New story! Yay! Yeah, I should be working on something I have up in my profile, but since I didn't exactly promise any of those… I'm writing this! Okay, this is my response to Alena's challenge at the end of chapter ten of her awesome story Desert Rose. You should all go read it. It's wonderful. Anyway, she gave a few quotes and since I sort of had an itch to start writing a new story- though I don't know why- I just decided to write this. I know everyone's probably tired of waiting for updates from me and only getting one-shots, but I can't help it. I have writer's block, almost no patience, hardly any inspiration, and I don't like prolonging things. That makes it difficult to dedicate myself to any of my unfinished stories, but rest assured that there is a chapter of Salvation, What Be Thy Name? in the works. I hope it'll be out soon. But for now, you can read this! Aren't you all so happy? (dodges flying vegetables) … Or not… Anyway, I didn't really have a specific story planned for this, but I picked a quote and based it off that. Strangely enough, I seem to be writing stories a lot lately around random things I hear. Once Again came from a song; one of the stories in my profile came from a commercial and another one came from something my English teacher said; this one came from Alena; what next? Oh, maybe I'll make one from something someone at school says… Except if I do that, it'll probably be sort of stupid… All well, I'll think of something. Anyway, I would tell you what's going on in the story, but… I have no idea! (grins) We'll both have to find out, won't we? So hang on and enjoy the ride and don't forget to buy a picture on you way out! (You know, when you get off roller-coasters, they have those screens where you can look at your picture and some people buy them? I personally don't, but that's just because I look horrible in them… If you don't know what I'm talking about, just chalk it up to my normal insanity.)
Dedicated to Alena-chan because she just rocks. And it's her fault I'm writing this. And she's one of the best writers on here. Oh, and Shade for giving me the encouragement to continue… even if it was an accident. And I'm going to stop rambling now.
Of Love, Silence, and Eternity
Raven-Angel-of-Darkness
Of Love
"Robin, come here now!" Raven ordered imperiously. He had been making her chase him around the room for fifteen minutes, and she wouldn't do it much longer. "If you won't let me near you, how am I supposed to heal you?" she exasperatedly continued.
"You aren't!" was his breathy reply. Running from someone who could fly wasn't the easiest thing in the world. "I don't need to be healed. I'm perfectly fi-" His protestations were cut short when he hit the ground in a heap of arms and legs. It took him a moment to realize that Raven had leapt at him when he was distracted. He quickly rolled over, putting himself on top of the woman trying to heal him.
"Why can't you just let me help you?" It annoyed her mightily that, even injured, he could still best her in physical combat.
He grinned down at her cockily. "It seems to me that you're the one who needs help."
"Yeah, well, it seems to me that you need to get the hell off me. Tell me, do you do this with teammates often?" she retorted. Instead of blushing and getting away quickly like she had hoped he would do, Robin just laughed for a moment.
"Don't worry, Rae, you're special. I wouldn't do this with just anyone," he told her.
"And there isn't anyone who would do this with you. Now get off me you pervert," she hissed at him. To her dismay, he didn't budge an inch.
"That's entirely untrue. There isn't a woman in the world who wouldn't kill to be with me."
"I beg to differ." Her protestations fell on deaf ears.
"You know, I was voted sexiest man in America in three different magazines. You can't ignore the facts, Rae," he taunted in a sing-song voice.
"You'd be surprised what I can ignore," she said, though she herself was ignored once more.
"You know, every one of those articles had a counterpart…"
"Point being?"
"You were on the list of sexiest women. All three of them."
"Like I care."
"You were in the top five, actually."
"…"
"You actually did pretty well, though I was kind of surprised. I guess you have that whole 'Come hither' look combined with a sort of mysterious, 'I want to be alone' thing."
"That was completely contradictory, and it made no sense. And you insulted me. Now get off me."
"Don't you want to know how you did?"
"And I repeat, like I care."
"Fine, I'll just tell you anyway. You got two, two, and… one!"
"I thought I said I didn't care."
"I think you should have gotten number one on the second one as well, but that one girl beat you out because of that video of her and her… friend."
"I lost to Lauren Delagario? That slutty actress with the sex tape?" Her voice sounded incredulous. (You know how I always say 'I take from life'? Yeah, I pulled that name out of nowhere, but- just for the record- she's basically a fictional Paris Hilton-type.)
"You got it."
"That's completely unfair."
"If it makes you feel better, the other time you lost, it was to Keah Martinson."
