Intrigue
Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own the show Teen Titans, nor the various DC comics on which this fanfiction is based.
Jinx silently continues on her meal as Raven lets her mind roll the new information about.
The psychic sits back, sipping her tea while her own unpleasant memories rose.
Whether she intended to or not, Jinx had managed to get into her head. Sympathy isn't an emotion that comes easily to the half-demon, but that didn't seem to stop the meta from making it rear its head.
In some ways, her own fate had been less cruel. At least she had had other avenues to look for help when the Zatarra witch had turned her pleas for help away upon her arrival.
At that, she makes a mental note to partake in some very uncharacteristic gloating at some point, that Zatanna had put the Earth in danger and the exact reason for her caution had prevented it.
The amusement lasts scant moments before her mind turns back to the woman across from her, gaze occasionally flicking up to her before sheepishly returning to stare at her dwindling meal.
"She had nobody, not really. And in a place that was actively hostile towards her," Raven muses, her gaze softening slightly. "At least the Titans had no idea who and what I was when I went to them. If Quinn hadn't been there, would she be dead right now?"
At that, Raven violently shakes her head, shooing away that line of thought.
Seeming to believe her mental considerations decided on, Jinx clears her throat, her pink eyes bearing into the psychic's own gaze.
"Sooo… I know you've got some telepathy in you, at least a little. Do you believe me?"
Raven thinks back on the whole story, realizing with a start that despite her fear, she had not felt a shred of deceit from the woman outside of trying to not say what she'd done for Waller out loud. Which, in itself, was a perfectly understandable half-lie, which she certainly won't hold against her.
"I do," she responds finally, after noticing the meta beginning to nervously fidget. "I… apologize, for attacking you, and for directly causing you to put your life in danger simply by inquiring on it… I fear that discovering this planet's ineptitude, and the dangerous nature of that gem in particular, has made my logic somewhat frayed this evening."
A Cheshire grin spreads across Jinx's lips, and she leans forward, quickly ruffling Raven's hair.
The psychic blinks in surprise, even as her neck begins to color to match her face.
"People don't touch me," she comments, noticing with irritation the slight waver to her voice.
"Well, I just did," Jinx retorts while moving back to her previous position. "And look, still have my hands and everything. You shouldn't take life too seriously. As for the mortal peril, what's done is done. It's been about ten minutes, and nobody's come crashing through the window with a gun or fireball, so I figure it's safe."
Jinx's grin takes on a more mischievous quality as her mind works.
"What's risk without a little reward? Turn-about's fair play, an' all that," she muses.
"So, I think that, as I've been so good and satisfied your sense of immediate threat, it's only fair if you answer some questions I have for you, too. I wasn't around the Titans long enough to sit down and try to chat with you. Damn shame, too," she adds, enjoying the psychic's discomfort.
"I, uh… I don't… do chats, Jinx."
"If you say so. We'll just have to fix that, won't we? To make it worth your time, I'll answer any other questions you have for me, as long as they don't endanger me to answer. For real, this time," she adds with a grimace, just now remembering how she'd started her story.
"I really don't know what you have to ask me, but as I did essentially break a gag order, I do owe you some form of repayment," Raven sighs into her once-again empty teacup.
"I'll just settle for questions, this time," Jinx says with a light laugh, grinning at her ability to make the stoic so red in the face. "So, where should I start, hmmm?"
She taps her chin in thought, a large array of questions coming and being dismissed as fast as she can come up with them. Something in their conversation sticks out, though, and her grin loses some of its mirth.
"Why do you monitor that hole of a country Zandia?"
Raven's mask slips, showing her surprise against her will. She briefly considers lying, but decides that the metahuman's honesty deserves a response in kind.
"The cult you took down, and the gem around your neck, are both part of the Church of Blood. As you were surely told, the Church operates in Zandia. So it is only natural that, as I keep track of their every activity and maneuver, especially those dealing with demons, I would keep track of their home base. And before you ask, yes, that is why I'm after that gem, as well. I needed to make sure one of the church's members didn't get their hands on it. The previous Brother Blood was bad, but I do not yet know how dangerous such an item would be in the new leader's hands."
"Wasn't expecting a freebie getting tossed in," Jinx muses. "I suppose you already know my next question, but it's your turn, now."
Nodding, Raven ponders her options before deciding on the most pressing question.
