I Remember You
Damian Wayne was looking at Jump City from the rooftop of the Titan's tower. He was in his casual wear all in black. In fact, it was the most casual outfit he actually wore, a black hood with black fitted slacks and black dress shoes.
Raven had just arrived at the rooftop; she was wearing her hero uniform, her hood down. She walks to Damian quietly, whose back was facing Raven. There was a bulge within her upper robes.
It was odd seeing Damian Wayne in such casual attire. Raven couldn't help but feel a tug at her heart. After all, he had said that he never took off his robin uniform unless it was to shower. But here he is, in the most casual attire she had ever seen him in. And it felt wrong.
She did not know why she felt it was wrong and it makes her furrow her brows and freeze for a moment. His back facing her made her think of thoughts that she had been trying to banish for some time now.
And somehow Raven was able to continue to go to Damian, the steps she took was an unconscious effort on her part. For the duration she felt as though she was walking on a tightrope.
"Hey." She absent-mindedly called out to him. For a second, she was surprised at the sound of her voice, which breaks the chaos in Raven's head. Damian turns to look at Raven with a quirked-up brow noticing the odd bulge in her robes.
"Ta-da!" She says with a smile as she opens up her robe for him to see the black puppy in her arm with a red collar. She had forgotten the thoughts that was replaying in her mind prior.
Damian looks at the puppy the already quirked-up brow seeming to be even more emphasized.
"It's for you if you haven't figured it out yet." Raven says with a teasing smile. And he rolls his eyes as he crosses his arms over his chest.
"Of course, it is for me." Damian stares at the pup with a cold gaze but as the seconds tick his facial expression softened. He reaches out for the puppy.
"You haven't named him, have you?" He asks Raven as he glances up at her, and she shakes her head in response.
"But I don't know why he kind of looks like a—" Raven says as a gust of wind suddenly blows, making her robes rustle against itself as Damian took the puppy off of her hands. With her hands freed she pinned her hair up against her head as she closes her eyes.
"Titus." They both had said together, Raven saying it the loudest and Damian whispering it under his breath as though in a trance. The puppy fully in his hands. And it felt right.
"Yes, I think that is a rather befitting name." Damian replied as the sudden gust of wind softened and disappeared. Raven glances at him in confusion, she could have sworn he had said something.
And for a moment Raven had thought that another image had overlapped over Damian. Her face twists in confusion, to which Damian glances at her in worry. It was an image very much similar to how Damian was standing now. However, the face was blurry and she felt as though the context was slightly different from the present.
Raven felt his worry and before he could voice it out, she simply says. "Dust had gotten into my eye." As she rubs her right eye for show. And the image that she could almost clearly see was forgotten, as though she never saw it. Well, because to Raven she had never seen it, and if she does recall she had such an image in her head, it would not be as clear or lack thereof, as that moment Damian picked up the puppy.
"Thank you." Damian absentmindedly say, despite being an unconscious thanks it was very sincere. And even though he was not fully aware, the words rolled off so seamlessly when directed at Raven.
Damian looks back at Jump City when he had realized what he had just said. And Raven smiles at his embarrassment as she looks at Jump City too.
Who would have known that he and her would become relatively close friends? No one could have guessed it, though admittedly the probability was high.
Raven closes her eyes as she took in a deep breath and another gust of wind hits the pair. And she felt a familiar warmth crept up her chest and enveloped her. She felt love.
She does not notice the careful observing glance from a pair of green eyes beside her. As the warmth in her chest translated into a wistful smile. And the smile to Damian translated as a frown with furrowed brows.
~.~.~.~.~
They had gotten very close—Damian and Raven. And often than not they would hang out together. And one of those places—one of their favorite places—was the Titan's rooftop.
The sun was still high up and Raven who was in her casual wear, had been on the rooftop for over half an hour now. She was leaning on the balustrade with her arms resting on top, as she stares out at the open water beneath longingly. She was still lost in her thoughts when Damian stood beside her. He observes her for a moment and looked out at the water consumed with his own thoughts too.
When almost fifteen minutes had passed, that was when she had noticed that the space beside her was occupied. A plethora of emotions coming out from the same spot but she had not registered it and she turns her head to see Damian. He notices her movement and looks at her.
Raven's stiffened expression softened gently with the realization of the familiar features. And her heart tugged. A small grief looking smile was on her lips as she looked away from Damian and into the water below again.
"You must have noticed." She said softly as her brows furrowed and softened with a sigh. Damian remains quiet and let her talk and clarify herself. She turns around to lean against the balustrade with her elbows resting on the fence.
"I had a crush on Dick." She ruffles her hair with her right hand. Saying it aloud for the first time, she found that the words were so foreign in her mouth. But she does not notice the brief moment where Damian's brows furrowed and his lips formed into a frown, as she was facing the opposite direction from Damian's view. As she puts her right elbow back on the balustrade, she turns to face Damian.
"For the longest time I had liked him." She said again, the tone in her voice was soft and rather resigned. He tilts his head to her direction, his emotions masked.
"I liked him. I mean I still do. But—I think—well before you ask. Kori doesn't know, and when the two dated… I understood. Seeing Dick and Kori together—that how I liked him wasn't as romantic as I had thought. I think—I knew—that I liked him for the wrong reasons." Damian waits patiently as she sorted her thoughts and the next words she wanted to say. His face wearing the schooled expression of indifference.
"But then I met Tim—and it invoked the same feelings I had for Dick. And for a moment—I had thought that I had liked him romantically too, but—I was wrong again." She gave an empty smile as she recalled her emotions when faced with Tim or Dick. "Their black hair—Azar. Their black hair and they're back facing me always stirs emotions from within me that I don't really understand where it came from. It felt right and wrong. Especially when I see them or pictures of them in their Robin uniform. But the thing is—when I see their eyes—a feeling of overwhelming mismatch hits me. And the crush I thought I have would subside and becomes replaced with dissatisfaction." Damian turns to face Raven and was startled to see her troubled look. He had words he wanted to tell her but were lost when he saw her expression. Her eyes weren't even looking at him.
"I can't fall in love with every Robin that comes my way—" Her eyes flickers at Damian for a moment, a small goofy smile directed at him and it disappears quickly. "Or every boy with black hair." She shakes her head with an empty smile on her lips as she turns her body again to face the waters. "When I see someone with black hair—I feel a knot in my chest." She looks out at the water with a darkened gaze.
"It feels like I'm supposed to remember someone—supposed to be looking for someone." She sighs. "You see Damian, I don't know when it had started but I have been having dreams. These dreams for as long as I could remember—but the thing is- I don't remember them. I do know that these dreams caused me to have such a strong longing for this stranger." Raven reaches out for the necklace against her collar bone. "I love him. All I know is that I love him. And that the stranger is a male without a doubt- a male. And I vaguely—so very vaguely recall black hair. And warmth—" And a genuine smile is on her lips. "And a certain warmth against my lips." She shakes her head as she softly chuckled and put her arm back on the fence.
"You know I tried looking for him—but how could I when I don't even have a solid clue. And I kind of hoped that maybe one day he'd just appear and I would recognize him instantly. But that is becoming rather unlikely." And she pauses to stare at the very silent Damian, his brows looked as though it wanted to meet one another but he was fighting the urge to. At his schooled expression of indifference. She knew that he wanted her to finish and vent everything out, so she continues.
"Which leads me to my current decision." To this Raven's gaze met Damian's green eyes. His intention was just to glance at her but her gaze caught his completely. "I want to let him go." There was clarity in Raven's violet eyes and turmoil in the set of green eyes looking at her. She looks away from him and stuck her hand out the fence and observed it as she turned it so that her palm faced the sky.
"I will let him go. It's not like I will know him when we meet. And if we do meet—well- I honestly don't want to keep falling in love with every Robin." She says every Robin rather mockingly with a roll of her eyes as a joke. "But seriously- I don't want to keep looking at someone as if 'hey this might be him'. It's just dumb." She adds as she shakes her head. And there was just silence. She allowed Damian to have a moment to let what she had shared sink in. And minutes passed, and Raven refuses to glance at him.
"I actually decided to strengthen my empathetic shield. So, I can't actually feel how your feeling, and all I can do is make guesses of what you feel on your expression. Unless the emotion is really, really strong to which I would be able to identify briefly what it is your feeling." She added as nonchalantly as she could, however she was nervous at how he would view her due to this particular information. "I want to be able to feel—love—or a crush because I actually like someone—not because I am chasing a shadow."
And because of her strengthened empathetic shield, she missed to feel the turmoil in Damian. The words he could not put together and could not correlate with his inner conflict. And her adamant refusal to glance his way with everything that she had just revealed. She failed to see or feel Damian's true response to her words. His inner response that words could not explain.
Was he supposed to comfort her?
With a sigh he finally says, "So, is this a confession?" his tone soft to curb his inner self. And she turns too look at him, a wary expression on her face at first but as she met his gentle eyes devoid of any form of conflict, her face warms up with a soft smile.
"Yeah, I can't really tell Kori that I had liked her boyfriend. But I guess telling you that I liked your brothers is just as odd—but you're the closest friend I have. And finally letting out all this information that I have been holding in—makes me feel so much better." And Damian nods truly understanding how relieving it must have felt.
"I am glad then, that you decided to confide in me. And that I have such a great person I can call a friend." And Raven's small smile grew bigger.
"Did Damian Wayne, just thanked me?" She teases and he quirks a brow at her ready to rebuke, but was unable to as Raven's joyous laughter captures his attention and he found himself grinning.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I have so many fanfiction plans for DamiRae.
(e.g. Fantasy(Maleficent inspired); Modern Angst; Crossover…)
And I will try to write them, but I have classes, it might take some time.
And I have arcs for this timeline to work on too, and another Fanfic I am currently writing.
Just take note of titles, because that should indicate the timeline.
This timeline is named: Familiarity (also in my ao3 account under Eleanore_Delphinium)
Hope you enjoyed this teaser!