Clean Sweep Ch. 30 (DC Comics) (Patreon)

(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Heh.

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Looking down at the Manitou Stone, Cole runs his thumb over its surface and reaches out with his magic to see if he can feel anything from it… but there’s no connection. He knows it’s magical because of Raven’s scrying spell and because of Zatanna’s little history lesson, but otherwise it would seem his type of magic can’t do anything with this type of magic.

Frustrating… but ultimately it makes his decision rather easy, doesn’t it? He hands the stone over to Zatanna with a nod.

“Make sure it gets back to its people. I don’t see any reason to keep it just as some trinket or curiosity.”

Especially when the House of Mystery was supposedly filled with enough magical crap brought in by Constantine and her other owners over the centuries slash millennia. Not that Mystery had let Cole see most of that yet… but maybe eventually.

For now, Zatanna takes the stone and offers him a warm smile.

“I’ll be sure to do that Cole. And for what it’s worth, I think you’re making the right decision.”

Before he can respond, a third voice cuts in.

“Wonderful! Now that that’s settled, dinner is ready!”

Cole, Zatanna, and Raven all turn to regard Mystery, who stands with her hands behind her back, turning back and forth at the waist. With a broad smile on her perfectly sculpted face, one would think she was up to no good… either that or she’s just really looking forward to feeding them. Given everything, Cole thinks it’s a tossup between the two options.

After a moment however, Mystery’s nose wrinkles.

“Ah… but you’d all best freshen up first. You reek.”

Arching a brow, Cole snorts and proceeds to cast his signature magic on all of them, cleaning them up.

“That won’t be a problem, Mystery.”

For some reason she looks a little annoyed by this.

“Master, the act of freshening up involves more than just a wave of your hand and a bit of cleaning magic.”

Huh? Cole blinks, only to be caught off guard even further when Zatanna lets out a soft laugh.

“Actually, she’s right… in fact, could you lead me to the nearest bathroom, Mystery?”

“Of course.”

Much to his surprise, Raven nods and follows after them, leaving him all alone… for a split second before Mystery pops back into view. Though it’s almost certainly another copy of her avatar form, isn’t it?

Huh… Cole just shrugs.

“Well alright then. I guess I’ll go and set up the table or something?”

“If that is what you wish, Master~”

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Zatanna finishes washing her hands and wipes them down on the hand towel hanging from the wall next to the sink. Today has been… quite the day, admittedly. Shaking her head to clear it of the remaining thoughts buzzing around, Zatanna decides she’s just going to focus on having a nice, enjoyable dinner.

Of course, that determination lasts all of five seconds because the moment she steps out of the bathroom she nearly runs face first into Raven who is right outside of the door.

“Oh! Raven… um, were you waiting for me?”

“Yes. I wished to speak with you away from Master.”

Blinking, Zatanna arches a brow.

“… Alright. Well, here I am.”

There’s a pause as Raven seems to consider her for a long moment. Until finally…

“You would look good kneeling at Master Cole’s feet with nothing but a collar around your neck.”

Zatanna’s eyes bulge at the shocking statement, her face going bright red and her mind unable to help conjuring up the mental image that Raven is so bluntly painting.

“E-Excuse me?! What in the world are you talking about?!”

But Raven doesn’t back down even in the face of Zatanna’s choked outrage and offended tone. She just stares at Zatanna like she can see right through her.

“You would be a better tutor and mentor to Cole if you gave up control to him elsewhere… such as the bedroom.”

She’s serious. Zatanna can’t help but be rendered speechless by that realization. Raven isn’t messing around. She’s certainly not joking. No, she’s speaking from the heart.

“As things stand right now, you are not as committed to Master Cole as you should be.”

“What?! I am fully committed to ensuring Cole gets the best magical education he possibly can. How dare you suggest otherwise!”

But again, Raven just shakes her head.

“You can only spare a certain amount of time for him because of your numerous other responsibilities. The Justice League, men like John Constantine… you let them split your focus and take your attention off of who really matters… my Master.”

Zatanna opens her mouth… and closes it, not even sure what to say to that. Technically Raven is right but only in the sense that Zatanna does have a multitude of responsibilities to different people and different organizations. But surely Cole wasn’t feeling slighted because of any of that… right?

“If you submitted to Master Cole sexually, you would find it incredibly fulfilling. I know this because I find it incredibly fulfilling. He is a considerate lover and exceptionally well endowed to boot. Being with him is like nothing else in the whole world.”

Zatanna’s blush is back with a vengeance, her embarrassment overpowering her shock at this point. Raven is speaking in an incredibly reverent, awe-filled tone… she’s utterly convinced of what she’s saying… and from the sound of things, she has the experience to back it up.

For a moment, Zatanna actually finds herself considering it… Raven is just so impassioned and serious that she can’t help but ponder the idea, even if only for a second. And then Raven opens her mouth again.

“Not to mention your awful taste in men probably means you’ll never find anyone better than Master anyways. He’s your best shot at happiness and love… as he turned out to be mine.”

And just like that, Zatanna’s outrage overtakes her embarrassment. Being so bluntly insulted by the half-demon (even if there might be some truth to what she says) is enough for Zatanna to come back to her senses.

