Incinerate
II
/
"Sorry to invite myself over, but it seems like you need the company."
"I don't need your company; I'm with my friends. But you know what they say, no company is better than bad."
"Is that what they say now?" He tried to say in a conversational manner, leaning into her to show his interest. Raven merely shrugged and sipped at her drink for the fourth time since she ordered it.
"And what would you consider 'good' company?"
"My idea of good company, Todd, is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company."
"I believe you are mistaken, Roth." He responded gently, and leaned back into the seat. His hand was already signaling for a menu from one of the waiters. Raven raised her brow once more, looking up at him from her drink.
"And, how so?"
"That is not merely good company. I believe that it is the best."
The waiter arrived and handed him a menu before promptly walking away to give him time to think about his order. Raven delicately snorted, downing down the last of her drink.
"Austen, Todd? Really?"
"Let me remind you, Roth, that you started it." Jason Todd responded a playful glint in his eyes, as he called back the waiter to place his order. Raven's face remained passive, but the same faint spark was present in her eyes.
"I'll have a chilled bottle of Pinot Noir and two glasses."
The waiter quickly took note of the order and scampered off, leaving the two alone. At the same moment, the band started to play the introduction to their next song which effectively lulled the dull silence that started to permeate.
"I heard you just got back."
"And where did you hear this, if I may ask." Raven replied in monotone, to which Jason smiled. It was one of Raven's weirdly endearing qualities- making sentences of inquiry sound like demands.
"Speedy still bawls uncontrollably whenever he hears his Stingray drive past the shop."
Raven could not help but laugh. Jason smiled appreciatively at her display of emotion, then, politely thanked the waiter for bringing their order and opening the bottle of wine for them. The rather elderly waiter poured an appropriate amount of wine in both their goblets, which were also meticulously designed to match the furniture and décor of the place before walking off to another table.
"That's a nice leather jacket you've got there." Jason said his eyes on the dark colored clothing which was dangling from the back of Raven's seat.
"Of course, it is mine, after all."
"I was under the impression that you had given it to me that time I was cold at the carnival." Jason wore a look of curiosity that did not go unnoticed by Raven, who lightly sipped at her wine. The liquid was already starting to warm up her cheeks, and she felt it more than she saw.
"And you have worn it ever since? All the way from your trip to Gotham and back?" Raven shrugged indifferently. Jason kept a straight face, but his eyes remained focused on her.
"Does it make a difference if I have been?"
"You tell me."
Raven chose not to answer him; and instead brought all of her attention to her drink and when that was all gone, she carefully set it upon the table and shifted her position on the rather comfy chair so that her head was looking straight at the direction of the stage where the band continued to play. She felt his eyes on her and faked her interest of the band's performance and continued to look on, avoiding the intensity of his gaze.
Jason mentally sighed and poured her another serving of the wine. He had known Raven for years and could read her like a book most of the time, but found it impossible when she was determined. Still, he felt a strange feeling of pride and happiness, knowing that Raven had indeed been wearing his leather jacket a lot. Where these unfamiliar feelings stemmed from, though? He himself did not know. Just that, it had been a reoccurring thing going on in his head for a few months now. Jason did not know what was to come of it or what it all meant, deciding instead to shove the thoughts to the back of his mind. After all, his life was complicated enough. Over thinking will only add more burdens on his shoulders.
With his mind wandering, he barely noticed when Raven got up and collected the jacket from the seat. The leather dragging on the smooth wood. He looked up at her, empty glass in one hand.
"Up for a ride?"
/
Raven's foot did not let up on the accelerator pedal, other foot just resting on the brake. Her hands remained at the steering wheel, the driver's window opened up halfway so she could feel the wind as she drove past at an inhumane speed. Casually adjusting the rear view mirror, she easily spotted Jason on his Icon Sheene motorcycle jut a few feet behind her car. Grinning slightly, she put more force on the accelerator pedal and increased her speed.
