New Friends [Zatanna]

[Thea Queen]

School wasn't out yet, but it was nearly there, so Thea figured jump-starting her vacation a little was fine.  She was no stranger to skipping school, but recently she'd been going more often.  Richard was starting to really affect her, in a good way.  She didn't mind that, she was really happy about that, about him.  But even so, the old Thea had to come out from time to time.  It kept things interesting.

She could go home, but she didn't want to hear her mother or brother complain to her about how important education was, and all of that stuff.  She knew that, but it was just hard some days to care.  How much of this was even going to be important in the future?  She'd much rather meet people and have fun while she could.

She came to a crossroads now.  She could just go to the mall or something and kill time there, or she could go and try to find a nice place to use the last of her drugs.  Or...no, she was out.  That's right, she'd cut way back.  Richard again, influencing her...  She didn't mind though, she didn't need them anymore.

But damn, it was boring without...

[Zatanna Zatara]

Starling City was a city that Zatanna had visited many times whilst touring. The downside to a tour was that it left almost no time to explore whatever city she happened to be in. A few hours, a day if she was lucky was nowhere near long enough to get to grips with a city. At least her search for her father allowed her to get to know the cities where she had visited. In order to find whoever may have kidnapped her father, she needed to know the city and that's just what she intended to do.

Not wanting to attract attention, she opted for the more discreet look. It was a look that ironically screamed "look at me, I don't want to be noticed", right down to the sunglasses. As she explored, she began trying to navigate from maps of the city she had studied. It was much more important to know where she was without relying on the map app on her phone, just in case trouble broke out, not that she was expecting any to.

The maps that she had become accustomed to gave her only a slight knowledge of the city. The streets, touristy areas, that sort of thing. What she needed was a guide. Spotting someone similar to her age, she approached with a friendly smile. The girl looked familiar, but Zatanna had met a lot of people in her life, that feeling happened a lot. With any luck, the girl would be a fan and more than happy to spend time with her.

"Excuse me." she said, lowering the sunglasses down past the bridge of her nose, revealing her vibrant blue eyes. She paused to see if the girl knew who Zatanna was before continuing. "Love your outfit. Anyway, I'm new in town and have pretty much no friends. You don't need to tell me how sad that is, trust me, I already know." she gave the girl an almost self-deprecating chuckle, before the feeling that she had seen the girl before began to annoy her. "Have we met before? You just look really familiar."

[Thea Queen]

While Thea remained confused as to what to do with herself, she heard someone talking in her direction and turned to see a girl around her own age. She was confused at first, but then heard she was new in town. Did she want a friend? Just by walking up and talking to people randomly on the streets? Ok...but she had complimented Thea's outfit. If she was serious or not, she wasn't sure, but if she was, then points for her.

"I...maybe," she said. Well, there were a lot of parties and stuff, so that was always possible. Of course, her face was in the news and stuff, especially since Oliver's return, so the girl could just have seen that and was thinking there. Thea couldn't be sure, but she didn't press it, "Just coming up and asking someone to be your friend is kind of weird," she said.

She didn't speak in an insulting tone or anything like that. She didn't want to insult the girl. It was more of a curious tone than anything, because she was a bit confused. Oh well, "But I don't mind." Adding that was probably a smart idea... Well, this might be something to spend her day on, depending on what this girl wanted.

[Zatanna Zatara]

A brief look of horror quickly flashed on her face as the girl got the wrong end of what she was trying to say. Sure, she had the confidence to go up and ask someone to be her friend, but she knew how weird that was. While she never really had to go and make friends, since they always seemed to present themselves, the perks of a showbiz lifestyle, she was far from socially inept. Zatanna knew that her choice of timing to stop and check whether the two had met before was to blame, but she'd quickly rectify that.

