#if you noticed superboy has been silent for the scene that was intentional

[kattythingz]

YJ x FMA Pt. 3

Yeaaaaah, I couldn't resist.

I've already made my bed with this one, man. I might as well commit to the bit lmao. This au has been incredibly self-indulgent so far and I'm honestly digging it.

New folks, the main gist of the au is explained in part 1, so direct all your confusion there first :P

🧡 Pt. 1 💛 Pt. 2 🤍

“Holy fucking shit! Are you serious?!”

Ling could hardly contain his grin when Ed exclaimed in what could only be described as sheer scientific euphoria. Kaldur and Artemis let out similar snorts of amusement behind Ling and M’gann outright giggled as Ed ran up to Ship, the previous rush of getting to their escape point completely forgotten in favor of gawking starry-eyed at the majestic aircraft. His arms hovered back-and-forth with a familiar excitement to reach out and touch, before he inevitably caved.

“Holy shit,” Ed repeated, reverent as he brushed a hand over Ship’s indulgent surface. “I knew it. I’m dreaming. I got shocked one too many times and I passed out—”

Ling really couldn’t help the overflowing bubbling of laughter from his chest. It caught Ed’s shining gaze as he pivoted with one hand kept on Ship, the other flinging to jab at Ling. “Tell me I’m dreaming, Ling! Tell me right now!”

“Dude, how old are you again?” Wally chortled, though not cruelly, Ling noted with approval. He would’ve had words to emphasize with his sword if any one of his friends demeaned Ed’s bliss. “It’s like you’ve never seen an airship before. Ship’s pretty plain-looking as far as those go, you know—”

Ship made a beeping noise of protest, and Ed yelped, turning like he could pinpoint the source. Which, now that Ling thought about it—

“Hold on,” Ed said, lightning-struck, and touched his second hand to Ship again. “Hold on. Is this thing—?”

“Alive?” Ling said amusedly, and Ed whirled on him. “I believe ‘sentient’ is the more accurate term M’gann used, but—”

“Shut up!” Ed beamed, and Great Dragon on Ling’s heart—

He’d missed this sight something awful.

The rest of the team were clearly just as endeared. Especially M’gann, as she beamed right back, saying, “Thank you! Ship says she likes you too.”

“‘Ship’?” Ed said. He startled when Ship opened her hatch suddenly. Gently, though Ed didn’t know it. Ling read the moment for him and set a prompting hand on the small of Ed’s back with a tilt of his head, and Ed didn’t waste a second. He climbed slowly up the ramp, like he thought his footsteps could hurt Ship.

The team took their seats easily except for M’gann, who spun in the air to smile at Ed and say, “This is Ship! She’s a friend, even though she might not look it immediately. She’s just as much a member of this team as all of us. Isn’t that right, girl?”

Lights flickered along the side in eager answer, and Ed tracked the reaction greedily. Ling could already see the cogs turning behind those eyes, and the sight warmed his heart beyond comprehension.

“Here,” Ling laughed, pulling Ed back down to Earth and coaxing him by the hand to a vacant corner with two seats, no doubt provided by Ship’s thoughtfulness. Ed followed his second cue to sit, eyes still high above the ground as he took in the finer mechanics.

“Alright,” M’gann announced with noticeable cheer, finally at her seat at the helm. “Everyone strapped in? Sorry, Ed, this might feel a little weird at first.”

“Wha—?”

Ed cut off when Ship began lifting. He let out a yelp when the distance really grew, wobbling on instinct and hands shooting to grip the Ling’s bicep.

Ling remembered how strange the first fly had been on him too. He set an anchoring hand over Ed’s, catching the slightest fear in those eyes and smiling.

“Relax,” Ling told him quietly, to avoid embarrassing Ed with a spectacle. Judging by Ed’s rapid glance in his direction, the gesture was appreciated. “Your ears might ‘pop’ in a second from the air pressure, and it’ll feel uncomfortable for a while after, but you’re otherwise fine.”

“Did someone else tell you that?” Ed said between a grimace. His hands kept taut for a moment as Ship caught a steady pace, before he relaxed under Ling’s hand.

