Chapter 47
Hey everyone, it's a been a while, I've been super busy. A lot of stuff going on, won't go into details just know 2016 was one hell of a ride. However, this new year I'm currently under a personal construction, as well as taking some time to re-evaluate my creative mind. So, I don't know when I will be posting updates, but I hope to see you guys regularly. So to recap Raven's on her way to rehabilitation however the road is rocky and the nightmares she's been having haven't been helping. Now without further a due ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!
The two girls had managed to talk about pretty much everything but at the same time nothing that night. Since Raven had been on the other side of the law—which she left out when talking to her—so she had missed out on a lot of prime time television. Much to the surprise of Sue-sue, but that didn't deter her from talking and describing every TV sit com she had seen within the last year and a half. Raven listened to she learned about the recent reality TV show that involved models.
"I just love, how they show even such pretty people can have bad days." Sue-sue said happily. Raven shrugged. "What TV shows did you watch before?"
"I...don't care for much reality TV." Raven mumbled. Sue-sue pursed her lips.
"Surely you watched SOMETHING." She said. Raven thought for a moment, she didn't watch much TV. Movies, on the the hand, that she watched a lot of.
"Come now Raven, you watched a lot of television when you lived in that house in Gotham." Cherie purred in Raven's mind. "If I recall you found copious amounts of joy from the show that scared innocent civilians. I believe it had a set of identical twins, who dressed much like you. What was it called? Involved an elevator..."
"Hellevator." Raven blurted aloud, Sue-sue's eyes widened, "Sorry, I uh, I just remembered I used to watch a show called Hellevator."
"I...don't think I've heard of that." Sue-sue said shyly.
"I used to watch it on Netflix...I don't know what channel it was on." Raven explained. "I think it was Scifi? But it was a survival horror show. It had these twin hosts and they'd scare the crap out of people. I remember this one episode this one girl got to the final level after her friends were eliminated she ran screaming through the final level, didn't pick up a single cash prize."
"So...you like horror?"
"Oh yeah." Raven admitted, "But I prefer classic horror, none of this paranormal activity, found footage crap."
"What else do you like?" Sue-sue inquired, happy to see Raven in better spirits since earlier in the night.
"Like what do you mean?" Raven inquired back, she was hesitant to describe to Sue-sue her interests. She'd learned early on that not a lot of people were fans of Goth people, usually through lack of knowledge she was branded a freak or degenerate—although given the reason she was there, probably didn't help either. People also tended to distance themselves from her and with everything she went through and was going through she didn't feel like losing someone as genuine as Sue-sue due to being a misfit.
"Do you read any magazines?" Sue-sue asked giving an example.
"Not often, I think the last one I read was...a scholastic magazine?" Raven shrugged.
"What about music? Do you like pop music? Like Miley?" Sue-sue asked. Raven must have made a face because Sue-sue went on to ask, "How about Jared Leto?"
Raven laughed, "Didn't the Joker kidnap him after portraying him as a wannabe gangster?"
"Oh yeah...that did happen didn't it? Him and that clown lady held up the movie premier!" Sue-sue exclaimed, "It was so scary, he gave Leto two black eyes. I felt so sorry for him."
"Sorry, but I thought it was kinda funny." Raven admitted, "I mean what did the guy expect? The Joker is a proud guy. Leto ruined his image."
"You say that like you've met the Joker." Sue-sue said with her head tilted. Raven snapped her mouth shut. She needed to think of a way to explain how she knew what she knew short of admitting she actually worked with both the Joker when she spent time with the Injustice League. As brief as it was.
"I uh...I...um..." She stammered. Damnit. She was making it look suspicious.
"Calm down Raven dearest." Cherie mewed inside her head as he nuzzled against her chest reassuringly. "There are other ways a person can know about a criminally insane lunatic. There are books about him remember."
"I um...I had the misfortune of being held up on a bus by the Joker and Harley." She said. Sue-sue's eyes widened.
"You were?!"
"Uh yeah...It was resolved quickly, but after that I decided to do some research on him." Raven explained, "There's a lot of books on the nutjob. All of them talk about how egotistical he is."
"There are?!" Sue-sue shouted in surprise.
"Psychos and murderers are usually top of a lot of people's reading lists." Raven said. After all she would know, she read a lot of them herself and that was before she moved to Gotham. She found a special interest in Scarecrow, well that was until he began psycho analyzing her in Arkham. It was sort of a pet peeve of hers. Her mom did it to her all the time.
