Sleepless Beauty

A Raven and Red X Story

"(sotto dakishimete kowasu you ni)
muku na mama de sarasarete hanabira o chirasu hana no you ni
migaku houseki te no naka no HIBI ni sae kizukihajimeteru"
Sleepless Beauty; K.ITO + D.K (Gravitation)

TRANSLATION:
(Hold me gently in order to break me)
Be exposed in a state of purity like a flower whose petals have fallen.
You're just beginning to notice the days are shining jewels cupped in your hand

(MOO)

"That's just sick…" Raven muttered under her breath. With one sharp turn on her heel, she exited the living room. She didn't even bother to cast one last glance over her shoulder. What was the point? All she would see was a tall, slender, model-like alien with flaming red hair sucking face with a masked boy wonder. Why bother breaking her heart another time?

It had been like this for a few months now. Everywhere Raven turned, Robin and Starfire would be kissing, holding hands, or whispering sweet nothings into each others' ears. It made a cheesy romance movie actually seem remotely tolerable. But that wasn't what bothered Raven the most. No… the thing that bothered her most was that only minutes after their proclamation of love and courtship, Raven had realized what she felt for Robin. She felt love for him… strong, barely bridled, deep love.

The irony of it all made her queasy.

But, Starfire was her friend, and she couldn't betray her. The red-haired alien was far too happy with her new relationship, and seeing her happy actually brought some joy to the dark girl's life. So Raven was forced to stay hidden in the shadows and watch their blossoming love from afar. She had to watch when Robin kissed her… when Robin held her… and when Robin whispered into her ear.

"It's! So! DUMB!" She cried out frustrated, as her feet landed on the empty roof. "WHY? It's not fair! It's not fair that she can have love! That he can be happy! …" There was a long moment of silence as the words formed in head and then traveled to her lips. "It's not fair that I have to be so alone…" Raven whispered, falling to her knees.

She flopped onto the roof-top and looked up at the darkening sky above her. Twilight was always the best time of the day; not quite day and not quite night. It was a time with its own name, a time when you didn't have to be perfectly day or night. You could be whatever you wanted to be.

'I need to tell him…' Raven thought carefully as she forced herself to calm down. 'I can't continue to pretend that nothing is wrong when I see the both of them. Besides, Robin is beginning to notice how I always excuse myself whenever they're together. Although he is an idiot when it comes to emotions and feelings… he's one to understand when something isn't quite right. He'll figure it out soon enough, and I'll be screwed anyway.'

"Raven?"

As if on cue, the Boy Wonder appeared on the rooftop, looking strangely like the masked Lone Ranger in the fading sun. The dark woman quickly snapped up from her sprawled out position and tried to regain her normal, cool veneer. She looked at him with slight curiosity, and then turned away, hoping her cheeks didn't flame up suddenly. He always had the worst timing when it came to her.

"What is it?" She asked in a steely tone, her eyes gazing out at the calm sea below them.

"I heard you rush from the living room." Pause. "Is everything all right?"

Raven turned slowly, deep purple eyes fluttering slightly at his question. Her lips trembled as she let out a soft, inaudible sigh. He did look awfully handsome standing there… should she tell him what was ailing her? Was this a good time to let him know? Was it the proper time to let him know? After all, Starfire and he had only been dating for a few moths… was that an appropriate amount of time for a confession? Now that she thought about it, when was an "appropriate" time for a confession?

'I shouldn't delay,' Raven thought sourly, a slight pink color staining her face. 'It'll just make things worse. Besides, there's no time like the present to do one's chores.' She paused for a moment, before turning to look at him to continue their semblance of a conversation.

"No. Actually…" She stood up and walked slowly toward him, her face shrinking back into the shadows of her hood and its expression becoming unreadable. "Can I talk to you, Robin?"

