Damirae Post-Apokalipz 2020

20: Awkward Morning

(Disclaimer: since this story takes place when most of the characters are adults, I'm going to write Starfire's dialogue with good grammar.)

    Raven eyes fluttered open to a blinding light. She didn't want to wake from the steamy dream she just enjoyed, but the bright light demanded her attention, After further inspection, she could see it was from a crack in the blackout curtains. But she didn't have blackout curtains.

She shot up in the bed after that realization. She looked around the room to find sleek furniture in the same intense shade of black. From the bedding to the bed frame to the walls. Then last night hit like a solid right hook. She had dinner with Damian. They walked to the park. She must've dozed off. So does that means she's in his apartment?

Was him comforting her after her nightmare real? Did she really encourage the light kisses he trailed down her neck this morning? She blushed a furious red at the thought.

Azarath, were the titans looking for her? She looked back towards the crack in the curtains. It was just barely sunrise, she could make it back before they suspected her absence.

A sudden silence alerted her of the fact that the shower had been running in the background the whole time. The half-demon scrambled out of the large bed and created a portal to her bedroom. She hastily walked through, but couldn't bring herself to shut it behind her. She took in all she could of the homey, dark bedroom she was leaving, when her dark prince walked in. He was only wearing a towel that hung low on his hips, casually brushing his teeth. He looked towards the bed in confusion, before lifting his eyes to her glowing portal of purple energy. Blush burning impossibly darker, Raven shut the portal on his shocked expression. She thought she saw him smirk as it shrank into nothingness.

Snapped back to the present by a knock on her door, Raven summoned her uniform onto herself with a snap of her fingers. The skin toned stockings were second nature by now, seamlessly hiding her marking. She hastily pinned her cloak on and pulled the hood to cover her fading blush.

"You in there Rae?" a voice called from outside her door. Training her expression blank, Raven floated naturally to her bedroom door. With the wave of her hand, it slid open, revealing a puzzled, green titan. "Why are you in your room this late, Rae?" he questioned, peering over her shoulder into her allusive bedroom. Walking past Garfield, Raven resealed her door.

"I just decided to meditate in my room this morning," she shrugged off, hoping she sounded nonchalant. Beast Boy readily expected this answer, informing her that Vic was making waffles and bounding down the hallway eagerly. What a goofball.

She slowly hovered down the hall, in no hurry to see her teammates. She needed to eradicate the faint blush that remained warming her cheeks before she could look Damian's step-brother in the eye. But the journey was too short. Raven did not feel prepared when she glided into the titan's kitchen.

Cyborg and Beast Boy were talking trash, arguing over who was better at some video game they both adored. Dick was sitting at the counter with Kori, quietly discussing something as they shared his coffee. Stealthily entering the room, Raven opted to stay unnoticed, sitting down at the breakfast table alone. However, Starfire easily caught her entrance and shouted a radiant good morning towards the half-demon.

She felt all eyes turn to her, but only lightly smiled at Kori and acted as though she didn't notice their stares. Garfield and Victor's gazes didn't linger, easily tallying up her odd behavior as normal for her. They returned to their intense friendly rivalry, but Dick didn't look away as quickly. As soon as Kori excused herself to go to the restroom, he pounced.

Actually, he sorta just sauntered over and sat down silently beside her. "Good morning," she greeted. He warily analyzed her with the eyes of a detective, but couldn't seem to find anything out of the ordinary.

"You sleep well?" he returned, moving his scrutinizing gaze away from her at last.

"Very well." she replied, "In fact, I slept a bit longer than usually and decided to meditate in my room this morning." She smiled at the memory of Damian's final expression. Dick hesitantly excepted her lie, but did so nonetheless.

    "Well I got to go plan our training for today," he excused himself, leaving the room only after he snatched up his coffee. He passed Kori in the doorway, catching her arm by the arm, whispering something about why he's leaving probably, and kissing her only the cheek. She beamed, sporting a brilliant blush like a medal of honor.

    As Kori plopped down in the seat Dick use to occupy, Raven pulled off her cloak in relief. The squeak she heard from Star had her reconsidering her decision. With wide eyes, Kori announced something about girl time, suspiciously loud enough for everyone to hear, and dragged her out of the kitchen by her wrist. As soon as they were alone in the hallway, she stopped and turned to stare at Raven.

    "What is that?" Kori asked knowingly. Raven had no idea what she was talking about. In response to Raven's silence, and probably lost expression, Kori groaned and started dragging her down the hallways again. She stopped again once they reached the tower's main bathroom. Staring at their reflections in the big mirror, Kori pointed towards Raven neck and repeated her question.

    "What is that?"

Raven gasped out loud as she leaned towards the mirror immediately. Kori was giggling in the background, but Raven couldn't bring herself to care. All she could focus on was the angry bruises speckled across her collar. Thank god she had her hood pulled on tight when Dick was was analyzing her.

    "It's not what it looks like," she exclaimed as she turned to face her bubbly teammate. Starfire was full-on floating now, her happiness feeding off Raven's reaction.

    After returning to the floor and sanity, Kori finally winked at Raven and said, "It's none of my business, although I'd love to know what you've been up to." Raven let out a sigh of relief as Kori sashayed to the door. "Or more accurately, who you've been up to," Kori corrected, winking at Raven as she sputtered in surprise.

    Raven braced her arms on the bathroom countertop, just staring at the angry mark left on her skin. She couldn't believe he had actually given her hickeys just a few hours ago. Raven didn't really think it had actually happened until the undeniable proof was staring her in the face. She had to put some concealer on this stat. Oh she was gonna get him back for this.

    She just hoped Kori could hide her snickers when Raven showed up to training with concealer smeared across her collar and her cloak pinned tightly over her shoulders.