He let out an exhale, casting Ling a smile that time. “That sounds like the sort of talk you’d ask me to repeat ten thousand times for you instead.”

“Rude!” Ling gasped—to no avail. He’d smiled too wide again. “I learned a few things while you were gone, you know. A year’s a long time.”

Ed’s eyes sparkled in the literal changed atmosphere between them now. “Really? Then how’d you end up here immediately?”

“I had a moment of regression. You know how I get when I’m hungry.”

Ling was rewarded with a brilliant laugh for that. 

He completely understood when the sound drew several eyes back to them as well, and there was a pause as the team considered the two of them.

Artemis eventually broke the silence.

“So,” she started with an imperceptible smirk, crossing her legs and leaning back in her seat. “Ling’s infamous fiance.”

“Unfortunately,” Ed said.

The easy humor shifted something in the atmosphere, and faster than anyone could grin, Wally blurted, “What was that you did with the walls? I’ve never seen any earth powers that spontaneous before!”

“Yeah! What kind of power was that?” Robin leaned forward—sounding like his age, to Ling’s relief. Though Robin was undoubtedly much younger than Ling, he so often behaved like, well… Ed and Ling, back in their own teenagehood. This was a nice change. This was good. “You covered all that mass in, like, one motion. And you knew exactly where it would stop.”

Perhaps it was the nerves from being mass-stared at from all corners, but Ed flushed at the admiration. “Oh, well…” He cleared his throat. “That was pretty basic from me, really. I’d usually go for something louder, but I wasn’t sure entirely what was under the walls… It was better safe than sorry in the moment.”

“You couldn’t tell from a touch?” Ling furrowed his brow.

“Not completely.” Ed shook his head. “I had an innate understanding, but I couldn’t put a name to… a lot of the things.” He cast Ship a grimacing onceover. “But I guess I’ll have to get used to that.”

“So that is part of your power?” Kaldur asked, because, naturally, he couldn’t resist his curiosity either. Though his was more tempered. “You understand the components of the earth, and mold it?”

Ed blinked at the astute observation.

“That’s… exactly it, actually,” he said slowly. “I’m surprised you got it in one go…”

“Well,” Ling said, never one to miss a chance with a sly grin, “he is the esteemed leader around here.”

Ever since Ling had learned the team’s average age, he’d made it his life mission, while he was here, to soften them all to act their ages more often. Kaldur, in particular, was a tougher target on par with Artemis, but he, too, had a weakness. Recognizing his competence, for one. Recognizing his competence as leader, for two.

Ed clocked that in an instant, bless his perceptiveness, and he nodded easily. “Yeah, makes sense.”

Kaldur wavered. “You—can tell such a thing?”

“Sure. You’ve got the eye and attitude for it. And you sound a lot like a certain someone.” Ed cast Ling a sideways glance, and Ling pulled his most gracious face. Ed rolled his eyes back to Kaldur. “Next thing you’re gonna tell me, you’re a prince too.”

Wally immediately burst out laughing. “You got it in one! No way!”

“Well, not exactly on the nose,” Robin hummed. “But definitely close enough.”

Kaldur was far too well-mannered to gape, but he most certainly stared at Ed. “How—?”

“Like I said,” Ed snorted, but his grin was genuine as gold, “it’s obvious.”

Kaldur ducked his head, hiding that successful blush under a hand rubbing his neck. “That praise might be undue for the time being. I have only been in this position for a few months. But… thank you.”

And that, too, was a sight Ling had missed. The way Ed positively melted at the image of these kids, walking in shoes too big for their feet but filling the mold so well, for better and for worse. 

Ling had a great feeling about this world, suddenly.

<- previous ◆ next ->

[bluebird722]

Aftermath of the Dream

Pairing: Damian Wayne/Robin + Raven

Rating: M for explicit sex scene

Author’s Note: As usual, for @tigerdude94, @rachelalghul, @chromium7sky, @lunastar92, @damnshipper, @dcgzilla, @quothxthexravenx, @dcdweeb, @grassfour, @xxitzmikoxx, @andthendk, @unk-vi, @ravenfan1242, @raventrigonsdaughter, @xaphrin, and everyone else who has kept Damirae alive for years. 