"Oh, wait. I'm not like some kind of freak or anything. I was gonna ask if you knew any fun places in Starling City." Fun for people their age, usually meant dangerous to some degree. "Sorry, my mind totally spaced there. I was just sure that I'd seen your face before and it was bothering me so I had to ask. I'm Zatanna by the way, you might have heard of me? I've performed here...5 times, soon to be 6." As she introduced herself, she had to fight the urge to give the usual prestigious bow that she usually gave when her name was mentioned. After all, she had freaked the girl out more than enough already. Normally, Zatanna wouldn't have said who she was to a complete stranger. However, this time it seemed warranted to show that she wasn't some random weirdo.

A warm and friendly smile stayed secure on her face. She had already made a terrible first impression, but she knew that it wasn't beyond helping. It had been a while since she had hung out with a girl her age that wasn't some kind of millionaire. The idea sounded fun.

[Thea Queen]

Ok, that was making more sense now. The girl kind of rambled, and Thea had to smile at that. She was enjoying her already, even if she barely knew her. And then she heard the name. Zatanna, that was an interesting one, a very unique one. It soon clicked into place.

She nodded, "I've never seen one of your shows, but I've heard of you," she said, "Well, at least your name. It's a hard one to forget." She assumed hers might be the same with what had happened lately, "I'm Thea. Thea Queen.[/font]"

Maybe she should have just stuck with her first name and not let her last name be of influence, but oh well. "And you've come to the right person for fun places. I was just trying to find one to go to. I guess I won't be alone with that anymore."

[Zatanna Zatara]

The name Queen suddenly caused a spark of realisation. That's why she seemed so familiar. There goes the idea with hanging out with someone who wasn't worth millions. Zatanna, not to mention everyone else in Starling city were well aware of the Queens, especially with the return of Oliver Queen. The story had struck a chord with Zatanna personally. With her father vanishing, she wouldn't allow herself to admit that chances are he was dead. However, Oliver's safe return gave her hope that he would still be alive somewhere. Oliver, after all, had been gone for five years and showed up safe and sound. John had only been missing a few months. Although the circumstances were quite different, it still showed that there were happy ending in these kind of things.

She couldn't help but chuckle at the comment about her name. It wasn't the first time someone had commented on it's...uniqueness. Zatanna opened her mouth wide, pretending to be shocked. "You haven't seen one of my shows? We're gonna have to fix that." she said with a smirk. "That's how you seem so familiar. I saw you on the news. You must be happy to have your brother back." Although she gave a smile, Zatanna was somewhat envious.

Still, rather than being bitter, she knew it was much better to let the Queen story fill her with hope. "Two heads are better than one." she said with an optimistic nod. "All the good stuff doesn't happen until night. Any decent stores nearby or something? You can tell me about the fun things that Starling has to offer." Zatanna doubted Thea Queen would have any information that would be helpful in finding her father, but perhaps there was a chance that she could point her in the direction of someone who might.

[Thea Queen]

Thea nodded, "Well, I was thinking of going to the mall. It's big enough, so you might enjoy it or find something good there. Especially if you love my outfit and weren't just trying to be nice," she said. She knew that all too well, people giving empty compliments and trying to get something. For boys it was usually sex or something. It didn't really work on Thea, she knew better than that. The way Zatanna spoke though made her figure it wasn't out of trying to gain something.

"And by the way, there are plenty of fun things not in the night. Like...getting the things that make night fun." Veiled drug reference, she'd might as well throw it out and just see how that one stuck. She wasn't sure what type of person Zatanna was, after all, but maybe that would be a fun thing to do together. "But I'll do my best to show and tell you what this city has to offer."

She didn't really want to talk about her brother returning, since things were strained between them right now. She was happy to have him back, of course, but he had said too much and then not explained things to her, so she was angry with him. But she wasn't going to tell that to someone else, especially since it wasn't Zatanna's place to know about it. "By the way, when is your show?"

[Zatanna Zatara]

Zatanna thought for a moment. "Sure, the mall could work. It feels like forever since the last time I got to visit one." she said with optimism in her voice. Finding her father was always going to be her number one priority, but until she got any leads or could go to look for them, living a normal life could only do her the world of good. "No, no, I really do like your outfit." she said, looking it over once more before giving Thea a smile. Being in show business, Zatanna herself was no stranger to false compliments.

