A/N: Not much to report. Had some difficulty with this chapter at the end but I hope it reads better than it did in my head. Enjoy!
Humans could be vain, obnoxious creatures.
The merriment of the evening had finally peaked and begun to overflow. Raven wasn't sure if it was the normal progression of such things or if it was exacerbated by the unusual words of soon-to-be Mayor Morelli, but the celebration had taken on a renewed fervor after the presentations. So much so, Raven was beginning to feel that the party was getting away from itself.
Drinks sloshed, women were unsteady on their heels, journalists were shooed away. The elite of Jump City were really no better than college kids when it came to their vigor for distractions and excess. Raven even caught one young woman heaving into a potted fern as she was wandering the hallways in search of the restroom. They blinked at each other in a moment of equal surprise before her curly, blonde head disappeared back into the plant.
Meanwhile, Gar seemed to have taken Robin's words to heart, Raven noticed. He cheerfully posed with other attendees in as many pictures as they demanded. Even when the cameraman was rather inept or intoxicated and managed to only capture a thumb, he gladly stood there and smiled until they declared it a masterpiece.
He could be amiable, she realized, even among the most nauseating company. Despite his earlier reaction with Peter, he was good at playing along with the other guests. If he had nothing nice to say he'd simply wash down his thoughts with a sip of his drink.
Raven eventually settled onto a bench in the corner of the room with Starfire, both of them grateful to finally rest their feet. Star practically swooned in relief as she sat down.
"If you levitate a bit to take the weight off, it helps a lot." Raven advised. She'd been using this trick on and off throughout the evening.
"Brilliant." Starfire told her, slipping off her impressive silver heels.
"Where did Robin wander off to?" Raven asked. Despite their unofficial status as a couple, Robin and Starfire rarely engaged in any public displays of affection. Still it surprised Raven that he'd yet to pull her friend out on the dance floor at least once this evening.
"Oh. Robin is… on the job, as you say." She sounded tired. Raven felt a pang of sympathy, looking at her friend. Starfire rarely asked for much. But Raven knew how deep her feelings went for all her friends that she couldn't imagine how hard it was for Star to temper her emotions when it came to Robin. Especially here and now, when Robin should have been most attentive.
Star was a vision of beauty in her new sequin gown. When she moved, the dress rippled like water, reflecting the blues of a tranquil sea. More than one man had been brave enough to ask her for a dance this evening. Starfire was nothing if intimidating with her tall stature, muscular physique and wild red hair. Anyone who danced with her, did so with the utmost respect for Star and her Amazonian strength and prowess. But despite her other admirers, Robin had primarily chosen the company of old men over other pleasures of the evening.
"He could learn a thing or two from Victor." Raven noted as she surveyed the room. Their other companion was happily chatting away with an attractive young woman in a princess gown. He'd already danced with her twice that evening and based on her body language and frequent giggling she looked quite enamored by their cyborg friend. Raven knew Victor could be a rascal when it came to the ladies. There were times where he'd be juggling two or more female friends at the same time. If anyone on their team knew a thing about enjoying life outside of the job it was him.
"Who is Gar dancing with?" Starfire asked, touching Raven lightly on the shoulder. Raven followed her gaze to see a familiar green form on the dance floor. Gar had his hand on the hip of a rather beautiful woman with a petite frame and long blonde hair coiled elegantly into a bun. She moved with him, her silver dress flowing around them to reveal long, tan legs and strappy heels. Observing her, Raven felt nothing and she was proud of it. That is until Gar's other hand spun her around and she saw his expression.
He had such a joyful look on his face. His eyes were firmly fixated on her face, which was youthful and pink from dancing. His hands guided her gracefully, their bodies moving in sync to some instinctive ebb and flow. He seemed to carry a permanent smile except for a few occasions where it was punctuated with laughter at something she had said. Raven felt their shared pleasure and suddenly had a hard time swallowing.
