Who Needs Love Anyhow
Chapter 1: A Proposition
Summary: It all began with a relatively simple question: Is love truly as wonderful and as romantic as it is depicted in fiction? Who knew that a simple bet regarding love and how it exists, how it manifests itself in real life could come to mean so much. (RoSt, B.B.Ra, CJ)
Rated T for a minor scene within this chapter.
Tara Markov, mature and level headed graduate student of Jump City University, sat in front of the television set sobbing.
The blind man had removed his sunglasses, to reveal, that he was indeed her darling Hernando. "Baby, I love you so much that my eyes became blind, but as I feel you here within my muscular arms that is enough to soothe me for the rest of my now light-filled life since you are now within it." Julia immediately began sobbing upon his shoulder. "Hernando, I love you so much that my ears have become deaf. I couldn't hear a word of what you said, but darling Hernando, my one true love, whatever you said was probably sure as heck beautiful." The two then proceeded to embrace and continue declaring their undying, immortal, indestructible love for one another, as Tara continued sobbing. "Oh my God, that was such a great movie."
"Here, take this." Dr. Slade Wilson, the professor whom Tara worked for as a teacher's assistant, handed her something to console her.
"Oh…thanks much." She blew her nose loudly with the object he had handed her. It wasn't until she began wiping her eyes did she notice how rigid and hard the object he had handed her was…it surely wasn't a tissue or a handkerchief. In fact, it was a piece of paper, a packet of paper for that fact. She looked at the packet guiltily as she deciphered a name upon it: Richard Grayson. In horror, she turned to Slade. "Oh my gosh! I just used one of your student's papers as a tissue! Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! And it looks like a pretty important paper too."
"Don't be…I really dislike this student, and I've never really had an excuse to fail him until now."
Although Tara would never speak in such a manner to a professor, she had known Slade outside of the academic field. He was a colleague of her father's and was frequently around her house…invited to dine, to share advice, to watch water polo together. "Slade, that is really immoral!" She scolded him lightly as she stared at the pile of papers before her-papers she was supposed to grade before he returned.
"And your work ethic is lacking severely."
"I-you know, I wonder why you dislike that student Richard Grayson so much? You know that would be quite a great premise for a romantic comedy…so Slade, do you have latent feelings for this Richard?"
Slade sighed in frustration- Tara was indeed what would socially be considered a family friend (although he no longer had a family), but there were times, several times indeed, when she annoyed him beyond words…especially when it came to her preoccupation with love and romance. "On that note, Mr. Grayson can be quite the "Dick" so to speak…and I thought that I had already expressed and minutely proven to you that I am indeed straight. And Tara, your preoccupation with overly idealistic love brings me to another point- you haven't accomplished much at all as my assistant, and with the new semester approaching, if your progress does not improve, even the platonic friendship I have with your father will not prevent me from replacing you with someone more suitable."
"I-Slade…you can't possibly be serious can you?" As she looked upon his face, she noted the severity of his expression and bowed her head down. "I'll try harder, starting now." Casting a smile towards Slade's direction, she hoped to reassure him of her promise. However, instead of assuaging her, he frowned and stared at his watch. "You can't now, Tara, you have duties in the housing assistance office, as you always do on Wednesday afternoons."
"Oh right…you always know my schedule better than I do." Pouting at her employer and friend, she sighed because she had hoped to show him her improvement immediately and to show him that she would act responsibly for once and be right about matters. Suddenly, an idea emerged within her mind, and she sprung from her seat as she scrambled to collect all of her belongings into her backpack. "Slade, I've decided that I am going to prove you wrong for once; I will not only do a better job as your assistant, but I will also show you that love in the real world, within our university alone, can be as fanciful, as crazy, as romantic as they are in the movies."
Slade stared at her for a moment as he contemplated her proposition. "A well-thought challenge, but what will…what will be in it for me besides a more responsible assistant?"