"How is that supposed to make me feel better? I know she's gorgeous, but- Hey! I know what you're doing, and I'm not going to play along. Now get the hell off me, or you won't be able to eat solid food ever again."
"Tsk, tsk. You're all bark and no bite, Rae," he said as he got off her.
"I'll show you bite," she threatened.
"I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff. Maybe we should get together sometime," Robin laughed. He could almost see the steam coming out of her ears.
"You are so sick!" Raven yelled at him.
"Well, if you won't consider it, then I'm sure Aqualad will tell me all about it."
"I hope you aren't insinuating what I think you are."
"Come on, Rae, admit it. You and Aqualad have hooked up."
"We have not!"
"Then I'll just have to ask Speedy. We all know you've hooked up with him."
Raven opened her mouth to deny, but paused a moment. "He won't tell you anything," she said with contempt.
Robin's mouth fell open in shock. "You're actually admitting it?" he asked in astonishment.
She tossed her hair in disdain. "I guess. You've all suspected it at this point, even Star. I might as well admit it."
"But we never actually had any proof. And you denied it when we asked about it."
"And I felt guilty for lying. Demon or not, I have a conscience."
"So you felt guilty for lying, but you didn't feel guilty for screwing Star's boyfriend?"
"They weren't going out at that time, so I don't really feel bad about it. And besides, I know he's nice, but they aren't good together; their personalities don't mesh. She's too sweet and clingy for him, and he's too wild for her, too flirtatious. He can't give her the attention she wants. I wish she would just stay away from him. It's making her depressed."
"Need I mention that you didn't exactly stay away?"
"It was one time. And need I mention that we went on one date, if it can even be called that?"
"I think we noticed that. That was part of why it was pretty shocking."
"I don't think you have room to talk. You have a new whore to parade around every two days, then you bring her to the Tower for a night and we never see her again. So don't lecture me on going out with someone."
"Don't call them names, Rae. Most of them are nice girls." A short pause ensued. "Well, some of them are."
"Were," Raven corrected nastily.
"Fine, were. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to the beach," he replied. But as he reached down to help her off the floor, he suddenly jerked his arm back with a wince on his face. Her smug expression didn't go unnoticed.
"I told you that you needed to be healed. Surfing is dangerous. Now come here," she ordered.
"I wasn't surfing…" Robin mumbled. Raven just shook her head. After forcing him onto the couch, she put her hands against his chest to heal the bruised ribs. ( AN: I didn't want him to be hurt too bad…) She couldn't help but notice how good his bare chest looked before she shook those thoughts from her head. In her opinion, Robin was nice and all, but he was too much like Speedy to be anything more than a one night stand. He proved that every time he brought home another one of his fan girls.
"Look, just because those stupid traitors of friends sent us here, doesn't mean you can be irresponsible. You really should be more careful. And just to make this very clear, you won't be bringing any of the local girls home, got it Wonder Boy?" she scolded.
"I was being careful! And taking wakeboarding lessons isn't irresponsible, Rae; it's fun. Maybe you should try having some sometime."
"What, wakeboarding lessons?"
"No, fun, idiot. And I don't think you'll have to worry about the girls. I like to be able to speak the same language as the girl I'm dating."
"You don't speak Spanish?"
"You like asking stupid questions?"
"Shut up. I figured Tamarindo (AN: If you can guess where that is, you get a cookie!) would have at least some English speaking girls." (1)
"There are a few, but not many."
"Great, so the traitors sent us to a place where we won't be able to talk to anyone. Isn't that lovely…"
"They aren't traitors, Raven. They just wanted us to lighten up. And I think it's working better on some of us than others."
"Well, you can 'lighten up' if you want, but I'm fine just the way I am."
"You've got one thing right."
"Really… And what's that?"
"You really are fine."
"And you really are an arrogant bastard. Now run off and play, like a good little boy so I can have some peace."
"Make up your mind already! Am I an arrogant bastard or am I a good little boy?" He smirked impudently when she once again turned her glare on him full force.
"Just go away. The Titans sent us on this stupid Christmas vacation so we could have some down time. Now leave me alone or you'll be going farther down than you'd like," Raven threatened him idly.
"I love you too." He quickly dodged the fist that came flying toward his face. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go give some of the locals something to stare at. But if you'd rather keep me to yourself, then just say the word. I know you're a bit of a jealous type," Robin joked. This time he only barely missed the painful slap that she threw at him.