"I don't know." Raven told her friend quietly. Star's manner was also agitated but it turned out it was for a different reason.
"Robin is calling us over." She said, patting Raven's knee gently. It took a moment before Raven could tear her eyes away from Gar and his attractive dance partner. She felt mesmerized by their happiness and the way it tore into her.
"Raven, do you know that man?" Star asked her, slipping her shoes back on. Raven took a deep breath and finally turned away to look at where Star was staring. Standing at one of the cocktail tables by the whale exhibit was Robin and Peter, the latter of which was noticeably more intoxicated by the way he was waving at them. Raven groaned a little inwardly and shook her head in the affirmative.
"Yes. Charming fellow. I met him earlier." Raven told her flatly. Star raised an eyebrow in question.
"You go ahead. I'm going to get another drink." Raven told her as they got to their feet. She had no interest right now in interacting with a drunker version of Peter. In fact, she had little interest in interacting with anyone right now. Starfire let her go without protest and Raven made her way to the bar, giving the dance floor a wide berth as she went. She wanted no accidental encounters with Gar and his new friend.
At the bar, a few men happily made space for her, giving her appreciative glances as they sipped glasses of whisky neat. Feeling inspired, Raven ordered gin straight up and promptly downed half of it in a single swig. The bartender noticed and graciously topped her off with a look that told her he knew exactly what place she was trying to get to.
Raven never got drunk and didn't plan on making tonight a first but the warmth of the alcohol was doing wonders to distract her from more unpleasant things. In fact, it took her a moment to realize that someone was speaking to her.
"Ms. Roth?" The voice asked again. Raven turned cautiously, not quite certain that she'd heard correctly. The voice was all too familiar for unpleasant reasons and when she finally did see him, Raven's shoulders stiffened. It was Mr. Morelli who was addressing her, a pleasant smile on his face and a hand extended in greeting.
"Raven is fine." She told him, ignoring his hand.
"Excuse me. I wasn't sure if you still used your mother's name." He withdrew his hand into his pocket but the smile remained.
Raven's instincts were prickling despite Morelli's calm demeanor and casual tone. He spoke in that soft voice which betrayed no enthusiasm, no anger, no emotion beyond some polite friendliness. What rattled her most was that he had referred to her by a name she hadn't gone by in many years. He was also familiar with her mother, Arella Roth which was in itself unusual.
It wasn't as if this information wasn't publicly available to anyone willing to dig for it but something told Raven that Morelli wanted her to know that he knew. Her unease deepened.
"I'm sure you can appreciate why I never took my father's name." She told him, taking a sip of her gin. Far from being shocked by her response, Morelli's smile only widened.
"Very pleased to formally meet you, Raven." He swiveled to his right. "Also, if you haven't met, this is my wife, Abigail." Raven was surprised to suddenly notice the woman at his side. She was a small, mousy thing. Her brown hair was chopped short in a utilitarian way and her black dress seemed very plain set among the other attire. What struck Raven most was her displeased expression and the way her large eyes darted around the room constantly like some caged animal.
"Delighted." She muttered, her attention barely stopping on Raven for a second.
"We're both very impressed by what you bring to the Titans." Morelli continued, unfazed by his wife's behavior. "I've heard nothing but praise from your teammates and Mayor Borthwick." Unclear of his intentions, Raven simply nodded.
"I hope we can prove to be an equally effective asset to the city under your management." She told him, choosing the safe response. Until she knew what game he was playing, it was probably best to be cautious. She could play stupid when she needed to.
His dark eyes watched her for a moment, carefully measuring something until the silence became too pronounced for him to ignore it.
"Well then, if you have a moment, would you mind a photo?" He asked, turning to gesture at a pimply young man behind him with a camera in his hands. Hoping this would be the end of their encounter, Raven nodded and allowed Morelli to step in beside her. He didn't wrap an arm around her, or shake her hand or even so much as change the expression on his face. The flash went off and Raven blinked at the floating pinpricks of light swimming in her vision.
