A/N: Ahhhh...another day another chappie.
It feels tres awesomely good, I swear to God.
Seriously.
So, anyways, this chappie is like a little "break" from all the drama that has been going on and I've dedicated it to my underappreciated friend by the name of "fluff" because, friends, "fluff" is extremely powerful, so powerful that I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the power of it all.
So, yes, friends, fluff is the main genre of the day!
Wehey! That sounds like Soup of the day!
So anyways, read and enjoy...and don't forget to review!
Chapter 11
Lights flickered. Cameras flashed. Music blared. Footsteps stomped. People chattered. Kisses were given. Colours swirled. Hugs were shared. Champagne was passed. Laughter tinkled.
"Is this the shit, or is this the shit, eh?" Vic grinned, elbowing Garfield in the process.
Raven watched slowly as Garfield grinned in reply, "This is the shit!" He laughed and threw his best friend a quick high-five.
Raven took a quick look around and had to promptly agree though admittedly not in quite those exact words. After the events that had happened three weeks ago, in an attempt to lift the mood up a bit more and also to support Kori, they had all decided—well not decided, really, Kori had gotten them the tickets after all—planned to go to Kori's first real name-brand catwalk after a series of smaller, not really well known fashion shows. And though they all knew that this was quite a big fashion brand having a fashion show in Jump City—Raven has dismissed it's name as she didn't really believe it was that important—but the three of them—Gar, Vic and herself—didn't know that the fashion party would be this big and this prestigious; she even had to whip out one of her nicer clothes—read: one of the many dresses, albeit in dark colours, that Kori had forced onto her—to make herself feel at least as presentable as some of the people attending the occasion alongside the after party.
It wasn't as completely boring as Raven—admittedly—thought it would be. Sure it was all just a lot of people—namely reporters, photographers, editors, journalists, other fashion designers, fashion journalists, athletes, heiresses, actresses and actors, models who weren't working in this particular show, random important people—watching a bunch of models strutting down the runway with clothes on—sometimes ridiculous looking clothes; Kori had to wear some frilly black thing with things hanging from it that looked like silver baubles in the first half of the fashion show—but she had to admit that the show put on by the designers were quite entertaining and that even if you didn't enjoy the show half as much as the other people here, you enjoyed everything else; the drinks, the atmosphere, and the socialising.
Suddenly a voice piped up near her, "Sirs, madam, would you please sit down. The second half of the show is starting." She looked up to see a man in a suit indicating towards the seats.
With that the three of them scuttled back to their seats, located in the middle of the rows and so it was a bit inconvenient bumping into people's legs and apologising constantly because they all grumbled and shuffled around a bit to make room for them. Once they had sat down, it wasn't too long before the music started to blare again, accompanied by the many, many models walking down the runway like it was nobody's business.
Though it was still quite boring, all three of them found some sort of appreciation for the show; Vic and Gar were practically drooling at the models—it was a wonder both she and Jinx still tolerated these guys—while Raven found that the clothes weren't too bad and that they seemed to be quite wearable. This particular collection was inspired by the whole Goth-romantic movement that seemed to be influencing everything at the moment and was filled with dark palettes of colours accompanied by harsh, structural shapes though there was always some sort of girlie element to it, like dark roses or even frilly skirts. It made Raven think that maybe if they toned some parts of it down a bit, she would actually consider wearing them…if she had the money that was needed to afford these kinds of clothes; the prices were ridiculous!
"Man, Gar, check out that one! Oooooh! She's smokin'!" Vic whispered loudly, pointing at a particular brunette with the most amazing figure on the runway.
Gar chuckled and then went on to point at a blonde, "Nah, dude, check her out. Now she is hot." Raven swore she could see saliva dripping out of his mouth.
"Seems like she's pretty popular too." She pointed at another brunette and found him—to her amusement—flushing in embarrassment.
Raven threw him a swift glare that he seemed to catch, and went back to—at the very least—pretending to not admire the girls as much as Raven knew he did. She didn't really mind, actually, because there was no way in hell—scratch that—no way in any dimension that she would lose Garfield in a way that involved some random—albeit completely gorgeous—model stealing him away from her…no way in any dimension.
As the models kept on coming, suddenly a flash of bright red caught her eye and she clapped appreciatively as Kori walked down the catwalk fiercely in a full length black and white dress that billowed gracefully as she stomped her way through the crowd, completely outshining all the other models in both charisma and beauty. Beside her, Gar and Vic whooped and roared like there was no tomorrow and Raven had half a mind to try to shut them up—since people were starting to look at them as if they had just escaped from a mental institute—but she stopped herself as it seemed that the cheering just made Kori more confident than before as her aura seemed to grow even happier, though Raven couldn't be too sure herself as the crowd made empathising with one person all the more difficult.
"Yea! Go Kor! Go Kor, it's your birthday, it's your birthday!" Gar whooped, alongside the strange hand movement that he made in order to support her.
"That a girl, Kor! You the shit!" Vic roared.
Garfield continued to clap and he rolled his fist in the air, grinning wildly, "Work it! Show them other models what you got!"
Raven rolled her eyes in her seat while noting that the photographers went wild with frenzy as Kori flashed them a grin with her fleshy lips, it was a surprise that Kori didn't go crazy with all the flashes in her face. Editors and journalists were scribbling frantically in their notebooks and people were exchanging whispers with each other as she walked passed in her extravagant gown, her expression fierce—as they say in the fashion world apparently—and yet not threatening in the least and her wide, green—only green in the irises, mind you, since she was wearing her contact lenses—bambi-doll eyes just oozed innocence while Raven knew that the look on her face was anything but. Raven was a bit worried for the designer, because there was no way—at least by the look of things—that the designer would get that much publicity from this show, this was Kori's spotlight all the way. She twirled like she was born to do it and though she was a tad bit more muscular than some of the models—OK, that was a lie, most of the models—there was just something that made you want to look at her constantly; it might be something to do with her exotic colouring…Raven wasn't sure what country Kori had told everybody that she was from but it must've been some small, miniscule country that no one had really heard of.