Post-JLD:AW, right after the Flash runs to create a new Flashpoint...

White faded into black.

***

Two weeks had passed ever since everybody woke up from that horrific dream, but it wasn’t just a dream. Even Titans East—consisting of Speedy and Bumblebee and Kid Flash—had experienced it, being murdered one by one, and they admitted that it felt too real; all three of them woke up in cold sweats. They shared it with Nightwing and Starfire via a video call.

“It’s so strange that you guys felt it, too,” said Speedy. “At this point…I don’t think it even was a dream!”

“Do you think…it was some kind of spell or something, that made us experience it?” asked Blue Beetle.

Damian remained silent, but from what he had gathered and researched, some things—some people—didn’t exist. There was no Superboy of any kind, and he found that "Tara Markov" was the Princess of Markovia who was registered at school under that name. There was no such thing as something called the “H.I.V.E.”, and the Court of Owls was a nickname for the Gotham elite, which Father detested.

Not surprisingly, the other person most affected was the one with ashy milk skin but with no jewel on her forehead. Ever since they all woke up, the two of them were distant from each other. Any time she caught him looking at her, she looked away. When she offered to heal him from an injury during combat training, he backed away and refused. It was obvious that she herself had seen, had felt the romance between them but was unsure of what to make of it.

Two months of awkwardness had passed. In that time, Nightwing had left the Titans to co-mentor Batgirl with Batman, Batwoman, and Batwing but continued to date Starfire. Wonder Woman’s sister, Donna, had moved into the tower without officially joining the team. Beast Boy, the notorious green changeling, had left the Doom Patrol to work solo and then decided to join the Titans. Not to Damian’s surprise, even Garfield admitted to feeling that same dream.

Still, he felt even more distant from Raven, who spent all of her free time meditating and barely talking. It only frustrated him more, even if he himself refused to initiate any conversation with her. Finally, he confronted her after she finished meditating on the roof. She seemed to be expecting him, for she barely lifted her head when she said, “I felt everything, too.”

He stopped and frowned at her. “How do you explain that?” he harshly asked.

She finally met his eyes. “You and me. The dream.”

“Everything?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Everything.”

Damian wasn’t afraid of anything, let alone confrontation, but he felt awkward addressing this.

“And I do not wish to address it,” she said curtly.

“Address what?” he spat.

She didn’t look at him. “The thought…that it would take the deaths of our friends and…they’re our family…” Her eyes closed in sorrow. Damian wanted to speak but didn’t know what to say. “I didn’t like…that you would lead your grandfather’s group of assassins after everyone died.”

Damian frowned. “You didn’t,” he reminded her. “You turned down my offer.”

Her eyes gave him a dangerous glare. “Do I look like the kind of person who would want to lead a number of people who kill?”

Damian frowned. “No—”

“Then what makes you think I would do that, even with all of my friends dead?” she interrupted. “Didn’t you—in that dream—say that you wanted me to, because you had feelings for me?”

Her question was like a slap to the face. Damian continued to frown at her, but his chest ached. No coherent thoughts came to him. “I’m going inside,” he said instead, and he turned around, ignoring her “You didn’t answer my question, Damian.”

He went into his room and picked up his sword. Practice was the best way to release his feelings; he dare not think of talking about them.

***

Two years changed from tension to… Damian couldn’t describe it, but over time, he and Raven were able to make eye contact again. They began to go back to having conversations. Damian adopted a rescue puppy who took to falling asleep on Raven when she read on the couch. He wouldn’t admit it, but her body was still attractive, and he fantasized about stroking her hair. He wanted to pick her up and carry her around bridal style.

For her, it started during a botched robbery. They prevented the theft of a scientific experiment from within a lab, but Damian had suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder and was bleeding profusely. Raven was quick to rush to his side, remove the bullet, and heal his wound. Even though he insisted that he was fine, everyone else insisted that he still rest in the medical bay. The bullet wound was gone, but everyone from Nightwing to Starfire—both of whom had since joined the League—to Batman had gone to the tower to ensure that the leader of the Titans was all right.

Damian tolerated the attention, but what really surprised him was that Raven nearly hovered around him. He lost track of the number of times she had asked him how he was feeling.

No, he wasn’t lightheaded or dizzy, yes, he could walk in a straight line, yes, he could recite the alphabet backwards, no, he wasn’t having hallucinations… By day two, he was frustrated and asked her why she was acting like this. “I’m fine,” he insisted, doing his best not to clench his teeth. “I honestly am.”

Raven’s eyes snapped from where he had been shot to meet his. “Well, excuse me for being worried,” she said in her usual monotone.

“It’s not that,” he said curtly. “It’s not like I was going to die…”

In an instant, he watched her look to the ground and shuffle her feet. He stared at her until he remembered…the dream…

“You did die once,” she said softly, “and…it may have been a dream…but…it felt so real…”

Damian’s heart skipped a beat. He hesitantly put his hand on top of hers. She snapped her head towards him. If he remembered correctly, from the dream, she had felt helpless but smiled after he subtly reassured her that it was going to be all right. To his excitement, she looked shocked but then relaxed.

He let the sexual tension between them carry on—he kind of liked that she would avoid eye contact with him—until he changed his mind. Luckily, nothing happened that particular day, so he figured that it would be a nice night to invite her to go on patrol with him. She looked surprised but agreed. She opened a portal to the tallest skyscraper, where they scanned in silence.

“I’m rather flattered that you asked me to go on patrol with you,” she said after only ten minutes.

Part of it was an adrenaline rush, but Damian’s heart was pounding so fast that it made his arm ached. “Well, I felt like tonight was the best night that I could think of,” he said.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What?”

Damian glanced at the clock. There were still two hours left. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s move.”

Raven took his hands and flew him around the city, not paying any particular interest to the decoration on the windows of apartments and a few offices. They stopped a robbery in five minutes and hauled away an abusive husband in twenty. As soon as they dropped him off to the police, Raven flew Damian back to the skyscraper and yawned. “It must feel better when you’re patrolling with someone else, when you’re not alone,” she said.

Damian nodded. “I should go on patrol with you more often,” he said. “It does take longer to do it alone.”

Raven smirked. “Glad to hear that little sourpuss is understanding the value of teamwork.”

Damian narrowed his eyes and hunched over a gargoyle. Raven stayed behind and let the wind push her hood off her head. “You know what’s ironic?” she asked rather sadly.

“What?”

Raven hesitated. “There was that couple we broke up today,” she began, “and…it’s Valentine’s Day…”

Damian’s heart felt as though it was a bomb that suddenly exploded. Did she know? How long had she known what day it was? He leaned back on his heels and pushed himself up. “I know it’s Valentine’s Day,” he said, even though he didn’t understand why people celebrated love on the day of some martyred saint from years ago. He was at her side before she noticed. “That’s why…I invited you on patrol with me.”

Raven’s eyes widen to the point where he was sure they would ache. He cautiously reached forward and wrapped his arm around her waist. Almost immediately, she touched the side of his face, and the beating in his heart increased the closer she came to him until she gave him his first kiss.

It was better than in the dream because he knew that they would have more time, more opportunities to kiss. In that moment, his heart yearned for more of what it felt like to love someone, to experience romantic love, the kind of love that put one at greater risk for heartbreak, the love that his mother and grandfather had discouraged from his life.

He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, and her own wrapped around the back of his neck. They kissed until the clock struck midnight and then resumed patrol, taking down a drug ring and attempted rape within two hours until the sun rose. Raven opened a portal back to the tower so they could rest until the others woke. Outside her room, Damian kissed her again and had no intention of stopping.

***

When Dick and Kory announced their engagement two months later, Damian felt nothing but joy for the annoying older brother and his greatest love. Some, like Donna, saw this as a reminder that everyone was growing up and moving on, but others like Raven saw this as a sign that life was meant to be full of joy and happiness. Few of the Titans suspected that Damian and Raven were making out around the tower or lying on his bed in their downtime, holding hands and smiling but not talking. “Dates” consisted of patrol and swimming in the ocean, combat training and meditation. The closest they had gotten to intimacy was when he took off his turtleneck due to the heat, and she spent so long kissing his chest and shoulders, stroking down his back and arms, and pressing her palms against his neck and abdomen. She really liked the noises he made and the sight of his teeth bared every time she touched a certain spot.

