Hey guys, once again, I know it's been a while, but I've had bronchitis, a broken computer, and now several final exams in a few weeks...So I'm sorry about the long delay for this story! I've also been having a bit of writer's block for all of my stories, so I finally have an idea where I want this chapter to go! yay :) Once again sorry about the long delay, and here it is,
Chapter 8!
After a while of driving, Richard finally drove his motorcycle into...a gas station.
Raven laughed, "How romantic."
He gave a laugh of his own before replying, "You know me."
She smiled and dismounted from the motorbike, handing him the spare helmet.
"Okay," Richard began nervously, "So I have to make a few phone calls to get everything in order..."
Raven understood what he was getting at, despite the unfinished sentence.
"And you want me to leave, I take it?"
"Only if you still want it to be a surprise," he offered.
She grunted. "Fine, I'll be in there," she informed, pointing to the gas station store, "looking at magazines or something."
Richard nodded. He then waited until she was far enough away before calling his house. After several rings, someone picked up.
"Hello, Master Richard," greeted the elderly voice of his head butler, Alfred.
"Hey, Alfred, I know this is really short notice but I was wondering... how long would it take to prepare dinner?"
Alfred chuckled, "Depends on what you want made."
Richard scratched his head, trying to think of the names of all the delicious foods Alfred had prepared over the years, but nothing was coming to mind at present.
Eventually, Richard replied, "Well something that's delicious that doesn't take long to make."
"If you don't mind me asking, how many people should this meal serve?" asked Alfred, though Richard guessed he already knew the answer.
"Just two," murmured Richard, the warmth of a blush forming on his cheeks.
"Alright. I'll start making something now, sir," answered Alfred before hanging up the phone. Richard gave a sigh of relief, he knew he could trust Alfred with this. Richard grinned and headed over to the gas station store, confident that everything would go smoothly.
Sure enough, he found Raven flipping through one of the magazines there.
"Come on, let's go!" he said loudly, his voice full of enthusiasm, as he pulled Raven by the arm and out of the store. When they exited the store, both teens were surprised to find snow blanketing the area. Richard took off his suit jacket and gave it to Raven, who was wearing her short, black dress. She quietly thanked him before slipping on the jacket.
Before Raven could once again take her place on the motorcycle, Richard stopped her.
"Okay so there will be a point where I tell you to close your eyes, and you have to listen."
"Really? I have to?" asked Raven with a smirk.
"Okay, no that's not what I meant-," Richard began, but was interrupted.
"- I know, I get it," Raven explained with a small smile on her face.
Richard sighed, "Then why challenge it?"
Raven smiled, "Well, you know me, I'm just a bit difficult."
Richard laughed, not daring to comment on that. Finally both teens once again hopped on the sleek, jet black motorcycle and were off to their destination. To give Alfred some time to prepare the dinner, Richard drove down random streets, hoping to buy some time. It was about 15 minutes later that Richard finally admitted to himself that he'd gotten himself lost. Wonderful.
"Are we almost there?" Raven called over the roar of the motorcycle.
"I think so," answered Richard.
"What do you mean you think so?"
Might as well just tell her he thought.
"I'm kind of...lost," he replied, saying the word lost a bit softer hoping she wouldn't quite catch it over the noise from the engine.
Sure enough she didn't hear it and asked him to repeat himself. Turns out, having to repeat it another time was even more humiliating. It wasn't helping that he could hear her laughing from behind him.
"Where are you trying to go?" she asked.
"Gotham," he replied, his face still burning from embarrassment.
Raven just shrugged, "I have no idea. Just pull over and ask someone."
Richard did as she told, pulling over and parking his motorcycle at the side of the street. Looking up and down the sidewalk, they noticed that the street was deserted.
"Let's just walk, we're bound to find someone," reasoned Richard.
Raven nodded, "It's currently our best bet."
They walked in silence alongside each other.
"So..." began Richard, trying to think of a conversation topic.
Raven just laughed, "You're usually so talkative, Robin."
He laughed, "Only because you're not."
"Fair enough," conceded Raven, "So you were saying?"
"I wasn't really saying anything, just trying to think of something," he replied.
"Ah," muttered Raven, letting the silence drag on before asking, "So, what are we going to do if we can't find anyone?"
Richard was spared from answering that question because a couple had just turned on the street, walking toward Rich and Raven.
"Guess we don't have to worry about that," stated Richard before jogging up to the couple to ask how to get to Gotham. Raven caught up and also listened to the directions, lest Robin get lost again.
After they had given him directions, the short, brown haired girl asked, "Are you that Grayson kid?"
Richard grimaced, "Yeah."
