Fair warning; this one is slightly more mature


Her footsteps were always light.

Even on the rare times she was forced to go undercover and wear heels, of all things, it was absolutely impossible for anyone- anyone other than Beast Boy, that was -to hear her coming. The way she walked was as practiced and controlled as her magic and emotions were, something which was a seriously impressive feat if you considered Robin's upbringing and the fact that even he hadn't completely mastered the art of keeping his steps non-existent yet.

It was almost scary how much control she had of herself, really.

The way she walked, the way she talked; the rare but controlled smiles she let slip whenever she thought no one was looking. The calm and almost motherly way she handled a panicked Starfire, the severely hidden yet obvious love she held for Beast Boy despite how much he tended to annoy her, the relationship of respect and understanding she had with Cyborg- he saw it all.

And, of course, there was the way she acted around him; something reserved entirely for him yet was so her all the same.

Raven would calmly, yet sternly, scold him whenever he went too far again, calling him out on his tunnel vision- which, even Robin had to admit might be becoming a severe problem -and easily taking over for him whenever he was rendered out of commission- or rather, rendered himself out of commission.

Like right now, for example.

"Third time this week, Boy Blunder," she murmured in that ever-present monotone as she searched through his bathroom cabinets for the bandages she knew he stored there. A monotone that somehow still managed to sound mocking whenever it needed to, and as of right now; it definitely needed to.

His eyes stayed on her as she exited his bathroom and made her way over to him with her treasures in hand, following her every move in his state of half-delirium- he couldn't very much hear her coming, after all. "Don't remind me," he groaned, his words coming out as a slight slur as the severe and insistent pounding in his head only increased the more he dared to talk.

"I can, and I will." She stated evenly, long legs swinging over his limp form, the bed dipping just slightly with her added weight as she straddled him in a way that would almost be suggestive if it wasn't for the fact he was severely covered in blood and obviously fighting a heavy concussion at the moment.

She leaned over him, and even with the bitching concussion he knew to avert his eyes and stare upwards instead of straight at her chest lest he risk facing actual death rather than just be knocking at its front door.

But by God, was she making this whole thing insanely hard for him.

"I warned you before," she said, her touch gentle as she cleaned the blood from his head wounds, the slight buzzing of her healing magic not slipping past him. "Told you not to be reckless, not to go into this stuff alone regardless of how much you want to protect us or how little time you have left, But of course," the next dab to his wound was particularly rough and he hissed at the pain, low and drawn out. "You never listen."

The apology he muttered under his breath was quick, inaudible and maybe even slightly pained, yet the half demon currently on his lap - in a way that was doing very, very bad things for his less than lucid self, mind you - had heard him loud and clear, replying with a stiff, cold hum of acknowledgement.

Oh, she was pissed.

"Don't- shit -don't be mad," he tried, her rough method of cleaning his wounds signaling well enough that his plea wasn't exactly working.

"Give me one good reason not to be." Jesus, the ice in her voice didn't usually affect him this much. If the sharp pains and likely broken bones he sported hadn't been enough of a life-lesson for him, the awkward heat currently going through his body certainly was.

"I love you?"

She paused, delicate yet powerful hands leaving his wounds as she leaned back just enough to stare down at him from her position on his lap; very obviously not impressed at his attempt to placate her. Robin shifted just slightly, movements awkward as he tried to get her to sit in a way that wasn't making him feel as if he was about to die on the spot, but of course, it only made it worse.

"'Love me' huh," she echoed, either not noticing or blatantly ignoring his current discomfort. She twisted in her seat, settling in such a way that would be more comfortable for her but made the color in his cheeks increase all the more and yeah, she was just ignoring it. There was no way she didn't know.

"Raven," he croaked weakly. "Please."

The slight smirk curling up her lips told him that yes, she damn well knew what she was doing to him and if he'd been lucid enough, he'd have cursed her for it, the absolute vixen.

Right now, however, he was fully at her mercy for the time being and Robin supposed this was just his fate now. He couldn't even go and say it wasn't deserved either, because it was; it definitely was.

"Love me," Raven repeated again, and the sudden tone of melancholy cutting through her usual stiffness was like a bucket of sheer ice water being doused over his heated form. "Love me so much you keep attempting to leave me."