Her eyebrow raised and it took a moment for her to click on to what Thea meant. "Oh, right. That definitely would liven up today...and tonight" she smirked. Drugs weren't something Zatanna really had any previous experience of. Sure, she liked to party, but she had always stuck to alcohol. Apart from a puff of a cigarette in her more rebellious years, she had never done anything. Zatanna didn't have anything against soft drug users, not really, it just wasn't her kind of thing. The way she was feeling, drugs seemed tempting. Plus, it also gave her an entrance into the criminals of Starling City. Whoever could give the two of them drugs would no doubt have a supplier of their own, who would get it from someone else and so on until the major criminal elements were involved. That is what she was after. "Thanks. It's pretty daunting being in a new city and not knowing anyone, y'know?"

"Ummm...five days from now?" she answered, which sounded like more of a question. The tour was merely to travel to the towns previously visited, so it wasn't as important to her as it once was. "Yeah, five. If we sell out that show, chances are I'll do a repeat performance the next night too. But, who knows if that'll happen? And b.t.w if you're ever in need of a magician for whatever you have going on, I do private events too." she said with a smile, giving Thea a suggestive thumbs up.

[Thea Queen]

So, she might be interested in drugs, ok. Thea didn't really do anything worse than marijuana or pills, nothing heavy, so she assumed that it would be fine, if she even took Zatanna to find some. Even if she thought it would be fun, Thea was having a nagging feeling otherwise. There were the thoughts of Richard again. She sighed, "I don't know if I'll get anything for tonight. Normally, yeah, but I've cut back because my boyfriend is a good influence on me," she kind of laughed.

She nodded, "A new city can be daunting, I imagine. It was kind of new to me, after I lost my brother and father. I grew up here and lived here all my life, but...but just having something shattered like that in your life makes everything new, foreign...different." Even the faces of friends and family had changed from familiar to something she hadn't known in the past, but she'd overcome that by this point.

Thea just came to a complete stop and gave Zatanna a look, "Try saying that again without the smile and thumb's up," she said, "I'm not quite sure what you're getting at..." Was she getting at something for a client and boy/girlfriend or something? Or was she hitting on Thea, possibly? She had no idea.

[Zatanna Zatara]

She thought that it was pretty cute that Thea had cut back on drugs because of her boyfriend. Zatanna had never had a real boyfriend before. Spending her life on the road made things like that impossible, which was probably why she had nobody who she could really call a true friend. To make things worse, she found it almost impossible to trust anyone. Being brought up to live the lifestyle of a magician has that affect on people. "That's no problem. There's always another time. I'll probably be in town for a month, maybe longer, maybe shorter, depending on how things go." It was all dependant on how the search for information about her father went, naturally. "But I think it's sweet that you'd do something like that for someone you care about. I've never really had any experience in that department." she was almost embarrassed by that statement, but concealed that fact adequately enough.

Zatanna knew exactly what Thea meant. It was the way she was feeling at that exact moment, the way she had been feeling since discovering her father had gone. Everything seemed different to her, every aspect of every day life. "Yeah, I know what you mean." she said, hoping to bypass any questions. After all, she did want to keep what she was up to a secret. Sure, her father's disappearance had gotten out into the media as stories like that often do, but Zatanna wanted to keep a brave face on while she secretly hunted for information.

Her eyes widened as she realised how that must have come across. Once again she came across as a weirdo. Had this been any other time in her life, Zatanna would have been as cool as any other celebrity. "Oh, god no. I just meant that if you ever wanted to hire me for some kind of event, then I'd be happy to do it. I do corporate events and birthdays and things like that all the time. Sorry, I've just been kinda on edge lately and stuff." she said with a sigh, looking down to the ground for a moment.

[Thea Queen]

Thea smiled a little, "Yeah. Richard's amazing. I never thought that someone could change me like that. ...and that sounds really lame," she told Zatanna, admitting that. It really did sound like some lame cliche that you thought you were unchangeable, but then that one special person got through... It made Thea sick, so she sighed and just tried to ignore that she had become a cliche.