It was over though, after a while, and the designer had come out hand in hand with some other model who had been wearing the final piece while everyone applauded their hearts out and there were so many camera flashes that she was glad no one in the room—as far as she was concerned, anyway—was epileptic. The finale was extravagant with flower petals falling from the ceiling and the music blaring louder than it was before. Raven shook her head, she was glad that she wasn't involved in this world as Kori was; she knew that she wouldn't have been able to stand it.
"Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Raven stated out of the blue.
Gar grinned, "Yay! Raven—I mean—Rachel enjoyed a social function!" He clapped hyperbolically.
"You do realise the fact that I'm dating you does not give you any immunity from a public beating from me?" She raised a brow, a smirk almost forming on her lips.
"Burn!" Vic roared, laughing at Gar's flushed face, "You got burned by your girlfriend!"
"You're mean."
"And you love it, so deal."
She knew that he was surprised by her response by the way his aura suddenly flashed a different colour but left it at that, she didn't want to know anything that involved her thinking more than she had to, not tonight anyway; if she was forced into a dress and heels to a social function that she would—never in a billion years—go herself if she wasn't asked to, she was going to—no, had to—have fun if it killed her.
"So, when d'ya think Kor's gonna come out…I mean we can't actually go to the after party without her." Vic asked curiously, rubbing his hands together in an almost calculative way.
"She said a couple of minutes." Raven shrugged and placed her hands on her hips, "What's the rush anyway? The after party is right next door. It's not like it's going to be a big deal if we're late, we're nobodies here…remember?"
"But…but…we'll miss all the partyin'!" Vic whined, his dark brown eyes blinking a few times in an effort to show how impatient he was, "I need to party, I swear, I'm havin' partyin' withdrawals!"
A gaggle of people passed them quickly and none of them took a glance at them; to them they were probably no one, nothing, only guests who were lucky enough to get tickets to such a function. She liked that, she liked the fact that they could remain anonymous even with all the popularity they got from being part of the Teen Titans, it was nice to feel normal, even if it did involve one being shoved into a dress and forced to socialise with the most superficial people she had ever met.
"I have no understanding how Jinx can stand you." Raven shook her head melodramatically, "Talking about Jinx, where is she? Didn't you invite her to come too?"
Vic shook his head in reply, "Nah, Kori still doesn't know that I'm datin' her and everyone else in the world knows her as a criminal." He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "It's not like she really is one…OK…she kinda is…she calls it freelancin' an' all…and says depending on whether or not it suits her most she'll either be with the good guys or the bad…but still…she wouldn' like it here anyway." He looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back up again with a beam slapped on his face, "Too fancy, she'd say."
"Guess the pink hair wouldn't help with all the incognito and stuff, yea?" Gar asked sincerely.
Raven just stared at her boyfriend for a moment, "I'm not even going to comment on that." She brushed a stray hair from her face before turning to Garfield, "Gar, are you actually even allowed to go into that after party? I mean, they'll be serving drinks and you're still underage."
Garfield pouted, "A little champagne won't hurt…and come on, they'll be servin' good champagne and not that crappy stuff they serve at the clubs." She threw him an arched brow and she watched as his mouth worked slowly, "Which I totally never go to because I'm underage."
"Liar." She spouted playfully, though her tone was all serious.
"Spoilsport." He grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest, "Aw, c'mon, Rae…I'm frickin' twenty. I'll be twenty-one in less than a year."
Vic suddenly interjected, "Don't worry, Raven, I'll keep the lil' guy under control." He slapped his large hands on Garfield's back and ignored the small whimper emitted by Gar completely.
"You do that."
"Do what, friends?" A chime-like voice asked innocently.
Raven turned to see Kori in her guise; she had completely abandoned the brown wig she used to wear so adamantly and now her contacts were green—though they were the same light, chartreuse green— instead of brown and though this may seem risky—since technically she had only changed her eye colour out of everything—Kori had figured out that people were never really close enough to get a good look at Starfire and for now she would be safe in this almost lazy attempt of a disguise. She had on a simple strapless black dress that fell mid-thigh, hugging every curve that Kori owned, paired with a pair of extremely high red heels and a pair of ruby red earrings; she looked—as Garfield would say—frickin' gorgeous and suddenly all the remaining reporter and photographers seemed to think so too. Lights started to flicker again and questions kept popping up here and there like a broken radio and Kori handled it all like a pro with her smiles and her nonchalant—though awkward—way of speaking to others.
"Miss Anders! Miss Anders! Tell us, what are you wearing tonight?" A reporter asked and Raven saw him elbow his way through the crowd.
Another voice interjected, "How does it feel being the first Jump City model to walk the Miu Miu runway? And in your home city!" So that was what the brand was called, Raven knew it sounded somewhat like a cat being strangled.
"Will you be moving to New York now that your star seems to be rising?"
"Where are you from, Miss Anders? Is it true that you were a refugee before you became an American citizen?"
"What is your favourite food?" In which Kori obviously replied with the word mustard.
Kori was laughing and giggling throughout the bombardment and she answered each and every one of them as if she had been doing this modelling stint for years. Words tumbled out beautifully and confidently despite her broken English—though Raven had to admit that it had been improving throughout the years—and she lapped the attention all up like a sponge, well at least she was lapping it up until…
"Miss! Miss! We've been lookin' through old pictures and found some very surprising stuff. Is it true that you're dating Dick Grayson, heir of the Wayne Enterprises?"
