Familiars.
Jonathan Crane was amazed by miss Scarrow's sleep; she was lying curled up in the bed, face peaceful with dreams, not noticing the world around her. As he walked around her room she only muttered some inconceivable words, but never woke. He smiled at her sleeping figure, using only the light from the street to see. After he had examined every inch of her room, making notes at the most interesting parts, he walked over to the sleeping Raven and stroked her cheek with his soft hand. He enjoyed doing this, it was amazing to see how far a person could take it when his victim was asleep. As he tucked a dark lock of her hair behind her ear he wondered if he should strangle her? No, that was Scarecrow talking there. She would have nothing to report to the police, she would get caught herself if she tried, there was no way to make her body disappear, she had helped him... That was something that annoyed him slightly, now she was off limits. But just to close ones hands around that soft little neck again, feeling her life drain from her body and watching her growing weaker and weaker by the second... He shook his head and snapped back to reality. On the bed, Raven moved slightly in her sleep, arching herself closer to his touch. A wicked grin crept over Crane's face.
What do we have here? he decided to test her and traced his index finger along the line of her jaw, moving up and carefully tracing her features. Raven smiled slightly and sighed contentedly in her dreams. Crane ran his finger along the curve of her eyebrow, then moved down over her eye until he reached her lips. Gently, he drew a line around them and smiled when Raven did as well. He pulled away from her, satisfied with the results, and pulled out a small notebook and a fountain pen. In these days the only ones always carrying a notebook around with them were doctors and aspiring writers/poets. And to tell the truth, Jonathan Crane had never written a single sentence in a poem. And he was happy for that.
Thumbing through the pages he eventually reached the point where he had stopped last time, and wrote in his trim writing:
Lonely. even though the Scarrow girl seemed though on the outside, she was missing intimacy. Like every other person in Gotham did.
Reading through his notes, Crane didn't see when Raven stretched on the bed and opened her eyes. She shot up and glared angrily at him.
,, Get out!" she ordered and grabbed for her weapon under her pillow.
,, If it is this you are looking for, I'm afraid you won't find it there." Crane said, not looking up from his notes as he held up the cast iron rod, keeping it just out of Raven's reach.
,, Crane, you are playing with fucking fire, you know that? Give me that back!" she reached for at but Crane just stepped backwards and Raven almost fell out of the bed. Cheeks burning painfully, she got up and grabbed the notebook, Crane not making an effort to take it back.
,, From page seven." he helped when Raven furiously paged through the notes. Flickering till she reached the spot, Raven began reading and her cheeks grew red and her eyes dark.
Raven Scarrow.
Age, approximately 26 to 29.
Reasons for being arrested and sentenced: Murder, arson, armed robbery or manslaughter.
Arson had been crossed out along with robbery and there now was a question mark at murder. Crane had been keeping notes on Raven since her first day, hiding his book under his mattress like Raven had done with hers.
Violent at times, with a tendency to kick. However, only fights when feeling cornered.
Curses regularly but seems capable of having a civilized conversation. Quite an interesting vocabulary.
While she read, Crane walked round her room and began examining the drawers in her desk, treating the object with a medical hand.
Distinguishable features: quite a huge scar in her right side, ten inches long, about five inches above her waistline. Knife wound by the look of it, but not a knife meant for cutting flesh; breadknife, saw or something like that.
Orphan?
Slightly cultural, owns several Cd's with various artists and some books in a wide fan of genres. No science fiction and only two romances.
Lonely.
Raven made a fist and curled the notebook until her hand hurt, then ripped out the pages concerning her and threw the book aside, tearing up Crane's notes and letting them fall to the floor.
,, Don't keep notes about me!" she said, not looking up from the last shreds of paper. On the other side of the bed, Crane sighed and shook his head, rolling his eyes and muttering something which sounded like
,, Women...!" before opening an envelope he had found in one of the drawers. It was quite heavy and revealed itself to be filled with photographs. His lips curled into a soft smile and he raised an eyebrow slightly.
And what do we have here?
The first photo was of three teenagers, a boy and two girls, about fourteen to sixteen years old. They were sitting by a small, unlit campfire and a tent was showing in the background. The sun was shining and it looked like midday by the way the shadows stood.
They were all wearing loose clothes and the one girl, a blue eyed thing with deep copper curls, was holding a pair of sunglasses in one hand.
Camping. How very idyllic.