After giving him a long glare, she turned to the couch and allowed herself to collapse upon it, face down. "Just leave me alone!" she yelled at him through the pillow her face was buried in. He laughed at her openly, which caused her to, without lifting her head from the pillow, give him a rude hand gesture. Unfortunately, this seemed to only make his amusement grow.
"Well then, have fun while I'm gone, Rae. And don't let anyone else in the house while I'm not here. Wouldn't want anyone doing anything inappropriate while I'm gone, now would we?" He got no response. "No retorts? Alright, I know when I'm not welcome. See you in a couple of hours!"
After a minute or two of silence, Raven chanced a look around the room. To her delight, she was greeted with a room entirely devoid of her leader, and she muttered a soft word of appreciation. "Finally, he leaves!" She rolled over onto her back, preparing for an afternoon nap, but she muttered one more thing before drifting off to sleep.
"God, I hate him."
MOOCOW
Of Silence
Robin began to snicker loudly. Even if he was seventeen, and the whipped cream trick was a little immature, he just couldn't help it. After all, he'd never get this opportunity again! Quickly, he hushed himself and began to tickle the feather against Raven's nose. To his disappointment, Raven reached up to scratch it with the hand that he hadn't filled with the sugary substance. He frowned and proceeded to remedy his mistake. Now, with both hands covered in whipped topping, he started to brush the feather against her nose again, but he still didn't get the desired effect. She simply shook her head, as if shooing some pesky bug. He could have growled in frustration. In a last attempt to pull off his brilliant joke, he tickled her nose once more.
To his utter and complete shock, the joke failed. Not only did it fail, but he got the surprise of his life. Raven was suddenly awake and leaping at him as he fell onto the floor. The next thing he knew his face as covered in the very whipped cream that he had been trying to use on Raven, and the trickster herself was surprisingly grinning at him in a very self-satisfied manner.
"Most guys your age prefer to use that for other purposes," she teased him. Robin's mouth fell open as he registered what she had just said. That comment just didn't sound normal coming from her lips.
"Have you gone mental?" he asked her in bewilderment. "Did you hit your head while I was gone?"
"No, but it looks like you did," she remarked almost offhandedly.
He reached up and felt the half-forgotten scrape on his forehead. "Oh yeah! While I was at the beach, and they were giving out free scuba diving lessons, and so I decided to go, but we got down there and we were attacked by nearly twenty sharks, so I had to wrestle them back so that everyone else could make it to shore! Luckily the cut isn't too deep where the shark bit me, eh, Raven?" he said with a wide smile on his face. Raven just raised an eyebrow.
"So what did you really do, trip on your own feet in the middle of the street?" she responded after a minute. The sudden frown on his face told her that she had just made one lucky guess. The scowl deepened when she began to laugh at him. "I can't believe it! Robin, the Boy Wonder, actually fell down! Come on, Wonder Bread, I thought birds could fly," she continued to mock.
"You know, I tripped on a rock…" he began.
"So what?" she responded.
"Have you never heard the saying about killing two birds with one stone?" he grinned.
"Luckily, the cut wasn't deep enough to kill you, eh, Robin?" she taunted.
"Luckily," he said before leaping at her.
She let out a squeak of surprise as she tried to avoid him, but found that fighting back was her only option. They began to wrestle roguishly around the room, now one of them getting an advantage, now the other. The rough-housing stopped when Robin finally had her pinned against the wall in a very compromising situation, though neither of them even gave that a thought.
Pinning her arms above her head with one hand and holding her body against the wall with his own, he started to speak while trying to catch his breath. "Say… uncle…" he panted. Chest heaving, she shook her head vehemently as she let her head rest against the cool partition, the adrenaline coursing through her, causing her to grin from ear to ear in spite of her disadvantage. "Come on… I win… Admit it…" he ploughed on breathlessly.
Again she shook her head. "I can still… win," she said with a little more stability than he.
He pressed harder against her body. "Unless you cheat and use your powers… then I'm pretty much in the clear… You know you lost… just admit it, Rae," he insisted. She just shook her head.
Then, to Robin's surprise, someone began to knock loudly on their door. "Get off or get the door," she ordered needlessly. He pulled away and let her run over to the door, where a dark-skinned pizza boy waited on the other side. She conversed with him briefly, paid for the food, and shut the door. He just looked at her dubiously.
