#miguel was gonna be “world class breasts” at first

[iolaussharpe-24]

My taste in men can be summed up with a single quote: ANIMATED EDITION!

"You will have long blonde hair,

big green eyes,

world class breasts,

ass that won't quit

and legs that go all the way up!!"

[xaphrin]

What Sleeps in Shadows - Caged

Part One - Part Two - Part Three

Someone was chugging a mixed drink from a huge decorative vase, and Raven could only stare at the crowd gathered around them, wondering what in the world she had done to deserve this particular brand of torture. She moved quietly through the house, trying to pull as many shadows against her as possible, staring at the people packed around it, watching guys and girls slovenly hit on each other and do some sort of awkward grinding that must have been a form of dancing at one point. Some of her classmates were even showing off their powers, Gar had turned into a cat and had been picked up by no less than five cute girls, and the local kids were completely enthralled, asking them to do other tricks and light random things on fire.

Someone bumped into her and muttered a half-hearted apology while staring at her breasts. Raven sighed, her head dropping to her chest as she tried to keep her emotions in check. She shoved her hair out of her eyes and pushed through the crowd to find Miguel, hoping she could beg him to take her home. They weren’t supposed to use their powers outside of campus, and Raven wasn’t entirely sure what would happen if she tried to teleport with all these emotions pushing up around her. One bad outburst and she would find herself back in Azarath forever.

She was completely overwhelmed, and each burst of emotions from another partygoer made her feel like she was losing her mind, pulling it apart piece by piece. She wasn’t even sure why she even agreed to this, at the time it seemed like a nice distraction from everything going on with Damian, mixed with the subtle peer-pressure that nearly everyone from the Academy would be there.

She wove through the people to a door to the side yard, hoping to get some air or at least calm her thoughts for a moment. When she opened it, Miguel stumbled through, boyfriend in tow. He looked embarrassed for a half-second before following his boyfriend up the stairs to the second floor of whoever’s house they were at. Raven bit back a curse. Well, there went her ride home.

Her head started running through different options to get her back to the dormitory. She could try to use her powers and hope she didn’t get caught, but if she did get caught her ass would be back in Azarath so fast she wouldn’t even hear the spell. It wasn't too far back to campus, if she started walking now, she could probably be home by midnight. Although, it was nearly freezing out…  

Her fingers tightened on her phone, and for one stupid moment she considered calling Damian for a ride. He hadn’t talked to her since what happened on Friday, not that she blamed him. Raven didn’t know what happened between them. One minute they had been talking normally, and then… her face flushed and she lifted her fingers to her lips, seeing a lamp flicker out of the corner of her eye. Damnit. Her emotions were a tangled mess, and she couldn’t sort them out fast enough. The last thing she needed was to lose control with this many people around.  

“Hey! Rae!” Gar waved at her from across the living room, pointing to the front door. Raven made her way over and waited until Gar managed wade through everyone. He shoved his hands in his jacket and tilted his head to the door. “Zachary has to leave town, so he said he'd swing by campus and drop us off if we want to go.”

Raven stared at him, confused. “Who?”

“Zachary? Zatanna’s cousin? I thought Miguel texted you about him. You really should have come out and met him.”

Oh. Right. That had been on Friday, when she and Damian had… Raven shook her head, trying to clear her mind out just a little bit. “Yeah. He did. Sorry, I’ve been a little distracted lately.” She offered a weak smile that she knew didn’t reach her eyes. “Besides, if he’s anything like Zatanna, he’ll make my life a living hell.”

Gar at least managed to give her a sympathetic look. “Hey, she’s just being a jerk, you know? And Zachary seems like a stand up guy, you’ll probably get along just fine.” He opened the front door and lead Raven out of the house into the stillness of the front lawn. Behind them the muted sounds of music and screaming could be heard, but at least Raven’s brain didn’t feel like it was sloshing around in her skull. “I thought you might want to head back to campus, you didn’t look like you were enjoying yourself.”

“What about you? Didn’t you want to stay and pick up girls?” She thought for a moment. “Or boys?”

He grinned before giving her another shrug. “Eh. There’ll be other house parties, and I’m just not feeling it tonight. Besides, we have that Spanish test first class tomorrow and me no estudio.”

Raven gave him a flat expression. “You can’t rely on Miguel being your tutor all the time, just because he’s your roommate.”

Gar scoffed, but a smile still played on his lips. “Thanks, mom. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Hey, Gar! Ready to go?”

Raven turned to see someone parked on the street, leaning against the car. He met her stare and gave her a smile, waving them both over. Raven walked over, thinking that Miguel was right, he was pretty cute. His smile widened and he opened the passenger side door as Gar climbed in the back. “You must be Raven, right? Miguel wouldn’t shut up about you on Friday.”