Jason grunted and quickly increased his speed as well, hand gripping the bike's throttle tightly. He already knew where Raven was leading him to; they had been there countless times. Sometimes just them, other times with the others. Yet, his ego pushed him to keep up with her car, despite knowing his motorcycle barely had the capacity to. Raven knew this and rolled her eyes. Typical Jason.
The road slowly escalated, and become more challenging with both of them stubbornly maintaining their speed. They passed by tall trees and a lot of forestry on either side of the road. It became colder as they both neared the top of the mountain. When they were near, Raven slowly decreased her speed and Jason did the same. He smoothly parked his motorcycle beside Raven's car, and placed his helmet on the leather seat.
Raven got out from the driver's seat, the unfinished bottle of wine in one hand. Jason smiled and took the bottle from her hand, motioning for her to go sit with him on the edge of the cliff. They had parked on one of their favorite spots, sitting near the top of the mountain. It was basically a small clearing and the trees were stained with tags and graffiti with some empty beer bottles and cans scattered about the grass, but its redeeming quality was the awe-inspiring view of the city below them. Raven had forgotten the leather jacket inside her car and felt too lazy to get up and retrieve it, braving the cold wind instead. She scooted closer to where Jason was sitting beside her, who did not mind the lack of space between them. He reopened the bottle of wine from the night lounge.
"We didn't bring a cup with us." Jason shrugged, carelessly tossing the bottle cap to the forest below.
"So, we'll take turns drinking from the bottle, Rae. It's not like we haven't done that at least once before." He took a long swig of the now warm liquid and handed it to Raven, who reluctantly received the bottle. She took a small sip, and then gulped down a generous amount of it when she found that it helped made her feel warm. She handed the bottle back to him, his hand making contact with hers as he took it back. Raven shivered at the contact, despite his hand being warm over her cold one.
"Won't your friends be looking for you?"
"I'm not too worried about that. I think Garfield saw us sitting together. I brought my phone with me, anyway."
"Ah, the moped-driving douche."
Raven glared at him. It was true that she disliked Garfield to a certain degree due to him constantly annoying her, but he was still her friend.
"What?" Raven's glare did not waver. Jason awkwardly laughed and looked away.
"Kidding, Rae."
"Right."
"You know, I've always loved that righteous temper of yours. You're truly a complex character, Roth. I'll tell you that."
"What the hell are you implying, Todd?"
"You outwardly express your irritation for the grass stain and yet when another does; you simply turn livid. That in itself is so contradicting of your actions that you give off the impression that there is so much more to you than what meets the eye." Jason stated in a matter of fact manner, handing the bottle back to her. Raven clapped her hands together in a slow beat.
"Thank you so much for the psychoanalysis, Doctor Freud. I am truly honored to have every single detail of my personality examined under a microscope."
Jason glared at her, the sarcasm just dripping from her tone. He was met with a teasing smirk from Raven and matched that with a delightful leer of his own.
"I never knew you were such a comedian, Roth."
"But I always knew you were such easy prey."
"Oh?" Both had been edging closer towards each other in their conversation without realizing it, but with the mouthing of Jason's response they were both suddenly made aware their close proximity. Neither of them budged.
"Am I, really?"
"You tell me." Her response was teasing and playful in her raspy voice, quoting his exact words to her earlier that night. Jason inched closer, his lips a mere centimeter from touching the delicate skin of her neck. Still, Raven did not retreat.
"Oh, I would love to elaborate on that, Raven. But we both know the real question is, whether or not you want hear it." Jason's lips barely brushed at a spot on her neck, his hot breath causing goose bumps to erupt on her arms. Her eyelids dropped midway, a mixture of excitement and something unfamiliar bubbling at the bottom of her stomach, but her hands remained passive on her lap and her posture the same. The stubbornness of the two was truly admirable.
"I asked, didn't I?" For some reason, her throaty response against his ear tugged at his heartstrings. He suddenly found his throat to be dry, as if he had not drank anything for hours. But the empty wine bottle on the ground beside Raven proved that theory wrong.
"And when I ask, Todd. I expect a response."
