AN: Well here we go, Chapter 2 to Blue Bird. I reposted the first chapter because I realized that this was AU and they needed real names. I'm so stupid. hits self but anyway, I hope all of you enjoy this chapter and remember to review!
Chapter Two
Heading to the arcade only a few blocks away, the five teenagers started to talk and get to know each other.
"So, you work with kids, huh?" Richard asked Kori as the two strolled along next to Victor, Garfield and Raven.
"Yes, I truly enjoy working with young children, they always seem to be happy and are relaxing to be with" Kori said with a grin. "Oh, Raven, you haven't met Victor." She gestured to the tall boy walking next to her.
"Well, hello there little lady, it's nice to meet you." Victor said as he extended his hand for Raven.
"Nice to meet you too." Raven said quietly as she shook Victor's hand lightly. She would have really preferred to have stayed at the café or simply have gone home, but it seemed that she was now stuck with a bunch of happy, chattering young adults. Sometimes she wished that her past hadn't ended up the way it had, that she could be so free with the way she felt.
"So dudes, I heard that they got an awesome new game down at the arcade, I can't wait to try it." Garfield said before he turned to Victor. "It's a two player game and I'm gonna kick your butt Victor!" He said as he nearly jumped with excitement.
"Yeah right Gar, you know you've never been able to beat me at any game before, what makes you think that you can win now?" Victor laughed lightly punching his friend on the arm.
Kori turned back to Richard. "So what do you do for your job?"
"I help out at a karate dojo." Richard said with a small smile. "I trained there when I was young, so now I like to help out the teacher there."
"Oh! How glorious!" Kori laughed. "It must be wonderful to stay and pass on what you know to younger generations."
"Yeah, but that's not all he does." Victor said. "Richard also is an officer in training for the police force."
"Well, yeah, I like to make sure this city stays safe." Richard said with a shrug.
"Richard is just being modest." Garfield put in as he turned to Kori. "He's caught a lot of robbers and a lot worse than that." Garfield said.
"Not to mention he's working on a gang case right now." Victor said. "He's tracing a leader of one of the worst gangs we've seen. Slade, he calls himself, and Richard can be a little obsessive at times." Victor said as he turned to Kori. "When he's working you better watch out, he'll stop at nothing to find out the truth."
As Victor was talking about Slade, Raven glanced across the street and noticed an old bookstore, turning to tell Kori that a book she had wanted might be in there she noticed Garfield's expression. It was sad and there was a hint of anger at the mention of the gang leaders name. Cocking her head she studied him for a few moments.
Garfield felt her gaze and looked up at Raven. Seeing her questioning expression he flashed her a small grin and shook his head, more to clear his thoughts than anything else.
"Alright ya'll! The arcade" Victor called happily as they entered in the open-air building. The five new friends stood in the entranceway of the arcade and took in the sights around them.
Richard turned to Kori and grinned. "You want to go play skeet ball?" He asked her. Kori nodded happily and the two slipped off to find the game leaving Garfield, Victor and Raven all alone.
"Hey Vic, there's that awesome new game wanna check it out?" Garfield asked his friend and when he nodded began to follow him over to the video game. Raven stayed where she was. The invitation had not been for her, and so at a loss of what to do, she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. She really rather preferred cafes to arcades, and she really didn't enjoy all the noise that game from the various games. Garfield noticed that Raven hadn't followed and turned back to her.
"Hey, come on Raven, you're going miss out on all the fun." He waggled his eyebrows again and then gave her a small smile as she headed toward them, almost uncertainly. Leaning against the game, she watched as Victor and Garfield raced a pair of cars along a narrow track.
"You wanna pass me, but you can't pass me, you can't- hey! You passed me!" Victor's taunts turned into laugher as Garfield pulled his car up in front of Victor's car.
Raven rolled her eyes. Really, people her age playing childish racing games. But then again, Raven considered as she watched the two friends play, they did look like they were having fun. Sighing to herself, she gracefully shifted one of her blue-jean clad legs to cross the other one. She watched as Garfield laughed as he stayed ahead of Victor on the track, his eyes dancing in boyish amusement. There was something about him that struck Raven. He wasn't what a girl would call cute, but at the same time there was just something about him, Raven couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something made him different. Different in a good way she decided.
