Give Me Clemency
Chapter 12
Author's Note: I was super worried that reviews wouldn't be working again before I posted this update and I would have no clue how people felt about the last chapter, but they were fixed for my by Tuesday, so not bad. I'm glad people liked last chapter because I was actually pretty iffy about it.
Just wanted to let you guys know that I'm not positive if I will be able to update on schedule for the upcoming week. While I am graduating high school in about a month, next Saturday I am "graduating" from my dance studio and we have out end of the year recital that I will be rehearsing for all week so I'm just not sure if I'll have time to write. Luckily senior skip day is Friday though, so I might get it out.
While everyone else is going to prom, I'm writing this; it's pretty obvious who is having more fun;)
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, "Artemis Raven Courtney's" stolen clothes idea or "Miss Geek's" body shaming idea. Their suggestions really helped me to get this chapter going. I've said it 100 times, but I'll say it again, Thank You!
Trigger Warning: Chapter contains body shaming; read at your own risk!
Feel free to leave suggestions for the story!
"What's taking her so long? I wanna get out of here before Kitten comes." Dick lamented, looking around impatiently for both Kitten and Kory. He wrinkled and unwrinkled his brown paper bag as his stomach griped and growled, reflecting its desire for lunch.
"She's got a lot of hair. Takes a while to wash." Rachel answered him indifferently. "Why don't you just go get the table and I'll wait for her."
Dick gave her an uneasy look before giving an apprehensive glance towards the girl's locker room. "No. You can go. I'd better wait for her. Especially with Kitten and how she was acting."
Rachel rolled her eyes at him. "Dick, she's not going to get hurt if you aren't with her 24/7. You're being-"
Her train of thought was cut off as Dick's phone rang. He abruptly snatched it from his pocket and his eyes widened when he read the caller I.D. "Kor? What's up? Me and Rachel are waiting-"
His expression reflected hurt for a matter of seconds before it was promptly hidden as he cleared his throat and readjusted his dark sunglasses. Dick mumbled unhappily into the phone. "Uh yeah, sure. She's right here. I'll see you then." His shoulders slumped as he passed Rachel the phone. "She wants to talk to you. Told me to head to lunch."
Rachel seemed taken aback momentarily before reaching for his outstretched hand. She placed the phone firmly to her ear before motioning for Dick to go. "Then go." She growled, having become miffed by his much un-needed worry for Kory, as if he didn't trust Rachel with her.
He stayed as was; his feet seemingly glued to the floor beneath him.
"It's probably just a 'girl thing' Dick. Why else would she want to talk to me rather than you?"
This seemed to ease Dicks mind after he grimaced at the mention of 'a girl thing'. He licked his lips before he finally spun around and made his way to the cafeteria.
Rachel turned her attention back to Kory's rapid speech on the other end of the line before speeding off in the direction of the girl's locker room.
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Kory paced along the row of shower stalls, clenching the towel tightly in an attempt to ease her nerves. Her hair fell in wet tangles down her back and around her face as she had yet to do much more than comb through it nervously with her fingers. She felt the panic bubbling up in her stomach as she waited for Rachel to come for her.
Kory felt terribly bad about having been so short with Dick, but there was nothing he could do to help. He would've simply become angry. It's not like he could've lent her his clothes. However thinking of him always did help to calm her down.
The composition of doodles and writing on her arm pulled her attention. Kory couldn't help but smile at the assortment of lyrics he had written, although she was not able to recognize most of them. As for the little pictures…Dick was clearly no artists, but the fact that he had even tried warmed her heart. Although he had not created any intricate flowers with great meaning, his effort meant no less. He had scribbled a jumble of different images, such as a smiley face, a game of tic tac toe he had played with himself…and a star.
Kory felt a knot deep in her throat as it rose to leave a bitter taste in her mouth and she feared she may be sick. Her finger nails traced over the doodle leaving a red outline of the Sharpey. She licked her hands and frantically began rubbing at the star in a desperate attempt to remove it from her skin. She could feel it burning.