"I look forward to talking more with you." He said, turning to her again. "You and the rest of your teammates." He paused, his smile more enigmatic than ever.
"But that can come later. Please enjoy the party, Raven." He bowed his head and, putting a hand on his distracted wife's shoulder, steered them both away, cameraman following dutifully in their wake.
Raven let out a breath, suddenly feeling awful. Far from being an elegant and enjoyable evening, the past few hours had been one unpleasant moment after the next. She thought about Gar, tried not to, drank more gin, and scanned the room for familiar faces that were not green.
Glancing across the dance floor, Raven caught sight of Starfire again. Her head was tilted back in a genuine laugh, her hand on Robin's shoulder as if to steady herself. They were still chatting with Peter though Robin looked significantly more unhappy from when Raven last saw him. His arms were crossed and his face was turning red with some disagreeable emotion.
Raven could only guess that Peter was running his mouth again and had worked his magic on Robin as he had with Gar earlier. It pleased her to think that Peter's flirtatious behavior was ruffling some of Robin's feathers. A little bit of jealousy might be exactly what he needed to realize Starfire's affection wasn't something he should take for granted. That and maybe a good kick in the ass.
The liquor was talking to her now and maybe that's why things unfolded the way they did. But what happened next would turn out to be the catalyst for many things to come.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Gar again. He was no longer on the dance floor but leaning against one of the concrete pillars not far from her. The same woman was next to him, her back to the pillar, her hands folded demurely in front of her, eyes downcast as Gar chattered away amiably. She was smiling, nodding, occasionally glancing up at Gar in a shy way that suited her Bambi eyes. Raven felt so intensely hopeless watching them.
If some cruel god had wanted to design a woman to embody all things that were Raven's shortcomings and failures, this would be it. She had all those soft, feminine qualities that had charmed men since the beginning of time. Her beauty bloomed under the male gaze. She spoke to Gar with her eyes and her body in a way that Raven would never be able to.
Despite the turmoil inside of her, Raven knew she had no reason to be upset. Gar wasn't hers. Raven had made that point clear time and time again. But knowing that didn't diminish the waves of self-loathing that rolled over her. Her chest ached all the same with some intense feeling that she had been robbed, not just now in this moment, but throughout her whole life.
She was so caught up in watching him that when Gar's eyes unexpectedly locked onto hers, Raven panicked. She caught his confused look for a brief moment before she averted her eyes and turned to hurry out of the main hall, half hoping that he'd been staring at someone else.
Her heart was beating hard in her chest, some combination of adrenaline and anger. Anger at someone or something, she wasn't entirely sure. But she needed to escape this party, get out of this dress and forget the whole evening if her mind would allow her. Her shoes made quick, sharp noises on the tile floor as she hurried towards an exit. There was an elevator down the hall to the main floor where she could pick up her cloak before she teleported home.
Raven pressed the button and the doors slid open. As she stepped inside, her ears picked up on the sound of hurried footsteps behind her. Not in the mood for company, Raven prayed the doors would shut before those footsteps reached her.
As fate would have it, a hand popped through the shrinking opening, followed by the rest of Gar's body as the doors jolted back open. He was breathing hard and his bow tie was crooked, obviously having put a great deal of effort into chasing her down.
"Goddamn." He muttered, trying to compose himself. "You can really move in those heels." Raven said nothing but made her intentions clear by pressing the elevator button to get them moving.
"Are you leaving?" He asked, not bothering to hide the disappointment in his voice.
"I've done enough socializing for a lifetime." She told him, wishing that for all the space in the elevator, he had chosen somewhere farther away to stand. She could smell his cologne and almost feel the heat radiating off him.
"You're mad at me, aren't you?" He asked her quietly. Raven only stared hard at the elevator doors, counting the seconds until she could bolt out of this prison. That was when Gar reached forward and hit the emergency stop button.
