What about you? Have you got anything you need a hand with?” Eventually? Zatanna was sure that she’d need a hand - especially from someone who had been through the motherhood experience before. But she didn’t want to jinx anything. Even if she was absolutely bursting, needing to tell someone. “Not at the moment? But I’ll ring you up if need be. Especially for more cake,” she grinned, eating another forkful. So far, so good. She hadn’t been able to keep much down in the past few weeks, but Elphaba’s cake seemed to be magic in its own right. Zee, for once, wasn’t feeling nauseated. “And to see Mae. Now that I’ve been introduced to her cuteness, I can’t turn back.” Elphaba grinned at the mention of her cake, settling down with Mae on her lap and pulling a slice over to herself. “I'm glad you like it. I've quite enjoyed learning to bake while Mae is napping,” she grinned, keeping the plate just out of Mae’s reach then offering a tiny piece to her before taking a forkful herself. “You should come over sometime and bake with baby Mae and me,” she grinned. “Oh, I’d love that. It sounds like a relaxing afternoon,” Zatanna readily agreed. And she loved to cook and bake, so, may as well put those skills to good use. Especially when that nesting desire hit her - and all she wanted to do was domestic things. But, one step at a time. Having friends with her to take those steps didn’t seem so bad in the scheme of things either. |