She didn't know when she starting finding him tolerable.

Maybe it was after Zaude, or even after they'd beaten Duke. All she knew was that the former Captain had stopped being a nuisance and started being… tolerable.

What the hell was wrong with her? She began to rummage through her research, trying to find something to focus on instead of his stupid face. He was always grinning. Idiot. She fumbled with her notes a bit before beginning to think of a way to remake all of her spells so they would use mana instead of aer. It had been easy with her simple spells but now she was working her way up to the more difficult ones. Blade Roll. Meteor Storm. Violent Pain. Ground Dasher. She huffed and started on what seemed like a simple one, Violent Pain. It was when she was halfway through the second part of the spell when Karol burst into the lower part of the Fiertia that Rita called her research lab. The books that sat in front of the door went flying and papers rustled as a small gust of wind blew straight through.

"Rita!" he cried, seeming out of breath. What the hell was up with him? He looked like he'd seen some sort of ghost… which she shuddered at the thought of.

"What do you want? I'm in the middle of something here." She went back to recalibrating.

"It's Ra-Raven!" he gasped. "There's something going on with his blastia!" She stopped, raising an eyebrow.

"That old coot," she grumbled. "All right, take me to him." Karol nodded and waited for her to grab her tools before heading out to the deck of the boat and straight for the bow. When the two arrived they found the old man sitting up against the walls of the boat with a smile.

"Well well, if it isn't the genius mage," he teased. Rita scoffed and stomped over to him. "Easy now, darlin'. Don't get yourself in a huff." She socked him in the arm.

"Shove it, you old fart." She began to scan his body, looking for an abnormality. Sure enough his blastia was glowing hot and, when she moved his purple jacket and pink shirt to examine it, it was burning as well. She quickly retracted her hand and shook it in order to relieve some of the stinging pain. Karol sat by and watched. "What the hell were you doing?"

"Flirting with Judith. Again," Karol chimed in. Raven gave a faint chuckle.

"The kid's right. I can't resist a pretty lady." Even when he was hurt like this he still managed to keep that lackadaisical personality up front. "But it started overworkin' and next thing I know I'm layin' up against this wall to prevent myself from fallin' over the edge." Rita sighed, beginning to rework his blastia so it would cool down. She reached for the goggles on top of her head and placed them over her green eyes. She seemed lost in the formula, muttering odd phrases to herself before the blastia finally seemed to cool down somewhat. She sat back and wiped the sweat from her brow.

"There. Done." The young woman removed the coverings from her eyes. "I swear to God, if you start flirting with her again I will personally take care of you myself." Her eyes were cold towards the older man.

"How so? Would you nurse me back to health, sitting by my bedside~?," he teased, taking on that usual smirk he had with her. She frowned and turned away.

"If that's all you need, I'm leaving now." She stormed off to her room, slamming the door. Karol shook his head in disapproval.

"You really need to stop doing that to her. Can't you see it just pisses her off more?" Raven laughed, a bit more heartily this time.

"Which is exactly why I do it, young master Karol." Karol smiled a bit at his friendliness. The brown haired man ruffled the young boy's hair before standing up and heading over to his favorite spot to watch the night sky. Karol shook his head again and ran off to find Estelle. She'd been telling all sorts of stories to Yuri, whether the swordsman wanted to listen or not, and there was nothing more Karol liked than a good fairy tale.

There was sweat sticking to her brow as she tossed and turned angrily, punching at the air. "O disturbing power now unleashed…" she mumbled before turning over and completely forgetting the rest of the spell in a jumbled heap of groggy words. Rita had fallen asleep outside on the deck, storming out of her lab when she couldn't crack the code for Blade Roll. It had frustrated her so much that she sat down outside, even if Raven was the only other one out there. The old man jumped as he heard the faint mumblings of Fire Ball. Why was she casting? He scooted farther away from her, even if he was in danger of falling off. He sighed as he began to think back to when he was younger. Whenever he did this, his demeanor changed and he got this bittersweet look on his face.

Suddenly Rita shot up with wide eyes. She patted the ground around her before groaning and grumbling, trying to stand up but failing. She sighed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. When were the nightmares going to stop? She yawned, looking around for the rest of the party. Everyone else had gone to bed except for the old coot. She frowned and approached him, hating every step that made them a bit closer.

"How's your blastia? Any problems?" she mumbled. Rita hated talking to him. He would always crack jokes or try teasing her, which just resulted in one more bruise added to Raven's collection. He didn't answer, just sighed forlornly. The mage had an idea of who he was thinking of. She shook her head.

"Are you still thinking about her?" she asked, knowing full well that it bothered him to talk about her. He got all sappy and forlorn. Idiot, she repeated again in her head. "Do you honestly think she'd want you to be all sad?"

Raven huffed. "It's not as easy as you think," he said, almost sounding like Schwann at that moment. He spun around to face her. "You can't forget someone as important as that." He smiled bitterly. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah," she said with a shake of her hand. She turned so he couldn't see her face. Why did it bug her to hear those things from him? She hated him. He was annoying, and sly, and fishy, and idiotic. Yet she could tolerate him and it scared her. "So how's your blastia, ya old coot?" He laughed in reply.

"Much better now. Thanks," he said with a ruffle of her hair. She scowled, elbowing him in the gut.