"I though you couldn't speak Spanish!" Robin said with indignation. She had acted like she wouldn't be able to get along at all, and now she was talking to people like she did it every day? Where did she get off, lying to him like that?
"I might have exaggerated a little. I know very little Spanish; just basic stuff, like numbers and 'How are you' and stuff like that. I wouldn't last a day if I had to go do something like run a business out here. Satisfied?" He nodded, a very prominent scowl resting on his features. "Then come get some pizza. You have to be hungry after your surfing lessons, not to mention your short trip home," she snickered.
"It's wakeboarding, not surfing. How many times am I going to have to correct you?" he grumbled as they sat down, her on a stool at the bar and he on the counter in the kitchen.
"You know, you talk way too much," she told him before taking bite of her slice of pizza. "Silence is safe. Maybe you should keep that in mind when you start to say your corny battle phrases. I mean, 'Cardiac, you're under arrest'? How stupid can you get? Just think before you speak…. Silence is… safe," she repeated softly with a reflective look on her face, making him think she was remembering a time when she may have learned that.
"Ah, silence is safe; that much she knows. But does the lady know how to speak?" he teased.
"Of course I know how to talk. I'm talking to you now, aren't I?" she answered with confusion.
"Not talk, exactly… You have to know when to be quiet, but you also have to know how to maneuver your way around the verbal battle field, be able to keep your opponents busy, be able to use your words as distractions, be able to say everything but keep everyone guessing, be able to make people bend to your every whim. Can you do that, Raven?" he asked, slowly making his way towards her. She just continued to look at him.
"Well, we all know you can't. And it really doesn't matter whether or not I can, because I can make people do what I want without needless conversation," she retorted, turning her head away from him. This caused him to grin and walk the few final steps to the stool she was perched on.
"But needless conversation makes for a good distraction," he muttered right beside her ear. She almost fell onto the floor in her surprise, but he caught her.
"Don't do that!" she hissed with a blush staining her features. "I could have broken my neck!"
"But I prefer to have injured your pride rather than your neck. It's not everyday that I get a chance to prove to you how much smarter I am," he boasted. She just gave a derisive snort. "And anyway, that trick only works on weak-minded enemies who are easily distracted. The real threats can see right through it."
Her mouth fell open in shock. "Did you just call me weak-minded?" Raven practically shouted. This merited a grin from her companion.
"It's possible," Robin goaded. He was suddenly aware of a soft rush of air behind him, but before he could investigate, he was being hit repeatedly with the box of pizza.
"Who's weak-minded now?" she asked in an almost rhetoric manner.
"Uh, Beast Boy?" he responded tentatively in between the blows to his head.
"Not quite what I was looking for, but that will work for now," she told him as the now mutilated white container settled back onto its place on the bar.
"Silence may be safe, but it's more fun to tease you," he joked, effectively causing her to roll her eyes and lightening the mood.
"That's what you think, Blunder boy…" she laughed.
"Come on, you know you like it," he taunted.
"No, I know you like it, but whether or not I like it is a different story," she responded.
"Well then, I guess you'll just have to tell me that story, won't you?" he proposed.
"Don't count on it," she informed him before jumping off her seat and walking off towards her room.
"At least I can count!" he yelled as she disappeared from view. All he got in response was a wry chuckle emanating from the hall way. Maybe she was right and silence was safer… But he had way too much fun making her talk.
MOOCOW
Of Eternity
A day later, and Robin hadn't gotten a word out of is dark companion since the episode in the living room. She seemed to be taking her silence theory a little too far. Hadn't she been listening when he'd told her that there were times to talk? Little did he know that Raven had been doing a great deal of talking… Just not to him.
"I can't believe that you would do this to me! Are you trying to kill me? Because if you are, just let me know now and I'll get out of your hair!" she screamed at the yellow communicator in her hand. The three faces in the screen looked wary before two of them turned to the third to speak.
"Look, Rae," Cyborg began.
"My name is Raven," she hissed at him.
"We sent you down there for a reason, believe it or not," he said as if nothing had interrupted him.
"And what might that be?" was her scathing reply.
"We wanted you to lighten up. Both of you," he told her before she could butt in. "And you wouldn't have been able to do that here, not with Slade and the whole post-Trigon stuff. So we sent you somewhere that you wouldn't be affected by that. We're just looking out for you, Dark Girl. So give it a try. And I'd stop blowing Robin off, if I were you. It's going to build up, and I don't think you'll be having fun when he decides to spite you by never letting you out of his sight. Just stop trying to be constantly pissed off, and who knows? You might even have some fun by accident," he finished sternly. She didn't even get to retort because immediately after that, he ended the call.
