Raven heaves a sigh and flops onto the crescent-shaped couch. Her right temple is throbbing a little; her headache from yesterday had not fully subsided. 

It's already evening and Raven and Starfire are in the living room, watching television. Silkie was lying down on Star's lap, idly making himself comfortable. Where Raven now sits in silence, one leg crossed over the other in a ladylike and genteel manner, with the novel she'd picked out open in front of her.

The evening news just ended and a familiar tune heralds the start of the prime-time soap operas.

"—I don't want to accept it, I don't want to lose you. As time goes by and the more I age, the more I will begin to forget about you.—"

'My manifestation of her that my psychosis projects have given me the harsh truth of it all, as I reached out to touch her face, she slowly smiled and held my hand to her face.'

"—You'll forget about me one day. As much as you don't want to accept it, the outcome will not change.—"

'She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said,'

"—Even if my memory no longer dwells in your mind, it shall dwell in your heart.—"

'And with those final words and final tears being shed, she slowly began to disappear. My manifestation and her memory have disappeared.'

Starfire sniffles quietly, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

The sorceress lifts her head from the pages, obviously lured by the sound, and peers towards the Television, face resolutely unimpressed. 

Raven: "As if that ever happens in real life," Raven pouted, bringing her gaze back to the pages, seeming quite uninterested in the display.

Starfire: "It is popular because a lot of people can relate to it, Raven." Starfire replied rather defensively.

Raven: "Ugh," Raven rolls her eyes, "Its cliché, Starfire. It happens over and over and over again; don't you ever get tired of the same circusy that's played in what other people call entertainment nowadays?"

Starfire: "It's a new plot, Raven." Her best friend said, prodding the remote control's volume button.

Raven: "Sure, it's so original!" said Raven sarcastically. "A guy enters girl's life. They get into each other's nerves at first, they know one another better, they become close, and they form some icky romantic, lovey-dovey relationship. Complications come up, they're not meant to be, but continue it anyway, then they predict some sort of crappy problem, guy decides to leave and the girl becomes a pathetic, weeping heap. How cliché could you get?"

Starfire lets out a sigh, shaking her head with a soft smile.

Starfire: "It is cliché, but clichés do happen, do they not?" Starfire replies gently. "You shall see."

Raven gives her eyes a slight roll once again. Knowing where she's heading.

Raven: "What does that have to do with the subject at hand?" She growls. Her face contorted as she retorts with a bite of disgust.

Starfire: "There will be a day when you're smiling at me and our friends saying that you're going out with someone."

Raven laughs; an abrupt laugh that sounded almost like a cough.

Raven: "You really don't get it, do you? Let me say this real slow so it sinks in; I don't need  to be involved with someone." She says dryly. "I fight alone, I walk alone."

Starfire turns her focus to her but didn't respond for a fraction of a second longer than natural.

Starfire: "Raven," her tone shifts into a soft concern. "One can also be considered strong within without fighting; when it comes to the dealings of the heart, even the greatest fighters can be the most complete simpletons...and even the weakest beings."

Raven: "Pass," was the conclusion, and Starfire holds in her sigh.

Starfire: "You may say that because you think you are dark, but despite all of that you're still a girl, and being a girl, there will be a time you will be fond of a boy." 

Raven: "Star, did you just tell me that you hate me?" gasped Raven in horror. "I'm your friend and you dare to say that?"

Starfire raises an eyebrow; she was mildly confused.

Raven: "Seriously, don't you have any idea what kind of idiotic miscreants that prowl around here?" she growled. "And I'm a girl, but I'm different. No boy will stop for a second and look at me as some normal girl... not that I care."

Starfire: "I don't believe that," Starfire argued back and gestured towards the screen. "That girl is somewhat similar to you, though...even looks like you!" She says happily. 

At last, Raven peers up from the book, unveiling those deep lavender eyes that seemed to stare right into the screen. 

Raven: "She's not me. She's somebody I'll laugh at." She said derisively. "She's acting like an idiot just to get the guy to like her."

Starfire folded her arms and clicked her tongue, seemingly giving up.

Starfire: "Just watch, please, Raven?"

Raven: "I'm going to meditate." She said, standing up. 

Starfire: "Do not underestimate yourself, Raven. You never know, there are people wishing to spend time with you."

