Sorry I have to respond to a comment made about my evident hate for the toaster:
I actually have a love for toasters...but I never have one. So I hate them...even though I really like toasted things...blah. Makes no sense.
It's a love/hate relationship between Rei and toasters.
Thank you for all the reviews! Let me know what you think of chapter two. Sorry it takes so long...school kills and I'm sick.
Hush
Chapter Two
The first thought that came to him was: what the Hell are they holding hands for?
He didn't say it of course, but the newly arrived telepath certainly heard it and quirked a brow at the initial greeting. Robin just barely kept from hitting himself for forgetting Aqualad could read thoughts and steeled himself to not be thinking anything that might turn into traitorous information—like how he felt when Raven and the Atlantian walked in...holding hands.
To his relief she released the hand almost as soon as she entered the common room but that she had been holding it at all was something of an annoyance to him even as he tried to pretend it wasn't.
"Friend Aqualad," Starfire greeted warmly. Raven gestured at the sea-goer briefly and shared a conversational glance with him before Aqualad translated the silence to the other titans.
"Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Robin," he waved respectively and then continued, "Raven's curse, it seems has rendered her—"
"Nicer," Beast Boy put in and yelped when the couch moved swiftly to knock him in the side. Raven smirked and the changeling quieted.
"Incapable of speaking," Aqualad finished.
"We know that," Robin replied, a little too shortly maybe because Raven arched a brow.
"Yes, well I offered to help while she is in this handicapped state," Aqualad explained further and most of them nodded—except for Robin of course whose look for some reason seemed to only darken and except for Raven who hit Aqualad's shoulder, scowling. A moment passed between them—the others were getting used to this—and Aqualad said to the glowering sorceress, "Sorry, I thought 'cursed' was just as bad as handicapped though." Her eyes narrowed and the Atlantian laughed nervously, trying to think fast of some euphemistic phrase that would appease her.
Meanwhile, Robin watched, an increasingly dour expression on his features.
But neither Aqualad nor Raven seemed to notice...yet.
"That's not necessary," he said.
That got their attentions.
"I will not be a burden to you of course; I can simply come and go each day," Aqualad offered, trying hard to read Boy Wonder's thoughts with—impressively—little success.
"Would it not be well for friend Raven to have a body with which she could also communicate in her quiet state?" Starfire asked, perplexed and Robin groaned internally.
Why was everyone so for this idea?
Why aren't you, his mind asked him and he ignored it.
Meanwhile, Raven was doing thinking of her own:
What on earth is that damned boy blunder thinking? I need all the help I can get.
There was a shattering noise and Cyborg ran to its source, peering around the kitchen window to tell them it was the sound of their blender exploding.
"Yeah dude, she needs someone she can beat on...besides me and our kitchen," Beast Boy said, rubbing his side ruefully. Cyborg shrugged and nodded his basic agreement as he disposed of the pieces of glass and plastic, which only left...
"What do you think Raven? Do you," Robin swallowed hard, "Want Aqualad to stay?"
Raven nodded emphatically. You're a quick one, she thought sarcastically, face set in a severely perturbed fashion.
Robin gritted his teeth.
If he's worried about where you'll stay, you can always sleep in the living room, she said to Aqualad with a look.
"She says I can sleep on the couch," Aqualad offered.
"But that's the same place she's sleeping right now!" Robin snapped wildly. The others gave him odd stares...except for Raven who glowered very, very darkly.
We have three, she intoned to the telepath. What is that idiot's problem? I can't believe he would even...that jerk. Not like he doesn't probably do his fair share of...but anyway that's not even what this is about and...
Here, wincing, Aqualad momentarily blocked the empath's thoughts out of his mind, fearing he might be knocked down by their intensely aggravated state and noticing with renewed belief that her lessons in thought-control would be for good reason.
The way her thoughts were dashing around, she could knock down an entire country probably, what with her powers and her inability to vent even a little bit through verbalization.
"She says you have three couches...basically," Aqualad replied and they could tell he was paraphrasing for Robin's sake by the murderous look Raven was giving their resident Boy Wonder.
In fact, they could practically hear her raging questions.
Not really, but almost.
"Right, um, fine. Aqualad will stay with us...for a while," Robin said and Beast Boy gave a great whoop about someone new to play video games with while Cyborg immediately asked if Tram was around by any chance to work on the T-Car and Starfire went to go make the pudding of...whatever, but it was Starfire's pudding and that was all any of them ever needed to know to know what to do: steer clear.
Raven walked up to Robin, grabbed him by his wrist and led him forcibly over to the counter. This, Aqualad noticed but he was so thoroughly accosted by the other titans that he could not get a moment aside to follow.
"Raven, what—" he stopped as she picked up a pen and scribbled a very angry: what is your problem? What were you thinking?
He sighed. He didn't really know...and thought he'd be better off that way too...but how to explain...
"I just...it's hard for me to tell what is really okay with you...you know, without or bond working right, you know Rae?" he explained as sincerely as possible and it helped that there was some truth in that. He was regretful about their bond's seemingly limited capability in regards to the curse.