Fuck, Robin would've taken a hundred more of these concussions if it spared him the irrational pain he felt at hearing her say that.

So despite his injuries, despite the fact that there were very high chances his half-demon would likely beat the shit out of him for moving despite her many warnings not to, the young hero couldn't help the way his body instantly stiffened, nor could he help the way one of his bloody hands instinctively reached for her hips while the other reached for the back of her neck, just so he could pull her down to his level and get her out of whatever mindset she was currently spiraling herself into.

The scowl on Raven's face spelled death, but death would always be a concept he was intimately familiar with so he easily ignored it in favor of lightly knocking their foreheads together, the deep, electric blue of his eyes locking on righteously upset amethyst. "Please don't ever think that," he whispered, ignoring the pounding pain going through his body even as it screamed at him to lie the fuck back down. "You know that's not true, Raven. How could you even- I would never just-"

"Liar," another bucket of ice; another chill down his spine. The fact that her eyes held no resentment, no sense of bitterness, just pure truth, made it all the worse. "You may keep telling yourself that, but I know just as well as you do that the second another S-rank villain enters the city, you'll leave behind all rational thought because of your damned hero complex."

Well, he wouldn't exactly call it a 'hero complex' but…

She was right. Fuck, he hated that she was right.

"It'd be fine if you didn't insist on going off on your own," Raven continued with a sigh. "We're in a risky business; I know perfectly well there's no guarantee any of us will survive into our thirties- by Azar we might even die tomorrow if the world really wants it. I know that."

Her eyes lacked their signature emptiness as she stared down at him; lacked even the secondary cold his sorceress usually defaulted to as a defense. Instead, they held nothing but indifferent sincerity, as if she'd already come fully to terms with whatever difficult decision she was about to make. A decision earth-shattering enough to make his heart pound before he'd even heard it.

He knew what was coming.

He didn't want to know what was coming.

Raven's following sigh was impossibly heavy. "Still, that doesn't justify throwing yourself to die whenever you think there's no other option, Dick. I...I just don't know if I can-"

He didn't give her the time to finish, his aching body absolutely screaming at him as he closed the distance between them with a bit more force than was intended, effectively silencing the haunting words that were about to come out of her mouth as he flipped their positions, pushing her down into the mattress.

"Don't," he hissed after they pulled apart, his arm struggling to hold him up as he hovered over her body. The danger in his tone was audible to even him, the coldness in his eyes reflecting hers but of course, it wouldn't have done anything even if he had intended it to. She knew him, after all; knew him better than he even knew himself. She'd know that this was nothing but fear and panic talking, knew that the thought of her leaving him did things to him that he himself didn't even want to admit; and if she hadn't known before, she certainly did now.

The blank look on her face was almost as chilling as her words had been. It told him enough, told him things that hurt him a lot more than the wounds he'd probably reopened with that little stunt of his and just as he was about to grit his teeth and pull away despite how much it pained him to do so - if she wanted to go, who was he to stop her? - her soft, cold hands touched his face, gluing him down on the spot.

"Relax," she breathed, pulling him down to her level just enough for him to feel her breath on his face. She closed her eyes, a half smile curling at her lips that was a bit slow; a bit sad. "I haven't been able to push myself that far yet; didn't realize how impossibly stuck you are until I thought to let go of you."

Until I thought to let go of you.

He'd take a lifetime supply of Joker toxin over this.

"Raven-"

This time, it was her turn to cut him off. She pulled him down, their lips meeting in a slow, pained kiss that he couldn't help but pour his entire being into, nor did he miss the slight trembling of her hand on his skin as she kissed him- she didn't want to leave him any more than he did.

"I've said what I needed to say," she concluded after they pulled apart for the second time that night, her eyes, as captivating as they were, lidded and not quite leaving his lips even as she spoke. "The cards are entirely in your hands now, Boy Blunder."

The cheeky, lopsided grin he gave her was entirely faked. "Do you really trust me with that?"

"I don't know," her eyes slid up to his, the sincerity in them almost enough to knock him off his feet.

"Surprise me."