Chalant Candlelight

Chapter 63

(Robin's POV)

We all ate when we were hungry and chilled on the beach for hours, all of us doing our own things at times, and at other times we'd all play together. We all, however, made sure to spend time under the umbrella and out of the sun so we didn't get too much sun.

After playing in the water and eating and more playing in the water we all settled around the volleyball net. We decided on no power rules which made Artemis and I secret aces at the game due to us never having to rely on superpowers. Artemis and Wally were the team captains since they could not work together on one team for the life of them. They were much better at smack-talking each other. Artemis won rock, paper, scissors, and immediately chose me, knowing we would be undefeatable. Wally chose Zatanna, much to my disappointment. Artemis chose Magan, and lastly, Wally chose Conner because Kalder would rather referee than play.

The game began and it was mostly Wally putting up a fight for his team with Zatanna shyly helping him. It was cute to watch because she didn't want to get in his way and Wally overestimated all of his range which caused him to get mad and shout at her for not hitting the ball when he was the one who called it. Conner, however, was too slow to react that the ball, when directed at him, would almost always bounce off his head followed by a delayed attempt to hit it. Thus infuriating the speedster to no end. Our team was somewhat more cohesive Artemis and I had resorted to taking sides on the court and splitting it equally down the middle while sticking Magan in the back middle because she would get distracted by every little crab crossing the shore twenty yards away and the ball would land at her feet. So being that there was no help from her, Artmeis and I played as aggressively as possible. Our skills began to scare our competition as they started to doubt that we weren't superhuman in some kind of way. The trick was, that Artemis had perfect accuracy, she could spike or hit the ball with a perfect trajectory to land wherever she deemed a big enough pocket. I, however, had dexterity and acrobatics on my side, making me a great match to save the ball just centimeters from the ground. Needless to say, we won and Wally didn't talk for hours after that.

The sun set and the stars came out. We all slowed down from our morning and afternoon rambunctiousness of volleyball and chicken fights. Now that night had come, Aqualad was walking up and down the beach with his hands behind his back just as content as ever. Wally and Konner were throwing a glow-in-the-dark foam football back and forth in waist-deep water. Magan was dead asleep on a rock she laid on while it was still sunny. Artemis was snacking on whatever leftovers there were, sitting next to me on the large towel that used to be under an umbrella but now the umbrella was laid on the ground still open but not covering us from the sky and the stars above us. I lay there staring up at the sky and the small clouds that formed around the moon. Zatanna was at the far end of the beach near where Magan was at the rocks that intersected the beach and ran into the water. They were probably thirty yards from Artemis and me. I would often find myself watching the girl practicing water spells quietly, sitting on the ground with a book before her. The moonlight reflected off of her charcoal black hair and pale skin. 

Everything inside me wanted to go to her but the team was around and I'll admit. I'm so tired. I was still not fully recovered from losing so much blood last week that I wore out quickly, today was the most energy I've used in days and it drained me completely. I hide it from the team but I feel so weak, physically and emotionally. I looked at my covered wrists, holding them above my head for a second before I became too weak and they fell back at my sides. I did this to myself? Was I really that broken? I didn't even notice when I slashed them, I was so scared of Bruce that I wasn't thinking straight,

"So you and Zatanna?" Artemis broke the comfortable silence between us. I roll my eyes and look over at her, "Personal issues, had you in her bed?" She questioned as if she didn't believe it,