Raven loves waffles more than life itself (ofevilsfire) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-04-24 15:58:00 |
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Well the weekly dinner with Kory that Raven had forced herself to start back up again had been….dramatic and could have gone better. But that was the way of Orange County, so Raven hadn’t been particularly surprised at the way it all played out. The differences she had picked up from the older woman were interesting, but again not shocking. The trouble of course was that despite her best efforts, her emotions had spiked enough in those brief seconds of Kory attacking her that it had alerted Dick to something being (very) wrong and she knew if she didn’t go and prove that she was fine? He’d just press until she did. Honestly when the mental link first really proved itself, a part of her had been relieved that at least there would be someone who would know if something was wrong with her since it wasn’t like she’d had that otherwise.
She wasn’t that lonely locked away sixteen year old anymore though. But Dick was also family which meant she couldn’t just ignore the mental link and insistence she go see him.
Which was why she arrived at his apartment and just knocked before opening a portal and letting herself in. Yes, her throat still hurt despite the fact she’d brushed it off with Kory given what the older woman had been dealing with in regards to the unlocked history of her Dreams and sudden burst of powers, and she was pretty much planning the same now to keep Dick from worrying as well even if there were burn marks shaped like finger marks. Totally irrelevant.
---
Insistence was putting it lightly, internal panic was closer to truth. He’d already lost one person he loved in the last couple of months, he wasn’t about to lose another. He’d been distant at best lately, but one couldn’t say he wasn’t trying. He made an attempt to be a social human being on that network again in spite of his better judgement against it and knowing how those Dreams went. The link was not just going to go away. He knew she wasn’t a kid anymore, but to him she was practically his daughter? ..weird. Whatever. Dream relationships be damned. He had been about to open a locked case when she finally came, and he shot her a glare.
“What the hell happened?” Yes they had mental links, but he wanted to hear it from her. Dick saw those burn marks and was instantly unimpressed though it was a mask for concern. “Are you okay?” He finally asked as she came into view a little better. There were tired markings near his eyes, he already struggled with sleep recently, he was trying to fit in and start over but damnit it was hard.
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Raven had long since accepted that Dream dynamics would always be different. Go through five sets and it was pretty much a given. And also why the one she had, the World War II ones, were just so off. She didn’t have anyone from her team, any version of the Teen Titans, and no Dick who was always there in some way, shape, or form. She’d rather deal with the continuation of the current set where Damian was Robin since at least Nightwing was there.
So Dick being more of a father to her than her actual father or whatever than her actual family? Well, that was just part of it and she didn’t question. Even if right now she really wished she had managed to tamp down that burst of panic and pain so he wouldn’t worry.
“Kory started dreaming.”
Absently she rubbed at her throat and winced before dropping her hand.
“I’m okay…it just went sideways like it usually does here.”
Vague and made no sense. Never in the set of Dreams that Dick had (as Raven had gone through all of that already and thus knew) did Kory respond as such to her. But it hopefully meant fewer questions - at least in regards to the burn marks.
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He glanced over at her with an exasperated sort of look. Dreams, great. He didn’t miss that shit. Why had he thought moving back to OC was a grand idea? Temporary insanity maybe? “Who is Kory and do I actually need my suit again?” If he needed to go after this Kory, he would but he was sort of wary about putting on the Nightwing suit. Especially in Orange County. He wasn’t sure what might trigger dreams, whether it was wearing that or the network and he was already screwed- either way he was trying to play the avoidance game as much as possible.
He seemed somewhat satisfied with her response though since he could see her in person, but he didn’t like the fact that whoever this Kory was, was trying to singe her to death? Or burn her, or worse, he wasn’t sure which one but was leading towards worse with the way those marks looked.
No matter what Raven did, he’d always worry. There was no stopping that.
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“Kory as in Koriand’r as in Starfire?” Though given when Raven first met Kory in New York, she hadn’t quite made the connection, had tried to brush the similar name as being just a coincidence. Those could still exist in New York, but not in Orange County. Kory showing up in Orange County had basically solidified Raven’s suspicion that the older woman was actually Starfire.
“So no, you don’t need your suit.” She wasn’t worth it and also, she knew that Kory hadn’t meant to attack her, had been horrified by it once she came back to herself, “She was horrified enough by what happened as well as confused.”
Raven was just trying to come to terms with it. She was more shaken than she let on, she’d been focused on making sure Kory was calm before making the bracelet to help keep her from turning into a solar flare at random but now that she had started dreaming? It was going to be something and since it was a completely different set of Dreams, the empath wasn’t sure what to expect.