Yet it was the girl to the right who caught Crane's attention; her dark hair was falling down over her shoulders and she was wearing a grey flannel shirt over a dark blue t-shirt. Her jeans were slightly too big for her and were ripped several places. The boy in the middle, sandy hair and a smile which would have melted the heart of any ice queen, had an arm around the waist of the red-haired girl and around the shoulder of the dark-haired one.
She was younger, happier and her smile was sweet and genuine, but no doubt it was Raven.
Seeing her so young and happy made Crane smirk; she wouldn't like him seeing her like that. This was something he could always taunt her with; the past she had been fighting so hard to keep hidden from him.
,, You looked quite endearing when younger, miss Scarrow." he turned back to front her and waved the campsite picture in one hand. Raven looked up and her expression changed from Hellish Pissed to Oh Fuck.
,, Get your hands off my stuff!" she spat and walked up to him, grabbing for the picture. Crane darted her person and turned the photo and read from the elegant writing on the back:
,, Susan, Gordon and Raven at a trip with the school last summer. The material happy memories are woven of, true?"
,, Crane, did I do something to you which I have forgotten? Did I bully you at school, stood you up on our date, steal your boyfriend?" Raven noticed the rod had been disregarded on the desk, so she snatched for the photo again, but this time only as a distraction. Crane moved away again and Raven now stood with her back against the desk.
,, I take it the lovely Susan is the same who you wrote to back at Arkham?" Crane looked at the photo again. Susan had always been the most gorgeous girl out of the two of them, so she was usually the one who the boys fought over, Raven standing in the background and rolling her eyes.
,, Don't talk about her like that!" Raven hissed while her right hand moved back over the desk, running over notebooks and paperbacks, inching closer to the rod.
,, And the boy in the middle... a friend?"
,, What do you care?" her hand closed around the baton and she braced herself.
,, Give it back." she held out her left hand, but Crane didn't look up from the photo.
,, Keeping your happy memories locked away in a drawer... What changed? When did your heart break at the thought of former years simplicity?" he looked at her and took a step forward, making the small of Raven's back hurt when she pressed herself against the desk. They were now standing dangerously close, only a few inches between them. He smelt... nice. How come Raven had never noticed that before? Like a soft spring breeze... Like fresh air in Arkham...
,, When did it start to hurt?" he smiled.
,, Crane, you're right: I can't murder you..." he smiled wider at that, of course he was right!
,, But I can do this!" she swung the club and it connected with Crane's neck, not hard enough to hurt him too seriously, but hard enough to hurt darkly and make him fall down on the bed. Raven ran past him, snatching the photo on the way and raced out in the living room, the sound of Crane following her making her heart stop. Just when she thought she could reach the door, giving hell to her stuff just knowing she needed to get away, Crane grabbed her right arm, still holding the rod and wrung it to her back, forcing her to drop it on the floor with a clatter. His other arm locked around her neck and he forced her back out into the kitchen, where they stood and fought; Raven to get free and Scarecrow to hold her. He tightened his grip around her neck and Raven stopped when she could hardly breathe anymore.
,, That was certainly not the wisest thing to do...!" he hissed in her ear, Raven feeling her body growing heavy when she began gasping for air. When she stumbled back into Crane and though her vision was fading and she was probably going to faint, all Raven could focus on was that she was wearing an old oversized nightshirt, which only just covered her more sensitive areas, and was now creeping up as she was slowly lessening the distance between her and the kitchen floor, Crane still holding her arm on her back. As she slowly stumbled to the floor, the back of the shirt was held in place where her back was locked against Crane, so it slowly scrunched up. When he knelt down on the floor and Raven had no other choice but to follow, she felt his soft lips edge their way through her hair, stopping as they reached her ear and heard him speak ever so softly, yet so far away.
,, This is one of the great differences between you and me, sweet little miss Scarrow..." madness was knocking on the door and Crane had opened...
,,... I would not hesitate to twist this lovely little neck..." he moved down and whispered against her neck, the arm around Raven's throat loosening.
,,... however..." he sounded so regretful.
,,... you aren't useful to me, but you are neither good dead."
Apathy, my guardian angel. Raven thought as she grew so weak the photo slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor. Crane's arm moved down and locked around her stomach, fastening her free arm to her side. Raven's head tilted down to her chest and she gasped for air and tried to get the buzzing out of her head. Faintly she registered that Crane's face was still resting between her shirtcollar and her neck, breathing silently and making Raven remember a time before Arkham and police; where she could relax with her boyfriends and just sit together and rest, unwind.