Robin cocked that sexy, boyish grin of his and gently punched her shoulder, just as he would a kid sister. "Of course, Rae. You know I'm always here to talk to. What's the problem?" He motioned for both of them to sit down, but Raven refused. She continued to stand in front of him, watching as his lithe, sinewy figure was outlined by the nearly set sun.

"I…" She tuned away quickly, trying to gather her words as her throat suddenly became as dry as the Sahara. "I'm having some… boy problems."

There was a long, heavy pause and Raven chanced a glance at Robin. Strangely enough, his sexy smile was faltering. It was slowing shattering into millions of pieces before her eyes. It looked as though he were… irritated?

'Just like a guy!' Raven rolled her eyes and turned away from him completely. 'The moment I bring up feelings, he starts thinking he's too macho. What an imbecile.' She huffed out an angry and indelicate snort, and then turned away. "Forget about it. It's not worth it," she muttered to him as she walked to the roof door.

"Raven, wait!" Robin hopped up on his feet and chased after her quickly. "I told you I'd help you, let me at least try." He flashed that stupid, faltering smile of his. It was really beginning to piss Raven off; Robin was literally lying through his teeth and thought that she couldn't tell. She wasn't going to force him to listen to her 'girly problems' if he didn't want to.

"No."

His fake smile immediately fell into a look of confusion and despair. "No?"

"No. I'll figure it out by myself, thank you." Raven started toward the door again, but Robin grabbed her shoulder firmly.

"Please? At least tell me what's wrong… I want to help. You're my friend." He looked at her with a look so open and pathetic that Raven had no choice but to roll her eyes and bear all to him… or at least a fraction of all. His newly acquired, macho attitude didn't constitute that she should tell him… everything.

"There's this guy I like… but he has a girlfriend," Raven spit out quickly, her face burning almost painfully in embarrassment. "I don't know what I should do… if I should tell him I… like him, or just let the whole matter rest."

"Does he like her?" Robin asked flatly, his face holding a hint of curiosity, which confused Raven slightly. Why did he put on a macho attitude if he was so damn curious? What was he hiding from her?

"He's told her he loves her," Raven responded coolly, pulling her shoulder from his grasp and walking toward the edge of the roof. "And I can see that he loves her, every time he looks at her his eyes light up and… and I don't see that look often." Her face fell into one of despair, and she looked back at Robin.

"But… that doesn't mean he loves her. What you see and what he feels are two different things. Actors are great because they know how to make things look like something they're not…" Robin paused for a moment and he walked up to Raven carefully, his eyes watching every subtle movement for some sign of what she was thinking. But Raven made sure that nothing from her true thoughts shown through, and remained a statue of cold, beautiful marble.

"So? What should I do?" Raven asked flatly, a perfectly shaped brow arching in skepticism. She watched as several emotions flew across his face, before he landed on a cool one that mimicked her own.

"Tell him." Robin's answer was short and to the point. It sounded almost as if it were forced out against his deepest and darkest will, and that confused Raven slightly. What was his problem? "Let him know how you feel… it's the only thing you can do. And… I'm sure he'll understand how you feel, Raven. When you express your emotions… that's when they're treasured the most by others." His face melted into an understanding look, which took Raven completely by surprise. He understood her… he understood that her emotions were rarely expressed. By telling her that they were treasured, he had made her adoration for him grow even more.

Raven looked at him for a long moment, before deciding that she had to tell him. It was important that he know… and he know now. "Robin… I-"

A beeping and flashing light quickly pulled both their attentions to the situation that was occuring. With two deep sighs and irritated looks, they walked to the roof door and down the stairs into the tower. After all, the city was counting on them to save it from a few, stupid bank robbers.

(MOO)

Raven sat on her bed and forced herself to meditate. But the task quickly became tedious as her mind wandered back to her conversation with the masked Boy Wonder only hours before. What had he meant when he said her emotions were most treasured when they were expressed? And what possessed him to look at her with that gaze of understanding? What was it about him that drove her completely wild?

