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[sayshazam]

It had been about a million degrees lately, so Billy had decided it was time to brave the beach. He and his dog had gone there fairly early hoping to avoid the crowds but it seemed like everyone else had the same idea. Billy had managed to spend about twenty minutes in the water before deciding that it wasn't worth it and he and his dog left.

Going back to the apartment didn't really appeal to him either. It was summer and school was out, he wanted to spend it doing things he normally wouldn't be able to during the day. Which mostly meant eating food cart food. He'd gotten a few hot dogs for his dog and some sort of messy burrito thing for himself before heading to the park.

The burrito was almost overflowing and tricky to eat while walking, which is why he didn't see the girl until he bumped into her. Billy had to do a sort of awkward dance type thing to avoid spilling the burrito or knocking the girl over and he credited his lessons with Korra to his ability to not make a mess or hurt someone.

"Oh crap, I'm sorry," he said, turning to the girl. "I was, uh, paying attention to my burrito."

Comments

[sayshazam]

"Well there's no way I'm going to prove you wrong now, you'll kick my ass," he teased, not really believing that she would do that.

People who fought off muggers and then sent them running didn't beat you up just because you were right about bats being ugly. Still, he couldn't help but give her a hard time about it.

[thefourthone]

"It's true," Steph agrees with a nod and a laugh, because it would never happen in a million years. "Find bats to be cute or you'll get punched all the way into the lion's den."

The zoo entrance was crowded with families, even for a hot summer day, but the reason soon became apparent. Fridays were free days. "Oh, awesome! Bats for free!"

[sayshazam]

"Aw man, and here I was all excited to show you I knew how to sneak into the zoo," Billy said, only slightly disappointed. It was probably best that he didn't have to, not everyone was cool with stuff like sneaking into the zoo, but some habits died hard.

"I guess free is good too."

[thefourthone]

"Does sneaking into the zoo involve climbing over fences into animal enclosures?" Steph asks as they line up to get into the zoo. "Because I am all about breaking and entering, but not so much with ending up possibly lunch."

[sayshazam]

"No, that I would have called showing you how to get eaten at the zoo," Billy said, giving a slightly frustrated huff at having to wait in line. It was going to be crazy busy with the zoo being free today.

"But there's a place around the side where the workers sneak in and out to take a smoke break."

[thefourthone]

"Damn zoologists and their nicotine habits," Steph jokes as they finally make it through the turnstiles and into the zoo itself. It's interesting that Billy already knows how to sneak in, makes him a little different than what she'd expected. "You knowing that entrance makes you the prime suspect if the elephant goes missing, you realize."

[sayshazam]

"It's a little small for an elephant. If I was going to steal anything it would be the tiger. I'd let the elephants out so they'd run around and make a big distraction then I'd steal the tiger," he said. Which made him think of Mr. Tawny and how much he missed him. It was stupid, it was only a tiger, but he'd been Billy's family. He'd risked his life attacking Black Adam to save Billy.

[thefourthone]

"Oh yeah?" Steph asks, smiling at him as they mill with the crowds and head toward the rainforest building. "And what would you do with Mr. Tiger after you stole him? Go on a road trip together? You'd have to do all the driving."

Not that she was even sure if Billy was old enough to drive.

[sayshazam]

"Don't be ridiculous, I'd fashion a saddle for him and ride him in to battle, obviously," Billy said, smirking. That actually would be kind of cool, even if he could just fly into battle if it was necessary. Still, riding a tiger around would be a pretty impressive way to make an entrance into a fight.

[thefourthone]

"Obviously," Steph laughs. She's probably laughed more this afternoon than she has since before everything started. "I don't think even Catwoman could ride on a cat like that. Or wouldn't dare. Might offend the tiger's dignity."

[sayshazam]

"Does she even have control over cats or anything?" Billy asked. She was more an urban legend than anything, even more so than Batman, but Billy figured that someone from Gotham would have a better idea of that sort of thing than most people. Although that might be a really ridiculous assumption to make, now that he thought about it.

[thefourthone]

"Nah, she just thinks they're awesome." Steph had the chance to meet some of Selina's cats, briefly, in the middle of the whole gang war disaster. She'd been so nice, despite knowing that Steph had been responsible for the chaos in the city. Steph got the feeling that Catwoman knew more about living with the shit she had to deal with then Batman ever would. It doesn't occur to her to feign not knowing, though she has to get better at that. "Which, I mean, cats are awesome, and her costume is sweet so good choice."