"You always just have to come with loopholes of some sort to make it more interesting…fine. I-I'll bet my position as your assistant." She mentally smacked herself upon the forehead as the words simply spilled forth from her lips. What the heck was she thinking? Although the position didn't pay much, any bit of money was helpful in paying for her education, and there was also the dilemma of explaining (if she did indeed lose her job over a silly bit of rashness on her part) the situation to her father, who would certainly not be lenient, after he had secured her the position with a great amount of civil compromises with Slade…in other words undignified begging. She closed her eyes as she hoped that for once she would luck out, that Slade would see that she was being rash that she hadn't meant what she said, but in an instant he spoke-
"Done. And I'll give you a month."
"Slade, hardly anything can happen in a month."
"Well, then, Tara, you have already proven your lofty hypothesis wrong. From my knowledge of the matter, people in your romantic comedies seem to fall for one another in an instant."
"Two months then…I need to balance working and this matchmaking."
"A month and a half, Tara, and I am already being far too generous." And with a shadow of a smirk, he abruptly left the room, leaving her no time to continue banter. My God, Tara, what have you gotten yourself into now?
Raven Roth honestly appreciated people like Kori Anders, the grad student currently helping her with her housing issues, sometimes, perhaps when she was in an especially good mood, but Kori was somewhat overdoing it. In Kori's attempts to make Raven feel more comfortable, Kori just seemed to make her want to bolt out the door as their conversations became more and more awkward…words spoken as if pulled by force. "Raven, I wish to commend you on your excellent work in your advanced literature class. I believe that the paper you wrote on the effects of Jane Austen novels on the male population and how it has made them more sensitive towards the romantic notions of females, although it contained some points in which I must say I disagree upon, it was perhaps, one of the most entertaining papers I have had the pleasure of reading and grading in a long time."
"Kori, I don't think I wrote that paper."
Her lips opened slightly in slight embarrassment as she attempted to cover up her faux pas. "You did not? I…yet your name seems so familiar for some reason…I sincerely believed that I have indeed graded one of your papers. Is your school identification number 62524467?"
"No, actually, I'm not even taking literature this year. My humanities credit is coming from a poetry class." She uncomfortably answered Kori's questions.
"Oh…" Although Kori appeared to be slightly ashamed of her minor misnomer, she was not completely daunted from continuing to establish a bit camaraderie between herself and Raven. "Your name sounds so very familiar though…are you a member of the chess team?"
"No."
"Oh I see…I see…" Kori, to Raven's relief, did not attempt to continue conversing with her about issues not related to housing. "Well, I apologize for delaying hearing about your housing problems. I believe you stated on the form that you had an issue with your roommate?"
"Yes, I do." Raven muttered.
Kori looked upon Raven's request form for a housing change, quickly skimming the information. "My apologies, but we cannot change your room until you tell us specifically why you wish to change rooms. I understand that you have a problem with your roommate, but in what nature is this problem? Can is possibly be worked out?" She paused, seeing that Raven seemed uncomfortable with answering. "It is in our guidelines, Raven, that we know if the room change is a necessity, because it is in the middle of the semester and not many rooms are available."
Raven bit her lip slightly before she began…how could she put it as gently and appropriately as possible for Kori…
To begin, although Raven's roommate, Kitten, appeared to be quite difficult to get along with, the very spoiled child so to speak of a rather controversial doctor who was famous or rather infamous for his research on moths, she was quite a good roommate. Though Kitten was very demanding upon her father and her boyfriend "Fang," nicknamed for his obsession with cosplaying as fierce spiders, she kept her part of the room clean and even sometimes, cleaned up for Raven and kept most of her frustrations for herself, never, to Raven's surprise, blaming her for her own mishaps within their room. The shock came to Raven, however, only a week ago. It was a typical night, as Raven stayed up late finishing a poetry paper, while Kitten was choosing her outfit for the next day. It took her by surprise when Kitten addressed her. "Raven, I wanted to let you know that Fang and I broke up today."
Raven, confused by Kitten suddenly telling her about her personal life directly, balked, unsure of what to say because although they helped each other out as roommates, she would hardly consider them as friends. "I'm sorry about your breakup…you two seemed close." She uttered inquisitively, uncertain how to react. Was she supposed to comfort her then?
Instead, Kitten grinned brightly at her. "No, don't be. I dumped him…he's was being so selfish, as he usually is-that brute, I can't believe why I stayed with him so long."
