This is stupid

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He shouldn't even be bothering Dinah with this. She is never going to let him live this down. Ever. When they are old and grey, she will call him up and make fun of him about this.

Even so, he needs to ask her advice. Dinah usually gives decent advice. When she is so inclined. So he's standing outside her flower shop, checking to see if she's in there or what.

Comments

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"Check?" I'm still quite rich. Enough so that I can actually run tabs.

He follows her back to the cramped but clean office. Thank god Dinah has the good sense to keep her memorabilia at home.

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"I'd like to be rich some day, just for a change of pace. Here--" Dinah sits behind her desk and starts moving papers and her flamingo mug out of the way. "Set that down, grab a chair, and let's eat and gab. Or gab and eat."

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You eat. I'm not particularly hungry. I just know your habits.

He sits down. And obviously doesn't know how to begin.

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She reaches in, but gives him a look as she withdraws a triangular pastry shell. "Need a script? How about ... Hi, Dinah. I've got something on my mind, and since we've been friends for years and years, I want to talk to you about it." Opening a desk drawer, she fishes around and finds a napkin. "Or we can take that part as read, and I can jump to the bit where I tell you you can tell me anything."

[jla-extras2.livejournal.com]

Right. Thanks. I -

He pauses, and looks at her, and clues in.

She already told you, didn't she.

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"Mm hmm." She sniffs appreciatively at the samosa, then takes a bite. "But that's not the same as hearing your side of it."

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I don't think our accounts are going to differ that much.

He shrugs.

She came to visit after she broke up with Constantine -

(that last being said in a tone equivalent to "dog's balls")

- and I showed her around Sub Diego, got the local dolphins to give her a ride, that sort of thing. And then she kind of kissed me and one thing led to another really fast.

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"Yeah, I heard about the sweaty bits. Or the not-so-sweaty bits, since you two were underwater." She licks flakes of pastry off her fingers. "But fun as the sweaty bits may've been ... what're you thinking now?"

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Well.

A measured pause.

The first night after, I had a dream about my wife. Not a nightmare, but not a good dream, you know? And that just kind of killed the mood for me for a while. Zee was very good about it, though.

Anyway, she spent the rest of the week going around Sub Diego and spending the nights at my place. We shared the bed - er, not shared the bed, you know, just sleeping in it together. and that was nice. She gave a magic show for the kids which was so well received that she followed it up with one for the entire city, and that was great.

And, uh. The last night she was there we kind of did it again. And I initiated it that time. Not that she wasn't, you know, receptive.

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She nods sympathetically. "Okay."

So very, very Arthur. Everything laid out as neatly as a series of dominoes. Only he's not normally this twitchy. Poor guy.

[jla-extras2.livejournal.com]

And. Well.

It didn't feel just like casual sex, you know? I mean, it's been a while since I had casual sex - the last would've been, uh, Dolphin for a while, before I got back together with Mera.

Hastily:

I'm not saying it was a non-casual thing or anything's owed to anybody or anything like that. It was casual. We said so.

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"There's casual and casual," she points out, reaching for another samosa. "It's Zee, after all."

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Pause.

I have no idea what that means.

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"It's Zee," she repeats. "You've known each other for years." She considers saying something about the glances she's caught Arthur giving Zee from time to time, then decides not to spring that on him just yet. "Is this casual as in no more repeat performances, or would you mind an encore?"

[jla-extras2.livejournal.com]

Well, I thought I wasn't ready for that at first, but then the last night she was there... it started out just being a friendly goodnight kiss and then it kind of elevated.

He wonders if Dinah will be able to resist the double entendre and decides not to allow her the chance.

I wouldn't want to pressure Zee into something she wouldn't want to do, though, and she just wants fun. And I think you know I'm not much good at "just fun."

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Anyone else, Dinah'd go for the double entrendre, but this is Arthur, and he's uncomfortable enough as it is. "Doesn't mean you can't learn," she says instead. "Or that Zee can't change her mind."

She pushes the paper bag away and rests her forearms on her desk. "What do you want, Arthur? You. Arthur. Not Aquaman. Not the King of the Seas. And don't give me the speech about how they're all the same guy in green tights, 'cause I know what it means."

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I don't know.

It'd be nice to maybe... date her? See what's there, if there's anything? I don't want just sex out of it. I'd rather just be friends with no extras.

He uses the word "date" as if it's an unfamiliar activity, which for him it more or less is.

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"Dating is fun." One corner of her mouth twitches upwards. "I can recommend Coney Island. I can also recommend that you talk to Zee about this, 'cause y'never know."

[jla-extras2.livejournal.com]

Is that Dinah for "it might be possible" or "since I already spoke with her I'm strongly suggesting you do that?"

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"Did you lose your Dinah-to-Arthur dictionary again? Well, I've been wondering what to get you for Christmas...." She grins, then relents. "It's kinda both translations. I'm not gonna tell you everything she said, because that would be a major violation of the girltalk code, but I think both of you should talk about this, and not just fidget at each other from a distance."

[jla-extras2.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. I'll do that, then.

He peers into the bag.

There were eight samosas in here!

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"Were there?"

Innocent looks work better without an ear-to-ear grin.

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Eight. Do you have a black hole for a stomach or something?

He'd figured with eight there'd be at least one for him to eat...