Author's Note: Trying to write fast…. Just for you! hugs potential reviewer
Chapter 3: Tuesday
Cyborg's organic eye felt the warming rays of sunshine before his cybernetic one blinked into activation. A low, repetitive tune played in the background, which Cyborg vaguely noted as the movie theme from the video last night. He felt well rested and comfortable. Lying on his side, Cyborg smiled and yawned, and frowned a bit when something tickled his cheek. His eyes opened and he realized he and Raven were still in the living room of Titans Tower. Raven was curled next to him with her head resting on his arm. Her back was to his chest and the curtain of hair that had fallen in her face fluttered with each breath she drew, and one lock kept floating up, tickling Cyborg's face. He moved his left arm, which was wrapped securely around Raven's waist, and grabbed the remote, turning off the halted credits that still hung on the television screen.
His movement awoke Raven, who groaned at the bright morning light in her eyes and turned over, facing Cyborg. She opened her eyes and gasped when she realized she and Cyborg were so close, but she didn't move.
"Uhh… good morning?" Raven said awkwardly.
Cyborg laughed.
"Have a good night's sleep?" He joked.
Raven smiled.
"Actually… I did." She said, looking into Cyborg's eyes with her violet ones. Cyborg's laughter slowly died as he gazed back. Suddenly, without fully knowing what he was doing, Cyborg closed the short distance between them with a kiss, moving his hand from her waist to her back. Raven's eyes widened and several kitchen appliances exploded, but she returned the kiss, and the two Titans parted breathlessly after a moment and stared at each other.
"Umm… sorry about that, I…" Cyborg began helplessly. "We should… we should get up… umm…"
"Uhh… oh, yeah, um…" Raven said just as weakly, untangling their arms and standing, offering her hand to Cyborg as he got up as well. The pair faced each other, the morning glow of the sun resting on their shoulders. The room was eerily quiet.
"So, um… I'll see you later, huh?" Cyborg said, his voice low.
"Yeah…" Raven murmured, stepping closer to him. "Yeah…"
But she pressed her hand to the side of his face and kissed him once more before breaking away and sweeping down the hall, light bulbs shattering with flashes and sharp echoes in her wake.
After a quick run-through of his morning wash and hygiene routine, Cyborg paced his room, berating himself.
'Cyborg, what were you thinking? You shouldn't've acted on your crush, you're so stupid!'
'But you're in love.' A mysterious little voice in his head said, 'People always to crazy things when they're in love.'
'I know, I know…' Cyborg allowed reluctantly.
'But,' His coy conscious continued, 'She did return your kiss, right? And then she kissed you again.'
'That's true…'
'Maybe she likes you, too. Who knows?'
'Yeah… yeah!' Cyborg thought enthusiastically, but then his good mood dropped.
'She might've just been, I dunno, but I can't believe she would fall in love with me.'
'If she wasn't, why did she sleep with you?' Cyborg's mysterious conscious questioned slyly.
Cyborg colored.
'Sleep with –''Cyborg, you pervert, you know what you mean.'
'Well, yeah, but… wait a second! Am I holding a conversation with myself?!'
'More like an argument…' His chatty conscious said drolly.
'Shut up.'
'You can't tell me to shut up, I'm you!'
"Whatever." Cyborg growled out loud.
"What was that?" A third voice asked interestedly.
Cyborg looked up to see his only resident roommate peering into his room, freshly showered and dressed, and smelling slightly of something citrus. He put his hand on the back of his neck, grinning guiltily.
"Just, uhh… talking to myself, that's all."
"Alright," Raven answered in her monotone voice. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to come with me. I'm going to the mall."
"The mall?" Cyborg asked, genuinely perplexed. "I thought you didn't like that place."
"Ehh, it's alright." Raven said, leaning against the doorframe. "I just don't go very often."
"Um, sure, Rae, I'll come." Cyborg said.
"Great. Let's go." Raven answered, appearing a bit happier. They trudged down to the T-car and got in, Cyborg behind the wheel and Raven riding shotgun. The short drive to the shopping mall was uneventful but calm, and Raven took the time to meditate momentarily after thinking sarcastically, 'If things like what took place this morning happen, I'll be blowing up stores.'
"Ahh, we're here! The fabulous home of Waffle Kitchen!" Cyborg exclaimed as they walked through the tall, lit entrance doors and into the cavernous home of shops and stores. People walked hurriedly from one place to another, teenagers lagged reluctantly behind their fast-walking families or in groups of friends, and babies in strollers cried as their mothers waited in long lines to pay for their purchases.
Raven looked over at her friend and raised an eyebrow.
"Waffle Kitchen? Didn't you just eat breakfast?"
Cyborg sweat dropped.
"Uhh, you can never have too many waffles?" He offered pathetically with a grin on his face.
Raven rolled her eyes and laughed, the low chime of it lost in the echoing building. Cyborg grabbed her hand and pulled her along.
"To Waffle Kitchen!" He cried excitedly, making Raven laugh her subdued laugh again.
"Hey, hey, hey!" A greasy man in a black tux cried as the two passed. He stood in front of a single standing island shop nearly dripping with jewelry. He waved his bejeweled hand at Cyborg. "We've got a sale going on! Buy a diamond ring for your lady, sir! Guaranteed to win her heart!"
Cyborg and Raven stared at the man like he'd lost his mind. Seeing his potentially lost customers, the salesman hurried to cover his mistake.