Raven quickly looked to Kori as she saw her friend blanch and turn a sickly shade of pale. Both Garfield and Vic had turned to look at her too, afraid of what her reaction might be to that question, a question in which they were all not sure of either, let alone some random reporter from some trashy tabloid.
Kory shook her head though, took a defiant looking stance and looked at the reporter glacially, "Dick Grayson and I are very good friends but nothing more. Now, if it does the pleasing of you, my friends and I will be going to the after party. Good night and I hope that you found enjoyment in the show."
With that, she turned her heel and dragged the rest of them out of the function room and towards the rooms where the after party would be held, somewhere where reporters and photographers were not allowed in. It was a wonder that Kori didn't start crying or shooting her star-bolts at the reporter; Raven knew that even Vic and Gar were expecting some sort of melodrama and not this cool and—though defensive—nonchalant response that she gave to the reporters. It was relieving yet disconcerting at the same time, but Raven knew that there was a time and a place to worry over such things.
She went for it anyway, "You OK, Kor?" Raven asked, walking by her side and feeling a little foolish and embarrassed by her height compared to Kori's.
"It is fine; it is not their fault that their job requires them to be rude little klorbags." Kori flashed her a smile, radiating pure joy, "We should not do the worrying though, we are here to do the partying, yes?"
"I guess so, though it's not exactly my scene." Raven nodded slowly then pointed carelessly at Vic and Gar as they—well more Gar, really, Vic was just acting cool or whatever he did in preparation for the after party—jumped around getting all excited, "They look extremely excited though. All they talked about was the partying and the drinks and the models." She rolled her eyes as Kori giggled in response, "I know, Gar deserves a smack on his head for that but I think I'll be lenient for a night."
Another giggle escaped Kori's lips and it almost made her want to giggle alongside her too, but she stopped before she completely made a fool out of herself; Raven knew only too well that her giggle did not sound like a giggle.
At all.
The four of them sauntered into the party and once again Raven pondered on human's obsession with flashing lights and blaring music, it seemed oddly popular at all these social functions and she wondered—Raven rolled her eyes momentarily—why the hell she didn't like this particular scene.
Oh, right, it was because she wasn't some brainless fool who thought that drinks, music and dancing would bring utter joy to life.
She smirked to herself as that though popped up into her head.
There were people dancing and drinking and socialising, all the things that Raven did not really enjoy doing, though her three other friends dove right into the social scene and went their ways to do whatever it is that they did at these things. She, on the other hand, took a quick look around the place before deciding to head to the bar to get herself a drink; preferably something that involved tea in it.
She promptly sat down on one of those twirly high chairs and was almost automatically greeted by the bartender, "What would you like to drink, Miss?" He asked gruffly, and Raven had to giggle inwardly at the stereotypical bartender outfit that he wore.
"Ice tea?" She asked coolly, "Nothing with alcohol though."
The bartender grunted and went away to tend to her needs and she took this as an opportunity to observe the scene before her. It was a lively scene, she had to admit, and the pumping music just added to all the euphoric emotions that she felt racing through her veins right now. Her powers absorbed all the various emotions greedily, excited at the prospect of having so many emotions in just this one little—well, OK, not little…but…restricted…kind of—place that everyone was squashed in together. The music wasn't trance—she shook her head in disgust as she thought of that genre—but it wasn't really anything that she listened to, it was more mainstream except remixed by the DJ in a way that made the songs seem faster, dance-ier and more adrenaline pumped in the way that made people want to start moving; she herself couldn't stop her fingers from tapping the extremely catchy tune on the surface of the table.
"Here's your drink Miss."
He handed her a tall glass filled with light coloured ice tea strewn with various mint leaves, sliced lemons and chopped up strawberries causing her to roll her eyes; even the drinks were pretentious, she thought to herself, she had only asked for an ice tea and they had seemed to have gotten the idea that she wanted half a garden dunked into it. Nevertheless, she took a quick sip of it and frowned as she found that it tasted more like distilled water rather than actual tea.
Her indigo eyes scanned the room once more and she found herself smiling as she saw her friends enjoying themselves immensely; Kori was dancing her heart out with some guy—her hair flailing everywhere—Vic was talking to someone who looked like he could be an actor—he was good looking enough to be one anyway, and his hand gestures seemed to be a bit exaggerated—and Gar was air guitar-ing with a bunch of people like there was no tomorrow, really, she ought to try to talk to other people to diminish her boredom but it would probably be no use because apparently just looking at her scared the hell out of some people, or so they said.
"Hey babe, want me to buy you a drink?' OK, so someone clearly thought otherwise.
She turned stiffly to see a guy sitting next to her with a smirk that told her that he thought the world of himself; his black hair was clearly dyed and he was wearing eyeliner—or guyliner as all the magazines fondly called it—with his skinny legs stuffed into what seemed to be a pair of skinny jeans that had gone through a paper shredder…it seemed that he was trying to be emo—she rolled her eyes—and all but he was just trying so damn hard.
She lifted up her drink for him to see and raised a brow at him, "I'm pretty sure you have the eyes for it but if you don't, I think I should tell you that I already have a drink." She turned around once more to promptly ignore him.
"Well, then you could always trade it up for a dance."
Raven turned to him once again and shot him a glare, in which he—satisfyingly—responded with a flinch, "If you haven't noticed, or aren't smart enough to take note, I think I just rejected you before. So please go and bother some other damsel in distress before I decide to pour this really badly concocted tea on you." She hissed, not bothering to soften the malice in her voice.
Annoyingly, all he did was grin, in a way that made Raven think that he probably thought he looked quite charming or whatnot, "Feisty, huh? I like that in a girl." He chuckled to himself, causing Raven to snort in disgust, "You sure you're not just playing hard to get?"