"What about you?" Sue-sue asked.
"Pardon?"
"Are they on your reading list?" She repeated.
"They used to be." Raven said, and that was true, before Gotham she found great joy in reading about all sorts of psychos. Not all of which were exclusively from Gotham and not all of them from recent days. In fact she had an entire encyclopedia on serial killers and lunatics. They held a morbid interest to her back then. Now, not as much.
"What changed?"
"I encountered them. On the bus?" She reminded Sue-sue who nodded as she remembered on her own.
"Oh oh right. I'm glad you're Ok." She said, Raven shrugged.
"It happened when I was just going into high school. Long time ago," She admitted, "I hardly remember it anymore."
"Still, the Joker?! That's horrifying." She said, then changed the subject, "So you didn't really answer my question."
"About?"
"What music you like." She said, Raven bit her lip then decided since Sue-sue was actually asking, she would have to be honest.
"I like groups like Type-O Negative, Siouxie Sioux, Bauhaus and Aurelio Voltaire." She said, listing off a few off the top of her head. Sue-sue stared at her blankly, she clearly had no idea what Raven was talking about. Which was to be expected.
"Uhm..."
"Don't worry about it." Raven said holding her hand up, "Let's just say I have a different taste in music than most people."
"That's so cool!" Sue-sue exclaimed. Raven laughed.
"You'd be the first to think that." She said softly. Sue-sue smiled.
"Aw, I doubt that. You seem really cool Raven." she said sweetly, Raven let out a small humored snort. "I think so anyway, you don't even let Brit get to you, and she," Sue-sue looked around the room as if to check if anyone was listening. She then whispered, "She can be a real mean person."
This time Raven laughed out loud, both at Sue-sue's childlike way of describing someone whom Raven would describe as 'bitchy', and the innocent way she was intimidated by her. She looked to Sue-sue who seemed to be a bit confused by the sudden laugher. Raven let out a relieving sigh as she composed herself.
"I've delt with 'Pretty girls' like her all my life." She explained, "That girl, couldn't intimidate me if she was a hundred feet tall. HA!"
"How do you do it?" Sue-sue asked. Raven frowned.
"Do what?"
"How do you not get intimidated by her and her friends?" She elaborated. "I always just run away when she's in a room."
"I don't really care." Raven said bluntly, "At some point, you have to just say 'to hell with it.' and not give a fuck about what people think."
"Raven!" Sue-sue shouted in a hushed tone. Raven cracked a smile, amused by the way her room-mate seemed to be PG.
"What? It's the truth, and girls like Britt, they feed off of the insecurities of people." She said, "They want you to care, and feel shitty. It's what fuels their egos, and how they hold power over you."
"You think so?"
"I know so." Raven said with no hesitation and a sternness in her voice. Sue-sue looked down at her hands in silence for a moment. Pondering over what Raven had said, she then looked up towards the widnow and gasped.
"OMG! It's almost daylight outside!" She said. Raven looked over at the clock on Sue-sue's side of the room; 5:00 a.m. Yeah that sounded about right. Sue-sue then gushed, "I can't believe we stayed up that late. I've never stayed up this late. It's so weird! Do you feel weird."
Raven shook her head. Truth was, she was used to late nights. Usually she was up late doing this of that, playing computer games or reading books. Really anything to avoid going to bed or leaving her room. Though, she really hadn't meant to keep herself, or Sue-sue up this late. Time seemed to fly by while they were talking. Raven ran her fingers through her hair and gave an apologetic look to her roomie before mumbling, "Sorry about that."
"No, no! It's, totally cool!" Sue-sue said as she stood up from Raven's bed. "This was awesome. I feel like a total rebel! Like what I imagined girls in my class do during slumber parties."
Raven laughed, "Well, I'm glad I could make you feel like a badass."
"We should totally do it again sometime..." She said with a grin. Then yawned, "But...maybe...not anytime soon. I'm beat. We should probably go to bed."
Raven nodded silently and watched as Sue-sue made her way back to her own, pale yellow bed across from hers. She smiled as she yawned a goodnight to Raven and turned out her light. Raven herself felt a smile warm her face as she gathered her blankets and went to sleep. To Raven's relief, she wasn't plagued with any nightmares the rest of the night.
