Sting
)O(
Raven slammed the filing drawer closed, her arms filled with a stack of files so heavy that it threatened to break her bones. For a moment she debated on whether or not she should use her powers to move the files to her solitary work station, and then decided against it. Nine months had passed without her using an iota of her powers, she'd be hell-bent to use them now just because a few files were heavy.
Cursing under her breath, she placed the stack of files on the large table that served as her desk, turning up the sound on her computer as she played Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" for her co-workers: shadows and filing cabinets. She plopped down in front of the computer and pushed her glasses up onto her nose. They were obviously cosmetic, but the glasses offered something for her to hide behind since she didn't have the comfort of her cloak anymore.
Wearing a floor-length cloak in an office was usually frowned upon.
Or you were mistaken for a LARPer.
For a long moment she looked out over the large, dark room that reminded her more of the warehouse from Raiders of the Lost Ark than a workplace, wondering what it would be like to have company. Sometimes it got lonely in the forest of filing cabinets, but it was the best place for her. She didn't have to try and make friends, she didn't have to try and forget what had happened at the tower, all she had to do was put menial information into the company's intranet. She sighed and turned back to her desk, pretending not to care about being alone. It was quiet, and she needed that.
Hours passed as Raven heard all about madness that ensued at the household on the day of Susanna and Figaro's wedding. Finally her alarm went off on her phone, alerting her to the end of her shift. She clocked out and went upstairs to the entry hall, waving goodbye to a few of her co-workers coming in for their first-shift jobs, as she stepped onto the street.
"Miss Rachel."
She looked over at the doorman, her lips tugging down into a frown. "Yes?"
George, the doorman, shifted uncomfortably as if disturbed and confused by something at the same time. He was a nice, fairly young, good-looking man, and someone Raven had allowed to be a distant friend as the months that had passed. He looked out for her, and she in-turn was kind to him. "You had a visitor this evening… I sent him away, but I have a feeling he will return tomorrow. He seemed rather persistent."
"Oh?"
"Miss Rachel…" He fidgeted, as if bothered by something. Finally his eyes locked onto her own. "It's was Beast Boy." There was a long pause and his demeanor shifted into "big brother" mode. "I am not one to critique my co-workers' lives or what they do in their free time, but even I've heard of his somewhat infamous reputation. He's almost always plastered across page five of the gazette. I just… I don't want you to get caught up in something you can't control."
Raven pushed her glasses back up on her nose and raised an eyebrow, somewhat insulted by his unspoken accusation. "I have no idea what he would want with me, and I certainly have no desire to see him." She huffed a little, hoping her blush didn't show on her face. "If you see him again, feel free to keep him the hell away from me."
George didn't seem to buy her story and continued to stare. "Rachel… you didn't…"
She did, only not as Rachel, but George did not need to know that.
She huffed out a breath of irritated air, shoving at her hair. "I most certainly did not. I'm appalled you would think that of me. I have at least some self esteem."
George blushed, looking a bit sheepish. He rubbed the back of his head and kicked at the pavement beneath his feet. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that... I'm just looking out for my favorite third-shift worker. I don't want something to happen to you."
"Well, I appreciate the kindness, but at least have some faith in me. I don't drop my panties for a celebrity." She sighed and looked at her phone. She had an hour before her classes started, and wondered if she should go home and change out of her business clothes. "I have to get going, George. I'll see you tonight when I come in again."
"Okay." He waved after her. "Goodbye, Miss Rachel."
She waved and started off down the street, biting her lip as she felt the push against her powers. Beast Boy. Raven continued to stare into the screen of her phone, pretending to be reading a text message. She should have known better. He obviously wouldn't have left after George shooed him away from her office's front door. No, if she knew anything about him, it was that he was persistent to an obnoxious degree.
Normally she walked home, which was only a few blocks away, but maybe today she would take the subway. If it kept people packed tightly around her and away from Beast Boy's presence and his sense of smell, then she would brave the emotional turmoil of the subway. Anything she could do to keep him from realizing she was here.
It was a futile effort, she knew that, but she wanted to hold onto her new normalcy for just a little longer.
She stepped down a side street and started going down the stairs, when she felt a hand on her wrist. Fingers tightened on her skin and halted her progress. Growling under her breath she turned around and stared at Beast Boy, whose fanged smile peeked out from under a hooded sweatshirt.
She had half a mind to punch him right in the mouth.
"Good morning."
She raised an eyebrow, briefly deciding if she should acknowledge him, or if she should feign ignorance. The latter seemed to be the better option. She sniffed indignantly and tugged at her wrist. "Excuse me? I don't know who you think you are, sir, but you have the wrong person, and I would appreciate it if you let me go."
He sighed. "Raven, you still smell the same way. I'm not a complete idiot."
"You could have fooled me." She sighed and rolled her eyes, finally pulling her arm from his grasp. She stared at his mouth, fangs still poking from between his lips, and suddenly had the vision of running her tongue along the shape. Did he still taste the same? That same taste of cool water mixed with vodka?
Color filled her face and she swallowed hard, pulled away from him. His presence in front of her only confirmed the idea that she had not gotten over him yet. She might have destroyed the relationship between them, but that didn't mean that she had wanted it to end. Steeling herself against the onslaught of her own emotions, she straightened her back and continued to blankly stare at him.
"I don't have time for this, I have class, and I am not breaking my record of perfect attendance because you suddenly show up in my life. Goodbye." With that she headed down the stairs, ignoring the way her heart beat in her throat.
"I know where you live." He shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pockets and stood at the top of the stairs, letting the morning bustle move around him like a river around an island. Raven turned and saw him still smiling at her, as if he had the upper hand. "I'll just wait for you at home."
"I have work later."
"You work third-shift, Raven."
She turned and stomped back up the stairs, hearing somebody's phone explode with the force of her powers. "What do you want from me?" She poked a finger into his chest, trying to look more intimidating than she actually felt. "I left. You got to continue on with your life. I got to start a new one. That's the end of that. You shouldn't be here and I should be on my way to class."
He smiled at her and reached out for her body, sliding the tips of his fingers into the waistband of her skirt and pulling her closer to him. Heat exploded between them as he pressed his mouth to her ear, letting his lips brush against her lobe. "I'll be waiting for you at your apartment. Take all the time you need."
With that he released his hold on her and melted back into the crowd, leaving a stunned and dumbfounded Raven being jostled around by the early-morning subway rush.
)O(
Sorry this chapter is unusually short, I think the next installment is going to be a bit longer with a little more dialogue and a little more action (or, as Elvis says, "a little less conversation, a little more action, please".)
Anyway, let me know what you think.