The girl gasped and the guy she was with also looked surprised. The girl pulled out a sketchbook and rifled open to a clean piece of paper and produced a sharpie, "Could you sign this?"
Richard sighed, picking up the sharpie and scrawling his name on the piece of paper. The girl squealed with delight, "Thank- you so much, it was nice meeting you!"
"Same," responded Richard gruffly before handing back her sharpie.
Just as Richard was about to leave with Raven, the girl gasped, "Are you guys going out? Oh, you make such an adorable couple, don't they, honey?"
The man accompanying her nodded stiffly, noticing how his girlfriend was putting the two on the spot. Even from the dim lights on the streets, the teens crimson blush could be seen spreading their cheeks.
"Come on, sweetie, let's leave them be," he urged.
"Okay. You kids have a nice time!" She called out while walking away, turning around to wink at Richard and Raven. This caused both of them to blush even further.
After a moment of awkward silence, Richard said, "Well, that certainly was...interesting."
Raven nodded in agreement. Once again, silence stretched between them.
"Hey, let's get going," suggested Richard.
They both turned and began walking back to the abandoned motorcycle.
All of a sudden, Raven's shriek pierced the silence as she slipped on a piece of ice. Relying on his reflexes, Richard caught Raven in his arms before she hit the pavement.
"You okay?" he asked, gazing down into her amethyst eyes.
"Yea...I'm fine," she mumbled, shock still visible on her petite features.
Raven, rather hesitantly stood, with Richard's help and steadying grasp. As soon as she found her bearings, Richard removed his hand from her back and shoved it back into his pants pocket. Raven missed the support of Richard's hand, but didn't dare ask him to hold her again. She still had some dignity.
When they finally reached the motorcycle, they both mounted it quickly, eager to get to their destination and out of the cold. Richard sped off, finally knowing where he was supposed to be going. After exiting the highway to Gotham, Richard called for Raven to close her eyes, and he turned around to make sure she was doing so.
"WATCH THE ROAD!" she yelled, eyes wide open, panicked by him turning to face her.
Richard laughed, "I am."
Then he slowly lifted his hands off the handlebars, causing Raven to tighten her hold about his waist.
"Richard, this isn't funny," she snapped.
Laughing Richard returned his hands to the handlebars before saying, "Relax, we're fine. But really, you need to close your eyes."
"If I do, you have to promise to look at the road and keep your hands where they are, okay?" she asked, trying to keep the fear from her voice (and completely failing).
"Okay, I promise."
"Good," she replied, before securely closing her eyes. Richard didn't bother to check this time, but he knew that she would keep up her end of the bargain, just as he had by not turning around. Richard was glad that she closed her eyes when she had, for he had just turned into a residential neighborhood and was sure that she would've been able to guess where they were headed based on the scenery around them.
Barely 10 minutes later, Richard pulled up the driveway and stopped the motorcycle, helping his girlfriend off the back and taking her helmet, leaving it dangling from one of the handlebars. He smiled as he took her hands in his and led her into his house. As soon as they were in the front door, Richard finally told Raven to open her eyes.
Raven blinked several times at the foyer, trying to adjust herself to the shining splendor that surrounded her. She gazed in awe at the sleek marble floors, and the carved stone walls that arched high over her head. At evenly spaced intervals, imposing stone columns emerged from the walls. There were several tall windows between each column, allowing the moonlight to spill into the great hall, which stretched on for at least 40 feet. Looking up, Raven noticed the large, tear-drop chandeliers adorned with crystals that reflected the light, also spaced evenly across the ceiling. There were 5 in total, each casting their glow about the imposing, grand walkway.
Raven, for once, was rendered speechless.
Richard gave a slight chuckle, "Um, this is just the entrance. Come on, there's more to see and dinner to eat."
Raven nodded, but lingered a moment more to examine everything. Eventually, she allowed Richard to take her past the heavy, mahogany doors and into the rest of the mansion. The second room was also extremely extravagant, with two spiral staircases ascending to the second floor.
Each room reminded Raven of an extravagant castle, but she barely had time to look at the details of each room as Robin pulled her to the dining room. Because each room was full of details that assaulted her senses and since she had little time to spend in each room, she really couldn't recall what each room looked like, only that the manor was truly magnificent. Upon reaching the dining room, Raven gave a slight gasp.
The room was golden, literally. The walls were made of a paneled, deep cherry wood. Lining the walls were several paintings in golden frames. The table was, however, made of glass and gold. The high-backed chairs were also made with the same matching materials, with burgundy cloth lining the cushions. The plates also had gold encrusted rims and all of the silverware was actually gold.
Each of the serving dishes lined the long, rectangular table, each filled with savory bits of food. Wow, Alfred, you've really outdone yourself thought Richard.
