Raven let out a shout of pain as she dropped to her knees while clutching her head.
"Raven!" Damian dropped his uniform and knelt down, grabbing hold of Raven's shoulders. "What's wrong?!"
Her face was contorted, eyes shut tight, as she tried to form words through grit teeth.
"My…Father…" she managed to get out. The lightbulb in the lamp on Damian's nightstand burst.
Damian clenched his jaw, not knowing how to help her. He tried moving his thumbs in comforting circles on her shoulders as he waited for her to get control again.
"What do you need?" He asked gently.
Raven couldn't hear him. She gritted her teeth harder as her father roared and thrashed in his prison. She had to focus all her energy on getting him to calm down so she could hear her own thoughts again.
Initially, Raven had learned to tune her father out, but over the last year or so as the reality of his imprisonment had set in, he had taken to outbursts when she least expected it. This time had been so loud, if it were a perceptible noise, she might have gone deaf. Clearly, Damian would not be getting her father's blessing anytime soon.
Finally able to subdue him and get some relief, Raven collapsed forward.
"I've got you," Damian cooed as he held her close. Once she was able to feel connected to her physical body again, and she wrapped her arms around his torso as he continued to hold her.
"Sorry…" she mumbled from his shoulder.
"Don't be," he said sternly.
They stayed silent for a while then, just enjoying each other's embrace. Only once Raven's breathing evened out to where she could take deep long breaths again did Damian dare to speak.
"So…I take it your father does not approve."
Raven chuckled into his chest.
"Perceptive," she deadpanned.
"The offer still stands, you know," Damian said, tentatively; hopefully.
Raven pulled out of his embrace to look him in the eyes again, his hands sliding from around her shoulders down her arms to her hands to rest. She found his gaze, hopeful, but unsure. She looked down at his hand on hers, golden sand over porcelain.
"I don't know if I can bring that around people who don't know me."
"You don't know that will happen again."
"I don't. That's the problem. I don't want to subject others to that. I didn't want to subject you to that."
"I know, and I'm sorry. But I assure you Raven, my family would not judge you."
Raven knew she could trust him, and knew she could trust what he was saying to her. She realized then that it wasn't his family's reaction he was worried about, but more the prospect of being exposed like that to strangers. If that were to happen around people she had just met, in their space she was invited into no less, it would make her feel vulnerable, which was a terribly uncomfortable feeling for her. Even with Damian now, it wasn't her inclination to lay her vulnerabilities bare to him, but he had already seen her for all her strengths and weaknesses years ago. His family may be willing to accept her for her flaws, but she wasn't ready for it. Not now, not in this moment when she was already feeling fragile.
"I'm just…not ready. I need time to meditate after that and build my strength back up. That was just…a little defeating and I'm not ready to risk others seeing me like that," she confessed, a little sad she couldn't say yes to him.
Damian's heart sank a little but still maintained hope with how open she remained with him. He curled his hands tight around hers and was reassured when she gripped his back.
"So," he started looking at their hands entwined, "raincheck?"
She smiled and nodded.
"Raincheck," she confirmed.
They became aware of the sun sinking ever slightly lower in the sky as the hues of the sunlight coloring the city grew richer.
"I should go meditate," Raven announced with regret, but remained unmoved.
Damian nodded.
"I should finish packing," he looked down at their hands again then looked back at her, his expression soft, "will you be down for dinner?"
"I wouldn't miss it," she beamed at him.
It was Damian's night to cook, which was always the highlight meal of the week at Titans Tower. Raven was eager to head down after meditating, hoping to catch chef Damian in action.
When she stepped into the common area, she was greeted by the sight of Garfield playing sous chef while every other Titan sat at the dining table watching the duo at work.
"Logan! Turn off that timer and flip those tater tots."
"Yes chef!" Garfield saluted and hit the timer off button on the oven before running a few feet and skidding to a halt in front of the utensil drawer. He rummaged through until he successfully found a metal spatula, thrusting it up in the air in celebration.
"Behind!" Garfield shouted as he ran past Damian who was flipping burgers over on a flattop.
Raven sat back and leaned towards Jaime.
"Has Gar been watching The Bear again?" she asked him.
"Yup."
A sizzling sound was heard by all as a tater tot broke loose from Garfield's vigorous ministrations and landed on the oven's heating element.
Damian's head whipped around.
"Are you trying to burn down the Tower, Logan?!"