Garfield gasped as Victor rammed his car aside and pulled into the lead, it wasn't fair, Victor always won. Gritting his teeth he tried to do the same to Victor, but he simply laughed and increased the speed of his car. The game continued on in the same fashion, Victor ahead while Garfield pushed on from behind, desperately trying to pull back into the lead. Sighing in defeat, Garfield slumped against the machine as Victor did a small victory dance.
"What did I tell you Gar? You can never beat the master." Victor called as he paraded around the worn out boy.
"Whatever Vic," Garfield moaned as he pushed himself to his feet and grinned at Raven. "I bet Raven could take you. She looks like the kind of girl who could beat the true master." Raven raised an eyebrow in surprise. She had never played video games in her life, but this didn't seem to matter to Garfield.
"Right Raven?" Garfield turned to her, hope sparkling in his sage green eyes. "You could beat Victor, couldn't you?"
"Umm… I have never really played any game like this before. In fact, I haven't really ever played any videogames in my life." Raven murmured, hoping that would be the end of the subject. Instead, it turned out to trigger something else.
Both of the boy's eyes widened, in shook and amazement. "Really?" "No way!" They both said at the same time.
"Dude, you've never played any videogames? You mean in your life?" Garfield squeaked. He seemed to be truly amazed, and at the same time horrified, at the fact.
"That's what she said man." Victor replied. He seemed equally as shocked as Garfield.
Garfield turned to Victor. "We have got to teach her! Whoever lives their life without once experiencing videogames hasn't lived at all." Garfield laughed, though he was completely serious.
"No, I'm fine, really. I'd rather watch you two play." Raven chocked as she saw Garfield turn to her, inviting her to play. She nervously fiddled with the strap of her black tank top as Garfield shook his head and gestured for her to take up his previous position at the game.
"Come on Raven, try something fun." Garfield said as he reached out and pulled her over to the game. Raven stiffened as Garfield touched her arm, she hated being touched, and especially by someone she didn't know well. She rubbed her arm uncomfortably when Garfield let go and tried to protest one more time but this time Victor stopped her.
"You'll love videogames, just give them a try." He said cutting her off.
"Right," Garfield took up a position beside her. "This knob here controls the direction your car goes in." He pointed to a red controller that slightly resembled the stick shift in Ravens car. Garfield continued on, this time pointing to a little blue button. "This controls your speed, push it hard, your car speeds up, let it out a little, your car slows down. Got it?" He asked Raven and she gave a tiny nod. "Good, alright Victor, start her up!" Victor nodded and deposited two quarters into the machine.
It turned out that the game was a lot harder than it looked, and that Raven didn't understand it in the least. It seemed that her car had no interest in obeying her commands on which way it should go, it swerved all over the track and no matter how hard she tried, nothing made a difference.
Beside her, Garfield laughed as he gave her encouragement. "Come on Raven, Left! Oh almost yes there you go! No, never mind." Victor laughed as his car zoomed on ahead as Raven struggled to keep up with him.
Finally, Garfield, laughing so hard it seemed he could barely stand at Ravens pathetic attempt at videogames, gently reached over and placed his hand on top of Ravens, helping her guide the car along the racetrack. Raven tensed as she felt his hand come in contact with hers and nearly pulled away but managed to keep her hand still as Garfield gently guided it into controlling the car.
The game ended well, Victor in first place, and Raven coming in only thirty seconds later with Garfield's help.
"We nearly beat him." Garfield trumpeted in a near victory dance. "Nice job Raven." He lifted his hand for a high five, and Raven awkwardly and lightly slapped his hand after a moment's hesitation.
"It looks like you guys are having fun." The three turned around to see Richard and Kori approaching. Kori held a small, wooden figurine of kitten that was sitting in a basket. It had probably been won with the tickets the two had gotten from their skeet ball game. Richard was holding a small piece of paper, which he quickly tucked into the pocket of his jeans. Raven had a slight suspicion that it might just have her and Kori's number written on it.
"Yeah, we had an awesome time." Garfield said in answer to Richards question. Kori smiled happily, her bright green eyes sparkling.