Raven swaggers to the roof, a loose grin playing in her slight moisture lips at Starfire's words. Raven's mind was absorbed with what Star just said for several moments—

The door has barely swung shut behind her when her face sets like stone, mouth a grim line. Her eyes are like they were on the first day she felt her emotions loosen away. 

Someone else is also seeking solitude at their tower's roof, sitting on the concrete floor.

Raven: "So you're here," said Raven in contempt.

He ignores her and didn't even turn to face her; it was as though he had not heard anything.

Egomaniac jerk, Raven thought viciously and she snarls, "What are you doing here by yourself?"

Y/n didn't utter an answer.

Raven: "Hey, will you stop ignoring me!?" her tone abruptly snaps with a bite of ire. "You sure got a lot of nerve treating the person who provides a roof above your ungrateful head with disrespect!"

Y/n: "Your leader provides me a home not you." He finally replied in a toneless manner.

This idiot is really getting on my nerves! Raven thought savagely once again.

Raven: "I hope you realize that you're really annoying and you really deserve a beating." Raven stepped forward and glared at him. "There are limits for rudeness you know."

Y/n: "I was hoping for some solitude until you turned up," said Y/n rather irritably. He pushes himself up from the ground and walks back inside.

Raven: "Why not come back here and say it straight to my face?" Raven said a bit exasperated, crossing her arms over her chest.

Robin suddenly appears, obviously lured by the tone of Raven's voice.

Robin: "What's going on here? Raven, are you trying to pick a fight?" he demanded.

Y/n: "No, she was just being too loud for her own good." He replies. "Excuse me,"

Y/n walks past Robin, heading back inside the house before Raven can shoot a riposte. Robin then rounded on her.

Robin: "For goodness sake, Raven! Haven't we talked about this already?" He whispered angrily before heading back inside.

Raven grits her teeth and clenched her fists, he didn't even give her a chance to talk. She turns to the view, trying to clear her head by taking a deep breath, calming herself.

In the living room; Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beastboy. They are all there, a well-organized team, but it doesn't seem like that. 

He is not what you think, don't give him a hard time...etc.

To her, it seems like what they are truly looking for was compliance, not her consent.

Her knuckles turn white. They are making her feel powerless for many reasons and the young woman resented them for it.

No words left her lips. There is nothing for her to say - it is just pointless to do so. Robin turns away, but stood still as he hears her footsteps closing in.

Raven: "I don't understand this." Her tone was stern in the group leader's back. "After all we've gone through, you can still allow a newcomer to our houseroom?"

Starfire: "Raven, please," Starfire interjects and gives Raven a tired look, folding her arms beneath her chest. "Don't judge at a nimble pace."

Raven: "There are reasons why he did those things, and you know it. And the context behind them doesn't have a happy ending for us."

Heaving a sigh, Robin turns around. 

Robin: "If you could just let us explain—"

Raven: "Do I really look that stupid to you?" She snarls, her eyebrows narrow, making her face contort in disgust. "There's already more than enough information on it, thanks to a back-stabbing trai—"

Before Raven could finish her sentence, he enters the dining room.

The source was standing in front of her, without a care in the world. Looking utterly calm and conceited—

Raven: "It's about time you came!" She retorts.

Robin closes his eyes as though praying for patience while Starfire buries her face in her hand, but it did not provoke Y/n. Raven did not break the glare, and so did Y/n; he looks back at her, tight-lipped, face devoid of any emotion.

He'd given them no real reason to trust him, as the young lady has pointed out clearly.

Cyborg: "Raven," he said calmly but warningly. "I think we've had enough beef for today."

Beastboy: "Please Raven." She hears her friends pleading.

Raven's bones shook with the need to summon obsidian power, fingers flicking out, but she quickly draws them back into fists at her sides. 

Y/n neither reacts nor said anything and his expression was steady; it's apparent he is not up for an argument with Raven in terms of words... or fists.

Raven immediately stops, clenching her fists, she shoots Y/n a disdainful look, and he just ignores her.

Y/n: "Good evening." he said, slowly taking off his hood.

Robin: "Good evening, Y/n. Sit down and have some dinner." said the leader, smiling at his guest and gesturing at the table. "Consider your next actions, Raven."

Raven flushes and glared at Y/n once again. Everyone was on his side.

Without expressing appreciation for the food on the table, Raven lets out an indiscernible angry sigh and storms up to her bedroom; her friends were siding with a backstabber-in-the-making. Everything was going to be her fault now! 

