Chapter Nine: Catalyst
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or Batman.
Raven felt out of place in the huge mansion. She constantly felt Bruce Wayne looked down on her and resented her presence and that Alfred pitied her. She did not like to be pitied.
Robin tried to comfort her and be the Good Boyfriend, but things just weren't good. Robin liked spending time with Bruce, working at gadgets or whatever it was that they did. He seemed to expect her to be shopping all day or something like Starfire did. And other times he thought she just read or meditated all day.
"You take no interest in me at all!" Raven had shouted at him during one of their arguments, which were becoming more and more frequent. And that was exactly how she felt. He only talked to her during sex, which hardly qualified. She was sick of it.
Raven sighed in frustration as she awoke to an empty bed yet again. It was the beginning of August, and she missed the romance and intimacy they had shared during the first two months in the Wayne mansion. She sighed again, and reluctantly dragged herself out of bed.
She was about to go downstairs when she stopped herself. Running water. . .Robin was taking a shower. She spent a full minute debating, and then walked towards the bathroom.
The warm water fell good as she teleported next to Robin. She pressed hr body against his, wrapping her arms around him. He blinked, feeling her warmth against him. That was very nice. . .
"Good morning to you too," he said, turning around and kissing her. She laughed, and kissed him back, putting her hands in his slick wet hair. Okay, so he paid no attention to her normally, but this made it ok. For now, anyway.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, setting herself in a comfortable position. Her hands were running over his back, and he was kissing her neck as he pressed her against the wall. She put her head back and groaned.
But before she knew it, it was all over and done with. He kissed her cheek and walked out, and suddenly she felt hollow and empty. She walked over to the mirror, staring. She'd lost weight. That wasn't good.
Raven sighed, wondering what she would do with herself today. Try was she might, she just found herself more lonesome, bored, and upset with each passing day. It was beginning to annoy her. This wasn't how it was supposed to turn out. This wasn't right.
She'd given up the only stable thing she had ever known, and now Robin had no time for her or anything. All he had time for was him, and whatever he did during the day that he didn't want her to be a part of.
It hurt.
Raven pulled a comb through her tangled hair, tugging harder to get it right. She ran her fingers through it, and it fell into place. She went into the room and got dressed, wearing a dark violet tank top and black sweatpants. Again, she was obsessed with the mirror. When had she gotten so damn skinny? She looked like Terra, only worse.
Raven went downstairs, and was not surprised that, yet again, Robin was gone. Of course. How typical. Alfred served her breakfast, but Raven only poked at it. It wasn't interesting and she really wasn't hungry anyway. Raven sighed. She was so unhappy. This was not the way it was supposed be. Robin had promised to love her and make her happy.
She was miserable.
Raven sat down in front of the TV, and flipped it on. Watching TV seemed to be all she was good for these days. She sighed. Nothing was on, as usual. She laid down on the couch. She had discovered that the best thing to do when she was abandoned was to sleep. It meant not thinking, not 'finding something to do with herself', and she had plenty of energy for Robin when night rolled around.
Raven closed her eyes, and tried to envision something relaxing and nice. She rolled over, not finding anything come to mind. She scanned her mind for anything relaxing, but nothing was comforting her.
Raven walked upstairs, and entered her bathroom. She ran a wash cloth under cool water, and then laid down and put it on her forehead. She was just beginning to fall asleep when something loud sounded. She bolted up right and stared at the door. Only a second of thinking was necessary before she ran down the stairs.
"What's going on?" Raven shouted, looking around. She ran around the first floor, but found nothing. Rather than wait around, because she knew no one would tell her what had happened, she dashed outside. Ah ha! There it was. The gardening shed had exploded. Well, a wall of it anyway. She flew over.
"What's happening out here?" Raven asked, approaching the three men she saw gathering there.
"Nothing!" Robin assured her. "Now, go back in the house Raven," he said, already shuffling her out.
"HEY!" Raven shouted, whipping around to face him. "Look here! I don't know what's going on, or where you always are, but I'm sick and tired of it! What's with all the secrets, Robin? Why don't you trust me?" Raven asked, looking at him with pain in her eyes. He sighed.
"Nothing's going on, Raven. Everything's fine," he said to her. "Now, go back inside. I'll see you later," he told her. Surprised and hurt, she walked back to the house obediently.
What am I to him? Some damn dog? Around when it's convenient, caged away when it's not? Raven thought, fuming. How dare he! Who does he think he is anyway? And perhaps more importantly . . .
. . .who does he think I am?
Robin sighed. He didn't like keeping secrets from Raven, but he didn't think she would fit in well with him and Batman. Besides, she could get hurt. Look at the explosion that had just happened! He had gotten hurt. Batman had gotten hurt. Alfred had gotten hurt, and he had only been bringing by some snacks. Robin was not about to allow Raven to put herself at risk.
Regardless, though, she was pissed at him now. She had been for a while, it seemed, and this was only the tip of the iceberg. He frowned. Okay, he needed to talk with Raven. Or better yet, take her out for a romantic dinner or something. Yeah, that'd be good.
Robin smiled, his decision made. Okay, he would take her out for a romantic dinner. He knew loads of great places around Gotham, and all he had to do was drop his name, or better yet, Bruce's. He turned around to face his older friend.
"Hey, can I borrow your credit card?" Robin asked Bruce. Batman raised his eyebrow.
"Why do you need it?" he asked, looking at Robin out of the corner of his eye as he worked on their new explosive. Robin twitched slightly as he looked at it. Someone could get hurt. . . .