Strained chokes leaked from her throat as she felt the sting of tears behind her eyes, just waiting to fall. Kory struggled to keep them from leaking out. Deep breaths Kory. It is not the big deal. Rachel shall know what to do.
"Kory? What's wrong?"
As if on cue Rachel hurried in. Kory looked to her for only a moment before the mortification caused her to scrub at the sharpied star more. Rachel's fleeting confusion was quickly overcome by concern as she watched Kory continue to claw at her very skin.
"Shit Kory, what are you doing?" She reached for the wet girls wrists and held them tight, starring hard into her eyes and seeming to bring her back from wherever she had been.
She blinked her big eyes perplexedly before dragging them to her now puffy arm. Her nails had slightly broken skin in some places and it felt hot beneath Rachel's tight grasp. The towel began to slide down her form, slipping until it just barely covered her breast.
"Kory?" Rachel spoke easily in an attempt to calm her seemingly fragile state. "What's going on?" She looked away, cheeks becoming slightly pink as she realized the amount of skin the towel was covering…or not covering. Rachel pointed to it uncomfortably. "Uh, Kory…"
Kory immediately bowed her head and hiked the towel up, all the while looking down at her shifting feet. "Apologies friend Rachel. I…I require the clothing. I seem to have misplaced mine."
Rachel raised an eyebrow nonplussed. "You lost your clothes in the shower?" She saw as Kory shifted her eyes away and decided not to push the subject. "Hey, I have some extra things in my locker. You could borrow them for the rest of the day…I mean we should be around the same size."
Kory smiled meekly at Rachel before nodding her head slowly. "I would much appreciate it. I thank you."
Rachel led Kory to her gym locker, feeling as she stood close behind her while she twisted the knob of her lock. "Just a warning, they may be a little different than what you normally wear. But I mean it's better than walking around with nothing."
Kory giggled, seemingly having forgotten her entire episode that had transpired only just moments ago. "Yes, anything to cover my body shall be satisfactory."
Rachel gave her a small, apologetic smile before handing her a stack of neatly folded clothes.
Kory took them with a grateful nod before turning to face the lockers, away from Rachel so she could change. Realizing her basic lack of modesty, Rachel began to pace in the opposite direction if not to make Kory more comfortable, herself.
"Um, friend Rachel? I also lack the brassiere and panties…"
She groaned in response. "Please don't call them panties?" Rachel reached into her locker and tossed Kory the stray undergarments as requested. "Should mostly fit."
Kory couldn't help but giggle at the underwear Rachel had passed her as she examined the cheeky back and lacy lining. "They are black, yes?"
"Uhhh, so?"
Kory could only continue to laugh in response.
Rachel scrunched her lips into a thoughtful frown. Black underwear…what's so funny about it? "Okay, you just finish changing, I'll go use the bathroom." She scurried off without waiting for her response.
When Kory was once again fully clothed, she made her way to meet Rachel, and also to check her appearance. Upon seeing herself in the full length mirror, she almost didn't recognize it as her. Rachel was definitely right in saying it was not something she would normally wear.
Kory wore a pair of low rise, distressed, dark skinny jeans. They were just the slightest bit short, but mostly fit otherwise. She had never worn such tight jeans and felt slightly uneasy at the way they hugged her lower body.
Her top was a black t-shirt that read in white font "I'm sorry, did I roll my eyes out loud?" While Kory found the saying quite humorous and well suited for her friend, she did not care for it on herself. Due to the more than five inches that she had on Rachel, the shirt that would have sat on right along the top of the jeans, sat slightly above Kory's belly button. The cotton polyester mix was tight on her torso, and refused to stay in place as Kory anxiously pulled it down.
She had been relieved to find her sneakers still in her locker, having forgotten to take them with the rest of her clothes to the shower stalls in the first place, and had slipped them on, completing her new ensemble.
