Well, I'm here with a long over due chapter four. This story shouldn't have any more than six...there are ways that I could extend it, but it's not really meant to be a long thing...just a simple plot. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate the input. Well...I guess that's it. Shut up and read. First time I uploaded this there were a lot of typos so...that's been fixed. Sorry for the trouble.
Days passed in a blur as December 18 and 19 flew by, 20 close behind. Raven watched it all like an agitated badger, glaring out from the protection of her hole.
Most of the Titans had accepted her permanent Grinchy attitude. The last person she would expect to was still bothering her, however.
"Hey, Raven," Robin said, in that quiet and stiff tone he always used when talking to her. She guessed he was speaking softly to avoid triggering an explosion. After all, she could be quite intimidating. The empath chose not to respond, assuming that he would assume that she heard him, since he was only about five feet away. "Wow," she thought, mentally rolling her eyes. "I just assumed an assumption." Christmas was really getting to her head.
Very little managed to escape Raven's penetrating eyes, so she was aware of the way Robin's gloved hands twisted and grappled with eachother. It was a nervous gesture, whcih made no sense. Since when did Robin get nervous around anyone, much less a teammate?
"I just noticed that..." The hands fought with more enthusiasm. "I mean, I thought maybe...I should..." He swallowed, then stared at the floor.
Raven's eyebrows shot to the roof. "Are you always this articulate?" she droned, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. One point for Raven. Take that, Cyborg.
The enjoyment was sucked right out of her as a light flush crept into his cheeks. "Never mind," Robin muttered, turning on his heel and slipping through the sliding door and out of sight.
Aside fro mthe growing and very odd sense of guilt, Raven felt shocked that he had given up that easily. When challenged, Robin generally fought it out and flung insults unitl it all finally got to his head and he exploded like a nuclear bomb. Never before had she known him to trip over his words or blush, of all things.
Yet in the next instant, her concern (if it had been that) melted away. Yes, Robin's behavior was strange, but by most standards, Robin's behavior was always strange. Who knew why he reacted the way he did? All she really knew about the masked wonder was that he had been apprenticed to Batman and had an addiction to crime fighting in its various forms. Not really much to go on.
Shaking her head and breathing a half-audible "weird," Raven shrugged it off. There were more important things to worry about...like how she was going to dispose of Starfire's elf constumes before she was forced to wear one.
The morning of the 21st donned, and Raven thought, with a groan, "Three days." On the extremely-small-and-really-not-worth-it postive side, in four days it would be over...until New Years, and--she cringed at the thought--Valentine's Day.
Wait, did she just say there was a positive side?
...She did?
Well, she lied.
While slipping out of bed and clasping her cloak around her throat, Raven felt an undeniable pull to leave the tower. A peek out the curtains revealed that the snow was, amazingly enough, still on the ground and swirling on the gentle air currents. She wanted to be out in the white oblivion of peace, swirling in the air like yet another delicate ice crystal.
Raven chewed her lip silently, glancing back at her bedroom door as though expecting someone to burst in and stop her, yet her gaze was forever tugged back to the window, in all the glory of an early morning. She was going out.
Hands that seemed fragile and white braced themselves against the window frame and pushed, letting a delicious gust of ice-cold air into the stuffy room. Raven smiled without knowing it, letting the wind blow back her hair and caress her face. She was reborn.
Jerking back the heavy velvet curtains, she stepped onto the snowy window seal, feeling the cold through her thin boots. Raven let herself tip forward until her body fell from the window and out into the world of white. Her stomach leapt pleasantly as she dived downwards, arms outstretched to make sure every part of her could experience this innocent pleasure.
When the rocks began to threaten, she pulled up with a sigh, ending her death-defying dive as suddenly as it had begun. Raven hovered for a moment, watching the tiny crystals melt against her dark sleeve in wonder. She had always thought the snow on the cartoons was exagerated--what chould possibly make such elaborate designs from ice?--but no, they looked just as beautiful as Frosty the Snowman had depicted them. Strange.
Raven drifted well above the frigid surface of the water, flying in the general direction of the city. She was looking for someone, though pride kept her from thinking about it long enough to admit exactly who that someone was. There were plenty of people in her mind that would have way too much fun with such information... Sarcasm, for one.
As the steel gray of the city grew closer, outlined against the white, Raven felt her cynical personality returning, feeling more and more stupid for dancing around in the "magic of snow." Gag. What was she thinking?
Her mouth set in a firm line, arms folded protectively against the sudden cold, Raven touched down on the pavement, the desire to fly leaving her. She felt a little too grounded to be zipping around like a windblown feather.
Speaking of wind...it kicked up as Raven wandered down random streets, not the least bit lost yet feeling somewhat...misplaced. She really should be enjoying the emptiness of early morning, yet she found herself almost longing for a little bustle, just to break this eerie silence.
Feeling strangely outside herself, Ravne trudged through the snow, arms folded and shivering slightly. Unbidden, the words left her lips and hung in the freezing air, spinning themselves into yet another delicate snowflake. Sadness, unexpected and not entirely her own, wrapped itself around her chest.
