Raven was someone who liked her personal space, and anyone who spent more than five minutes could attest to it. There were a number of reasons for it; ranging from the fact that she'd never been shown much physical affection as a child and thus didn't know how to react to people being in close proximity to her, to simply disliking the person who breached her little bubble.
At first, Raven had always backed away or said simple things like, "Give me some space." or "You're a little too close." and of course whoever she'd directed the comment at would back away from her. Since early on, everyone had understood that Raven was someone who preferred people at arm's length. Over time, of course, she'd gotten used to the Titans company and had slowly become more and more comfortable with the others being in close proximity to her.
Nowadays, she didn't really tell people to give her her space, but they still kept their distance most of the time. Everyone except Robin.
He didn't simply get in her personal space, more like… moved into it over time. Just like he was about to do when he walked into the common room and sat beside Raven on the couch, turning on the TV.
"Sorry to ruin your peace and quiet, but I can't sleep."
Raven watched as he flipped through channels, settling on some show she knew nothing about. "I'm used to it at this point." She simply said, closing her book and putting it on the coffee table in front of them. "Besides, I can read another time."
"So, what is this?" She asked. If the TV was going to be on, she may as well watch it.
Robin turned toward her slightly. "It's a crime drama." He said.
"Don't we get enough of that in our regular lives?" Raven asked, turning to face him as well.
"I guess. But it's still fun to watch." He said.
The show started and the two turned back to face the TV, and Raven watched as the crime was committed before it cut to commercials. When the show came back on, it was about the team of investigators trying to solve the crime. They visited the scene of the crime and it cut back to commercials again.
"Does it have to do that?" Raven asked.
"Do what?" He asked.
"Cut to commercials every few seconds. Nothing happened in that scene before they cut away from it." Raven frowned. "How does anyone watch this?"
"Well, the TV station has to make money somehow." Robin said. "They do that by advertising. Besides, maybe we could use a…" He trailed off as he watched the commercial. "Handheld wet-vac." Robin turned to face her, giving a goofy smile.
"And what on earth would we need one of those for?" Raven said as she raised an eyebrow.
"Silkie." Robin replied simply.
"Uh huh. I'll be sure and let Starfire know when I see her tomorrow." Raven said.
Robin poked her arm. "I've seen you playing with Silkie too."
"Please. I don't care for the larvae that much." Raven said, rolling her eyes as she turned to look at him.
"Sure. That's why you were going, 'Who's a good moth baby?' in a voice only a caring pet owner could give." He smirked at her, bumping his knee against hers.
"I was only playing with Silkie because Starfire asked me to." Raven quickly defended herself. "I don't care much for it otherwise." He was about to say something, but she pointed back to the TV. "Shh, the shows back on." He chuckled, and she resisted the urge to look at him. "What?"
"I seem to recall you saying TV rots people's brains, that's all."
This time, she did turn to look at him, shifting so her torso was facing more directly towards him. "And I still hold that to be true. The show is cliche and something you've admitted we experience enough of, and on top of that it's interrupted every few seconds to give us an advertisement for some product no one cares for. Anyone who would willingly spend time entertaining themselves with this type of medium must have a rotted brain."
"Yet you're still here." He looked at her, draping one arm over the back of the couch.
"Yes… I like the company, I suppose." Raven said. They looked at each other for a few seconds, then went back to the TV.
The show continued, and eventually the criminal was caught. Another episode started.
"Isn't there anything else on?" Raven asked.
"What would you like to watch?" Robin asked. "We've got over 500 channels." He handed her the remote and she started flipping through channels.
"Something interesting. If I wanted to watch people catch criminals, I'd go on patrol and do it myself." Raven said. She set the remote down to her right when she found something she wanted to watch.
"A documentary on World War Two tanks?"
"Mmhmm."
She could feel confusion radiating off him. "Whyyy?" He asked.
"Because…" She looked up at the ceiling. "I've never driven a tank before."
Robin laughed, doubling over. "I, I didn't know you wanted to!" He laughed again, sitting upright.
"You don't?" Raven asked innocently.
"I'm sure I could get Cyborg to build us one if I really wanted to." He leaned over and bumped her shoulder with his. "We could call it…"
They looked at each and grinned.
"The T-Tank!" They said at the same time, and even Raven couldn't stop herself from laughing alongside Robin.
The laughter faded away when Raven became conscious of how close they had gotten. If Robin leaned forward even a little he'd tap his forehead against hers. Her eyes widened slightly and flicked back and forth between the mask as she held her breath. The TV continued, but it was ignored completely when Raven realized something.
"I never mind it when he's close…"
Robin had always respected her personal space, and she truly couldn't remember a time when she had to tell him specifically to back up. Maybe he'd seen her telling the others early on and came to the realization on his own, but he'd never invaded her personal space long enough for it to bother her. And the times he had been within her bubble of space, Raven had never asked him to back up.
She'd never done so because she liked having him near.
It looked like he'd realized how close he'd gotten as well, and started to back up. Raven put her hands on his shoulders, stopping him from moving. She saw the confusion and uncertainty on his face and could almost hear the question on his mind. Honestly, there was a better answer than telling him with words. Slowly, Raven leaned up and kissed him.
He tensed up for a second, just long enough for Raven to consider the idea that maybe she'd done something wrong, but then he wrapped his arms around and kissed her back. He could feel his emotions soar, and Raven smiled and leaned further into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer too.
Raven realized that she'd pushed him down on his back on accident. She pulled him up, and he exhaled slowly. "Wow…" Robin said. "I wasn't expecting that."
"Sorry." Raven said.
"Don't be!" Robin quickly stopped her. "Actually, I've wanted to do that for awhile." He admitted, blushing straight through the mask.
"Then…" Raven leaned forward again, "Why stop with just one?"
~Inching Closer~
A/N
I just noticed I write a lot of robrae fics, but so few where they actually kiss each other. I decided to write something really quickly to change that :P