"That would only happen in your wildest dreams, and no, you may not quote a chat up line that involves me featuring in your dreams or whatnot. Never in a million years would I be unintelligent enough to fall for such a clichéd line." Her tone was full of disgust but his emotions told her that he still thought that her malice was all just a joke, "And aren't you supposed to act all emo or something? Or is it all just a costume to get close," she lifted her fingers to form speech marks, "to mysterious and gothic girls like me?" She hated those two words…they were just so generically associated with her when she clearly could not help being the way she was.
"Is it my fault that I find Goth girls hot?"
"No, but then again it's not really your fault either that you do not have the brains to acknowledge that I do not want to have anything to do with you."
Suddenly she felt a short fuse of anger grow inside of this…sleaze of a person and he started to point at her accusingly, his mouth all twisted with fury, "Look here, yea, all I wanted to do was buy what looked like a nice girl a drink and maybe have a few dances but you—!"
"What about my girlfriend?" A rather boyish voice popped up from out of nowhere, causing Raven to smirk.
She found his hands interlock softly with hers as he glared defiantly at the guy. Raven shook her head, Garfield really needed to work on that glare of his, it wasn't as menacing as he probably thought it was. She was still pleased that he was standing up for her—though it conflicted with all her feminist beliefs—and she found herself imagining an amusing scene in which Garfield would turn into a whale and flatten him.
Cruel…but exceptionally amusing.
"Look, I'm not trying to start anything, yea?" Emo guy decided to defend himself, "I didn't know that she was your girl and I tried to get her a drink but obviously I had to pick someone who was a complete anti-social bitch."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa there!" Garfield grunted, his brows furrowing together, "You do not get to call my girlfriend," there it was again, she noticed, that word, "a bitch."
The guy just shook his head in irritation, "Whatever. You can have her back; don't think I like her as much anymore." With that he went off, probably to go and stalk on some other poor girl until her boyfriend came to interrupt the conversation.
Garfield seemed to start to make some threatening moves towards the guy but Raven thought that it wouldn't be such a wise move and laid a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and gave her what seemed to be a cross between an expression of anger—or at least the attempts of it—and helplessness in which Raven threw him a bemused look.
"Thanks." She smiled wryly.
"No problem." He raked a hand through his blond hair sheepishly, "You sure you don't want me to go beat him up?"
"I'm sure I don't want to see you hurt." She smiled playfully, arching a brow at him.
Garfield seethed through his teeth, "Don't worry; he'd be the one who got hurt. Fuckin' jerk."
"I'm not so sure." There was a playful undertone in her words but she knew that she was being serious too.
He grunted once but then stayed silent. Raven felt his inky blue eyes trace her figure to figure out whether or not she was physically hurt but as soon as he was done—for there was a feeling of satisfaction and relief in his aura—his gaze laid themselves conveniently on her face, his head slightly tilted in such a Garfield way, and it was making her feel a tad uncomfortable.
"What?" She asked rudely.
He tilted his head to the other side slowly before speaking, "You should smile more. It's a party; you're supposed to be having fun." His glance settled briefly on her ice tea then back at her again, "I mean it's no fun if you look like you're pissed over the fact that that," he gestured towards her tea, "is not good tea."
"You spend too much time with me." She said in mock disgust, referring to his ability to point out that the ice tea wasn't that great.
Garfield waggled his brows playfully, "That's what couples do." He made a face at her involving his tongue to stick out, "What I don't get is…why didn't you just leave your seat and go? I mean, he didn't look too crazy and stalker-like enough to follow you around the party. You could've just gone to me or somethin' instead of handlin' that on your own."
"You think I can't handle wannabe-emo guys on my own?"
He shook his head fervently, "No, no, of course I totally think you can…you just didn't have to."
Raven shrugged at him and placed her cold ice tea on the table, wrapping her own words around her mind before deciding to say them, "You were having too much fun." A pause, "I didn't want to spoil it for you just because I'm not too partial to these things."
"Oh."
He was looking at her with some kind of alien interest that she had never seen on him before and it was slightly disconcerting and yet at the same time it was extremely flattering. There were times when she felt that his overprotective nature irritated her and made her just want to flare up at him about it but sometimes it was good to feel like someone actually cared about her enough to attempt—being the imperative word—to threaten some guy who was probably twice his height, wore guyliner and looked like he could crush Garfield to smithereens with just one look. She flushed subconsciously to her self, ignoring his gaze, as the protective nature in his emotions grew, both flattered and self conscious at the thought of it.
His expression suddenly changed and he poked her playfully, a grin spreading on his lips quickly, "Wanna dance?"
Raven threw him an incredulous look, "Yes, I totally want to dance. Dance is totally my life purpose."
"C'mon Rae, someone who looks as gorgeous as you do tonight should be dancin'."
"So I don't look gorgeous every night?" She challenged.
Garfield pouted, "You know what I mean." He shook his head, not bothering to apologise about it as he probably knew that it would just end up in meaningless banter anyway, "The blue looks good on you." He stated sincerely.
She threw him another look but this time it was more half hearted as she felt pleased that at least someone liked what she was wearing, Raven herself didn't feel too comfortable in the gear that Kori had chosen for her. It was a simple navy blue shift dress that stopped just above her knees, accompanied by bell sleeves and a sort of ruffled high neck. She was also wearing a long black pearl necklace, black opaque tigths and a pair of black mid-high—or as Kori would say, awkward—heels with studs placed strategically on the heel of her foot. She was just glad that Kori didn't make her wear any of her frivolous dresses and tried to stick to dark tones when dressing her up—though there was a moment of insanity when Kori threw her a pink ruffly thing—and if it wasn't for Raven trying to support Kori, she knew that she would never ever in her life dress up quite so nicely or attend something like this ever again.