"Sorry, chef!" he shouted before turning into a squid, using a sucker to pull the burnt tater tot off the red-hot element.
Damian let out a huff of annoyance, "Just start toasting the buns."
"I don't know if I've ever seen someone more willing to be yelled at," Tara mused aloud.
"It's kind of remarkable," Donna added.
"You mean to say you wouldn't go in there?" Connor teased.
"Like you would!" Donna defended, throwing her hands in the air.
"I definitely would not. The Boy Wonder bosses me around enough without being in charge of anything. Imagine if I gave him a reason," he admitted.
"I'm not too late, am I?" Kori said, entering the room. Raven scooched over to give her space to sit next to her.
"You're just in time for the finale," Raven told her.
"Wanna hear something crazy? He actually offered to help," Tara informed.
"It's that damn show," Jaime shook his head, "and Gar is too easy to influence."
Tara looked back at Garfield with renewed interest, and Raven took notice, narrowing her eyes.
"Get the table set," they heard Damian command from the kitchen area.
Garfield, still a squid, headed over to the silverware drawer.
"Do NOT touch the silverware with your slimy arms," Damain warned as he started to assemble the burgers. Garfield turned back to a human in an instant.
Raven leaned forward to study the toppings. Goat cheese, arugula, roasted tomatoes, homemade aioli, and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. Gourmet burgers were one of her favorites, and Damian knew it.
The oven timer beeped again.
"Coming!" Garfield dropped the fork he was setting for Jaime on his plate with a loud clatter.
"Hey, watch it!" Jaime warned.
Damian began setting the assembled burgers on plates, with two plates set to the side with veggie burgers for himself and Garfield who was working on splitting up the tater tots into two serving bowls for the table. Without needing prompting, Garfield brought the serving bowls to both ends of the table.
"Help me pass these out," Damian commanded, taking two plates himself towards the table. Garfield obeyed obediently.
Damian started with Kori on the end, then handed the next plate to Raven, but paused with the plate hovering an inch above the table.
"There's an extra veggie burger if you would like to try. I made them from scratch," he offered her.
"No thanks," she said with a smirk. He was always trying to convert her. He set the plate down with a shrug.
Once all the plates were distributed, Damian went to the fridge and pulled out another serving bowl and brought it the table before he sat down.
"Here," he said depositing the bowl in the middle, "a panzanella salad in case anyone wants to have something resembling a real vegetable this evening. Dig in."
Once he sat down, the table erupted in applause.
Damian rolled his eyes.
"You know, you were actually pretty nice this time. For you, I mean," Connor informed Damian as he greedily deposited a large amount of tater tots on his plate.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Damian shot him a look.
"Not really, no," Connor shrugged and took a large bite of his burger.
"What's on here?" Tara asked him skeptically, lifting the top bun up to inspect.
Damian listed off the ingredients to her, and Tara grimaced.
"I don't like goat cheese."
"Yet," Damian said before taking a bite of his own burger.
"This paella salad is really good!" Garfield complimented.
"Panzanella. Paella is the dish I made last week," Damian corrected.
"What made you decide to do burgers tonight? This is a bit on the…ordinary side for you," Kori asked.
Damian chewed and swallowed his food before responding.
"No reason," he said with a shrug. He looked at Raven and smiled knowingly at her. She returned his smile and went back to her food, happily.
After cleaning up from dinner and lounging with the group for a while, it was finally time for Damian to depart.
Raven stayed on the couch watching whatever show Garfield was going to adapt his personality to next. Mentally though, she was calculating how long it would take for Damian to head upstairs for his bags and head all the way down to the Tower lobby.
When the timing felt right, and the show had the group completely enthralled, she took her opportunity to leave unannounced.
When Damian got off the elevator with his suitcase, she was there waiting for him. He stood still for a moment, pleasantly surprised by her presence. Smiling, he stepped off he elevator and walked straight up to Raven where she stood waiting and didn't stop until they were only about a foot apart.
Neither of them dared to speak for a moment as they continued to lock eyes with each other.
"Text me when you land," Raven finally said.
"I will," he promised.
She looked around awkwardly not quite knowing what else to say or do in the moment. Damian straightened his spine as he came to a decision.
Releasing his hand on his suitcase handle, he stepped closer to Raven. He looked down intently at her, bringing both hands up to cradle her face, and then he kissed her.