She didn't want to speak about the things being different thing. Thea didn't push the issue, she just started to walk again after Zatanna had explained her last part to her, "Oh, ok. Yeah, that did kind of come off suggestively." She smiled though, the girl was cute, and Thea had experimented once or twice, usually with drugs or alcohol involved, but she pushed that thought out of mind. That was over, done. "I'm surprised you haven't had experience there. I'd have thought that offering services like you do that you'd have found someone who," she didn't stop, but she did realize that this was the perfect time for a magic-based innuendo. She fought the urge, "likes you. Or at least thinks you're cute and takes you out on a date." She figured they'd have to be crazy not to. She started to think of who she knew who might be good, if Zatanna were interested...

[Zatanna Zatara]

Zatanna gave her a reassuring smile. "It's not lame at all. If you find someone that you care about and who cares about then you're lucky, right? If you think they make you a better person then what's lame about that?" It was common for people to think that they sounded all soppy and whatnot when talking about their own love life, especially for girls their age. Zatanna was always envious of people who got to experience serious relationships and find love. Pulling rabbits out of a hat 52 weeks a year had prevented her from that side of teenage life.

A soft sigh escaped her lips, followed by a chuckle. "Sorry. It's just kind of my stage persona bleeding through into real life...again. I've always made things sound kinda suggestive, it's the reason why so many guys like my show, I guess. Let's face it, magic isn't exactly the coolest of things these days." she explained. It was a hard reality for her to accept, but Zatanna wasn't stupid. She knew that magic was most likely on it's way out. Hell, if it hadn't been for her and her father, as well as some other talented magicians out there, the whole art would probably be dead.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm no stranger to guys and their attention. I am a party girl after all, I've met my fair share of hotties. I mean I've just not had a serious relationship before. I've always been touring and it's kinda pointless to be in a relationship if I'm only gonna see them like two weeks of the year if I'm lucky. It just wouldn't work. Although I guess since I'm not doing a standard tour now, who knows what might happen?" She was pretty hopeful that she'd be able to find someone who she cared about. However, finding the only man she loved, her father, took priority to finding teenage love. Still, it would have been nice to find a man who she could be her true self around. "So, tell me about Richard. How did you guys meet, how long have you been together, all that stuff." Zatanna wasn't just making polite conversation. She genuinely wanted to know, despite the showbiz life she had been brought up in. Zatanna did still care deeply about everyone she met, which was rare for someone who had spent their entire life in the spotlight.

[Thea Queen]

Thea nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right..." she said. She really did not like being a cliche, no matter how lucky she was. She knew she was lucky, she knew she had found someone really good and that she didn't want to lose. She really felt for Richard, and cliche or not, she was happy. It was just when she thought about that that she started to dislike it. But her affection for Richard was more important. Besides, she'd rather have a real relationship rather than something shallow and meaningless.

She smiled. Zatanna's suggestive side drove people to her shows? Well, if it worked, why not? At least she could get customers and money that way. How did her father feel about that? That's what Thea wondered. She herself was no real stranger to using her body for things (not that she was doing prostitution or something like that). "The right type of magic is still cool," she said, "I mean, at least in the whole 'How the hell did they do that?' thing," Thea told her. Magic intrigued and bugged her. She just wanted answers or to figure it out...

"Well, if you'll be around for a while, I can try to find someone then," she offered. She didn't feel like it was a duty or anything to try to get people together, but she felt like Zatanna might benefit from something, like a relationship maybe. There was something that felt like it might be missing there, but what it was, she had no idea. She sighed, "Ok, so Richard..." She couldn't tell the whole thing, but enough to suffice, "We met at a party a while ago." She stopped. Damn, no, might as well say it all, "I was drunk, he was somewhat drunk, we ran into each other, and then we just talked until I passed out. Then he tracked me down in the next few days and it went from there." She didn't like to tell the full story, but she figured Zatanna would probably get it.