Chapter 10: Unfathomable Emotions

Raven

I can't believe she did that. I can't believe I let her do that! What the hell is wrong with me? I feel like a blushing schoolgirl all of a sudden, and I've never even been to a conventional school! I've never felt this way before, not really. I've been embarrassed, but this seems entirely different, like a sharp awareness of her. It's like a cloud surrounding me, ever present, yet I can ignore it if need be. The fog is transparent, yet tangible. The need to be around her lances through my very blood, like an unnatural lure is within her body, and it only works on me.

I take a silent breath, trying to reign in my reaction. I should have thrown her through a wall, yet here she stands, whole and hearty, next to me. It truly baffles me more than I could ever imagine. I clear my throat and look at her. "Where do you even live?"

She scratches the back her head. "Well, um, you'll see?"

I raise an eyebrow and smile a bit. "Was that a question?"

I have to laugh at her nervous chuckle. "No?" Isn't she just so talkative? Though, I really can't say much. I'm not perky, Ms. Sunshine myself. I have no real social training or even desire for interaction. This girl is actually the first person in a long time to even garner my attention, and it's definitely turning into fascination.

"Alright, since I might get to see where you live, because that was definitely an open invitation, I think that we should just teleport there." I look at the girl, who is now chewing on her nails.

The nervous look on her face is the icing on the cake. It's so cute, how she… Did I just think that? Cute? I blink and see her ear twitching, like it's searching for something. "We can, if you want. How does it work?" She looks at me expectantly.

I let my hood fall from my face and realize that we hadn't moved. We haven't pressed a button for the elevator, so we're not going anywhere. Was I really that absorbed in my thoughts, in her? I shake my head and look at Adriana. "Well, we do this mind connect thing. It's really hard to explain. See, I enter your mind, but I only see surface thoughts. You think of where, picturing it with everything you have, and I take that image and make a physical and mental connection to it. Then, we're there, you know, after we go through the portal."

She blinks at me. "That didn't seem so hard."

I shrug. "It's harder to do, really. Explaining is just difficult. It works at a much more complex level than even I can understand, but that's the simplest description I can give you."

She nods. "Oh. Okay." I see her suck her bottom lip into her mouth, worrying it with her teeth, and I'm utterly captivated.

I shake my head to dispell the uneasiness that that action and thought brought on. "Now, picture it in your mind." I shake my hands to get ready for the task. Reaching up carefully, I place my middle fingers on her temples and spread out the rest of them on her head. "Just concentrate on the feeling and surroundings of your home." Taking a deep breath, I push myself into her mind. A small, invisible vortex opens between us, letting me see. Pictures and emotions assault me before I even get to her mindscape. Everything I need is right there for me to make use of. It would be too easy to just take us there with all of this information, but I don't. I creep past the blocks to enter her mindscape completely.

A growl reverbrates through the air, a warning of sorts. There, off to the side in the shadows of a forest, is a large wolf. Green eyes stare at me, shining in the low light. They seem so familiar and are so animated. The expression in them alone can tell you everything the animal is thinking. Exasperation and annoyance are the most prevalent of the emotions that plays in those emerald gems. "What?"

The nose of the wolf brushes against me, and it feels so weird. It whines and starts to push me out of the forest and back to the gate that had opened. "Am I not allowed in there?"

The wolf shakes its head, causing me to frown. It seems to be protecting some of the worst of Adriana's emotions and memories. I can understand that to a degree. We all deserve our secrets, so I let the wolf push me back. We need to leave anyway. I can ask about all of this later. I return to her surface thoughts, take ahold of them, and use them to send us spiralling into a portal of my own creation.

We come out on a bed, or at least what look like a bed. It sure isn't where a normal bed would be, though. I look down to see us at the highest point within the room. "Smart." My drole answer makes her look up at me.

She laughs a little and pulls away from me to jump down the platforms. "I thought so!" She yells up from the floor now, rummaging through a couple of boxes in the corner.

I roll my eyes and just lower myself to the ground. "What all do you plan to bring with you, because I can tell you, just because I can create a portal doesn't mean we have room for all of this back at the Tower."

She huffs indignantly. "I obviously know that. Plus, I'm pretty sure that you guys have grade-A workout equipment. I don't need my ragtag bunch of gymnastics rejects there."

I study the area that this girl had called home for a while now. "It seems really thought out. I'd be proud to call this a training ground."

She blushes, making my lips twitch in a pseudo smile. "Thanks." She starts throwing things left and right, not caring where anything lands. A pair of shorts lands on my face, and I grimace. I pull them off and throw them back at her, making her gasp a little befoer looking back at me. "What was that for?"

I cock a sideways smile at her. "Watch where you throw things, and I won't have to retaliate."

A light shines in her eyes, and I can see the mischief gathering there. "Oh, I'll where I throw it this time." She picks up the same pair of shorts and flings them at me at a speed I wasn't expecting.

I dodge, barely, but it's not the only thing she threw. I hold up my hand and catch the next garmet in it as it comes soaring at me. I fling it back, and that's how the war started. I duck behind some boxes and smile a genuine smile. Picking up random clothing from around me that Adriana had thrown, I start to pitch them back at her. Laughter rings throughout the hallowed building, growing louder as the battle waged on. Soon we both are clutching their sides from laughter, ceasing all fire at that moment. I can't believe what is happening, what I participated in.

I sit up slowly to see Adriana still on he floor, winding down from the exertion of guffawing uncontrollably just minutes past. "I've never done that before."

She breathes in deeply and smiles. "Me either." Strange as it seems, I feel more free than I have ever felt in my entire life. It's a thrilling thing to experience such uninhibited happiness and laughter in a prescence that doesn't show one ounce of fear, either internally or externally. It's a veritable miracle to me, even after having friends for this long and being able reign in my emotions rather effortlessly when I do show even the least little bit of unimpeded joy, that this girl can bring out such glee by simply behaving childishly. It's a mystery to even me as to why I enjoyed such base activities that only children partake in, but I admit that it was fun, if not incredibly invigorating at the same time.

A/N: It was utterly invigorating to write Raven playing like this. I don't know what inspired me or even what possessed me, but I smiled until the end just imagining the conserved and rational Raven being a little childish in the best of ways. I hope you enjoyed it, too.

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