Not So Complex
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.
Raven finds herself drowning in the sensations attacking her mind.
The feel of Jinx's lips is incredibly soft against her own, the sensation unlike any she's felt before.
Hints of the alcohol mix with the herbs in her last drink of the night, forming an interesting flavor hitting her.
Jinx's hand loosens in her hair, moving down to gently cup her neck as she presses more into the kiss.
The moan is what wakes Raven up. The sound is relatively quiet, swallowed between their lips, and its origin is a mystery.
But it is enough to bring her back to reality, and with unwilling slowness, she gently pushes on Jinx's shoulders.
The two separate, the noises of their gasping breaths the only sound in the small apartment.
Something in Raven's expression sets Jinx on edge.
Her confusion over her reaction, as well as the stress of finally realizing how much her control has slipped over the evening, is causing an internal war within the empath's mind.
Jinx seems to read something into her reaction that doesn't exist, further confusing Raven as the scent of her regret fills the air.
"Rae, I'm so sorry. I thought… Well, it's pretty obvious what I thought, I guess," the meta sighs, pulling away from her.
"You did nothing wrong," Raven argues, eyeing her with obvious bafflement.
Her mind goes over the sensations, and her blush becomes even darker.
"Actually, I'd say you did something very right."
Jinx relaxes somewhat at that, no longer looking ready to bolt.
Her hand tentatively reaches out to rest on Raven's side, the sensation sending shivers through the empath.
"Then why do you look so worried? It's just, you were sending some pretty damn clear signals at the club, and for a while now, really, and I just figured-"
"Calm, Jinx," Raven sighs, gently grabbing her hand and squeezing it. "I… there is nothing wrong, per se."
"Look, I planned on making a move tonight," Jinx admits. "I was planning on doing it on the way from the club, to give you the option to just turn around and leave, but-"
Raven's mind whirls at the sensations overtaking her.
Things begin coming into focus, the denial leading to her ignorance of her own and Jinx's actions both gone. And with its absence, a bright blush forms as her mind connects several things at once.
Her blush brightens when she ponders how she had gone almost a month reacting to Jinx's obvious flirts with her own, while never really considering things.
"Jinx, calm down. Take a brea-"
"I should've waited on this. I mean, it hasn't even been-"
"Nicole," Raven interrupts, the use of her first name shocking Jinx into silence, "calm down and just listen, okay?"
Jinx just nods, not liking her sudden vulnerability.
"My confusion is due to my assumption that I was heterosexual being brought into clear question. I mean, admittedly, I never really spent too much effort pondering on it, but it is still surprising."
A smile forms on her lips as she begins circling her thumb on the back of the meta's hand.
"My emotions are… volatile, and as you said, you unleash them from my careful control. The stress you were sensing was not over you kissing me, at least not directly. I have enjoyed our friendship immensely, but it has had consequences on my psyche that are not entirely positive."
Jinx's retort is cut off by Raven's warning glare, her blush and the buzz slowly working its way out of her system.
"You have to understand that I have made it a natural part of my mentality that my emotions are to be controlled, not expressed. The ease with which you change that is… frightening. You are correct that I have been sending you signals, but due to how I have handled myself from a young age, I have a fair bit of repression to deal with, and so it went mostly unacknowledged by myself."
"Okay, let me interrupt for a sec, okay, Rae?"
Raven tentatively nods, and Jinx squeezes her hand back.
"You know I like you, right?"
At her nod, she continues, "And you like me, right?"
Raven considers this, wondering on her slip of control. Even with her lack of attention, surface emotions were the only ones capable of wresting as much control as she had allowed throughout the evening.
With that thought, she gives a nod, frowning when Jinx simply stares inquisitively at her, obviously wanting something more satisfactory.
"I do," she replies quietly, Jinx's ears straining to hear her.
"Alright. Look, I get it, at least objectively. I liked Cy, and I had a huge crush on Kid Flash. I also have been pretty blatantly flirting with you since that night at the Angelique, and it's gotten a bit more serious over the last few weeks of us hanging out. I realized a bit back that I've gotten kinda' attached to you, Raven, if we're being honest here. Ergo, I figured out I'm bisexual. Really, it doesn't need to be complex. You can't exactly control who you like, even with someone with control issues such as yourself," she says with a shrug.
Raven's mind turns the statement over, looking for ways to argue the logic.
When she finds none, she gives an audible sigh before releasing her hand.
"That logic makes sense. So, I suppose I must first apologize for causing both of us undue stress after such an enjoyable evening."
Jinx returns to her previous position then, both of them shivering at the renewed contact.
"So, what's this mean? I mean, I ain't all for the labels and crap, so if whatever this is ain't a big deal-"
"I think we should work out details such as that later," Raven remarks.
"So, only one thing left to question, then," Jinx responds, smiling at the answering raised brow.
"And that is…?"
"You like me, I like you, we both enjoyed that kiss and want to put off defining things to do more of that… So what're we still doing talking?"
Smirking, Raven leans forward, her own hand sliding into the meta's thick locks.
"That's a very good question."