Raven glared at the offensive piece of metal in her hands and, without warning, let out a very long, very loud scream of fury. Somewhere in the surrounding area, a window shattered, and it wasn't because of her powers.
Elsewhere in the small house, Robin was covering his ears, trying to shield them from being damaged by the sheer decibel level of the shriek, not to mention the pitch. When the wailing didn't end, Robin took it upon himself to make it stop. He then proceeded to Raven's room, which was where the sound appeared to be coming from.
When he got to her door, the cry was almost too loud to bear, and it still hadn't stopped. He could barely bring himself to remove his hand from his ear so that he could knock on the door. When his hammerings weren't answered, his ears were once again subject to the vociferous sound as he opened the door. Once he could see in her room, he was greeted with the sight of Raven sitting on her bed with her mouth opened as far as humanly possible and screaming her lungs out.
"SHUT UP!" he yelled at her. This caught her attention and she quickly closed her mouth, the echoes of her fortissimo bellowing still ringing in their ears and her glare burning a hole into his eyes. "What the hell was that for? Are you trying to make me go deaf? Or are you just insane? What in the world could have possessed you to make you do something like that, is beyond me; but by all means, feel free to explain," he growled.
"They sent me here on purpose!" she screeched.
"Well of course they sent you here on purpose! There are people that make sure you don't get on the wrong plane, you know."
"No, you don't get it. They sent us down here to get us out of their hair! They sent you down here because they didn't want you to deal with Slade, and they sent me because they didn't want me to get in the way of making sure everything was fine on the Trigon front. Don't you see? They just wanted us out of their way! They probably won't even let us come back!" she wailed as she turned around and laid down on the bed, where she proceeded to beat her hands and feet against the mattress with a ferocity that surprised him greatly.
"What do you mean they won't let us come back?" he asked in a half-soothing manner. "We have round-trip tickets." She shook her head vehemently and mumbled something incoherent. "What did you say?"
"I said, no, we don't. They're one-way. Trust me."
He gave her a half smile and pulled her into a sitting position. "Come on, let's go check. I'm sure they wouldn't send us down here without a way to get back. After all, they didn't even send us with enough money to buy any tickets back!"
"Exactly," she muttered. He didn't respond, just continued to pull her to his room, where he grabbed his bag and began to rifle through it.
He lifted his hand up with a triumphant 'aha!' and began to scrutinize their ticket stubs for proof. Then his eyes froze and his mouth became grim. He shook his head slowly. "No, they wouldn't…" he muttered.
"They would, and they did. We're stuck down here until they bring us back. Can I call them traitors now?" she asked caustically.
He didn't respond, just walked out of the room. She followed him into the living room and sat down on the opposite end of the couch from him. She watched as he pulled out his T-com and a wire from seemingly no where and plugged them into the television. They sat in silence until a laughing green changeling answered the other end.
"Hey, Titans Tower, Beast Boy speaking. What's your disaster?" he asked before turning to the screen. When he saw the two Titans sitting on the couch, his face paled immensely. "Cyborg, it's for you!" he yelled as he ran from the screen. After a minute, all three non-vacationing members of the team came into view.
"Oh friends, it is most wonderful to see you. Tell me, how is your trip going?" Starfire asked in a strangely hesitant way.
"Don't even start pretending to be innocent," Raven growled. The girl let out a frightened sqeak and hid behind her metallic friend.
"Don't be mean to her," the half-robot chided.
"Don't tell us what to do!" Robin spoke for the first time, his voice a resounding roar. Raven smirked at the people on the screen. "I can't believe you would do this! I mean, I can almost understand sending us down here in the first place! Almost! But with a one-way ticket? How could you stoop so low? I thought we were friends!" he howled. Raven noticed that Beast Boy was slowly inching towards the door, and she decided to try something. A new sneer made its way onto her face as the changeling soared into the air after being hit with a bubble of black energy. It had been difficult to do it from so far away, but the look on his face made it worth the effort. Robin gave her a half reproving, half amused look when he saw what she did.
"Well, we, uh… We just wanted you two to have some time to yourselves… We didn't mean any harm…" Beast Boy said in an attempt to calm the pair of them down.