Kory couldn't help but look at herself curiously, having never worn something so dark and form fitting to school. She always had preferred to stick with neutral, loose clothes that would do anything but draw attention. She couldn't help but feel like a little girl playing dress up…except the clothes were too small.
"Rachel, I do not believe I look the good."
"You look better than Kitten, now let's go. I'm starving." Rachel mumbled as she came out of the stall and washed her hands.
"No friend Rachel, I am serious. I look very much the ridiculous yes?" Kory pulled her hair anxiously into a pony tail, only to take it back down shorty, upon realizing how much skin her crimson tresses were able to hide.
"Kory, trust me. You really look good. Now come on." Rachel spoke with sincerity, nodding her head and walking off.
Kory had little choice but to follow close behind, feeling as her own stomach growled at her to hurry up.
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Upon entering the cafeteria, both girls were followed by a chorus of cat calls and inappropriate glances. Most were simply awed by the fact that Kory Anders wasn't dressing like a prude and took the given opportunity to further unclothe her with their eyes. Others seemed to wish as though they could kill her with their consistent glaring.
Their usual lunch table was mostly full of the regular gang, plus one, and that "one" being Kitten. The venom could be felt through the steely glare she gave Kory as she seemed to almost arch her back as a threat and spit, much like a cat would. She hooked on to Dicks arm and stole a chip from his lunch bag before lifting it to his lips in an attempt to feed him. Sadly for her, Dick's attention was completely transfixed on something else.
His eyes bore into Kory's, or rather they attempted to. He couldn't help it as his attention dropped to the exposed skin of her stomach, and the tightness of the jeans, before hastily making it back up to her face. However Dick noticed all too quick that he wasn't the only on taking notice. He could see the hungry gazes of other guys and clenched his fist in anger, completely in disregard to any of Kitten's pathetic attempts to feed him chips.
He was also quick to notice the uncomfortable look on Kory's face as she wrapped her arm tightly around the space between her jeans and shirt with her focus transfixed on the ground in front of her.
"Uh, dude? Why is Kory wearing Rachel's…well everything?"
Dick shook his head in response. He couldn't balance his thoughts as Kory's image drew closer and he only felt his urges increase. The only thing that kept him from getting too excited was the insane jealousy he was feeling for every other male in a 100 foot radius, and the extreme annoyance he was feeling towards Kitten.
"I swear to god Kitten if you try to feed me one more chip I will end this whole thing."
She smirked snidely before unwrapping a Twinkie and moving in to feed him. "Oh Dicky-poo. I'm sorry, but you're not in control. I am. Now take a bite before I end it."
Dick "humphed" and crossed his arms before unhappily taking a small bite of the sugary treat as Kitten placed a hand on his chin to coax him into looking at her.
"Now that wasn't so bad was it Dick?"
The boys at the table made gagging noises after hearing Kitten. Wally had done so with a mouth full of tuna while on the verge of cracking up, causing him to lamely choke while Vic gave his best attempt at hitting the boy soundly on the back.
Gar immediately perked up as the chair next to him slid out. "Hey Rae. What's going on with Kory? She going through a style change and you, of all people, volunteered to help her or something?"
Rachel narrowed her eyes and one could swear they turned red hot. "What do you mean 'you of all people'?" Rachel challenged.
Gar blanched and raised his finger with an open mouth ready to remedy his mistake until Kory slid the chair out next to Rachel and slumped into it. She kept her eyes glued to the brown paper bag as she meticulously unfolded it and reached for her carrots and mustard dip.
Karen, upon noticing her subdued behavior, decided to speak up. "Hey Kory, girl I love your top. Where'd you get it?"
She took a bite of carrot before replying without so much as giving Bee a glance. "It is not mine Karen. Friend Rachel allowed me to borrow it. I misplaced my own clothes."