"Or, you could buy some jewels for your mother! Make her smile each morning as she sees the trinkets you've bought her!"
The greasy man gestured to a large display of wrought gold and silver necklaces and bracelets, some encrusted with gems of many colors. Raven gave the man a death glare, and this time it was Raven who grabbed her companion's hand dragged the other deeper into the mall. The salesman waved them goodbye.
"Remember, we're open weekdays!" He called frantically.
"Salesmen are so pushy these days," Cyborg said conversationally once they'd left earshot. "That guy was kinda creepy though."
"Is creepy bad?" Raven asked.
"Well, nah, you're takin' me wrong. That was slimy creepy. You've got the good creepiness." Cyborg explained, somehow missing the fact that what he'd said made little sense.
Raven smiled.
"Ah! Look –" She said, grabbing Cyborg's arm and pointing him toward a corner shop with "Herbal Expressions" written loopy scrawl on the glowing sign above the entryway. Cyborg raised his eyebrows.
"This is where you go?" He asked as they entered the dimly lit café and found a seat at a round table.
"Yeah," Raven answered, blowing a piece of her purple hair out of her amethyst eyes. She gestured to a tall boy in baggy black jeans wearing an equally loose black shirt with the word "Gothica" embellished on it. A stylish beret rested at an angle over his dark brown hair. "There's Sean, sometimes he'll sit next to me during a poetry open mic."
Cyborg felt a twinge of jealously.
"You're friends?"
Raven looked up at Cyborg, who didn't tower over her as much as he had in the past; she'd gotten taller.
"I guess you could call us that," She shrugged. Cyborg's jealousy didn't fade when the boy walked over.
"Raven." Sean said, totally disregarding Cyborg. Cyborg surreptitiously stepped closer to Raven, clenching his teeth.
"Sean." Raven said.
"Brought you tea." Sean said, placing the steamy cup onto the table. "So… going to the poetry reading next week?" He continued, ignoring Cyborg again.
"Uhh." Raven glanced at Cyborg out of the corner of her eye. He seemed angry at something. She shrugged it off mentally. "I don't know, maybe."
"Want to come with?" Sean asked, hands in his pockets. Cyborg bit down harder to keep himself from talking.
"I… I'll think about it." Raven answered coolly. 'What's with Cyborg?' She thought.
"Cool." Sean said slowly, and drifted away from their table to talk to another group of people.
"Let's go, Rae," Cyborg said, standing up and feeling a little more than green with envy.
"Alright," Raven said reluctantly, picking up the tea that Sean had given her and starting toward the exit. "Let's go."
The two walked out of poetry café and strolled through the loud mall for a while. Raven even endured Cyborg's stop at the Waffle Barn, where Cyborg convinced her to sit with him and buy a waffle or two, which, although slightly annoying, made her smile. After their bite to eat, the two split up to shop on their own for a while. When they finally met up again, it was getting late. The mall lights were coming on and the place glittered with white garland lights wrapped around poles and in the ceiling to add whimsical effects. Cyborg held the glass door open for Raven as they left the mall and entered the darkening parking lot, scanning the expanse of pavement for the T-car until Cyborg remembered the locator he'd installed. Shaking her head, Raven followed her cybernetic friend to his car and got in.
The trip to Titans Tower wasn't a long one, and when they arrived and entered the Tower, Cyborg remembered the conversation Sean and Raven had had.
"Rae, you're not really gonna go with that guy, are you?" Cyborg demanded some time after they had arrived home, looking at her as she sipped some herbal tea.
"Why should it matter if I do?" She said serenely, but there was an icy hint in her tone.
"Well… I dunno, I just don't like him!"
Raven glanced at Cyborg over the top of her tea.
"Is it him you don't like, or is it me going with him that you don't like?"
Cyborg started. It was amazing how easily she always seemed to get to the root of the problem.
"Hey!" He said defensively. "I never said I had a problem with it!"
"Then why are you asking me about it, Cyborg?" Raven said coldly, her voice rising.
"He's weird, don't go with him, that's all!" Cyborg said, volume increasing to cover her voice.
Raven stood.
"He's weird? He's weird?" She demanded angrily, louder than before. "He wears dark clothes and likes dark, depressing poetry and hangs out in gloomy cafés and that's what you don't like?"
Cyborg threw up his hands.
"Raven, you know that's not what I meant!"
"Than what did you mean, Cyborg, what did you mean?!"
Raven's glass of tea exploded in her anger. It was mostly empty, but the remaining liquid in the cup splattered the two yelling figures.
"I mean he's bad news! You could get hurt!"
"I can take care of myself!"
"It's not that!" Cyborg yelled in frustration. Raven stopped.
"What is it, then, Cyborg?" Raven said quietly. He hesitated.
"I just… I don't want you getting hurt, Raven." He sighed.
Silence.
"Look, sorry for bothering you." Cyborg said bitterly. "I'll see you in the morning." He turned to leave.
"Cyborg, wait." Raven said, biting her lip.
He turned heavily.
"What is it?"
Raven levitated herself to Cyborg's eye level. She kissed him softly.
"Thanks," She whispered, leaning her forehead against his.
"For what?" He answered, dazed by the kiss and genuinely confused.
"For caring." She said simply.
Author's Note: The end of Tuesday! God, they kiss a lot but don't admit their feelings, huh? Better get them together soon... heh heh heh
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