"Fine, then you won't mind sending us a pair a tickets back home," Robin ordered hotly, at which Raven nodded.
Cyborg shifted uncomfortably, but answered anyway. "No." His answer was greeted by disbelieving silence. "We'll bring you back when we think you've gotten enough time off. Unless we have a serious emergency, you won't be getting back for a while unless I see proof that you have both relaxed. So until then…" The screen suddenly went blank.
After a moment, Raven began screaming expletives, most of them directed at a certain group of teenagers in California, and Robin couldn't have agreed more.
Fast-forward three or four days…
Raven was lying down on the couch, contemplating getting up and going down to the beach, when the television at the front of the room made a strange beeping sound and Cyborg's face appeared on it. He looked slightly apprehensive.
"Uh, hi, Raven… Having fun?" he asked tentatively. Robin got up from his seat on the kitchen counter and glared at his robotic friend. "Oh, hi to you too, Rob… So, do you guys still want to come back? Because I'd be glad to get you some tickets on the next flight home…"
"I don't think so. I'm not coming back yet because I still haven't forgiven you. I hope to god you need our help, because you are not going to get it," Raven informed him rudely. Robin nodded his assent.
"Please," he begged. "It's Johnny Rancid, and apparently he went to a few mechanics classes recently because his stupid little robots are almost indestructible now! We need some major help. You have to come back!"
"I hope you have a backup plan, because I have no intention of helping you," Robin informed him. Raven then gave him a taste of his own medicine and clicked off the television.
"The idiot, thinking he can just call us up and everything will be fine! Does he think we're desperate? If we wanted to get back that much, we would have found a way! I am not going to help him; they can fight Johnny on their own!" she ranted as she stalked to her room. She came back in record time, wearing a small, black bikini and a pair of sunglasses. "I'm going to the beach," she told him hotly before stalking to the door.
Robin stared after her for a moment before running to his room to change into a pair of swimming trunks. Less than ten minutes later, he was walking down the sidewalk towards the beach, hot sunlight beating down on his skin as the sight of the water came into view. Shortly after, he was actually standing on the beach with the wind blowing droplets of saltwater and sand into his face.
As he looked around it took him longer than he expected to find Raven. Surprisingly, he found her sitting on a towel with a Spanish speaking boy their own age. But… Hadn't she said she couldn't speak Spanish? He would have to investigate this! (Okay, I feeling dramatic right now. Doesn't he seem like the type to be a "drama queen"? I think so. And besides, it makes for an interesting scene… and it's funny, at least to me.) But before he could make his way to their spot, they pair was already standing up and going over to the water. Raven, getting in the water? Did the surprises never end? (Just so you know, I'm laughing uncontrollably right now.)
Suddenly getting angry- though he didn't know why- Robin began walking towards the water, where he saw Raven and her mystery friend splashing and playing in the shallows. As he continued to walk, they slowly, almost imperceptibly began wading deeper, until they were about waist deep. Then they just floated and talked.
Suddenly, Raven's friend fell silent. It was then that she felt a presence over her shoulder and turned around. At the sight, she let out an exasperated sigh. She knew what her leader would say, and what he would probably think.
"I thought you didn't speak Spanish," he said to her with raised eyebrows. She scowled at him and then turned to the boy with a smile. To him, she muttered a few fast paced, incomprehensible words before turning her attentions back to her now unmasked leader. For a moment, his forest green gaze made her feel slightly guilty about lying to him.
"Yeah well, I lied," she told him defiantly. He just shook his head.
"So where did that guy go?" he asked.
"I asked him to go get me something to drink," she said with a shrug.
"What is wrong with you?" he questioned suddenly.
She raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean, what's wrong with me?"
"I mean, first you lie to me, then you flirt with me, then lie some more, then you yell at our friends, and now I come out here to see you talking to some guy you don't know and I find out you lied to me again! And you ask what I mean?" he rambled angrily.
She turned away from him. "It wasn't that big of a deal. I only lied to make it seem worse than it is. People do that, it's called exaggeration. And you're just mad because I'm not flirting with you. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're jealous," Raven informed him.
"So what if I am?" This caused her to turn back and look at him.
"You're jealous?" she questioned slowly.
"No… Well, yes, but that's not the point!" Robin stammered.