"Give time to her," Raven hears Robin say in an assuring tone that incenses her even more. "She always had a hard time adjusting to new things. But I hoped that things would be different now since she's already twenty."

"I don't mind." He replied.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -{ T }- - - - - - - - - - - - -

She throws herself on the bed and glared up at the ceiling.

How could her friends be so blind and deaf? If they had just remembered what happened three years ago they would have chucked their guest out on the streets without a moment's hesitation. 

He has the appearance of one who saw right to the heart and would take your entire soul as his friend, keeping it safe come what may. 

In Raven's eyes, that man is corrupt and manipulative; in short, the number one world-class Jerk!

But her friends think otherwise. They treat him as if he is some sort of tragic survivor from a heroic battle, providing him with kindness and refuge which he does not deserve a drop of it.

Raven wants nothing to do with that man but they bore the same identity, the same goal. 

And that feeling... that aura... Whenever he was present, he had a great intimidating aura hanging around him, one that could be spotted a mile away, of a great force that held him in its control

'Oh, dear. You're not going to cry now, are you? I know it hurts, but you'll just have to accept the truth. It's over. I got what I wanted, and I don't need you anymore.'

That voice echoed in her head. Those words seem to have been played in a loop all day.

Need to calm down. 

Her hand went to the nightstand a little haphazardly, but something was odd... where is her book?

Annoyed, she reluctantly stands up with a strangled groan into her hands and burst out of her room and dashes downstairs to the main room. 

When Raven was about to pick it up from the coffee table, she jerks her stare up at the sounds of dishes being washed.

An intense feeling of dislike she has never known before is coursing through Raven like poison. She sees Y/n in the kitchen, helping Starfire. She turns to him and smiled and gestures at the cabinets overhead; Raven saw her lips form the words...

'Thank you for helping me, Y/n.'

Robin then enters...lays a hand on his shoulder...and spoke to him with a kind, paternal expression.

It's her duty to clobber criminals and put them back in their right place, not provide them protection. That cocky jerk struts around her home as if he is some big shot, clearly lax at the thought that Raven could never lay a finger on him. Or send him into another dimension.

Raven yanks her book with unnatural intensity and dismisses herself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -{ T }- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next day sees a blistering sun bestride the skies of California, bright yellow against the clear, cloudless blue. 

Its heat summons hundreds to the parks, gilding the grounds in revelry and laughter. Children cry out to be pushed faster on the swings whilst dogs whizzed across lawns in the hot pursuit of a tennis ball. 

The Titans have their blanket set down near a large oak tree, though only two young ladies could be found sitting beneath it. 

Raven, as ever, had a book propped up on her knees as she leaned back against the broad trunk. In front of her was Starfire, fussing over her pet larvae and sneaking snacks from their picnic basket into its eager mouth.

Some feet away from them, Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were engaged in what was fast becoming an aggressive game of 'piggy-in-the-middle'. The current victim was the shifter, trapped between the robot and acrobat and trying ardently to steal the ball from the air.

When it's thrown his way, he morphs into a kangaroo and leapt as high as his legs could take him. But before he can secure the grab, it was given a successive kick by a steel boot whilst mid-flight, then sent firing past him into Cyborg's open hands.

Beast Boy lands back in his human form and lets out a whine, ambushed for what is now the fifth time in a row. 

The Tamaranean giggles at the sight, slipping another sandwich past Silkie's teeth before continuing on with the ramble she'd started up with her friend.

Starfire: "Warm from the steady sun, a place to absorb the beauty of the park, the beauty of a joyful community at play." She inhales the air. "Don't you see Raven?" she beamed, emerald eyes flitting up in delight. 

Raven finds the will to pry her gaze from her book, but only to give a jaded look as she turns over a response in her head. 

Having not allowed for a moment the previous night to indulge 'the girl talk' with her sister, it seems to be the case that she was paying for it now.

Starfire: "Perhaps we could visit the roller skating rink, or would you instead prefer to—" 

The alien pauses at the clap of a novel slamming shut.

Raven: "Starfire," Raven said, holding her attention with a direct stare. "I know you're... excited. But none of that is going to happen."

Starfire felt her smile drop. Silkie wiggles in her hands and she distractedly places him down onto the blanket.

Starfire: "I do not understand."