"Oh oh right. I'm glad you're Ok." She said, Raven shrugged.
"It happened when I was just going into high school. Long time ago," She admitted, "I hardly remember it anymore."
"Still, the Joker?! That's horrifying." She said, then changed the subject, "So you didn't really answer my question."
"About?"
"What music you like." She said, Raven bit her lip then decided since Sue-sue was actually asking, she would have to be honest.
"I like groups like Type-O Negative, Siouxie Sioux, Bauhaus and Aurelio Voltaire." She said, listing off a few off the top of her head. Sue-sue stared at her blankly, she clearly had no idea what Raven was talking about. Which was to be expected.
"Uhm..."
"Don't worry about it." Raven said holding her hand up, "Let's just say I have a different taste in music than most people."
"That's so cool!" Sue-sue exclaimed. Raven laughed.
"You'd be the first to think that." She said softly. Sue-sue smiled.
"Aw, I doubt that. You seem really cool Raven." she said sweetly, Raven let out a small humored snort. "I think so anyway, you don't even let Brit get to you, and she," Sue-sue looked around the room as if to check if anyone was listening. She then whispered, "She can be a real mean person."
This time Raven laughed out loud, both at Sue-sue's childlike way of describing someone whom Raven would describe as 'bitchy', and the innocent way she was intimidated by her. She looked to Sue-sue who seemed to be a bit confused by the sudden laugher. Raven let out a relieving sigh as she composed herself.
"I've delt with 'Pretty girls' like her all my life." She explained, "That girl, couldn't intimidate me if she was a hundred feet tall. HA!"
"How do you do it?" Sue-sue asked. Raven frowned.
"Do what?"
"How do you not get intimidated by her and her friends?" She elaborated. "I always just run away when she's in a room."
"I don't really care." Raven said bluntly, "At some point, you have to just say 'to hell with it.' and not give a fuck about what people think."
"Raven!" Sue-sue shouted in a hushed tone. Raven cracked a smile, amused by the way her room-mate seemed to be PG.
"What? It's the truth, and girls like Britt, they feed off of the insecurities of people." She said, "They want you to care, and feel shitty. It's what fuels their egos, and how they hold power over you."
"You think so?"
"I know so." Raven said with no hesitation and a sternness in her voice. Sue-sue looked down at her hands in silence for a moment. Pondering over what Raven had said, she then looked up towards the widnow and gasped.
"OMG! It's almost daylight outside!" She said. Raven looked over at the clock on Sue-sue's side of the room; 5:00 a.m. Yeah that sounded about right. Sue-sue then gushed, "I can't believe we stayed up that late. I've never stayed up this late. It's so weird! Do you feel weird."
Raven shook her head. Truth was, she was used to late nights. Usually she was up late doing this of that, playing computer games or reading books. Really anything to avoid going to bed or leaving her room. Though, she really hadn't meant to keep herself, or Sue-sue up this late. Time seemed to fly by while they were talking. Raven ran her fingers through her hair and gave an apologetic look to her roomie before mumbling, "Sorry about that."
"No, no! It's, totally cool!" Sue-sue said as she stood up from Raven's bed. "This was awesome. I feel like a total rebel! Like what I imagined girls in my class do during slumber parties."
Raven laughed, "Well, I'm glad I could make you feel like a badass."
"We should totally do it again sometime..." She said with a grin. Then yawned, "But...maybe...not anytime soon. I'm beat. We should probably go to bed."
Raven nodded silently and watched as Sue-sue made her way back to her own, pale yellow bed across from hers. She smiled as she yawned a goodnight to Raven and turned out her light. Raven herself felt a smile warm her face as she gathered her blankets and went to sleep. To Raven's relief, she wasn't plagued with any nightmares the rest of the night.
Sorry for such a late update. I'd actually taken a break to work on a more 'slice-of-life' story involving Raven and a certain skeleton from Undertale. I'll probably go back to that after I post this and give 'What if' another long break. My life kind of needs more simple slice-of-life like stories right now. Though, with Raven it's not always so simple ha! Still if you want more Raven, you should check out 'A Relationship; Sans the romance.' I will warn you however there are some mild spoilers for this story. (try as I might to avoid them.) but if you don't mind that and you like Undertale, you might enjoy this story too.