She jutted her chin out defiantly. "You know what? I think that is point. I think you're just mad because I decided I wanted to spend time with someone other than you. I think that you aren't mad that I lied to you about speaking Spanish, but that I'm not speaking to you. Look, Robin, if you want to act like a possessive boyfriend, go find someone else. I'm not in the mood, and I don't enjoy being treated like a toy that you only play with when someone else wants me."
At this, Robin stuck his own chin out, copying her stance. "So what if I play with you even when nobody else will?"
"I think I should be offended by that," she muttered, raising her eyebrow. "Regardless, I'm not a toy, and I don't want to be 'played with', got it? So why don't you just give it up, and go play back at the house, alright?"
"And leave you here with that guy? I don't think so," he said. With that, he grabbed her wrist and began dragging her back towards shore, and then to the house, much to her protests.
"Hey, let go! I will go back when I'm good and ready! Leave me alone! I said, leave me alone!" she struggled.
However, her efforts went unheeded, and he had them back at the house in record time. When they were finally inside, he released her, and she turned to glare at him.
"Why would you do that? He's probably back there looking for me!" she shouted at him.
"I'm sure he'll get over it," Robin told her evenly.
"That's not the point! You shouldn't have dragged me away in the first place! God, there you go with the jealous boyfriend thing again. What is your deal?" Raven yelled back.
"See Raven, that's the thing. To be a jealous boyfriend, I have to actually be your boyfriend. Which I'm not, in case you haven't noticed," he retorted.
"Okay, fine, so you're just jealous. Care to explain why exactly?" she questioned with anger.
"God, you just- can't you- it isn't- I mean, we- Oh good Lord, what is it with you? Do you not get it?" At seeing her shocked expression, he regretted his outburst. "Alright, I'm going to try to explain this in a rational way, so don't interrupt me, go it?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm a generally nice guy. I try to respect your wishes, which mostly means giving you your privacy. And I give you all the space you need at the Tower, right? But really, that's pretty easy to do because it's a big place and I have plenty of other spots to go to, and the others are there besides. But here… well, we're kind of limited on space, and with it just being me and you… God, this isn't coming out right. Let's just start over. Look, Rae, I like you. A lot. And with that guy at the beach, yeah, I got jealous. So there's two ways I can do this. There's either 'Hey Rae, wanna go get some coffee with me sometime?' or there's 'Hey Raven, I think you're gorgeous, wanna be my girlfriend?' I'll let you pick." His tone was nervous, but his message was clear. He obviously wanted to go out with her. It took a moment for her to respond, and he started shifting his weight from foot to foot.
"You… You think I'm gorgeous?" she murmured softly. He gulped and then nodded. For some reason she seemed to stiffen a little before she spoke again. "I hope that's not the only reason you like me, because if it is, you just-"
He stopped her mid-sentence. "No! No, that's not all! You're smart and sweet and funny and quiet and you've got a great personality and-" Now it was her turn to stop him.
"Whoa, I think that's good enough. Besides, gorgeous and great personality? Isn't that something of an oxymoron with guys?"
He just shrugged. "Whatever else it is, it's true." This caused her to blush lightly.
"So, what was that first one again, Wonder Boy?" she asked, eyes glued to the ground.
He slid a bit closer to her. "Hey Rae, wanna go get some coffee with me sometime?"
She furrowed her brow in mock concentration. "I don't know… Does it have to be with you? I'll have to think about that one…" she teased.
He grinned and elbowed her playfully. "Aw, come one, Raven. I'll be sure to take you somewhere nice. How do you like McDonalds' coffee?"
She smirked as well and elbowed him back. "Whoa there, Big Spender. Don't break out the big money on me." She paused for a moment as she debated on what to say next. "Robin, are you really serious about this? I mean, I'm not exactly looking for another Speedy."
"I thought I'd made that clear enough…" he remarked.
Suddenly she grinned. "The only thing that's clear is that you want coffee…" she said in a seductive voice as she began to circle him, like a hawk circling its prey. "After that, I've no idea what you intentions are." She slid her fingers across his chest as she passed in front of him. "Will that be it for us?" Now they glided over the muscles in his back. It was all he could do to keep himself from shuddering in delight. "Or will you be here for all eternity?" Her impish smile let him know she wanted him to play along.
"I'll be here till someone better comes along, I guess," he jibed with a shrug of his shoulders and a cocky grin. This clearly wasn't what she expected, if the shocked and somewhat hurt look on her face was any indication. "But don't worry; angels come few and far between, and you're the only one I've found yet," he told her as he grabbed her elbow and pulled her closer.