Yet that wasn't really the point—though she really did get flustered by his compliment; blue was her favourite colour after all—the real point was that he was asking her to dance.
She shook her head mentally.
No, that wasn't it either.
The point was that he was asking her to dance despite the fact that he clearly knew that there was no way in hell that she would dance…ever. So, OK, there was the time when they had their first proper date and she had even moved—read: shook her legs awkwardly—every time they had their annual New Year's Party attended by most of the Honorary Titans and the Titans East team as well but those were completely different situations and were categorised as exceptions.
So the question was; what the hell was he doing?
"C'mon…just one dance and I swear that I won't bug you for another one anytime soon."
She glared at him, her arms crossed across her chest.
"Please?" He pleaded, his lips protruding in what she figured was a pout, "For me?"
She sighed exaggeratedly, "Well I guess it would be a shame to pass up such an offer." She peered up at him through her dark lashes, "So, I'm to believe that you will never ever ask me to dance ever again?"
He grinned and she felt his spirits lift up a whole lot, almost bringing a smile to her face—a sincere one at that!—by the sheer force of it all. It was strange to feel actually, well, OK, not so strange but recently this sort of pure—she couldn't put a word to it—happiness and anticipation rarely appeared in his emotions, the childish—but not immature—way Garfield's feelings spoke to her. It was maddening that she could miss such a thing, but she did, she really, really did. That in itself was what attracted her to him in the first place and she would feel a bit sore if that feeling had dissipated because of the problems that had been constantly bombarding the Titans.
"Well…never can be such a big word to put your trust in…" He grinned devilishly at her.
"You fool." She sighed, concealing a smile from him, "I guess I'll have to trust you to keep to your word."
He took her hand and pulled her off her seat, "Don't bet on it, baby doll."
Subconsciously her feet followed him to the dance floor and she found herself surrounded by other—mostly drunk—partygoers moving around to the music like someone had stuck ants in their pants. It took her a while to get used to the overwhelming wave of emotions that seemed to come from every direction but after it had all settled in, she started to appreciate the euphoric sensations, though her disdain for the activity didn't lessen. His hand never left hers and they fiddled with her fingers for a while, tapping away to the music that pounded through the air restlessly and the erratic movements of his fingers felt odd…but nice…against her own fingers.
She started to move though her movements were stoic and lacked the natural rhythm that dancers had but she defiantly kept the fluster at bay as she continued to attempt to dance. A flicker of amusement was felt from her partner and she looked up at him to see that he was laughing; he wasn't laughing at her—well, OK, he was, she admitted, but that wasn't where the majority of the amusement came from…at least she thought it didn't—he was more laughing because of how much fun he was having, how much he was enjoying this rather eventful and yet extremely awkward attempt of a dance. He could dance and she couldn't and he was enjoying every minute of it. It was annoying but at the same time, she couldn't deny wholly that she was enjoying it too; maybe it was the fact that for once life wasn't so tense, or maybe her empathic powers were getting drunk with all the euphoria around her, but she sure felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
She snorted; dancing of all things was what had lifted it.
He spun her around swiftly and before long he had gradually—unbeknownst to her conscious self, the sneaky idiot—dragged her closer, close enough that he had his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. She half-heartedly attempted to pull away—since she whole-heartedly disagreed with the concept of PDA— but found it hard to do so on account that he smelled so good, so like him and that she was actually comfortable with the way that he was holding her. Love could do strange things; she thought wryly, strange things that caused people who disliked something, to then like it unequivocally.
Love…sigh.
As her thoughts pondered aimlessly on the concepts of love, Raven became conscious of the flood of emotions coming from Garfield specifically, a woven piece made from a sense of enjoyment, adrenaline, amusement, affection and love. It bathed her like a bright ray of sunlight that dimmed on some occasions but never really diminished completely and for once she fully appreciated the fact that despite the abundance of other—way more—attractive females, his attention was all on her. Exaggeration was not the case; she could literally feel his gaze on her even when she wasn't looking.
The song ended after what seemed to be such a long time—though Raven knew that it clearly couldn't have been more than five minutes—and though everyone else seemed to be keen on the dancing, she felt Garfield's arms slowly come away from her waist—to her disappointment, but she wasn't going to tell him that—and lean in closer so that his lips were beside her ear, his breathing slightly ragged and heavy from the dance.
"Wanna go somewhere else?"
He pulled away while she rose a questioning brow at him, "Where?" As much as social functions irked her, she didn't think going off to make out in some secluded place would be a much better idea.
He grinned amusingly at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, "I don't know…out. I know you don't really like this place and all." His eyes lit up and she knew that if he wasn't wearing his holographic ring, she would see a pair of pointed ears jerk upwards as well, "How 'bout the teahouse? You know the one that we always go to?" His lips curled up at the corners so that his grin grew so Cheshire-like that it was almost creepy, "It's late now but I'm sure that place opens 'til like…late late." He stated as he took a quick glance at his watch.
Raven looked around the dance floor for a moment, tiptoeing to try to find her two other friends that were at the party with them, checking like a hen mother on whether or not they were fine or not. They seemed to be fine, Raven thought to herself as her violet eyes found them; Kori was dancing and flirting her heart out and Vic seemed to be doing pretty much the same, though she knew that he was being more careful with his actions because she knew that he would not like the consequences if Jinx ever found out, and so she made up her mind then and there, nodding silently to herself.
"Sure, why not?" Raven stated shortly, and she felt her heart spasm as his happiness went up, "Tea would be nice."
He threw a fist in the air in victory, "Yes!" He gripped her hand and led her off the dance floor, "let's get outta here."
"For someone who claims he loves to party, you sure are in a hurry to get out of here." Raven stated wryly, though a smile flitted briefly on her lips.
