LOVE + FEAR

LIES

JOHN CONSTANTINE'S VINYL RECORDS: Dear to me — Electric Guest

— G O T H A M —

"Harls is going to adore the hat we picked out for her," Poison Ivy peeked into a plastic bag with a smile.

Raven matched her companion's casual stride. The sidewalk stretched on ahead, speckled with only a few rain droplets. She peeked out from under her hat at the sky; it was a dull gray, and wasn't rumbling yet. As far as Gotham weather went, today was fairly pleasant.

Raven had agreed to Ivy's proposal, and the two had met up. Coincidentally, they were both wearing wide-brimmed hats. Quick banter led to a short detour browsing Gotham shop windows—until they stumbled upon the perfect gift for the missing party.

"What are the odds we would find one that was red and had a black bow?" Raven mused.

"No idea. This was perfect timing, Harls is super into the couple-matching stuff lately," Ivy paused, sending a side-glance at Raven, "do you and Robin ever...?"

"No. It's not like that," Raven said. She'd been avoiding Damian for the past few days (it turned out to be extremely difficult to avoid someone who was raised by ninjas). She wasn't going near him until she found out more about how her newly-bred emotions affected her. Just the thought of him ripped open the gaping pit in her stomach.

"Oh," to Raven's relief, Ivy didn't prod further. "Anyways, thanks for doing this hat stuff with me. I know a juice place nearby, how about we grab smoothies or something and talk over Cadmus?"

"Sounds good," Raven nodded. Their meeting became a lot more relevant after Conner's confession. Raven hadn't pressed him at the time, but the coincidence did not go unnoticed.

Raven and Ivy paused in front of a small shop decorated with vines and potted plants. Bubbles billowed out of a hidden machine and floated out amongst traffic. Tendrils of melodic sound hummed out of fake rock speakers.

"Poison Chai...?" Raven read the sign tacked above the doorway.

"The environmentalists love me here. At first it was creepy, but they're completely eco-friendly. They took down the Jamba Juice across the street...they're kind of badasses." Ivy shrugged.

"Cool." When Raven pulled on the door, the scent of herbs delicately wafted to her nostrils. Every table that didn't have a pot of flowers was decorated with a miniature, portable water fountain for relieving stress.

"Looks like you're pretty popular," said Raven. Most of the tables were filled, yet the overall volume wasn't deafening. The baristas behind the counter waved at Ivy in the doorway.

"Not a fan of the attention, but it's pretty hard to pass up free smoothies," said Ivy. "I've heard Tim Drake's a regular here. They have a table in the corner usually reserved for him. He's asleep every time I see him...must work long hours."

"Hmm, that sounds like him..." Raven glanced around and, sure enough, Damian's dark-haired brother was drooling amidst a valley of empty coffee cups.

Raven stood before the counter with Ivy. Her eyes lingered on the chalkboard above. Every drink was either organic or some vegan/vegetarian concoction.

Hmm. Beast Boy would like this place.

"Hey, can I get my usual, please...? See anything that looks good?" Ivy looked over at her. When Raven finally made a decision, she nodded, her gaze falling upon the cashier—

Clark Kent stood before her, in glasses and a dark green apron.

"Hi there, your hats look adorable. I recommend the Venus Fly Trap, it's delish with strawberry boba," Clark said.