Raven's indifference doesn't budge; it only held firm, carved into her like the face of a statue. 

Raven: "I'm not in the mood to play and have fun. Just leave me be."

The quiet that followed is filled only by the distant shouts of their team, still scrambling to claim possession of the ball.

Starfire: "... Are you still upset about our guest?" she asked in a voice laced with confusion.

Raven: "You're very smart."

Understanding dawns on her then, bringing her forehead to crease and her mouth to pitch down. A breeze blows past the two, caressing the ends of their hair, and Raven held strong against the tangible dejection sneaking over her friend. Starfire sighs, defeated. 

Starfire: "Why don't you try to communicate with him? Perhaps get to know each other better, and remove all the doubts?"

Raven: "I don't have time for a stranger, Star." Raven replied, refusing to gratify her disappointment.

Feeling she had explained enough, the sibyl's hands find the edges of her book again, but are stalled in opening it by another hand placed over the top. 

Starfire: "Do we not all begin as strangers?" Starfire goes on, leaning into her space. "People know what you are, not who you are. And he might be a good friend. You shall never know if you don't take a step forward!"

Raven's brows furrowed as she yearns to disappear back into the pages in her lap. 

Him...it all revolves around him!' She thought savagely.

Raven: "I highly doubt it."

Those green eyes blink sadly, searching inside of her. But then they harden, and Starfire's gentle voice becomes solid.

Starfire: "You are scared," 

Raven tests her stare.

Raven: "I'm not scared."

Despite the mystic's efforts, Starfire didn't yield. Instead, her expression changes, schooling into one of flagrant judgement and disbelief. She allows her hand to slip away from the book, but only so she could fold her arms across her chest and tilt her head to one side. 

Raven: "What?" Raven rasps, defensive at being made to feel suddenly so small. At this unwavering sight, the redhead's rigor eased, and when her voice left her, it was mild once more. 

Starfire: "Raven..." The girl in question did not take kindly to being reprimanded like a child. "There is no shame to show vulnerability in order to—" 

Raven: "Look," she cuts across, tearing her book open at a random point. "Can we just... drop it? It's not a big deal."

Starfire frowns again, wondering what it would take to knock some sense into her sister. She could only let her arms fall to the blanket and her gaze with it. After a quick glance around her, the alien is quick to notice the lack of a smaller, squishier presence.

Starfire: "Silkie?" she calls, beginning to look more frantically now. 

Raven's impatient eyes peer over the rim of her book, met with the image of her teammate searching through the picnic basket, then under the blanket immediately after.

On her hands and knees, she eventually caught the sound of gurgling from afar and raised her head in the direction of the noise.

Starfire: "Silkie, no!" Starfire squeals, soaring fast to where her Bumgorf was approaching another party's feast, laid out on dainty paper plates atop a pretty floral blanket.

From her spot beneath the tree, the magus watches Starfire scoop the runaway into her arms, thankfully just before he could demolish the banquet.

Starfire: "Bad Silkie! We do not purloin the meals of others," she scolds, pointing a finger at the creature's nose. With a sweatdrop, she floats back to her friends, all of whom had caught wind of the commotion.

Robin: "Starfire, everything alright?" called Robin, bringing a pause to the game.

Starfire: "All is well!" She gave a relieved smile, still trying to calm the wriggling larvae in her hold. "I believe Silkie requires the stretching of his limbs... He is becoming quite restless."

Beast Boy lit up, spotting a window of opportunity and adamant to not throw it away as he had the last.

Beastboy: "You wanna take him for a walk 'round the lake?" he offers, sending her a toothy grin.

Starfire: "That would be wonderful!" she hails back before flying to the blanket to dig out Silkie's harness. 

In the background, Robin and Cyborg started up a new game of volleyball, complete with a few sticks on the ground to signify the placement of a net.

Starfire: "Do you wish to join us?" She said to Raven as she hooks the leash around Silkie's neck, hoping that the tension from their earlier talk was forgotten. It is perhaps a trick of the light, but for a moment she was sure she saw indigo eyes flick up to the changeling behind her as Raven thought on her answer.

Raven: "I'll pass," was the firm conclusion.

Checking her pet's clasp was in place, an upset Starfire rose to her feet and walked over to join Beast Boy on the path lining the lake.