Raven panicked and looked at Gar in the backseat, but he only shrugged. “I’m sorry, but you’ll probably be sorely disappointed.”

Zachary laughed. “I don’t know. So far it seems pretty good.”

He closed the door as as he walked around to the driver’s side, Raven gave Gar another panicked look.

“He’s cute, but totally not into guys.” Gar seemed only mildly disappointed by that. “Besides, you haven’t ever been on a date with like… anyone, Rae. Ever. You might as well at least see what it’s like. You know, having a social life and dating. Going out and being a real teenager, rather than just holing up with the monks in Azarath and burying yourself in books.”

She wanted to point out that she didn’t want to know what it was like to date, and that her friends should stay out of her personal life, but Zachary had already opened the driver’s side door and was settling behind the wheel. Gar looked rather pleased with himself and leaned back into the seat, looking out the window as Zachary pulled away from the curb. Raven sat there in silence for a few minutes, trying to think about any possible thing she could talk about that wouldn’t sound like frantic chatter because she was suddenly nervous.

“So… why aren’t you at school?”

Zachary looked over at her and grinned, and Raven found she kind of like the way the corners of his eye crinkled and his lopsided smile. “I have tutors with me on the road, but… I like to perform, and it’s a good way to make money. I’m probably gonna take some time off after I finish up these last classes. I’m thinking I might go to college, but… it’s hard to make that decision.” He paused for a moment. “What about you? I heard you just showed up for senior year.”

“It’s kind of complicated…” Raven rubbed the back of her neck and turned to look out the window. “It’s more of a trial period than anything else.”

“Ah…” He hummed in the back of his throat. “Not from… around here, I take it?”

His tone of voice indicated he knew that Raven was either from another Earth or another dimension, and not having to explain that made things a hundred times easier. Her shoulders relaxed and she offered him a half-smile. “Yeah, actually. I’m not used to so many different people and emotions, and this… this is just to see if I can be on my own.” She picked at a loose thread on her leggings before looking back at him. “Kinda like a test.”

He nodded once, as if turning the information over in his mind. “So, what happens if you fail?”

“Everyone dies?” Raven said it without really thinking, and that panicked feeling started to grow in her chest again. Zachary was so easy to talk to, that she hadn’t even considered that she shouldn’t tell him about herself. She swallowed a lump in her throat and tried to calm her heartbeat, but Zachary either took it as a joke or didn’t quite understand what she meant.

“Really?” He gave a soft laugh and looked over at her again. “Alright then, you better not mess up, right?”

“Yeah.” The tension eased in her, and she looked over at him. “Yeah, I better not.”

Zachary turned the corner and they fell into a strange sort of idle chatter. What books they liked, what hobbies they had, even different types of magic, and he gave her a point or two against Zatanna for the next time they faced in combat practice. It was a kind of comfortable conversation that put her at ease, and she found herself almost disappointed when they finally pulled up the driveway to the dormitory. Gar immediately got out of the backseat, practically grinning at her as he walked up the sidewalk and away from the car.

“Thanks for driving me home.”

“Yeah! It was nice to talk to someone my own age for once.” Zachary fidgeted for a moment before looking back at her. “Hey, I’m probably going to be back in town after winter break, do you think… maybe we could go hang out for a bit? Like, just the two of us?”

Like a date? A date? Twenty minutes ago Raven wasn’t even close to thinking about dating, and now Zachary was asking her out. That panicked feeling filled her again, and she looked around the car as if she wasn’t sure he was actually talking to her or not.

Thankfully, Zachary seemed to realize that he had made her uncomfortable, and he eased back. “I mean, if you’d rather a group of us go… that’s cool too. I just… ah… think I’d like to get to know you better? A twenty minute car ride doesn’t exactly seem like enough time, really.” He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her another sheepish smile. “Unless you’re not interested.”

Raven handed him her phone, a strange wobbly feeling bubbling in her stomach. She wasn’t sure if it was excitement or nervousness, or a little of both, but she found she kind of liked it. “Why don’t we talk while you’re gone, and… when you come back, we’ll hang out?”

Zachary grinned and put his number in her phone. “Sounds like a great plan.”

She took her phone back and got out of the car, waving goodbye as he drove away. She stood there for a few minutes, ignoring the bite of the cold as it pushed against her sweater. A date. Raven hadn’t ever really thought about relationships before, and knowing that she might have a date with someone made her feel very strange. She chewed on her lower lip and sent Zachary Thank you.

“We should talk.”

Raven’s spine stiffened and she turned around to see Damian standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. His right arm twitched, but he pretended to ignore it and just stared at her , eyes dark. The tension between them both was thick, twisting around her until it felt like there was something strangling the very breath from her. She didn’t understand what this was between them, why he was so fascinated with her, and why this seal had even appeared. Her hand tightened into a fist and she turned away from Damian, trying to calm her heart.  

“I don’t see what we have to talk about, honestly.” Raven started walking towards the girls’ dormitory, but Damian caught her arm, staring down at her. That weighty silence settled over them again, and she watched as a muscle in his jaw ticked, like he was warring with himself.

Finally he tilted his chin in the direction that Zachary had driven. “You like him.”

Raven blanched and stumbled over a response, knowing that nothing she said was going to make any sense. “He's just nice to me. That’s all.” She wasn't sure why she felt like she needed to justify her feelings to Damian, but she did. Face burning red with embarrassment, she pulled her arm from his grasp and narrowed her eyes at him. “And I don't see why you even care. You don’t even like me, and I don’t like you, and we have this conversation every damn time we talk. It’s getting annoying.”

“I don't care.” He looked away, his mouth turning down into a bitter frown. “But your emotions are making this uncomfortable, so you better pin them down.”

Raven bristled and glared at him. “You're not exactly helping, you know.”

“It's not my fault!” He looked indignant, his lips twitching in annoyance. “You're the one who's supposed to be fixing this. Your problem, you fix it.”

Raven pushed at his chest, feeling her anger start to bubble up. Something was scraping down her spine, twisting her emotions into something dark and thick and uncontrollable. She hurt all over, like claws were trying to rip her skin from her body. Everything was pressing against her - every normal teenage problem mixed with the fear of her powers and the fear of the seal on Damian’s arm, and it was turning into a conflagration that threatened to burn her and everyone near her. “That's not what I meant! I’m not talking about your stupid arm!”

Damian seemed unfazed. “Then what did you mean?”

“You kissed me!”

Saying it out loud made it feel much more real than it had two days ago, and Raven's heart pounded in her chest as heat pooled low in her stomach. Whatever was inside her was hungry, voracious for something that it couldn’t have. Raven’s memory pulled up the feeling of his lips against hers, and the sounds he had made, and the way he had tasted… She shivered, but her emotions were running too hot to calm down.

Damian blinked, looking completely shocked that she even brought that up. For a moment, she thought he might deny it, but instead he looked away and mumbled a half-hearted response. “It was a mistake on my part.”

That was it. The last push of emotion the darkness needed.

Raven felt herself react without really meaning to or without any real plan. She pulled her arm back and hefted a spell at him with the whole force of her being. Darkness was clouding her vision, and she could feel the inky touch of shadows start to twist around her, beckoning to her. She wanted to lose herself in it, if only so she didn’t have to control her feelings for one damn minute. It would be so tempting to let herself just slip away into the darkness, become the demon that lived inside her.

Damian jumped to his right, and barely dodged out of the way of her attack. They both watched a bench by the side of the road take the hit from her spell, splintering into bits of metal and wood over the pavement. Anger, a disgusting viscous thing, swelled up inside her, and the bits and pieces of her demon that she tried so hard to control finally broke free. Emotion flooded her body, consumed her mind, dulled her senses, and she pitched forward swinging her fists as if she was going to land a hit on him. She could feel her teeth turn to fangs, her eyes split open on her forehead, and she clawed and screamed wildly, hoping to hit him.

Damian dodged her blows, shouting at her, but nothing he said made sense - they were just jumbled up words muted by the force of her powers. He jumped back, using his momentum to pitch forward and swing a leg into her hip. Raven knew she should have felt pain by the sound of the impact, but the rage was too deep. The only thing she knew was that she wanted to hurt him and consume his soul. She wanted to break him apart piece by piece until he was just as damaged as her.  

Finally she landed a hit against his shoulder, but Damian took it more as an opportunity to fight back. He managed to invade her space, knocking her off balance to tip her backwards. His hand wrapped around her wrist, and in a swift move he had grappled her arm and pulled her down to the floor. She screamed, the sound a deep tremor of ancient souls trapped within her, and she pushed against him, but Damian held her down, still shouting at her.

Raven twisted her head against the pavement, trying to pull free, but she saw his arm above her head. His seal was glowing bright, like a beacon for her, and all she could do was stare at it. It called to her, reminded her she was human. The demon slipped back into the recesses of her mind, shrinking away from Damian.   

“...ven.”

She blinked, feeling the shadows recede from her limbs.

“Raven!”