Kitten finally turned her attention from Dick, becoming distracted by Kory's voice. She pursed her lips and glared at her, playing with the strands of hair that lay along Dick's neck with her fingers.
His expression turned sour but he said nothing.
Vic raised an eyebrow at this and turned to her after slurping up another strand of spaghetti. "I'm not following. How did you misplace your clothes?"
Kory played with the tips of her hair and shook her head solemnly, feeling Kitten's biting glare. "I would rather not speak of it at present."
"Oh god Kory. Would you mind eating something not so gross? I'm gonna puke."
Kory looked up after having plopped another mustard coated carrot in her mouth.
Kitten made a gagging noise before covering her mouth with her hand. "Or at least eat it somewhere else. I don't even know why you're trying to lose weight anyways. You're already too skinny." She nudged Dick's shoulders. "Isn't that right Dicky-Poo? Real men like you love some curves."
The table silenced as Dick clenched his fist and Kitten obliviously continued to tug at his hair.
"I mean especially with your ridiculous height Kory. It's just not natural; you don't have to starve yourself for a guy's attention." Her condescending tone of voice was grating on everyone's last nerve, and it killed them that they were left unable to defend Kory in fear of her.
"Come on people. Don't you think she'd look better with a little more meat on those bones? I mean she can hardly even fill out those jeans. There's nothing attractive about that, right Dick?"
Kitten felt around for his hand underneath the table. Upon finding it she gave it a threatening squeeze.
Dick hung his hand while squeezing his eyes shut. The thought of hurting her physically pained him, but he had no choice. He gave his tongue a sharp bite. "I guess so." He murmured.
By then Kory could feel the hot shame radiating off her face. Am I truly that repulsive? She stood from the table, letting her seat scoot behind her, collected her things and left in silence. A trail of indecent stares followed her, yet her face remained blank.
Everyone struggled to swallow the lumps in their throats demurely, aside from Kitten who released her tight grasp on Dick and ate a cookie from his lunch bag.
"I thought we were doing this to protect her Dick." Vic took Bee's small hand in his large one and rubbed it. "Why does it still feel like she's breaking?"
"You guys are all so dramatic. Little Ms. Kory doesn't need someone to protect her. She was fine on her own before any of you suddenly started caring, and she's fine now. Some people are better off with no one. Isn't that right Richard?"
It was as though the entire cafeteria had heard Kitten's name drop and ceased whatever they were doing, turning their attention to a glowering Dick. He seemed to visibly shake, teeming with anger as even Kitten realized her mistake and automatically regret it.
Dick seemed like a ticking bomb; no one was sure when he would go off, but they were positive it was coming. The only one who had ever been able to call him "Richard" had been his mother, and now Kory. Everyone knew that. Having Kitten call him by his birth name would almost be an insult.
That's why the entire cafeteria seemed to let out a relieved breath as he stood and stalked away. Kitten raised her finger as if to call him back, but stopped when Rachel gave her the dirtiest of looks.
"Seriously Kitten, just leave it." Rachel deadpanned.
The rest of the table stood to empty their trays, leaving Kitten unhappily on her own. "You all ought to be more careful." She jeered to herself.
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Kory tossed the rest of her lunch into a near-by trash as she exited the cafeteria. She kept her arms wrapped tightly around her abdomen all the way to her school locker, unappreciative of how dirty all the looks made her feel.
There is only one person she could think of that she certainly wouldn't mind the attention from, and she wouldn't be getting it from him anytime soon. She feared that Dick thought of her as a younger sister, and that was all. He was definitely protective of her, as an older brother should. Kory knew what that was like, having experienced it as a child with Ryan. Having Dick look at her the same was as Ryan once did was the last thing she wanted. At least with friendships, romantic relationships could still develop. However, once someone looks at you as a little sister, you can never become more. That is simply how it works.
Kory rested her arms along the cool metal of the lockers before unlocking her own and shuffling her many different books and folders around.