"This is my December...this is my snow-covered hole. This is my December...this is me alone..."
A pair of blue eyes faded into her vision until they seemed clearer than the snow around her. The pools expanded, as dark as a night sky without moon or stars to lighten them. Somewhere in the darkness someone was calling her... Something had to be known... Someone was hurting--
A gasp of burningly cold air filled her lungs as her violet eyes stretched wide, seeing once again the snow-drifted street, feeling once again the needles of ice in her skin. She saw nothing but the empty street for a moment, too consumed by her vision...but she soon picked out the figure, gray against the white.
He sat hunched over on the bus bench, head in his hands, the snow tangled in his wet hair and covering his back. He had been there for a while.
The aura surrounding him was overpowering, the emotions as cold as the snow that clung to him. She knew them.
Forcing her stiff legs through the snow, Raven took jerky steps toward him, hesitation almost making her freeze. He felt completely unnapproachable and desperate for company at the same time.
Eventually, she found herself standing barely a foot away from him, knowing that he was aware even though he didn't move. A shiver, for lack of a better word, swept through her body, tingling on fingers and toes, cold and warm and neither. He had always affected her strangely, yet this time was completely...different.
Ignoring the snow piled against the metal bench, Raven sat down next to him, close enough to share a little body heat with him. He was so cold that he no longer shivered, merely sat like a statue, a pale tinge to the fingers that threaded themselves through his dark hair. Still he didn't move, as though ignorant of how to react to such a simple kindness.
Vague thoughts drifted through her mind like the fragile snow crystals, whispering no louder than the wind. How could I have missed this? He seemed so happy before...
Seemed.
A lump rose in her throat. She was familiar with that tactic. Projecting the desired image to conceal all the ungliness within.
Just when the silence began to feel permanent, and Raven became accustomed to her role as statue in this frozen still life, captured by some tortured artist in feverish inspiration...he broke it, shattered it, crystal shards disappearing on the wind.
"Have you ever felt like...everything you worked for..." he swallowed, as though each word was a struggle, "everything you are...just...isn't worth anything anymore?"
The whisper had disappeared into the snow, yet it still echoed inside Raven. She scooted closer to him, feeling the need to have that physical contact that made it all real. Her response came as slowly as his, releasing a cloud of warmth into the cold air.
"Yes."
Just one word...but it felt adequate.
From the things coming out of his mouth, Raven would have thought he was talking to himself...but the feel of him said clearer than anything that he was confiding in her.
"I can't die but...I have no reason to live. Everything...all the things people think I am...just lies...lies to hide the truth." The words became thick, choked with hidden tears as his fingers gripped his head tightly. "I'm not what they think I am...nothing so good. Nothing..."
Raven was silent, letting the words seep into her skin until she gained full appreciation for their meaning. She knew what he meant, knew exactly what he was feeling. It tugged at her heart, drew her closer as though he radiated warmth in the snow. Knowing that someone understood you... Burning tears welled in her eyes, simply from the intensity of this foreign emotion. She couldn't speak...but she didn't need to.
The sun rose somewhere behind the snowcapped buildings, diffusing the white with a faint orange glow, heralding the warmth of the sun. Like an ice sculpture carved and diplayed in the night, Raven began to melt, regaining the feeling in her limbs just enough to realize how cold she was. Shivers set in as she fought to keep her jaw locked. Snow melted on her scalp, icy water trickling down to tangle in her eyelashes. The empath wondered vaguely if it did the same things to her appearance as it was doing to his.
For the first time, he stirred, hands stiff as he lifted his head and straightened his back. Blue gaze, fixed unblinkingly on her face. This time, she didn't look away or flinch. His gaze was her gaze, his eyes were her eyes.
Without a word, he stood, taking her frozen hands in his and pulling her to her feet. The "shiver" ran through her again as her cold met his cold and merged. For the moment, Raven existed just to feel his hands around hers. No one had ever held them so gently.
Doubt flared up in her feverish mind as he let go. Never breaking her gaze, almost as though reassuring himself that she was still there, his fingers curled around the edge of the gray hoody, pulling it up over his head. The white t-shirt lifted up slightly, unwilling to part with the needed warmth.
Gentle and careful, he slipped it over her head and tucked it in around her, taking her cold arms and guiding them through the sleeves. Warmth tingled on her skin and spread inward until she wondered if she had ever felt anything so heaven-sent.
He looked smaller, skin vulnerable and exposed to the cold, though he showed no indication that he even felt it. Running a hand lightly across her cheek, he smiled ever so slightly, as though getting used to the gesture. It felt real this time.
Richard turned and walked away, snow brushing against his bare arms and disappearing on his shirt. In a matter of seconds, he had turned the corner and was lost in the swirling white.
Raven stood frozen as the sun peeked up past the buildings, making the snow sparkle a brilliant white. She buried her face in the warm material, inhaling slowly and closing her eyes. It was comforting...
It was familiar.
Haha so she's starting to figure out. Well anyway, I'll try to update sooner. Talk to you later.