Raven tilted her head back and looked up at him, gasping and heaving. The pavement beneath them had cracked, and Damian was on top of her, pinning down her shoulders. She gasped for breath, letting out a whimper as the chilled rock beneath her wedged into her spine. Her hands were shaking, and she blindly dug her fingers into Damian’s sweater, pulling herself close to him. Every nerve in her body trembled from the sudden push and pull of power, and she could cling to the only thing that made sense.

Damian fell back and pulled her into his lap as she buried her face into his chest.

He sat there, with his arms wrapped around her for a long moment, saying nothing and everything at the same time. He was warm and steady, and each passing second reminded her that he was there, and that he was a rock she could cling to in this storm. Raven waited until her breath stilled and she finally looked up at him.

“I-”

“Shut up.” Damian ducked his shoulders, so that his forehead brushed against the crown of her head. She could feel him swallowing air as he pulled her tighter against his chest. “Just… just shut up.”

She just nodded.

Raven was a little miffed to find out that some students got private rooms, but she should have expected as much knowing that there was a Thomas and Martha Wayne Memorial Library on campus. She sat in a stiff, uncomfortable armchair across from Damian’s bed and looked around his room, trying to decipher a little more of who he was. If her room was bare, his was practically spartan. His bed was neatly made, everything put away, and there wasn’t so much as a family photo on his nightstand.

“Here. Give me your arm.”

She turned and saw Damian sitting on a chair in front of her, a first-aid kit perched on his lap. Flushing, she gave him her left arm, and he started cleaning a gnarly scrape near her elbow. Flinching under the sting of alcohol, she tried to pull her arm back, but Damian kept cleaning it, staying quiet. He seemed focused on his task, and said absolutely nothing for a few minutes.

“How’s your hip?”

She would be limping for a day or two while her powers repaired the damage, but otherwise she was fine. “Alright, I guess.”

“Mm.” Damian shifted and picked up her other arm, examining it before putting everything back into the kit. He tucked it neatly in his desk drawer and sat back down across from her. They were both tense, but he seemed even more than her, like he was twisting something around in his thoughts.

Raven took a shaky breath. “Thank you.”

He looked into her eyes, but his face was unreadable.

“For… for stopping me.” Raven pushed her hair out of her eyes and glanced away. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

“If that’s you losing your temper, I’d hate to see what happens when you get angry.” He leaned back in the chair and continued to stare at her.

Silence settled over them again, and Raven kept trying to read his expression, but she couldn’t get past the way his eyes followed her. She tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear and thought about standing up, but wasn’t sure what would happen if she bolted suddenly from his room. Curling her toes in her shoes, she looked around the room again, trying to focus on anything other than the way he was looking at her.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

Raven jerked and looked back at him, her face flushing. “What?”

“I don’t know why I did it.” Damian looked away and then back at her, pausing as he tried to pull his thoughts together. “It made sense at the time, but… I shouldn’t have done it.”

“Oh.” Raven felt crestfallen, like something had been taken from her that she didn’t even know she had. She rubbed her hands over her knees, feeling a tear in her leggings. “I… ah…”

Her words kept tripping over her tongue and she realized she didn’t know what to say to him. She hadn’t minded the kiss, she enjoyed it actually. She didn’t like the sudden fallout from it though, or the way it seemed to hang between them like a curse. But the kiss itself had been… nice. Something she wouldn’t mind repeating, if given the chance.

Damian shifted for a moment before he got up, putting the desk chair away. “It’s late.”

Raven lifted her eyes to his, her chest tight.

“You should get back to your room, before everyone gets back from the party.”

She stood up, but didn’t move just yet. Instead she stood there, feeling stripped and confused, her mind a tangled mess of emotions and memories that felt broken and far-off. Raven shifted, her eyes meeting his again, and they both seemed unsure about everything. She swallowed and took a small step to the door, breaking whatever was between them. Her limbs felt heavy, leaded and hard to move, but she somehow made it to the door. Raven’s fingers rested on the handle, but she didn’t open it yet.  

She stared at the chipped frame and took a slow breath. “Will you still kill me?” Fear and confusion bubbled into her throat, and she swallowed it slowly. “If I… lose myself again, will you still kill me?”

She heard Damian’s sharp breath, but didn’t dare turn around to see his expression.

“...no.”

Raven finally looked over her shoulder at him, but he didn’t meet her eyes. “Then what’s going to happen?”

Damian frowned and finally looked back at her. “We’re going to fix this.”

Raven blinked, realizing that he had said we, and her heart twisted in her chest. They stared at each other for a long moment, staying silent as if they would break some kind of spell that they wove. She nodded once before opening the door and stepping into the dark hallway. 

For once, the shadows didn’t want to chase her.