chapter 43
So, someone asked me why I named Klarion and Raven's daughter 'lolita;' instead of 'Eris.' There's a reason for that. The first being Eris is an obvious name for the daughter of chaos, and Lolita doesn't have anything to do with the magic of Chaos. The term lolita (in the fashion world) is a type of style that gives off a look of innocence, and that's what lolita Bleak is. Innocent. Her magic also comes from fear, she's proof that even the most innocent things can be the most terrorfying. That's why her name is Lolita. Now as for my Lolita and Raven pole, I'm gonna keep that going for a little while, since only one person said anything about it, thank you by the way SoraAiAme for your feedback. It's a great help in my decision. n_n so anyway let's get on with it shall we? ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!
Fresh air! Well sort of, Raven thought she'd never get used to Gotham's air, however after being incarcerated for several months, she learned to love it. She covered her eyes as the summer sun shined brightly, and with familiar on her shoulder she stepped out of Arkham a changed woman. She smiled, and looked to Cherie.
"What should we do first? Cherie Curie?" She asked, this time using the cat's full name, much to the feline's delight.
"Well, this familiar certainly would not mind something other than bloated mice to eat." He purred. Raven laughed.
"Alright then." She said, "Off to the nearest burger joint!"
"With what money? Raven Lovely, you were recently released from Arkham." The feline mewed from Raven's shoulder. Raven frowned, that was true.
"Hey, you were the one who said he was hungry." She grumbled. Cherie flicked his tail.
"I am a cat, if I want something I take it. It is not that hard for me." He said with a slight chuckle in his voice. Raven pouted, "Aside from that you have other things to worry about."
"True, Let's see where this, Haven House* is." She said to herself. Suddenly she felt a presence behind her, she turned quickly quite sure that a certain witchboy had caught up to her. When she turned however all she saw was a skin tight suit of black and blue. She let out a sigh.
"You're a real dick yaknow that?" She groaned to Nightwing, who's brow rose, "Don't sneak up on me like that."
"I was only going to show you where you're staying." Replied Nightwing. Raven cocked an eyebrow as she looked to Cherie with pursed lips. She then crossed her arms over her chest.
"You mean you're here to make sure I actually go." She corrected blatantly, she was under no impression that Nightwing thought she'd changed her ways so quickly, or keeping an eye on her for Zatanna's sake. For being suspicious she really couldn't blame him, however it didn't change her attitude toward him.
"Call it what you want Raven, it's still happening." Nightwing said. Raven rolled her eyes.
"I'm not really in any position to argue now am I?" She asked holding her hands up. Nightwing scowled that well known scowl of the batfamily, as he led Raven to his motorcycle.
"Wow, a motorcycle. Now the suit makes sense." She said teasingly. Nightwing narrowed his eyes. Raven sighed, "You don't have to watch over me. I very much plan on getting to Haven House. being on the run from you and yours wasn't exactly fun for me."
Nightwing said nothing, he merely glared. Then it suddenly dawned on Raven and she shifted uncomfortably, "Oh, you're angry because I tried to kill you that time at the mall."
"You aren't the first nor will you be the last to try." He said simply, placing his helmet on his head. He'd almost forgotten about that, years of batman's training had taught him to block that sort of thing out, so it wouldn't distract him on other missions. The girl was crazy, but that didn't make her attack any different than the joker, or clayface, or even Poison ivy.
"Well then you can rest assured, I won't be doing that again." Raven muttered as she plucked Cherie Curie from the ground and placed him on her shoulders. "This city is minus one crazy witch girl."
"I'm going to make sure of that. Where are you going?" Nightwing quizzed as Raven walked past him.
"Haven House." She growled, "You didn't think I'd willingly ride on the back on your bird cycle did you?"
"You'll excuse me if I don't trust you?" He said grabbing Raven by the arm.
Raven scowled as her eyes shifted to the motor cycle.
"I'm not riding on that thing." She mumbled.
"Just get on the bike."
"No."
"get on the bike."
"Nope." She said absolutely. Nightwing became visibly frustrated.
"I'm not letting you go unattended." He explained as raven jerked her arm out of his loose grip.
"fine, don't. you can follow me, but I'm not getting on that thing." She snapped. Nightwing face palmed.
"Why the hell not?"
"Shouldn't you be saving a cat from a tree?" Raven avoided crossing her arms.
"Would you just answer the question?" He grilled. Raven stood in silence for a long time before finally she hung her head and mumbled.
"I don't like motorcycles…"
"What?"
"You heard me birdboy." She hissed crossing her arms, "I don't like motorcycles. I don't trust them!"
"Wow didn't expect that." Nightwing mocked, Raven glared.
"Oh shut up!" She shouted and turned "I am not getting on that thing. Ever! You can tail me if that's what you want, but no way in hell am I—hey let go!"
Nightwing, ignoring Raven, grabbed her from around the waist and forcing her onto the motorcycle. She glared.