He chuckled, with that rather awkward tone of voice that he had—not quite high enough to be a girl's but not quite low enough to belong to a guy—and she felt that really annoying, yet delightful, spasm in her chest again, "Well, the parties can wait, I mean I know that they all want a piece of the great Garfield Logan but," he paused, and a devilish smile spread on his lips, his eyebrows waggling suggestively, "I want to spend time with you, I need to."
She hated feeling so soppy but she knew that she couldn't help it, especially since he sounded so determined when he was saying that.
"Plus, we haven't made out in ages." He winked at her, and poked a tongue at her playfully, "We should totally schedule a session soon."
She slapped his shoulder, not knowing whether to laugh and agree with him fully or whether to hurl insults at him and throw him her most disapproving look but as soon as her hand had left his shoulder, he was back to throwing that roguish grin at her whilst rubbing slowly at his shoulder.
That was Garfield Logan to you.
Soon they were walking out of the party—though they did spend a moment saying their goodbyes to Kori and Vic—hand in hand, and the music and the liveliness that had accompanied the party so avidly was slowly fading away into the background, leaving Raven and Garfield free to roam the dark streets completely—well, almost, it would've been slightly strange if there was absolutely no one else—alone. It was…nice…she realised that they hadn't spent too much time together since…everything—discounting the bowling session, that was the strangest two hours she had ever spent with him. She didn't really know how she had handled the embarrassment of losing against him—and that she, too, had missed it. It was embarrassing, and it made her sound needy and clingy, but it was the truth. No matter how weird—yes, that was the word—the whole concept of them being together was to others—and to themselves, she thought dryly—ever since they had gotten together, there was just something that made them click and…fit. Yes, there were moments when they argued about…well…anything—the use of the Titan Tower Lockdown button was one. That had turned into a fully-fledged spat in a matter of seconds. Seriously, did he not think that 'testing out' the button would cause problems for everyone?—but what couple didn't argue? She was no expert on relationships but she thought she knew that a healthy relationship was bound to have a few quarrels here and there.
At least that's what all the trashy magazines had said.
There was just this—almost eerie—connection between the two that made all the immaturity, the arguments and the occasional awkwardness worth it all; he just knew her. Oh, OK, there were times when he didn't have a clue on what was going on in her life and had ended up momentarily insane by the amount of glares that she had given him, but it was the effort that counted, right? And when it came to effort, Garfield—despite the lack of enthusiasm he showed for his schoolwork—was all about effort, he was—in his own words—king of it.
Without realising it, they had walked all the way to the teahouse that he had mentioned before, and she inhaled the familiar scent of the tea leaves combined with the hot water wafting gently in the air. It was a warm and inviting place, filled with various books for one to read; she had spent a lot of time here—she still did, actually—being alone, finding her peace and the teahouse had always soothed her in a way that even her meditation failed to do. There was just something about places especially made for serving tea and books that made it feel sacred and safe. Maybe it was the friendly that knew when to strike conversation and when to keep their distance or maybe it was the fact that the tea here tasted so good that it was almost unholy to not have tried tea from here, but there was something about this small, secluded teahouse that made it feel like nothing outside the building actually mattered.
"Ah," a waitress approached them, one who was there regularly, with a big, jolly smile on her face despite the hour, "Miss, it's you!" Her smile broadened, "I haven't seen you in a long time and we were all wondering when you'd be back. You know…best customer and all that." She grinned toothily, her brown hair swishing from side to side in sincere excitement, "And you've brought him," she said pointedly, "lovely lad. Popular with the ladies, this one is. Cheeky though." She laughed raucously, "Went about making Jean think that she bloody had something on her face once, almost cried, she did."
Raven smiled, stealing a glance at Garfield who was blushing quite profusely, "It's nice to see you too Kate. I've just been busy; you know how it is, university and all that."
"I do, I do." Kate nodded vigorously, and then whipped out her notepad and pen, "So what would it be? The usual, Miss? Or something more adventurous?" She then turned to Garfield, "How 'bout you? Anything on your mind? Anything to your tastes?" She indicated at the menu on the chalkboard before looking Raven up and down swiftly, "Might I say, Miss, that you look tres splendid tonight. So very fine, just to come visit us…or are you two on a date?" She waggled her brows at them, "I see, I see." She said to herself, though no one had replied to her question.
"Chai please." Raven stated shortly, exhausted by the speed of Kate's speech, "And…?" She looked at Garfield.
He frowned for a moment, "I'll have…um…anything. Like, normal tea…you know the one I usually order?"
"Earl Grey?" Kate asked helpfully.
He nodded, "Yea…that." She watched as he glanced quickly out a window, "And would it be OK if we had it to go?"
"To go?" Raven asked, "I thought we were staying here."
"Yea, I thought so too but…it's a nice night and I thought it'd be nice if we just…y'know…walked."
"Oooo…midnight walks. So romantic." Kate cooed, "OK then lovebirds, just sit down and leave everything up to me and the tea will be up in a jiffy." She enthused.
They sat down, face to face on an empty table for two—though to be completely honest it wasn't that hard to find an empty table, it was late—and they both stayed silent as the soft melodies of various songs—both mainstream and indie—through the air. She leant her face on one hand casually, evaluating the almost solemn expression on his face, wondering what it was about. Garfield was never really seen as solemn—though she knew that he had his moments—and him being visibly solemn was a rarity, especially if his grim expression wasn't accompanied by anger. This feeling that she got from him was just…sobering…if there was such a thing. It was like having a hand dipped into lukewarm water; it didn't seem to have an effect on the hand but the neurons inside were probably creating brainstorms like crazy.
