23. "I'll wait."

Pairing: Raven and Zachary Zatara

Setting: Comics

Age: late teens

Black hair dropped down her shoulders. A strand of hair that kept falling in her face and that she kept tucking behind her ear as she focused on the book before her. Delicate fingers sliding between the pages as she flipped them over. Blue eyes gently jolting from left to right as she read the words at an impressive speed. Soft breaths, the smallest tug of lips forming into a smile, silent chuckles. A certain warmth filled the otherwise mostly empty room. It was quiet, but not too quiet, mostly thanks to the buzzing of the TV. It wasn't awkward or tense. It was… nice.

The remote rested in his hand as he lazily switched between channels. Although he tried to, he couldn't bring himself to focus on anything lately. Anything but her. It was driving him crazy. He became impulsive and his magic was all over the place. But now that they were both sitting here, each doing their own thing, he felt strangely calm. It was almost relaxing to be here with her, even if she didn't pay him nearly as much attention as he did to her. He couldn't help it. His eyes kept wandering over to her like some force was making him do it.

She was beautiful, though. Focused. Completely immersed in whatever story it was that she was reading. She looked so stunning when she was focused. Always so serious, keeping to herself, always quiet. But when she spoke, god, it was like music. Her words were always to the point, always truthful and meaningful. If she were to cast a spell on him, he wouldn't even fucking mind. As long as he could get lost in her voice.

"Your stare is distracting." Speaking of the voice. Hearing her suddenly break the perfect silence, Zachary almost dropped the remote, but managed to save the situation just before it actually fell on the ground.

"Well, I'm sorry there's nothing else interesting to look at here," he apologized.

"I'm not that interesting either," she protested, her eyes still solely focused on the book.

"That's what you think." His lips curled into a grin as he switched to another channel yet again. From the corner of his eyes, he saw her lips purse, but she didn't respond. Of course she didn't. Silence was her answer in most situations. It was charming and frustrating at the same time.

"What are you reading anyway?" The teen magician spoke once again, as if trying to make conversation. Well, she'd broken the silence first, might as well go for it, right? Though, to no one's surprise, without missing a beat, Raven simply lifted the book up enough for him to be able to see the title, while still not sparing a second of a glance to him. Disappointed, he looked at the title that was written in a language he most certainly didn't understand and scowled.

"Fun," he deadpanned.

"Definitely more fun than you're having moping around all day and complaining you have nothing to do."

"Well, someone's snappy today," Zach raised an eyebrow at the girl. But all he received in return from her was a hum.

"Listen"- he sighed- "I'm just trying to make conversation here, okay? And you're not giving me a whole lot to work with."

"Because I'm trying to read in peace, Zachary," she responded and sighed in light annoyance. "If you want to pester someone, I'm sure Gar is around-"

"Ugh! Gar this, Gar that!" He exclaimed suddenly with a groan and tossed the remote on the coffee table, standing up from the couch. "Do you ever shut up about him?"

Now that finally got her attention. Her blue eyes snapped up at him in complete surprise of his sudden outburst of emotions. Was that- a spark of jealousy she felt from him?

"Why can't we just talk, Raven?" Zach continued in an exasperated manner. "Whenever I try to get close, you walk away. Whenever I strike a conversation, you dismiss it. Hell, you barely even look at me half the time! Is it really too much to ask to simply spend time with you? Am I not good enough even for that?"

"Zach-"

"You know what, forget it," he finally breathed out and ran a hand through his hair, his gaze falling down to the ground before he turned to leave. "I'll just- Go bother Gar or something."

Raven watched him slowly make his way to the door, slightly dumbfounded by his behaviour, but at the same time, not really. It had been building up for a while now, she could feel it. A sigh left her lips as she closed her book.

"You know," she started, watching him stop in his tracks, "if you were this honest more often, this conversation might've gone differently."

"What do you mean?" He frowned slightly as he turned around to look at her.