"This can be considered police brutality yaknow!" She hissed, from her shoulders Cherie mewed as Nightwing handed her a helmet.
"That'd probably worry me, if I was a police officer." He said getting on the bike himself. Raven huffed.
'He does have a point Raven dearest." The feline mewled. Raven grumbled under her breath as Cherie slid into her lap.
"Fine, but you better not go too fast…" She grumbled placing the helmet on her head. Nightwing rolled his eyes and revved up the motor. Then without any hesitation (or waiting for Raven to get ready) he went full throttle, nearly sending Raven flying off.
"Oh you so did that on purpose you bastard!" She screamed as they spend off.
~0~
After a short drive—which felt like hell to Raven—they arrived at Haven House. Raven was quick to get off the two wheeled vehicle and was gripping onto the light pole for dear life. She looked to Nightwing and glared.
"OK, I'm here. You can beat it now!" She hissed. Nightwing shrugged and watched from his motorcycle as Raven stood up straight and walked toward the building. She stopped just before the door and looked over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes at Nightwing. "Oh yeah one more thing…"
Nightwing cocked an eyebrow.
"If I find out you're watching me, for her," Raven said in a low dark tone, "I won't need my magic to make you regret it."
With that Raven walked into the building where she was greeted by a decently sized foyer, with a desk sitting at the far end. Behind it sat a woman in her late thirties, her blond hair was graying however still held some color, including; blue, yellow, orange, and pink. When Raven entered the woman raised her head and gave a gentle smile.
"Hi, I'm Giselle Dvorak, I run Haven house." She introduced, "You must be the newbie from Arkham."
Raven stared, the woman seemed like she stepped out of an eighties cartoon with the way she talked. She looked to Cherie who's ears only twitched in response.
"Hm, yeah, that's me. Raven, and my cat….Cherie." She mumbled. Giselle smiled warmly at Raven as she led her further into the building.
"Well Raven, welcome to Haven House. I'll give you the tour." She said sweetly, "And don't worry, I'm sure you'll be right at home here. Haven House is a place where people can get back on their feet, be it from a bad relationship, money problems, or even a court order."
Raven cut her eyes, sure that last part was directed at her. from her shoulders Cherie purred reassuringly in her ear, reassuring her it would all be alright, and in no time she would be back to her old self, and on her own. Haven House was just a stepping stone.
~0~
"And this, is where you'll be staying." Giselle said in a gentle tone as she and Raven entered a room with four beds. The room was painted a pale yellow with daisy white wall paper, with two beds on either side of the room. At the back of her mind Raven couldn't help but wonder, who the other people staying in the room were, and what they were like.
'I certainly hope they do not mind cats.' Cherie's voice mewed to her. Raven shrugged, it wouldn't matter if they minded or not, Cherie was a part of her, if whoever they were didn't like him, that was their problem.
"your roommates should be up in a little while," Giselle's voice said breaking Raven from her inner monologue. "I'll leave you be to get settled in."
With that Raven was left alone in the room—well, she was never truly alone, what with Cherie being her familiar and always with her. She sighed and looked about the room; it was decorated like something a teenager from a dorky sit-com. There were kitten posters that had inspirational nonsense written on them like 'hang in there,' and 'nothing worth doing is done easy.' it made Raven feel rather cynical actually, and with her personality, dark taste, and her blue black hair, she felt very out of place in the fluffy-esque bedroom. She briefly wondered—since she would have to be living there for a while—if she would be able to decorate herself? Though, judging by the cutesy, fuzzy, and vanilla-like decor, she guessed anything she would chose would upset her recovering room-mate.
"Well, I guess it could be worse." she mumbled—mostly to herself, as Cherie decided to claim the bed that wasn't yet claimed.
Almost as if on cue, the door opened. Raven turned her head to see a red haired girl, wearing a bright pink ice-cream sweater. Raven cringed a bit as she looked over her new roommate who seemed frozen in place just inside the door frame. She stared at Raven wide-eyed, looking her up and down, almost on instinct Raven scowled and took a defiant stance, ready for the insults to ensue. However, to Raven's surprise, the girl looked to Cherie and shrieked. Cherie, startled by the sudden scream jumped from his comfortable position on the bed as the girl ran toward him.
"Awe! You have a kitty! What's his name? Does he like tuna? Aw he's so cute!" The girl shouted with delight, plucking Cherie from the bed and holding him tight against her as the white and black feline struggled to get free. Raven just looked at her, that was diffidently not what she had expected, however she responded.
"Uhm, Cherie Curie, I guess, and uhm, thank you?" She said questioningly. She could hear the annoyance in Cherie as he clawed growled and hissed to get free. The redhead grinned a dorky open mouthed grin as she stood—still holding Cherie, and ignoring his pleas for escape—and approached Raven.
"Hi, I'm sue-sue Hec* and It looks like we'll be roomies!" She said, extending her hand towards Raven while still managing to keep a firm grip around Cherie. Raven stared, dumbfounded as her eyes shifted between the girl's hand and her facial expression with still held that open mouthed grin. Eventually she caved and took the girl's hand in hers.