"Gar, what the fuck!" She spat, smacking him on the chest. It felt good to boil over. She was completely out of patience by this point and Gar suddenly felt like an excellent outlet for the storm raging inside her.
"She's engaged, Raven. She didn't know anyone and I was just keeping her company until her fiance arrived." His words meant nothing at this point, she could hardly hear him over the blood pumping in her ears.
"I don't care, you idiot." Raven hit him on the chest again with a balled fist, hard enough this time that he winced.
"I'm going home." She squeezed her eyes shut to visualize her room but a hand grabbed her wrist and the image left her. An inhuman noise of frustration erupted from behind her clenched teeth.
"Let go!" She was yelling now, practically ready to claw his eyes out if he didn't just give up. His face was serious as he watched her seethe in front of him. Raven couldn't imagine what he was thinking watching her like this. He must be repulsed or angry or at least ready to admit that she was out of her mind. But his next sentence surprised her.
"The whole evening, I just wanted to dance with you, Raven." He said quietly.
It hurt differently to hear him say those words. There was still the pain from before - the anger, the embarrassment - but the new part of it was the sudden strange contractions in her chest. He was looking at her cautiously, his usual bravado gone, replaced by a melancholy that she knew was entirely her doing.
She unclenched her fists and let her arm go limp in his grasp. What was it about him that always made her want to rage like some petulant child? She never let anyone else push her so far. She'd never really cared enough before to get angry.
"I can't dance." She told him, unwilling to meet his eyes as she spoke. "You were never going to get me out on that dance floor." Her voice was still raw with emotion.
His lips twitched but he seemed to know better than to laugh at her in this moment. The atmosphere was still full of potential landmines.
Instead, the hand on her wrist slid down to grasp her hand, warmly intertwining their fingers. He pulled her forward, his other hand going to her hip.
"I'll tell you a secret." He said, their faces much closer now. "All you need is a good partner."
When he started swaying from side to side, Raven thought her heart might jump out of her chest.
As Gar moved, the hand on her hip slid around to rest on the small of her back, his fingers making contact with her bare skin as he pulled her in closer.
"I am mad at you." She finally admitted.
"I know. You're still glaring at me." He said, breaking into a smile. "It's actually pretty sexy." Raven resisted the urge to smack him again.
"But I shouldn't be mad at you." Raven sighed.
"Well if it makes you feel any better, I was up to no good." He told her. "I thought maybe if you saw how good my dance moves were you'd get jealous and ask me."
"I'm not jealous." What an idea, she snorted. Raven didn't get jealous. Maybe a little envious at times but jealousy was a ridiculous emotion.
"Are you sure?" Gar's smug expression chafed at her ego.
"Jealous of what? That wimpy, blonde…" Raven paused, struggling to come up with an adequate description, "harlot." She finished, punctuating the word for emphasis.
Her obvious disapproval had Gar laughing, spinning her around the small space of the elevator.
"So Raven does get jealous." He was enjoying this. His handsome face was cheerful again, eyes bright and cheeks flushed from the heat and the alcohol.
"I could say the same for you." She said defensively. His smile fell a little.
"You put up with plenty of terrible people tonight. I think there's another reason why you dislike Peter so much." He pressed his lips together, his mouth disappearing into a thin line. They continued swaying while Gar appeared to choose his next words carefully.
"If I was, could you blame me?" He asked her softly. Raven searched his face, finding his expression had darkened. Those green eyes were looking at her possessively now, intensifying that odd, growing sensation in her lower stomach.
"You came down those stairs and I couldn't think straight." Gar admitted. "I thought I was having a stroke." He smiled ruefully as he pulled her in closer, both hands on her hips now.
Their swaying had stopped and Raven was fairly certain she knew where this was going. His forehead gently bumped against her own, his gaze moving to her mouth as he spoke.
"Then that prick beats me to it and takes your hand and acts all smug about it." She knew where it was going, but for the life of her Raven couldn't pull away. All those sensory memories had her nerves buzzing with anticipation. Even if her rational mind denied it, her body craved him, remembering the exquisite satisfaction of his touch.
"Of course I'm jealous." He whispered against her lips. "The way you look tonight ought to be illegal."
When his mouth crashed down on hers, Raven found herself already arching up to meet him. He was violently intoxicating. She could taste champagne and strawberries on his tongue. Her hands came up to tangle in his hair, fingers brushing against the tips of his pointed ears as they curled into his green locks.
It shocked her how easily she responded to him now. The familiarity of his mouth was exhilarating, awakening feelings of a more possessive nature.
'Mine.' Something in her mind growled darkly. She kissed him harder.
When her back hit the cool wall of the elevator, Raven gasped in surprise at the sudden chill on her skin. Gar took the opportunity to move his lips to her neck, sliding them along the sensitive skin, his hot breath coming in bursts that made her shiver.
Some part of her might have known that it would come to this when he stepped into the elevator. She was embarrassed to admit that despite all her anger, her body had reacted to him immediately. That passion which made her want to rage and slap him blurred easily into the kind of passion that currently had her wrapping her legs around his waist.
Gar had slid his hand along the slit in her dress, his calloused palms running up the length of her thigh as he hiked up her dress. When he picked her up to press her hard against the wall, Raven knew she was in trouble. She could feel the whole length of him pressed into her core, hard and ready if she wanted it. The intensity of her own desire took her breath away. The next second she had the front of his jacket fisted in her hands, pulling him to her as Gar's mouth found hers again.
It would have been too easy to let Gar have his way with her. In the back of her mind, Raven vaguely remembered some half-hearted promises she'd made to herself before the night had started. It was almost laughable now the way reality dissolved as Gar rolled his hips into her. Those promises felt like something from a completely different time and place. They were entirely inconsequential compared to the fire pulsing through Raven's body.
Her head jerked back against the wall as Gar's hands tightening on her ass to bring her even more fully against him. Raven had to bite her lip to keep from moaning. She needed to do something now before she lost her wits completely.
When Raven's hand began traveling down his shirt towards his waistline, Gar practically groaned in relief. He'd been watching her squirm with a satisfied expression on his face but Raven could feel him trembling with the effort of restraint. She tried not to think about how quickly he would have her if she only asked. But this was part of the game and Raven intended to play by her own rules.
His breath hitched as she felt along the length of him. Some primal part of Raven rejoiced at the size of him in her hand. When she squeezed Gar almost dropped her in surprise.
"Fuck." Was all he could manage. His head dropped to her shoulder, his hair tickling her neck while low growls of pleasure reverberated in his chest.
Taking a deep breath, Raven squeezed again, much harder. The effect was instantaneous.
"What the hell." He wheezed, quickly sliding her off him in an attempt to get away from her vice grip.
Raven kept her hold on him as he let go of her, his expression almost comical in its alarm and discomfort. He was still making confused noises of pain when Raven spoke.
"We are not fucking in an elevator." She told him, straightening her dress with her other hand. "And", she continued, finally releasing him to Gar's immediate relief, "I'm still mad at you."
Raven pressed the button for the main floor and the elevator lurched into motion again. Meanwhile, Gar was double over, disheveled and out of breath, staring up at her with the most astounded look on his face. He seemed completely at loss for words.
For a second, Raven almost felt bad for him but then her mind recalled the image of him dancing with that blonde woman. Gar needed to be taught a lesson about toying with demon spawn.
The elevator chimed and Raven stepped out as the doors opened. She didn't look behind her as she walked away. And this time she didn't hear any hurried footsteps other than her own.
A/N: Sorry for being a tease but you know how these things go. Review if you please! And for those in the USA, happy 4th of July :)