The co-parents take their time, going at a leisurely pace and easily chatting away for a while. In front of them, Silkie scurries along the tarmac, earning some startled looks from a few passers-by. Nothing much out of the ordinary, for the Titans at least. 

"—I got into his pants last night." Raven hears a girl guffaws, in the midst of stifled giggles from her peers. "I told him I was already horny that I could hump a tree, so I just yanked down his boxers. And guess what—" she draws up her thumb—"That's all he's got!"

"Told you that son of a b*tch may have a pretty face but his 'jewelry' can't reach the size to freak a girl out," Her friend says and laughed.

The girls' callous laughter became more pronounced after the former's statement. On the other side, facing Raven, there was a group of boys gathering around a laptop.

"Damn, she's fine!" One says, eyes round and focused on the screen.

"I think I just jizzed myself," commented his teammate, rubbing his crotch.

"We got a carbon-copy in the place, too bad she's too big and spicy to handle. If you get my drift," said another, discreetly raising his eyebrows at Raven.

They all sniggered. Raven contemplates a heel drop onto the former's face and a punch into his gut, but thought against it and ignores their comments and discreet, off-color jokes about her.

At home there's a jerk, outside it's sexually active freaks and more jerks, Raven thought in contempt, nevertheless she choses the lesser evil—

"Hey! Give it back!" Raven hears a demanding voice from afar. She closes her eyes and slams her book shut. 

Three folks look like students from middle school, circling around one skinny little boy. They are playing 'Catch!' with a backpack that obviously belongs to the former.

Dark energy engulfs the personal property, and the bullies freeze in their tracks when they saw Raven

Raven: "Be gone." She orders, appearing beside their victim; her eyes shining white. The bullies scurry away like scolded dogs.

"Thank you, miss Raven!" The boy gives a conversational smile as he checks his belongings and Raven nods with a warm one, seemingly glad that he is ok. 

A magazine in his hand is open and Raven notices the title of the article that made her smile turn into a simmered frown.

Raven: "Don't you think that magazine's a bit too grown-uppy for a middle-school student like you?"

The boy scratches the back of head, gave a sheepish smile and looks away. Raven regarded him, waiting for an answer. Suddenly, the boy's sheepish smile slides off his face.

"Miss Raven, who is that man?" He asked slowly, staring at the opposite direction.

Raven turns her head to take a casual glance, her cloak rippling a bit.

There was someone, sitting cross-legged with his hood on, seeking the solitude under a tree's semi-darkness. The boy looks at the man with intense curiosity; Though cloaked by the darkness, Raven can still see his outline.

That bastard again. Raven thought, her knuckles suddenly itching.

"I think I might have seen him before," he adds, furrowing his eyebrows.

This caught her attention; something was clearly off about this. Raven bends her knees to be in his level.

 Raven: "Look at me." She takes his face in both her soft hands. "He is a bad guy, isn't he?"

"Really?" But the boy still looks unconvinced. "But he is the one who—"

One of his friends chooses this moment to roughly grab the boy's shoulders.

"C'mon, Adam! Stop reading! You're a genius already. Let's go home now and try out that new game." He said lightheartedly.

Raven is left alone with her thoughts, again. 

She stole a glance at Y/n. His expression did not change, but Raven could see in his closed eyes, despite bathed in the low dusk light, the apprehension. 

That's where Starfire and Beastboy return, their faces capture the perfect display of horror. Their voices are loud, but Raven can't comprehend a word, or she was too busy to care. 

But when she notices that their Bumgorph was not around, it all made sense. Silkie is gone missing. And they are now on a mission to find him. Not that she cares...

'Y/n, could you take up the role and look after this place?'—

Raven roughly bumps Y/n on the shoulder as she walks past him.

Raven: "I'll come with you." She said to her friends aggressively, glaring pointedly at Y/n.

Starfire: "Raven, I think we need someone to stay here and accompany Y/n." 

Raven thought she might have exploded.

Raven: "I'm not going to babysit some bastard alright!" she said indignantly at her, pointing at Y/n without looking at him; Raven knows that looking at him will unfetter her last shred of self-control and attack him in front of her teammates. The hell she cares about this idiot!

Robin: "I think you have to." Raven wanted to persist, but stops abruptly on the look on their faces. "And we expect you to behave."

Raven gives a stiff nod and her dark-painted lips stretched bitterly at the thought that she is going to be alone with Y/n for this evening...