~RavensMind~

A Sweet Dare

Lakeview Park was as good a place as any. It wasn't exactly his first choice, but there were few places Robin could find that would grant some relative privacy among trees and there wouldn't be crowds of people wandering around. Raven was surprised he'd asked her to take a walk with him here, but didn't seem suspicious. Why he brought her here was simple: he'd been dared by Jinx and Kid Flash to kiss Raven. He'd refused to answer 'Truth' to most truth or dare challenges and the first few dares they'd given him evidently weren't good enough for Jinx. Proof was also a requirement and he wasn't sure how he'd get that without seriously offending Raven.

The last thing he or anyone else wanted was a pissed off Raven. He was worried that was exactly what he was going to get. She'd never forget it and he didn't want it to ruin their friendship. It would be a mark against him, something she'd think about when she saw him sometimes.

As they walked along the path through the park, he took note of the potential witnesses, as he thought perhaps he could get them to vouch for his dare completed. Raven was looking around as well, but her gaze mostly went to trees, water, and any animals or bugs that they happened across. Eventually, she did look his way.

"Seems like a nice day, at least it's nice here anyway, any reason why you asked me here?" Raven asked.

Lying to her rarely worked, but he was usually better at lying than most, thanks to Batman.

"Just thought we could hang out and I know you'd like the park better than the arcade or something like that," Robin replied.

"You were right," she said.

"Can I get that in writing?" he asked.

"Shut up," she replied with a hint of a smirk.

If she was in a good mood, maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he thought. He liked his odds a little more, but it wasn't ideal. She'd gotten mad at less. They walked a little farther and he opted to try and boost her mood.

"I thought we could grab some coffee and tea after this too, if you want," he said.

"I'd like that," she said.

"Good. Hopefully the Hive don't show up again like last time."

"That was...the worst. Still amazed they'd think that the two of us wouldn't be enough to stop them."

"You really put them in their place."

"Pretty sure you hit harder than I did."

"Maybe, it was kinda hard to tell, but I thought I saw you send a car flying at one of them."

"Oh, I did, but you were fending off Billy Numerous well, countering every duplicate as they ran at you."

"I don't have the powers you do."

"You don't need them."

Her comment was something he'd frequently tell himself as any of his superpowered teammates did something he wasn't capable of himself. She'd rarely give compliments and this one touched him. It made him second guess going through with the dare, but he wasn't about to back down from a challenge. They continued walking until they came to the edge of a small lake that was surrounded by lush trees and meticulously planted flowers. She stopped by the water and sat down on a nearby wooden bench. He joined her and draped his arms over the back of the seat.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" Raven asked, "having a hard time accepting that you just asked me here to hang out."

"Why's that hard to believe?"

"I don't know, it just feels different, but I can't put it into words."

"I like hanging out with you, is that okay?"

"It is...but I don't know, I just have a different sense of things."

"Uh, did I do something wrong?"

"No. Something's just off, maybe it's me, I have yet to mediate this afternoon."

It wasn't getting any easier for him to convince himself to do this. He didn't want to put her off or make her angry, especially if she was questioning herself like this. The only way he wanted to do this now was to tell her first, as Jinx and Kid Flash never said he couldn't do that. It was probably the only way he could salvage it, but he still wasn't sure how she'd react to that.

"I-uh, actually do have a reason I asked you here," he admitted.

"Oh? What is it?" she asked.

"Jinx and Kid Flash dared me to kiss you," he replied.

At first she seemed surprised, but then her eyes narrowed as she looked disapprovingly at him. It was nothing less than what he deserved for what he was trying to do. She didn't say anything, just turned back to look out over the lake, her features softening as she watched a bird try to swoop in for a fish. He couldn't think of what to say next, everything seemed inadequate, and he felt guilty for even accepting the dare. There wasn't a way to guess what she was thinking and for the most part he didn't want to try. Anything else he thought he might say felt like it wouldn't do any good.

"Instead of just doing it," she said abruptly, "you decided to what, take me on a date?"

"I guess...maybe you could look at it that way," he said.

"You could've just asked," she said, "but you were...sweet instead. Were there any stipulations to the dare?"

"Yeah...I needed to get proof that I kissed you," he said.

"Hmm. Do you have your communicator?"

"What?"

"Do you have it?"

"Yeah, I do, but-."

"Call Jinx or Kid Flash."

Robin took out his communicator and called Jinx, after a few rings, her face appeared on the screen. She looked back at him and asked what he wanted and before he could say anything, Raven leaned in, her lips only an inch from his. He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her, meaning it to last for a moment, but she held him firm. He tasted raspberry on her lips - a hint of the flavor of her tea. Eventually, she broke the kiss and turned to look at the stunned Jinx on the screen.

"Satisfied?" she asked.

"Oh, umm... yeah! Were you?" she teased.

"Robin, hang up," Raven said.

He did as she told him and ended the call. Confused, he turned back to her.

"Why did you-I mean, aren't you mad?" Robin asked.

"I was, at first. Curiosity got the best of me," Raven replied.

"Yeah? What were you curious about?" he asked.

"I wanted to know what it feels like - kissing, and kissing you. I think I like it," she replied.

"I liked it too. Why did you want to kiss me after what I said?"

"Like I said, you were sweet, and I'm guessing Jinx and Kid Flash wanted to see you fail. I felt like getting back at them for putting you up to this."

"I see. So, are we okay?"

"I'm not sure."

"If you're upset, I get it. If you need time to calm-."

"I'm not upset. I like you and I meant what I said...I really liked kissing you, so... I'm not sure what to do about that."

"Wanna go grab some tea and coffee? And we can talk about it?"

"I'd like that, also, I have a dare for you."

"Oh no...what is it?"

"You have to throw a flash grenade at Jinx."

"Oh...pretty sure I can do that."