"Wow," exclaimed Raven, unable to really articulate anything else at the moment.
A moment later, Alfred appeared wearing his finest suit and his snow white hair neatly combed back.
"I trust this is sufficient, Richard?" he asked, his thick British accent apparent.
Richard smiled at Alfred, silently thanking him for not saying 'Master Richard'. He was about to reply when Raven beat him to it.
"It looks wonderful, thank-you so much," she gushed. Unsure of what else to do with herself, she gave an awkward, half bow.
Richard chuckled, "Alfred, this is Raven. Raven this is Alfred."
"A pleasure to meet you, miss," began Alfred before directing his attention toward Richard, "Let me know if you need anything else."
Richard nodded, "Thanks."
And Richard really was thankful to have someone like Alfred, who he viewed as more than a butler. Alfred had often been Richard's companion, especially when Bruce was busy, and it was moments like these that Richard wanted to really thank Alfred somehow. But it always occurred to him that he really didn't know exactly what Alfred liked, especially since he'd been around the Wayne family for years. Richard didn't know anything about Alfred's family either. Whenever he offered to get anything for Alfred, the butler always politely declined. Richard just hoped Alfred really knew just how grateful he was.
"There's so much food, where do we start?" asked Raven, walking up and down the table, trying to pick a place to sit. Richard watched her in amusement.
"It's not going to go anywhere, you know," he commented playfully.
Raven stuck her tongue out at him and he just laughed. Finally, Raven sat down on the middle chair.
"That's an unusual place to sit, most people want to sit at the head of the table," mused Richard, making his way over to the seat adjacent to Raven.
"Well, as I'm sure you've noticed by now, I'm a bit odd. Not to mention, from here I have the best reach to the most food."
He laughed again, "Whatever floats your boat. And I happen to like your oddness."
Raven slightly blushed and quickly turned her attention to the feast before them. She tried to sample everything, but there was too much food and too little of her for that to be possible. Everything she did try, however, was fantastic. She really couldn't pronounce any of the names of what she ate, or tell what they were for that matter, but all she knew was that it was the best meal she'd had in her life, hands down.
Looking at all of the food still cluttering the table surface, Raven groaned. "I feel like I'm wasting so much."
"Not at all, all of this food will be saved so you can take it home and feed it to your siblings. Or so you can do with it what you will."
"Really?" asked Raven, overjoyed to share such a meal with her family.
"Of course," he replied with a grin.
"Wow," muttered Raven, staring at all of the courses.
"So now what are we going to do, Robin?" asked Raven.
"Hmm, I hadn't planned that far in advance," he admitted with a nervous laugh, "Do you want to just watch a movie?"
Raven nodded, "Sure, why not? What movies do you have?"
He grinned, "Basically anything you can think of, so just pick the one thing that comes to mind."
"Uh, what about Howl's Moving Castle?"
He smiled, "Didn't peg you as much of an animated movie type of person."
"I'm not, I just like Hayao Miyazaki's films," she explained, "Plus, I thought it would make for a better date movie than Saw or Wicked Scary."
He nodded, "I guess that's true. I'll be right back."
And with one swift motion, Richard left to find the film Raven requested. Returning about five minutes later, Richard noticed that Raven had fallen asleep on the crescent shaped couch.
Cautiously, Richard walked over to her and gently shook her awake.
"You fell asleep, should I just take you home?" he asked quietly.
Groggily, Raven nodded. However, she made no motion to show that she was getting up anytime soon, so Richard picked her up bridal style and carried her to his black Ferrari. Once in the cold car, Raven woke up, somewhat surprised by her new surroundings.
Richard started the car and sped off toward Raven's home. When he arrived, he, of course, walked her to her door. He meant to give her a quick goodnight kiss, only she didn't pull away for a long while. And well, he saw no point in ruining the moment. After he watched Raven go inside, he turned around and headed home, happiness welling up inside of him. He knew this would be one night he would treasure forever.
Raven stumbled inside, trying to remain quiet and not wake up her sleeping siblings. Raven made her way to her room and changed into warm pajamas. In the process of changing, she accidentally knocked over her purse, and out spilled Howl's Moving Castle.
Raven smiled and set the dvd on her desk. Finally she crawled into bed, but found that she no longer could fall asleep. It was then that her mother's favorite quote suddenly popped into her head.
'You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.'
Raven smiled to herself, finally understanding the meaning of those words. Well spoken, Dr. Seuss she thought.
Okay, so I hope that chapter was worth the wait. What did you guys think of it? Was it good? Bad? Let me know in a review, if you have time!
This is a bit sad to think about, but just one more chapter to go! Thanks to everyone who's read this story! I promise I'll have the end posted by next Tuesday! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
~RukiaRae