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“Ah right.” Kory didn’t really mean much to Dick, aside from a Dream. He had yet to put an actual face to her-to him that was when the dreams started to become more real. He shrugged and went to retrieve a medical box from under the sink. “Don’t think there’s actually much in here but…” All the same it was an effort. He had bandaids if anything was open and bleeding at least, and a little bit of gauze and the like. The whole place was still kind of empty, Dick wasn’t much of a decorator. He had no energy for it. Any design the apartment had was because of Ruby. If it were up to him it’d have remained bare and looking much like the safe house. Bare bones. He did add a couple pieces of furniture, but only out of necessity. Beyond that it was obvious he was still a bit lost.
“Good. She should be.” Dick stated coldly toward Kory, he didn’t care about anyone who decided to injure the one person he really had left in the world that meant anything to him.
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“I didn’t really acknowledge it until she showed up here, so...yeah.” Because it was easier to believe in coincidences when you weren’t in Orange County. And Raven wasn’t going to lie, there was some part of her that felt hurt by what had happened. Logically she understood it. Kory hadn’t been in control, it had been instinct and something she didn’t even know. She even could understand the whole coming to Earth to kill her thing to prevent Trigon from coming through and destroying Earth and all subsequent planets.
Emotions didn’t always listen to logic though and even if she could understand it, even if she knew that Kory hadn’t meant it and felt guilty about what had happened, there was some part of her that was still hurt on an emotional level by what had happened. Though that probably came from the fact Raven didn’t let herself open up to many people to begin with.
And Dick trying to use basic first aid kits instead of knocking her out to put Raven into a healing coma was always preferred. At least in her opinion. There was also that part of her that was punishing herself for failing Ruby but that was buried deep away.
“It’s not like she meant to, it just...happened.” And Raven would still defend Kory because despite the part of her that was hurt by what had happened, she also understood it. She did her patrols, she’d hurt people, killed the two in New York… but she always was more of a pacifist if given the chance.
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He knew she could heal but he was attempting to be somewhat useful. It just sort of backfired when he realized how little he actually had by way of medicine or anything. He’d have to remedy that later on. Dick shut the box when he realized he really didn’t have anything to help burns, and he wasn’t super equipped to help with emotional trauma either except to be there, but he could at least manage that much. He was still healing himself and it felt like it was taking forever. He’d been with Ruby for what felt like forever after all, and had planned on being together with her or the rest of his life-but per usual his life decided no.
Now he was just kind of a fish out of water. He worked and that was about it. Dick hadn’t really socialized much like he used to, but he was making an attempt in any case. He went out to eat with his new partner the night before and it hadn’t gone horribly, so that was something.
“I see.” Instead of medical supplies he went to the fridge instead and removed a juice box. Because that was what emotions looked like for them. Oh you’re sad? Have a juice box. And he put one in front of Raven. “Grape this time.” He gave a half smile.
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There was a difference between could and would, more than just a letter. Because Raven had the bad habit of not letting herself heal if she felt she didn’t deserve it which was something she’d been struggling with ever since failing to save Ruby. Add in the fact she was pretty sure she had made things worse for Kory? Well, glamors existed for a reason. It wasn’t like she was often expected to say much anyway as she’d always been on the quiet side.
All Raven could ask for though was an attempt by Dick to try and get out more. It was why she had forced herself to start up the weekly dinners with Kory again. She knew that it was something that she needed to do, to not drown in her guilt and worry for Dick. Not that it had ended up well this time around.
For an empath, the twenty one year old could be both very observant about the nature of emotions and also incredibly awkward at dealing with them. So juice boxes tended to be the go to, at least when Dick was involved. But it was their own sort of language so she took it and gave a small smile in return and nodded.
“Grape. Switching it up I see.”
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“Mhm. Getting crazy.” He responded to the change in juice with a faint smile, things were rough lately, but he’d at least managed to go to the store so baby steps? “Stay for dinner.” More of a demand than he’d intended to, but he worried. Especially when she showed up looking burnt up of course he was going to worry.
Dick had mostly stayed out of the bat suit business lately, he worried about putting it on in orange county and what it might mean for dreams and connections happening all over again. Between Ruby and the move he had enough on his mind without adding that too.
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Raven would take whatever baby steps she could with regards to Dick and everything going on. She didn’t even balk at the request/demand of her staying for dinner.
“I guess that can be arranged.”
But seeing at how she just settled into where she was, it was clear she had no plans on leaving anytime soon. So at least one less thing for Dick to worry about at the moment. It was all she could really offer right now.