"Oh, that is wonder! Raven, I am so glad that you have enjoyed yourself with our new friends." Kori giggled.
"'Uh, yeah, Kori. I had a great time." Raven said quietly as she turned to her energetic friend. In truth, she had been slightly uncomfortable playing the game, but overall she had enjoyed herself, and that surprised her. She had never been the most social person and getting along with people was sometimes rather complicated for her since she had trouble seeing eye to eye with certain types.
"Raven?" Kori asked her suddenly. "What time is it? I have to be at work at nine-thirty."
Glancing at her watch Raven realized that it was already nine-fifteen. Telling her friend this, Kori panicked.
"Oh dear, now I will be late. I promised to be on time." The foreign exchange student cried.
"Hey, I can drive you if you want. My cars just outside of Blue Bird Café." Richard offered.
"Would you? Oh that would be most wonderful." Kori said in relief before she and Richard turned to leave.
"I had better go too," Raven sighed quietly after her friend left. "I have to be at work soon anyway and it's a ways from here."
Victor and Garfield nodded in understanding. "I guess we'll see you later than, huh Raven?" Garfield replied with a smile.
"Yeah, sure. That sounds good." Raven agreed. She gave a small wave to her new friends. Cyborg nodded to her in response and Raven left.
X
Raven hummed quietly to herself as she sat alone in the library. This was the best part of job, the quiet and peacefulness that came with a Monday afternoon. She traced the line she was reading in her book, whispering it softly. A small smile flickered across her lips as she repeated it. It was interesting; she had never heard something quiet like it in the English language before.
Around the girl, people read quietly at desks and in comfortable chairs that were spread across the library. A group of friends sat and chatted quietly about their homework and anything else that crossed their minds.
"Raven?" Amethyst eyes glanced up from the black book to meet share blue eyes. "What have I told about reading on the job?" The tall man sighed as Raven blatantly shrugged. Crossing his bandaged arms over his chest he gave the girl a small glare, which Raven returned. "You should be organizing the book catalogs and entering in which books are out and which have been returned. Not reading." Raven groaned and put her book down, carefully marking the place where she had left off with a small piece of paper. "Thank you." Malchior growled before he stalked off.
Raven grumbled to herself as she logged into the computer. It wasn't fair; she never had anytime to read any more. She had thought that she might have had a minute in the calm library but her annoying boss just had to go and ruin it. The two had once shared a slight relationship, even had gone on a date once, but it hadn't worked out for either of them and ever since he had been in a fire he had grown a lot worse tempered, especially toward Raven. Really, it was beyond her why he liked to take his anger out on her; he was the one who had broken up with her. Carefully, she started to enter the books that had been checked out onto the main database. Getting up she crossed the room to the Return Book Bin and unlocked the top of it.
Inside there were books of all kinds, novels, picture books, there was even a dictionary inside. Raven moaned again as she realized that the person who'd had the shift before had slacked off. But would Malchior get mad at them? No. He would accuse Raven of not working hard. She was going to have to work late if she wanted to finish the huge pile before she went home.
Sighing, she rolled the book bin back over to the desk and started the long tedious task of checking them in. Glancing at the clock on the computer she groaned again as she saw it was almost four. Great. Just great.
"Hey!" Raven looked up to come face to face with the speaker who owned the cheery voice. Garfield grinned at her, holding a book on animal anatomy. "What's up?" He asked.
"I'm working." Raven muttered as she went back to the huge pile on books that sat beside her. "What are you doing here?" Raven asked.
"Checking out a book for work." Garfield replied and handed over the book and his library card to her when she reached out to take it.
"Fascinating." Raven replied as she scanned the book into the computer and checked his card. "This will be due in two weeks." She sighed as she handed it back to him. Cocking his head, Garfield considered the girl in front of him. Her short purple hair had been swept up in to a small ponytail and a few strands fell down to caress her face. A small smile appeared on hi lips.
"What?" Raven asked after a minute realizing that Garfield hadn't left yet. She wasn't up for chatting, she just wanted to finish her work and be done with it.
"Nothing." Garfield responded. "I was just thinking about this morning. You were really horrible at those videogames you know." Garfield said, a small laugh bubbling from him as he pictured Raven's car swerving across the track.
