Part 6 - Jerk!
Walking through the dim lighted hallway Rage read the tags on every door he passed by: Evidence Room, Infirmery, Robin, Cyborg. He finally arrived at his destination. He stood in front of the door on which there was a sign that read "Raven". He knocked three times and shortly after that, Raven asked from inside.
"Who is it?".
"It's me, Rage. Can I speak to you?".
No response. Rage listened carefully and heard foot steps on the other side of the door. They were heading towards him.
Raven slightly opened the door and Rage could only see half of her hooded face.
"What do you want?" asked the dark teen stresing the word "you".
"Before you close the door please hear me out" said Rage who raised his right hand to the level of his chest and extended his palm up-words " I came to apologise for what happened today, I didn't mean to hurt you, I acted idiotic and I admit that I was a creep".
"Try 'JERK', that word really suits you".
For some reason Raven was not in a very good disposition.
"Actualy, 'Fuck-Head' would be better. I came to bring you my most humble apologies and I hope that you will foregive me for the way I acted and treated you".
"Words are cheap, just like your excuse. Leave me alone" Raven replied furiously.
"I am truly sorry" replied Rage who let his head fall down.
He turned around looking disapointed trying to leave. Raven noticed that he really regreted what he did and that he was telling he truth. She felt strange and somewhat sorry and stoped Rage from leaving.
"Wait Rage" she said smoothly.
The new titan turned around to face her.
"Did you really mean what you just said, that you are sorry and stuff?" asked Raven crossing her hands and eye bows.
Rage looked at her and you could almost read the shame on his face if you were in the position he was standing.
"If you have a Bible bring it and I will swear with my right hand placed above it that what I said was most sinceer".
Raven opened the door widely. She had a book of spells with her that she was reading before Rage came.
"Rage, if what you are saying is true then I forgive you, and I can sence that you are honest seeing how I have telepathtic abilities".
Rage's froun turned up-side down after hearing this. "Those this mean that I am forgiven?".
"Yes, and I'm sorry that I said your words are cheap. Looks like I was mistaking".
"We all make mistakes once in a while" he replied.
The truth was that Raven was in her room thinking about Beast Boy and how he reacted when Robin compared Terra to Rage. For a short while she felt a spiritual bond between her and BB, seeing how he was the only one who showed signs of afection towards her, but seeing him react the way he did made her question herself if Beast Boy had feelings only for her or if he still had feelings for Terra as well. When Rage knocked she was trying to read but she couldn't concentrate on this particular problem and seeing how he interupted her Raven got annoyed.
"Rage, I'd like to ask you something, but I expect that what I say will remain only between you and me, alright?".
For some reason Raven had faith that she could share her thoughts with Rage. She was eager to talk to somebody and even though she was usually more secluded she didn't like the fact she had to hide her feelings.
"Well alright, I guess that would be okay".
Raven invited him inside and Rage took a seat on a small oak chair. She was standing in front of the window but with her eyes closed.
"Rage" Raven started hesitant " If say you had a friend, that is a girl, and say you and her are friends for a long time and you like her and she also shows signs of afection towards you but she still can't shake of the memories of her ex-boyfriend, what would you do so that the two of you will be togheter?".
Even if Raven thought that her new friend didn't know what she was really talking about Rage knew exactly what she was trying to say, even though he didn't know anything about Terra and her relationship with BB. She wanted to find a way to get closer to Beast Boy but seeing how he could still have feelings for Terra she didn't know what to do. Also, she didn't want anyone to know about that, especialy BB.
Rage stood up and crosed his hands behind his back.
"To be honest, seeing how I never met any girl with whom to socialize I don't think I'm the best one to give this kind of advice".
Raven turned around and looked at him curiously. In her opinion it was rather strange that Rage never met any girl with whom to be at least friends, if not more. He was actualy kind of good looking and the scar on his face made him look tougher and she was certain that a girl would be impresed ... after all, she was a girl herself.
"But ..." Rage continued "... seeing how I ussualy think like a rational human being, I guess I could try and answer your question".
Raven realised that Rage said he wasn't the best person to ask for advice but seeing the way she put the problem it would have been preaty obvious to anyone that she needed pointers.
"Okay, tell me" Raven replied.
"Well, if I was in the situation you stated then I would probably try to spend more time with my friend, get intimite, share stories and secrets, thus making our bond even tighter. Then, after me and my friend are really good friends, I mean really really good friends, I would suddenly bring up a discusion about her ex-boyfriend asking her if she still has feelings him, if she still loves him, etcetera, etcetera".
Raven felt like she was talking to a councelor.
"... If she still loves him, I would try to atract her atention towards me, give her a shoulder to cry on, support her in her time of need and after a while she would probably realise that we were ment to be togheter. If she doesn't love the bloke anymore then I would try to tell her how I feel and that it would be a good idea to take our relationship a step further".
Raven smiled and felt a little better. She found out for herself that under the scars and abrasive aperance Rage was somewere deep down inside a kind hearted guy and probably an ol' softy too. She felt like she finaly found someone to talk to and went next to him giving him a warm hug.
Rage was surprised but played along. "Okayy!" he said to him self confused.
After separating Raven looked at him and said "I'm glad we had this conversation".
"Yes, me too. Who knows this could be the begining of a beautifull friendship" said Rage quoting the famous line from the movie Casablanca.
Raven smiled and slightly punched Rage in the shoulder. Rage turned around heading to the door when he remembered something.
"By the way, what's that book you are reading?".
"It's just an old Scytian book of spells. Why do you ask?" she said.
"Just curious" replied Rage who noticed her rather big bookcase. "Hey, do you think I could borow a book?" he asked.
"Sure" said Raven " I'm glad that at least somebody except me reads around here ".
She went to the bookcase and looked around the dusty shelves. "What kind of book would you like to read?".
"Literature or poetry, anything that's good, but not romantic of fairy tale stuff" he replied.
Raven searched through her dusty bookcase but it was almost all full of spell books, incantation and such writings. In one of the corners she found a book she didn'tnotie before, "Le fleurs du mal" by Charles Baudlaire.
"When did I get this book? I never remember having it!" she said to her self surprised by her find.
She turned around and blew the dust of the books cover. "How about this, 'Le fleurs du mal' by Baudlaire?".
Rage took the book and searched around the pages, he seemed very enthusiastic.
"Wow!" he exclaimed "... I've been looking for this book for a long time, this guy writes some really sick poems".
Raven now remembered about the book and the reason she bought it. Rage headed towards the door.
"Thanks for the book Raven, I'm going to read it right away, see you later".
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A/N: Next I'm going to focus on Raven's relationship with Beast Boy, so if you like romance with a hint of violence you should stay tuned.