She remembered the last time that she came here; she had been alone, only with a single book in her hand and an incredible thirst for some strong, black tea. Raven was already with Garfield when she had come here last time—it wasn't that long ago!—but she had decided that it would be nice to have some alone time, to concentrate her thoughts only on a book she had postponed on reading for such a long time due to a busy month. She finished that particular book—if she wasn't mistaken, it was a copy of 'Steal You Away—and she had enjoyed it profusely, coming back to the Tower with one of her rare smiles, making her friends wonder why she was in such a good mood. The teahouse was always mood-altering, she realised, and it had its own brand of magic that she could feel now; heavy in the air but not unpleasant. She knew that Gar was feeling it too by the way he looked at her, and all she could do was give him a slight nod to indicate that she, too, realised the enchantment of this place. It wasn't literally magic, Raven shook her head mentally, but it was similar.
Their tea finally arrived and was served in Styrofoam cups—Raven frowned at the vulgarity of putting tea in a Styrofoam cup. Really, now, it was quite disrespectful—and after a quick chat with Kate—reassuring her that she would come back soon—they said their goodbyes and headed to the quite streets. There was hardly anyone on the pavement alongside them and Raven relished the feeling of privacy that it gave her.
"You cold?" He suddenly asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Raven nodded, realising that even though it was to be spring soon—well, OK, a lie…there was one more months before spring really came—the air around them was freezing cold, and her breath created smoke-like figures that danced in front of her every time she exhaled. Yes, she was indeed cold.
He didn't say anything but she suddenly felt something warm wrap around her shoulders and she looked up to see that Gar had forsaken his coat and given it to her, an action that she was grateful for. His skin was flushed with the cold, especially around his cheeks and the tip of his nose, and he pursed his lips in a way that made Raven think that he was feeling freezing cold too. It was sweet, and yet she frowned; she did not want him to get hypothermia just because he didn't want her to get hypothermia.
She tugged at the right side of the coat with her free hand, "Share." She said simply.
He raised a brow at her, "It won't fit. I may be small but I'm not that small."
"I don't want you to get sick just because you don't have a coat on. We'll be one person short from the team then." Raven scolded, and once again thrust the coat in his direction, "So stop being so ridiculous and share the damned coat with me."
He flashed her a small smile before slipping himself into the coat and Raven realised he was right; it was too small for the two of them together. They were so close to each other that she thought that the body heat generated by them kept them even warmer than the actual coat itself, and she could feel the slow rise and fall of his breathing through his side. Almost automatically, her body leaned ever so slightly closer to his, and his body responded in the same way and so they were almost relying on each other for support as they both walked aimlessly through the empty streets. It was nice, this was nice, and having a hot cup of tea in her hands wasn't too bad either.
She took a slow sip, and sighed in satisfaction as she felt it slide down her throat, the warmth filling her up like she knew it would and the spicy aftertaste of it playfully lingering on her taste buds. Instinctively, she looked upwards at the sky, expecting to see a few stars but she didn't; it was completely clear out, dark and inky with no signs of any twinkling that stars usually did. It was strangely more appealing than seeing a bejewelled sky; there was nothing up there and the nothingness just enhanced the beauty of it all.
Their footsteps were loud against the pavement with the clackety-clack of her heels and the gentle thud of his converses, creating an odd rhythm for Raven to ponder on her musings while they walked slowly. It was a slow walk because they both knew that they weren't really going anywhere, and that they were just killing time, spending time with each other and such. To be honest, she didn't mind; sometimes she preferred these long random walks that they would frequent from time to time rather than actual dates. The spontaneity of it made it seem exciting—like a little adventure—but the length and the pace of the walks made the whole thing seem almost nostalgic and personal, way more personal than a walk should be, and the silence was always tolerable because it was always expected; they didn't need to talk and thus, they didn't.
"You know I heard that the new Mega Monkeys is comin' out next month." He grinned, interrupting their quite time together, "You think I should get it or would it just be a waste of money? I mean, I love them old school ones but I've, like, won every single one of them and I need more of a challenge." Apparently she was mistaken; he did indeed feel the need to talk.
She raised his brow at him, "I was thinking that we were having a bit of a moment, before you so kindly interrupted it." He made a face at her and she paused, "But, yes, I think that you should get that game." Another sip, "Apart from the obvious mind rotting elements that I highly disapprove of, I think that a new game might take your mind off things." She didn't say anything else, hoping that he got the implication.
"Wow, Raven's actually encouragin' me to buy a game." He grinned cheekily, nudging her with his hips, "Apocalypse, you say?"
"Oh, shut up."
"No, no, really." He chuckled and then finished his tea in one big gulp, "You would not have said that a year ago."
"Are you implying that you are the cause of this change?"
He adjusted the coat a bit and whistled lamely to himself, "I didn't say that." He looked up for a while, his expression strangely serious, "But it's not so bad, is it? I mean…change is good." He laughed.
She turned to him and found a slight twinkle in his eye that bewitched her, it was so innocent that she couldn't help but find it completely endearing, despite her nature in not finding anything endearing, "I guess not." Her tea was already half empty as she took another sip, "How was the tea?"
He shrugged, causing the coat to move ever so slightly, "Its tea."
"No other comment?"
"OK." He relented, "It's really good tea…but seriously, I don't get why you love this tea stuff so much."
She frowned, "Well, its tea. Tea is always good. Not much else that can be said about it." She stole a glance at him, quick enough to see one side of his lips curl into a smile.
"Seriously." The twinkle grew brighter and more mischievous, "One day I am going to swap one of your frickin' teas with coffee."
"You do that and I will actually hit you again. I don't do coffee; caffeine and I are not the greatest of friends." She flushed subtly as she remembered the first—and last—time she drank coffee.
He caught her flush and raised a brow at her, "Ooooo, I bet you went crazy or somethin' didn't you. Dude, I would so pay a million backs just to see what you're like when you're totally caffeinated."
