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Chapter Four: Stupid Grin

Raven's head felt a bit fuzzy as her eyes seemed to zone in and out of focus. The blank page in her sketchbook was slowly filling up with colors and shapes as she moved her hand across the white space, slowly coming out of her daze. Shaking her head, Raven blinked and pulled her hand away from the canvas, looking at the mess she had created, splayed out like a patchwork of strokes and doodles. Chewing on her lower lip, she stared down at it, not feeling entirely certain it was worthy of staying in her sketchbook or not.

She licked her lips and let her hand fall away from the page, rubbing her cheek in annoyance. A touch of purple pastel smeared across her skin, but she didn't really care at the moment. It felt nice to do something for herself for once, and not be wrapped up in the situations she couldn't control. Her heart twisted at the thought of last week, and she desperately tried not to relive her absolutely depressing and humiliating barefoot walk back to her apartment.

"Having a rough go at it?" Jason's words echoed through her head and she blushed.

Unfortunately, he had hit the nail on the head.

Raven set her artwork aside and picked up the lukewarm cup of tea on the edge of her coffee table. After what had happened between her and Mal last week, she had barely felt like opening her art supplies, let alone actually sketch something. And while she didn't want to contribute the sudden spark of creativity entirely to meeting Jason (with his bright green eyes and lopsided smile), she couldn't deny that there was a part of her that didn't mind meeting him.

She took another sip of her tea and hummed, thinking about the night Mal had left her, the night she met Jason, and the night immediately after when he had kissed her with such ferocity that Raven thought she might actually melt into his arms. A smile pulled at the corners of her lips and she shook her head. Jason was… easy. Fun. Simple. He didn't try and seduce her with long stares and slow smiles. He was all-nonsense, but something about it felt warm, almost like he had become a friend instantly, and that was a nice thought.

Raven looked up from her tea as a loud knock broke the silence in the room.

"Raven?" There was a low groan. "Please be Raven."

Raven went to her door and unlocked it, opening it a little to look at Jason standing outside her threshold with a sheepish look on his face. He shuffled back and forth for a moment, and then Raven looked down at the rest of him.

He was completely naked.

Blushing brightly, Raven lifted her eyes to his face, trying not to think about the fact that he was standing in her hallway in nothing at all, and bouncing back and forth on his feet. She cleared her throat and glared at him. "Do you ever wear clothes, Jason?"

"I was washing them and I got locked out of my apartment… Look, it's kind of a weird story, and I'd rather not get into it." He walked past the threshold and into her apartment, letting her close the door behind him. "I just need to call the super and get him to let me back in to my apartment… and well, I can't exactly hide a cell phone here." He gestured to his body with one hand, and Raven was helpless to follow the path of his fingertips.

Down his chest. Over his abs. Around the swell of his hips… she bit the inside of her cheek and looked back up into his green eyes, praying he didn't notice her curious, wandering stare. He seemed unaware for a moment, to which Raven was eternally grateful.

"I knew you lived on this floor and I knew roughly the right apartment… Although there may have been a few trial-and-error moments… and I might have practically scared the bloomers off the little old lady that lives next door with six cats." He shook his head and looked down into his hands. "She just stood there all wide-eyed staring at my junk. Actually to be honest she looked rather impressed."

Raven ran a hand down her face and stared at the ceiling. "Please don't tell me that."

"I don't think her lesbian lover cared too much about it though."

"Jason." Raven picked up her stare and pursed her lips, trying to forget about the fact that he was still naked in her living room, looking completely unconcerned with his state of undress. "You can't go running through the halls buck naked."

"It's not like I wanted to." He threw his hands up and shook his head. "I didn't realize the door locked behind me when I walked out. I was only supposed to be gone for a second, move the clothes from the washer to the dryer, that's it."

"You could have worn pants… like normal people when they gooutside their apartment."

"Look, let's not argue semantics here." He waved her off with a shrug. "Can I please, please, please borrow your cell to call the super? Or I'll just go knocking on everyone else's door to borrow their phone."

He grinned and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back on his heels as Raven desperately fought to keep her eyes locked on his own. If she let her mind wander for even a second it was very likely her stare would end up below the waist… again. Not that she minded the sight honestly.

Raven sighed and grabbed her phone off the coffee table, handing it to him. "Fine. Call him while I try to find you something to wear… so you don't go scaring any more old ladies."

Ignoring his teasing laughter, she walked into her room and rummaged through her drawers until she found a pair of sweatpants Mal had left a few weeks ago. She certainly didn't need those back anytime soon.

"I found you some pants but you have promise to burn them when you are…" Her words trailed up as she looked at him.

Walking back into the living room, Raven saw him hovering over her coffee table, her sketch pad in his hands. Jason hummed for a second and he rubbed his chin, flicking through the pages as if he was reading a positively fascinating book, his lips occasionally curling up into a smile. Raven stood frozen to the spot, eyes wide as she watched his expression. She couldn't move, because if she did, it would mean that he was actually looking at her artwork, and that was too embarrassing to admit to.

"I didn't say you could go through my stuff!"

"You left it out." He shrugged, completely unconcerned with the sudden burst of anger, and flipped another page. He cocked his head to the side and inspected her art the edges of his lips curling upward. "And I saw the purple pastel smudged across your cheek. I was just curious as to that exactly the Little Bird could do. Not bad, by the way."

"S-stop, Jason!" Raven felt her face burn with embarrassment, and she threw the sweatpants at his head, jumping over the back of the sofa to snatch the book out of his hands.

He stumbled backward and laughed, his eyes bright and mirthful as he watched her clutch the book to her chest. "I was only admiring your work. You've got some real chops, ya know?"

Raven's blush continued to darken, and she pulled the sketchbook even tighter against her, feeling something bubble up into her chest at his expression. "And what would you know about my art?"

"Eh… not much, considering how very little I've seen of it." He shrugged and pulled on the sweatpants, which made Raven both a little disappointed and a little grateful, but she didn't let it show. Pushing at his disheveled hair, he pitched forward a little and tapped the top of the sketchbook in her hands. "But… I might know a thing or two if you give me enough credit." He pushed at his hair and handed the phone back to her, his smile still dancing in his eyes.

"Anyway, sorry I was snooping through your stuff, Little Bird." His apology sounded a bit disingenuous, but his half-cocked smile made Raven let that little bit slide. "Next time, I'll make sure that I ask politely before I go rummaging through your very interesting book."

Raven pressed her lips together and glared. "Or you can just leave my things alone."

"Mm…" He pretended to ponder that for a second, tapping his fingers on his chin. "Nah."