She couldn't help but keep re-focusing on the discussion over her body that their lunch table had spoken about. She wasn't mad at what anyone had said; aside from Kitten. She knew they were trying to keep her protected, but she couldn't help but wonder if some of it was perhaps in the slightest bit true.
Kory had always been lanky and tall. She couldn't help the body she was born with, but could a guy ever find it satisfying? Or would it perhaps be another feature of hers that was simply "sub-par"? Hearing Dick agree with Kitten had hurt her the most, not because she believed what he was saying was how he truly felt, she could never believe Dick to be so superficial about a girls body, but because it had seemed as though saying it had physically hurt him.
Regardless, Kory wanted nothing more than some clothing that could sufficiently cover her. She would have loved to throw on her coat, but sadly the dress code prohibited wearing bulky, winter jackets indoors.
She continued to look for her black pen, but upon giving up, spun around coming face to face, or more like face to chest since she had been hunched over, with none other than Dick Grayson himself.
He reached out and firmly grasped her upper arms to hold her steady. "Shit, sorry Kor. I was spacing."
She cocked her head in the "signature Kory way" that always drove Dick crazy and caused him to chuckle.
"I just wasn't paying attention. Just wanted to see if you were okay."
Kory licked her lips and nodded slowly. "Yes Richard, of course I am the okay. Aside from the loss of my clothes though; that was quite unfortunate.
Dick noticed her avoidance of eye contact and the distance between them that was far greater than normal, and immediately panicked; worried that she was mad for what he had said. As far as he knew, she knew nothing of the blackmailing that Kitten was currently plodding.
"Hey Kory?" He spoke timidly, afraid that letting his emotions takeover would end up scaring her away. "You know none of what I said back there was true…I've just figured out through the years of nonstop badgering that it's sometimes best to just let her say whatever and agree with her. I'm sorry if it caught you off guard, but it's what we've done for a while and it usually works best. We didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
He couldn't help but notice her still anxious shifting and the way her arms wrapped tightly around her tan, exposed naval. Dick didn't hesitate as he proceeded to undue the buttons of his long sleeve flannel.
Once they were all undone he slid the sleeves down his arms before taking it off the rest of the way. Underneath he sported a simple grey, V-neck tee. Kory ogled at his rippling arms that were shown off by the shirt, and the way it had rode slightly up his torso, exposing about three rigid abs from his legendary six pack.
"Here Kor." He held out the slightly folded flannel as she simply stared at it curiously. "Take it."
Any other day she may have put up a fight about how it was his clothing and her own fault for not dressing right on occasion, but at the moment, the flannel looked like the best option for covering herself further.
She took it from him and pulled it on, giving him a bashful smile as he closed it for her and began to do up the long line of buttons. Kory took the time to fold the sleeves five times over so they wouldn't cover her hands and instead sat by her elbows, exposing Dick's use of her right arm as a canvas.
He gently straightened out the collar for her, returning her smile and blushing a bit. Kory hadn't noticed as she couldn't help but revel in the fact that it smelt just like Dick, and she was wearing his shirt. It was far too large for her, but she enjoyed how it fit, its warmth, its softness. It simply felt so safe to her.
"There you go Kor. How's that? More comfortable?"
Upon feeling a sudden surge of courage, be it Dick's kindness, or simply the fact that she was wearing his shirt, Kory leaned up and gave him a light peck on his cheek bone. "I do not blame you Richard. I understand. And thank you."
Dick's cheeks flamed as he struggled to keep his wild, Kory induced grin at bay. There she was, in an old flannel that went far past her butt and didn't work at all to accentuate her figure, but still looking absolutely stunning to him.
He imagined the flannel would smell like her when she returned it to him: strawberries and vanilla bean.
He couldn't wait to get it back.
Authors Note: I really hope my updates won't get too off schedule with the upcoming week, but summer is right around the corner, so they should definitely remain regular through then.
Remember f you have any suggestions for things these guys can do, let me know:
