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Jump City ridiculed itself with hearts, red and white streaking the city with the golden promise of forever. Cheerful conversation drifted like an intoxicating anthem through each street, couples swinging their hands as they skipped lovestruck down the roads. The air was bombarded with the heavy fragrance of flora, sweets another possibility, chocolate deliciousness that wafted like a candy witch’s phantom. Teenagers frolicked in excitement over the occasion. Adults surged with an eagerness for loneliness, anticipating nighttime and the ability to unbutton their suits.
Suffice to say, the city was sunshine and rainbows, a hometown for romance, twisting the midnight breeze into a nuclear hindrance.
“And it’s not even Valentine’s yet,” Goth Boy muttered, his thicker brows furrowing as he observed the city. His hair was almost a pitch-black void, only highlighted with tiny flecks of blue. Tugging at his shirt, he then dropped his hands to his jeans, his legs swung over the edge of the building. “What a pain.”
Nodding, Raven followed his eyes to the ground under them. A flirtatious pair of teens fumbled on their steps, too focused on each other to pay heed to the broken gumball machine spilling multicolored orbs under their sneakers.
“Tell me about it,” she replied, just as monotonous. “The tower’s full of it too. Everyone’s got their schedules booked all day today, and tomorrow.”
It was always amazingly ironic how their previous Valentine’s Days had been roped with trouble, as Jump City was riddled with. First it had been the attack of Puppet King that interrupted Raven and Goth’s first official day out, and the occasion was later capped off with another complicated love triangle with Cyborg, Sarah Simms, and Jinx.
But a year passed and now Starfire and Robin were officially together, the Boy Wonder finally having a proper plan for them before they took off towards Steel City. Cyborg and Sarah had a date which involved playing with children at the latter’s orphanage, and even the teenage jester that was Beast Boy managed to identify a young woman by the name of Perdita.
As for Raven and Goth, they had another year to themselves. But unlike before, it seemed they were going to be uninterrupted for a little while longer.
“Are you sure you don’t want something to drink?” Goth inquired, vocals raspy. “I’d be down to get something from the arcade’s snacks area, if you want one.”
“We’re up here for a reason,” Raven replied, her violet focus sending him a peripheral. “Even the arcade’s gotten too romantically crowded.”
“I could handle it.”
“I’m fine.” Raven adjusted, her hood growing loose around her skull. “If you’re concerned about me, forget it. I’ll buy my own drink whenever I want to. But for the time being, this is okay with me.” Her thoughts filtered into her conscience, and there was hesitation that found its way to her words. “Is this…okay with you?”
Perhaps she expected honesty that came with a contradictory statement, and he’d make her aware of unexpected boredom that would cut their night short. Maybe he would spill how little of a good time he was having, only sitting on top of a building to watch the city instead of taking over the club with some punch or a root beer. Maybe weirdly enough, time was enough that it influenced a tango to grow in him, and he was restless, in need to bob to a rhythm that the city’s honking was unable to provide.
“It’s cool.” He lay a cheek against his right hand, circled with a black wristband. “It’s not every day someone like me gets to hang with a superhero.”
Raven motioned backwards, planting her hands behind her to carry her weight as she inclined to look up at the sky, thick clouds shutting off the twinkling stars. The moon was almost the blur of a rounded, vanilla glow. “There are many superheroes in the city, and all over the world that choose to drop by every so often. It just so happens that you met me.”
“Mhm.” He hummed, and she was only exposed to his hunched back, the only movement his hair as the breeze stormed through its length. “I don’t see anything wrong with that. You tolerate me.”
“You tolerate me,” Raven reciprocated nonchalantly, but her insides carried more than just a blank manner of speech. “I’m the daughter of a demon, and one of the Teen Titans. Constantly we spend our days saving lives, and endangering them as well. We try our best, but we’re far from perfect. And even so, we don’t get along all the time.” She drew the top of her hood lower, the dark blue fabric down below her nose. But her voice remained stable. “You, you’re the one tolerating me, and all the insanities that come with me. I…I have nothing but awe and gratitude.”
He moved, straightening his body as it twisted slightly until his side profile studied her. His navy attention was a shadow in the lighting of the city, and yet he was almost gentle, less aggression painting the line of his lips. “I’m a boring person. You split up from the other Titans to hang out with me. For everything I can’t do, you tolerate me. And I have nothing but awe and gratitude.”
He moved unexpectedly, leaning back beside her and pressing his own palms against the ground behind him. But where his fingers splayed out he chose to slip them against her own, and Raven’s breath nearly stumbled as she felt the coolness of his complexion rub against her own. His skin was rough, tough, years of musical practice leaving stamina over his calluses. And yet in spite of the chill that came with him, she felt warm.
Heat poured over her cheeks, and it was the first time Goth had transformed her eyes into saucers.
He smirked, but while it still held confidence, there was a bashfulness to it. “Raven…You’re cool. Absolutely my favorite superhero, and my favorite person.”
She found her tongue dry, but eventually there was a sarcastic laugh that slipped out her mouth. “Poetry? Sounds like it,” she mused.
He shrugged. “You like reading.”
“I like you.”
She moved towards him, burying her fingers against his until her tips dug against his knuckles. She moved until her shoulder brushed his shirt, her cloak flowing behind her as she put herself against his body. His breath fumbled above her ear, warmth tickling her senses. She could feel his nerves tensing the more she placed her weight on his side, drawing her knees closer to her chest, her hood still a hindrance that blanketed her blush.
“Is this okay?” she politely asked, her own tonality timid to her. Her unfamiliarity with this feeling was messing with her brain, and yet her muscles forced her forward without any personal permission.
“Is this?”
Then just like that, his other hand found her chin, and gingerly, he led her lips to his. Electricity almost pummeled through her bones, and her body hitched at the alien feeling cupped by her lips. But she didn’t draw back, instead almost let him draw her closer, and with the sparks dancing through her atoms she let herself falter against him, holding onto his chest for support. His eyes were closed but his hand found her hood, and as if he had memorized it he released the strands of her purple hair until his grip fell back to her cheek. It was as if he was an unexpected professional, a professional of her, seeing more and understanding more than she could ever expect.
He was kissing a demon, but he didn’t seem to care as a playful redness glossed over his cheeks. He had bags beneath his eyes but he was visibly joyous, a healthy hum sliding against his lips as he held her close. He was possessed by the moment, engulfed with the feeling of his romantic side as it locked his despaired mindset at the back of his mind. She was like this too, and it was probably why neither of them were letting go.
It was him and her, her and him, and there was nothing they could do but cherish the love that unconditionally tolerated both of them. Maybe this was the feeling of true Valentine’s, they both thought as they let each other go, and tapped their own foreheads against the other’s.