Okay, yeah...another gift for Alena :) This was supposed to be very serious, but Speedy decided he needed a little humor as he was feeling too vulnerable and that just wouldn't do. Also had to bring in some of the others, since they haven't been in here yet and that is just rather odd lol.
Read and Review :)
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Alone. In the quiet depths of meditation, Raven was alone. She enjoyed the silence that surrounded her; the warm comfort the nothingness of this place brought to her. Here she didn't have to feel; she didn't have to want, she just had to be.
Yet even here, his face intruded, as the images were wont to do lately. His arrogant smile; the way his body stood and his arms flailed when he was trying to make a point; the warm caress of his voice when he was concerned about her.
Raven had thought that he would simply fade into the background now, especially with the confessions that Robin had made, but Speedy's image only became clearer with each passing day.
Speedy had been spending a fair amount of time at her tower lately; with the new Titan recruits training at the East Tower he had more time on his hands to visit. He never pressured her to spend time with him, but she could feel his soft gaze on her even while he talked with the others.
What was happening to her? Was Robin right? Did she only want what was safe? Or had the haze been lifted from her eyes, showing her the choice of her heart?
So many questions and so few answers; so here she sat in the dark comfort of her meditation and wondered if it was possible to stay here and not go back.
"That would be hiding," An inner voice reprimanded her. "And we do not hide."
Raven felt her lips pull into a sardonic smirk; even her inner voice lied apparently. She hid whenever she thought she could. She never shirked her duty as a Titan, but she hadn't wanted to face the prophecy of her birth and she had hidden long and hard from that.
"Yet you stood and walked forward when necessity called for you." The voice reminded her; Raven nodded mentally in agreement, but the smirk stayed in place.
"What is so amusing?" His voice breathed into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
Pulling herself from her meditation she opened one eye and glared at Speedy, "I'm meditating." She enunciated each word to drive home the point.
He just winked at her and smiled, shaking his head. "Nope, you were meditating, now you are talking to me."
She couldn't help the pull of her lips, even as she fought to keep her mouth in a scowl she felt the smile flickering at him. "You're incorrigible."
"Yeah?" He smiled and moved around to stand in front of her; leaning back against the window, not at all bothered by how high up they were.
"Completely," She twisted her mouth into a grim smirk and gracefully unfolded from her meditation pose, when he was in a mood like this there was no stopping him. "Might I ask why you felt the need to intrude upon my meditation, you know how important it is."
"You were smiling," Speedy crossed his arms at his chest and crossed one leg over the other; the perfect vision of arrogant male, although the red spandex took away from it some. "That happens so rarely lately I wanted to know why."
Raven rolled her eyes heavenwards, "You wanted to know why?" Unconsciously mimicking him, she crossed her own arms at her chest and glared at him.
He tilted his head, eyes twinkling and his smile bright, "You keep repeating everything I say Raven, I don't know that that constitutes a conversation." The devilish gleam in his eyes deepened.
"Roy," She sighed at a loss for how to deal with him, as she always was lately. "You talk, I talk…this is a conversation."
"You never answered my question Rae; I am beginning to think you're avoiding it." He arched a brow and wagged a finger playfully at her.
'On second thought,' she mused inwardly as his movements drew the fabric of his uniform taut across his chest. 'Red spandex isn't so bad.'
"And what question was that?" She shoved the lustful thoughts away turning back to the conversation at hand and wondering how soon she could leave without making him worry.
"What was so amusing?" He quirked another smirk at her before reaching out moving a tendril of hair behind her ear, surprising her.
"Nothing really," She said, surprised again by this unpredictable man.
"Come on Rae; share the reason for your smile." He pleaded in a teasing tone, with a hint of an underlying emotion she couldn't name. "I know Robbie boy finally stepped up, could that be the reason behind such a rare phenomenon?"
Ahh, pain. Pain was the underlying emotion behind this suddenly playful attitude. Speedy was sure that she had given herself heart, soul and body to Robin and he was trying to preserve some sense of friendship; trying not to lose her. Now that she knew what it was, she swore she could feel the pain of his heart laying shattered in his chest.
"No," Her voice was calm, her gaze steady. The world that had been spinning around her was suddenly still and she knew peace. "No, not Robin."
"Well, don't hold your cards so close," He laughed a little hoarsely, but she could read the true emotion behind his eyes now. "Let me know who my competition is, I need to prepare." For an instant wistfulness stole into his expression before it was once again masked behind arrogant humor.
She leaned lightly into him, tilting her face toward his. "You don't have anything to compete for."
"Oh," He swallowed sharply; painfully. "Sorry Rae, I didn't mean it like that." He searched his mind and tried to think if any other woman had ever made him want to curl up and cry as often as she did, but he couldn't let go.
Raven sighed in exasperation, "Roy, the smile…that stupid smile was about…"
"Hey Rae!" Cyborg's deep baritone voice interrupted them, "We're going for pizza, ya comin'?" He skidded to a stop with Beastboy right behind him, "Oh, hey Speedy." A suspicious gleam began to shine in Cyborg's good eye. "Didn't know you were here,"
Beastboy poked his head out from behind Cyborg, "Hey were you too kissing?" At the three separate glares he received, Beastboy decided he would wait in the T-car for the rest of the team.
"Come on Speedy, you need to eat if you're going to have your strength up for the obstacle course." Cyborg said with false cheer, crossing the room and insinuating himself in between the other two Titans; throwing a 'brotherly' arm around the red-haired archer and walking him out the door as he spoke.
"Obstacle course?" Speedy asked confused and a little irritated, he needed to know what Raven was going to say. "I'm not doing the course this week."
"Oh, but you are." Cyborg smiled toothily, he hadn't been able to do much when Raven had started to date Speedy, but they weren't together anymore and Cyborg was not going to let his little sister get her heart broken in round two. "Unless you think you're not up to it? Well then I completely understand, you've been looking a little ill lately. Might be best if you came into the infirmary to have a check up."
Starting to pick up on where this was headed Speedy shook his head, "Naw, I'll take the course…after pizza." He looked back over his shoulder to where Raven was standing with a contemplative frown on her face. "I'll, uh, talk to you later Rae, okay? We can finish our conversation."
"Of course," Raven gave a tight smile and wondered briefly which dimension would suit Cyborg the worst. "Later."
Alone again; as unsure as ever, but she had been willing to take the chance. Alone, maybe some people are meant to be alone; maybe she was one of them. She bit her lip and turned to look out the window at the fast setting sun, wondering if the interruption had been a bad thing. Too soon to make a decision, she was sure when she was with him, but as soon as she was alone her heart and mind were in turmoil once again. That alone set alarms ringing in her mind.