"Uhm, yeah, I'm Raven," she said in respnse. "Uh Sue—"
"Sue-sue, my parents were weird and accidentally named me Sue-sue." Sue-sue interupted, still managing to keep that weird dorky grin. Raven gave a pointed nod.
"Uh-huh, anyway, Cherie really doesn't like the way you're holding him." She said, "Actually he'd be really appreciative if you let him go. Like, right now."
"Oh!" The girl shouted as if suddenly she remembered she was holding the poor creature against its will, and hadn't noticed the cat struggling. "Sorry, I reeaaally love cats."
'Loves to strangle us perhaps!' Cherie growled, Raven couldn't help but laugh a little, despite being able to feel the pain he had just gone through.
"I can definantly tell that yeah." She said answering Sue-sue.
"And I can see that you like cats too." Sue-sue responded, she then leaned forward a bit and grinned, "I can tell we're going to get along just fine."
"Uh, yeah, maybe." Raven mumbled walking toward the bed Cherie was on before Sue-sue nearly squeezed the life out of him. Suddenly Sue-sue let out a loud gasp, causing Raven to turn in surprise, as if expecting some sort of danger.
"Oh. My. Gosh!" Was what she was greeted with instead, followed by Sue-sue once again invading her personal space. "You'r clothes, they're all ripped. What happened?"
Raven looked down at the clothes she was wearing, the deep crimson, tattered red dress she had aquired with her run it with Uriah. She had nearly forgotten she was wearing it, a dark reminder of the Raven she once was. She gave Sue-sue an uneasy smile.
"It's a long, and depressing story." She said. Sue-sue gave a somewhat knowing look in return.
"Ex boyfriend?" She asked, Raven shrugged. Well, she wasn't entirely wrong, "Don't worry, you can borrow some of my clothes, until you can get your own."
She then grabbed Raven by the wrist and dragged her to the closet in between the beds. She threw open the doors to reveal all sorts of brightly colored sweaters, each one with a dorky little character decorating the front. Raven looked at them all, the colors nearly blinded her to be honest, and she wasn't sure if she could give up her dark gothic look, just so she could get out of the dress she wore when her magic was sucked out of her. Cherie meowed from the other side of the room, pointing out that a new look probably wouldn't be so bad for the time being.
"You can pick anything from my clothes!" Sue-sue said enthusiastically, "You look about my size right? I have all the coolest clothes"
the corners of Raven's mouth twitched into a quick forced smile, "Uh, thanks Sue-sue. Hey, you wouldn't happen to have anything...less...colorful?"
Sue-sue's eyes grew wide, as if the mention of less color was blasphemous to her. "Oooh. You're one of those types aren't you?"
The question wasn't a judgment, but it definitely put Raven a bit off. She narrowed her eyes at Sue-sue and with a slight hiss asked, "What do you mean by those types?"
"Nothing! Nothing! I just thought you were one of those goth kids." She responded holding her hands up in defense. "I don't mean any judgment if you are, but I don't have anything like that. I like colorful stuff."
"You can still borrow my stuff if you want, and I can take you shopping some time!" she continued, keeping that ever so perky attitude.
"Oh, ok. Thank you...sue-sue." Raven mumbled unsure. "I appreciate it."
Sue-sue grinned again and spun around, "I'll let you get changed! Meet me downstairs in the living room and I'll introduce you to the others at Haven House!"
and with that Sue-sue Hec skipped out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Raven stared after her, she really didn't know what to make of that girl. She was bubbly, sweet, nice, and she even apologized when she came off as judgmental. She was also dorky, and somewhat delusional in how dorky she was. However, oddly enough, Raven found it somewhat refreshing. Hell, she might even consider being friends with her. Sue-sue was definitely the friendly type. Raven looked to Cherie for his thoughts, however—now that the girl was out of the room—he had decided to take a short nap.
"Well, I guess I'll give it a try." She said to herself and grabbed the least dorky looking clothes in Sue-sue's closet.
This chapter took way too long. Mostly because I've been without a computer for a while. The reason? It forgot it was supposed to charge when plugged in. so I have to buy a charger, I still haven't gotten around to it and I have no idea when I will be able to in the future. So until then for the most part I'll be on hiatus.
(*) Haven house, and Giselle Dvorak; these things come from my favorite 1980s cartoon Jem and the holograms (no my pen name doesn't come from the show). I decided to use these two things for this. If you want to know more about them it's pretty easy to google them.
(*) coodoes to anyone who has seen The Middle, a truly dumb, and pathetic show with no relatable characters what so ever. The only reason I decided to use Sue Hec as a name is because, well, I think Sue is the only character who doesn't annoy the crap out of me. Why do I watch it you may ask? Because it comes on before a show I actually enjoy 'Reba.' anyway i'll see you in the next episode—i mean chapter!