Her hand had somehow found itself on his knee. It was an innocent gesture; physical interaction common between both of them, but it ignited something in him. His eyes drooped down midway as well, and he was about to respond when a harsh light shattered the metaphoric glass of their intense moment. Both he and Raven quickly retreated, creating space between them.
Two cars; one expensive looking, and the other donning a futuristic appearance arrived and parked beside Raven's Stingray. A few seconds later, a bright green moped arrived and parked beside Jason's ride. Cyborg, Karen and Kori got out first, the two girls approaching them. Cyborg nodded in their direction before jogging to the back of his car to grab an old cooler he always kept there.
"Friend Raven! You should have told us you were leaving; I was briefly worried about your disappearance." Raven suddenly felt guilty for spontaneously leaving, especially Kori since they had agreed to travel together.
"Sorry, Kori. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing."
"I understand, friend Raven. Garfield did mention that he saw you two leaving together."
"Yeah, if it wasn't for me, we'd have been spending the night tearing the city down looking for you!" Garfield added in, but Cyborg interrupted before he could say more. Garfield tended to exaggerate sometimes.
"What matters is, we all ran into you two here. We were kinda expecting you guys to be hanging around here, anyways."
Cyborg spoke in a paternal manner, dropping the cooler on the ground beside them before setting down beside his girlfriend.
"Roy, Garth. Didn't expect you two to tag along." Jason said to the two approaching males, his head still slightly hazy and his throat dry.
"It got a bit boring after the band finished their set, anyway. Plus they ran out of beer." Garth stated and sat between Raven and Kori.
"Boring for you maybe. But I was totally hitting it off with that chick in the blue dress." Roy grumbled but sat down between Jason and Garfield anyways, forming a circle. Garth rolled his eyes.
"Oh, please. You always think you're 'hitting it off' with everyone woman you talk to, Roy."
"Hey, not my fault you're unlucky with the ladies, fish breath."
"Please, friends. What is the expression, 'hitting it off' mean?" Kori asked, confusion evident in her tone. Garth turned towards her, a pleasant smile on his face and patiently explained it to the foreign woman. Cyborg started passing beers around to everyone, and Jason gulped down half the contents of his bottle in a minute. His throat recovering from the sudden dryness.
"Thanks, Vic. That really hit the spot there."
"Don't thank me, it was my girl's idea."
"What can I say, this is the best spot in the city to drink a few."
"True, true."
Jason agreed before chugging down the remaining liquid in his beer and reaching out for another. The next hour was spent with them talking and drinking, with music from the speaker in Roy's car playing in the background. Roy, Garth, and Jason were in a separate crew from the gang, but they all retained their friendships despite competing against each other once in a while. Another hour passed, and when the last beer was quaffed down, they all started leaving one by one. Cyborg carried Garfield into the back seat of his car since he had passed out minutes ago, while Karen returned the cooler to the back. Roy was already starting up his Camaro while Garth, instead of riding with him, offered to drive the drunken Garfield's moped back to their base for them.
Raven pressed the buttons of her car keys to unlock her car, then helped Kori into the back seat to lie down since she had one too many beers. The foreign lady always did have a low tolerance for alcoholic drinks since they first met her. And that unfortunately did not change, as the years went by.
Jason mounted his motorcycle and proceeded to put on his helmet when Raven approached him, a piece of clothing in her arms.
"Here. You'll need this more than I do for the drive down." And she handed him the leather jacket she had been wearing earlier that evening. Jason glanced at the clothing, to her face and back again, then smiled.
"Nah, you keep it. It looks better on you, anyway."
Raven appeared slightly taken aback with this response, as he started the engine. She stepped back to give him space. A huge smirk spread across his face, before he pulled down the protective cover of his helmet, hand already clutching the throttle and took off. Raven could only look on ahead, his retreating figure already growing smaller and smaller as he descended down the mountain. She then put on the leather jacket, got in her car and drove back home.
/x
A/N: Thank you for the reviews and follows everyone! Chapter 3 will be up as soon as I finish writing it.
/x