Not surprisingly, he asked her to be his date at Dick and Kory’s wedding. She agreed and pulled him back in for another kiss. Her hand slid under his sweater to feel the softness of his back. A bulge rose against her leg, and she had a tinge of satisfaction for making the former smartass aroused. She sensed it in the manner in which he seized her hip.

In the months leading up to the wedding, Raven could feel the desire growing in him. He had never seen her topless before, so when she allowed him to feel her breasts, she sensed his head ready to explode with…greed, almost. When he found her nipples under her uniform, he wouldn’t stop circling them; the spandex seemed to help with the reactions.

When she was on top, she pulled his turtleneck up to his chest and kissed all over his abdomen. She moved up to his ribs and sternum, arching her back so he could have a nice view of her backside to go with the pecks on his chest. He actually groaned when she kissed down to his pants, but as soon as he felt her caress his belt buckle, the lust came back to him. She was slow to unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants, and even slower to touch the bulge under his black boxer briefs.

His mouth opened in a silent cry. In that moment, he wanted her to free him. This was too much for even him. She asked with her eyes, and he said yes. She stripped his pants from his legs and pulled forward to remove his sweater. He slid her jacket from her arms and rubbed her bare shoulders.

“Yes,” she whispered, too enthralled to see him lean forward and kiss the tops of her breasts. When it occurred to her, she used her powers to unzip her bustier and let it fall on top of him.

Damian didn’t hesitate to toss it aside and take in the full view of human breasts to himself. He was quick to kiss them, lather his tongue over her nipples, and fondle the glands. She moaned and purred, but he wanted more. One hand stayed on her breast, and the other rode down her abdomen and under her skirt.

Raven threw back her head with a sharp gasp. Damian smirked with her nipple in his mouth and remembered what he had learned from the awkward and uncomfortable video he saw that explained sex and pleasure, and where women were most sensitive. He stroked the hard nub in a circular motion and inched downward to feel her entrance.

She hissed when he pushed in two fingers and clenched around him. Her nipple escaped his lips, and she replaced it with her mouth. Her hand went back to massaging his crotch and outlining his shape.

“You don’t ever have to hide anything from me, you know that, right?” she asked against his lips.

Damian’s hips began to jerk forward, as though he was on the verge of orgasm. She shushed him and guided his hand to keep pleasuring her. “I could do this all day,” he confessed.

“So could I,” she whispered, even though her arm felt like thousands of needles were piercing her flesh.

They kissed and fondled each other until someone cried out for them—Jaime, saying that the League was on call. The birds flushed, and Raven was quick to redress herself into her uniform; Damian was relieved that she used her powers to dress him quickly. Unfortunately, when the two entered the common room at the same time, Raven felt Batman’s eyes on her and his son, as though he knew that the two had just touched each other intimately.

The Titans were quick to stop the attack on Metropolis and overpower the criminals in half the time that it would have taken the League. They didn’t stop for pictures or interviews, though, but chose to return to San Francisco. Back in the safety of the tower, Damian and Raven shook off the adrenaline with a quick swim in the ocean.

Aside from caresses to the thighs and backrubs, Damian and Raven couldn’t bring themselves back to their heated moment. It was easier to wait until they weren’t at risk of interruption again. Even though they still kissed and stroked each other, Raven wouldn’t forget the feeling of his length in her hand. He missed kissing her chest and feeling sparks of electricity under her touch. In the privacy of his own room, he started to dream heavily about sex and what lovemaking would feel like.

***

Dick and Kory got married on the anniversary of when they first met. Damian was happy to be a groomsman to fill in for Speedy, who was unable to make it due to an undercover mission involving some assassin who shared the name of some kind of cheese. Raven was absolutely stunning in violet satin, her hair clipped back and loosely curled. He couldn’t focus on Kory, in her white gown and bun with Dick escorting his bride, because Raven was there and he couldn’t look away. Sometimes she smiled and winked at him, but in that space of a second, Damian just wanted to stomp over and get her out of that church.

