A/N: So starts the series to the 7snogs challenge on livejournal. These seven stories will be nice little oneshots/vignettes (though I'm not too sure if they'll be less than 500 words) Anyways, they're all about Speedy and Raven so I hope, to all those Speedy/Raven fans, that you like:D
A Kiss Is Still A Kiss
Story 1: One In The Dark
Red hair shone like fire in the candlelight. The boy ran a hand through that sea of fire and it caught a pair of violet eyes. She stopped and looked at his frustrated features. He turned to the dark haired boy next to him and shrugged.
"Power cut. The whole city seems to be affected."
Robin sighed in annoyance. "And I'm guessing there's nothing working anywhere in the tower?"
Both Cyborg and Speedy shook their heads and headed back towards the door, both carrying their own candles. "Sorry Robin, but until the city power's back on, we got nothing."
The Titans East turned to their leader and Bee sighed and said, "Sorry that you had to come on such a bad day. But it's late and if the entire city's out, then I guess we'll just have to stick around here until everything comes back on."
The Titans shook their heads and Robin said warmly, "Don't worry about it; I'm sure we'll be able to have some fun until the lights come back on."
There was a murmur of agreement and they all walked back up to the living room, candles in hand. They'd all come back from a club, celebrating Bumblebee's eighteenth birthday and after a night of partying, they'd come home for the after party, halfway during which the lights suddenly went out.
The Titans East – sans Bumblebee – had invited the Titans over to Steel city earlier that week to give Bee a surprise birthday party and she had indeed been surprised. Raven however had just stood at the back, holding a balloon that Mas had shoved into her hands.
The girl had been happy for her friend, but she wasn't much for the birthday cheer and had remained silent the entire night. She was currently seated on one of their couches near the wide window, overlooking the sea.
The others were scattered around her, talking and laughing in semi-darkness, the only light being emitted by the several candles and tea lights placed at random around the place. All the Titans – honorary Titans included – had come to pay their best wishes to the girl and the place was alive with people despite the darkness.
And despite herself, Raven let a small smile, barely noticeable, grace her lips at the friendship and happiness she felt around her. These were one of the rare times the empathy actually wanted to feel what the others were feeling around her. And it made her happy to find that they were all happy.
But her thoughts turned wry when she vaguely imagined Happy, all pretty in pink, skipping around her mind. "Yeah…that's enough of that," she thought as she closed her mind off again and the former wave of happiness floating around was abruptly closed off from her again.
She gave a deep sigh and leaned back in the seat, smiling inwardly at herself. But her amethyst eyes wandered around the room until they landed on a certain red-head who was at the kitchen counter, laughing with Robin, Aqualad and a bunch of other Titans. Turning her eyes away quickly, she remained silent and indifferent.
Her eyes and mind had been doing a fair bit of wandering lately. And it always led to one person; Speedy. The sorceress had no idea why Happy and Passion were being extra feisty lately and it annoyed her. True; she hadn't been meditating as much as she usually did but that was no reason for her emotions to decide to try and take over every now and then.
This was not normal and the girl was about to get up and find a quiet place to meditate when a certain someone decided to plonk himself down next to her. The girl turned around quickly and raised her brows as Speedy lazed next to her, a grin on his lips and one arm on the back of the sofa behind her head.
"Great party huh? Even with the power cut," he said his voice thick with laughter.
"Brilliant," was her dry reply.
"So what are you doing here all by yourself? Get over there and ask Wally to whip you up a drink. He makes the best! No alcohol of course," he added as an afterthought. The girl snorted and rolled her eyes.
"That's because you all had your fill at the club. If you had anymore I'd be the one having to drag all of you home." Her eyes smirked at him and the boy chuckled.
"Was I that bad?" he asked, referring to his outburst of his love for biscuits at their table earlier.
She regarded him for a moment, a hint of a smile in her eyes. "Let's just say I've seen you better." He laughed and then she gave him a look. "But seriously, biscuits?"
