WARNING: This is my first fanfiction and my main character is an OC (original character). So bear with me and send me lots of reviews on everything from plot to sentence structure so that I can get better and bring you better fanfiction for the low, low price of… wait, I am not getting paid for this. Damn it.
It was a nice cool evening with the sun setting in the distance casting Jump City into streams of red and orange. Not that Raven would ever admit that out loud. She was part of this new group that called themselves the Teen Titans and lived in a giant tower shaped like a T. It was somehow both really original and really cliché at the same time.
But that was not what Raven was really thinking about right now. She was trying to get to her favorite book shop Original Tales. It was a book shop that had or could acquire old books for a reasonable fee. . Why else would she bother to have dressed in her civvies? She was wearing a black blouse with a long sleeved black and white striped shirt underneath. She had on regular blue jeans and some black converse on.
The team had told her that these would help her blend in when she did not want to be surrounded by their fans. And she always hated being surrounded by people.
Raven thought that she blended in rather well in spite of the short cut purple hair and grey skin. Since no one had given her more than a second glance or tried to get her autograph she counted it as a success. Well there were the men giving her these weird looks like she was food that freaked her out, but she just brushed it off. The guy who had stared at her until he ran into a pole was rather funny.
As she entered the book store she could see the man who ran it sitting at a counter in the back. The book store was moderately sized three story building. The first floor was for the common books while the second floor was for the rare books. The third floor is where the owner lived (not that she had ever been up there).
The Man who ran the book store looked to be in his forties even though Raven knew him to be a decade older. He gave her a warm smile as he saw her enter the store.
"Hello again. Are you here to look at that book again?"
"Yes." She answered.
He did not seem put off by her short monotone answer. Then again he was used to it since she was a regular customer.
He motioned her to the second floor. The second floor was off limits without permission.
As she walked up the stairs behind the owner she could see him pull out a set of keys to unlock the shelves so she could read the book. After they both put on gloves, the owner got the book she wanted to read and placed on a cloth on a table on the second floor.
The second floor looked like a library if a library had tinted locked doors on all their shelves to protect the books from both people and the environment. He locked the cabinet and want back downstairs without saying another word.
Raven didn't mind though. She was already staring at the book ready to read. He knew who she was and as thanks for protecting the city he gave her a huge discount on the reading time charge. Yay her.
Raven sat down and got absorbed into the book. Finally, a place she could relax away from all the noise (read Beast Boy) in the tower.
It was an ancient book on meditations and she hoped that it could help her control her emotions better.
"Hello."
Raven jumped into the air and gave a squeak at the unexpected noise. She looked up and saw a boy her age with short black hair, tanned skin, a black shirt that said 'Chaos, Panic, Disorder… My Work Here Is Done' and a pair of generic dark blue jeans.
"Who are you?" she asked a little tersely.
"Hey I am sorry I didn't mean to startle you, I was just bored and decided to say hello." He replied with his hands in the air in an 'I surrender' fashion.
"If you are bored why are you here?"
"Well for one I work here, and second I am new in town and have no idea where to go."
"Why don't you just hang out with friends from school?" Isn't that what normal teenagers did?
He looked at her uncomfortably while rubbing his neck. "I would if I had friends." He wasn't about to tell her he didn't even go to school.
"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Why was he telling her his problems?
He gave her an incredulous look.
"Um, nothing. I only told you because you asked."
She opened her mouth to argue but realized he was right. Why did she even bother to ask? This wasn't like her. She looked into his eyes thinking they might have the answer.
Violet meets gold in a stare down. Wait gold?
Yes, he had dazzling gold eyes. Wait, dazzling? What was wrong with her?
"Um, are you ok? The silent staring thing is kind of creeping me out. If you weren't so pretty and interesting to talk to I probably would have left already."
"Sorry."
"Don't be. Say do you want to-"Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the owner coming up the stairs.
"Aeolus, there you are. Stop bothering the customers and come downstairs. You left all your restoration tools scattered across the work bench and I am not your maid."
"Sorry dad. I'll clean it up right now." He turned to look at Raven.
"I guess I will see you later… um, I never got your name."
"Ray." That was what she went by in civvies anyway.
"Nice to meet you Ray. I'm Aeolus. I guess I see you around." And with that he walked down the stairs without a second glance in her direction.
"Wow, my son isn't the social type. He rarely starts conversations unless it's to do his job." His now identified father remarked.
"Why have I never seen him around? And you never mentioned him before sir." Raven asked.
"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Joshua? He has been gone awhile. He was… sick and was just released about eight months ago. So to celebrate he went on a backpacking trip across Europe and Asia. He just came back on a cargo ship of all things last week." Still don't get why he didn't just fly back. But Aeolus has always been different.
Raven eyebrows rose slightly at that. "He took an eight month vacation?" Guess normal parents spoil their children.
"Well I had him handle jobs while he was there. He knows the trade and has the skills. All he lacks is some erroneous knowledge, experience, and a reputation in our field. So it was business and pleasure. Classic two birds one stone scenario." The savings in plane tickets alone more than paid for the trip.
The conversation was halted by Raven's T communicator going off. "Sorry I have to go. Put the time on my tab." That was another perk he gave her. He allowed her a tab.
"Sure, go save the city and all that jazz."
Run strait into Chapter 2 (was originally supposed to be all one chapter)
