One last spell | Dick Grayson and Zatanna Zatara

Chapter 4: wen raey, wen evitcepsrep

As the time went by, Zatanna realized that maybe — just maybe — most of the melancholy she'd been feeling in the last few days had a very simple explanation: her period. That would do it sometimes.

It wasn't that she hadn't been genuinely worried about Dick. Of course she had. He had a panic attack, after all. But at the same time... it was only the second one this year. For someone who used to say he had them every single day a few years ago, he was doing great. He knew how to deal with it, he knew his boundaries really well.

And no matter how much she worried, she had to trust him. Dick had told her he was okay, so she should believe him, right?

Besides, he'd been officially discharged from therapy back in January. Almost a year ago. As the real issue had been his will of leaving the team — and he had worked through that. According to Dick himself, he'd never truly wanted to leave. He just hadn't known how to deal with his feelings toward Zee.

That part, at least, he seemed to be handling pretty well now.

Well. Mostly.

She chuckled at the memory of his face turning bright red that morning in his room. Zee enjoyed herself a little too much just knowing she had caused that reaction. Was that wrong?

He was always so careful. So respectful. Almost painfully so.

Funny how she used to cringe so hard reading Eclipse because of that one very specific thing Bella kept asking. It was so painfully awkward. And then Stephenie Meyer did it again in Breaking Dawn, in that part between the first morning on the honeymoon and the moment Bella realized she was pregnant.

God. Lame.

Just thinking about it still made her cheeks heat up.

And wasn't it ironic that she could relate to it now? Maybe ironic wasn't the right word. Maybe awkward fit better. Or even pitiful.

But Dick had said he needed more time — so that was what Zatanna was giving him. Time.

They talked about it. Boundaries. Dick loved that word a little too much. And she respected them. Always. Of course she did.

Still... sometimes, within those boundaries, things could be fun — especially seeing how easily disconcerted he could get by something she did.

And he was so protective too. He always had a speech ready about how he would do anything for her safety, for her happiness. And, yeah, those were good things to hear. Words of affirmation and gifts — those were definitely his love languages.

It was like there were two versions of him: one unbreakable, and another so fragile it could shatter with nothing more than a single look.

Tonight, he felt easy to break.

He was always so imposing as Robin, but tonight — sitting beside her on a rooftop, with nothing but stone gargoyles for company — he was struggling to breathe... because of a sinus infection, too much snow missions lately.

She loved that about him.

The way he took the whole human versus hero duality and somehow managed to live both at the exact same time.

Zatanna looked at the city lights glowing in the picture on her phone, her feet resting close to Dick's as she typed "New year, new perspective" on her Snapchat. And somehow, the subs made sense, she loved that her birthday was January 2nd, because it was like everything was truly renewing.

Dick glanced at her phone, curious.

"Who are you sending it to?"

She chuckled. He was always so careful when it came to anything that could leave a digital trace.