“… No! Absolutely not, Raven. And frankly, it was inappropriate for you to even suggest such a thing. But let me be perfectly clear… I’m not going to get in the middle of you and Cole, alright? You may call him Master, but I suspect he cares for you as a lot more than just a familiar. I have no intention of being anyone’s third wheel!”

With her piece said, Zatanna turns on her heel, fully intending to get the last word. Alas…

“He does care for me as more than just a familiar. Master Cole sees more value in me than I see in myself.”

The heartfelt words stop Zatanna in her tracks. She can’t just walk away when Raven appears to be baring her soul to her after all! Slowly, Zatanna turns back around… to find the half-demon’s eyes blazing with determination.

“He is a great man… the best of men. He has been exceptionally good to me… as he would be to you too if you were only courageous enough to take the plunge.”

Before Zatanna can muster a response, Raven tilts her head to the side.

“Besides, we are far from exclusive. You would not be getting in the middle of us, nor would you be a ‘third wheel’. Master Cole has already welcomed Mystery into our bed as well. Therefore, you would actually be a ‘fourth wheel’… and are not most land-based vehicles on Earth held aloft by four wheels?”

Zatanna’s blush returns in full force as the mental images of Cole, Mystery, and Raven all together in bed populate her brain against her will. Worse still is seeing herself enter such images as well… on her knees with a collar around her neck and nothing else.

Swallowing hard, Zatanna forces herself to shake her head.

“No, Raven.”

However, her last denial sounds weak even to her own ears. That said, Raven makes no attempt to call out to her again as Zatanna turns and walks away, barely avoiding stumbling in the wake of how shaken she is.

Running away from the half-demon all the way to the dining room, Zatanna is just glad she remembers the way without needing Raven to guide her. She’s also glad that Mystery hadn’t seen fit to change her internal floorplan and leave Zatanna lost.

… She’s a little less grateful when she finally makes it there, however. Because even though Raven doesn’t continue her suggestions in front of Cole, the wicked grin on Mystery’s face lets Zatanna know that the House heard every word… and worse, approved.

“Oh good, you’re both finally here! Let’s sit down and eat, shall we?”

The meal that Mystery has cooked for them looks and smells absolutely delicious. As Zatanna sits down however, she’s struggling to find her appetite… at least where the food is concerned. Instead, she finds herself sneaking glances at Cole even as he shovels food onto his plate while listening to Mystery describe each dish that she’s prepared for him.

… She couldn’t, right? Engaging in… in tomfoolery with a student was already a gross breach of etiquette anyways. There was the power imbalance to think about after all. Except… in this case the power imbalance wouldn’t necessarily matter, not if Zatanna was the one doing all of the kneeling.

She wouldn’t be taking advantage of Cole… if she let him take advantage of her instead. No… no! She couldn’t start thinking like that! It was still incredibly inappropriate to even be considering it.

Except… did Raven have a point? Zatanna and Cole barely knew each other but she had promised to give him her help. Today had only been their first lesson, but it was already off to a rocky start and thanks to Constantine they’d ended things early.

… Which had led to Cole and Raven going magic hunting. Which had led to them being attacked by one of Raven’s brothers, Greed. And then they’d gone and somewhat violently arrested Jinx before she could make off with her stolen jewels.

If Zatanna had been able to give a proper lesson, or maybe even an entire day’s worth of tutelage, would the pair of them have felt obligated to go out and get into trouble like they had? Or would Cole have been satisfied if only she’d given him her full focus?

… Even still, that didn’t mean she had to kneel at his feet wearing nothing but a collar just to give him the attention he deserved! Raven was being far too lewd about things! More than that, the half-demon was clearly foisting her own kinks onto Zatanna. Sure, Raven might be a natural submissive who enjoyed calling Cole ‘Master’ and loved being subordinate to him in every aspect of her life… but who said Zatanna was the same way, huh?!

Even if she had… experimented with that sort of thing in the past, it wasn’t like she was inherently submissive. She enjoyed giving up control sometimes in certain specific situations, but nothing more than that! Even if Cole was a handsome young man, even if he was ‘exceptionally well endowed’ and a ‘considerate lover’ as Raven had said…

Ugh, fuck! She needed to stop and focus on what mattered. She wasn’t some lewd woman who was only here to try and get into Cole’s pants or bouncing on his dick. She wanted what was best for Cole. She wanted him to be safe and happy and she wanted to help him with his magic.

But what if that did mean giving up some of her other responsibilities for a time so she could focus more on him? That still didn’t mean she should get sexually involved with him though… right? Only, what if Raven was right… no! No, she wasn’t right!

… Argh, she was so fucking fucked! Zatanna needed to-

“Zatanna? Are you alright?”

Jerking out of her inner thoughts, Zatanna looks up to see Cole staring at her with a concerned look on his face.

“You haven’t touched your food…”

She looks down, realizing at some point her body had filled her plate on autopilot but then failed to ever bring even a single forkful to her mouth.

“Are you feeling well? You look a little under the weather…”

Zatanna’s mouth opens and closes for a second as she locks up, not entirely sure what to do or say in this moment.

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A/N: Remember to Vote, leave a Like, and let me know what you think!

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Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VCWELOE9mN0c4e10lV3-bswpQ1t0Crnj2Okt68AatOY/edit?tab=t.0