"I'm no angel," she told him, deliberately looking away from him. "I'm a demon."
"Even better," he murmured as he took advantage of her turned head and began to nuzzle her exposed neck. This caused her to gasp with surprise, and he was pleased to note that she was now the one trying not to shiver in pleasure.
His gentle ministration had shocked her; she had never expected him to move this fast with her. The open-mouthed butterfly kisses he was trailing over her neck were intoxicating. She gave a soft yelp as he bit her gently, before licking the pain away. This too was exhilarating, but she knew they ought to quit soon. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him away lightly.
"Robin, don't you think this is a bit too soon?" Raven reminded him.
"I knew it couldn't last," Robin said with a sigh.
"Well, it looks like you two are enjoying yourselves. I don't suppose this is why you don't want to come back?" asked a shocked voice from behind them.
The two of them wheeled around with wide eyes until said eyes came to rest on the television. Then one pair of eyes narrowed, while the other just looked on laughingly.
"Beast Boy, excellent timing. Did you enjoy the show?" Robin chuckled.
"Show?" Raven shot at him with a hint of anger.
"I, uh, well… You know what I mean, Rae… It was just an expression…" he amended.
"Uh-huh, sure it was," she said as she turned her gaze back to the screen where a certain green changeling was grinning profusely.
"Damn, Rob, she's got you whipped already!" Beast Boy howled with laughter.
"I'm not whipped!" the Boy Wonder shot back.
"Not yet, you aren't, but we can fix that," Raven informed him smugly. "Now, Beast Boy, did this call have a point or were you just trying to catch me in a bikini?"
"Both, I guess," he admitted with a shrug. "Cy says Rancid's toast for now, and he's got a pair of tickets home if you wanna come back."
"Oh thank God! Yes, we'll be on the next flight back, just get me those tickets!" Raven ordered quickly.
"No problemo, Captain!" he responded with a mock salute. "Roger that, black lightning. We'll see you in fourteen hundred hours. Bird Watcher over and out!" And then his image faded from the screen as the fax machine in the corner whirred to life. (Yeah, so they wouldn't really be using a fax machine. Use your imaginations, people!)
"Could he get any cornier?" Robin muttered.
"Probably so, that's what scares me. Now quit being whiny. You're just mad 'cause you're whipped," she teased.
"I am not!" he repeated hotly.
"Relax, Wonder Boy. I'm just playing," she told him soothingly as she draped her arms around his shoulders.
"I know, I know," he muttered. "Come on, let's go see when our flight leaves."
Raven grinned as he tugged her over to the counter. She had a feeling it would be a very interesting trip home.
Moocow
(1) Tamarindo is in Costa Rica.
(2) Yeah, I know there wasn't a number two anywhere, but I'm just using this to explain the title. The first part (Of Love) is playing off of their argument and her line about hating him. The second part (Of Silence) is playing off of the lack of this in that section and her line about silence being safe, which causes him to tease her, thereby reducing the amount of silence even further. The third part (Of Eternity) is playing off of her question about him being there for eternity and him saying just tillhe finds someone better. Isort of connected her leaving the guy at the beach to this, as well as them completely leaving the country. See, I kind of based this whole thing onverbal and situationalirony. Aren't I clever? (just kidding... you can laugh at me now)
Okay, I am SO sorry for the wait. I meant to have this up long ago. Shade, if you're reading this, I'm really sorry for the delay. (scuffles toe) My friends sort of stopped talking to me for a while because I said something sort of un-school spirited. It wasn't even that big of a deal. But apparently where I am, you can't say you hope the other school wins a basketball game- even if you're joking- without becoming a social pariah. Then my grandmother found out she had some horrible disease or another that's nicknamed 'The Suicide Disease." Seriously. The pain is supposedly so bad that most people who get it commit suicide. Lovely, no? But that damn inspiration fairy finally flitted back, so now you get this. Aren't you all so happy? Anyway, I'm not totally happy with this fic right now. It's rushed or forced or something, and I just don't think this is my best work. But I guess if ya'll end up liking it, I'll leave it up. Just let me know, I guess… Anyways, drop me a line or a review or whatever. I really hope to have another… something up soon. I'm working on a one-shot, a chapter for SWBTN, and I've got the beginning to a chapter fic that won't be up for a while. So, hope you enjoyed it and see ya later!
Ciao i miei amici
Raven-Angel-of-Darkness