The vows and pictures seemed to stretch on longer than Dick and Kory originally planned, and Damian had never before felt so impatient. Luckily, he got to sit beside Raven in the limo and keep his hand on her lower back. They danced at the reception, and Damian had never before laughed so hard. He wasn’t a great dancer, but it was easier with his and Raven’s shoes off, and as long as he looked into her eyes. They wished Dick and Kory all of the best in the world and made babysitting jokes, knowing that the newlyweds hoped to start a family soon.

Even after the happy couple left for their honeymoon, Damian and Raven slow-danced with the other Titans and Leaguers, Raven’s head on his shoulder and his fingertips tracing her spine so slowly that she shivered with goosebumps. He inhaled the scent of her hair and nearly closed his eyes, almost on the verge of falling asleep, when he caught his father’s gaze in his direction. Bruce didn’t look angry or pleased, but Damian suspected that his father’s expression had something to do with the girl in his arms.

“I’ll be right back,” he whispered to Raven.

“Okay,” she whispered back. Her voice melted his heart.

Damian reluctantly let go of her and walked past Constantine and Zatanna to Bruce, the former ready for any embarrassing interrogation. He stood up straight and slid his hands into his pockets. “Yes, Father?”

Bruce stared hard at his biological son. “I will only ask this once,” he said in a low voice, “because I am your father and seek only the truth: Are you two being safe?”

Damian knew that he would ask something like that, but it still felt like a punch to the sternum and made his face red. He swallowed. “If it pleases you, Father, we have not gone that far.”

Bruce gave him the famous glare that made even supervillains cold to the bone. Damian crossed his arms. Then Bruce relaxed himself. “I believe you,” he said, “but understand, nevertheless, how important it is to be careful and protect yourself.”

Damian wished that his father was seriously not confronting him about this in a wedding reception, where other people could be listening, but he nevertheless fought the urge to lash out at his billionaire father. “I appreciate your concern, Father,” he said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to my…”

He couldn’t finish. Instead, he turned around and went back to Raven, speaking animatedly with Donna. When she saw him, Donna politely excused himself to go back to her sister. Damian worried how much she knew or suspected. Raven, however, still looked pleased to see him and held out her hand. They danced until they were tired, and Raven opened a portal back to the tower.

The couple kissed outside her door until he motioned for her to turn around and unzipped her gown for her. He kissed all over her bare back, thankful that she didn’t wear a bra, and snaked his hands around her abdomen under her gown. Her head fell back against her shoulder, her throat bulging. He kissed up and down her neck and pushed his hands up to cup her erect breasts. She let the straps fall from her shoulders, and an aurora of excitement clouded his mind. He walked behind her into her room and stroked the front of her body until her dress bunched at her waist. Then he took to stroking the waistband of her lace bikini panties and feeling for any sensitive areas. Eventually, the material fell from her body, but before he could go any further, she spun around, kissed him, and tugged on his tie.

She kissed down the side of his neck and took her time removing his tuxedo but spent too long caressing his back. They unbuckled his belt together, and he pulled down his pants by himself. In a bold move, he picked her up, causing her teeth to painfully hit his lip, and carried her to her bed, falling with her. The lace was so sexy on her, but he just wanted to rip it off of her and feel the sensation of sex, of lovemaking. He wanted only her, and he couldn’t think of ever falling in love with someone else. His lips traced the dark line leading down her abdomen, and he kissed the inside of her knees and thighs. There was a good chance that this would lead to sex, and the thought sent his heart pounding in his ears, but he was determined to make love, to make up for their being products of rape.

“Damian,” she gasped with heavily lidded eyes.

In that space of a second, Damian worried that she didn’t want this and was not ready to go that far. The pounding in his ears made it hard for him to listen to what she said at first. “What?”

Her fingertip traced his upper lip. “How far…do you…”

Damian swallowed. “As far as you want it,” he said timidly.

Her hands smoothed down her ribs and abdomen, and touched between his legs. “I don’t know…but I might be…given that I’m hybrid…but to be safe…”

Her fingers lowered to her own crotch. He watched her caress her own groin and abdomen while she muttered something in a language unfamiliar to him. It was lovely. She stopped and reached for him again. “Contraceptive charm,” she explained.