"Raven's pissed at me, thought I'd take her out. She's been cooped up way too long for her tastes. I know," Robin said laughing a little. Ah, his sweet little Raven. She was so nice, and sweet. Raven loved him, and he was glad he had her instead of Starfire.
Robin turned back to the explosives, and began tinkering around with them. Switch a wire there, snip something here. . . .
BOOM!
Robin walked into their bedroom and found Raven sleeping. She looked so adorable like that! He almost felt guilty about waking her up. . .
Eh, not that guilty.
"Hey you," he said, leaning for and kissing her chakra gently. Raven blinked and looked up. She could get used to be woken up like that. . . it was nice. Sweet. Not the usual horny sex monster she had become accustomed to.
"Hey yourself," she said, kissing his lips gently. "You finally came in! What's going on, you're early," she commented.
"I was thinking that we could out for dinner tonight. . ." he said, watching her face for any sign of her thoughts. Unfortunately, the downside of living with Raven was that she was trained in hiding her emotions, which meant that he was on his own to state his case. "Anyway, I know some great places for good food, and I thought it would be nice to spend some time together. What do you say?"
Robin looked at her with hope, and Raven titled her head, thinking. He waited for her decision.
"Ok," she said. "Should I get dressed up?" she asked, and her eyes were almost hopeful. He ran a hand through his hair.
"Yeah, you do that," he told her. "I can get some stuff out of my old room," he said. Raven nodded.
Robin left the room, satisfied. He slipped into his tux, and then went downstairs to get dinner. After all, he had decided, what was more romantic than making your girlfriend dinner? It was better than getting out, because it would be private.
What's going on with this talk of staying in? Oh, Robin. . .
Raven was so happy at the thought of going out that she even put on make-up. She looked at herself in the mirror, very happy. She was wearing a slinky red mini-dress she had bought herself and was done up nicely. She had red barrettes in her hair, which had few curls thrown in for fun.
On the town in Gotham! How wonderful! Would they go to a club? Or no, maybe somewhere really nice for a candle lit dinner where the waiters spoke a foreign language and flirted with every woman who walked in, with the whole kiss-the-hand and things.
Would it be a French place with great wine, or a Spanish place where they only served tapas? Maybe an Italian place with lots of yummy carb-y foods? Or a Greek place! With those little spinach pies and cinnamon desserts! Raven was getting more and more excited.
Would Robin make reservations? Would they eat outside or inside? Would they stay for coffee and dessert or just have meals? How much alcohol would they have? Buckets and buckets or just a glass or maybe even none at all? Would they have sex later or just cuddle?
Cuddling was fun. She liked cuddling. Although sex was fun too, just to be fair. Raven smiled. She loved the feelings of his over her body, and she loved the intense pleasure. She loved feeling him inside of her, and she loved the warmth he radiated best of all.
Checking the time, Raven decided it was time to go down. If Robin wasn't there already, he would probably be there soon. She walked down, her heels from the wedding clacking against the floor. Click, clack, clomp. Then she was there, and watching Robin in confusion.
Why was he in the kitchen? That was stupid. They were going out to eat, hel-lo! Raven frowned, and walked up to him.
"Hey," he said, smiling at her. Smiling was bad. She felt a knot in her stomach. This couldn't possibly end well, she just knew it. Raven inhaled deeply, suddenly a bit dizzy. . . that was weird. What was wrong with her?
"Um, Robin, what happened to going out?" she asked, trying her very hardest to keep her tone calm and even.
"I thought it would be romantic and private," Robin said, smiling at her. Raven looked at him as those he had just suggested that it might be romantic to go through garbage together.
Yuck.
"Robin, I wanted to go out! I wanted to get out of here! I've been cooped up for months! And all you do all day is go outside with Bruce and Alfred and do gods knows what! And then you come back at night and you say nothing to me! We don't talk, we don't cuddle, we don't do anything romantic, just sex-sex-sex! We don't go out or anything! What is wrong with you!" Raven screamed, all her anger and frustration over loading.
"HEY! I was trying to be romantic and kind and thoughtful!" Robin yelled at her. Raven rolled her eyes.
"I'm going upstairs," she said, glaring angrily at him. Robin lunged forth and grabbed her arm.
"What do you think you're doing!" she shouted, trying to release herself from his grip.
"I worked really hard to get this ready for you! Now sit down so we can eat!" Robin shouted.
"No!" Raven exclaimed, yanking hard out of his grip.
"Aw, go to hell!" he said, livid. Raven stopped dead and her eyes widened. Robin gasped as he realized what he had said to her. "Oh, Raven, I'm so sorry. . ." he said, but it was too late. She was literally shaking with anger.
"Get out of here," she said, looking at him with pure hating and loathing. Robin looked at her with loss. "I said get out of here!" she screamed angrily. Robin backed away. Her dark telekinesis tentacles spawned all over the house, and things began to explode. She threw several lamps at Robin, and he ran away.
"I'm sorry. . ." he whispered, but she wasn't having any of it.
"I never want to see you again," she growled, and slammed the front door in his face. Robin watched the door a minute, and then began to walk into the rain. He'd need a hotel room…
Inside, Bruce and Alfred watched Raven. She stayed at the door a minute, panting and looking scared. Then, she collapsed onto her knees, and began to cry. They watched her, not knowing what to do or what to make of her. They had nothing for her, nothing at all.
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