They hadn't spoken in three days. At least they hadn't spoken directly, getting by with the odd game of "Starfire, can you tell Raven" or "Beastboy, can you let Robin know…" to get the bare minimum of communication across so they just didn't have to interact.
It started by accident, Robin had dumped Raven's tea out thinking it was an older mug. It had already been a bad day for Raven and she'd snapped at him a little more strongly than he'd anticipated. He'd tried to stay calm and rational through her tirade which only seemed to make her madder at his lack of heated response. She then eventually stormed off after getting in one last snappy remark, and Robin had given her some time to cool down before trying to approach the situation with both sympathy and empathy only to be coldly shut down. He respected her answer, giving her space for the rest of the day to calm down.
After a day of the cold shoulder, he felt awkward. The air felt thick with an unrecognizable tension any time he was in the room with her. When they were alone it felt like an odd chill would run through his body when he glanced at her, his eyes lingering just long enough to tempt fate into prompting Raven to return his gaze. His mask didn't feel like it offered the safety and reassurance it normally did as her eyes pierced straight through the monochrome fabric leaving needle pricks along his spine.
The second day he'd gotten over the weird chill of anxiety he'd get when their eyes met, though her flat slightly sharp expression unnerved him as he'd tried to approach her with another apology. This time her shorter monotonous responses were getting under his skin. It was just tea after all, he'd offered to make her a new cup the same day but she'd festered over the problem which made him feel like it had only created a bigger issue. He was trying to be the bigger person but his temper was getting the better of him. At some point his apology had turned into a bickering match, escalating louder and louder until something exploded and Cyborg had to intervene, sending Robin to the gym and Raven to the roof.
The third day had started their telephone game with their friends, passing passive-aggressive comments through the air like missile strikes. Their friends had awkwardly obliged at first, only relaying the important details of their messages and ignoring any of the sharper-lined insults. They couldn't only take so much of this game though. The group was already fed up enough as it is with the birds for not just getting over it and making up already, they weren't interested in being dragged down with them.
The final straw was their passive-aggressive comments and actions getting in the way of a distress call. It should have been an easy victory, André LeBlanc was never the brightest criminal in the city. Maybe that was Robin's mistake, letting both his cockiness and personal frustrations get in the way of his job. It was probably a matter of his stubbornness too, mixed with a combination of Raven's that led them to continuously try to one-up each other in battle. Robin would break through a window, Raven would break through a wall. Robin would throw a punch, Raven would throw the person. Somehow they'd started shoving each other out of the way of attacks, confusing even the villain as it looked like the two titans were more focused on fighting each other than apprehending him.
The team was more than fed up. The three remaining members worked quickly and frustratingly to capture André and turn him over to authorities before rounding up the ruffled birds and heading back to the tower.
"This has gone on long enough." Cyborg's voice is tight, his grip on the steering wheel even tighter.
"It's her fault—"
"He started—"
"No," Cy cuts them off. "I literally do not want to hear a single word out of the two of you the entire ride home. Both your voices are driving me insane."
"You can't tell me wh—" Robin tries but Cyborg screams loudly, drowning out his voice.
"STOP!" Starfire's voice booms above everyone, echoing through their ears. "We are all friends! Friends Robin and Raven, you must stop your fighting! What has even upset the both of you to be so cruel to one another?"
Silence fills the car as the trio waits for a response. The birds remain quiet, almost pouting as they look out their respective windows, arms folded over their chest.
"Hello?" Beastboy coaxes impatiently. "She asked you a question!"
"I thought we weren't allowed to talk," Raven mutters defiantly.
Cyborg groans, his head falling forward to bump against the steering wheel as they pull up to the tower. As they all begin unloading out of the car, Raven seems to make a special point of bumping into Robin's shoulder as she passes. He starts speed walking towards her before he's halted by a sharp tug against his cape.
"Nope," Cyborg says, dragging him along as he quickly stomps after Raven to grab her cloak with his other hand to drag them both down the hallway. "The first day it was funny, the second day it was annoying, now— now it's just fucking stupid."
Robin and Raven start to speak up over each other, casting the blame on one another but Cyborg yells loudly to interrupt them. "I don't want to hear it! I think all of us have heard everything we need to hear from you two, except you two!"
Using his height and strength to his advantage, Cyborg raises them both by their capes to look at them sternly. "I'm going to take Star and BB to get pizza because they kicked butt and paid attention during battle and they deserve it." He tosses them gently to the ground in front of the main room and crosses his arms. "You two can fight, yell, scream, whatever— I don't care what y'all do, but by the time we get back, I expect to have two fully functioning teammates and friends that aren't at each other's throats."