"I feel like the more I try to understand him, the more I'm confused…" She whispered to herself. Raven fell back onto her bed and stared at the dark ceiling, trying to decipher everything that had happened today. But it was pointless and futile, for her mind was already beginning to shut down and drift into sleep. It was rejecting every attempt Raven made at staying awake and thinking about the boy wonder.

"But, I won't think about that now…" Raven mumbled à la Scarlett O'Hara as she got up and substituted her cloak and leotard for a pair of PJ pants and wife-beater. "I'll think about that tomorrow." Stretching her tired limbs, she crawled under the covers and let her eyes close in slumber. She had barely been asleep for an hour when silent alarms began to sound in her head.

Someone had entered her room without her permission.

They were going to die, and the world was going end if they didn't remove themselves quickly.

Raven rolled over and pulled the covers up to her chin. "Get out. I don't want any food, I don't want to play a game, and if the city isn't going up in flames or being taken over by a sadistic, alien race, I don't care, because I'm sleeping," She muttered sleepily, but still firmly, into her pillow.

"Is that so?"

The tinny, metallic voice was oh-too-familiar, and Raven could do nothing but bolt upright in her bed. After her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she looked across the room at the familiar, masked figure that stood near her door, arms crossed over his chest and looking at her from beneath that mask. She could almost swear that she saw a cocky, egotistical smile beneath that stupid mask.

"No…" Raven whispered in shock and surprise. "You're back?" She cried in frustration, her eyes rolling to the ceiling exasperatedly. "Well, shit. This just ruined my sleep."

"If I didn't know you better, I'd almost be insulted." In one swift, unforeseen movement, Red X crossed the room, pulled Raven from her bed, and wrapped his arms around her body in an unrelenting bind. A gloved hand was pressed firmly against her mouth, while the other held her arms tightly to her waist; she was trapped in a horrid embrace.

"Yes… I'm back," he hissed into her ear.

"Mmmph! Mmm-mm!" Raven muttered against his firm hand.

"What am I here for? Why, for you of course!" His voice seemed almost playful as she struggled against his strong arms. "I've been thinking about you a lot, Raven. Watching you on the news and in the papers… your cold veil never changes. But I am determined to fix that. I think you deserve to express your emotions, and in due time, I think you can find something special in me."

"Mmph-mmmmmmph?"

"Like what? Well… perhaps you'll just have to wait and find out. After all, when I leave I won't be gone forever. I'll come as see you again, as often as I desire." His hand around her waist slowly traveled northward and cupped her large breast. "However, I must say this before I leave… you might want to double up the wife-beaters. I can see your chest right through it…" His thumb feathered her nipple for a moment before he let go and backed away. "I'll see you soon, my dark bird." With that last statement and a cloud of gray smoke, he was gone.

"Bastard!" Raven hissed as her face burned a bright shade of crimson. "How dare he touch me like that!" She seethed with so much anger that a pillow on her bed suddenly exploded into a cloud of white goose down. "He's so going to see the back of my hand next time I lay eyes on him! … that was not his to touch!"

She paused and looked out the window at the night sky. Red X had just made a new enemy… or so she thought. Unbeknownst to Raven, there was much more in store for her…

(MOO)

For all of you who wanted me to expand on Anti-Nostalgic, congratulations! You now have Sleepless Beauty for your viewing pleasure! I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did… you are more than welcome to click that button in the lower left corner and leave a review… I always feel so darned special when you do!

SPECIAL THANKS TO MY BETAER: ArtemisGirl LOVE YA LOTS!

All lyrics and translations for this story are found at AnimeLyrics(dot)com!

NAME THAT TUNE (Because I'm listening to a song that I think everyone should know, and I always loved that "Name That Tune" game.):
… you really got to justify. Take a breath and look around a lot of folks deserve to die! (A lot of folks deserve to die!)
… If you want to rationale it isn't that hard to see! Stop and think it over pal, the guy sure looks like plant food to me!
The guy sure looks like pant food to me! The guy sure look like plant food to me! … so go git it.