The empath initiates the next kiss, the second in many for the night...
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"Are you sure you have to go?" Jinx asks, batting her eyes at Raven.
The Titan begins straightening out her shirt before realizing it's the least obvious sign of the past hours.
Letting it go, she runs her hand through Jinx's hair, fascinated by the ripple that works its way through the woman's body in response.
"I would prefer to say no, but I cannot," Raven sighs.
"Didn't you say Nightwing gave you the night off?" Jinx whines, letting her head rest on the empath's shoulder.
"Yes, and I explained my continued absences to him, as well. But he believes the reason behind my absences has been resolved, which it has certainly not, much as I would like for it to be so."
At that, Jinx's mirth vanishes, remembering the brief pause in their play when something clearly bothersome had occurred to her.
She had clearly held back details on what had caused the confrontation with the witch in the first place, but it had not stopped her from giving her enough to get the gist.
She briefly ponders getting Gizmo to look into it, before realizing that doing so would go against Raven's wishes, and would start her down the same path she had avoided with Kid Flash.
"So, you really think that she's… what? Going to be stalking you? I mean, she said that you two should work together, right?"
Raven nods, a frown of thought forming. Not liking the sight of it, Jinx runs her hand up and down her back, smiling when her eyes close and her frown slips away with a contented sigh.
"I do not know. She did not lie when she said that… but something isn't right. I can't explain it, but I've learned to listen to my instincts. And my instincts are telling me to be even more wary of Zatanna than I was before we had it out."
"Would she be able to lie to your face?" Jinx ponders aloud. "I mean, you've got the whole empath thing going, but you told me you don't mess with your telepathy. She's got a number of years on you. Could she, I dunno, mask herself like you did, but a lot more literally?"
"I… don't know. The thought never occurred to me," Raven says as worry ripples through her. "I didn't sense anything beyond the usual magic that the woman exudes, but if she were to go so far as to hide her emotions with a spell, who knows what she could hide from me?"
Suddenly, Raven shakes her head and turns to Jinx, giving her another kiss.
She pulls away far too quickly for Jinx's liking, and begins to rise from the couch.
"At any rate, Nightwing will be paying attention now, and if I come up with another excuse for my absences, he will question the first reason and begin to suspect things."
"Yeah, 'bout that… You said the whole thing started over where your intel's coming from."
Raven's eyes widen, a bemused expression coloring her face.
"Surely you don't think-"
"Not a chance," Jinx interrupts dismissively. "But I wanna' know what you did tell him. C'mon, you can't blame me for being curious. You said you'd ensure they won't ask about it again. So…?"
Relaxing, Raven smiles again, this time a chuckle shaking her form.
"I told them that my intel is coming from various shadowy underworld types who are versed in the magical artifacts niche. I would find their ease of accepting I have such an information network of contacts disturbing, were I not so entertained by it."
"Seriously!? An' Nightwing didn't go all holier than thou on you?"
"He tried," the empath responds with a shrug. "I appealed to his logic. After all, can he really complain about where I'm finding the information to track the items down, so long as I don't aid in crimes myself and continue retrieving items?"
A thought occurs to Jinx, and Raven stares in confusion at her as she begins to shake with laughter.
"Okay, here's some food for thought. What d'you think'd piss 'im off more? The underground network of magic users or your girlfriend's merc group that had to do the League's job for them?"
Raven smiles at that, for more than one reason.
The way the meta instantly blushes nearly neon pink and sheepishly casts her gaze to the ground is definitely one of them.
"Girlfriend. I like the sound of that. And I think that Nightwing would likely be as unhappy about my association either way, especially were he to find out said group contains an ex-Titan."
"Guess that solves the whole labels thing. I like it, too," the meta adds, her relief obvious, before stealing another kiss. "Are you sure you have to go? I can make insubordination worth your while," she adds with a goofy wag of her eyebrows.
"Of which I have no doubt. But yes, unfortunately, I am sure. Zatanna has a disturbing control over him, and if she returns from Vegas before I'm present, she may make a point of asking if he knows what my plans for the evening were. And it would not take him too long to find the club, which would mean he would find you. And that would make a repeat of tonight much more difficult to arrange."
"You don't think-"
"Nothing indicates it. But if she can mask her emotions from me, as I said, who the hell knows what else she can do?"
"I mean, she'd have to be incredibly confident or really stupid to piss the Tamaranian off," Jinx adds.
"Well, at any rate, as of now I've no idea beyond speculation on what may have tripped my senses. If I start making assumptions, I may miss something obvious."
Sighing, Raven begins to fall into her portal, leaning forward and giving her girlfriend another kiss.
"I shall see you soon, Jinx."
Jinx simply nods, a content smile on her face as the Titan vanishes, materializing noiselessly in her own room the next second.
Feeling frantic energy coursing through her, she quickly changes into by far less attention-grabbing clothes and heads towards the kitchen.
She is surprised to find Starfire, Nightwing, and Cyborg all gathered at the table, food sitting before them.
"Yo, Rae, where- whoa, haven't seen that in a long time!" the half-machine shouts.