,, You know, Crane..." she said, starring blankly at the corner of the kitchen floor, not even caring her shirt had been pulled up and showing the world her panties and most of her belly.
,,... you're a real son of a bitch." Crane chuckled and smiled, making Raven's skin crawl when she remembered her dream.
,, You really are an endearing little treat, miss Scarrow." sounded like Crane was going back to normal, but there still was some points...
Raven chuckled.
,, 'Treat'? Nice to know you're catching up on your slang."
,, Well, someone had left a colloquialism dictionary in one of the lockers..." he pulled back from her neck, almost making Raven utter some words of protest. It had been... weird and wonderful at the same time. Fucking creepy and off the charts, sure... but nice.
,, Would you mind letting go?" she asked and tugged her right arm, Crane letting go of her and pulled completely away from her, standing up and straightening his suit before walking back into the livingroom. Raven grabbed the grey shirt and pulled it down again, looking at the lone photo on the floor. She heard Crane walking back into the kitchen and quickly picked up the photo, not wanting him to take it again.
,, Well, I believe it would be time for me to leave..." he walked into her sight, looking so out of the kitchen in his cool suit. In one hand he was holding a brown paperbag, his possessions from Arkham, and he was scribbling down something in his recovered notebook, rewriting the notes Raven had torn out.
,,... unless you by any chance serves coffee?"
,, Fuck off." she said and got to her feet, now feeling exposed in her shirt. She walked past him and decided to follow his advise for herself and pulled out the coffee from the cupboard. She turned back to face Crane, who looked her up and down in her scantly dressing.
,, You can go now. I believe you agreed to us never meeting again?" he nodded.
,, This is our final meeting. Unless you want me to st..."
,, Go. I want you to go now and I will spend the rest of my life begging we'll never meet again."
,, So that is definitely a 'no'?" Raven walked to the sink and filled the kettle with water.
,, You need me to spell it out? I want you to fuck off. Simple as that." she grabbed his arm and walked out in the hall, dragging him along. She opened the front door and almost threw him out in the hall.
,, Bye." she said shortly and closed the door. She leaned against the wood for some seconds, as if straining her ears to listen for Crane disappear. For some time, she wondered if she really had thrown Crane out? Or was he playing hide and seek with her again, standing right behind her and watching her? After what felt like hours, she shook her head and walked back into her room, pulling on her trousers and began packing her bag, throwing the photo down the bottom of it. She would need to get out in a hurry, but she just wanted to stay and drink her first cup of coffee in ages, then take off.
She threw shirts and trousers in her bag, wondering what to do now?
Leave. she thought.
Leave Gotham, leave the country, find a lovely little house far away and open up a chocolate shop.
Okay, maybe the last part was sappy-romantic, but it sounded nice getting a new life somewhere else.
She ran a hand through her hair and turned to walk back to the kitchen, wanting to get that coffee in a hurry. When she almost bumped into Crane, who had snug up behind her, she almost screeched of shock, but he pressed a hand over her mouth, then held his finger on his free hand to his lips, indicating she should be silent. She shoved his hand away in an angry move.
,, What the hell are you doing here?! Didn't I tell you to fuck off?!" he cringed at her loud voice, covering her mouth with his hand once more and pushing her back into the wall.
,, Miss Scarrow, with all the kindness and respect one can muster: shut up!" he hissed whispering.
,, Your voice could wake the dead and has apparently done so, for there is a small but effective police squad on its way up the stairs." Raven froze at the news, Crane feeling it safe now to let go. His brown paperbag was gone, but a small bump was showing on his tailored jacket.
,, What do you mean? They shouldn't have been able to find me, it's hours since we left Arkham!" she hissed, keeping low.
,, Well, apparently the Gotham Police Department has grown faster since the Bat-man has gotten around." Bat-man. He spoke the name mockingly.
In seconds, Raven had to think up a plan. She hid her face in her hands, breathing out deeply.
,, Great...!" then she paced to the small window and forced it open, the curtains blowing in the wind. She looked out of it, then turned back to Crane.
,, You said a squad, but since they don't know if I'm really here, there's only the ones on the stairs." she grabbed her bag on the bed and threw it out on the fire escape, then climbed out herself, pulling on her sneakers on the way, freezing in her thin nightshirt. Crane followed, moving elegantly through the small space.
,, What are you doing, can't you take them down? You're the one with the gore-gas, you don't need to follow me."
,, I used up the last in my canisters when we took out moonlit stroll back in Narrows." Crane said, now accompanied by the heavy sound of someone pounding on the front door.