[sayshazam]

"Why is her costume a sweet choice?" Billy asked. He imagined it was cat-themed in some way, although beyond maybe ears and a tail he wasn't sure what you could do with that. Of course, Batman had cat ears too (because bats had seriously big ears and Batman had small, pointy ones, which were totally cat ears) so maybe you could be really liberal with your animal themed costumes. Whiskers maybe? You could add whiskers to a cat themed costume.

[thefourthone]

"It's not cheesy at all. Super practical all black with these googles that sort of look like cat eyes, and then this black leather cap with the ears. So sexy practical cool." Steph is aware that she sounds like a serious fangirl right now, but she can't help it. Yes, Selina was maybe a little bit of a cat burglar, but she also did more good for the East End of Gotham than the police ever did. "Almost enough to make me want to go steal a diamond."

[sayshazam]

Billy raised his eyebrows at that a bit. He wasn't sure if he'd ever met anyone that was so sexy they made him want to commit a crime. Generally he broke the law as a matter of practicality so that he didn't starve or because he was standing up for his principals. Not because someone had on a skintight costume. Or Steph was, you know, joking.

"That, yeah that sounds like a pretty awesome costume," he said, the words out before he realized how creepy that might actually sound.

[thefourthone]

It wouldn't really make her do crime, because she vowed very seriously at the age of seven to never be a criminal like Daddy, and Steph takes that vow seriously. Except for the minor trespassing and beat-em-ups that come with any crimefighting career. Not...that she did that anymore either.

"It definitely is," she agrees and doesn't find it creepy at all. "Though a colorful costume can be cool too. Ooh, look, almost at the bats!" She grins as they enter the big rainforest building and takes an immediate turn to follow the sign to the tropical bat exhibit.

[sayshazam]

Billy felt a sort of conversational whiplash going from costumes to bats but he just shrugged it off. They were here to show just how ugly bats could be after all. Once he proved it to her he would... well he wasn't sure what he would do or what it would mean but he would prove that he was right. Which didn't seem that important at all right now.

"Do you want to see anything after the ugly bats?" he asked, kind of wanting to not just see the bats and leave.

[thefourthone]

"Sure! I haven't been to the zoo in years. Why waste a free trip?" The last time she'd been was on a junior high fieldtrip, which had been fun but the stupid teen drama overshadowed the animals. Plus the hyena exhibit has been closed because Harley Quinn had just stolen them which...had just been weird.

[sayshazam]

Billy beamed a bit of a smile at that. Steph seemed pretty awesome and a lot of fun to talk to so the idea of some time at the zoo with her seemed like a really great time. There weren't many people Billy actually liked spending time with though so it was a nice treat.

"Awesome," he told her as they headed into where they kept the flying rats. "Now be prepared to see some seriously ugly flying rodents."

[thefourthone]

Whatever Steph is about to say next is immediately forgotten when they actually get to the bat exhibit. Because...holy mammal, Batman, there are baby bats in blankets. It's more than she could have ever imagined, and all she can really do is make a high-pitched little squeal of delight as she runs up to the glass.

"Oh my God," she says with a breathless little giggle. "I can't handle this. Look at them. Look at them!"

[sayshazam]

"Aw shit, those are actually super cute," Billy said, scowling at the adorable baby bats all snuggled up in blankets. Which was completely unfair because babies of just about any species look adorable, especially when wrapped in color-coded blankets and all that. This was so, so not happening. Where were the super ugly bats kept?

"Did you plan this? Did you know about this and completely manipulate me into making that stupid bed?"

[thefourthone]

"What! No!" She looks away from the cute babies to give him an affronted look. "You think I keep track of zoo exhibits then go looking for gullible strangers? No, these cuties are just a delightful surprise."

Steph turns back to the glass and wiggles her fingers in a wave at the bats, as though she can see them. "Hi, tiny adorable baby crimefighters!"

[sayshazam]

"Man, this is so not fair," he muttered. What were the odds that there would be a baby bat nursery at the zoo? Well, actually, considering this was the only zoo in this entire world, the odds were actually pretty good. But still, he didn't even know this was a thing!

"I- I don't think that's how superheroes work," he said, frowning as she cooed at the bats. "Is it?"

[thefourthone]

"You are looking at tiny baby adorable bats wrapped in blankets, how can you be mad about anything?" If she could just carry one around in her pocket all her problems would go away. Steph's pretty sure that should disqualify her from ever getting near one.

"If they do grow up to be crime fighters, the obvious names are all gone. Batman...ManBat...they'd have to go outside the box a bit."

[sayshazam]

"Because it means I lost the bet," he said. He supposed it wasn't that big of a deal because they were super cute, but he knew that somewhere they must have had some super ugly bats they could have just as easily seen first.

"They could be The Bat. RedBat. BlueBat..."