The pair grumble, Raven standing to dust herself off while Robin remains defiantly on the ground. Cyborg rolls his eye, shaking his head before turning back toward the garage, calling for the remaining titans over his communicator. They watch him leave silently, Robin taking the risk to glance up at Raven who was still staring down the hallway with her arms crossed.
"Should I order us pizza?" Robin asks gently, trying to lighten the tension.
Raven's eyes shoot down to glare at him sharply causing him to flinch.
"Whatever," She scoffs, walking in the same direction Cyborg had previously gone.
"'Whatever'?" He calls after her, standing quickly to follow her. "So we're just not going to talk?"
"Go ahead," She mutters, not breaking her stride as she continues toward her room.
"They're going to be back at some point, Raven. We're gonna have to get over this eventually." Robin insists.
"I'm over it," She responds flatly, turning to face him finally as the door to her room slides open and she lingers in the entryway. "Good talk, see you around."
She doesn't wait for him to respond, stepping into her room and allowing the door to slam shut quickly behind her. Robin remains frozen, staring at the metal door as silence settles around him and he frowns. Cyborg was right, this has gone on long enough and he was going to be damned if a cup of tea was going to be the straw to tear them apart.
Without thinking twice, he pushes forward into her room. She spins in the center of the room, turning to lock her intense heated gaze upon him.
"What the fuck is your deal?" Raven snaps, closing the distance between them ensuring he doesn't make any more distance into her room.
"Me?!" Robin gapes. "You're the one who got pissy over nothing!"
"How is you being an inconsiderate jerk, my fault?" Raven retorts.
"What did I do that was so inconsiderate? Clean up your mess?"
"Your coffee was my mess?" She frowns, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What? My coffee?" Robin mirrors her frown, his tone lowering. "It was one of your tea mugs, I'm almost positive."
Raven sighs harshly, rolling her eyes. "Do you not remember anything or are you just a perpetual idiot to annoy me?"
Robin's expression tightens. "There you go again being so critical over a misunderstanding!"
"What misunderstanding? Do you even remember you asking me to make you your stupid coffee?"
Robin falters, trying to recall the day this fiasco had all started. His eyes dance behind his mask as he tries to recollect the memory but it falls fuzzy and short.
"No you probably don't," Raven scoffs. "You were exhausting yourself, as usual, and I was trying to help with anything. You said the only thing I could help you with was 'something warm and caffeinated to keep you awake' and then you dumped it out an hour later."
Robin's mouth falls open as he stares at her, a faint wave of guilt striking his chest. He could hardly recall the events she was describing, but she'd been upset over this for days and he had reason to believe she would lie to him.
"Rae, I'm sorry… I was really out of it focusing on the case I didn't mean to be a—"
"A dick?" She finishes for him, her arms still crossed almost pompously and he tries not to let the lingering heat from his anger get the better of him.
"Look, I'm sorry," He heavily emphasizes the word. "I didn't remember you asking and thought you had just forgotten your mug after hanging out."
"I know how to clean up after myself," She spits, her voice sharp.
Robin can't help the grimace that's etched into his expression as he steps closer. "What, and I don't? "
"If the bulky ass steel toe boot fits," She shrugs, shifting to turn away from him dismissively.
"Stop turning away from me!"
Huffing with frustration, he grabs her arm to spin her to face him. Then suddenly they're on each other. He's not sure who made the first move but it doesn't feel like either is lacking in reciprocation as lips mash together fiercely and their hands grasp at each other's body. Raven grabs fistfuls of his cape in her hands, struggling against his body as his own hands get trapped in her cloak trying to find purchase against her body. His hands grasp at her waist holding her close to him as their heat seeps into each other. Raven's arms haphazardly move to wrap around his neck, a hand fisting tightly in his hair sending shocks across his scalp.
Their lips move frantically against each other, breaking apart for only fractions of a second for air before they're sucked back into the intoxication of the moment. Robin pressed more fiercely into her, his mouth parting under hers to run his tongue along her lower lip. His action causes her to gasp, her lips parting open just enough for Robin to slip his tongue into her mouth. Raven reciprocates quickly, tugging Robin's face closer as they deepen the kiss, searching out more of the other mouths with their tongues.
Robin's hands try to move to find more contact with her body but get trapped in the thick fabric of her cloak again. Raven breaks their kiss to pull away from him just long enough to unclasp the material from around her shoulders, allowing it to fall to the floor at their feet. He pulls her body back into his quickly and she moans into his mouth as they collide. Their actions feel erratic, even through the thick slick material of her leotard he can feel her heat radiating around them. He pushes her back more, causing them to trip and stumble awkwardly over her discarded cloak and they fall backward into a tangled mess on her bed.