,, And I do not follow you voluntarily but since I am yet to sprout wings, I am forced to take the same way as you." he spat back. Raven rolled her eyes but none of them had time to start a fight, so they ran down the rusting stairs, until stopping at the drop where the ladder to streetlevel should have been. It had rusted away years ago, the remaining bits being removed by passing vandals.
,, You do live in such a wonderful home, miss Scarrow...!" Crane said sarcastically as Raven threw her bag the last way and jumped down in the narrow ally, marveling that she didn't land on any of the trashcans. She pulled her bag away just seconds before Crane landed on the concrete, running a hand through his dark locks and looking like it was something he did on a regular basis. Maybe he did.
Raven shuddered in the nightshirt as she and Crane moved swiftly down the ally, away from where the front door of the building was. They both stopped at the end of the ally, looking out into the street before them; it was still quite early, not many people were out at the time. Crane turned to Raven.
,, A goodbye handshake?" he asked and held out his hand, not joking anymore than by the soft smile on his face. As a goodbye Raven slapped him across the face again, then picked right and paced quickly down the way, trying to look normal in her odd clothes, with her hands trying to hold the bag so to shield her fingertips from the world.
*
Raven had been walking around Gotham the whole day, not ever looking up from the sidewalk more than absolutely necessary. She had been able to change her shirt in the toilet of a greasy diner, and was now wearing her white t-shirt with a blood red cardigan over it. Her meals had consisted of whatever the persnickety people of Gotham threw in their dumpsters. Three or four times she had returned to her building, always noticing the copcar just before she stepped out of the shadows. She had hoped she could have been able to return to her apartment, but now as night was falling she had to realize she would have to sleep on the streets. Maybe she could huddle down in a corridor in the subway? Or find a basement somewhere? She wasn't used to sleep like that, but she had experiences.
Tomorrow, she knew exactly what to do; tonight she would sleep.
Now, Narrows was defiantly one of the worst places you could find yourself in at night, but Gotham was a big city. Raven was now walking through the old industrial neighborhoods around the docks, hoping she could find an empty warehouse to stay in. As a teenager, she had been into urban exploration, so she knew how it worked.
When darkness grew around her, she began to loosen up and walked with her head held high and her bag slung over her shoulder. Then she heard footsteps behind her and stopped. Not cool Italian shoes, so it wasn't Crane... Worn down trainers and a quick, nervous pace, stumbling after her. A gun clicked the same second she turned.
,, Give you wallet and you'll be fine." stuttered the guy. He was some skinny kind of drug-wreck, his eyes sunken deep into the holes of his skull. His hair was so unwashed and greasy it could have been any colour. He was dressed in the kind of clothes most people donated to charity and he looked like hell; the gun in his hand, however, did not. It looked like the conductor to hell, but nothing else. Raven swallowed something; God, she hated guns!
,, I don't have any wallet..." she said and tried to act cool. The guy was shaking more violently than Gordon even had, and the gun was shaking ever so finely along with him. Never a good sign.
,, Just give me your fucking money!"
,, I don't have any." Raven shrugged. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but she had tried starring down a gun before. And somewhere in the back of her mind, a small voice went
Oh great, not again.
The guy looked like he was thinking deeply; in real life, he was just fighting not to panic.
,, Well..." that was never a good word in these situations.
,,... then give me your bag."
,, No." Raven said. She didn't know why she had said it, but she had had a rough day and wasn't in the fucking mood to give up her bag. The guy took another step, holding the gun so tight it was a miracle it hadn't fired yet.
,, Give me your fucking bag!"
,, She said 'no'. Unless I am mistaking, it means she leans towards not having her belongs rummaged through by a cocaine wreck." it sounded like Crane, but his voice was darker and hoarser. Raven turned her head and saw Scarecrow saunter out of a long shadow between two abandoned warehouses. His mask seemed even creepier in darkness, only faint glows from distant streetlights helped her to see him.
,, Fuck off, Freakshow, this is none of your business!" the guy said, but stepping back when Crane walked completely out of the darkness, looking grim as ever in the burlap mask.
,, Fuck off!" Raven almost shouted. Why was Crane here?! She had asked him to stay away!
,, Is this how you treat your knight in a shiny armor?"
,, No, it's how I treat my stalker in an ugly suit!"
,, Hey!" Crane's eyes moved from Raven's face to the guy behind her and Raven turned back round. They had almost forgotten him in the fight.