"Uh…congratulations." So no tears, no girl talk, no comfort required- Raven sighed in relief as she continued typing her paper. She was surprised when Kitten interrupted her again, especially with the tone of voice that Kitten took…it was friendly, gentle even. "Raven…I don't know how to say this, but you've been a great roommate…you've been the best roommate I've ever had."
Again, Raven wasn't quite sure what to say. She fulfilled her roommate duties such as vacuuming the room and keeping her part of the room sanitary, but she certainly wouldn't consider herself an excellent roommate, merely a civil one. Perhaps, Kitten had just had several bad experiences with roommates, although that would be quite surprising because she was certain that "Daddy" could always provide his precious daughter with the most comfortable dorm situation.
Slowly, Kitten approached Raven from behind and hugged her…tightly. "Um…Kitten? Could you sort of let go?" Raven wanted to tell her that she was slightly-no, rather uncomfortable with her actions but couldn't quite continue as Kitten blatantly ignored her words. "So Raven…with Fang gone, we can be together right?"
"Uh…excuse me?" Raven's eyes bulged slightly as she heard this. It had to have been some sort of odd nightmare she was having, although since she lucidly felt Kitten's arms tightly encasing her, she realized that haplessly, what was happening was reality.
"We can be together now that my boyfriend's gone." As Kitten noted Raven's reluctance and her rather rushed attempts to pry her off, the gentleness that had infused Kitten's words earlier had begun dissipating as she realized that she would not be getting her way. Raven took the opportunity as Kitten loosened her arms around her to extricate herself completely. However, Kitten wasn't through yet… "But Raven, I thought that you had a thing for me."
Raven wasn't quite sure what to say to that, but she supposed that telling the truth would be the best manner to go. "I doubt that I've ever displayed anything that would indicate that I think of you as more than my roommate."
"You know, Raven, I really don't appreciate it when people deceive me." Before Raven could defend herself, Kitten continued, accusingly. "What about that time when we accidentally bumped into each other when you were vacuuming the room and then you apologized to me…or that time, you brushed your hand against mine when I piled some more dishes in the kitchen sink…or that other time when I went to sleep and you dimmed your lights slightly…or when you held the door open for me when I had a lot of books in my hands--you were playing me the whole time!"
"I thought that was all common courtesy as a roommate, common manners." Cringing slightly as she uttered the words and questioned how she ever managed to get herself into such an amazingly awkward situation, she continued on firmly. Though she felt little remorse she mumbled an apology. "Sorry for your gross misjudgment; I don't and never will have these intentions."
"Common courtesy!" And thus…Kitten began having her fit, as she screamed at her, out of embarrassment and frustration, but most of all, out of rejection. Raven, of course, decided that her best plan of motion would be to leave the room…immediately. Although Kitten yelled at her for "being too cowardly to stay," Raven merely gathered up her books with even greater alacrity and quickly exited the room.
"Kori, my roommate um…sort of…hit on me, and I was not very comfortable with it…at all, and I need a new room." Although that had certainly been an understatement, Kori immediately understood and blushed apologetically. "I am most sorry, Raven, for your misfortune…we will see to it that you are quickly removed from your…situation, and placed in a more fitting room. Do you have any preferences at the moment?"
"I'd like a single."
"I believe that it is highly probable, and we will be able to relocate you into a single within the next week. Allow me to make a few phone calls…" Kori gave Raven a quick, reassuring smile as Raven felt greatly relieved that she would soon be able to move away from her roommate.
As Kori stepped from the room, she was quickly greeted by blonde who seemed rather out of breath. "Tara?"
"Oh man…Kori, I am so sorry I'm late." Tara stood still for a moment as she rested for a moment. "I got caught up doing some work for Professor Slade."
"Tara, I understand completely-I assure you, you have caused no inconvenience on my part."
Suddenly, remembering a call she had just answered in the outer office and a message she was asked to relay, Tara, noting that the name was especially familiar, uttered "Oh and Kori, a Richard Grayson called and wanted to make sure that you were still having dinner with him."