She glared at him, "Don't even think about it."
"You said it, baby doll."
It was then that she realised how close his face was to hers and she had to turn his head aside to keep herself from blushing, or at the very least, visibly blushing to him. His breath was warm against her skin and even his own skin seemed to radiate some kind of warmth. He smelled pretty nice too tonight; it wasn't the overwhelming smell of cologne that sometimes he drenched himself with to avoid the whole wet-dog scent. Instead he smelled of something similar to fresh grass, especially when it was freshly cut in the morning and if she had to be really explicit about it, she thought that it was utterly delicious.
Raven felt him lean over and press his lips against the top of her head, giving just the right amount of pressure to be intimate but not too much that it felt like she had to kiss him back. It made the innards of her stomach seem to flutter annoyingly and she knew that Affection—she bit back her real name—must be relishing the feelings that she was currently experiencing and placing it in the back of her mind to rub it in Raven's face later on. It was completely done out of the blue but at the same time it was such a Garfield thing to do; to kiss the top of her head, to go out in the middle of the night for tea and to walk around sharing a coat…he was a mushy person, he believed in romance and the courting and such. She would never in a million years admit it, but she loved it…almost as much as she loved him.
"You know what?" He smiled at her softly, one of those rare smiles that showed his less boisterous side.
Raven shook her head, holding the hot tea in both her hands, "What? Any other inquiries about idiotic games or whatnot?" She replied, though it wasn't as scathing as she made it sound.
"Um, nah." He grinned, "Just wanted say that you smell…"
"Like cranberries, I know." Really now, he must have some kind of psychological attachment to that fruit.
"Well, I love it." He chuckled and winked at her audaciously but then he paused for a moment, "I love you." He said abruptly, as if it just came into his mind to remind her once again.
He turned to look at her, as if expecting an answer of some sorts; he had said it so many times, told her and reminded her so many times that he loved her and yet she had never dared to reply him with the same, mirroring words. It wasn't that she didn't love him—she knew she did—but there was always a niggling feeling at the back of her head that told her not to say it, for fear that she would find out that everything that she had experienced with him was all but a dream and it would crumple delicately in her hands.
She looked straight ahead, not looking at Garfield, though she knew that he was looking at her quite intently, "I love you too." Raven said softly, mumbling under her breath so that he wouldn't hear, hoping that he wouldn't hear.
Subtly, Raven hid her fluster by raising her Styrofoam cup halfway to hide her face, letting the steam conceal her too. It was a strange and awkward moment of bravery, but she felt like it needed to be said, after all, Garfield had always quoted Carpe Diem and she had thought that it was the right moment to Carpe Diem her heart out.
He had heard, she realised, and the heat in her cheeks started spreading even more. He didn't tell her that he had heard but she could practically feel him beaming like a fool, like a ridiculous blimp of some sort. Her empathic powers weren't helping either as they picked up every ounce of happiness and joy and love and victory that was contained in him and slammed it back into her. It was at times like these that she felt her powers to be most inconvenient.
"Dude, you know what we should do when we get home?" Garfield smiled at her, once again turning back to the innocent sunshine child that people were most likely to meet, "We should totally make like a sundae! Like a super huge sundae!" He nodded enthusiastically at his own idea while Raven finished off what was left of the tea, "With bananas and chocolate and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and jelly babies…and gummy bears…" he licked his lips, "Mmmmm…and chocolate sauce and caramel sauce and strawberries and wafers and peanuts and…!" His eyes widened as he turned to look at her, "And we could eat it while watchin' Disney movies! I swear, you do not know how long it is since I've watched, like, The Black Cauldron. I mean, blasphemy, right? Coz, that movie totally rocks." His movements started becoming erratic but she knew that he was watching her quite attentively from the corner of her eye, "Or…we could watch Little Nemo. You know, not the crappy one 'bout the fish…the one 'bout that kid who went to Slumberland or whatever. I mean, awesome or what?"
Raven rolled her eyes, though grateful for the subject change, "Way to show your maturity, Gar."
He nudged her playfully, "You know you love it. I mean, ice cream and movies; that's what I call a top night, baby doll."
"If you say so…"
"But I do say so…!" He continued to enthuse.
Raven let him ramble on as they continued their purposeless stroll through the quiet streets of Jump City. His voice continued to fill her ears but she only replied when she felt like she needed to stop him from being too far-fetched or when she actually had some input that she wanted to share. The night had turned out different from what she had expected and it wasn't different in an unpleasant way, it was just…surprising…the way that things had turned out. Maybe things were pretty dark in the Titans Tower but she knew, at least she did now, that there was some sort of light for each of them and that light, no matter how brief, would give all of them some comfort. A soft smile reached the corner of her lips as she thought on her words, and how she had spoken them aloud despite of all her fears; it felt like a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders.
She looked up and saw the skies once more. It was inky, almost the colour of black with dark streaks of indigo blue weaving in and out of the sky itself. The sky was so blank that it seemed to be endless and the cool air just enhanced the strange, eerie feeling that she got from looking at the sky. And yet…and yet when she looked closer she realised that there—in the midst of all the black and blue—was a single star, dancing in all its glory, proud at its independence. And she smiled; a genuine, lip curling, eye brightening smile…
…well that was until Gar tripped and accidentally pulled her down, anyway.
A/N: Ah, I love you guys, I swear.
Anyways I hope that you liked this chappie...but I shall have to clarify a couple of things with you:
1. I love fashion
2. I love the thought of Raven having a tea fetish
3. I love super sundaes
4. Disney movies RAWK!
Hardy har, so I hope I have not offended anyone with my chappie and I hope you enjoyed it and you reviewed it.
See you next time!
:hugs and kisses: