07

"When did you fall in love with me?"

Nightwing chuckled. His voice shook her heart, it was deep and soothing. His hand was on her waist, both of them lying in bed. His thumb idly made circles on her skin.

"I'll tell you on our first proper date."

Raven frowned. She wasn't so sure what proper dates supposed to look like. Though the team tends to forget, she wasn't really from Earth after all. Growing up under monks in a temple didn't help that much either. Even during her years on Earth her focus was solely on controlling her emotions and surviving, so she didn't have much knowledge on Earth's common norms.

"And when is that?"

Nightwing's lips curved up, creating a mischievous smile. It made him look dangerous in a tempting way, and it always made her heart skip a beat.

"I was hoping you'd tell me."

The Tower was filled with laughter. Beastboy and Cyborg were teaching Starfire how to play a new video game, which she was surprisingly good at. Quickly it turned into a competition among the three, laughing and provoking one another.

"No one can beat THIS genius! Call me Beast Master and bow before me!"
"Not so fast, Beast Boy - I was going easy on you so you can feel what's it like to be me, a champion!"

Starfire's laugh filled the space again. It sounded like a burst of energy, sunshine and chimes. Raven had a book in her hands, but she had her eyes on her leader. It seemed that he had no idea that he had been staring at her for quite a long time. Raven's eyes fell back to her book.

After Red X's flower prank, the thief has been surprisingly silent until now. No one has heard anything about him for a while, and he wasn't at home either. Nothing happened until now, but things got weird. Robin was avoiding her, and when they were in the same room, he ignored her presence. Just like now.

It was Cyborg and Starfire's idea to spend some time together. The team hasn't really had a get-together in ages. Starfire complained that they needed to make some better memories. Cyborg agreed. They noticed that they haven't really had any fun in a while.

"Come on, Rae. Just for a day. Just like the old days!"

So it was Cyborg who came to persuade her. Raven just stood there at her door. Something about what he said seemed to stick to her. There was a soft longing look in her eyes. Cyborg was proud to say he got better at noticing her emotions, so he continued to coax her.

As the team grew older, each spent more time on their own. Beastboy made friends, Starfire went out to see different nearby cities, Cyborg was always in his lab to develop new technology. And Robin.. Raven blocked her emotions. Robin spent most of his time with her.

Just like the old days, he said. So that was why Raven dragged herself here. Those words had irresistible magic in them, although in the end, it meant hopelessness.

-I'm so proud of you, Raven. You went to the mall with Starfire last week, listened to Beastboy's jokes yesterday and it's this today. You're so good at torturing yourself!

-Why thank you, Raven. Only the best for you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go boil myself in Holy water.

'Shut up,' Raven gritted her teeth. The voices fell silent. Raven sat up to meditate, rather in disbelief that she had to go through this again. She muttered her mantra, and peace started to come.

"You know why I wanted you to ask me out?"

The night Raven finally asked him out on a proper date, Nightwing didn't give her an answer. He asked her that question instead. It was her seventh attempt but the first to succeed without messing her words up. She knew he enjoyed every single moment of it.

"..Because you're a twisted sadist and you love to see others suffer?" was her honest guess. He laughed hysterically. For some reason, Richard loved it when she called him something relatively bad. Some of his favorites were 'blood thirsty bat', 'spoiled brat' and 'the mad hatter'. He told her he loved it because it loosened it up from his obsession and pressure of being the 'stuck up-conservative hero'.

"Well, I wanted your attention."
"Don't I give you enough?"

He put his hands on her hips and dragged her close. He growled.

"No. You drove me out of my mind and tortured me enough, Raven. I still can't forgive you for the time you tried to set me up with Starfire."

That was when she had no idea what he thought of her. The bond wasn't strong enough to reveal his feelings, because both of them guarded their emotions fiercely.

"I guess I'll have to find a way to ask for forgiveness then."

He was breathing into her neck as Raven slowly caressed his back. He smiled.

"Lucky for you, I have a few things in mind."

"Raven, dude, you alright?"

Beastboy's voice woke her back to Earth. The whole team was looking at her, even Robin.

"What?"
"I mean look, your cloak was like pink to white to purple.."

Raven looked down. Indeed, her leotard was in purple. Knowing which emotion it meant, she blushed slightly. She inhaled, turning it back to midnight blue. She looked up back again.

"What happened?"
"I was meditating. Why?"
"It was like you were sorta in a trance. I mean it was cool though! Everything around you were like, zero gravity. The cups and chairs and everything. For a second you looked like you were from outer space! Since when were you able to do stuff like that? Hey, you know what? We should totally play ball in zero gravity! Like an advanced version of Stank ball!"

Raven smiled weakly. Beastboy was reliable on making things sound less serious and joyful.

"Yeah, perhaps next time."
"Don't take that back! I'll come up with the rules!"
"Not on your own, great pea. Hey, pizza is here!"
"Glorious! Allow me to do the fetching!"

As the teammates were chatting away, Raven's darted to Robin's. He had an odd look on his face. He opened his mouth to say something. Nothing came out. Raven waited, trying to calm her heart down.

"Dude, if you're not coming, we're gonna finish all of it now!"
"Friend Robin, Raven, do come! It is deliciously warm and nice."

Robin shook his head and turned away. Raven closed her eyes, trying to put her emotions to sleep.