"Why would you so easily decide to give up information that could get you killed, to someone you hardly know? With what you told me, it seems like you could've escaped me, if you really desired to."
"Simply, you saw me. You tracked me. I'm in Jump on orders to be very discreet about helping you guys, and the League. I made a judgment call when you chased me up onto the roof. The easiest way to keep my presence a secret is to give the person who managed to track me from the museum so easily a reason to keep it a secret from others. If I just ran off, I'd have to deal with everyone you called to aid in tracking me down, and a lot of people would know I'm here."
"Do not be so sure of that last part," Raven interrupts, her face returning to its normal color once more. "I parted from the Titans this evening under less than friendly circumstance, and if I had called for assistance, it would make my assurance to Nightwing that I could find items on my own seem arrogant and presumptuous."
"Really? Bucking authority, are we? Naughty, naughty, Raven," Jinx mocks, grinning from ear to ear. "Regardless, I'll admit part of my decision was that I figured, out of anyone, that you could keep things to yourself. Until tonight, I had assumed a lot of the rumors about you being… uh-"
Her own face turns red, and Raven partakes in her own smirk.
"Is the word you're looking for, by any chance, cold?" she asks, a lot less harshly than Jinx expects.
"Yeah, kinda'. Glad to find out that the rumors are wrong, though. You're positively chatty once someone gets past that mask of yours."
Raven begins to deny the claim, before a deeper part of her mind growls as it wonders why she should argue against compliments.
"So there was that, which made my decision acceptable to the mission objectives. That I was right, as usual, doesn't hurt. Anyway, you already knew about the club, and discovered by my not so brilliant slipping of information that I was in it. I admit, I was planning on bolting. I know, I know, shocking! I seemed so calm, right?"
Raven snickers despite herself, pouring the last of the tea in the glass beaker into her cup.
"But then, you told me to calm down. Like it was no big deal. You didn't immediately start cursing my existence, or start preachin' at me, which I'm sure the others would've. So, I decided you weren't a threat to the mission."
"I feel honored," Raven deadpans, grimacing at how cold the tea is.
Smiling, Jinx reaches across the table and touches the cup, her eyes briefly flaring with pink light. When the glow fades, steam rises from the cup.
With a gesture from the meta, Raven sips again, humming in appreciation.
"Another of those new skills?"
"Uh-huh. Though a far more practical use than what the actual power is usually for since I learned it. Anyways, given our past experiences, as well as your reaction to finding out what I've been up to for two years, I figured my impression that you're a logical and intelligent woman were correct, and so I banked on you not judging me while I talked."
She finishes the last bite of her food and stacks her plates, finding to her shock that she's still hungry, somehow.
"I'm going to order some more. You want in?"
Raven simply nods, writing for another order of the tea, as well as something of substance, before handing the notepad to Jinx.
"Of course, more went into it. It's actually really nice, to be able to get all this out of my system to someone other than Gizmo. He ain't exactly sympathetic. But all of this isn't the driving force for having this conversation here and now, instead of talking you into waiting on it."
"Oh? Well, by all means, don't keep me in suspense."
Smirking, Jinx tears the new order form free and rises, walking it over to the window for the kitchen.
When she returns to her seat, she stops at Raven's side of the booth, bending close to her side.
"It's been a long time since I had dinner with a cute woman," she says, laughing when Raven jumps, apparently having been lost in her own mind and failing to notice her approach.
Raven's blush returns full-force as Jinx flounces down onto her own side of the table.
Her mind whirls at the remark, but before she can become uncomfortable, or more distressingly curious, Jinx interrupts her thoughts with a laugh.
"And I wanted to keep it going," she continues as if having never stopped. "So I simply had to lure you in, with the intrigue of having dinner with a spy."
At that, Raven laughs, the noise startling her.
"I admit, if that was your plan by coming down here, it has certainly worked, Jinx. It's… difficult… for people to intrigue me," she muses, blushing all the way from her neck to the roots of her hair at this point.
"I believe it's your question, now," Raven prompts, deciding that the gem shall certainly be handled during the night, so rush is unnecessary…
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Author's Notes:
I find it a little sad that the past three chapters was spawned, when first writing out the plot of the story, by the desire to have Jinx flirting with Raven and bringing her out of her self-enforced shell.
With that in mind, readers, how'd I do, both with handling the characters so far and making a believable exposition? Let me know your thoughts, good or bad. See you next time!