Tara grinned slightly as she saw a very noticeable change in expression upon Kori's face…a large, joyous smile had formed upon her face, and although, she attempted to repress her grin, she couldn't seem to hide the joy that had crept upon her face. "Richard called?" She sighed softly, wistfully, even. "Allow me to finish with a present room-change case before you begin with your duties."
"Richard eh? Is there something you aren't telling me Kori?" Tara pried slightly, hoping to find some sort of proof for her rather bold proposition. Kori was one of the most even-tempered acquaintances she had…and she would certainly imagine that she would be quite the catch for a guy. She mused a bit on the subject, perhaps what she needed to prove to Slade wasn't quite so difficult, after all.
"Oh it is nothing of the sort. He is my best friend, and I am merely joyous to see him. He has been away for a majority of the past semester on an internship in a law firm in Gotham City."
Although she was a little set back by Kori's declaration that she was best friends with Richard, she maintained her regular perky manner. And with her on the job as matchmaker, they certainly wouldn't remain long as merely best friends. "Alright Kori…whatever you say…wait, a room-change case…we're still allowed to do those?"
"Well, this one was quite an emergency so to speak. Raven-she had a rather unpleasant experience with a roommate and requires a new room."
"Oh…I see…I see." Tara paused suddenly as a most devious idea emerged within her mind. What if she were to handle Raven's rooming situation, and consequently, place her in a room with a male. She smiled as she thought of romantic comedies with that premise…two people in similar situations are placed within the same room and as they get to know their roommate, they find out how greatly alike they were and slowly plunge deeply in love with one another. "Kori, actually, I'll relieve you of your duties now."
"Tara, there is truly no need to, Raven's case shall take no more than a few minutes."
"Oh Kori, you've worked overtime far too much, and besides what about dinner with Richard?"
"I…" Kori paused for a moment as she considered the situation. She did very much want to see Richard again, and as Tara had justified it…and with a quick "That would actually be quite glorious" to Tara, she left.
Raven did not like the manner in which Tara looked upon her…it was a scheming sort of look, and though she hadn't ever met Tara before and couldn't imagine why anyone would have any sort of plans for her, she suddenly felt uneasy about her dorm situation. "I'm terribly sorry, Raven, but Kori had to leave to settle some business. So you are interested in moving to a new room." She nodded her head slightly, as Tara clicked away at her computer, seemingly already arranging a room for her. "Raven, you're in luck; I just found you a new room. It's a double, so you'll have a roommate."
"I thought I requested a single. Kori said that it was doable." She uttered rather coolly.
"Oh…well, I'm not so sure that there are singles available. Trust me, not all roommates you'll have will be terrible. You might grow to like them even."
Although everything indicated that there was something odd about this sudden room change, Raven wanted to move about of her room as soon as possible, so with a vastly lesser amount of enthusiasm, she complied. "So, when do I move in?"
"Immediately…and according to the housing database, your roommate will be Garfield Logan."
AN: Hopefully, the characters weren't too OOC. I wanted to make Slade more realistic and more of a sarcastic skeptic rather than an evil villain and Tara to be slightly more foolish and more of a romantic because of the plot.
So I feel a bit guilty for posting this rewrite and basically restarting this fic a year later. I had some new ideas in regards to this fic…the earlier ideas I had for it just seemed far too simple and too cliché, and I couldn't really continue it in the manner that it was. With the rewrite, don't be too concerned that it will have more to do with Tara than the others-everyone else will certainly all have their turn in the spotlight. This fic, at least one of the major storylines, will be slightly based on Jane Austen's novel, Emma.
I guess I will probably receive question about ages and how old the titans are in relation to one another (hopefully it wasn't too confusing).
Professor: Slade Wilson (I felt tempted to call him Snape several times.)
Graduate Students (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm only heading to college in the next two weeks, they sometimes help the professors teach classes or sections of classes): Tara (Terra), Kori (Starfire), and Richard (Robin)
Undergraduate Students or what most people typically think of as college students: Victor (Cyborg), Jinx (both Victor and Jinx will make their appearance in the next chapter), Raven, Garfield (B.B.)
Finally, I'll end my excessively long author's notes (sorry, I usually try to keep mine short), please do provide feedback of some sort: review, flame, comment, critique, ask questions, etc.