"Yeah, I know." Raven said as she continued to type, half listening to the man she had only just met that morning.
"Raven!" The friends turned to see Malchior stalk towards them. "First I find you reading when you should be working, now you're talking." Growling her turned to Garfield who was staring at him with apparent dislike in his eyes. "Can I help you?" He asked smoothly, he tone changing from one of annoyance to of charm that he reserved for people he was just meeting.
"Not really." Garfield shrugged slightly. "My business is with Raven, not you." He said casually.
Malchior stiffened. He was not used to being insulted, usually he won people over right away. He searched around for something to say before he finally nodded and strolled away swiftly.
"Wow, I'm impressed." Raven murmured quietly once the fire-victim had left. "It's hard to stand up to someone like Malchior. Even I don't try."
Garfield grinned as he turned to her. "Eh, he's a jerk, or seems like it anyway." He replied. Glancing down at his watch he gave Raven another quick smile. "Well, looks like I have to go. See you around." He waved as he headed toward the door.
Raven nodded, though it went unnoticed by Garfield. Sighing again, she returned to the job in front of her.
X
Raven unlocked the door to the apartment she and Kori shared. Yawning she dropped her black bag on the floor and made her way over to the kitchen. Searching opening on of the counter drawers, she pulled out a packet of tea. Reaching over she flicked on the burner that her kettle sat on top of and stared boiling some hot water.
Sighing, she reached up and pulled her hair out of the ponytail she had thrown it up into at the library and ran her fingers through her hair. It had been a long day. When she had finally finished checking all the books, Malchior made her stay late to put them all away instead of leaving it for the morning people to do. By the time she had gotten out, it was already seven 'o clock. Raven yawned again and grabbed a cup as her water began to boil. Pouring the water gently into the cup, she twirled the teabag around in the water and waited for the flavor to seep into the water.
Heading over to the couch, she flicked on the T.V., not really caring what was on just as long as she got a minute to relax.
"I'm home!" Kori's cheery voice sounded through out the small apartment and Raven had to stifle a groan of annoyance.
"Ah, Raven, I see you are home too. Tell me, did you have an enjoyable day?" Kori asked she sunk onto the couch next to Raven.
"No." Raven said. She was not in the mood for going through her entire day with her friend, but it looked like Kori was not going to let her go with that.
"Why not dear friend?" The younger girl asked.
"Eh, boss was horrible. But I ran into Garfield again." Raven replied.
"Wonderful. Garfield seemed very nice. You two are friends now yes?" Kori asked happily.
"Yeah, I guess we are. How about you and Richard?" Raven inquired lifting one eyebrow slightly.
Kori blushed slightly and a small grin spread across her face. "Well, umm Richard and I are friends as well." Kori replied uncomfortably. At that moment, the phone rang and Kori leapt up. "I'll get it!" She said quickly before slipping over to the ringing machine.
"Hello?" Raven heard her friend inquire before a smile spread across her face. "Richard, how are you?" The young girl asked before Raven tuned her out. Pulling herself up from the couch Raven made her way over to her bag and pulled her book out of it. Finally some time that she could read.
Plopping back down on the couch Raven opened her book and picked up where she had left off. She managed to get four more pages into the book when Kori called to her.
"Raven, you are free tomorrow evening right?"
" Yeah, I think so." Raven replied. "Why?"
"Well, Richard just invited us to go to the carnival grounds tomorrow, and Victor and Garfield are coming too." Raven raised an eyebrow.
"You mean Richard invited you, and said I could come along to hang out with Garfield and Victor right?" Raven asked.
"Umm…" Kori searched for something to say.
"It's alright Kori, I don't really want to go anyway."
"Oh but you must! It will be so much fun. There will be rides and games and prizes. Please say you'll come Raven." Kori begged.
"Alright, alright. I'll come." Raven gave in. Sighing she stood and headed for her room. "I'm going to meditate." She called over her shoulder to Kori, who nodded and went to make dinner.
To be continued…
Right finished. Hmm this was a long one for me, I hope you all enjoyed it. Review and the next chapter will be out hopefully this week. Love you all
-cookiesandmilk