If I could talk to her, he wouldn't have to, Robin thought with mild irritation.
Raven's own anger lessened at his use of her nickname and his given explanation.
Stopworrying. –— she rolled her eyes as she underlined those words and continued— Aqualad's a great help and he'll keep me sane until this stupid fiasco is over. Just relax boy blunder. For once you don't have to have the burden of being the only one to understand me!
She walked away to join Aqualad, now by himself leaning against one of the three couches...waiting for her it seemed.
Robin bristled.
Maybe I want to be the only one, he thought without the wholeness of understanding and retreated to his researching lab.
He had to do some thinking.
But Robin wasn't in there even ten minutes before a familiarly light knock came at the door.
"What is it, Star?" he called through the metal.
"Robin, I was wondering if you would like to do the out-going with me?" she said with some notable reserve and he sighed. He didn't want to go much, but...maybe I should, he thought and rubbed the bridge of his nose. A headache threatened him from the shadows of the room and that made his mind up in the end.
"Sure Star, I'll be right there," he responded.
"Glorious!" she exclaimed and he heard her hurry off to grab her purse or whatever before meeting him at the door.
As he passed through, waving absently at Star who, as expected, was there waiting, he noticed the changeling at one of his games and Cyborg making a meat-tastic sandwich.
But he couldn't spot...
"Cyborg, where is...Raven?" he asked, not able to bring himself to say 'Raven and Aqualad'. The bionic man peered over the top of the gargantuan sub.
"Think she went out somewhere with Aqualad," he said and Robin would've been glad if he'd stopped there, but he didn't. "Cute isn't it? Little Rae finally opening up to someone...even if it is just out of necessity," Cyborg commented and went back to his sandwich.
Robin nodded dumbly and accepted Star's hand as they exited the tower, thinking: I always thought she was pretty open with me...maybe I was wrong.
And it was that thought that stayed with him through the pizza, movie, and moonlight stroll that ensued with the beautiful alien girl.
While that went on though, the lovely—and much quieter—empath looked at the Atlantian with some doubt.
Are you sure about this? She asked.
"Completely," he assured her and took her hand. Her first instinct was to pull back, but the kind way he looked at her now kept her from doing so. He really was very nice to help her and she could do worse than to trust him a bit.
Alright, but if I drown, they'll know who did it, she said at last, a foreboding sense of finality in her words and he laughed.
"Ten seconds, that's all. I promise," he said and held up his free hand as if making a vow; it so happened that it was his right hand that he used to do so.
Just get on with it, she huffed, still uncertain.
And they dove.
Well, Aqualad dove.
Raven kind of...pin-dropped.
But in was in, and in they both were...in the water.
She shut her eyes tightly against the sea, thus unaware of the Atlantian's combined stare of amusement and admiration; amusement at Raven's reaction to being submerged, admiration at her beauty which, in his opinion, the water enhanced in an ethereal way. Her hair flowed out behind her in divided wisps and her moon-pale skin glowed slightly with the light that reflected down into the depths of the surrounding water.
He'd always found her to be an attractive being of course, ever since that first encounter involving the Trident incident. Her intelligence greatly appealed to him as since he hailed from Atlantis, intellect was key, and her personality proved a constant source of bemused delight.
Of course, she wasn't hard to look at either, he admitted to himself, now more so than ever.
"We're here," he said after ten seconds of Raven's eyes being closed stubbornly and him leading the blind and mute girl through the rippling underwater current by the hand.
Where is 'here'? Raven wondered as she recognized some of the beauty of the caves she'd seen once before.
"It's near my place, but not so small and here it is a little more open," Aqualad answered, making wide gestures with his arms and Raven marveled at the spaciousness. There even seemed to be an odd sort of sky with stars that must have really been pockets of light distributed arbitrarily from the sun.
Incredible, she breathed mentally and Aqualad turned to her thoughtfully.
"We can have lessons here if you like," he suggested, trying not to sound too eager. He wasn't accustomed to liking someone like he liked Raven. On the other hand, it was a nice change from the hordes of girls that seemed attached to him on a similar, if more superficial level. Where he came from, the males enjoyed the pursuit more than being pursued.
He'd thought it was much the same for earthians but changed his mind rather quickly when he was told a while back that Starfire and Robin had finally made themselves an item.
Still...this brought him to ponder on Robin's peculiar reaction to his offer to assist. He'd seemed almost jealous but had snatched all other thoughts Aqualad might have read back and stuffed them effectively back in a deeper part of his mind where the Atlantian could not get at them.
It was perhaps just as well.
Even Robin was still trying to figure things out and it wouldn't be so good to have someone else find out before him...especially not his potential competition.
Some lessons here would be nice, but some I'd like to do on the surface since that is where I'll need to have the most control, she answered at last and Aqualad nodded.
"As you wish," he smiled at her.
To his delight, she gave a tentative smile back.
Thanks again, review if you can and take care all. DON'T GET SICK. IT SUCKS.
-Rei