Only then does Raven notice the grin adorning her lips, finding that the trio's negative reactions to it are not nearly enough to wipe it away.
"I… had a good day," she states as she goes about preparing her tea.
The Titans look amongst themselves, the smile seeming entirely creepy on the woman. And yet, it's undoubtedly a good thing, especially given the mood she had been in during their meeting almost five hours ago.
They don't know what the cause for the rare good mood was for the psychic, but they knew better than to question or interfere with what was possibly a very temporary moment.
Cyborg's mechanical eye, though, doesn't miss the slight bruising on her lips, or the barely-there blush coloring her grey cheeks. He fights against his grin, deciding not to bring her down from her evening.
Kori, on the other hand, has no such understanding of subtlety.
"Do tell! What manner of enjoyment did you partake in, friend Raven?" Starfire asks, failing to notice the men's winces.
"I found some rather interesting books in an old shop. They were… most informative," she lies.
"What were they informative on?" the alien inquires further with a large grin.
"Fables, mostly. Old interactions between men and gods, that kind of thing. Quite interesting reads, when you have some history books to cross-reference them with," she says, her teammates not knowing said books belonged in her library for years.
With that, she finishes making her tea, floating towards the door with a large cup in hand.
Cyborg rises from his chair, his plates cleaned off.
"That was some good eats! I gotta' go get some more work done. No idea how my engine got so messed up. Have a good night, y'all!" he says in way of good-bye.
The half-machine finds Raven leaning against the wall down the hallway, her cup pressed to her lips while she raises a brow at him.
"You did not believe my statement," she says as he reaches her.
"You got lipstick on your neck," he comments, grinning as her hand flies up in search of the mark.
"Damn."
"Barely there. Wing and Star probably didn't notice it. Enhanced vision," he clarifies, tapping the metal on his skull. "So… who's the lucky girl?"
Raven notices the emotions coming from the man, his amusement making her good mood dwindle somewhat.
"You seem to have your own suspicions," she deadpans, pulling another sip from her tea.
"Maybe. Got my hands on one of the relics the other day. Just some low-time Intergang guy, got lucky and managed to swipe it when a guy dropped it running away from something. He said that he's thinkin' of just giving up, cause this is the second time someone stole his profit margin from 'im. Had a real… interesting… description of who got the first item, and said that one of his buyers thought they saw some punk chick on the roofs."
Raven pales at that, realizing that their confidence had been misplaced.
"And yet you didn't say anything to Nightwing about this supposed duo running around helping us with our job earlier," she remarks, unable to keep a slight tremor out of her voice.
Cyborg shrugs, leaning against the wall opposite her.
"Like you said, we can't be picky with methods on this. Things didn't make enough sense to bring it up while everyone was already lookin' keyed up for a fight between you two to break out."
"Well, I suppose if we ever run into this team, we'll have to thank them for their aid," Raven remarks nonchalantly. "Intergang isn't made up of the most stable individuals. Perhaps he was under the negative effects of magic and alien technology mixing poorly on his person?"
"Uh-huh. Well, it ain't like they're doin' somethin' we don't, so I guess the only real question is what they're doing with the mojo?"
"Were I to speculate on such things, I suspect that there are items that are sitting unnoticed to have returned to the museums. We have, after all, been focusing only on the stolen items, and not checking if other groups have anonymously aided us," Raven muses, her deadpan back in place.
"Well, I guess we'll just never know," Cyborg says with a shrug.
Grinning, he begins heading down the hallway, stopping at the turn.
"And Rae? I'm happy for you. Even if it isn't what I'm thinking it is, I'm glad you finally found someone to hang out with outside of the Titans. If anyone deserves to loosen up and enjoy life a bit, it'd be a pretty close fight between you and our unsleeping leader."
Raven smiles at this, the warmth in her expression momentarily startling the man.
"It would not… bother you?"
"You kiddin'? I'm just glad that whoever she is has lips, which means it ain't scaled," he laughs, almost doubling over at her blush.
"I was fifteen. And he wasn't scaled in our initial encounters," she says, fighting against her blush.
"Either way, I think it's good for ya'," he laughs. "I'll look forward ta' meetin' her. You should give the team a warning, though, if you ever run into them," he continues. "If Nightwing or the League finds out that someone may or may not be moonlighting, they might think that the person isn't throwing everything they have as a mystic into the heist investigation. They'd be wrong, but it still wouldn't go over well."
Raven's smile grows at his concern.
"Thank you… I'm sure they could use the caution. Apparently they aren't very careful for a team wishing to stay anonymous… And Cy?"
"Yeah?" he asks, frowning at the tone in her voice.
"My new friend, who may or may not have good reason to not want me bringing her home to meet the family, so to speak… I and she would both theoretically appreciate it not reaching Nightwing or Zatanna."
"If you think she's got a good reason, I ain't gonna' say anything," he says, grinning as he heads down towards the garage and utterly missing the return of Raven's smile...
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Author's Notes:
I was a bit mixed while writing this one, so I'm really looking forward to what the readers think on this. Let me know your thoughts, good or bad. See you next time!