He breathed a laugh and leaned closer, whispering conspiratorially, "I blame that on the green stuff Robin ordered."
She snorted and rolled her eyes, turning away. Indeed she had had a sip of the so called 'green stuff' and it tasted something like a mixture between apple cider and pizza. Not too enticing. She ran a hand through her hair, not noticing the eyes behind the mask that were still on her, taking in every detail of her candlelit profile, the clothes on her body, the set of her features and the little movements that she made.
Her thoughts lingered to the time she'd had earlier. The girl had fun, she admitted and with a wistful sigh, violet eyes closed. She pulled her knees up to her chest, her bare feet place firmly onto the seat of the sofa. The Autumnal air was seeping in through the country and things would start to get cold.
"You know Raven," the voice next to her said huskily.
"Mm?" she didn't even turn as she answered.
"I just noticed something."
"What?" the girl inquired softly, still looking out into the sea. She picked up the candle that was on the table next to her and ran her finger through the flame. A grey mark was left on her skin and she brushed it away between her fingers. It was beginning to grow smaller when she realised he hadn't answered her.
Dark hair fanned as she turned to him, asking, "What were you going to s-." she froze when she came face to face with a cheekily grinning face and raised a brow. Collecting herself and clearing her throat, she asked again, stiffly,
"What were you going to say?"
From behind the mask, she could feel his eyes running up and down her and she scowled and folded her arms.
"You're not wearing your uniform," he said finally, a trace of laughter in his voice.
She frowned. "It's not like they're the only clothes I have."
"Yeah, but this is the first time I've seen you dress normally." He chuckled and took a sip of the red, icy drink in his hand.
Her lips twitched. "And what's wrong with my uniform?"
He shook his head and answered quickly and truthfully, "Nothing, I was just saying." He smiled, one of those lop-sided smiles of his that made him look like a cheeky little boy. "Besides," he said, "this looks good on you."
A split-second flutter of speechlessness caught her tongue before she said breathlessly, "Uh, thanks."
He leaned closer and whispered, "You look really pretty."
Her lashes fluttered as he inched closer, so close that she could feel his hot breath against her. She didn't even notice the candle wax melting and burning her skin. With a chuckle, he leaned closer and blew out the flame, enveloping the both of them in darkness.
The kiss was soft and yet deep and of the million and one thoughts running through her mind at the moment, 'I should stop' wasn't one of them. His hand came up and stroked the smooth of her cheek and butterflies began their flight in her stomach.
It was then that they noticed the silence around them and a tugging at the back of her brain made her open her eyes. The both of them paused and broke apart slowly; apparently Speedy had decided to look too. The lights had turned back on sometime during their moments of sweetness and every eye in the entire room was on them.
Every figure was frozen in mid-motion. The boys' eyes were as wide as saucers and on every girl was a small, knowing and excited smile. "Uh…" was the only sound that came from the sorceress' lips.
She turned to the red head and found a nervous grin on his face as he looked at the group of people watching them. "Hehe, hey guys…" He took her hand, now void of the candle that had fallen down sometime earlier and the two stood up. Speedy turned to her and asked suddenly, "You wanna go help me clean the car?"
Finally getting her tongue untied, she nodded nonchalantly, "Sure."
They walked quickly through the throng of silent, gaping statues and left the room. A small uncharacteristic laughter left Raven's lips as the door closed behind them, leaving the inhabitants of the room even more bewildered and stunned.
Robin hastily turned to everyone and grinned in amusement. "Hey, what do you know? The lights are back!"
End
A/N: Ok and here's the first instalment to the 7snogs series. I hope you likey! These seven stories will have nothing to do with each other, they're just seven little oneshots and are their own individual story. I just thought that by putting it together, it'd be easier. Anyways, the theme for this one was…can you guess it?? Uniform! It didn't have to be the centre of attention in the story but it had to be mentioned so this is how it ended up….I hope that the theme was strong enough though….;) Anyway for now…PLEASE REVIEW!!! And sit tight for the next instalment…which will be…jealousy!
Peace out!
Rex