"I can feel something there..."

For once, Robin was sitting on his bed in his room as opposed to his cramped office or the gym. His foot tapped incessantly, the sound it made bouncing off the floor being completely ignored as he kept his eyes closed. He'd been there since this morning, after a quiet breakfast had left him complaining about a mild headache and he'd excused himself to some solitude. Robin had sat for a while, then tried to keep himself busy by reorganizing things in his room, but no matter what the feeling had been ever present all morning.

"Some after-effect of the toxin, maybe? But Cyborg said I was clean and there was nothing left in my system..."

He frowned as the feeling in his head faded for a moment only to return stronger than before. It was like he was being poked with something sharp- but not painfully, rather, it was something with a pointed it gently pushing against his mind.

"Raven?" He thought. He jolted upright at the sudden feeling of alarm in his mind. It felt strange: it was like he'd been startled because someone next to him had been startled rather than himself. Then the feeling faded outright and he stood up. Making his way down the hall and taking the elevator to the floor beneath them, he walked up to her door and knocked. "Raven? You in there?" He let his hand rest against the doorframe and strained his ears to hear for footsteps. Just when he was about to knock again, the door opened just enough for one eye to peek through.

"Yes?" She asked.

Unsure of how else to start, he simply asked: "Are you doing something?"

Her frown was barely visible in the shadow of her room. "Uhh..."

"I mean- Are you casting a spell, or did you?" He clarified.

Though she was known for her calm, collected, near apathetic demeanor, Robin saw that briefest of flashes in her eyes. He'd felt something too, though he couldn't quite explain it- he knew Raven well, but he'd never been able to guess her intent before. "No-"

Robin very quickly brought his foot forward to catch the door when she tried to close it. "You're doing something, I can tell." He narrowed his eyes at her, daring to argue.

"Oh? How exactly can you tell?" She challenged.

"I-" He hesitated, eyes looking between hers before he brought his foot back. "It's just a feeling I've got."

Raven slowly opened the door all the way and leaned forward to peer up at him, slowly tilting her head from one side to the other. Then, she reached forward to grab his shirt between a finger and a thumb and pulled him into the room. The door swished shut behind them, and Robin slowly followed behind her while he took in the various furniture items and magical artifacts she kept there. He had been in her room a few times before, but he'd never had the time to really take in all the details.

"Sit there." Raven motioned to a spot in the center of the room, and a few items landed in front of him, carried by her magic: a shallow pan, jars filled with various powders, and candles. Raven sat across from him, and with a snap of her fingers caused the jars to open and fill the pan between them. The candles settled in a circle around the pan, and Raven chanted, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

There was a bright flash that lit up the dark room, and when Robin's vision returned, he saw something connecting him and Raven: there was a pale blue thread starting from the center of his chest and reaching across to end at hers. He gasped and blinked, then asked, "What is that?" He reached up to touch it, but his hands passed through it, whatever it was.

"Oh no..." Raven quickly stood up, and the thread connecting them faded, but somehow Robin knew it was still there. She quickly grabbed a book off one of her shelves and started flipping through the pages. "This shouldn't be... Look, it says it right here..." She mumbled as she flipped the same page back and forth as though she was expecting something new to appear on it if she did it enough times.

"Raven, what's going on?" Robin stood up and turned to face her, closing the distance between them.

"I did cast a spell- the other night, do you remember?" She lowered the book as she looked between them.

Robin grit his teeth. "I remember. You were in my mind, telling me Slade wasn't real." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "But wait, I thought that was just some kind of telepathy spell. If it wasn't-"

Raven offered him the book, and Robin took it from her. Although the page was written in a runic text that he didn't know, there was a diagram of two people connected by a thread that he understood perfectly.

"It wasn't a telepathy spell. It was a binding spell, one that connected our minds." She explained. "But it shouldn't have been permanent, I mean, look here-" She pointed at a part of the page near the middle, "This paragraph explains it all, and it doesn't say anything about it having lasting effects."

Robin flipped through the surrounding pages, but couldn't make sense of any of them and handed the book back to Raven. "Maybe it's implied?" He offered as a guess.

Looking back down at it, Raven read the page over and over, until her shoulders dropped and she let out a quiet, "Oh."

Robin snorted. "Guess we've got a bond now."

Raven used her magic to put the book away. "That's all you've got to say?" She asked in exasperation.

"You were trying to save my life." He reminded her softly. "And if you hadn't bought me that time and made me listen, who knows what might have happened?"

"I'd rather not think about it. If I'd lost you to something as stupid as a hallucinogen..." She frowned, and in an uncharacteristic show of emotions he saw her hands clench into fists.

Robin reached over and placed both hands on her arms, and she looked up in surprise. "I never did thank you, you know." He dropped his arms, knowing her general dislike of physical contact. "So thanks for going into my head and helping me see straight. If we can feel each other mentally, I guess, It's a small price to pay. Besides, there are plenty of people I'd rather not be bonded with. I trust you."

Raven blinked, then reached up to pull her hood over her head- but he saw her smile, and thanks to the newfound bond he felt her gratitude through it. "You're welcome."