,, Now it's your bag, bitch, and your fucking wallet!" he pointed the gun in turns at Crane and Raven.
,, Oh of course, one moment." Crane moved his hands up to his mask and clicked something, switched something on. He walked slowly up beside Raven, reaching inside his coat as if to take his wallet.
,, Uh Crane, I don't think this is such a good idea..." Raven said and stepped back, looking at Crane's wrists and knowing what to come.
,, Shut up and give me your bag!" the wreck said again. Crane's icy eyes caught her through the holes in the mask.
,, It would maybe be a good idea to hold your breath now, miss Scarrow. At least step back."
,, Crane, don't...!" but the sound of an aerosol can getting emptied and a squirt of white-blue mist hit the guy in the face. He yelped at the shock and stumbled backwards, but Crane moved fast as a lightning and was already behind him, and grabbed him around the neck like he had with Raven the same morning.
,, What do you fear?" he asked as the guy began to scream and claw at his eyes, something unseen horror burning him up.
,, Crane, it's not funny!" Raven said as Crane shoved the guy to the concrete, musing at his screams and fight to rid himself of the images, one hand still clutching the gun like it was the only thing solid.
,, Get off me! GET THE FUCK OF ME!" he shouted, something was crawling one him by the looks of it.
,, Crane, let him off...!" she tried again, but Crane was far too busy watching the guy.
,, Crane!" Raven felt so powerless, like a little girl on the verge of stomping her foot. She then turned on her heel and ran down the abandoned street, but was grabbed second later by ScareCrane, who held her arms painfully tight.
,, No, no, no, we need to talk, miss Scarrow." he said. Raven tried to punch him, but then stopped when she saw something over Crane's shoulder. The guy had somehow managed to point his gun at the back of the scarecrow, seeing something only for him. She didn't think, she just grabbed him by the arm and tried to pull him out of gunpoint. A thundering shot penetrated their ears as they reached the wall of one of the buildings, stumbling headfirst into the cement. Raven really hated guns, but she really really hated gunshots. And then police sirens sounded, someone must have noticed Raven being mugged and had called someone, but hadn't done anything else to help her.
,, Great, we need to get away now!" she hadn't meant to say 'we', it just blurted out. Jonathan groaned and that was when Raven turned her head back from the squirming and screaming guy and noticed the blood.
,, Oh fuck... Crane?" she grabbed his shoulder and caught his eyes. His left hand was clutching his right upper arm, and he looked like he was in pain. Blood was running in crimson lines down his hand.
,, Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." she clenched her fist and hit him on the left shoulder.
,, You fucking jerk, this would never have happened if you hadn't insisted on playing Fear Factor!" she grabbed the mask and pulled it off his head, then smacked him across the face for the third time. Then she grabbed his left elbow with the same hand she held the mask in and ran away from the sirens, her brain running on serious overtime. After a headless running through the dark streets, until the sirens couldn't be heard anymore, they stopped and leaned against a wall, panting desperately for air.
,, Are you... are you..." she gasped for air and tried again.
,, Are you okay?" he glared meanly at her, biting in the pain and hissing through his teeth.
,, Define "okay", miss Scarrow." she rolled his eyes and pulled him down through a narrow passage between two warehouses. She shoulder at a random door and it opened, much to her surprise. She pulled Crane inside and walked further into the building, their shoes echoing against the floor. They walked into a great room which once had contained the heart of the fabric, the machines and all. Now all that was left were rusty chains hanging from the ceiling and scraps of metal on the floor. Raven's eyes scouted for a place to be, the dim light making her strain to see anything. Over in one corner she saw a... bed? Why not?
Crane began leaning against her, he was tired and hurt.
,, C'mon." Raven ordered and helped him across the room.
It was the kind of bed one usually got forced to sleep on when visiting a relative; someone must have found it on the streets and brought it into the abandoned house. Raven grabbed the musty blanket and pulled it off the bed, then helped Crane sit down. He groaned again and leaned back against the wall, before being whacked in the back of his head by Raven.
,, You fucking idiot, I have never been so fucking angry all my life!" she shouted and paced back and forth on the floor, running her hands through her hair and cursing violently.
,, And yet you are crying." Crane said. Raven stopped in her tracks and glared at him, wiping some tears of her cheeks with the knitted sleeve or her cardigan.
,, Yeah? That's how angry I am!" she didn't like it when people got shot, even if they were Crane. She looked at his mask, which she had thrown on the floor, then kicked it aside and walked back to the bed.