"You hide behind a mask all the time. You're this incredibly talented young magician. The best in the world. Future celebrity. You act like everything needs to be served to you on a silver platter. You expect the things you want to be given to you. You want me to come to you just because you know I am able to sense your feelings."

"Well, but don't you?" He took a step towards her. "You're an empath, aren't you? You know exactly how I feel."

"Just because I know how you feel doesn't mean I should do something about it," Raven scowled at him. "I don't go to someone every time I feel they're sad to comfort them. I don't relieve everyone of their stress every time they feel anxious about something. People need to feel all of these things on their own. And they need time to process them and come to terms with them. That's what makes us grow as human beings."

Zach listened to what she was saying, his eyes darting back and forth in deep thought. All this time he'd been trying to impress her with his wits, his charm, his magic. But those were all superficial things. A mask, as she put it. Because he knew that's what worked with all the other girls. He could impress any of them with a mere snap of his fingers. But not Raven. No, she was probably the only person on this cursed planet that actually looked behind all that. And man was he a fool to think otherwise.

"So if"- he walked over to the couch again and placed his forearms on the backrest, looking at Raven- "I were to ask you out, would you?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On how genuine you are. And how much of a show off you're planning to be if we do go somewhere." Her blue eyes looked right at him as she spoke, sending a soft tingle down his spine. For the first time, he felt like she was actually looking at him. And it made his heart skip a beat. That and the fact that she didn't outright say no to the idea.

"So then if I were to sit close to you, you wouldn't scoot away?"

"I- usually don't?"

"No, I mean," he walked around the couch and sat down again, only this time close enough that their legs touched, "really close?"

His voice grew quieter at the last words and it was Raven who felt a tingling sensation now. Their bodies were touching and their faces were mere inches away and she was suddenly frozen on the spot. Her words got stuck in her throat as she tried to scramble up a coherent sentence.

"I- I don't think… I have anywhere left to scoot," she somehow still noted the fact that she was sitting at the very edge of the couch and all that she had behind her was the armrest. But again, it wasn't a no. And seeing her flustered like this all of a sudden made a grin stretch across his face.

"And if I were to do this?" His arm then reached around her shoulders to hold her, but she stopped him midway.

"Well, now you're pushing it." However, the small grin on her face was an indicator that she wasn't entirely against it either. So instead of making all the way around her shoulders, his hand gently settled on her cheek.

"What about this then?" His voice dropped even lower to a whisper as he brushed his thumb against her soft skin. He knew perfectly well that he was going way out of his line here, but he just couldn't help it. The surprise in her eyes, the blush in her cheeks, the sharper breaths she was taking, it all made him want more.

"Zach-" Raven breathed out, but he only smiled in return. It was a smile she'd never seen before, however. It felt… genuine.

"Don't worry. I'll wait."

"What?" She blinked in confusion.

"I'll wait," he repeated with more confidence and finally backed away.

"Wait for what?" A light frown formed on her face.

"Till the day I can hold you like that," he smiled at her and stood up once again. His mood had brightened and not only could she sense it, but it was visible as well. She hadn't seen him like this before. And she wasn't even sure what exactly happened here.

"You are a confusing man, you know that, right?" Raven raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly.

"Well, I do like the element of surprise," he winked at her with a chuckle of his own. The tension that had been in the room just a moment ago seemed to have evaporated as both of them smiled at each other. For the first time, the smile that she reserved for people like Tim and Gar, was finally directed towards him. It felt like a door had just opened and all he needed to do now was to step through it.

"So then, would you go out with me some time?" In a moment of courage, he quickly asked before that faded away too. "And I promise to not be a show off." He promptly added just in case she were to protest. His smile faltered a little, though, when she took her sweet time to reply. It may have been only moments, but for him it felt like an eternity. Was it too fast? Too bold? Too pompous of him to think she'd even say yes? But then- She smiled.

"You tell me where you want to take me and then we'll see."

It wasn't a no!