"Remember what I told you? Don't touch me." He winced and nodded, even though she couldn't see.

"Ri-Right. I forgot." He laughed again. "Wait… don't tell me you were worried about me? Aw, Rita-honey, I'm flattered~" He grinned that goofy grin.

"I… I wasn't worried!" she stuttered, crossing her arms and tapping her foot in annoyance. "If I hadn't helped you the stupid kid would have been bugging me about it." She sighed as she stepped away from him but he caught her hand in a quick movement. Even he didn't think he could move that fast.

"I ain't leavin' anytime soon. So don't worry your pretty little head." He tapped her head with his fingers lightly before letting go of her hand. He figured he'd get burned good for this one. He was surprised though, when she spun around to grab the collar of his shirt and shook him.

"You moron! Do you honestly… honestly think I'd let you… y'know, die?" she said angrily, fumbling for the right words. "Ugh, this is all your fault!" She shoved the purple cloth from her hands and balled up her fists, her arms shaking with anger. What was up with her?

"What exactly is my fault, now?" he asked, putting his hands behind his head.

"Ever since Baction you've been a thorn in my side! Not once have I been able to sleep without some sort of stupid damn dream… showing up in my head where I destroy that thing." She pointed to his chest, the blastia almost seeming to glow and fade in response to her motion. She sighed. Suddenly he was wrapping her in his arms.

"Do I have to repeat myself again? I ain't leavin' anytime soon." He smiled as he felt her body freeze up with his warm touch. "I'll be here to keep buggin' you until the power runs out on this baby." He knocked it lightly with a free hand. "So don't fret, kitten. Daddy-"

"Don't even finish that sentence." He could hear the scowl in her voice and feel the slight pink tint on her cheeks. She hadn't even moved or bothered to elbow him or punch him or smack him. She fell limp against his arms. "I just don't want…"

"Now's not the time for confessin', darlin'. If ya wanted ta say anything that is." He grinned that goofy grin he got with Judith every time she waltzed around the Fiertia. She pulled away from him.

"Like I'd want to say anything to an old coot like you!" Rita frowned, stomping her feet.

"Aw how cute! The little kitty's mad." He laughed. "Don't tell me… ya like me or something?" She shook her head.

"N-No! I don't. You old fart! Pervert! Lecher!" He stumbled back playfully.

"You wound me." He frowned but the smile returned, plastered to his face. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"… You're not too bad, you know…" she mumbled, almost too quiet for him to hear it. But he did anyway and looked shocked for a second.

"My hearin' isn't what it used to be. Mind tellin' me what you said?" He craned his neck towards her and put a hand to his right ear.

"I said you're not too bad!" The young mage tilted her head away from him. "I can actually… tolerate you." She felt heat rising to her cheeks as she tried to fight it back into the depths of her mind. "And… I don't mind being around you." Raven sighed.

"I'm flattered, but this old man's a little high up in age there for ya, Rita." He chuckled. She was old enough to be his daughter, that was for sure. But Raven couldn't help but admit that he enjoyed her company too. When they weren't fighting-which was a miracle and had the crew gawking at them like they had dinner plates glued to their faces-it was sort of nice. And peaceful. It reminded him of… Casey.

And then something clicked.

Raven walked over to her, smiling genuinely.

"Unless you enjoy the charms of an old man." Rita gasped.

"I-I never said I li-liked you, you old fogey." She raised her hand to slap him but he caught it, seconds away from it striking his cheek. He took it and graced his cheek with her small hand, running it over the stubble under his chin. She gasped and tried to pull it away, but he wouldn't allow it. "Okay, okay, that's enough." She finally found him loosening his grasp on her hand and she jerked it away speedily. He laughed.

"The heart wants what the heart wants."

"My heart wants you to shut up before my foot shoves itself up your ass." Her face was red, matching the clothing she wore.

"What happened to the tolerance you said you had for me?" he asked, looking a bit dejected.

"It doesn't apply to situations like these." He picked her face up in his fingers, his index and thumb fingers touching her chin.

"Then why is your face red?"

"Because you're an old fart and you're making me mad." Her voice was trembling now, his face inches from hers.

"Really now?" he asked. "How so?"

"You won't st-stop touching me. And… and…"

"And I've revealed your little secret?" he asked, laughing to himself. This was fun.

Rita closed her eyes, trying to focus and calm herself down. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute. She opened them again, revealing sharp forest green eyes that were piercing Raven's turquoise ones. She grabbed his collar again, suddenly shoving her lips against his. Why she was doing this, she had no idea. Maybe it was to shut him up, or maybe it was to shut herself up. If she opened her mouth words would spill out in an assortment, sort of like vomit. She didn't want that; it would only add to the burning embarrassment she felt right now. She separated from him and found the former Captain staring her blankly in the face, mouth agape.

"What, would you rather have been kissed by Judith?" she huffed, folding her arms with red cheeks. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her trembling shoulder.

"No. That was... okay. Just… be a little gentler next time, all right?" he asked, patting her mousy brown hair with some sort of emotion that might have been affection. He linked hands with her.

He was annoying, but she could tolerate that.

For him.

A/N: Had to write it. Really did. I don't know why, but I know there are quite a few Rita/Raven fans out there who have been dying for some new material.

Well, here it is. I blame all you RiRaven fans for making me want to write this. Thanks.