Raven pulls away from his mouth to gasp as his weight falls on top of her and their bodies mesh even closer together. Her hands scramble against his shoulders, now getting caught in his cloak and Robin's breath leaves him in an airy chuckle as Raven's comes out in a frustrated huff. Robin leans back from her enough to pull off his slick gloves, before loosening the material from around his neck so he can pull it away and off of his body, tossing the objects away from them and onto the floor.
He moves to capture Raven's lips in another kiss, but she seems to have different ideas as the minute the skin of his neck is free her mouth attaches to it. Her mouth harshly nipped and sucked at the flesh there, her hands roaming up his chest and back as she pulled his body closer. Robin groans at the sensation of her mouth against his neck and his hands roam across her torso, trailing down to the smooth skin of her thighs and he squeezes the area, massaging it harshly. Raven moans against his throat, one of her hands moving to grasp at his hair, angling his neck more to get better access. Robin grunts against her shoulder, his head knocking against hers lightly.
Raven's fingers dig into his shoulder and she finally pries her mouth away from his neck to pull his mouth back to hers. Robin shifts his body on top of her, pressing her body down harder into the bed causing a low rumble to vibrate through Raven's throat as she clings desperately to his body. Their tongues sloppily meet again, gliding slickly across each other, dipping in between both of their mouths. The hand on Raven's thigh trails up and down the smooth skin, lavishing attention on the silky flesh. Raven shifts underneath him then, rolling her hips upwards as she lifts her legs to squeeze around his hips. Robin's hand slides down automatically at the action, finding the even softer mound of her ass and massaging the pleasant area.
Raven whimpers into his mouth, her arms drawing upward to wind around his neck once more as she deepens their kiss. The heat of their bodies only seems to intensify as their hips move together creating an entirely different heat below Robin's stomach. Robin moans against Raven's lips, using the hand on her leg to try and pull her closer as he grinds his hips down into hers searching out more friction. Raven's nails dig into his shoulder as she pulls away from his mouth with a gasp, her eyes flashing open wide as something shatters overhead.
"Stop!" She gasps breathlessly, pushing his body away from her.
He obliges, rolling off her body quickly to sit next to her just as breathless and shaky as her. Raven's hand comes up to cover her mouth as her eyes slip shut and Robin pants heavily as he watches her chest rise and fall erratically with her breath. The room is silent besides the sounds of their labored breathing, slowly dwindling into nothing as they regain their composure.
Eventually Raven's eyes open and she sits up on the bed, her other hand coming up to join the one at her mouth as she rubs at her face before turning to look at him. Her face flushed furiously the minute her purple irises met the whites of his mask and her eyes immediately dipped back down to her lap.
"Uh, so…" She mutters, biting at her swollen lips.
Robin chuckles sheepishly, feeling the heat in his cheeks rise as his eyes linger on the empath.
"So…um…" Robin doesn't start his thoughts much better. "Did I mention I'm sorry?"
Raven huffs out a laugh, rolling her eyes as she shoves at his leg closest to her body. "Shut up, idiot." Her lips jut out as she chews on the inside of her cheek. "I'm sorry for…letting my emotions get the better of me."
"Is that what that was?" Robin dumbfounds, his cheeks flushing with color.
"I meant about the coffee," Raven clarifies, looking up to glance at his face again. "I'm sorry."
He doesn't miss the way her eyes seem to involuntarily linger on his mouth before they find the whites of his mask.
"Me too," Robin smiles warmly at her and she offers a small crooked smile in return.
They stare at each other in silence, smiling awkwardly while ruminating on the heated minutes prior. Whatever had triggered the initial act Robin still wasn't entirely sure, but the desire continued to swim in his mind as his eyes trail over the dark-tinted round areas of her cheeks and down to her slightly swollen lips as she continued to pull the plump flesh between her teeth.
"Stop looking at me like that," Raven shoves him playfully again, turning her face away so her hair slips down to curtain over her embarrassed expression.
"Hey," Robin calls to her leaning closer, raising his hand to cup the back of her neck.
She turns her head as he captures her neck and her eyes widen in surprise as he closes the distance between them. He hears the way the inhale of her breath stutters as her lips part slightly, her body tensing as a zap of power causes something to clatter loudly behind them. Raven's eyes slip shut and her body sags in what looks like disappointment. As she starts to lean back from Robin he presses his hand against her cheek so he can guide her face up toward his, pressing their lips together chastely. He can hear the hum of surprise in her throat and he feels the sheets move underneath him as her hands clench in the fabric and she leans into him.
He pulls away slowly, running his thumb across her cheekbone and brushing her hair out of her face. It takes a moment before she opens her eyes, heavily lidded and staring down at her lap again.
"I think you should leave." She says softly. "For now." She affirms quickly. "I need…time."
Robin continues to smile at her. "No problem." He stands and starts toward the door, turning to look at her as it slides open. "So we all good?"
Her crooked smile and blush intensify. "Yeah, all good."