,, Lie down." she ordered.
,, Excuse me?" she grabbed him carefully by the shoulders and half helped, half forced him down into the bed.
,, You stay here, I'll be back as soon as I can." she turned her back and walked out into the room. Then she stopped and turned back, pacing angrily back to him while pulling her cardigan off. She rolled it up and grabbed his neck violently and placed the "pillow" under his head.
,, Don't you fucking dare to die while I'm gone!" she threatened and then left.
Jonathan Crane leaned back and sighed, closing his eyes and biting every breath of pain inside.
*
Half an hour later, Raven returned with a plastic bag containing a bottle or vodka, bandages and a pair of tweezers.
,, I went through hell to get this, so you just shut up now." she ordered and unscrewed the lid of the vodka, then took a big swig and twitched; she hated vodka but she felt like drinking. Luckily, a part of the roof far above their heads had rotted away and streetlight was flowing in and giving them enough light to see in. Raven walked around the bed and sighed after having examined the wound from every possible angle.
,, Anything wrong, miss Scarrow?" Crane asked, he sounded so tired.
The only angle from which Raven could get to clean the wound whilst being certain of getting it all was...
,, This doesn't mean anything, Crane, so don't go having wet dreams about me, okay?" she said as she straddled Crane in a smooth movement, Crane's eyes growing to triple size in their sockets.
,, Miss Scarrow, what are you do..."
,, Shut up, I need to concentrate." she unbuttoned his jacket and pulled it carefully off, then wiped some tears away and began rolling up his bloody sleeve, being careful not to tangle with the thin mechanism of the gore-gas.
When she had cleared the sight of the wound, she swallowed something in her throat and unscrewed the vodka once more, taking another mouthful of the foul liquid.
,, You want any?" she asked, trying to ignore the position they were in right now. Crane didn't usually drink vodka, but now he felt like it would at least sedate him slightly, so he took the bottle and gulped down the stuff. He cringed as Raven had when she had taken a sip, then handed the bottle back to her.
,, This will hurt." she announced before pouring a generous amount of the vodka on Crane's wound. Crane hissed and dug the fingers in his left hand down into the mattress, glaring at Raven through his narrowed eyes.
,, Thank you for warning me...!" he spat.
The wound was actually not so big and, luckily, the bullet hadn't reached the bone. Raven held the tweezers in one hand and poured some more alcohol out on them, then took another deep swig.
,, Should I be concerned that my surgeon is drinking?" Crane asked and forced a smile on his lips. Raven smiled back, then looked at the wound.
,, Bite your teeth together." she said. Crane closed his eyes and braced himself.
Raven carefully forced the tweezers down and grabbed the bullet, Crane hissing and wringing like an angry snake under her. Then she quickly pulled it free, like one did with a bandage, and dropped the bullet on the floor with a clink! Crane exclaimed sharply, but didn't strike out after Raven with his free arm.
,, Please tell me we are done now..." Crane groaned and looked at Raven, who in the same second grabbed the little piece of his shirt which had caught on with the bullet and pulled that free as well. Then she poured more vodka on the wound and grabbed one of the bandages, wrapping it thoroughly around Crane's arm. When she was done, she wiped the last tear away from her eyes, then helped Crane roll his sleeve back down.
,, I'm not a doctor..."
,, How very comforting...!"
,,... but I think you'll be fine." she slipped off him and grabbed the stuff she had collected and threw it back into the bag. Then she grabbed the blanket and beat the worst dirt off it.
,, We need to sleep now." she pushed him softly.
,, Move over."
,, How drunk are you?" he asked when Raven crawled back up in the bed and turned so she was lying with her back against Crane.
,, Well, I'm not sleeping on the floor!" she said as Crane turned over on his left side, pulling the blanket closer around him.
,, I know it's not ideal, but it will have to do..." Crane didn't answer.
After some time in the darkness, Raven talked again.
,, Crane?"
,, Mmn?" it came annoyed from him.
,, Were you following me? Outside?" there was silence for some time, Raven could only hear her own and Crane's breathing.
,, No." it finally came.
,, But, then what were you doing?" but Crane didn't answer.
Raven yawned and closed her eyes, wondering if she could sleep with Crane right beside her.
She quickly did though.
All right, I'm BACK!! LONDON, BABY! (sorry, had to get it out of the system...)
Yeah, I know; another long chapter but it felt right writing and stopping it there. Please tell me what you think;)
Hope you all had, has or have a great holiday:D