Before Damian could flush in embarrassment and shame that he forgot about his father’s warning, she stroked his length, and he slowly removed his last article of clothing at an angle that would hide him from her. She removed her own herself and bashfully felt herself, hoping she was as ready as her heart.

He put his hand over hers and followed her movements. “Are you nervous?” he whispered.

Raven swallowed and nodded.

Damian grazed his lips over hers and tried not to bite his lip. “If…If I’m…” He became mad at himself for speaking so timidly. “You’ll let me know if I…”

“Yes,” she interrupted. “Just…be gentle…”

Damian kissed her forehead and stroked her soft hair. She looked so different around when aroused and nervous yet excited.

Her hand slid from under his to place on top of his. He grazed over her labia and fingered her clit. They spent twenty minutes exploring that part of her, figuring out what aroused her best. She withered on the bed and panted at certain spots that he didn’t want to pull away from. He found her entrance and slid in two fingers, massaging her interior in small circles.

Eventually, he pulled away and pressed a long kiss to the center of her ribcage. He used two fingers to widen her, even with her legs parted, and closed his eyes. When he pushed against her, she bit her lip and tried to clear her mind. His breathing dried her lips, and then he pushed himself halfway in.

It didn’t hurt as badly as she had feared, but it burned and stung at the same time. She hissed and gripped his shoulders. “Slow,” she winced.

When he finally inched all of himself in, after several seconds of winces and chokes, Damian closed his eyes and relished in the feeling. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Remember…”

He knew what she meant, and he was determined to go slow until she said he could speed up. He shakily kissed her again, taking his time rocking his hips, and closed his eyes.

Pain faded into pleasure the more she concentrated on the feeling of his back and the softness of his hair. He was now too slow. “A little faster,” she encouraged him.

Damian took his time going faster, listening for her grunts of pleasure and holding her folded leg against his hip. When she rocked her hips against his, he pushed himself to meet her needs and picked up the pace.

Raven arched her back and neck, unable to hold on any longer. He roughened her nipple with his thumb and finger, grunting into her shoulder, and hissing in pleasure. He wanted this to be a good, memorable first time for both of them, and he wanted her to feel every possible bit of pleasure.

In that dream, the one that everyone had experienced, they did not have the opportunity to share more than one kiss. This, however, was reality, and Damian did not want reality to go to waste.

Damian slept dreamlessly until someone not him exhaled. When he opened his eyes, he saw her in his arms, her back to him. Flashbacks from the night before came back to him, and he closed his eyes once more. That was no dream, he knew. It was all reality, and he wouldn’t have it in any other way.

***

Within the first year that Damian and Raven were sexually active, Dick and Kory welcomed a healthy baby girl, with her mother’s skin and eyes, and her father’s black hair. Everybody, Titans and Leaguers and independent heroes, gathered to meet the newborn. Damian was incredibly awkward holding Mar’i, who snored in the crook of his arm, but when he looked at her little face, full of innocence, he knew that he would do anything to keep her safe and protect her from harm.

After Raven had her turn cradling Mar’i, she leaned against Damian’s shoulder and stroked the back of his hand. He watched his predecessor lower his baby girl into her crib and kiss the center of her forehead. Damian thought less about the dream that overwhelmed him, but he remembered the vain attempt to bring back his brother and his wish to keep the insane person alive nonetheless. Even that Dick wouldn’t be able to appreciate the joy and toil of fatherhood, which Damian thought might as well be in his own future. Talking to new parents over the sleeping baby made it harder for him to leave and go back to the tower.

Before they kissed all the way to his bed, Raven pulled away and stroked the side of his face. “Are you all right?”

Damian reflected on life since the dream, how Titans came and went, some villains changed sides or lived quiet lives, his relationship with his father improving, his becoming team leader, Dick changed from older-brother figure to devoted father, and especially how his relationship with Raven had progressed much differently than he expected. They still had time together, and whatever direction their relationship went, he didn’t want to look back or think of what could have been.

“I can’t imagine myself being any better,” he said with a kiss to her lips, closing the door behind him. He followed her to the bed as she used her powers to pull him towards the bed into a world that would have no ending.